Western Mediterranean Cruise: Valletta, Malta and Gozo

   Get ready for a ton of pictures because this was our favorite stop on the cruise! 

   We spent our fourth day of our cruise in beautiful Malta. Out of all the places Aaron and I have visited since living in Europe, it's tied with Santorini, Greece as one of our favorites. I was sad when we had to leave, but was so happy we got to see such a beautiful place. 

 We woke up to this beautiful sunrise.

Westerm Mediterranean Cruise: Palermo, Sicily

We woke up to a really pretty view of Sicily on our third morning. We have never been to Sicily, so we were excited to finally get off the ship after having a relaxing two days on it. 

 Checking out the city.

Western Mediterranean Cruise: Civitavecchia, Italy

    Our second day on the ship stopped in Civitavecchia. Civitavecchia is located about an hour away form Rome, and since we have already been there we made the decision to stay on the ship for the day. We wanted this cruise to be a little more relaxed than last summers, so this made for a great start.

 View from the ship.

Western Mediterranean Cruise: Embarkation From Genova, Italy

    On the morning of July 23 we left our apartment in La Spezia and drove an hour to Genova. I had planned for us to walk around downtown and see some of the sights, but it was raining when we arrived. So our second plan was to go to the aquarium. When we parked our car and were shuttled to the ship with all our luggage they told us we could check in early. We thought okay sure, let's get rid of our bags and then maybe we could go to the aquarium after. Well we didn't get our cruise card right away and were told we would get it when our room was ready at 1, so that threw our plan to visit the aquarium out the window. Since we were on the boat by 10:45, it was almost empty! We were able to walk around, eat lunch, and go swimming without hardly running into anybody.

 First peek at our home for the next 7 nights.

Cinque Terre Day 2: Monterosso al Mare, Riomaggiore, Manarola, andVernazza + La Spezia

    Our second day in Cinque Terre was busy, hot, and tiring, which was why we were done touring the villages by 5, in our apartment by 7, and in bed by 9. The day started with breakfast at a nearby cafe that was included in our nightly rate for out apartment. We were so happy because the weather was cool and breezy, which was just what we needed for a day of exploring.

Our apartment was on the 5th floor... so many steps.