Vacation Voyage: The Vacation Part
For those of you who have been reading this series about the trials and tribulations of packing, getting to, and vacationing in Greece with my husband and 22-month-old daughter, this is the part you've been waiting for. This is the vacation part. Let us all take a moment to say: Amen.
This is why we do it right? The strategizing, preparing, purchasing, packing and schlepping — to actually get to take the vacation. It's funny, so much time was spent on the aforementioned activities that when The Vacation Part actually arrived, it took me some time to get used to it. I said some time, not a long time. I got used to it. Boy, did I ever.
We arrived in Venice mid-morning, and were to board the cruise the next day to travel to Croatia and the Greek Islands. I didn't know much about Venice other than it was in Italy and had a lot of water. Ah, Venice. It was so charming, and we spent a magical night weaving in and out of buildings hundreds of years old and studying ripples in the water as the gondolas passed by. My daughter was kind enough to pass out in the stroller that evening, so my husband and I were able to enjoy what I can safely say was one of the best meals of my life. From the pasta to the buffalo mozzarella, I still can't figure out why anyone outside of Italy ever bothers cooking anything. I mean really, after tasting absolute perfection, what’s the point?
The next day, we boarded the cruise ship to begin our trip. We were still jet-lagged but I simply didn't care … as mothers I think we tend to get over the lack-of-sleep thing pretty quickly. As for my daughter, red-eye flights do have their upside. After sleeping only five hours on the plane and being wired in her new environment all day, she promptly and heavily passed out at night, and continued to do so for the rest of the trip. Again, let us all say: Amen.
For those of you who are interested in seeing hard to reach places with young children, let me strongly recommended cruising as an option. Personally, I love the water, especially moving water (ask anybody who knows me, they'll tell you), so to have 360-degree water views practically all the time was pure heaven.
Here's what else I loved:
*Unpacking and repacking only once while exploring different places
*All food, juices, water and milk were included
*24-hour room service
*Plenty to do, and yet only so many places to go (and wander off)
*A toddler program that watched the kids during dinnertime INCLUDED
Let me stress the importance of that last part. This meant every evening after a long excursion visiting a new and exciting destination which included sightseeing, shopping and hauling gear in the hot European sun (with little in the way of air-conditioning), we got to come back to the ship, shower, and drop our daughter off at a playroom any toddler would dream about, and then proceed to a nice relaxing dinner with a bottle of wine. It was always the perfect way to unwind.
Croatia and Greece were of course amazing, and we took tons of pictures and tried to see as much as possible. I really came to admire and cherish the European view: living in each moment, keeping what's really important in life (like family, friends, and amazing food) front and center, and letting the rest fade into the background like white noise in the distance. They really have something there. I swore I would always remember that feeling, take it home with me, and implement it where I could.
By the time our cruise made its way back to Venice, I was very relaxed and refreshed. I can't say well rested, because we were still traveling with a toddler (and weren’t sitting on a beach all day for a week). Still, mentally it felt like a complete break from our everyday, and I was so grateful for it. And oddly enough, I felt ready to come back to my life and face everything anew with my newly enlightened vacation outlook on life. They say it's nice to leave and it’s nice to come home again, and for me that rang true. Still, I will always miss those water views, and watching those beautiful Mediterranean sunsets as my daughter tap-danced on the deck of the ship.
Author: Amy
The Vacation Voyage Series
Vacation Voyage: In The Beginning
My husband, our 22-month-old toddler and I are going on vacation for a week to Greece...
Vacation Voyage: Ready, Set...
T-minus "x" number of hours until the taxi picks us up for our family trip...
Vacation Voyage: Go!
I can hardly believe that I’m here ... but then again, the journey here was something I won’t soon forget...
