Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Mediterranean Cruise

Here are some pictures of our fun 8 day Mediterranean cruise Jana and I went on with USANA. We started and ended in Barcelona, Spain and visited Naples, Rome and Florence Italy then Nice and Marseille France. Andrew stayed half the time with my sister and the rest of the time with Jana's dad and his wife. Kayal and Tyler spent the whole time with her dad. We had a great time.


Shannon, Jeff, Jim, Jana in Marseille, France on the French Riviera







The beaches in Nice, France were little pebbles but people still laid out on them (and we were surprised to see about one in ten women were topless, mainly the 70 year old wrinkly type that I guess no longer cared what other people think ;^) )




Villa Frenche, France





Even on the coast of Nice where a one bedroom apartment goes for close to 5 million dollars people still hang the laundry out to dry on the clothes line.




French Riviera




Our cruise ship, the Voyager.




Jeff and I at breakfast looking very tired with goofy looks.




Baptistry and Cathedral in Pisa, Italy







I found the mythology and pagan items in the Vatican interesting. This is Perseus cutting off the head of Medusa (which I mainly know not because of our museum guide but because I watched Clash of the Titans as a kid).




I think this was Rome




Posing with the group in our helmets and sunglasses before we took off on the segways. Mark and Colton Wilson, Jennifer and Fred Cooper, Tenisha Wilson, Phil and Karen Lewis, Jim and Jana





Rome with an awesome sky as a storm approached






Some place in Italy






Colosseum





This was just sitting there at the Colosseum and it made me think of whoever was wearing it thousands of years ago




Aaron Dihn (Diamond Distributor). The large yellow things I think are a type of Lemon. In Sorrento, Italy they are famous for a lemon liquor




Traci, Mark and Tenisha Wilson, Jim, Colton Wilson, Shannon and Jeff Yates at Pompei




A child preserved forever in Ash that has petrified at Pompei




More people preserved in the poses they were in as they were covered with burning ash from Mt Vesuvias in Pompei.





Distributors in Pompei





This was a street in Pompei with residential houses and cafés. Over 20,000 people lived in Pompei





Jana and I in Naples, Italy (I think)





In Napels or Sorrento. Instead of carving their initials, lovers put their names on locks and place them on the guard rails.




Shannon and Jeff at an outdoor market in Marseille, France





These types of fountains were everywhere in France and Italy




Another fountain





Jana and Shannon waiting for a train in France





I think this is Nice, France





Cathedral in Florence, Italy. It is one of the top 3 largest cathedrals in the world. We saw all 3 on this trip (the other two being Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and St. Peter's Bascillica in the Vatican.)




Jana and the leaning tower of Pisa with an awesome stormy sky





Cathedral in Pisa, Italy









I loved all the little gothic and dark scenes on all the cathedrals and other religious buildings.








Practicing on the Segways (Jen Cooper, Jana and Tenisha Wilson)











artwork on the wall of what was a house in Pompei, Italy.





These rocks on the streets of Pompei were like speed bumps. The carriages had to slow down so their wheels get get in between the rocks.




an amphitheater in Pompei









Fred and Mark arguing with a taxi driver about price.




Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Cool Gaudi architecture. Dark, foreboding gothic at the bottom, Disneyland at the top (note the fruit at the top).





Front view of Sagrada Familia with more Disneyland as you see the Christmas tree with doves on top.









Jana caught me on video as I was learning how to ride the segway. It takes about 10 minutes to get your balance so I was practicing to learn how before we took off to explore Rome for the day.

4 comments:

Tiffany Anderson said...

JEALOUS!!!! I am so happy you were able to go visit all of those wonderful places. It's so weird to see your pictures of places I would go passed everday. I miss the fountains and buildings and riding a bike and EVERYTHING so much! I'm jealous you got to go to Pompeii and Naples, I wanted to go there.
Next time I want to see you riding a bike in the busy streets:)

Nick Ballard Family said...

I am loving these pictures!!! I want to go back to Italy and see more of europe sooooooo bad!!! that top picture is great of you two!

Cyndi Bohan said...

What an awesome vacation!
LOL at the wrinkly topless women.
The liquor from Italy is VERY good. We can get it here it's called "Limoncello" or some other nonsense that I can't spell. :o)

The Parks said...

Those are amazing photos! I would love to go to those places some day.