Tuesday morning, we left Rome early and made our way to the airport to pick up our new rental car. Seeing as we are a group of 5 now, we needed a bigger car - so we have a roomy minivan that we and our luggage can all fit comfortably in. We programmed the GPS and headed toward Pompeii. We arrived around 2:00 pm and made our way through the archeological site that was once a thriving little village. I had been to Pompeii before in 2008, but the eerie feeling of e...

Saturday morning, we left our beach and island life behind in Terracina and headed to the bustling city of Rome. We drove to the hotel to drop off our bags before heading to the airport to pick up our family friends, Keith and Barb, who are traveling with us on the rest of our European adventure. Between navigating to the hotel and back to the airport, Jamie got a good dose of driving in Rome - which is an adventure in itself. That afternoon, once everyone was se...

Yesterday, I made my way from my hostel in Rome to the Airport. I went to arrivals and waited anxiously at the gate. After about 45 minutes of waiting, I finally saw two very familiar faces. I jumped back the barrier and gave Mom and Jamie two enormous hugs; I couldn't believe I was actually seeing them in the flesh after almost six months apart. It was funny that I knew that time had passed - and mom said that my whole attitude was different - and yet it felt li...

Saturday night, I got on a plane and made my way to Rome. The flight was delayed and the baggage as well - by the time I navigated my way through public transit and to my hostel, it was about midnight. Sunday, I was completely exhausted. The late night and the past week's partying were taking a toll on me. Seeing as it was Sunday and mostly everything was closed, I had a nice relaxing day at the hostel, uploading photos and catching up on some tv shows. Monday,...

What a week!! There is no other way to describe this past week other than amazing! I accompanied my Canadian friend, Christine on a Contiki boat cruise through the Croatian islands. It was a week of sunshine, swimming and meeting lots of new friends. The boat was called the Labrador. It was just a small ship with about twenty cabins that housed the 36 tour participants and crew. There was a large sun-tanning roof at the top, and two floors of above deck cabins...