Arriving in Barcelona. Now I must admit that I wrote most of this blog when we returned from honeymoon starting with Day 2 Monte Carlo, Monaco. Although only a couple of weeks have past I have forgotton most of what we have done n Spain. I will try my best to remember more details and add them as I go along. Hope you enjoy this blog. I loved every minute of this holiday.

Barcelon, Spain the Day before the cruise.

We arrived in Barcelona late afternoon. The sun was shining and the air was warm. This was already a good start to the holiday. We booked into our hotel it was called Hotel 1892. It was a very posh hotel on La Rumba street (the main tourist street). We booked a double room as this is our first night of honeymoon only to receive a twin room. The aircon dripped all night. Daniel was fast asleep but of course I was wide awake listening to the drip of the aircon and Daniels snoring. Barcelona is a lovely weekend city. I would definetly want to go back as there is so much to explore. We got a taxi to the hotel which helped to orientate us as there are heaps of tourists. After we dropped our suitcases we walked down La Rumba to the famous food market La Boqueria. The variety of fruit and veg was amazing. They also sold things like goat's head, trotters, brains and all sort of other weird things you dont normally buy. We bought some peaches and some sweets. The fruit looked amazing in size and colour but the taste was okay, maybe not worth the extra euro's. Next we walked up to see the two famous Antonio Gaudi buildings. The one that represents a skeleton with bones is very impressive. It is all very fairylike storytale but obviously set in the real world. We walked back down passed all the designer shops to main fountain and square. Daniel wanted to stop by the Hard Rock. We went back to the hotel to have tapas on their roof top terrace. Tapas is amazing. It is basically small portions of finger foods but it is yummy my favourite one was venision stuffed cannoloni. The roof was amazing from the terrace. You could see the whole city as the sun was setting, the air was warm it was just lovely. After dinner we decided to go search for some real food as tapas is very expensive and comes in small portions. We ended up strolling back up to the fountains up La Rumnba with our first gelato of many on this trip. We took some photo's of the trouristy things and did a bit of shopping.

Day 1: Spain, Barcelona boarding the cruiship

We woke up early or rather I never went to bed thanks to the bloody aircon so we woke up early. We had a game plan if we woke up early we good go and see Sagrada Familia Church. This is truelly and amazing church which was started in 1882 and still unfinished. It looks amazing inside on the pictures. So we went on our first metro ride in spain to Familia church. We got their and saw a whole lot of people, turns out the church is open but only to the people in this religiouse parade. So we never got to see it. The outside is impressive but I would like to return one day to see the inside. Next we took the metro down to the cable car. The cable car took us up to the castle. We didnt go in but walked around the outside. It was so nice as it was too early for any tourist to be about. We had a fantastic view of the harbour and spotted Carnival Magic (our boat) in the harbour. We sat at the top and ate the peanut brittle that my mum brought us from SA as we hadnt had any breakfast or a reall dinner the previous night. We took the cable cars down again and went to the hotel to check out before lunch. We went to lunch at a place called Isabella Tapas restaurant. Wow what amazing food it was set at the back off a side street of busy La Rumba. We sat outside under the umbrella's opposite to the church. The atmosphere was great we even got a free glass of sparkling wine. We went back to the hotel o pick up our bags and catch a taxi to the ship.

The ship is huge. We boarded and there are lifts everywhere and people walking in every which direction. After 2 weeks on board carnival magic we still got lost. We found our way to our room on the 7th floor. It was at the back of the ship, it had its own balcony. The room was in the perfect spot near the back set of lifts but in the quieter side of the ship. We unpacked and walked around the ship exploring all the various decks. Four o clock we had a safety briefing and he also went through all the trips. We did end up changing a few of the excursions. Next we went to get a coffee from lido deck we were just sitting when the waiters were like this is a safety drill we had to go to our safety area. Everyone was there by the time we got there as it was at the back of the ship and we couldnt use the lifts as it is a fire safety drill. We got ready for dinner q'd up at the souther restaurant only to find out our dinner restaurant is the norther lights. We had a delicious 3 course meal and went to a show after dinner. This ship is truelly amazing.

Day 2 Monte Carlo, Monaco

We woke up as the boat was arriving in the port. We opened our curtains and layed in bed watching the view as we had a port side room. The view was amazing. Monaco from the water is the best view. We got dressed at some breakfast and went down to jacuzzi. The boat was completely empty as most people chose the morning excursion so we had the whole place for ourselves. It was really magical.

In the afternoon we went on our excursion. It was to discover monaco, the principality and the city of monte carlo. We went to the Rock of Monaco using escaltors and lifts to the top. We saw the outside of the Prince's Palace and the old town. We went into Monaco Cathedral where Grace Kelly is burried. There wasnt much to the church except that a few royals were burried there. We walked around the motor coach and got a fanta to drink. The fanta there doesnt taste as disgusting as English fanta or as good as Egypt fanta it is somewhere in the middle. We drove and walked along the famous Grand Prix course going trhough the tunnels and seeing the special alcoves for the pit stops. Most of the roads in Monaco is underground. There is even a 5 exit roundabout underground. Next we went to the famous James Bond Casino at the top of a looong staircase. Outside in Casino Square you can see all the expensive cars and the rich and famous getting out to either visit the famous casino, hotel Paris or the coffee shop. They leave there half a million pound car with a parking attended to park. We took lots of photos with Daniel posing at the cars. Afterwards we went into the Casino I played some slots but lots it all. Daniel then played rolette with great success. On the final bet he lost it all in one go. The man next to me was playing with 4000 euro's ago our budget was much more moderate at 30 euros.

The Lady Noura, a luxury yacht owned by a sheikh was moored 2 boats from us. It is said to be one of the top 10 most luxurious boats in the world. At 60 000 euros a day you can hire her but only to stay in the harbour. People saw Beyonce sun bathing on her. We saw lots of people but only staff.

Day 3 Santa Margherita & Portofino, Savona

We started the day off with a 90 minute coach ride to the port of St. Margherita. It is a beautiful seaside village full of holidaying Italians. When I go back to Italy I would love to go back to this area and drive to every village stop and then drive to the next, it is beautiful. From St. Margherita we took a boat to Portofino. What a lovely journey. It was short but the scenery was out of a movie. Portofino means port of dolphins as their is often dolphins in the bay. Jonhny Depp is also shooting a movie there at the moment. Will have to wait and see. Mooring in the little harbour you see all the houses in beautiful colours with small boats bobbing in the water. It is an artist paradise. We walked in the piazza and then walked up the hill to the church were theres a beautiful view of the whole of portofino. The road in Portofino is so narrow it is only accessable by boat so it has not become too touristy. I tried to look to see the red/pink coral which the area is famous for but couldnt, will have to do some diving there some time. We walked back down the the square. It was so hot, I just wanted to go swim. The water is crystal clear and you can see all the little fish swimming around. Eventually I sat on the harbour with my feet in the water looking at the fish. We had gelato every day of our holiday with the exception of sea days and monaco, we even had it in Portofino. I think it was cherry flavour, not bad at all but my favourite one is by far melon and pineapple. Daniel likes the limoncello and lemony flavours. We did buy some Limoncello in Portofino. It is actually made in Sorento but we found in Portofino. Limoncello is a liquour made from these huge buffalo lemons. We also bought a spoon coaster thingy that we needed for home. We went into the lace shop as Italy is well known for the lace but there was nothing we could use in our house so we didnt get anything.

Day 4 Rome, Civitavecchia

This was my favourite tourguide of the tour. Her name was Paulo. She is a young girl but so passianate about Rome and it's history. She taught Daniel andiamo which means let's go. But all Daniel can remember is andiamos added with a aruba aruba so it went adiamos aruba aruba. Im still not sure what aruba aruba has to do with anything but it was really funny. 2 weeks on and he still cant remember the right was to say it so now he says adiamos and i say aruba aruba.

It was a 90 minute coach ride to get from port to Rome city centre. We enjoyed a scenic drive along the Tiber River. We started our tour at the Trevi fountain. Both of use threw 1 coin into the fountain using our right hand and throughing it over our left shoulder as not to have any bad luck but the one coin means to return to Rome one day. We couldnt through 3 coins in as 2 is to find love and 3 is to divorce. We just got married so we have love and dont want to divorce so we stuck to 1. When I was threw my coins someone elses coin landed on me - it hurt. We had some free time but our tour guide were taking some people around to some of the sites so we decided to go with her. We saw the Spanish steps, lots of benini's work like the leaky fountain. We also walked through a lot of piazza's looking at 2 different egyptian coloumns/needles they still have the hieroglyphics on them. After that we walked to the pantheon and just up the little side street from the pantheon in a tiny little shop you can go a level below the modern city and see an old original temple column as like Edinburgh the old city lies underneath. The modern city is built on top of the old city replacing it. After that we walked to Piazza Novona were Daniel and I shared a tortufu. He didnt like it but I dont think he likes glazed fruit in anything not even ice cream. We met the other people back at the Trevi fountain and walked and walked and walked a very long way to get to our coach. I dont think I was ever as hot as I was at this point. Rome is always busy and always hot. We ate lunch at a traditional restaurant serving a salad, lasagna, tirimisu and an espresso. I didnt like the food that much it seemed a bit gimicky.

After lunch we went to the Colleseum where we met another local called Latitchia. She showed us the Colleseum. Not once did she stand in the shad when explaining things. By the end everybody was just aiming for shade as it was unbearably hot at this point. Daniel loved the Colleseum it was most probaly his highlight of Rome I think it is a guy thing.

Lastly we went to St Peters Bascilica. It is the one place where tours cannot pre book tickets so we stood in the queue. The Colleseum was a piece of cake compared to this. The heat was so bad I was standing in people shadows. People were pushing to get to the shady spots it was hot. St Peters Bascilica was as beautiful as ever. The last time I went the dove wasnt uliminated but today the afternoon sun was perfect lighting up the stained glass window with the dove.

Driving and walking through Rome we saw lots of building, monuments and other famous sights like the gardens, the wedding cake etc. but for some of these places the day was too short to stop.

Day 4 Sorrento & Pompeii, Naples

We started off with a coach on a very winding pass round a mountain. It had spectacular views of small alcoves and people swimming and relaxing on the rocky shore. We stopped for a photo and then went to a traditional farm. The orchids were mainly lemon trees protected by higher growing olive trees. As lemon trees dont like sun which I found strange. The traditional farm makes lots of olive oil as they have olive groves and also wine. We were taken to the barn where the olives are stoned and pressed to make olive oil. The best olive oil comes from a specific accidity level it is under 1 next to nothing. After which we went to a cheese making demonstration. The lady was making mozzarella cheese. We got a snack plate with all the cheeses that is made on the farm. The mozarella is fresh and yummy I like the smoked mozarella which is hanged and smoked. The ricotta was okay but the chilli paste by god was hot. We had local wines with all our meals but Daniel and I are not big wine drinkers. i think South Africa still produces the best wines.

After the farm we went to Sorrento to the inlay wood shop. There were some beautiful inlay game tables and jewelerry boxes but it costs thousands of euros. Our guide today was a weird old man of 61 which reminded me of the Italian Mafia, he was a policemen and supports children to go to uni but he was strange. He would make sure people dont push in by shouting at them and then only to realise they were in the queue before him or only trying to get past him to go to the next attraction. After the wood in lay shop we walked through the tourity bit down to the viewpoint of the beach. We sat on the pillars looking at the beach and the tourist passing it was lovely. Afterwards we back up to the touristy bit where we bought a gelato. Daniel had limoncello and melon flavour. This was the first time I had melon flavoured and was hooked. This was my second favourite ice cream shop next to venice.

We boarded our coach again and went to Pompeii. Before I start Pompeii I just want to say this was the place I was looking forward to the most. My grandparents have both been and loved it. My mother cant stop talking about the jewellery that they brought back for her from Pompeii and how amazing it must be. What they dont tell you in the brochures is that all the items of display 50 years ago like the people caught in the lava, pots, animals, furniture, people shagging caught in the lava they all have been taken away and put in a museum far away from Pompeii so If you want to see the remains you have to go to these museums. I didnt know this so when I saw the ruins I kept waiting to see all these people, animals, objects but saw none. It was to say the least dissapointing. The ruins are like stonehenge a bit boring after 10mins. The difference is most of the ruins in pompeii has been rebuilt with orange brick they say it is so you can have the idea of how it use to look. To me it only meant that I am looking at some modern man made structure how they thought a miedevil city to look. There were a few quirky bit to see. The big stepping stones in the road that acted like a pedestrian crossing as all the sewerage was just running down the street. Special holes in the pavements to tie horses to. The lead water pipe. The grooves made by carts the horses use to drag up and down the streets. The streets operated on a one way system as they were narrow much like London today. We did see the best perserve bakery and a beware of the dog sign made our of floor mosiac tiles. We also saw the borthel were they use to have pictures of the acts as a lot of the sailors did not understand Italian. They use to point and show the men what sort of establishment it was and they could choose what they would like to do. You can imagine once seeing Mt Vezelus how it mut of been with Pompeii covered. I wouldnt bother to ever go back here but I would like to go to those museums at some point to see all the cool artefacts. I got so carried away that I didnt tell you about the cameo I bought here. Just by the entrance of Pompeii is where they make the cameo's. A silver cameo is made by students and a gold cameo is made by the proffesional. It doesnt matter how big or small the cameo the price is determined by the amount of detailed engraved on the cameo. The oute shell is very hard so the artist has to work very hard to get to the next layer where it is soft enough to start the cameo. I didnt buy a cameo the last time I went to Italy and always regretted it. I always said if it is the only thing I buy I want to buy a cameo if I ever go back. I bought a peach faced came in gold. It has the huntress on it. A very traditional one but really beautiful. There were many other colours but the peach is my favourite. We only had 25mins in the shop which was quite a rush to find a cameo and go to the toilet. Anybody that has done touring before knows when your guide advises you to pee you go as it means there are no toilets in sight for the next couple of hours. But in the end it worked out well I spend 22mins looking and buying my cameo and quickly nipped to the toilet. We got a free water there as it is so hot and we bought some more gelato here.

Day 5 Mt Etna 2900m, Messina

Let me start off by saying Mt Etna was one of the highlights of this tour. I would love to go back. Mt Etna is Europes largest volcano. We had a 2hour coach drive from the port of Messina to the base of the volcano where we took a cable care to the next base. At this middle base there is 1 shop that sells hot drinks and a few savouniours. After our cable car we went up this winding path with 4x4's. Before I go any further let me tell you about the cable car. It fits 6 people with a squash. When the wind blows the whole cable car swings if it starts to blow too hard the entire track comes to a stand still and you are suspended metres above the ground swaying from side to side. I dont have vertigo but this was pretty scary. They do stop the cable car if their is lots of volcanic activity. We not sure why our cable car stopped both ways we think it might have been the wind but they did say in the last hour as we were going up that their has been an increase in volcanic activity. Since then Mt Etna has made news headlines as it has become more active. Every 10 years of so they have to rebuilt the roads, cable car, ski lift etc as it all gets destroyed when Mt Etna errupts and the lava starts to spill down the mountain. During our tour we were aloud to pick and keep some lava stones. The Americans were so funny of course they would pick the biggest ones and the rest of the group only picked a momento. It is nice to stereotype Americans but after spending two weeks on a cruise with over 3000 of them you soon realise they not far from the truth. Back to Mt Etna, it was cool up their at 2900m and some snow still remains on the mountain but when ou feel the ground it is in the high 20 C. You cant really touch the ground for too long at some spots as it is two hot. One of the photo's is taken by a building which you can only see the roof of as the rest of the building is covered by lava. In the photo I am taller then the building but this was a 2 storey building. We proceded to walk the Silvestri Crater. Our Alpin guide started his 45 minute walk around the top of the crater. Interesting enough white cloud means the volcano is letting off steam, grey means ash, and any colours like orange or green means its letting off gasses. We saw steam and ash at Mr Etna but was lucky enough to see some gas at Stromboli. A lot of the side volcano's has errupted over the years they all in a line because they all are on the fault lines. Our guide had a good explanation of the types of volcano's you get. He said volcano's are like a cut on your hand. If you push it together their is very little blood flow but when you start pulling it apart the skin tears and theirs lots of blood. Mt Etna exist because the two plates are pushing together. For that reason there is minimal lava flow although when you standing their the lava flow is wider and longer then most rivers but they say the people still love living there as they always have fair warning to get out of the way. The houses in Sicily are amazing. Its the life style that I dream of. The people are totally self -sufficient. The climate is moderate so all the houses have terraced gardens with their own fruit and veg. They have lots of variety including things like banana's, passion fruit, tomatoes, peach, apple, lemon trees all these different fruit and veg in just one garden. Most of the people are fishermen so they are living the dream. It is amazing how the vegation changes from where the ship dock to the base of Mt Etna. On the ships side the vegatation is lush with lots of greenery but as you get closer to Mt Etna it starts to change as vegatation starts to grown on the lava flow. It takes 20 years for the first organism and plants to start to grown on the lava flow. On our way down from Mr Etna we saw these lava worm pipes its like the ones you see on tv they are pretty cool. We experienced so much on Mt Etna but it is hard to put in words what made it so special. It must have been the combination of journey to get their admiring the view as the cable car climbed higher and the experience of standing on an active volcano. The people are a melting pot of different nations and speak different pidgeon Italian wherever they are in the island. Our driver and guide had to speak in Italian otherwise they would not be able to understand each other even thought they are from the same island. That night we went throught the straights of Messina.

Day 6: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Wow! A place not to be missed. Croatia is like the old Medditeranean before tourism took over. Next year they join the EU. Daniel and I will certainly try to go back before this happens. We sailed into Croatia at midday. We were able to admire all the little coves with the small boats and the crystal clear water. Egypt, Thailand, SA, Italy, none of these places can compare to the crystal clear water you can find their. It is breath taking. We docked at Dubrovnik and was told to look for all the houses with orange roofs as these are all the houses effected by the war that had to be rebuilt - it was a sea of orange. Even though the reason behind it might be quite negative it does make a pretty picture and make you realise how many people were effected. We went up to the cable car. The temperatures were soaring into the 30's and their was no shade. On this particular blog you will often hear me complain that it was too hot espesially in Rome and Venus but there you could always find shade but in Dubrovnik theres no shade. Now people who know me know I love sunny days but I do not like to be anywhere near the sun as I burn like toast in about two seconds. Dubrovnik was hot without any shade but it still couldnt deter me. At the top of the cable car you get an amazing view of the old town which still has its old city wall. On both sides of the wall there is a draw bridge that get shut at night to keep the people safe and a metal chain used to get spun across the harbour in the old days. When the enemy boats tried to sneak in they use to sail into this chain and get tangled in it. There is an amazing view of the islands. When you turn around you can see the hills and the first towns of Bosnia. A trip well worth it. Next we went down to the old town and walked around the old town. The guide did tell us a few points and pointed out the gun shots in the walls but there is not that much to see as a lot of the old buildings were destroyed in the war and was now rebuild. In our 45mins free time we walked along the city wall to a small rocky peers. We got changed and went for a swim. The water was pretty cold but it was so refreshing as theday was so hot. When we go again I want to cruise and do more of the see kayaking and other boat trips to the marshes. We walked back and stopped for a gelato. Yes gelato is everywhere as this is where most Italians go for their holidays. We waited quite a while for the coach and then went back to the ship. We watch the sunset over the islands. Pink and purple washed the sky with islands dotting the horizon truelly romantic.

Day 7: Sea Day

Day seven was a sea day, we didnt do much except for jaccuzzi, tried the sushi bar and rested. It was such a busy couple of days and we all know how much I like walking. That evening we sailed into Venus as the sun was setting. They change the itenary so we were able to see Venus by sunset. The sun set right over St Peters Bell tower. All the people lined the decks we went to the front of deck 7 just under the bridge and watched the pilot board the boat and guide as into the lagoon where two tug boats joined us. First we had one at the back to guide as in and once we were in there was another one at the front pulling us along to our dock. There was one funny moment. Other boats usually keeps out of the way of the huge ship and it says everywhere on the sides of the ship to stay 30m away from it. This poor fishers boat was radio'eed a number of times as the ship had to wait for him. It turns out the fisherman was called Marco he was the only person on the boat and was desperately trying to get all his nets up to get out of the way. It was close to say the least and you could see from the boat he was frantically pulling up his long nets. Once he got out the way safely everyone cheered. Poor guy.

Day 8: Venice, Italy

Very sad but Venice would be the last port of call before we start heading home. At this point we were already regretting having to think of going home. We started off the early in the morning. We boarded our motor taxi from the ship to Venus. Our first stop was Dodge's Palace. Dodge's is the guy like you might say the priest. It's not one specific person but the person in power at that time. The Italians always believed that power should be shared, if one person has too much power or for too long it corrupts. I must say it is not far from the truth this reminds me of Sicily where the Mafia started. It started there because Sicily is an island off the main land. Its electricity use to be supplied by a couple running across the water from mainland Italy to Sicily. But what happened is that people felt nobody cared they were forgotton. At the time it wasn't far from the truth. There was no structure no enforcement of rules of protection. So the Mafia was born to honour and protect and enforce rules but the plan was flawed as people become corrupt. Back to the Dodge's Palace. The square is quite beautiful and all the rooms are filled with paintings. Some of these paintings are world famous although they were not that spectacular to me. We walked up this golden archway up some stairs through a number of rooms to get to the famous bridge. The bridge is made so that people can see inside but the people on the inside can see out. It is called the sigh bridge as people sigh'd on it. This is were the prisoners would see there family for the last time before they were beheaded but there family would not see them. I did sigh on the bridge as I was happy for some fresh air, that side of the palace is a bit claustorphobic. Next we went through St Peter's Square to the Murano Glass Blowing demonstration. We had a short wait and the we watch the 10 minute demonstration. I have blogged about this before when I went there with my mum. I am not sure what Daniel thought of it but we saw the guy making a vase. It is amazing that this particular glass cant really break and only men from a particular family lineage could do it. In Italy most men are still above women its back to that old mentality. Charming for a while but after living in London for such a long time you realise two things the old life is good but not always fair.

After the Murano glass blowing we had a little bit of free time to explore. We walked back through the square to eat our free gelato right by the two columns. I had strawberry flavour and it was good but not great. On our way we saw lots of shops selling masks. Daniel kept reminding me that we still needed masks for that nights masquerade ball. We crossed the square and walked passed the oldest cafe to the Hard Rock Cafe. I had a Pink Lady cocktail which was delicious pureed strawberries and ice with a bit of run. We shared a plate of nacho's and Daniel bought his glasses and a pin. We didnt know that the pin was of Amsterdam so later that night we had to go back to return it. Luckily the ship had not sailed on. After the hard rock we met out tourguide at the two columns and too the water taxi back to the ship. We cooled off in the aircon which was bliss for a couple of hours. I had a shower to get the suntan lotion off and then got glammed up for our night time gondala ride.

At 8 15pm we took a water taxi to St Marks square but on this time on the other side near the gonadala station. 8 15pm might sound late but the sun was still shining as it is summer in Europe. We had about a 15minute walk through all the back streets of Venice. The buildings here look like the paintings with different earthy coloured washes, funny door knockers etc. Next time were in Venice I definetely want to explore these side streets. We reached the gondala station, we were grouped in groups of 4. We shared our gondala with an elderly couple from America. They were a dear old couple and almost more in love then us. Our gondala had blue seats, the gondalier was a young guy sort of our age. He kept singing along with the music and kicking the walls when he wanted to turn the boat. A gondala ride in Venice by night is something special. The sun was starting to set. We were in sets of three gondala's together 1 having the live music. So you could always here music drifting away behind you while you watched all the beautiful quaint houses in the sunset. By the end of the gondala ride the sun had set and we saw Venice by night. If I could recommend Venus to anyone I would say spend the whole evening out its so much cooler and more enjoyable. All the piazza's come alive with music you start to feel like your in the real Italy and not just in another tourist trap. After the gondala ride we quickly went to the Hard Rock Cafe to exchange Daniels pin. We had the wrong receipt but luckily they let him swap it for a Venice one. Afterwards we strolled the streets looking into the shops until we went down to the mask shop we saw earlier. It was closed so we went down the the street that runs parrellel to the square. Ive forgotten the name of it. There were loads of little restaurants and shops. We found our masks, I chose a purple mask with a big purple feather and Daniel chose a phantom type mask with musical notes on it. We started walking back to the meeting point, we bought our last gelato for a very long time it was 3 scoops. I had strawberry, melon, pineapple. My 3 favourite flavours and it was the best gelato of the trip. We carried on walking to our meeting point passing all the cafe's in the piazza's playing live music. We saw all the famous attractions lighted up but without all the hoards of people. We finished our gelato at the gondala's in front of the two columns - truelly a night to remember.

We boarded our water taxi and went back to the ship. There we only had about 20mins to get dressed for our midnight masquerade ball as when we got off our taxi the security control lost their power and made us wait until an engineer could come to fix it. The annoying thing was that some people got let through so some families were even split up some queing and some boarding the boat. Back to the masquerade ball. We went upstairs to get dressed for this ball. I was so tired after such a long day and just wanted to sleep but of course we got out masks so we had to go to the party. The party was kicking off as we were sailing out of Venice so we could enjoy the lights of Venice at midnight as the boat sailed away. We got to the top deck - I was so embarressed to walk around with my mask - but when we got there it was packed with people wearing masks. It felt like a midevil ball. We got a drink and sat the people go by. Then the show started, they chose audience members to be Romeo and Juliet and they had to act out a few lines with Juliet standing on the upper deck that was funny there was even south african couple amongst the mix. Next it was a slow dance for those in love. So of course with some persuading from Daniel we got up and slow danced. Ive got to say it was romantic in the end as more and more people started to join. Next the wanted to take the biggest photo with the most people. We formed a little snake I say little a couple of hundred of people and walked around the lower and upper deck by the pool until they could position us on lido deck and the stairs for a photo. There were some amazing masks. The one lady had a full on mask with feathers shape like an Indian. After prancing around a little more we went back to our room. It was so funny we tried to take some photo's of us in the mask but I look half dead in mine I was so tired. Have a look at my mask photo's on the blog.

Day 9: Sea Day

We woke up and had some breakfast buffet style. The choice in restaurants is amazing. There is 24hr pizza, hot dogs, burgers and ice cream. Then a bit more formal but still casual you can go to the buffet for lunch and dinner if you dont want the junk food. Most of our dinners we ate in the northerlights restaurant which is a 3 course sit down meal. I had gazpacho a cold tomato soup for the first time and loved it. They bring the plate out with just finely chopped onion, cucumber and tomato a bit like a salsa and then the soup in a gravy bowl which they pour over for you. It was yummy. They had lots to choose. every night their is a different menu. Daniel ate some kind of steak most nights. I always ate the fish. The snapper was good and the shrimp was pretty good. For dessert they had things like baked alaska, tirimisu, etc but my favourite was the chocalate melting pot which came as a micky mouse. The two micky mouse ears were the ice-cream. You always got ice water and bread. We did have wine on one night and then the waitor said they can keep the rest for the next night as wine is not included in the price. We did double to check that they put the right table number on it. We had some cocktails, my favourite one was 'Kiss on the lips' which is a mango and strawberry puree mixed with crushed ice with some vodka yum. Daniel had a amarula, bailey and something else. It tasted like a don pedro and I kept wanting to drink his. We didnt do that much on the sea day. We change our couples massage to today so we could see stromboli as both was at 1pm. The massage was good but after Egypt it just doesnt feel the same.

Next up was the formal evening. I wore my red shoes with silver sandals. Daniel didnt want to wear his suit so he wore suit trousers and a nice top. Every night at 10 45 they had a dance in the restaurant and patrons could join in. On that night all the waitors lined the staircase and they sang Bal Amore.

Day 10: Sea Day & Stromboli

We were on our way back to Barcelona when the captain decided to make a special detour around Stromboli. Stromboli is a volacano and had become very active the week before we started sailing. The village at the bottom only has a couple of hundred of people. There is also this small dot (island) just off Stromboli. When you start to go around the island you can see the volcano it was steaming at the time and let off a puff of gas just as we started to go away from it. There were a number of rumbles and some rocks spewed out rolled down the hill and landed in the water. We were lucky that we could watch this from the balcony of our room.

Day 11: Sea Day

There was so much to do. We had to go and see the Marriage show try to stop by the pub quiz in the morning and get our last jacuzzi in and then start to pack. The shows were fantastic. Daniel loved the magicians that even made a helicopter dissapeared. I liked it when the lady was cut in half and walked around pushing the trolley with only her legs showing. The one I liked the most was the morning show that started at 9 15 on sea days. This is were people write letters to their loved ones and it gets read on air. Daniel use to sleep late and when I switched on the tv he always woke up to watch the morning show which I found strange. Then only to find out that he had written a letter telling the whole ship how after the accident he proprosed to me. We were famous on that ship. The first show we had to go on the stage to be congratulated Daniel kissed me and the whole audience cheered so after this letter we were famous on the ship. The cruise directer John Heald a great guy send us a bottle of Italian bubbly to celebrate.

Day 12: Debarkation

We had to wake up really early at 5 to have a quick breakfast and waited to be called over the PA system. We went to the airport boarded our plane back to the UK only to be welcomed by the grey skies and rain. It is an understatement to say we had a fantastic honeymoon and really didnt want to go back to our lives here in the UK. If only we could find a way to stay aboard the Carnival Magic.