The Trip of a Lifetime

My family and I recently went on an amazing vacation—it was a cruise around the Mediterranean that began in Barcelona, Spain, and stopped in beautiful ports through Europe, including Naples, Rome, Florence/Pisa and the French Riviera.

We left New York on Friday night on a “red eye” and arrived in Spain on Saturday morning. Barcelona was interesting, especially since it was our first European city, and it was my job to take photos, and do the conversion from euros to dollars—when we were there, the conversion rate was around 1.20 euros. We did a lot of shopping in Barcelona; they had really pretty jewelry shops and reasonable prices.

The next day we headed to the ship; it was huge—and it was magnificent! There were 14 floors, three pools, an ice skating rink, huge theater, rock-climbing wall and an entire floor for sports entertainment. There was also a huge gym and several restaurants. On day three, the boat docked in Naples, Italy, and we had an excursion to Positano and the Amalfi coast. The drive up the coast is a very narrow street that curves up a very steep mountain. My mom and grandmother were actually getting car sick. But the view was amazing—there were gorgeous resorts and mansions that were built right into the mountainside, just above the beautiful blue water. We ate pasta in Positano, and it was probably the most delicious meal I ever had.  

Next day was Rome. We drove into the city and stopped at St. Peter’s Basilica just as the Pope was blessing the crowd (if you are too far away from him, you can see him on a big screen TV in the back of the square). We also went into the Vatican and saw Michelangelo’s Pieta and the Sistine chapel where Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling to illustrate stories in the Bible. When you are in the Sistine chapel, you are not allowed to talk. The reason for this is that your breath could disturb the artwork on the ceiling. No lie. One of the funniest things about Rome is that people of all ages drive around on scooters, and they drive like maniacs! We asked our tour guide if he had a scooter, and he said no because he was not an organ donor.

Florence was next: We stopped at Pisa first to see the Leaning Tower and took goofy pictures that looked like we were pushing it up. Funniest thing that happened there was that I ran into my friend Tony, who I know since kindergarten—he was touring Italy with his family! Then we went to see Michelangelo’s David; the statue is enormous. It’s hard to believe that someone sculpted it from a slab of marble. We ended the day at a leather store that had a factory in the back, where we bought beautiful leather bags and my sister got a cool leather jacket.  

The last two days were spent swimming at beaches on the French Riviera. It was nice to have some down time after the hectic tours, and the water of the Mediterranean was crystal blue and so warm. I met teenagers from all over the world on the boat—some spoke English, some didn’t, but everyone was happy. The one language that we all shared was music: We all danced together every night!  The captain also set up large screen TVs in the lobby so that everyone could watch the World Cup soccer games—it was fun because Spain was winning and there were lots of Spaniards on the ship. Soccer is huge in Europe; I think they call it “futbol,” which is ironic, because that is a whole other sport in America.

This trip taught me the value of travel, the differences between cultures and how trips make memories. I’m sure I will never forget this one.