The Barnes Family

Day 10 Mykonos, Greece A little rain didn’t keep us away from this beautiful village. We did sleep in and took out time getting off the boat. We had lunch on the boat with Nancy and Ken and then headed out. Todd and I were only going to stay for about an hour but we ended up staying close to 3 hours. At first all you see are the same little shops all selling the same things, a few restaurants but not to much to make you want to stay. I heard the beaches on Mykonos were stunning but because of the rain and cold weather we couldn’t experience those. We kept winding down the streets and kept finding the CUTEST little stores and restaurants. It was the cutest place. Day 11 Day at Sea I’m gonna be honest, I was so thrilled when I woke up to a cold and cloudy day. I spend my ENTIRE DAY in bed, enjoying room service and just resting. I got up to go to a brief fitness seminar thing, then took another late afternoon nap and then got ready for out formal night and dinner with the hot...

Day 9 Santorini, Greece: Beautiful! Simply beautiful! We actually woke up at 10:00! I can’t remember the last time I slept or even just stayed in bed until 10am! I woke up at 6:45 but thought I’d sleep until 9 and then go workout before getting off the boat. At 9 I woke up and decided to give myself until 9:30 and well I didn’t get to work out this morning! Instead we slept in, met Nancy and Ken for lunch and then went to get the tender to Santorini. 10 minutes later and we were forced to make a tough decision; walk up a flight of 600 stairs( 890 feet above the Port), take a donkey ride up the flight of stairs or wait in line for a cable car. At first glance the wait for the cable car looked long, turns out there wasn’t a wait at all. We were up to the top in no time. We walked around for awhile and then ended up in the a small hotel lobby which was actually the site of the post office in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Here we grabbed a car to the Oia (EE-AH) to see the beaut...

Day 5: Day at Sea I love days at sea! Wake up late, lay by the pool... just do WHATEVER WE WANT! It was so nice to sleep in and get a late start. The boat went forward an hour so it really threw us off the next morning. We woke up and got a nice chair on the deck for an afternoon of catching rays. I don't normally do this but since my spray tan is starting to fade, I need some real sun. We stayed out in the sun for about 4.5 hours, only taking a small break for lunch and then Todd and I headed inside for a spin class! Yes, even on the high seas I am not going to turn down a chance to spin! Let me just say, I missed my spin shoes. My minimulist running shoes might be great for running and walking but they are not made to stand up on a spin bike. My feet were killing me. Luckily we didn't do to much standing and the class really kicked my butt and Todd's! Of course on the day at seas they do the formal nights. Which was nice for Mother's day. We went to one of their s...

We celebrated mother’s day on Saturday before we left for our cruise. Gave our cards, hugs and small gifts. However I want to dedicate this post to my mother…             I am lucky to have a wonderful relationship with my mom. She is more than just my mother; she is also my best friend! She has been there for me through the good times and the bad. Always giving good advice or just listening when I needed some one to talk to. I love watching her with my kids. They have a great relationship with their Mimi and I know that it will only get better with time. I don’t know many grandmothers that would watch their grandchildren for 12 days! Let me repeat that…12 DAYS! I am so grateful to have her in my life; she is willing to help me when I need it. She is always there to come keep me company or take the kids for a night so that we can have a night out without them. She is a one of a kind Mimi.      ...

5:00am: Wake up to the sun starting to come u- Todd was actually more awake than I was. 5:45am: Todd and I walked around the very empty walking track. 6:00am: I ran a mile on the treadmill and Todd walked 2.4 miles. I also did a few leg workouts and arm workouts with the machines. 7:15am: we hit the hot tub and watched us sail past a volcano! 9:00am: sat down for breakfast with Nancy and Ken 10:30am: off the boat and on the way to a very cute little village type area. Lots of fun, beautiful sights and the best pizza. It was great. We finished it off with some chocolate mouse and coconut gelato. Loving the gelato. Once back on the boat, Todd and I hit the gym again, I did 10 minutes on the bike followed by 20 on the elliptical. Todd did 30 on the elliptical! GO TODD! I am now lying in our room, truly enjoying the dim light and the stillness. I love that I can just take time out and sit here. Later…. Dinner! ***Dessert: flash fried strawberries with a special sauce ...

I have never been one to take my workout gear on vacation but knowing that I was going to be eating pasta, pizza and yummy desserts forced me to pack it up for this trip. I also realized that I don’t feel well if I don’t workout. I have come to far with this whole running thing to just stop! So today, we woke up, got our running shoes on and went to a park right across from our hotel. It was amazing. Todd and I ran 1 mile and walked a total of 3 miles all over the park, ending up back at the hotel for breakfast. A quick breakfast and we all had to shower and pack up. Some how I managed to forget my camera charger. I remembered everything else, but I forgot the charger! So Todd decided that we would ask the front desk where a camera shop was… want to guess how that went? Many people speak English but today, no one understood what we needed. We decided to spend our last 30 minutes walking the streets of Rome trying to find a camera charger. We did not have any luck finding one ...

Today was a packed day! After an early morning wake up, a yummy omelet, and a crazy cab ride, we arrived for our 3 (which turned out to be closer to 4) hour private tour of the Vatican. WOW! You would need a week to see and really take in everything and we were only there 4 hours. Some of the highlights.... 1. St. Peter's Basicalla- I was blown away my this! Beautiful and overwhelming. 2. Sistine Chapel- another great piece of artwork. 3. The Raphael Rooms- four rooms in the Palace of the Vatican, hold beautiful frescoes painted by Raphael. 4. Roman sculptures, tombstones, the gallery of maps and so many other things, that I honestly can't remember.  At a point I really started to get overwhelmed and HOT! It was very stuffy and because of the strict dress code I was wearing a long dress and sweater over it and there were alot of people in one small room. Our guide was wonderful and he clearly loved what he did and knew so much about all the artwork and history. It is tru...