Photomoon.

Barcelona, Spain:
Before our departure on our Mediterranean cruise, we spent an afternoon and morning in Barcelona. Our first destination was the famous La Rambla, a chaotic street stretching from the Placa Catalunya to the statue of Christopher Columbus at the edge of Port Vell. The street itself is a magnet for vendors, street performers, tourists, and pickpockets, but the narrow side streets hide classic Spanish architecture, an endless of sea of shops and restaurants in tunnel after shaded tunnel.

The next morning we made our way to Club Nou, home of the 2008-2009 European League champion FC Barcelona, which also boasts an ice skating rink, stadiums for Barca basketball and baseball teams, and an immense construction project to modernize the transit access. A 17 Euro ticket gets you access to a self-guided stadium tour, the soccer club's museum and storied history, and a saturation in rich tradition of tenacious play, dogged fight, and Catalan pride.
Europe's largest stadium, a day after the couple's largest day.

In Catalan, the seats say "More than a club." They were resurfacing the pitch on the day of our visit.

Our ship, Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Sea, left Barcelona promptly at 6:30 pm that day. We watched the port drift by through the window of the main dining room at dinner.

1.) Port of Call: Villafranche, France; Destinations: Nice and Eze.
There's no port in Villafranche. We dropped anchor in a small bay and took a tender boat to the dock where we boarded a bus for Nice.

The view of the French Riveria and the topless section of the beach.

In every city, every tourist, including me, stopped to take pictures of the narrow streets.

Herding through Eze, a pedestrian-only town on top of a hill with too many glass shops and a gorgeous church.


2.) Port of Call: Livorno, Italy; Destinations: Florence and Pisa.
We walked the streets of Florence, stopping here at Piazza del Duomo, where the Cathedral, Bell Tower and Baptistery share the same square.

Amid the throng at Piazza della Signoria and the copy of Michelangelo's David. Stephanie and I are ashamed to admit that this is the location where learned that the sculpture's subject is the youth before he slew Goliath. Oh! That David!

Ponte Vecchio, a bridge famous for its covered design and shopping opportunities (about which we had zero interest).

Pisa is all about peer pressure. You can't help but pose with everyone else.


3.) Port of Call: Civitavecchia, Italy; Destinations: Vatican City (the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square) and the Colosseum.
Amid the holy cows, slowly shuffling through the Pope's hallways. Then we stepped into the Sistine Chapel and it shut us up. No pictures, of course, and someone hushing us like unruly children, but a truly unique experience.

Inside the largest Catholic church on the planet, standing next to Michaelangelo's Pietà, I decided to give in to a higher power. I stopped taking photos and surrendered to Wikipedia.

When in Rome...

This is where I started chanting, "Max-y-mus, Max-y-mus!" But seriously, it was a massive structure and a stunning experience.


4.) Port of Call: Mykonos, Greece; Destination: Mykonos, the island of Delos.
Situated at the center of a ring of islands called the Cyclades, Delos is "one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece." The excavations are some of the most extensive in the Mediterranean.

The island served as the cultural center of Greece, a duty-free zone of its time, popular for slave trading. The Greeks made it the birthplace of Artemis and her brother Apollo, and also built a palace for Dionysus.

The suburbs.


5.) Port of Call: Kusadasi, Turkey; Destination: Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary, and grave of St. John the Baptist.
"Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here."

What does every visitor need on a 98 degree, 95% humidity Turkish afternoon? A frozen towel hat, that's what.

On stage in the amphitheater, likely making a scene.

At the Turkish Ministry of Education's Loom Center, they harvested the silk and sold handwoven rugs no one could afford.


6.) Port of Call: Santorini, Greece; Destination: Oia, Santo Wines, and Thira.
In Oia, looking across the caldera.

We had a cappuccino on the edge of a cliff just before reenacting scenes from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Who knew "wine country" could sit on a cliff over the ocean?

7.) Port of Call: Piraeus, Greece; Destination: Athens, the Acropolis.
Hey, anyone know how to get to the Parthenon from here?

Nevermind. I found it.

A wife overlooking Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the amphitheater built and recently refinished along the south slope of the Athenian Acropolis. Athens beyond.


8.) Port of Call: Naples, Italy; Destination: Pompei.
We played miniature golf and ping pong instead of arming ourselves in the streets of Naples. Then we went to Pompei and looked up at Vesuvius.

The streets were a bit quieter in Pompei.

Steph eying a fresco to avoid the dead guy encased in ash and protective glass to her right.

Near a central meeting ground in Pompei.

I define preservation as the ability to distinguish this phallic street sign directing Romans to the whorehouses.

Chariot ruts between a raised crosswalk.


Barcelona, Spain:
Back in Barcelona, the cruise ship preparing for another voyage full eager travelers, we continued our honeymoon deep in vacation-mode. We purchased tickets for Barcelona Bus Turistica, a bus system with on-off privileges and stops throughout the city. We visited the Museu Picasso, fortunate to arrive on the first Sunday of the month, and enjoyed free admission!

Barcelona (and Italy, really) led to my current plan to buy a scooter.

Barcelona is all about Gaudi.

Sagrada Familia.

Park Guell.

Park Guell.

Barcelona from Mount Juic.

We stopped here near the Olympic grounds to pour one out for the Dream Team. We were rewarded with a highlight reel in the Museu Olimpic i de l'Esport de Barcelona.


An absolutely amazing honeymoon. The soundtrack to all the images was an ongoing dialogue about all the ways our friends and family contributed to an amazing wedding.