Thursday, June 16, 2022

{EUROPE} Day Eight - Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure & Portofino (Genoa), Italy

We docked early in Genoa...

and enjoyed breakfast overlooking the port before meeting up with our tour.

We chose a full day tour that visited three seaside villages - Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure, and Portofino - along the Italian Riviera...

We began our day by travelling the highway...


to Rapallo...

where we walked through the market...

visited the Chiosco della Musica...

and walked the quaint streets...

before stopping for a snack at Gran Caffe Rapallo...


We then had some free time that we used to do a little shopping...

before boarding our bus and heading a short distance...


over to Santa Margherita Ligure...


where we grabbed lunch...


spaghetti for the kids...

and cheese foccacia bread for me + my first Aperol Spritz...


I am not a fan... In my opinion, the best part was the orange slice!

After lunch, we toured the Basilica of Santa Margherita...

before heading over to the port area...

to catch a boat...

with

a


view...

(I'm not going to lie... It felt pretty fancy to be speeding through the water from one seaside village to another, and I'm not joking about the view(s)!)

to Portofino... 


where we walked the picturesque streets and stopped to grab gelato...


and some olives for our B!

We returned back to the ship to have dinner with Grandma and share about our day.

After dinner, the girls got to try out their new swimsuit coverups (purchased in Rapallo) as they headed to the pool with their brother...


while Grandma and I caught the new Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson movie, Marry Me, up on the big screen!


Arrivederci, Genoa!


On to Livorno, tomorrow!

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Wednesday, June 15, 2022

{EUROPE} Day Seven - Marseille, France

 We arrived in Marseille around 8:00 this morning. It is the oldest city in France and is currently the 3rd largest city in France behind Paris and Lyon...

The kids and I met up with our tour shortly after breakfast and headed into town, via bus, toward the Old Port...

We passed by City Hall...

before heading (way) up to Notre-Dame de la Garde...


To visit, one must climb many, many stairs. Though, we were told 197 steps to the top, we counted 222 steps (think of it as "training" for our visit to Pisa later this week). We might've missed an elevator somewhere near the top to help with those last few steps, but at that point, I'm not so sure it would've relieved us very much!

The church is situated at the tallest point in the city and offers incredible, panoramic views!

It is beautiful on the inside, as well. decorated with gorgeous mosaics...

On the way to our next stop, we passed by the Porte Royale, or the Arc de Triomphe of Marseille...

as well as the train station, featuring railings designed by Gustave Eiffel...

Next, we visited the impressive Palais Longchamp...


built to celebrate the construction of the Marseille Canal...

Along with the park, and its focal point fountain, the structure now houses a couple museums, as well...

From there, we headed back down to the Old Port area for some free time...

{If you look really closely, you can see that the "blob" above us is actually a reflection of us standing below the mirrored ceiling!}


Afterwards, we headed back to the ship to meet up with Grandma and grab lunch...


Au Revoir, Marseille!

On to Italy tomorrow...

a new country for the kids, and one step closer to meeting up with Hubby!

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