Pictures as promised (Yalta, Odessa, Volos).

Today we said goodbye to our cruise ship. Sniff sniff. We had an absolutely wonderful time and would definitely do something like it again. We're now in Rome, just arrived about an hour ago. Before we left the shipe, I did have enough foresight to edit some images and put them on my flashdrive in case we stopped at an internet cafe along the way to the hostel.

This first image is from Yalta, a beach resort in the Ukraine.

The second and third are from Odessa, a city with a lot of charm and a lot of history. Unfortunately, much of the city is under construction in order to give the city a facelift but we were still able to get a good sense of the place. We were lucky enough to find a restaurant that served pelmeni (russian dumplings that were oh so yummy) and the Ukrainian specialty of vodka "spiked" with hot peppers. Michael said he could feel the vodka moving down his esophogus into his stomach. It definitely had a kick to it, that's for sure. We also happened to see a TON of weddings going on, being that it was Saturday. Outside of the Opera House, we saw four different bride and groom couples getting their pictures taken. A block away, we saw two more couples. Lots of weddings for a small city

This last image I took at the Archeological Museum in Volos, a small town on the eastern mainland of Greece. Attractions in Volos are few and far between (which makes me question why we stopped there as a part of the cruise, but that's not the point), so before going to the beach we opted to see the museum. Neither of us expected much, since we've been to at least five archeological museums already on this trip and have seen our fair share of old Roman and Greek ceramic pots, ancient jewelry and tombs. But we were in for a pleasant change in archeological museum scenery, as this museum was dedicated mainly to the old (and I mean old, as in ooooooold) settlements that had been discovered around Volos not too long ago. The figurine in this image is thought to have been created between 6500 and 5300 bc. That's between 8500 and 7300 years ago. I told you, oooooold. And there were dozens of these figurines in the museum, plus dozens of cooking items and weapons. Amazing.

We also stopped in Santorini, a famous Greek island, and Sorrento, on the west coast of Italy north of Naples. Unfortunately, Michael came down with the stomach flu the night before Santorini and was quarantined (seriously) to our room for the next 24 hours. I wasn't feeling sick, so I stole out to see the island while Michael was sleeping. Sorrento was cute, exactly what you'd expect from a touristy coastal Italian town. I'll add more narrative once I edit and upload images (hopefully tomorrow).

Michael and I will stay in Rome for three more days before heading back to the States on the 22nd. It's so hard to believe that it's coming to an end! But I won't think about that right now. I've got sightseeing to do. :)