Greek Islands 1

Three days after my return from Maui, I headed out the door again ... not to return until September 1! First up, a Greek Islands Cruise on the Norwegian Gem. I was blessed to be able to have Stephanie go along (and believe me, she had to do some work to get all the child-care arrangements made!). We sailed out of Venice, Italy. Due to a missed connection in Paris (dang Paris airport!), we barely made it onto the boat. Venice would have to wait.

Our first stop was in the lovely seaside town of Split, Croatia.

An interesting part of our visit was to the palace of Emperor Diocletian. This section was where they would let enemies in, but then trap them there and pour boiling oil on them (yikes!).

I can't believe my camera didn't mess up this shot!

The next day, our stop was the beautiful Greek island of Corfu. One of the main attractions here is the beautiful palace of Achilles, set in the foothills of Corfu.

Amazing views, all around!

Steph has a special relationship with this guy, seeing as how she ruptured her Achilles tendon!

Taking a break in the air-conditioned-challenged palace.

Had to get a shot of these cute little sub-basement shops (half basement, half street level).

On to Santorini ... one of my most favorite places in the world (so far). When the ship first comes within site of Santorini, it looks like the cliffs are capped with snow ...

Yes, it really looks just like this.

... and this.

Narrow cobblestone lanes, white-washed buildings ... it is nothing short of heavenly. We had one of the best meals I have ever had in Oia, overlooking a gorgeous sunset. Adieu, Santorini, until I return again (and I WILL).

The next day's stop was in the island of Mykonos.

Final stop - Iraklion, on the island of Crete. We ended up hiring a taxi to take us around, which ended up being a great idea as we could stop where/when we wanted to. Thanks, Yannis!

These are the ruins of Kosovos, which is in a beautiful mountain setting. When you pull into port, the rather ugly port area gives no clue as to Crete's actual beauty.

Far too soon, the ship returned to Venice. However, we stayed overnight there and so had a little time to go exploring. This is our somewhat strange hotel room. Thirty foot high ceilings, a HUGE chandallier, ugly wallpaper and floors. But, it was in the heart of Venice, and had a lovely garden in which they served breakfast.

Is this the Venice equivalent of your car breaking down?

I found this interesting ... so many different layers on the facade of this building. I wonder how many centuries it represents?

Our gorgeous girl in the St. Mark's Square area.

On the Rialto Bridge.

You know, sometimes you just have to have that familiar comfort food ... and you can always find a Hard Rock Cafe.

Beautiful Venice. What a charming city.

I have been blessed to be able to go with both of my daughters to the Greek Islands. But this time it would not have been possible if not for my amazing son-in-law Mickel and my co-grandparents Linda and Jaime. You guys absolutely rock! Thanks so much for letting me steal Steph away from you.

Maui 2010

Our Top Achievers Club (TAC) trip this year was to the beautiful island of Maui. As I've mentioned before, Maui is one of my favorite places in the world, and the Grand Wailea (where we stayed) is the premiere property on Maui. So it would be pretty difficult not to have a good time - even though technically I WAS working - and I did.

The first thing we did upon arrival (well, after sleeping the first night) was a drive to the beautiful Iao Valley. Almost completely perpendicular mountains that are green from top to bottom, amazing flowers, and some pretty cute birds. Gene and Kristine (company founders) went with us, and we ended our trip with dinner at Bubba Gumps.








This is the view from my balcony. It's not a great picture, and you can't tell that the white area is actually the ocean.

After a formal welcome to the participants, we went to the Maui Tropical Plantation, where we also had a helicopter ride and received Maui Jim sunglasses. These are friends from Mexico.

We had three helicopters going in and out of the MTP field (a special arrangement - you usually have to go to the airport). Everyone seemed "wowed" by the helicopter ride.

When not on the helicopter, getting sunglasses or eating lunch, participants went on a tram tour ofr the Plantation grounds.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Because Gayle is on my team, I now actually get to have "off" time during an event (we alternate on that, as well as getting up early to make sure the breakfast is set up and going). So on Saturday, Andrew (UK General Manager) and I took the Road to Hana. We left at 10 am and returned at 8 pm, and definitely didn't stop at all the stops. In fact, there were only a couple that I had stopped at before - the rest were all new to me. This wasn't the main black sand beach, but pretty nevertheless.

This picture was taken with a flash in a pitch black underground lava tube. It was pretty cool.

One of many waterfalls.

We continued on the road, rather than turn around as most people do. The road wasn't too bad, though it narrowed even further. At one point, I wondered if we had made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on a bike path. And I almost hit a goat. Goats and cows wander the road everywhere. We stopped here to take a few pictures of the rainbow.

What a view ... no matter where you were.

Here's Gene in his funny hat that he bought in Lahaina.

My new boyfriend. At least he's tall!

A longtime TAC participant and friend, Cecilia from Ecuador. We don't speak the same language, but we understand each other.

One of my most favorite friends of all, Maria Sara from Ecuador. She is an absolute angel.

And of course, we have to end with a beautiful sunset, taken at the Old Lahaina Luau on the last night.

Fishies

On my way to the airport to go to Maui, I stopped by Gramp's house to see how the kids are progressing with their swimming. Oh my land! Kaiya and Teague have turned into fish! (Well, actually we decided that Kaiya has turned into a mermaid, so we're calling her Arial; and Teague is half monkey/half fish.) Kaiya, who has advanced to Level 3 in swim lessons and is by far the youngest and smallest in her class, swims without a vest, dives, does underwater flips ... everything! And Teague is as fearless as ever in the water. It will be good when he's finally old enough for lessons so that his abilities will match his courage!

Here's Kaiya in the midst of one of her underwater flips.

... and doing an awesome backstroke.

I don't have a camera that's good enough to really catch the action, but the splash you see is Kaiya after Mom chucked her half way across the pool. The other shot I didn't get but should have is Kaiya holding on to Dad's back as he swims across the pool under water. She can hold her breath for a very long time!

What a good Dad!

Drying off ...

... and enjoying a poolside picnic.