Villafranche-sur-Mer was our thrid stop on our fabulous trip!  Here, we had to sit in the bay and be “ferried” into the port.  Once on land, we could hang out in Villafranche-sur-Mer (famous for their parfumeries) or head east to Monaco or west for Nice.  We figured out how to catch a bus andhead headed to Nice.

This was the first time we left the kids on the ship.  They wanted a break from “all the old stuff” and we didn’t think there would be a TON of things the kids would like in Nice, so they stayed aboard in the kids club and enjoyed some kid time.

Kelly and I enjoyed some adult time and when we arrived in Nice after a short bus ride, we decided to rent scooters for the day!  What an adventure that was!  Here are some of our photos!

Here are our picutres from Villafranche-sur-Mer

The view of our ship from our ferry.

First selfie of the day!

Close to land!

A beautiful harbor.

Near the harbor in Villafranche.

Fabulous old streets to explore.

Wow!

Breathtaking!

Life on the Med!

Nice!

Nice harbor…some fancier boats.

Another selfie!

At the sea with our scooters!

From the hills – we had no idea where we were going – we just went!!!!

Gorgeous tree lined sidewalks!

The kids and I near sunset. Reunited!

Next stop, ROME!!!!!

Barcelona was our first port in Spain – and again, I had no expectations of what we might see!  We do not book excursions through our cruise ship or other venues – we tend to wing it!

We got off the ship and started exploring!!!

Char and Sable always have the best time!

Sagrada Familia….you’ve gotta see it!

The light is just breathtaking!

Char liked it!

This made Char’s day!

AND Kelton’s…

AND Kelly’s!

Barcelona Cathedral

You could get to the top and take a picture – amazing views!!!

Kelton meets Christopher Columbus?

One of my favorite pictures!

Next stop…Villafranche sur Mer, France.

After two days at sea (I think) – on May 9th we arrived in Gibraltar.

I didn’t have many expectations for Gibraltar – so I was pleasantly surprised with everything!

We did the touristy stuff – got a taxi to take up into the hills, had monkeys sit on our shoulders, explored British defense tunnels and spied AFRICA from the mountain tops!  AFRICA!!!! To someone who spent the first 38 years of her life mainly on the North American continent (with a few trips to the Caribbean and South America), seeing Africa blew my mind!!!  Now to actually GET there!!!

Here’s what did and saw in Gibraltar!

The ROCK!!

Gorgeous Spanish and Moorish influences in the architecture!

Sable holding on for dear life!

My handsome buddy!

That land behine Char….AFRICA!!!!

Kelton loved the ROCK!

Long lost bros!

New friends!

My new buddy…don’t be fooled – they wanted the treat the taxi driver had for them – otherwise they would take stuff from you – glasses, hats, purses – they were stinkers!

The Anthem behind Char – you can actually SEE our porthole – we were in one of the rooms on the forward starboard corner – pretty cool!

Our next stop…Barcelona!

May 5, 2015 – Our last full day in the UK – and we had it packed!!!

I have been (and still am) a fan of Downton Abbey.  In 2015, Highclere Castle (fictional Downton Abbey) was only open to the public a total of fewer than 30 days to visitors.  We were there during one of those days, and tickets were limited and first come first serve.  I was not going to miss this!!!

It was everything I had hoped it would be – but surprisingly smaller in person than on TV – strange, right?

It was a typcial English spring morning!

It was so fun to be AT Downton Abbey!!!

Downton TABBY!

Great backdrop!

Highclere Castle

From the parking lot…

The sun DID come out.

After visiting Downton Abbey (and meeting the Countess of Carnarvon herself), we headed to Windsor to visit the quaint town and Windsor Castle.  Oh my goodness!!!!  I could have stayed for hours but it closed at 4pm and we got there around 2:30 – so we hustled!!!

Char and Sable at the gate to the inner courtyard of Windsor Castle

Me and my handsome young man.

Windsor was SO cool!!!

I love Charlotte’s face here…this is in the village of Windsor.

Another GEM in Windsor!

Windsor was amazing to explore and I can’t wait to go back!!!

Also – today is Charlotte’s birthday!!!  Fourteen years old!!!  I can’t even believe it!!  And my “boy” is officailly a senior!!!

May 4th, 2015

Today we visited the London Zoo, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and toured around the museum district!  Kelly and I had a wonderful dinner out in the basement of Harrod’s while the kids went back to the house with Uncle Nick and Aunt Marta.

Here’s our day in pictures!

Char makes friends everywhere!

Pygmy Hippos! YES!

Char was really holding in her excitement!

Twins??

She almost fainted!

I love this one!

Twins again?

Chanelling his Freddie!

Sable got into the action, too – good thing we didn’t get kicked out for these hijinks!

Kelly and I had dinner at a restaurant in the basement of Harrod’s – every dish used truffles of some kind!  It was pretty cool!

Tasty Truffle bread!

Look at all those truffles!

May 3, 2015  My new home…

Hampton Court.  Remember I said that I am huge royal history fan?  Well, the court of Henry VIII is a historian’s dream!  Today, we visited his most famous residence and had a spectacular day!

Hampton Court is multiple palaces in one – the original (a grand home originally built by Cardinal  Woolsey in celebration and a showcase of the wealth gained by his favor with the Tudor court) is a gorgeous example of 15^th century architecture!

The “newer” portions of the palace, added on throughout the 17^{th &} 18^th centuries, showcase the emerging style of the times with echos of Versailles.

We had WAY too much fun at Hampton Court – we explored the whole palace and the expansive grounds including the hedge maze.  I cannot wait to go back!

Here is a photo diary of our day!

Silly Kids

Playing the Part…Charlotte and Kelton getting into character!

My beauty in the hedge maze.

Hampton Court has gorgeous grounds!

So many beautiful gardens.

Kelton and baby cousin, Sophia. Babies LOVE Kelton!!

Char pretending to be tipsy at the wine fountain. This fountain actually works at 4pm daily – the adults partook!

Char encountering another 16th century figure – we think the statue was depicting one who may be getting ready to void all his wine, but Char thought he looked like he wanted a kiss- Never a dull moment with this girl!

Pretty as a picture!

Can you even imagine how OLD this whisteria must be?

May 2, 2015.  The birth of a princess.

Today was a special day for so many reasons!  We hit the ground running and were in the city early – taking the Tube to the Kennsington Park area where we visited not only Kennsington Palace, but also the Princess Diana playground.

Mind the Gap, Charlotte and Sable.

Pouts in the Tube Station

This is rather an inside joke…in our house we call farting “tooting” – so you can see where the giggles came from!

Our visit to Kennsington Palace was extra special – news crews were lined up outside the entrance on baby watch as there was much anticipation for the birth of a new royal pronce or princess.

Royal Baby Watch, 2015

Beautiful Kennsington Palace.

While we toured the palace, it was announced that a princess was born and not long after, we learned her name – Princess Charlotte.  If you know me, you know I LOVE royal history and might be a bit of a royal geek.  So the fact that we were visiting Princess Charlotte’s home on the day of her birth with my own Charlotte was pretty cool!!!

My very own Princess Charlotte.

Adventure and fun times at the Princess Diana Playground!

The rest of the day was just as great – we visited the Tower of London – always a favorite!  While we were waiting to get into the tower to view the Royal Jewels, Char decided to take a load off and sat down on the little fence right in front of a Royal Guard.  He stomped his foot, stepped forward, and shouted in a very stern voice, “GET OFF THE FENCE”.  He stomped his foot, stepped back, and proceeded his death stare like nothing ever happened!  Charlotte was mortified – the rest of us were trying not to laugh hilariously!

Check out some of these amazing memories made on this day!

A little dress up time at Kennsington Palace!

Fun on the Tower walls.

I’m sure Kelton deserved it!

One of my favorite family photos!

Tower Bridge – I just love those gorgeous blue accents!

Tower of London.

May 1, 2015

Our first full day in London.  We really packed this day!!  We hit the ground running and visited Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster and so much more!!!

We always try to book tickets for special places ahead of time – in this case, the London Eye!  It was pretty cool!

The Tube station we got off was across the bridge from Big Ben – Char took these pictures as we crossed the bridge.

A Char taken family selfie!

The London Eye with my 3 favorite people in front of me.

At this time (and I haven’t been back to London since so I am not sure if they are still there) there were decorated sheep all over the city! They were so fun!

Westminster Abbey – expensive to get in to and not for littles – but we enjoyed a self tour and lunch in the basement!

Char loved this – the oldest door in Britain!

We have recreated this photo at Disney – One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE pictures ever!!

Stay tuned for Day 3 of our London/Mediterranean Cruise adventure!

A couple months after I turned 40, my family and I took an amazing vacation to Europe to celebrate!  That vacation was exactly five years ago and I am reliving those wonderful memories through Facebook and it makes my heart soar!  I have wanted to revisit that vacation with all of you and thought this would be a great opportunity to do so.

A little information before we dive in….2013 was my very first trip to Europe.  We went in March and spent roughly a week each in Paris, Argenton-sur-Creuse (French countryside), London and Scotland.  We flew to Paris, stayed in the Latin Quarter, took the train to Limoges, it was a fabulous trip – we made so many amazing memories and we couldn’t wait to return.

Fast forward to 2015 and we decided to do a 16-night Mediterranean cruise to celebrate my 40^th.  Well, who wants to sail the Med in February?  So we found a Royal Caribbean ship (the Anthem of the Seas) that was debuting in May and we signed up!!!

We decided to rent a house in the suburbs of London prior to our cruise and invited Kelly’s brother and his family to join us.  It was so much fun!!!  Full of magic, charm, hiccups and adventure!

Join me as I relive this whirl wind trip with YOU and take a journey down memory lane to the most amazing vacation I have ever taken!  If you want to see lots in the Med, take a cruise!!!  It’s the way to go!

Our day one was April 30th 2015.  We arrived in London after an overnight flight and got a taxi to our London suburb.  The house was adorable – named Jubilee because it was built during Queen Victoria’s Jubilee year!

Here are a few pictures of our arrival day!  We usually try to chill a bit on arrival days and we were also expecting the arrival of Nick, Marta and baby Sophia – we took some walks to get aquainted with the area and the kids and I TRIED to take the tube to the city, but we were all tired and bailed!  hahahaha