Journey of a Kumquat: Week 134 and Week 47.5 - What I did for my fall vacation

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Week 134 and Week 47.5 - What I did for my fall vacation

So I never thought in a million years I would be traveling Europe again, especially with a toddler. But Matt's company sponsored a cruise (and I am thankful to have been invited) and we thought Sophia was too young to be left alone, so here we are.

We flew from Singapore to Dubai and then on to Venice. Sophia of course is not a fan of long haul travel and slept exactly zero on the first leg but slept a couple of hours on the second leg just out of sheer exhaustion. Dubai's airport is also ridiculous - as Las Vegas is a casino in a desert the Dubai airport is a duty free shopping mall - also in a desert. 24/7 Mont Blanc pen purchasing capability. Extraordinary.

Well - lots to say but I will just give you the highlights.

Cruises are great in that you don't need to move around - your hotel moves you around. You don't get to spend much time in one place. I could have spent a week in Instanbul!
Istanbul and Dubrovnik are amazing. Istanbul especially. Loved the Spice Market and the Turkish ice cream!
MSC Cruises make very little accommodations for a baby. There was literally no where for Sophia to crawl around and baby sitting was strictly verboten (for some reason). As dinner was 9PM every night we made it to exactly half. And every night Sophia had to leave (with me of course) as she was overstimulated way too late (and she is not one to be fussy).
Sophia was hardly jetlagged at the beginning but got increasingly fussier at night. She would only take a couple of ounces of her bottle a day.
I do not ever need to see another buffet again. Ever.

I have been procrastinating on this post as it is hard to post multiple photos quickly off of smugmug. If anyone knows a faster way please let me know.

So there will be few captions below for now - otherwise I will be at this till Tuesday!

Venice: