Newman's News: July 2011

Newman's Review!

July 30th, yesterday, Scott and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary!

This last Monday we returned from our BIG trip to the Mediterranean. It was amazing... Pictures are coming, I promise!

Ethan and Emma survived, I mean my parents survived watching the kids for 10 straight days!

Ethan finished swimming lessons yesterday and actually jumped off the diving board!

I'm now officially back in the primary in church. After taking a 3 year break, I'm back in with the kids.

Emma has been sick twice this month, colds. She went 6 months without being sick to be sick in July!

Ethan stayed up until 11:00 Thursday night, his first time ever, to watch an outdoor movie with the neighbors...

Our last day! We are off the ship and spending the day in Barcelona, Spain before heading home the next morning. We REALLY wanted to go home at this point. We were both very exhausted and ready to get back to the kids and back to our home. Oh, well... We can't complain... we got to see Barcelona! I really didn't know much about Barcelona but they hosted the Olympics awhile back. I still don't know or remember much about the city. I do remember I liked it there and wish we had more time.

The view...

We took a Hop on and Hop off tour of the city... It was probably the best way to see the city!

Some sites we saw on our tour.

Very interesting architecture.

Ramblas... A main street for shopping... The city was pretty much dead for a Sunday afternoon until we got to this point.

Alleyways!

Gothic Cathedral... Very different from what we've seen in Italy and Monte Carlo.

Feed the bird... we could buy food and feed the bird... nay, not today!

Sangrada Familia... Already been in construction over 100 years and will be lucky if it is finished within 30 to 40 years. Architect Antoni Gaudi...

We decided to ditch the bus and walk back to our shuttle stop... It was a LONG walk :) but we got to enjoy the quietness of Barcelona. I really liked how pedestrian friendly the roads were... They had divided roadways with a pedestrian walk lined with trees in the middle. It was beautiful.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Our last port of call was Monte Carlo, Monaco. Monte Carlo is where the rich play. This very small country is known for it's casinos, fancy cars, and big yachts.

This was the view from our balcony...

View of Monte Carlo Casino... another view from our balcony.

We decided to do our own thing and didn't take a tour. I loved it... Scott in front of the Carnival Magic.

My turn!

View of the Mediterranean Sea... The water was a very deep blue... absolutely beautiful!

Scott took this picture... LOVE IT!

This was some type of museum... It was pretty cool...

We found some gardens to walk through...

Walking through Monte Carlo is what I like to compare to walking through Disneyland. Clean and orderly. Big contrast to Italy.

The palace

The cathedral... This is where Princess Grace Kelly was married and buried...

Some random corner in Monte Carlo :)

It was quite the climb to get to the palace and cathedral. We walked up through the gardens and going down this pretty steep walkway to visit the casino.

Scott is headed to Cartier's to get me something nice :) yeah right!

Only in Monte Carlo would you find a Ferrari in front of Prada...

There were Ferrari's everywhere!

The casino...

Here I am doing my best James Bond 007!

Scott thought this guy was classic... We still chuckle when we see this picture :)

Florence and Pisa, Italy

Florence was another city I was excited to see... I wish we were able to really enjoy what the city had to offer by going to the museums, but unfortunately, we didn't have the time. Hopefully, someday I will return and see the art!

We spent the first half of the day in Florence...

Besides the museums, the Duomo, the 4th largest cathedral in the world, is a very striking piece of architecture. This was our view as we were walking to the cathedral. Took my breath away!

Made entirely out of marble. WOW!

The dome by Filippo Brunelleschi... The largest dome made out of brick!

Loved it here!

Those doors are huge! We just took a walking tour of the city and didn't get a chance to go into the cathedral.

Our famous pose! You can't trust your camera to anyone out there...

The Ponte Vecchio meaning, "Old Bridge" is the only remaining original bridge. Florence has been hit with floods and war time destruction, but this bridge is one that remained intact. There are shops lined up on the bridge.

River Arno... Beautiful view!

More views.

I had to post this picture, it just cracked me up with the Coke bottle and Scott's lens cap. A bottle of Coke would cost us about 2.50 Euros... Rip Off!

Sorry, just the waist up view of David by Michelangelo... This isn't the original, but a replica. Supposedly, the replica is just as good...

Basilica of Santa Croce... another cathedral. I'll tell ya, these guys knew how to make cathedrals!

Our "typical Italian lunch"

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After lunch we were off to Pisa. The drive was so beautiful. Florence is the capital city of the region of Tuscany... So we passed vineyards, sunflowers and corn fields. I wish we would have slowed down a bit to take a picture, but nope.... Just take my word for it, breathtaking!

We parked a view blocks away from Pisa's main square. When we entered, this was our view. Amazing... That tower is actually leaning!

I think seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa was one of the highlights of my trip. It was something I only seen in books or on TV and here I am, soaking in the experience!