Back in DC!

Back from vacation blues. You know what I am talking about. After 24 days of vacation it is definitely an adjustment being back! I thought I would do a fun post-cruise entry today. Tomorrow will be my first photo post (starting with Rome). I will be posting about my trip (with photo collages) every other day so you won't be overwhelmed ;)

5 favorite cities visited (in no order):
1. Santorini, Greece
2. Dubrovnik, Croatia
3. Kusadasi, Turkey
4. Florence, Italy
5. Barcelona, Spain

5 things I miss about cruising (in no order):
1. It's a floating hotel and I am not gonna lie: it is nice to have someone cleaning up your bathroom every day, making your bed, leaving you chocolates, etc.
2. The towel animals. Seriously. After a long day nothing makes you feel better than coming back to your room and finding a towel animal on your bed.
3. The choices. Movie and popcorn? Dance club and drinks? Trivia or a game show? Swimming and laying out? I even did karaoke!
4. The food. Chocolate chip pancakes, pizza, ice cream, pasta, waffles, cake. YUM.
5. The people. I loved our Aussie "name that tune" group (we were the reigning champions). I met some very interesting and impressive cruisers. Plus the cute Australian crew guys? A match made in nautical heaven!

5 things I WON'T miss about cruising (in no order):
1. The majority of the old/slow people and the lines for food. Now, I never had to wait for more than 4 or 5 people which is apparently way better than some of the other cruise lines (like Carn*ival). The only lines were ever in the morning when everyone was going ashore and getting breakfast at the same time. But sometimes I really did want to mow them over.
2. The food (see #4 above).Totally a double edged sword. But hey, it was vacation! ;)
3. The hurrying to get back on the ship. I loved cruising: no lugging suitcases from city to city. But spending only one day in a city didn't always seem like enough. I definitely got my exercise running for that train or bus that we couldn't miss! I don't know if the ship will really leave without you but I didn't want to find out!
4. The slow internet. It was so hard to get used to at first. It would take so long to check email. Forget about checking blogs or facebook. But a couple of days in, it was sort of liberating not to be checking online every day. I actually had minutes left on my plan! But then I get back home, sign on, and realize I don't think I could have gone much longer ;)
5. Two words: CASHLESS ACCOUNTS! All you have to do is show your ship ID and sign. So easy. And then the bill comes at the end and you have a slight heart attack. But then it was vacation so I'll just have to start saving again ;)