In September, 1998 we finally made an international trip with the girls, spending two weeks in the Mediterranean. We flew into Milan, Italy, then traveled by train and boat to Venice. We spent a few days showing Chloe and Celeste around Venice. They especially enjoyed trying to cross every one of the several hundred bridges, chasing the pigeons on P. San Marco, and climbing the campanile. We also had time for more prosaic sites, such as touring the Doge's Palace, and wandering around some of the more obscure neighborhoods.
We then boarded the 1000-passenger ship Costa Classica for an 8-day cruise calling on Bari, Italy; ancient Olympia in Greece; the Greek isles of Mykonos, Santorini, and Rhodes; and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Although two-year-old Celeste had a bit of a hard time settling down in the formal dining room, overall the ship was a safe and entertaining place for the girls. There was even a well-equipped baby club on board, so Mary and Kyle got a little time off for the occasional grown-ups-only shore excursion or for a nightcap. An added bonus was that we were among the few English-speakers aboard, so Chloe and Celeste got to make some Italian and French friends, not to mention watch Disney videos in Italian. The girls had a good time on the shore excursions they came on, too, especially hunting for cats on various Greek islands. We would highly recommend cruising as a means for families with young children to travel to multiple destinations without too many hassles.
After disembarking the ship in Venice, we traveled back to Milan, where we spent part of a day seeing the Duomo and eating risotto and gelato. Then we were treated to another 16 hours of air travel and connections with two spirited little ones in order to get home.
Watching out for gondolas from one of Venice's many bridges
A view of our ship, the Costa Classica, from Oia, high atop Santorini
Chloe and Celeste had lots of fun in the youth center aboard the ship
The girls dancing on the top deck to YMCA by the Village People (a bit before their time, but still fun)
After a wonderful taverna dinner, Chloe and Celeste relaxed on Mykonos
Mary enjoys the city view from Dubrovnik's ancient walls--this remarkable Croatian city turned out to be an unexpected highlight of the trip
