It’s funny how the holiday season brings more than just family from out of town. It ushers in the allowed time for forward thinking. It’s the season of the “clean slate”, defined by resolve and dedication birthed out of weakness and lack of focus for the previous 12 months.

Keeping pace with this theme, I have taken a resolute stance on tackling some self imposed negative habits. Now don’t let my words mislead you. I haven’t picked up a drug habit or suddenly started keeping a flask in my desk. Instead, I have allowed routine and comfort to replace my hunger for achievement and creative outlets. In short, I’ve gotten away from things I know I should be doing and replaced them with sedentary activity that has been less than stimulating.

Thirty seconds would be all I would need to rattle off a list of excuses about why I have been less than driven lately. I could easily tell you that it’s starting to get cold outside, that it gets darker earlier, my work hours are ridiculous or that my wife is pregnant (the later I must admit I have used when it comes to my sudden desire to eat any time Felicia does). Excuses aside, I know what my theme for 2008 will have to be for me to achieve growth as a person and a member of nuclear family (side note: I love the obscure concept of the nuclear family. What on Earth is that?)

DISCIPLINE!

That’s right! A shot of self administered determination to remain disciplined in all aspects of my life. A patch on my arm or a pack of gum won’t help me break my addiction to normalcy. But what WILL it take?

It’s interesting that I’ve chosen discipline as a resolution for the new year because of all of the thoughts I have had lately about fatherhood.

TO BE CONTINUED…

This past November, the Denver Jordans took a trip across the old pond to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. The trip from Denver took us through Frankfurt, Germany and eventually into Spain where we spent two days in Barcelona before taking a 12 night cruise through the Mediterranean. We learned about the decline of the U.S. dollar first hand when we exchanged them for Euros. We ate French fries (I know, they’re from Belgium), Italian pizza, German Chocolate, and amazing espresso.

The following will give you some brief highlights on each port of call:

Barcelona, Spain

The best Seafood Paella ever! We ate in the city’s Porto Olympico district which is host to the Casino and a large part of the Barcelona night life. Barcelona of course hosted the Olympics in 1992 and has a modern stadium as proof.

The people were extremely nice and we got our first hint of how popular the scooters are in Europe. My Spanish from Puerto Rico came in handy.

Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo, France

Ah French Onion Soup and French Fries. The port of Ville Franche is in the south of France on the French Riviera. This was my first experience with culture shock in about two years. Tiny cars, a harsh language and a crash course in European public transportation.

We made it to Monaco and Monte Carlo (home of the Grand Casino…think James Bond) where we crashed a local carnival. If you like Churros, you’ll love them with Nutella. The bistros, shops, chocolate and cafes were well worth it!

Livorno/Pisa, Italy

We got to see “The Leaning Tower of Pisa” up close and personal. Amazing to say the least. Livorno is a very trendy Italian city. You’ll catch Dolce & Gabana and of course, Prada, on all of the high school kids. Pisa is very touristy and we met the African pan handlers for the first time. Where do these guys come from and how do they get so many knock offs?

Oh yeah, Peroni is a good Italian beer…and there is no problem drinking it in public.

Naples/Pompeii, Italy

Naples is a rather large city known for its organized crime syndicates (among other things). We skipped spending the entire day here to venture past the Almafi Coast to “The Lost City” of Pompeii. I sipped Limoncello and we walked through the ancient city preserved by the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius.

Best Gelato I have ever tasted!

Venice, Italy

This was our favorite City/port of call. We spent two days in Venice and got lost among the tangled alleys and bridges. By the way, buying a map for this city is pointless.

The highlights were St. Mark’s Basilica, St. Mark’s Square and our Anniversary dinner at Osteria Oliva Nera. The owner’s of Osteria Oliva Nera were very gracious and shared the local Tuscan spirit and cuisine with us (for a price of course). They have actually added our picture to their website.

Hold out all judgment on Pizza until you eat a pie in Venice (or Croatia…but that’s later).
We purchased a nice oil painting from a local artist.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Okay I know I keep talking about food (I’m still working hard to drop the lbs from the trip) but Croatian pizza was as good as Venetian pizza and for a fraction of the cost…gotta love the Kuna.

Now this country was not what either of us expected. This is right up there with some of the most beautiful places I have ever been (#1 being the island of Culebra). There is a wall the guards the city that you can actually walk. The views from the Old Town are magnificent.

Santorini, Greece

Wow! Wow! Wow! No more else to say really. We visited the tiny Village of Oia way on top of a mountain and overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Taxi drivers were crazy and yes, a Greek Salad is still called a Greek Salad in Greece.

When it was all said and done, we knew exactly why there are so many films made here. We bought another oil painting.

Athens, Greece

This was a treat for me. Unfortunately, Felicia wasn’t feeling well but I got to climb up to Acropolis. Acropolis is home to some of the most famous ancient Greek ruins. This is a city with fragile and clearly visible history that clashes with the modern culture.

If you don’t eat meat, you’ll love the variety of “friendly” foods. One of the more densely populated cities I have visited.

Rome, Italy

Unfortunately, we flew out as soon as we got to Civitavecchia Italy. We saw almost nothing of Rome. I think this means we will have to come back for a visit. I won’t bore you with the details of why we didn’t stay, but it turns out (after hearing others’ stories) that it wasn’t such a bad move.

In the end, we had a great time. A cruise vacation seems to be the way to travel when you don’t want to worry about lugging bags and various expenses related to hopping from one country to the next. We would definitely cruise again… The one bad comment we had for Royal Caribbean was that there was no lobster … hey we’re tough critics!

If you would like to take a look at more pictures from our trip, Click Here! to login into our Snapfish album.