Cruise-cation Journals

Camryn's vacation letter

Thinking of you during the holidays, I’d like to share my vacation memories with you since you might remember that we went on a cruise last month. Out of the many places we went to, Egypt is the most widely known. Excitedly, I am going to tell you about some of the things we did there because I had so much fun. I’m going to tell you about the exotic pyramids which we went into, the fun souvenirs we bought, and the impressive Egyptian Museum. I loved Egypt!

The first thing we wanted to find in Egypt was the pyramids. The three popular pyramids are perfectly placed on the outskirts of Cairo. Actually, we went inside the second largest one which is Cheops pyramid. Inside the pyramid, it was very difficult to walk since the ceiling was so low. At the end of the tunnel was a room with an empty coffin because the local Egyptians have removed the body and treasures. It was also quite hot and smelly inside. Seeing the outside edges of the pyramids, we discovered that they were all rough, bumpy and uneven. The Egyptian pyramids are awesome!

Shopping for souvenirs is how we spent our second day in Egypt. My favorite souvenir is a small black figurine, which is a cat, because it also has the word “Egypt” roughly carved into it. Surprisingly, Mom and Sloan both got belly dancing outfits while we were shopping. I bought a sparkly red head covering instead of the whole outfit. Would you like to see a picture of us all dressed up? We eagerly bought two magnetic scarab beetles. The red one is mine and the blue one is for Dad. I also have a small painting of Queen Nefertiti, who was the wife of King Tut. Among all of this, I still have 25 Egyptian cents or piastres. I love my Egyptian souvenirs.

Before we left Cairo, we curiously toured the Egyptian Museum. Seeing the many treasures of King Tut was the highlight here. Amazingly we noticed the diapers that King Tut used when he was a baby. He must have had big feet because his sandals were as long as Isaac’s leg. We saw the mummifying tables for King Tut too. That was gross! Last but not least, we saw the small statues of the common people which now teach us about how the common Egyptian people lived. The museum tour could have taken many hours although we were happy with everything we saw in just one hour.

If we travel to Egypt again, you’ll have to come with us! Out of the pyramids, souvenirs and the museum, the impressive pyramids were the best because we saw it from the inside and outside. Vacationing in Egypt, which was only one of the many places we went during our cruise, was totally awesome. Hopefully I will see you again soon. I love you!

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Ethan’s Vacation Journal November, 2009

Today we flew in the airplane. We got off the plane and my Mom and I were waiting for Uncle Cameron. Then we all got into the taxi’s. Then we drove to our apartment and got some food and went to bed.

Today we got out of bed and got dressed and went down stairs to eat. After we ate we came back to the apartment and figured out what today for the day and then Cameron said he saw something on the way here. It was a big cathedral and it started about 100 years ago and they are still working on it.

Today we get on the Norwegian Jade. It is a very big ship. Well first we got on the ship and found out that we couldn’t get in the rooms for some weird reason. We had some luggage so we went to the luggage place then we went into town.

Today I had to go to the gym to work out because a friend of my Dad’s gained 25 pounds on this same ship. After we got done we went to the pool. First we went to the hot tub and I saw Dallas and we raced down the slide and I won.

Today in Rome, we got off the ship and went to St. Peter’s square. A bunch of Chinese people took pictures of us like we were famous. Then we went into the cathedral and we found out that if we were in a different cathedral and looked at each picture for 60 seconds, it would take nine years! Then we got on the metro and it took us to the Coliseum. Uncle Cameron went inside because he hasn’t seen it before. We didn’t because we’ve already seen it. Then we went back to the ship.

Today we didn’t get off the ship because it’s a sea day. But we did go to the pool and I ate a whole bunch of pasta. I went back to my cabin and did stuff, then ate lunch, then back to the pool to swim a bit. Then it was time for dinner and I ate more pasta. When I was done I went to bed.

Today we are in Greece. We got off the ship and got on the hop-on-hop-off-bus. We went to the Parthenon, which is a big broken down building with many pillars. We could see the Temple of Zeus but we didn’t get really close to it. There were a bunch of lazy dogs laying around on the sidewalks.

Today we went to Turkey. We went to see Ephesus. It had a big broken down library with a bunch of pillars and an awesome view. Then we went to a place with a bunch of kittens. I got to touch a lot. It was very cool. We also ate some Turkish Delight candy, looked at rugs, saw the knives they used to make rugs, ate at the rug store, then got back on the tour bus to take us back to the ship.

Today I stayed on the ship and went to the kids club. I saw my friends and my sister’s saw their friends. Then I made a poster about pollution. We also watched a movie about pollution.

Today I was in Egypt. I had a tour with my friend James and had a lot of fun on the tour bus. First we went to see the ancient pyramids and got to go inside the second one. It was really hot and small. The entrance was really short and I had to bend down to get inside. We also saw the sphinx and I got some limestone rocks. I also learned that King Tut became king at age 9 and died at 19 years old. We saw lots of his treasures in the museum of ancient history. Then the bus ride was three hours.

Today we were still in Egypt but we didn’t do much. All we did was get some souvenirs and got back on the ship. I did some writing and my Mom took a nap.

Today it was a sea day. I went into Tree Tops, which is a kid’s club thing. My parents and sisters went to the pool. When they got done with the pool they came to pick me up and it was time to go to bed.

Today we got off the ship. We went to Malta. We took a rental car and drove around the island. We went to the ruins of a church that was older than the pyramids. Then it was time to go back to the ship.

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Sloan’s Vacation Journal ~ November 12-26, 2009

Today we got ready and we went on lots of taxi’s and then we went on this big boat that’s called Norwegian Jade. The next day we were in Rome. We also took lots of taxi’s there. Also on the ship, there is a pool and Wii Sport games and TreeTops which is a fun place for kids to play. The teachers in TreeTops have funny names like Silly, Scooter, Penquino, Cheddar Cheese, Turkey, Razzle Dazzle, Gooey, Icky Sticky, Bear, and that’s it. Also in Barcelona, we went on these weird cars that’s like a box that goes on the cord to see around the city. It’s called a cable car.

The next day we went to Athens, Greece. We climbed up a big hill with a bunch of rocks. We went with another family named the Goodson’s. That’s their last name. Then we got on the hop-on-hop-off bus and I fell asleep. We saw the Parthenon and the Temple of Zeus. And we also had a gyro to eat. It’s not like the money, euro, but it sounds like the same name.

The next day we went to Turkey to see Izmir and the old city of Ephesus. We went to this place and we ate. While we ate we watched two men showing us handmade rugs. One was made (actually three) were made with silk on silk. You should have felt it because it felt so good I wanted to sleep on it. So I laid down and I started getting tired but then Daddy called me. At first the tour guide showed us a little machine that has very thin string and little bugs called silk worms were in the machine. Then the lady stepped on the peddle to make the silk turn into tiny string, then she had a brush to squiggle on the silk worm cocoons, bring it up to see the strings and cocoons. Then I think she stepped on another step to stir and move the silk worms. That was pretty cool.

Today we stayed on the ship. I went in the pool and I saw Sabrina and I taught another girl, named Avery, how to swim, I also saw Kelsey at the pool. We went on the slide ten times.

Today we were in Egypt. We went to ride a camel and my mom and I rode the same camel. The weird thing about camels is that their knees bend backward which is really weird. We also saw the three ancient pyramids. There was the oldest one and the tallest one. Inside the pyramid was a few weird steps that looked like this. Then we were in the middle and we saw where the King was dead. But he was not in his tomb. When we came out of the pyramid, as we were going away from the pyramid, a guy said, “One dollar” but my Dad didn’t understand because he thought it was for an Egypt cat. But then the guy said it was $20. It was funny. My Dad did buy the cat.

Day two in Egypt. Today we got off the ship and we saw a little set up store and I went up to a little necklace place and I saw the beautiful necklaces. My Dad bought a necklace for me! It was a purple diamond and when it moves in the brightness of sun it has red, pink, light blue, dark blue, purple and light green.

Today we are at sea. We jumped in the pool and went to TreeTops, went in the hot tub and down the slide six times. I ate French fries and a cool dessert with a pink pludgy inside ~blah~ The middle had a red ~blah~ stuff, hee/hee. French fries taste good in it. This is what it looked like.

Today we were in Malta. We went in a convertible car. It’s like a car with no roof! With the Goodson’s we went to this little place of very old houses, older then the pyramids. Then we came to another one. When we walked up the big hill, Ethan and I played a game that everyone else was monsters so we ran up the hill. We got so tired we had to lay on the floor. Then I ran again before the Goodson’s catched up with me. I ran and found comfortable rocks so I rested on them.

The next day we came home! I was so sad because I didn’t want Uncle Cameron to leave. I actually started to cry in the airport. When we got home and I saw Costas, I gave him a BIG, BIG hug. A few days later we set up our Christmas tree.