Oceania's Nautica anchored off Portofino, Italy

We quickly got into vacation mode on our recent Mediterranean cruise on Oceania’s Nautica, so the blog suffered from a bit of neglect. And now, how to boil down a fabulous 10 days in just a few words & pictures? Nearly impossible.

While I do plan to re-create some of the memories in future posts, here are a few highlights:

Palma de Mallorca Cathedral at sunrise

Valledemossa

We had a private tour of Mallorca with two other couples that we ‘met’ online via the web forum Cruise Critic. This was our shortest day in a port but one of our favorite days of the whole trip.

Our guide, Miguel, took us to the Bellver Castle, to a lovely village in the hills called Valledemossa, and to the magnificent Palma de Mallorca Cathedral. Comparing notes with other travelers we definitely saw much more than others were able to see in the short time in port.

The Casino in Monte Carlo, we didn't test our luck.

St. Tropez and Monaco were stunning, as we expected. Definitely fun to dream about what it might be like to live a carefree life on the French Riviera!

Not too surprising, this yacht entering the Monaco harbor is named "My Trust Fund."

But along with those dare-to-dream spots, we also visited charming places like Portofino and Sorrento where it’s more realistic to see yourself and your life there…someday.

Our cruise ended in Rome where we had a whirlwind tour of the major sites one day, followed by a visit to the Vatican Museums & St. Peter’s Basilica our last day. We were definitely tired out and toured out by then. Jeff called it the trip of a lifetime. I said I’m not ready to commit to that, as I know we’ll have another adventure just as fabulous before too long!

Portofino, Italy, I could see myself living here...someday.