Category: Ben

    Private Island

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    We took a boat ride out to a private island! Once we got there we split into three groups – a lot of the guys went spear fishing, Another boat went fishing and we went on the fishing/snorkeling boat.

    The snorkeling ended up being pretty wimpy but we did see some crabs and conche and fish. Then they taught us how to fish with just fishing line!

    Then back at the island the tour guides cooked up all of the fish that we caught!!

    We did some snorkeling on the way back to the resort and that was our day. It was pretty Great!

    We got back with a little time to swim and then eat dinner.

    Dinner Time

    Categories: Ben, Jana, Robertson

    BELIZE

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    Wednesday october 11th we left for my moms 70th Birthday trip. We left the kids home with Benji in charge again! Benji worked all week so I think the other kids did the work. They are amazing kids! So all 12 of moms kids and their spouses at an all inclusive in Belize! Salt Lake to Dallas 5:19am. Then Dallas to Belize City 10:09am.

    We didn’t even go to sleep tuesday night. We packed and said goodbye and left for the airport around 2am. We picked up Sean and Jana and were off. In Dallas we met up with the California crew.

    Once we got to Belize City we took a small airplane to Dangriga and then an hour in a van to Hopkins – Belizean Dreams Resort. They rolled out the red carpet for mom and then had to remake all of our welcome drinks when we told them that none of us drink alcohol.

    We got settled in our rooms/houses and headed for the beach, pool, bar! We stayed in the same house as Kevin and Liz! Once we got to the bar someone ordered a “chunky monkey” and I was hooked the rest of the trip – a chocolate banana shake!

    The pool water and the ocean were literally 95 degrees. The entire resort holds maybe 100 people but we were the main group. There were a few other couples there. It was small but nice and dinner was a menu instead of a buffet. It was pretty awesome.

    Categories: Ben, Jana, Robertson

    Headed Home

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    We left the ship and grabbed a taxi to the airport. We flew from Athens to Toronto, then Toronto to Salt Lake. Ben was pretty sick by this point. He tried to fake it the last few days but he was not doing good on the flight home. We had such a fun trip

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    Hydra

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    The walking island! No cars! Only Donkeys or horses! We walked thru town and along the the road. We found a beach to swim at and just lounged and chilled and enjoyed our day on our last island, just the two of us!

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    Santorini

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    We slept in for a minute and I went to the hot tub spa and we finally ate the hamburgers and Ben was trying to not be sick… then we ferried over to Santorini! And paid to ride the gondola to the top to where the city is. We met up with our group and tour guide and he drove us over to the famous blue churches and all of the instagram famous picture spots!! It was very pretty and cute but very rushed!

    Then he whisked us across the island to a famous Monk church at the top of the island. And to black sand beach and then to red sand beach:

    And then he whisked us to a spot to watch the most famous SUNSET in the world!…

    And the day was complete. We bought a few souvenirs and called it a day 🙂

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    Rhodes

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    We finally got to go swimming! We walked over to the marina and met up with some of the work crew – We spent the day on this catamaran – sun adn swim and food and relaxing. The water was amazing. SOOO warm and BLUE and no fish and no sand.

    Thst night we watched the baby for Ryan and Hannah so they could go to the fancy dinner.

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    TURKEY!

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    Look at us on the other side of the world! Still Unbelievable. We booked a tour and our first stop was Ephesus. They are trying to unbury and restore so much of the city. It is pretty amazing. The goddess Nike carving. And so so many people up there. The library is the double story building. The holes in the bench is the public toilets! We walked thru the gladiator tunnel and saw a reenactment of the people of this time. The arena was very impressive too.

    Next we went to Firca Quartz Ceramic Store. They showed us their pottery and then tried to sell everybody. Then they took us to see the Virgin Mary’s house! Then they took us to a “free” lunch. After the lunch they brought us inside the warehouse and taught us about their rug making and then spent an hour stryong to sell Ruth adn Brady a 20,000$ rug. And finally we went to the site of the Temple of Artemis – it was pretty lack luster after the ruins that we had seen earlier in the day. We stopped at the candy store for Turkish Delights and then back to the ship.

    Everything for sale in Turkey was a Genuine Fake!

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    The Island Mykonos or Kusadasi

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    We were supposed to go to Mykonos but the winds were coming on strong and the captain decided that we could not safely port there! So we did not get to go to Mykonos and we had a day on the boat while we moved on to Turkey. We got to port late that afternoon and they said that you could be on or off the boat all night. We headed into town and I might have bought NIKES for everyone 🙂 20-25$ each. Lots of the our group ate at a restaurant there but we just were not one bit hungry.

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    Thessaloniki, Greece

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    Happy Sunday. We woke up at the port in Thessaloniki! We got off the ship and found a Bus Tour to jump on. It took us all over town and told about the different buildings or landmarks.

    After our sight seeing we found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Ate some ice cream and called it a day.

    Categories: Ben, Jana