Hubby and I went on a cruise for our 10th anniversary trip. This was the trip we wanted to take for our honeymoon but couldn’t afford. Ten years later, it is even better than I thought it would be.

Not only did we visit some incredible places, but we were able to spend uninterrupted quality time together, so rare when you have kids. We flew to Barcelona and stayed at a beautiful hotel right on Las Ramblas. Although it was a bit cold, the streets were still filled with locals and tourists until late into the night.

We boarded our ship, the Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas by taking a shuttle bus right at the end of Las Ramblas. Our cruise included stops in Palermo Sicily, then on to Athens and Rhodes Greece, Alexandria, Egypt and finally to Valleta on the island of Malta.

Egypt was the most surprising as it was a really great experience for us. Yes, it’s dirty and there are lots of people harassing you to buy something at all the pyramids, but at the same time, it was so enchanting. The people were friendly and welcoming, the pyramids more majestic than I even imagined and there was a feeling that I had there that makes me want to go back.

I chose this itinerary because I thought this was a great way to check off Egypt and the pyramids from my bucket list without expending too much time and energy. But I found that I really enjoyed this country and felt spending 2 days there just didn’t do it justice. I look forward to going back and exploring the Luxor area, spending time on the beaches of Alexandria and the Red Sea, and most of all, I’d like to stay in Cairo to see the pyramids of Giza again with my girls.

Rhodes was a beautiful Greek island that both hubby and I would like to go back to with the girls. It’s a small enough island you could probably circle in a day. We took a cab to a beautiful little town of Lindos that was perched on a hill overlooking a small sandy beach cove. The town was so compact, houses one next to the other and at the top of the hill, was an acropolis. The food was fantastic and the beer went down really well.

By the time we got to Malta, we’d been away from home for nearly 2 weeks. So we were tired and looking forward to being home. Once we got to Malta and cruised around, we found that there were so many things we’d like to go back to do again. Malta is a small island so close to Turkey and Italy that it has a bit of each culture in their cuisine. It’s also so British that it has the red telephone booths and mail boxes around and the streets and architecture would make you think you were in Britain.

As much as I worried so much about leaving the girls for a 2 weeks, this was such a great treat to ourselves. It was a trip we both really enjoyed. I’m now thinking of what our 20th anniversary trip will be. Antartica? Tanzania? Iceland? There are so many places I’d like to see.