Karen and I were married June 24, 1961 in Wyoming, IL and have been together since. We have five children, LaVonne, Suzanne, Cathleen, Joseph and Juleen and 13 grandchildren. We have lived in Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Pennsylvania again and now in Sun City Hilton Head in South Carolina since July 1, 2003. Some of the days were long, but the years went by really fast.

To celebrate such a milestone, we took a three-week cruise in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean and had experiences in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Egypt and Morocco. Please allow us to share our photographs with you.

Right: Our ship, the Norwegian Jade.
Passenger Capacity: 2402
Gross Tonnage: 93,558
Overall Length: 965 feet
Max Beam: 105 feet
Draft: 28 feet
Cruise Speed: 25 knots
Crew: 1,075

(click to make some photos bigger)
Karen wanted to ride a camel and struck a deal with a camel driver. We both got rides around the pyramids for 50 euros, but he wanted more. A euro is worth about $1.30.

Above: Ceiling leading to Sistine Chapel in Vatican, Rome.
Left: Pietà by Michelangelo in Vatican, Rome.
St. Peter's Square and the Basilica where the Pope speaks to the assembled masses.
Roman Colosseum where the gladiators fought and Romans fed Christians to the lions.


Above: Karen relaxes with a book in our stateroom on the Norwegian Jade. Notice the balcony behind the sliding door.

Left: Karen and I pose for a self-portrait on our room's balcony on the 8th deck high above the water.

Above: Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca has world's tallest minaret (tower) at 689 feet. We had to remove our shoes to go inside.
Upper right: The unfinished Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. It was begun in 1882 and might be finished in another 15 years. Only the top half is pictured.
Right: While in Casablanca, Morocco, of course we had to have a gin drink at Rick's Cafe. "Here looking at you, kid."




Above:  The ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey existed before the Birth of Christ and was very prosperous during the times of Alexander the Great.
Right: Karen sits in a public toilet in Ephesus. The toilets had no partitions between them. The rich people had their slaves sit and warm the cold stone before they sat down.
 
 Above: Our ship inches through dense fog into port at Alexandria, Egypt.
Right: Burial graves are cut into solid rock within the Catacombs of St. Paul at Rabat, Malta. During Roman Occupation, the Christian dead had to be buried away from populated areas because closer was considered unclean. No human remains remain following centuries of looting.
 
 

Above: Our favorite bartender serves our favorite cocktails at the ship's Martini bar. Marcelo always filled the glasses to the top.

Left: The purple cards were the keys to our stateroom and were used like a credit card while aboard ship. We never used cash while on the ship. The cards were scanned whenever we left the ship and were scanned again when we reboarded so staff would know if anyone was missing.

Above: Belly dancer puts on her act as part of the Fantasia Horse Show at Agadir, Morocco. There were snake charming and horsemenship acts too. They served delicate pastries and strong mint tea.
Right: Stalactites and stalagmites rise and fall within the deep Nerja Caves in southern Spain. Guides said it take 100 years for the formations to grow an inch. The cave is about an hour from Granada in the Canary Islands chain.


Above: We are in the ship's main dining room and it's our last cruise night. We are all worn out.
Left: Karen and I pose with showgirl Cara. Cara has great eyes and legs and danced and sang beautifully at our evening shows.


Other Vacations

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