I read somewhere that it takes one day per hour of time difference to get over jet lag. Venice is nine -- count 'em nine -- hours ahead of Phoenix. (Greece is 10, but I don't think one measly hour makes a difference. I got over it when we hit Croatia.)

I've never really had a big problem with jet lag before, but the trip home kicked my butt. I must be getting old. Or maybe it's just that we were up and traveling for about 26 hours, not counting short snoozes on the plane(s).

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Some discombobulation with the old circadian rhythm is a small price to pay for such a cool trip. That and the post-cruise seasickness were totally worth it.

Wait a minute. Post-cruise seasickness? Caught that, did ya?

I didn't have a problem on the ship or the tenders (the ship's lifeboats ... who knew?) or the Delos cruise or the vaporetti. (I admit I was a little worried after that unfortunate whale-watching cruise last year, but it was all good ... and we even sailed through a couple of storms. Thunder and lighting on the pitch-black water are amazing, but I, as usual, digress.)

When I got back on dry land with nary an ocean in sight, my inner ear took a while to clue in to the terra firma. I was fine as long as I was walking or driving, but when I was sitting or standing still, my world wasn't. It was all sway-y and slosh-y. Way bizarre. Leave it to me to get seasick after the cruise. But hey, that's what Dramamine is for.

Again, worth it. Completely.

So here's the deal. I've know Rosanne Coloccia for years. We went to the same school (Fight on, Trojans!), and we worked together back in my "Good Morning! Arizona" weekend days. I love to travel. She's a travel agent, specializing in some pretty cool tours. But until now, I had never gone anywhere with her. Man, have I been missing out!

Late last year, she put together this trip -- a Greek islands cruise on Royal Caribbean with an extra night in Venice. It was impossible for me not to go.

What a trip!

My mom had never been on a cruise, and I hadn't been on one since my senior year of college (a four-day Ensenada cruise, also on Royal Caribbean).

Cruising is awesome. You unpack once. It's just like a hotel, complete with turndown service (featuring cute towel animals every night) and room service. If you do the planned excursions, all your transportation and entries are taken care of. They feed you constantly. (There's some debate over whether that's a pro or a con. I guess is depends how much walking you do on your excursions. We did a lot.) There's a gym, a spa, a rock wall, a mini-golf course, an indoor pool and hot tub, an outdoor pool and hot tub, an Internet center (which I used only twice -- and not to check work e-mail), a theatre for live shows, a couple of bars and shopping. Lots of shopping. Overall, it's just plain cool.

If you're a ruin junky like my mom and I, Greece is amazing. We love wandering through them and feeling them hum.

Ancient Delos, which is about a 25-minute boat ride from Mykonos, was a thriving metropolis in 500 B.C. That's B.C. And the writing some of the stones is still readable -- if you can read Greek. (Click the picture for a closer look. The writing on the statue base is totally clear.) It's hard to wrap your brain around it. But if it's quiet and you listen closely, you can almost hear a whisper of what used to be.

What will we leave behind for tourists to see 2,500 years from now?

I'm still sorting out my pictures -- I took about 700 -- but they're coming soon!