Pictures, pictures, pictures

For those interested, go back and review the previous posts, I was able to edit them and insert some pictures (finally!).

Below are the pictures from our future posts - ha! About our past trip, but boy it's so busy we just can't catch up...


The Pirates of the Caribbean Deck Party on board the Magic is always a good chance to dress up and act silly!!!









Ann and Jim enjoy a rare relaxing shore excursion, an adults only tour including wine tasting!!!










We had a great family day visiting Monaco and Eze. Here are Boppa and Jamie outside the palace in Monaco.














The gang getting ready to hit the casino...

















Some memories of Mert/Boppa and Nan/Nana in Eze...











Pictures from our last night on the ship...

Tuesday, Day 7 – La Spezia / Pisa

This was our first port where the passengers tendered – for cruise novices, this means that the ship docked out in the bay and there were smaller boats that picked up passengers from the ship and took us into the port. Disney recommended that we allow 45 minutes in total to queue, board the tenders and then motor over to the port. It did take a while, which makes a longish day even longer…

So, being new to La Spezia and not having a concept about the distances, we asked the folks from the ship whether we could walk to Avis or if we needed a cab. They recommended a cab, so we hopped in. About 8 blocks and 10 Euros later we had learned our first lesson (or were reminded) – ALWAYS ask the taxi drive for a price or make sure they’re using a meter, and that they don’t have a minimum…

We had a nice mid-size car, Jim got to do the driving. And we saw our first (and only) rain of the trip! It was gray and overcast at La Spezia, then it was POURING on the Autostrada (is that the Spanish or Italian word for highway?). Again we relied on our Rick Steve’s book, supplemented by the driving map from the rental car. We made it to Pisa in decent time, though the traffic on the local roads was very slow due to some traffic signals. We parked in a lot just outside of the town walls and walked about 4 blocks into the main square, referred to as the Field of Miracles. We purchased tickets to climb the tower on-line, www.opapisa.it. We had tickets for 5, though Dad and Nan had decided to make the trip to Florence so they didn’t join us. With had a bit of an adventure selling our extra tickets to an Italian couple, but with the two hour wait from purchase of tickets on-site until you were scheduled to climb, the deal worked out for the both of us.

At Pisa, we ran into the Disney photographers (remember, they were at Pompeii, too).
They were obliging all the cruisers who wanted their pictures taken “holding up the tower.” We couldn’t resist, of course! Also, what we heard about the shopping was also true – lots of touristy shops with Tower replicas, leaning coffee mugs, snow globes, etc. We indulged, of course!

We also bought tickets to the Duomo and Babtistery, stopping in briefly while we were waiting for our climb time. After the Vatican and St. Peters, it was “ho hum…” The highlight was the acoustics in the Babtistery. The tour book claimed that with the echoing from the domed ceiling, the priests were able to sing harmony for themselves. Ann had to try and it worked!!!

The Tower climb was 294 steps, well worn, curling around the circle of the tower. Only 30 people can climb, every 20 minutes. There is a first tier balcony – after you ascend to this level, they feed you out to the balcony and let a group descend – very well coordinated, I must say. Then you make it to the top, which has two levels. The very very top tier is a bit scary – it’s hard to describe, but it’s basically the top/roof of the tower, with concentric circles of decreasing radius, creating s series of steps toward the center of the tower.
But the guard rail was a height appropriate for the bottom/outside step – so as you climbed up, if you had tripped, it would have been easy for your center of gravity to be over the top of that guard rail – Jamie was scared and Jim, who is normally afraid of heights was being quite brave (see picture). Ann scooted up the steps on her butt! We sat, took some deep breaths and lots of pictures, then we were all relieved to head down to the “main” balcony at the top that had nice bars and railings and even a mesh-like protection up to about Jim’s waist.

After doing the whole Tower thing, it was time for lunch. We picked another Rick Steve’s recommendation – La Buca. We sat out on their patio, nestled in an area between some buildings. Nice atmosphere, lots of umbrellas/canopies, etc. Ann had a fabulous pesto pasta as a starter, Jim had the lasagna and then we shared a pizza. Jamie had plain noodles again (the safe choice). But she liked the sauce on top of Jim’s lasagna so much, we had to order her a side of sauce… Then after more shopping (and ice cream), plus seeing multiple Disney groups on their way into Pisa, it was time to move on. We visited a local grocery store right near our parking lot – WOW we scored there! We bought a huge 2 Liter bottle of Italian wine for 2 Euros! How can you pass that up! And much better than Gallo (I think!??! I haven’t had Gallo in years!) Plus some bottled water to take back to the ship…

For our drive home, we were taking the scenic, beach route. We knew we wanted to stop, we just didn’t know where. We exited the Autostrada and headed toward Viareggio along the local roads – think of rural farm roads... We saw a hitchhiker on the side of the road – it was this Amazon woman in a skimpy top and shorts. Ann pointed her out, trying to make a comment about her attire that Jim would understand but would go over Jamie’s head. Then at a driveway about ¼ mile down the road, there was a woman out in her driveway, closing her gate. Then about another ½ mile down the road, there was a woman reading a book in a recliner. Ann keeps chattering about these people on the side of the road – wondering why the heck they’re out there. After he couldn’t take it any more, Jim exclaims… “Ann, sometimes you’re so naïve! Those are working women!!!” After my jaw drops and I realize of course that’s exactly what they are, I start laughing so hard I’m crying. Yes, sometimes I can be pretty oblivious!!!! I really wanted to go back and take a picture, but by the time I stopped laughing and crying, we were too far down the road…

We got to Viareggio, and got lost trying to find their equivalent of the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). Finally we found the right road and it was miles and miles of beach places with umbrellas and chairs that you can rent for the day. Bars, restaurants, shopping, places where you can rent a closet/cabana and store your swim gear for the summer… We picked a random place and stopped, walked up and down the beach then had our beer and ice cream before heading back to La Spezia.

From Avis, this time we walked back to tender (versus an overpriced cab). La Spezia seems like a nice town. We walked down a nice pedestrian shopping street, it was a busy time of the afternoon/early evening so the town had a lively feeling… There are parks along the water front, and the walk was quite pleasant. We were on one of the last tenders back to the ship, arriving well after our dinner seating at 6:30 pm (dinners in these ports were delayed 30 minutes from their regular start time to accommodate the long excursions). Though it was after 7pm, we decided to take a chance on dinner in the dining room since we had been disappointed with Topsiders the night before. We dumped our bags in the cabin and headed straight to dinner in our shorts and our wonderful servers were able to accommodate us! Thank you!!!

We hit the theatre for a “re-run” of Twice Charmed – we had seen this show on our previous cruise and it was still fun… Then off to bed, looking forward to our big day in the South of France tomorrow!

Day 6 – Civitavecchia / Rome (Monday, July 23)

The long days and late nights are getting to us. We have been letting Jamie stay up way too late, seeing the shows at 8:30 and not getting to bed until after 10pm. So we paid for it this morning. We had train tickets from Civitavecchia to Rome for 8:41 am so we set the wake-up call for 6:30. Our typical routine is that Ann showers first, followed by Jim and the we start waking Jamie up about 45 minutes to an hour before we need to leave. But today, Jamie wasn’t budging. Boy was she cranky. “I don’t want to go to Rome, I want to stay on the ship…” We wanted to be on the shuttle down to the town by 8am but didn’t make it until 8:15. And this particular shuttle driver stopped about every 100 yards to say hello to his friends, pick up workers and give them a ride down to the next ship, etc. It was agonizing to be in a hurry and to have our driver be in “Italian mode.” Arrrrggghhh. So we bolted off the bus and practically ran to the train station – which we found on the map and were praying that we were on the right street – we had hope that we were heading the right direction since there were multiple other folks with suitcases walking down the same road, in the same direction coming from the port. We made it with about 3 minutes to spare but didn’t know where to head for the First Class cabin. So we jumped on the train where we could and started walking toward the back – we didn’t find First Class there so headed to the front. We had heard stories about the local trains and standing room only, and we got to see this first hand. That’s why Ann booked First Class, to be sure we would have a seat and air conditioning. Think again… We finally made it to the First Class cars, and they were totally full, with people standing in the aisles and no air-conditioning. So, we headed back to one of the standard cars that had A/C, figured if we had to stand, we might as well be cool. By this time, Jim’s back is drenched from the heat, our mad dash to the station and carrying the backpack. We squeeze our way into the aisle and hunker down for the 1 ¼ hour ride. In the meantime the train keeps stopping and more people get on, none get off. So, now people are standing in the areas between the train cars and one lady has the train door propped open. Ann, never one to be shy (remember last night?), walks over and says “you’re letting the air conditioning out” and closes the door and then stands nearby to make sure it stays closed. This worked for one stop until the next 15 people got on and the crowds from between the cars continue entering the cars. So, after the people are on and settled, Ann went over the next lady who was propping open the door and asks for the lady to please step inside and close the door behind her so that the air conditioning will stay in the car. Well, in this case, Ann met her match. This particular Italian lady wasn’t going to be intimidated, she said “no, we need the air conditioning” and the door stayed open and we got hotter and hotter as the air conditioning couldn’t keep up with the heat coming in from the area between the cars where the windows were open…

Finally, we arrived at the San Pietro (St. Peters) train stop. We followed the crowds and made it to St. Peter’s square. We regrouped, had some water and started looking for the entrance to the Vatican Museum for our 10:30 tour. We were directed over to a side street, to follow along the walls of the Vatican over to the museum entrance about 5 blocks away. We almost immediately ran into a HUGE line of people, waiting to get into the Vatican. The line had doubled back on itself, and must have been ½ mile long. And it was HOT. The smart tourists had umbrellas (portable shade). We walked up to the front of the line where there was a second entrance area, showed our FAX, they checked our names and we were in!!! Thank you so much DIS Boards for the advice about making a reservation in advance!!! We were so happy to be there and in the air-conditioned lobby. Then the English tour started. We found out that the lobby and the tapestry rooms are the ONLY ones that are air-conditioned. So, our 2-plus hour tour was interesting but by the time we were at the end, we were so tired that we could hardly appreciate the Sistine Chapel. It’s terrible to be in one of the greatest sites in the world, wondering “when is this going to be over?” One of the most interesting things we learned from our tour guide was that Michelangelo had a sense of humor. During the time period he was painting the chapel, painting nude figures was not considered appropriate. So, one of the “church” leaders protested about his figures… The final portion of the Chapel that Michelangelo painted was The Last Judgment. It’s the “back” wall of the chapel, depicting God/Jesus in Heaven in the center and Hell at the bottom of the wall. One of the figures at the bottom (in Hell) is the person who had been working against Michelangelo, protesting the nude figures – he has a snake wrapped around his body, and the snake is biting his private parts (talk about “revenge”)!!! The tour we had was provided by the Vatican. There are also tours available through private tour providers… however all seemed to rely on posters with photographs (or reproductions) of the walls and ceiling of the Chapel to talk about the highlights of the chapel and describe what we would be seeing inside. These posters were located in the courtyard or in the museum. Then, once inside, we were shusshed into the center of the Chapel and then we made our way to one of the perimeter benches to sit and observe.

The chapel is the final stop on the Vatican tour. After you visit the chapel, you should exit on the door to the right, to go directly to St. Peters. This way, you can avoid the lines outside in the square and go directly into the church. So, we lucked out, skipping the lines at the Vatican Museum because we had our reservations (thank goodness) and also skipping the lines at St. Peters. And on the way between the Chapel and St. Peters, Ann and Jim spied one of the official Vatican gift shops and did some shopping damage. We can’t provide details otherwise some folks’ Christmas presents won’t be a surprise!!!

After the Vatican, our goal was lunch and then the Colosseum. We had a lunch recommendation from the Rick Steves book (Perilli in Prati). Great book, by the way. The lunch was great and reasonable. And air-conditioned. Then we took the Metro to the Colosseum. Another adventure. We had to make one connection. The first train was one of the new, clean, great trains. The second was a more traditional, graffiti decorated, run down car. Great contrast between the two. We got to the Colosseum and had a small line to get tickets.
Once inside, we joined the crowds and took pictures of the walls, the crumbling steps, the floors where the Gladiators once fought, etc. Being the tourists that we were, we asked another American family to take a picture of us (and they asked the same in return). We started chatting, and it’s a small world (again). This particular gentleman was the track coach from St. Johns in Houston, where Ann’s friend Anne Marie’s children attend High School!! So, Rudy and Catie, hello from Rome!!!

After the Colosseum, of course we had to do the Trevi Fountain! Not too far of a walk. And Jamie got to throw the coin over her shoulder while Ann videoed. Then, being the overachiever that Ann is, we decided to head to the Spanish Steps for one last site before our train back to the ship. We found the Steps fairly easily, but were disappointed. Pretty bleak, no greenery and not very interesting. So, we thought we would save time and money by taking the Metro back to the Termini station to get the 5:46 train back to Civitavechhia. Unfortunately, the Metro/tube stops at this station were poorly marked, and we thought we were heading to the connecting line and instead ended up on a VERY long underground tunnel ending up who knows where. Jim and Ann were going crazy, not sure where we were and we finally exited the metro to take a taxi to the Termini station and making the train with about 5 minutes to spare. So, for the second time of the day, we got to stress out about making our train… At least this time we were able to sit down, we had assigned seats that were actually available! Unfortunately, the “air conditioned” train car really wasn’t – there was a tiny bit of cool air coming from the vents, but the open window was more effective (though just barely). The Italian rail system could take some lessons from Virgin in the UK. Now those trains are NICE.

We were soooo late back to the ship that we decided to just do Topsiders instead of regular dining. The food was a bit disappointing. The steak was tough, the pasta sort of bland, the fish a bit fishy. Desserts were good though. Due to the late excursions, there was no live show at the theatre, instead they were showing a movie. We skipped it, called the grandparents to catch up then crashed.

Day 5 – Sunday in Olbia, Sardinia

Today, our port of call was Olbia, on the island of Sardinia. We wanted a little adventure so we headed out on the Jeep Safari tour, and Jamie got to spend some quality time with the grandparents on the Train to Gallura. I don’t think Olbia is someplace that we’ll need to see again, but we really liked this tour. We were in a fairly beat-up Land Rover, with a driver and English-speaking guide, plus four other cruisers. We drove out of Olbia on some paved and unpaved streets, up over a mountain down into the valleys bellow. A lot of the rocky terrain and vegetation that reminded us of San Diego?!? We first visited San Giacomo, a small church in a rural area, where we learned about the island’s history and traditions. The Sardinians are very friendly and proud of their heritage. We happened to visit on a day where they were preparing for a multi-day religious/social festival (there are two or three of these types of events per year, usually in conjunction with a saint’s day). In the not too distant past, these gatherings at the church were one of the only ways that the locals saw each other, and met their future spouses. Now, all the children take buses to a central school, there is much better transportation and communication, but these festivals are still very significant in maintaining their sense of culture and history. The women were quick to point out that this was one of the only times that the men did the cooking! There were dozens of long cement picnic tables (maybe 50 feet long) and while we were there, people were arriving and beginning to stake out their section of a table with a brightly colored tablecloth. The church itself was humble, but very well cared for…

Then onto the archaeological site of “Giant’s Tomb,” one of many Bronze Age burial sites from around 1500 B.C. These sites were either specific to a geographic area or a clan of people, it’s still a mystery that archaeologists are exploring. These sites are different than ones found on the mainland, as they have not only the burial chamber, but a wall of vertical stones, shaped in a semi-circle where the living would meet and give offerings to the dead in the chamber trough a small arched door cut in the bottom of the center stone. There were no bones found in this particular tomb, but the rock walls and semi-circular area were intact. At this stop, we were also treated to some great local cheese, ham and wine. The cheese was a hard, white sheep’s cheese, delicious. The wine was a very respectable red, and Jim and I were not shy about pouring ourselves 2nds and 3rds! The setting was nice, at some picnic tables in the shade and we chatted with our fellow cruisers, several whom we had met on previous excursions and even a couple who remembered us from the Panama cruise!

The last stop was in the small town of San Pantaleo. It’s now an artist’s village, with another quaint church and great view of the surrounding mountains. The most interesting part of this stop was the bathroom adventure – Jamie needed to go and the restaurant had a “Turkish” style toilet (basically, a recessed, ceramic hole in the floor, with a place on either side for your feet and you squatted down to go). We of course made jokes about how difficult it is for women to use this type of toilet since we can’t aim…

We got back to the ship and swam in the afternoon with Jamie. Ann tried to get on-line using the T-Mobile card that had worked fine when testing at home, but she couldn’t figure out how to make it work overseas. She spent about an hour on the phone with various help desk folks and while doing some reconfiguration of the connection, the PC battery pooped out and the PC went into hibernate mode. That was the sign that it was time to drink and swim and worry about the blog later (smile).

Tonight was the show The Art of the Story. It was another well produced show with musical numbers from the various Disney movies. We headed back to the room right after to get some rest in preparation for the big day in Rome on Monday.

One of our complaints about the cruise was the number of pre-teens and young teenagers out in the hallways well into the night. I don’t know whether it was just Deck 6, but I have read some other blogs and they also mention Deck 6 – I think the attraction is the extra lobby area at mid-ship behind the glass elevators. In any case, we were on Deck 6 and this night, there was a game of tag going on up and down the hallway. At one point, Ann opened the door, stuck her head in the hall and asked them to please keep the noise down, people were trying to sleep. Well that didn’t work so more drastic measures were called for. After ongoing shouting, footsteps pounding as they are running up and down the halls, and “you’re it!” I had had enough. I got out of bed (still in my nightgown) and went out and caught one of them in the hall. I grabbed him by the arm (he’s probably 11). “Where’s your Key to the World?” I asked, thinking that I could get his name and cabin number and take him to his parents. “Uh, uh, I don’t have it.” So, my reply “Well, then, we’re going to Guest Services.” Still holding the teen by the arm, I walk him down the hallway to the elevators. His friends are tagging along, all trying to tell me “it wasn’t us, it wasn’t us.” We get on the elevator as a group and still in my nightgown, we march into the main lobby of the ship. It’s BUSY down there around 11pm!! Wow! And I’m not dressed for it. And there’s a line at Guest Services. I spy one of the “men in white” (an officer type on the ship) standing nearby and I decide he’s good enough. “Can you please help me? These children are playing tag in the halls, running up and down and yelling, can you please take care of this?” He reassures me that yes, he’ll find them someplace else to be and I get back on the elevator as quickly as possible and back to the room, wondering whether anyone I know saw me. I will say that at least that night there was no more noise. So, while it’s possible that no one on the ship I knew saw me, now EVERYONE I know can laugh with/at me for my nightgown adventure. And if the parents of the child in question happen to read this, at least you don’t have my last name?!? And my request is please make sure your children have the courtesy in the future to move their activities to the designated public areas like Deck 9 or the Stack!

Search for the Perfect Ice Cream

This blog would not be complete without a note about ice cream. Prior to our departure, Jim got Jamie pumped up about the trip by issuing a challenge – could they (together) find the place with the best ice cream in Europe??? So at every port of call (and every day on the ship), ice cream was involved, usually multiple times. On the shore excursions targeted to families, almost all of them included an ice cream stop. When they didn’t, or we were on our own, ice cream was foremost on Jamie’s mind. On the ship, Jamie’s favorite big girl, on her own adventure was to head up to deck 9 to the place with the “free ice cream.” Before our trip, when she would tell her friends where she was going, it was always – we’re going on the Mickey boat and they have FREE ice cream on the ship!!! I think Ann’s dad (Boppa) also got into the spirit of things, because it was a sure bet that after every dinner on the ship, Boppa would order an ice cream sundae for dessert. Here are some ice cream highlights:

Madrid – after our fiasco dinner at the Plaza Major, we searched the plaza for a worthy ice cream. The best local alternative looked like Bar Zarra – the restaurant that had just “taken” all our money. So instead, we settled on an international favorite, Ben and Jerry’s!
Barcelona – after our late night dinner at Txapelas that Jamie slept through, she awoke just in time for an ice cream dinner around 11:30 pm. Yummy chocolate chip ice cream from a place near the Placa Catalunya.
Capri – this was the hands-down winner from Jim and Ann’s perspective. Overall, Jim preferred the Italian gelatos throughout the trip. This particular morning, the ice cream was included in our tour – from one of the portside restaurants. We don’t remember the name, but it was the first restaurant we reached, turning left from the dock. And it’s just to the left as you’re facing the Funicular station. Ann had the most rich, creamy chocolate and Jim had a refreshing melon gelato. Yummmm…
Rome – it was sooo hot. We finally found a gelato spot near the Colosseum.
Pisa – this was a two stopper. In Pisa, after our nice lunch, we stopped for gelato for Jamie on our way back to the main square. Then by the beach in Viareggio, Ann and Jim had drinks, and Jamie got a pre-packaged ice cream treat.
Monaco – after Jamie’s disappointment in not having time to see the dolls at the museum, we stood in a long line to get her mint chocolate chip ice cream at the Café de Paris.

Day 4 – Naples (Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri)

Wow, what a long day! Dry, hot and tiring. But good. There were so many of these excursions booked that the tour operators alternated/swapped the morning and afternoons between Capri and Pompeii to keep the crowds down. We had the morning in Capri, then lunch and shopping in Sorrento and finally a tour of Pompeii. We had a nice guide, Guilia (pronounced like Julia), who did a good job of keeping us together and making it interesting for all the various ages on this tour. Children (including Jamie) were tired by the end. Actually, EVERYONE was tired by the end of the day. We met in the morning at 7:30 and returned to the ship at 6pm with a 20-minute security line. We went straight to dinner in our shorts (horror!) but they are being quite flexible with dress code due to the length of the shore excursions.

The most memorable thing is how many types of transportation that we took on this tour – plus the logistics required to get us from place to place. We met in the morning at 7:30 for the tour. The first leg of the trip, we took the “fast ferry” from Naples to Capri. On this particular tour, they give you a coupon for Gelato plus give you one hour of free time in Capri (down in the port area). Instead, we bought our own tickets to take the Funicular up to the view spot (and shopping) and then returned to the port area for the ice cream.

Then we took a tour boat ride around to the south side of the Island. This was a highlight for us and most of our fellow tourists. We backed into a cave/grotto, boated through a narrow arch and the tour guides told us that if the married couples kissed under the arch, we would stay married forever. We had Jamie take picture of Jim and I kissing during this part!! Then we had the return boat ride to the port at Naples and onto another fast ferry to Sorrento.
Lunch was at what appeared at first to be a tourist trap in Sorrento by the water. However the food was GREAT – even Jamie liked the penne pasta with the fresh red/tomato sauce. Each table got a huge 1L bottle of wine J Ours was very empty by the end of lunch!!! Then after the pasta course, we had a buffet that included some antipasto, fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, etc. Wow, was it good! Then we took a smaller bus up to the town center of Sorrento. Very nice, interesting tourist shops. Then we loaded onto a big bus, heading to our last stops at the cameo factory and Pompeii. At this point, we were all tired and hot; the best thing about the cameo factory was the bathroom (Guilia called the bathrooms “smiling rooms” because everyone comes out smiling). Then on to Pompeii.

Pompeii was more excavated than Ann remembered, and dusty, dry… but still fascinating. We took lots of pictures of the shops, houses, frescoes, etc. During this period, a variety of materials were used for building construction - natural stone walls, cut stones in patterns, plus bricks. It’s hard to imagine the event. From what we learned, it wasn’t the lava from Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town. Instead, the fumes/gases killed the people, then tons of ashes covered it up (multiple feet deep), the city was buried and preserved!!!

We finally got back to the cruise port around 6pm but stood in line for 25 minutes to board the ship. So, we dropped our bags and went straight to dinner. This night’s show was “On the Nose” which received bad reviews from previous cruisers. So instead, Ann booked an 8pm Ladies massage and facial with Nan for the evening. The leg portion of the massage was very relaxing after all the walking. Of course Ann bought the facial products to take home – hopefully we’ll get VAT back on these since they are so expensive!

Friday - Day Three – Palermo

This morning, we hit the workout room at the Vista Spa. They’ve expanded the workout area to the front windows overlooking the bridge and added a lot of work-out machines (treadmills, elliptical trainers, etc.). We used our workout routine that we got from our trainers at home, so we felt pretty proud of ourselves for actually using the workout clothes we packed. (and now, updating/writing this post-cruise, I’m a bit embarrassed to say that this was the only time we did a work-out, we were soooo hot and tired after the heat and walking on most excursions that all we wanted to do was sit in the pool afterwards!!)

Altogether with our three generations, we did the Palermo for Kids excursion. Started off on the bus with a mini-city tour and finally arrived at the area where we would see the Sicilian palace. Very disappointing site after visiting the Palacio Real in Madrid. It was not very well decorated or preserved, all the windows were open and it was hot inside. The palace seemed very small, with only about 5 different rooms open to the public. One room was set up with tables for the children to do crafts. Then, they served us all gelato and finally we walked to the small “theatre” next door and saw a puppet show. Candidly, this excursion was not so great. The puppet show in Italian was funny when the puppets started sword fighting – the music would get going and the swords would be clanking and the puppets bounced up and down then all of sudden, one of the puppets would swack at the other a little harder than before and WHAM, the losing puppet would fly off to the back of the stage and land in a heap, dead. It got lots of laughs the first 3 or 4 times, but on the 14th or 15th fight, it was a bit repetitive. For the parents it was interesting because of the political undertones - this show would be banned in the US because the knights kept killing everyone, plus the theme appeared to be the Christians vs. Muslims where the Christians always won. So, if you are going on this cruise later, I think your time will be better spent on a different tour.

So, comments on dinners on the ship… Service is good as always. We are sitting with a nice family from northern California (near Napa and Sacramento). The servers are being flexible with arrival times and clothing because of the long shore excursions. Our servers are Fernando and Beethoven, and the maître de is Stepane from Marseille. From reading the Disney Boards, we know that we can ask for special food, especially if it is cuisine that is native to the chefs on board. We ordered Indian food for a future meal based on the recommendations from previous cruisers.

Tonight, Mike Super was on the big stage at the Walt Disney Theatre. Ann talked with the theatre managers before the show to try to have our tablemate Irene selected from the audience to be levitated on stage, but Mike chose someone else. Irene saw Mike on the ship one of the following days and chatted with him - he said he didn’t select her because she had a dress on and he didn’t want her “flashing” on the stage. Instead, we got a special treat when Mike selected Jim to go onstage for the Voodoo doll routine. Jim sat down on a chair on stage. Mike had a voodoo doll and asked Jim very seriously, “do you believe in voodoo” and Jim of course replies “no.” So Mike proceeds to poke pins in the voodoo doll’s shoulders (Jim said he felt something, not sure what), burn its hands and then ultimately poke the doll in the bum. For the burning of the hands, Jim had to put his hands straight out in front of his body and when Mike asked, did you feel it burning? Jim replied no, and then Mike said, then why are there black marks on your palms? Sure enough, when Jim opened up his fists, there were black “charcoal” markings on his palms! Mike asks again “do you believe” and Jim says “no…” So for the finale, Mike pokes the voodoo doll in the bum and Jim nearly jumps off the stage because he got shocked in the bum by the chair! Ouch! It got some laughs and Jim’s a believer in something, we’re not sure what?!?

Thursday - Day Two – at Sea

Our first day on the ship was at Sea. Time to relax, enjoy the ship, see Mickey, etc. For us it was “Palo plus” day. Weeks before boarding we were able to book Palo brunch for our 4 adults and also a high tea for Ann and Nan in the afternoon. So, we dropped Jamie at the Oceaneer Club and headed to champagne brunch. The food and service were great as always. Our waitress, Zita from Hungary was the same server that we had on the previous cruise and we all recognized each other. For Ann, the best food was the king crab legs with a brandy sauce (like a creamy, smooth thousand island) and the Tilapia (fish). Ann of course ordered more courses and food than anyone, took several bites of each then gave the rest to Jim to finish. Dad and Nan had eaten at Palo on the first night so they knew ALL the servers and were very popular!

High tea wasn’t really what Ann expected. For some reason, I thought it would be some sort of structured event, in reality, it was just like a restaurant meal, only the drink was tea and the food courses were little canapés and pastries.

Jim and Jamie spent the afternoon poolside. Then tonight was Formal Night for dinner. Yesterday, Jamie got to show off her Belle Princess dress and today she was Sleeping Beauty (Aurora). My favorite is Belle, though - with her hair up in the half-up half-down bun and the fancy yellow dress, she looks just like Belle (just a mother’s “objective” opinion?!?).

A side note about drinks – they make a heck of a Patron Anejo margarita at Signals (the adult bar at the pool). We also ordered the premium wine package, but we never order anything off of the wine menu, instead we get the credit/discount and just order what we want (like Mumm’s champagne and the Chateauneuf-de-Pape Chablis) from the regular wine menu.

For the evening show, on this sea night, we saw the Golden Mickeys – it has changed since our previous cruise, with some acrobatics and new musical numbers. Then we saw Mike Super in the Rockin-D Bar (adults only). He did a show similar to the one we saw on the Panama Cruise. Ann was ready with the video, but we still were amazed by the illusions! This time, we were on the front row and Jim volunteered his wedding ring for the trick with the brandy snifter – Mike took three rings from the audience and linked them altogether in a chain, then de-linked them and the original rings were returned to their owners. Of course, Mike played up to the camera that I had – he is a good comedian as well as magician. The best trick was one we also remember, where he takes a bev-nap and makes it into a flower and levitates it!!! I have it on film but still can’t figure it out!!! Mike says he will have a show on US television in the fall so watch out for him – what a good entertainer!!!

** Note after our return ** I’ve read some other blogs from cruisers on the July 18th cruise. Many of them kept track of each of the meals, what was on the menu, which shows were which nights, etc. Wow! To me, one of the great features of a Disney cruise is the quality and availability of good food, and the Broadway type shows each evening. So, unless it was something so exceptional, I probably won’t write about it here in this blog. Overall, my rating of the food for this cruise was somewhat lower than what I remember from the Panama cruise, but still very, very good. The menus contained a number of destination specific items – local “specialties” from the ports we visited.

Wednesday – Let the Magic Begin! We spent the day in Barcelona and boarded the ship…

We got up around 8:30 to shower and pack and still get a little sightseeing done in Barcelona. We had a quick donut/pastry while walking down Las Ramblas toward the Palau Guell – it’s one of the most famous examples of Gaudi architecture/design. Unfortunately, when we arrived it was closed for renovation until October. So instead, we re-visited the Gaudi house on the Manzana de Discordia that Ann had loved during her previous visit to Barcelona. We ended up taking a 7 Euro cab ride up Las Ramblas because on the map it seemed like it was so far, but in actuality it was only a couple blocks past the restaurant from the night before... We took lots of pictures at the Gaudi house, and the upper floors were open for visitors (including the rooftop) so we got to see almost the entire house. Jim would like to build a similar property in La Jolla (ha ha).


This was all we had time for before boarding the ship. We ended up with the same taxi driver as my folks (Boppa and Nana) and the taxi driver said that they had more luggage than we did!!! Boarding the ship was fairly easy this time compared to the Panama cruise. We walked right up to the counter around 2pm and worked our way onto the ship. Only problem is, when we embarked and went to our cabin, we had the room directly across from the laundry room – cabin 6588. Oh my gosh! It was horrible. I can’t believe that our travel agency (and Ann) let this issue slip by us. The laundry is loud, hot and open 7x24, so people are outside in the hallway late at night talking. We did not unpack, but instead went straight to Guest Services, where Ann begged for a different cabin. We called the travel agency to see if they could help. Thank goodness for Ann’s cell phone, because Andrew from Guest Services called around 4pm to let us know that we had lucked out (the ship is full) and were reassigned to a cabin 5 doors down the hallway, still on deck 6. Coincidentally, the same cabin we sailed for our Panama cruise. Sigh of relief!!!

We had dinner in Animator’s Palate for our first evening meal. Disney has two dinner seatings, at 6 and 8:30 pm. Diners rotate through 3 different themed restaurants, with assigned tables and the wait staff travels with the diners. We have the early seating, so we have dinner first, then see the evening shows afterward. We’re seated at a window table for 8 with a nice family from Northern California. They are the first of many cruisers from California that we met on the ship. The first night’s show was a welcome aboard variety show, it was fun. There were some musical numbers, plus a preview act from a magician (illusionist), Mike Super who we recognized from our Panama cruise. More on Mike later!

Tuesday – The PRADO!!! (July 17th)

Tuesday we woke up a tiny bit earlier, had an 8:00 a.m. wake up call because we had to pack and check out before leaving for the day’s activities. We had a nice American breakfast at a little place we had spied the day before (La Taberna de Benja’s) and by the time we left, the place was packed with locals. Another recommendation for future travelers. Then we hopped into a cab to head over to the Prado. They were much more efficient with the ticket and check-in process than the Palacio. The museum was a bit smaller than I expected but had multiple masterpiece paintings that I had studied in various art history courses. Of course a large portion of the collection focused on Spanish painters like Goya and Velazquez. In some ways this was good, because it was do-able to see the highlights of the collection in about 2 hours. That’s about my and Jamie’s limit (her attention span and my feet!).

We headed to lunch at another restaurant recommended by our airport friends, but in this case I think we went to the wrong location?!? The restaurant they recommended was Casa Parrondo - we ended up at Casa Parrondo III – I think there must be multiple locations for this restaurant; what we wanted were Tapas but there weren’t any on the menu. Instead we got a seafood dish that was like a fancy, expensive cioppino. It was good but we were a bit disappointed because we were in the mood for a nice light tapas meal

Then off to the airport. The hotel said “no worries, just arrive an hour before your flight” so we arrived 2 hours before, just in case. And thank goodness we did. Three terminals, two airlines and 4 gates later, we finally took off around 7:30 pm. Air Europa had cancelled our original flight, they re-booked us on Spanair and then their flight was delayed and changed gates multiple times. Hey, but the good news was that all our luggage was accepted weight wise (we came in at 58.5 Kilos with a total limit of 60 Kilos = 20 Kilos per person x 3 people). Success! (at packing) We arrived in Barcelona, drove in the taxi up Las Ramblas to our hotel. Dad and Nan were standing on their balcony, greeting us as we walked up to the hotel. We were glad to see them and heard stories about their previous days in Barcelona. Nan loved it, Dad thinks there are too many people. And at the airport, Nan fell victim to the worst that Barcelona has to offer – pick pocketing. She lost about $500 in cash, her driver’s license, cell phone and credit cards. There were 6 other victims in line in front of her at the police station at the airport…

And FINALLY we had Tapas! We walked to a place recommended by our hotel, Tapelas, where “the locals” eat. It’s just north of Placa Catalunya. We got very late start and were finally seated for dinner at 10:30 – Jamie had some sort of second wind while we were walking there, but then she crashed HARD at the restaurant, laying down and sleeping through the entire meal. Woke up in time to get ice cream on the way back to the hotel… come to think of it, it might have been a strategic move on her part (chuckle). This same night, we’re walking along to the Tapas place and we hear “Ann?” – of course, the small world that it is, Brad Jolson, a colleague of Ann’s from Fair Isaac was walking down the street. He has been on assignment in Tokyo – so it was absolutely one of those wild coincidences to see him in a place where neither of us lives. It’s always amazing to see folks we know in distant locales. Brad was with his wife Diana, they had been to a work meeting somewhere else in Europe and decided to extend their trip to Barcelona. SMALL WORLD!

Monday in Madrid… on European Time

This was our only full day in Madrid. We quickly fell into a European schedule, waking up around 9am and taking until about 11am to get ourselves and Jamie up and out of the room. First stop, the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace). We were able to walk from the hotel, it was great that our guessing about the “prime” location of the hotel was correct so we could walk to almost everything. The Palacio is no longer the official residence of the royal family but serves as the site for most major occasions of state (signing of the agreement to join the EU etc.), The palace was build in the 1700s and has an Italian/baroque feel. Lots of murals, tapestries, beautiful furniture and clocks galore. We mis-timed our arrival and ended up waiting in a line for about 40 minutes to enter, then another 30 minutes until the English language tour started. The line was single threaded through one cashier, finally when we were at the front of the line they had another employee start selling tickets, after that the line cleared out fairly quickly. Obviously they’re not too worried about making money?!? Jamie asked all the “obvious” questions – like when in the King’s bedroom/chambers, Jamie asks “where is the bed?!?). Apparently at one point, the King died in the bed in the official bedroom so his son the new King made that original bedroom into a conversation room and moved the royal bedroom somewhere else. And then several rooms in the Queen’s chambers were joined together to create a dining/party room with a large table (with leaves) that seats up to 150! So, the palace visit took a while longer than we expected so we had to decide between the Parque de Retiro (a Madrid version of Central Park) or the Parque de Attraciones (an amusement park). We let Jamie decide so we took the metro to the Parque de Attraciones. It was actually really fun. With a coupon, adults were 21 Euros to enter. The park was like a 6-Flags but maybe a little nicer. But the safety was a little more lax than in the US – fewer restrictions on height, fewer belts, and a VERY fast set of bumper cars. Jim and Jamie drove (I rode with her) and Jim crashed into us and I swear, I got whiplash?!? After that I had Jamie drive in circles to avoid cars – she did well, she’s had plenty of practice, driving golf carts with us on Sundays.

So, we spent about 5 hours in the park, headed back on the metro to clean up for our 9pm dinner reservation. Our airport friends recommended Casa Lucio (on Calle de la Cava Baja). Boy what a difference from the meal the evening before!! Outstanding garlic prawns appetizer, a local specialty (fried eggs over French fries) and a filet steak that rivals Ruth’s Chris. The steak was served on a sizzling platter, so seared on the bottom. To cook to taste, you would lay down the slices of steak onto the platter and they would cook more because the platter was so hot. We were asking so many questions and were complimentary to the waiter that he took us into the kitchen for a quick tour!!! Small kitchen, VERY old wood burning/charcoal stove/oven. Fascinating. We loved this restaurant and recommend it highly. We headed back to the hotel, shopped a tiny bit on the way at the tourist shops still open at 11:30pm!!! We almost bought a replica sword with a gold hilt and cross with other engravings – 172 Euros but 60 Euros to ship home. We just couldn’t figure out where we would hang/display it when we got it back to our house!?! So, another late night but a great day overall.

“Barra” Bar Zarra (Sunday)

SOOO Sorry for the long delays in posting. Once we got out to sea, Ann couldn't get the T-Mobile card to work... So we kept writing but never posting. We'll catch up and do some pictures over the next few nights and this weekend...

So, more on Madrid!

Well, the Plaza Major was festive and nice with shops, artists, cafes… In our hunger quest we searched and searched for the “perfect” restaurant since we didn’t have any recommendations from our trusty guidebooks. So, first criteria was “are there any people there” and second was “do they have something Jamie will eat?” So, when one gentleman showed us the menu book with pictures of the food and we spied spaghetti and pizza, we said OK (the place was Bar Zarra). We should have read the fine print?!? BEWARE when there are pictures with no prices. Just when I’m thinking I’m such an experienced world traveler, about ready for the Amazing Race, along comes an experience to humble me/us. We sat down to a nice pitcher of Sangria (the highlight of the meal) and ordered some boiled shrimp as an appetizer then split a paella for one plus a local potato dish. Jamie ended up with the spaghetti, with the noodles and sauce “separado.” Oh, plus one beer for Jim. So, reading the signs around the Plaza about the paella for two for 15 Euros and pizza for 7 Euros, I was guessing our bill would be around 40 Euros… Surprise, surprise, the bill came and it was 100 Euros and some change – gasp! I insisted that he had brought us the wrong bill – after all, it had about 10 items on it and I swear we didn’t eat that much. But oops, out comes the menu with the prices – three tiers of prices to be exact. One for bar service/standing, one for inside and the last, highest tier for the outside Plaza seating. The bread (that we didn’t order) was 4.8, the butter that we did order was 1.6, the paella for one was 16 – after we’d seen all the signs for a lower price for a portion for two people?!? I convinced him to remove the bread from the bill (a moral victory) and gulped as I paid 95 Euros for the most mediocre meal I’ve ever had… Jamie kept asking – Mom why do you keep saying “oh my gosh, oh my gosh…” She was so worried that wouldn’t be able to afford to go on the Mickey boat after all L SOOO the lesson is, ALWAYS check the menu for prices. ALWAYS.

Well the sticker shock kept me from going crazy at the shops, and what does a depressed girl need?!? That’s right, chocolate! We had spied a Chocolateria on the way to the Plaza and it ended up being a spot that was recommended in our Lonely Planet guide (Chocolateria de San Gines). They served a very simple menu of churros (large and small) that you dip into a coffee cup full of rich, dark, warm chocolate. After H#$% I had found HEAVEN!!! The hours of the place were 7pm to 6am and apparently it’s a favorite of after-clubbers. Reminded me a lot of a Spanish Café du Monde (my beignet favorite in my home town of New Orleans).

So, after the chocolate and attitude fix, we headed to the hotel and were in bed by 9pm… More to come…