Final Thoughts...

It only seems fitting that at the conclusion of a "Magical" cruise that I should post a list of the highlights throughout our Mediterranean Odyssey.

Travel: We are both grateful that our flights went off without any hitches, albeit close connections, what with getting thru massive lines at the Barcelona airport, and multiple levels of security at the Madrid airport. Most important though was that all of our luggage mananged to get on the same planes as we did. Having heard horror stories of lost and delayed luggage for folks on our sailing, we feel very fortunate.

Pre-cruise: Highlights in Barcelona would have to be walking thru Las Ramblas and seeing all the characters that "make a living" entertaining the tourist. Definitely our Segway Tour was something special and being able to see the works of Antonio Gaudi throughout this beautiful city brough a new appreciation for his works of art and architecture.

Disney Magic: Pirates Night, where my hubby proudly walked around all evening in his Pirate costume. We took advantage of the opportunity to have our picture taken with Pirate Mickey. The Pirates in the Caribbean Party on the upper deck was not to be missed, and was capped off with a fireworks display right from the ship, and a late night Pirate Buffet. The nightly productions that Disney puts on are equal to any land based theatrical production that one might see in New York or Las Vegas. What made these show even more special and entertaining was the fact that they were being "interpreted or signed" for a non-hearing family on board. We always sat mid-way back in the theater just above where Brian and Jen were standing, and we would find ourselves watching them instead of focusing on what was going on onstage. The expressions and creativity that they brought to the shows was extraordinary.

Food: The Chocolate Lava cake served in Palo Dining room was to die for. We also tried many local dishes while we were in Barcelona, a paella dish as well as tapas. In Erice, the almond cookies from Grammatico Maria's Pasticceria were wonderful, as was the Italian gelato we had in Porto Cervo.

And of course, you can't be in France without trying an original French Crepe or a cup of Cappacino in Monaco. I could go on and on about the food, but then thinking about it just makes me want to be there again enjoying it all.

New Friends: It was really great to meet all the fun people that we had been chatting with on the Dis-Boards. Our pre-sail away gathering was lots of fun, putting names to faces, exchanging token gifts from our hometown. Most of all, getting to know Lilian and Alex and their family as we shared some long, hot, days together on private excursions. We had a good time walking thru the ruins of Pompeii and then off to the beautiful isle of Capri and our bright red taxi tour. Scrunched together in the backseat of our tour guides Lancia as he showed us Rome in a day. Then exploring Nice, Monaco and Eze with the whole Preston Clan in a roomy mini-van with our delightful guide Isolina.

So many wonderful new sights we experienced, so many new things we tried, a lot of memories brought home to share with friends and family and even more pictures. Yes, it was definitely a trip of a lifetime and we are so grateful to have been able to celebrate 30 years of marriage in such a romantic way.

Sandy

Marseille and the cows

Our last port of call was Marseille, France on Thursday, July 26th. This was probably our least favorite port of call and had we not already pre-purchased a Disney Excursion we would have stayed onboard the ship. For those cruiser's still trying to decide about Marseille excursions, save your money and do it on your own. When you get off the Magic, there is a free shuttle bus into the center of town near the "vieux port". Once there, you can pay 5 euro per person and take the "little train" for a complete sightseeing overview of Marseille and it includes a trip up to see the Basillica du Notre Dame. You will avoid a lot of the hassles that the tour busses encounter trying to drive up these narrow mountain roads. Then you can spend however much longer you want to in the city center, returning to the ship at your leisure.

But, we did do the tour, and so boarded the bus at 8:15 in the morning. I do have to say, the drive up to the Basillica du Notre Dame was interesting, watching our driver manuever these narrow roads with traffic coming around the hairpin turns and screeching on their brakes. Once at the top, we had 200 steps to climb in order to reach the actual church. 200 steps by this time in the cruise was a piece of cake. After using the steps instead of the elevator whereever we went on the ship, plus all the walking and climbing on the excursions, our legs no longer felt the pain. Yeah! The Basillica is beautiful inside and was interesting to view on the outside, as it has been refurbished recently but one side of the church was left in its post-war state with pock marks all over it from the bombings. The view of Marseille and the old port was fascinating too.

As the title of this post indicates, Marseille is having one of those festivals where charities decorate a cow statue and then at the end of the festival they are auctioned off. Believe it or not, searching for cow statues became the goal of a number of us on the tour bus, and the highlight of the tour. We had about 1 hour to spend looking for cows or shopping after a complimentary beverage at a local cafe.

We were back at the ship by 12:30PM and just relaxed the rest of the afternoon and evening before attending the evening show. More on the ship and entertainment etc. tomorrow.

Sandy

Villefranche France

Qui Qui, that's our answer to your question, did you enjoy the French Riviera?




Wednesday was Villefranche, France, gateway to the French Riviera. Our private guide Isolina met us at the pier after the Magic had anchored off shore and we tendered in. We toured today with Lilian, Alex, Deborah, Ian and Olivia, so there were 7 of us plus our driver/guide in a very spacious mini-van. This is a custom tour that I had arranged it certainly made for a very delightful, personalized experience in seeing Nice, Monaco and Monte Carlo and Eze. After stopping for a city overview picture opportunity of Nice, Isolina took us to the Nice flower market and allowed us time to shop and smell the roses. We also were right across from the beach, so we were able to see some of the sights there as well. The beauty of taking a private tour is that if traffic is congested on the main roads that all the tour busses take, our driver can just turn about and take a scenic back road, which is the case for our ascent up to view the artists community of Saint Paul. Here again we had time to stroll through this magnificent community and enjoy some authentic French Crepes for lunch. Picture above is of the cemetary located in this community of Saint Paul.


After lunch we headed down the mountainside and heard about Monaco and its history and about Grace Kelly and her tragic death driving down the upper corniche. Arriving into Monte Carlo was exciting as she took us straight to the Casino area and the famous Cafe De Paris, Le Louis XV restaurant and the Hotel De Paris. The casino did not open until 2PM so we were not able to step inside the lobby even for a quick look. We did go into the Hotel De Paris but thru the revolving doors was as far as we got. Unless we had a hotel reservation or a restaurant reservation, the doorman would only allow us to do a quick look around the beautiful lobby.





Our next stop was the prinicipality of Monaco where we viewed the palace and the church where Grace Kelly's funeral was held and where she is buried. Again we were allowed time to stroll these narrow little streets filled with cafe's and shops. We had time to sit down and enjoy a French cup of cappacino in one of the little cafe's. As we were leaving Monaco, the Disney bus tours were starting to arrive and queue up at the church. It was so nice to just hop into the mini-van and speed off. Off we went to the perfume factory of Fragonard. Isolina had arranged for us to take a tour and see how perfume is made. Of course the tour ended in their gift shop which was a pleasant smelling place to be.

Next and last stop on our personal tour was the little village of Eze, another mountain top artist community. We didn't have a lot of time to spend here but we enjoyed the visit just the same.


When Isolina dropped us off back at the pier in Villefranche, Gary and I walked around the shops and restaurants in the area just to get a flavor of Villefranche. We tendered back to the Disney Magic and enjoyed a relaxing evening on board. Bell tower in Villefranche, pictured below.



Will try and get the rest of our shore trips posted before the end of the cruise. The shore days are so long and the activities on board so late, that it is hard to find time to update the blog.

Later,
Sandy

Picture Perfect Portofino

Tueday morning came a little too early, but never the less we were ready for our Disney excursion to beautiful Portofino and Santa Margherita which are reached from the port of La Spezia, Italy. We boarded the tour bus and headed along the highway towards these picturesque villages. The reason for taking the highway is that the scenic route winds along the coastline thru many villages but more importantly, those roads are so narrow it would have taken forever for the bus to manuver them all. Besides, the scenery from the highway wasn't too shabby to look at. All the beautiful mountainside terraced fruit and olive tree groves could be seen as well as occassional glimpses of the coast.

We stopped first in Santa M. and visited the church in the city square prior to be cut loose for shopping. Plenty of interesting little local shops and pasticceria's to visit in addition to some designer shops as well. Our group all gathered together at noon and descended on a pizza restaurant for a real Italian pizza party. There was no shortage of pizza's, we were full after each having a piece of white pizza made with a wonderful thin crust, and then true pepperoni pizza. They continued to bring out veggie pizza and pizza margherita before bringing out the best...Chocolate (Nutella) dessert pizza. However, we had already excused ourselves after the 1st two pieces and headed out to take pictures along the bay.

At 1:30 PM we met together again at the ferry pier and boarded our launch for the short ride to Portofino. It was such a beautiful, sunny day with a mild breeze blowing as we approached the postcard perfect harbor of this playground for the rich and famous. The ferries don't have priority in docking, as we had to wait 10 minutes or so while a YACHT moved out of our way and provided us entry to the pier. Portofino is as beautiful as you have seen on postcards etc. We strolled around and up and down the hilly streets of town, popping in and out of the little shops, making sure we weren't missing out on some designer fashion that possibly could have been on sale. These were the true "designer" shops and way out of our price range. We decided to settle for a refreshing Nutella Frappe enjoyed Al Fresco at the cafe in the square. This excursion was a nice relaxing way to see more of Italy in a leisurely fashion, especially after the hecticness of Rome the day before.

Sandy

Rome Highlights

If it's Monday it must be Rome, and indeed it is. Gianni our private driver met us at the pier with his brand new Lancia sedan. The four of us climbed in and were off for the 1 1/2 hour drive from Civitavecchia to Rome. Gianni shared tidbits of information about the area we were passing thru enroute to our destination. Upon entering this bustling city it was obvious that it was a Monday morning. All the workers were headed back to the heart of the city from their weekend homes by the seaside. In other words, traffice was heavy. We headed straight for the Vatican, but even at 9:45 in the morning, the line wrapped around 3 sides of this 190 acre walled city, with people waiting for the 10AM opening. Needless to say, Gianni said it would be best to try later in the day. After crossing over the Tiber river, we were in the other section of Rome where the majority of historic sites are to be found.

Gianni showed us so many of the significant sites I can only begin to list them. We drove by Saint Mary of the Holy Mount, which is one of the seven churches of Rome. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain which at the time was being emptied of all its coins. The armored truck carried away 5 laundry size canvas bags of coins. We contributed by tossing a coin over our shoulder for luck. Our next interesting stop was the Church of St. Peter, a beautiful setting for the statue of Moses, sculpted by Michaelangelo prior to his being assigned to do the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Inside this church were the chains in which Peter was locked up in while in prison during his ministry.

Our next stop was the Colusseum, an awesome structure to view, and to hear the stories of events that were held within from Gianni. According to Gianni, it took 7000 Jewish slaves to build the Colusseum, the capacity of the structure was 80000 people and it could be evacuated in 10 minutes time as there are 80 exits. Next to the Colusseum is the Arch of Constantine the Greek. Before lunch we also saw the Roman Baths and had a unique visit to the "keyhole of Rome" as well as a stop at Palentine Hill where the rape of the Sabine women took place according to legend in 753 BC. On this site now is the Imperial Palace, built in 80 AD.

After enjoying a meal served at a quiet, picturesque restaurantby 3 old men (we called it the Elderly Gentlemen's Club), we went to the Roman Forum, City Hall, the Pantheon and St. Peter's Square. St. Peter's Square took from 1450-1626 to build, has 152 statues around the top of it. Gianni pointed out which window was the Papal residency and told us that the columns on either side of the church represent the outstretched arms of Christ. We returned to the entrance of the Vatican but the line was still queued around 2 sides of the Vatican. Because the Vatican was due to close in 40 minutes, it was determined we would not queue up to try and get in. Therefore, it was time to head back to Civitavecchia and our floating home.

Ciao,

Sandy

Pompeii-Sorrento-Capri

What can one say about Pompeii? To walk in the footsteps of a city, and a civilization that was wiped out by a volcano is a totally awesome experience. Thanks to our private driver, the 4 of us, Lilian, Alex, Gary and myself arrived at Pompeii just before it opened at 8:30AM. We hadn't planned to engage the services of a tour guide to show us around Pompeii, but we encountered a very good salesman who convinced us that the 4 of us should join this other group of 6 that he put together, and that we would be better off for doing so. We figured with only having 1 1/2 hours to visit this massive site it might be a wise idea and besides, to rent a headset was 12 Euro a person, and our live guide was only 10Euro...such a deal. It really was a smart decision, as was getting to Pompeii first thing in the morning. It was already bright and sunny and closing in on 90 degrees in the shade (what shade?) We even ran into a Disney photographer who obliged us and took pics of the 4 of us.

The ruins were amazing, and some of the murals on the walls were still in good enough condition to imagine how much more beautiful they must have been centuries ago. Abut mid-morning we left Pompeii and headed to Sorrento. Michael, our driver knew some shortcuts which avoided about 3 miles of bumper to bumper traffice that the busses have to go thru. We didn't spend time in Sorrento other than to get our hydrofoil tickets over to Capri.

Michael had arranged for us to be met by a private taxi guide upon our arrival into Capri. Paolo met us at the end of the pier and led us to his 1960 bright red Fiat. Not just any little Fiat but an old fashioned sedan with a huge back seat and 2 full size jumpseats in front of the backseat, as well as a passenger seat in front next to the driver. The taxi's in Capri all have the hardtop roof removed and a canvas canopy replaces that roof, allowing for an open-air experience that makes you feel like you are in a convertible.

Paolo took us straight away to the top of this beautiful island to the village of Ana Capri. He suggested we eat at this quiet little restaurant, away from the crowds. Turns out of course that the restaurant was owned by one of his relatives (surprise, surprise) but at any rate, the food was delicious and the atmosphere very relaxing. After lunch, we spent time in Ana Capri shopping and watching an old Italian man make leather sandals while singing Italian love songs. Now if only I could afford the leather sandals he was making.

Paolo showed us all over the island, beautiful little, hidden overlooks with breathtaking vistas or yacht filled harbors and beaches with romantic looking hotels perched above the sandy beach. We ended our time on Capri with a stroll around the village of Capri, located at the waters edge. This part of Capri was very crowded and filled with all sorts of souvenir shops, along with expensive designer shops. The locals say the place totally quiets down after 5PM when all the ferries and hydrofoils leave. We were on the last hydrofoil out at 5:05PM and returned back to the Disney Magic to relax and unwind. It had been a long and busy day, as have most of them. These long days off the ship make it difficult to keep the blog updated, but I am trying my best to post when I can.



Sunday we will be in Olbia, Sardinia.

Sandy

Palermo Excursion

Our Palermo day was an early morning, meeting our fellow Disney mates who were going off to visit Segesta and Erice. The bus ride was made interesting by Vera, our guide who was very knowledgable and talkative. We were able to sit in the front seat, so Gary and I were a captive audience. We went first to Segesta, an ancient city from the 13th century and earlier, but no longer exists. All that is left is the Theatro and the Temple of Segesta. The Theatro was built in the 3rd Century BC and is still in wonderful condition, however they are doing some maintenance upgrades to it This excursion does require a good amount of walking uphill and on uneven pavement (what do you expect when it is centuries old?) The Temple was fascinating as Vera told us the history of it and the gods it was built to honor as well as why it was never finished. The Temple was built in the Classical design and faces east as most temples are. This is to represent each new day.

Following our time at Segesta we headed off to Erice. In order to reach this ancient, historic and quaint little village we had to take a cable car up the mountain. Once up at the top, Vera led us up to the Piazza or town square. The story behind Erice is that no one knows when the city was built and inhabited. Obviously by the looks and style of the buildings, it was centuries ago. There is a particular "bakery" on the "main street" that specializes in almond cookies and the knack of making marzipan. When our entire bus (32 of us) walked in, they started cutting up samples for us all to taste, which was a very smart move as it resulted in more sales for them. (think souvenirs ) Here is a picture taken in the bakery of the marzipan. We had time for looking around in the little shops that offered local handicrafts and produce. For lunch we were taken to a local restaurant/inn that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. The delicious homemade pasta and veal dish we were served made everybody very satisfied, therefore making for a very quiet bus ride back to the port of Palermo. This is the season for fresh watermelon and many other tasty fruits and vegetables and so this little markets display caught my eye.

For those reading this who are yet to come on the cruise, a couple things you do need to remember to bring with you on this excursion... suntan lotion, hats, and your travel paks of Charmin tissue as well as hand wipes. All were definitely needed, especially in Segesta.

More on Pompeii and Capri later.

Sandy

On Board the Magic

It's Here! The Disney Magic is docked in Barcelona and waiting for it's passengers to board. Transfer by taxi from our hotel went smoothly, but be sure to have your passport handy because you will need to let the taxi driver show it at the port entry booth. We arrived about 12:15 PM, gave our luggage to the porter, went into the terminal to check in, had our picture taken with Mickey and were on board by 1:00 PM. We went and grabbed a bite to eat at Topsider's as the staterooms were not available until 1:30PM. Our room was decorated by Disney in recognition of our Anniversary, but we added some additional decor to keep us in a festive mood the entire cruise. Pictures to be added later.

After unpacking and getting settled in we went and met our fellow Dis-boarders in the Promenade lounge. It was a chance to put faces to the nick-names we had become so familiar with and exchange our little Dis-gifts we had brought for each other. We had our special dinner at Palo's tonight and we were not disappointed. After dinner we went to the 1st evenings show in the Walt Disney Theater, called All Aboard and then later, went up top to the Sail-Away Party. The picture is of Gary's Cappacino Cheesecake dessert at Palo's.

Thursday, was a full day at sea. Beautiful sunny, warm breezes caressed us as we spent some time outside, but we had a number of events inside that we took advantage of, spa treatments, port lectures, and DVC gatherings and before we knew it, it was time for dinner and the evening show called the Golden Mickey's. Great performance, even seeing it the second time around, not to be missed.

Friday, we will be in Palermo and our excursion takes us to Erice and Segesta. More later.

Sandy

Here it is Tuesday already. Tomorrow we board the Magic!! Can´t wait! Of course then the serious eating begins. We haven´t really overindulged in cuisine the past few days, only having 2 meals a day with a healthy snack while on the Bus Turista. The weather has been gorgeous...80 degrees, sunny, breezy, low humidity, couldn´t ask for anything nicer. Just perfect for riding on the top deck of a double decker open top bus.

Today the Bus Turista was a bit more crowded as the route included more of the sites where Antonio Gaudi´s works were displayed. The Sagrada Famailiar was too crowded so we didn´t get off, but we did go to Park Guell to see his works. I just loved all the mosaics.




















Another stop we got off at was Tibadabo, an amusement park. In order to get to the actual amusement park we had to take a 100 year old tram and a funicular. The park is located at the highest point in Barcelona.
















What a unique amusement park Tibadabo was...there was this huge cathredral up at the top of the mountain, a couple of hotels, the amusement park and a wonderful overlook from which to view Barcelona. After descending the mountain, we finished the blue route and ended up at this internet cafe so we could bring you all up to date on our happenings.

Signing off for now.
Sandy & Gary

Our Big Anniversary Day

Well this is our big day! 30 years of being married! Who would´ve thought it? We started the day by sleeping in until 9:15AM. A luxury for us for sure. We tracked down some breakfast at a local department store called Ingles. It is really neat because it reminded us both of the old JL Hudson store downtown. It is 9 stories tall, with a cafeteria on the top floor, with a nice view of the city. It is so neat to see what a traditional department store "used" to look like, with a different type of merchandise on each floor. Our route today took us on the Bus Turista, a hop-on, hop-off tour bus thru the southern part of the city. A couple of the stops that we explored were the Spanish Village, picture below and then Montjuic.














Montjuic was very interesting as it is a part of the city where all the Jewish people were exiled to hundreds of years ago. There is a Jewish cemetary there now and today we were told that there are only about 3000-4000 Jewish people left in Barcelona.

Our very special activity was a 2 hour Segway tour around parts of the city. After a quick lesson on balancing, stopping, starting, and turning we were off with our guides. Both of us were a little nervous at first, seeing as how there are no horns on these things, and pedestrians, posts, curbs, trees, bikes and cars were all things we needed to avoid.
















It is definitely something we would do again, and will on this trip if we come across it in another city. After our Segway tour, we skadaddled over to Las Ramblas for an evening Flamenco show. As a special Anniversary treat we indulged in a scoop of Gelato following the Flamenco show.

It is an Anniversary that will hold lots of special memories for us in the years to come. Off to bed as another full day on Tuesday awaits us.

Sandy & Gary

Travel - no problem!

For those of you who are familiar with some of our past experiences while enroute to our destinations, this trip went off without a hitch. Our flights from Chicago to Barcelona, thru Madrid were uneventful, very smooth flights. If you don´t take into account that Friday night at home, my "sleep number" was a 65 and the next night on Iberia #6074 my "sleep number" went down to a -5 :) In other words, not much shut eye for this gal, even with my ¨"first class sleepere" inflatable bed, nothing worked. Gary caught some shut eye off and on, as he had put in a very long day and night of work on Friday the 14th.

We were very thankful all our luggage arrived at the same time as us on Sunday morning into Barcelona, as we had been hearing lots of reports of delayed or lost luggage from our fellow Disney cruisers. Our hotel in Barcelona, the Hotel Inglaterra is a very nice boutique style hotel, just a few blocks off Las Ramblas, near the heart of all the action. We are very happy with it and its proximity to everything. (read Starbucks)

Sunday, we took an afternoon nap to regain some zip and then went out and explored Las Ramblas and had a taste of Spanish food for dinner. Called it an early night.

Departure Day is Here!

Well, Saturday is finally here. After a very busy day Friday wrapping up all the loose ends, we both finally tumbled into bed about 1:30 AM (Saturday). Needless to say a short nights sleep as the alarm went off at 6:15 AM.

Gary was off to deliver the jobs that he worked so late to get finished. I was busy doing last minute housecleaning! Then we both went to weigh in at Weight Watchers. I was very pleased to hear that I had lost some more weight this week. YEAH! That gives me more wiggle room with all the great food we'll be imbibing in the next two weeks.

We're off to the airport in about an hour from now, when our travel adventures begin. Stay tuned, I promise to keep you posted.

Sandy

Welcome to our Cruise blog

Welcome to our Blog. This will be a new experience for us, but then so is going on a Mediterranean Cruise. Two more days until we fly to Barcelona where we will celebrate our 30th Anniversary on July 16th. We'll be celebrating by trying another new experience...taking a Segway tour and then going to a Flamenco show.

Check back often to see what we're doing and where we've been. I'll try and include pictures when I can.

Sandy

First post.

testing.....