Hurry up and wait.
Guy was up before the alarm(s) went off and was checking out the scenery from the balcony. Italy was again outside our window and it is a beautiful day. We knew it wouldn't be long before we were in the port and the last day of our cruise was coming to an end. Remember about 10 days ago I was feeling a little homesick? Well, that is long gone and the thought of coming home is nice, but I could definitely stay a few more weeks. - So our first hurry up of the day began as we had to be out of our cabin at 8:30am. I started getting ready and we didn't have much to pack up as they collected our bags the night before. Double checking all the drawers, the safe and closets we grabbed our full backpacks and headed for breakfast. We dropped our backpacks on the 5th floor as no need to tote them around for another 2 hours. At breakfast we sat at a new table and had a new server. He was nice. I ended the cruise with 3 pudding filled mini doughnuts in my belly as well as a plate of eggs Benedict and roasted potatoes. Had to fill up as there would be no lunch on the train. Guy's breakfast mirrored mine and it was a good way to start the day. We sat and chatted about cruising. We both like it. It is fun to get glimpses of places to see if you might want to go back and stay for a longer time, but it is also hard to really SEE places unless you go a bit deeper inside. Our favorite cruises have been the Greek Islands, the Baltic Sea and of course the Rhine river cruise. But they are all fun because you get to see new places and your hotel room follows you. No packing and unpacking and you don't have to search out a place to have dinner every night. So that is relaxing.
After breakfast we went up top to look around. Today doesn't seem as hot and hazy, but we still searched out the shade and watched the sights around the port for about 40 minutes. When it came close to time for our group (light blue) to meet in the theater, we hurried down to grab our backpacks and got to the theater. As we waited, they were playing a version of "funniest home videos" on the screen. An international version. We laughed, but some of people on the screen had to of gotten seriously injured from these accidents! As they called light blue, we hurried out of the theater just to wait in a long line to disembark. After getting off we hurried to a shuttle as it took us to the spot where our luggage was. Our bags were marked in the light blue section and we found them easily. We caught a cab and took the ride to the train station. We had about 2.5 hours before our train comes. So now we really wait. I stood in a really long line to make sure that we didn't need a paper train ticket and when I showed the lady my phone, as I had taken a screen shot of my confirmation email with all our info on it, she took a look at my phone and said we can get directly on the train. Man, this is the way to go. Love my technology. Guy suggested I take a picture with his phone just in case my phone died. Good idea!
Time passed kinda slow and we questioned whether or not we should have driven, but soon enough our train pulled in and it is a more stress free way to travel. The train was a nice one and as I entered my senses were overtaken by the smell of men's cologne and sandwiches. Kind of a weird combo, but trust me, it could be worse. As we pulled away we watched the scenery of La Spezia go by and got kinda sad knowing we were nearing the end of the trip. My dear friend Polly posted on Facebook yesterday that her cat of 17 years passed away. I feel so sad for her. 17 years is a long time having a cat be your bff. That does make me ready to be home and hug on my little buddy. I don't think cats understand time, but he has to miss me, right? In the meantime, my mom enjoys him, he's a pretty good little snuggler.
Guy had purchased a cheese and salami sandwich at the train station and pulled it out of his bag for a little train picnic. The snack was followed by chocolate that has been in our ziplock snack bag for about 3 weeks now. Ha Ha. Still totally edible. I thought about reading a book, but I enjoy watching the scenery go by and it was pretty good. Occasionally we'd pass along the Mediterranean and then nice hilltop towns would be on my left. After dozing occasionally and my Apple watch thumping me when it was time to stand, I did get up and move around a bit. The seats are comfortable, but your back does get tired. There is a guy across from me who was asleep on the train when we got on. It's been three hours and yep, he is alive...his eyes are now open. He has long legs...so it is kinda bad when the seats face each other - you can't give your legs a long stretch.
It's cloudy today. Looked like there might even be some rain in the area. We were going to see if we could drop our bags at the Rome train station so we can walk into town for dinner. However, due to higher security now days, we aren't sure if you can do that anymore. So we are going to check it out once we get into the city. I also found out through a Google search that there aren't Starbucks' in Italy. Not sure if it is true or not, but it appears that the Italy Starbucks mug will continue to be missing from my collection. That's cool. Maybe someday!
We arrived in Rome about 4:30. We decided it was too early to go to the airport hotel, so we had the train station hold our bags and we went into town. At the place that holds the bags, there were two girls scantily dressed in super high heels at the baggage x-ray machine. The one girl removed her skirt and had no shirt on. When she turned around it was actually a HE. The facial expressions of the people walking by were priceless. After they left, we walked up and checked our bags. We felt a little over dressed. LOL. So when we exited the train station there was a mob of people. We were smack dab in the center of a rainbow parade. That explains the guy in heels and a fig leaf. We wanted to eat at a restaurant close by the Trevi Fountain called the Patricii et Plebei. We had been there before and they have good pizza. It was a 1.1 mile walk from the train station, but we had been sitting for hours, so we needed to stretch. We mapped it on the phone, but siri wanted us to walk along the same street as the parade and we thought we'd better steer away from the mob. She was confused at first, but got us going on a different path and we made it to the restaurant in good time.
We washed our hands for the longest time. We need a shower bad. But we got our four cheese pizza and bruschetta and filled our bellies leaving some room for gelato (of course). So we walked a few steps to check out the Trevi Fountain. They had it drained and there is quite the undertaking going on. Fixing it, restoring it, cleaning it...not sure. However they had the seating area around it blocked off, but there were still tons of people around the glassed in area taking selfies and tossing coins in on dry ground. Funny and sad at the same time. The fountain is quite spectacular when in operation. I hope these people get to see it again some day. So after our peek at the fountain, I Trip Advisored the best gelato in the area of the Trevi Fountain. It said the Gelateria Valentino was close by and was ranked #5 out of like 500 gelato shops in Rome. So we walked there as it was just a block away. The guy behind the counter was an older guy. He spoke perfect English and was funny. He asked me cone or cup. I said cup and pointed to the next to biggest size. It's my last real gelato for some time, people...no judging! He asked me which flavors and I said coconut, chocolate and pistachio. He said dark chocolate or milk. I said dark. So as he gently placed my gelato in the cup, he was treating it like a masterpiece. When finished filling my cup, he took a little spoon and scooped some of the pistachio out and handed it to me and said "taste the best pistachio gelato in the world. You don't like, you don't pay". So I took the spoon and agreed that it was pretty darn fabulous. Then he gave me the cup and told me to eat the pistachio first, then the coconut, and finish with the chocolate. OR I could mix the chocolate and the coconut. I had the pistachio eaten before I realized I had not taken a photo! So part of it is missing, but I ate it as he said. However, the dark chocolate was so intense I had to mix it with the coconut and it tasted like a mounds candy bar. YUM! Great way to end our time in Rome. Oh yes, the owner insisted we sit down, as we were just standing outside the shop, so he brought out two folding chairs and we had a seat. Guy spoke with him later and he said they'd been there 50 years. We also talked about Trip Advisor and how it does your marketing for you. So after our fun experience at the gelateria, we made our way to a taxi stand and took a ride back to the train station. The mob had cleared and navigating the street was much easier now. We went inside and Guy bought tickets at the self serve machine and we went down to collect our bags. I had a bit of cash (not much) and my ipad in my backpack. We were a little concerned, but didn't want to drag our stuff around the city. Happy to say that nothing had been bothered and I recommend the service.
The train ride was about 30 minutes and the scenery was pretty ghetto, but we took in our last views of Rome, where old meets new. It's an interesting place, that is for sure. I love to visit it - but definitely couldn't live there. As we got to the airport, we hoofed it to the Hilton that is connected to the airport by several covered paths. The elevator was broken, so we carried our bags down a couple of flights and finally made it to the check in desk - sweaty, tired and at the wrong hotel. I could see the look on Guy's face and knew something was up. We were supposed to be at the Hilton Garden Inn. The British couple standing there said "we just came from there, we were at the wrong place". Well, apparently the Hilton we were at was ALMOST full, not full, but ALMOST full and wouldn't let us stay. They tried to call us a cab, but there were none. They have two shuttles out front with both Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn on them, but they can't take us there. They called the Garden Inn and they won't come get us because they are too busy. So after about 20 minutes, we again hoofed it, bags in tow, to the bus stop, where we could ride the airport bus around the 30 minute loop to the Garden Inn. Guy, a bit frustrated at this point, hailed a cab and told him where we were wanting to go. He said "No - take the bus" and drove away. At this point we are laughing a bit (a bit). Finally after hitting every parking lot at the Rome airport, it finally made its final stop at the Hilton Garden Inn. Luckily our room was ready, the girl at the desk was extraordinarily nice, and gave us a room on the ground level. Guy was going to complain about them not shuttling us, and I agree they are sister hotels and apparently this happens ALL THE TIME they said, and they should make it a bit easier on the customer. Still, not their fault we were at the wrong location. But tomorrow the breakfast is free, the room is clean and Guy said the shower is great. No wash cloths...sigh, but they do have conditioner!! Partial score!
So as I bring today's blog to a close, it is also the final post for my Italy and the Med 2015 blog. No need to blog about our flight home as I'll be in a medically induced coma and I won't remember too much anyway. So by tomorrow at 6:30pm, we should be back in St. Louis and it will be the end to another wonderful vacation. This one especially was great. We enjoyed vacationing with the entire family. Wonderful memories were made. And you know how it is. The grass is always greener somewhere else and we wonder why we live in Southern Illinois sometimes, but when it comes down to it, home is where your family is. And that is where are hearts are.
As always, prayers accepted for safe travels home and we are so very appreciative of God's blessings.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Friday, June 12, 2015
Day 19 Salerno, Italy
I had my alarm set for 6am but was awake taking pictures of the sunrise over Salerno before then. I don't think I slept at all last night. I kept dreaming of Jim Cantore and I think I've developed a bit of a cold or a sinus infection. I tried to fall asleep without taking Sudafed, but breathing through my mouth was painful on my throat. So up I got and Sudafed I took it and as I feared...awake I stayed. It happens.
Our goal today was to be out the door by 7:30 and we did manage to sneak a quick breakfast in the dining room. I ordered waffles with bananas (I could handle the rejection today) and I did manage to snag my favorite mini doughnut. It tasted so good with my cappuccino and we were off to a good morning. However, my waffles were pancakes and they had bananas, but there were only four little slices. I suppose that counts. Today I had plenty of sauce over the top as the bananas were cooked. Guy however, craving waffles, didn't order fruit on his and his pancakes came naked and boring. Instead of asking for syrup he nibbled on them and had a doughnut and scrambled eggs. Sometimes things get lost in translation, which is cool, but they have a waffle station at the buffet, so they do actually have them.
We were out the door by the time we had hoped and stopped outside the ship and spoke to the local girls at the info area about what to do in town. This one fabulous young lady told us we could take a side trip to a small nearby town by local bus for under 2 euros each. Or she gave us a map of Salerno and told us each street to walk down and what there was to see. So that is what we chose to do...a walk around Salerno. Keeping in mind it is still before 8am, nothing is open, so we walked around looking at empty dirty streets. We decided to hop in a cab and take a ride up to the castle til the shops opened. It didn't take too long to find one and we got in. We told him where we wanted to go and he was nice enough to tell us the price. 20 euros each way. Hmmmm....Guy tried to negotiate the price a bit, but he said "MSC fixed price". How on earth did he know we had just come off the ship? Guy thought it was stamped on our foreheads, but I guess it makes sense. Why else would two lost looking Americans be walking the streets before most people in town are awake. Anyhoo...we told him that was too much and before we could get out of the cab he was offering options such as Pompeii! Um...no. Cab Dude, we appreciate the offer. but we have like 4 hours. So we got out and thanked him for the half a block ride he gave us. He was nice.
A few shops were open and we got post cards, but we went into every tobacco stand but no stamps were to be found. We went to the post office and the line was so long and people were sitting all around - Guy thought it looked like a medical clinic. Ha Ha. So post cards but no stamps. As the shops slowly began to open, we had made our way all the way across town and found restrooms at the train station. It's a good thing as it was mission critical for me! So as we walked all the way back through the town, it really began to come to life around 10am. I went in lots of shops and even tried a few dresses on. A couple were quite fantastic, but they were a no. And speaking of shopping. I didn't buy much the first part of the trip because I had been to all the places before and I waned to take goodies home to my loved ones from the new places. But shopping in the ports was not good at all and I will definitely not need to buy a bag to bring home goodies in. There aren't any. Sigh. So I hope everyone reads this before I get home. There is minimal swag making it back to the USA. The big winner is usually my mom for taking care of the cat every day. She gets extra. But I'm going to have to take her out for dinner when I get home instead. Shopping? Fail.
As we made our way back to the ship we checked our steps and we had walked over five miles. No wonder our feet were hurting. So we boarded the ship, cooled off with a soda, had a snack and parked it on our balcony to watch the scenery go by as we were leaving the port and floating up the beautiful coast of Italy. Note to those who might be taking this ship and itinerary, we are on the right side (the starboard side - to talk in official boat lingo) and that is the side to be on. We had more good views than not. Especially the ride up the Italian coast line. Sadly, it is so terribly hazy, the Amalfi coast was less than its beautiful self today. We sat out on our balcony until the Isle of Capri went by and we had finished our room service lunch. I was first in the shower as a big ole nap was a necessity and with a long hot shower and my pjs on, I slept for a couple of hours. It was awesome.
We are contemplating what to do tomorrow. We can get off the ship around 10:30am, but we are missing the train to Rome by about 30 minutes. The next one isn't until about 1pm. So what are we going to do til then? We thought about having the boat hold our bags and do an excursion, but we've seen Pisa, Pompeii and Cinque Terre. So we are tossing around renting a car and driving it. It would be a nice drive along the coast to the Rome airport but it will be over 4 hours of driving. The train is going to take the same amount of time. So we are pondering and we were going to check with the desk just to make sure we weren't missing any ideas, but finally decided to go by train and we booked the tickets online. Done.
Tonight at dinner neither one of us were too hungry, but we nibbled on several courses since it was our last night. We started with them bringing us smoked salmon on a crouton. It was a bit strong. Then we moved on to our appetizer. Guy had fried salted cod (which was much better than his fish and chips the other day) and I had cauliflower soup - very good. Our second plate was a pasta. Guy had cannelloni and I had veggie risotto. We didn't care for any of the entrees tonight, so we both had grilled veal (sliced thin) and vegetables. This was an option available any night. Our sever brought us out fries as well because he was afraid we didn't have enough food. We did. For dessert we had previously seen some cannolis go by and they looked GREAT, but I couldn't eat a whole one. So we just asked for one and two spoons. The server brought out pistachio ice cream, too. I guess he thought we weren't ordering enough and knowing it was our last night he wanted to make sure we ended on a good note. The cannoli wasn't as good as it looked, so I actually polished off most of the ice cream. It was a pleasant surprise. We thanked our server and shook his hand. Depending on where we sat depended on who our server was. But we kind of found our favorite spot against a wall and it was always open. Probably because most people want by the windows. However, the window table server wasn't as nice as this other guy, so we kept going back to the same spot. It was a pleasure meeting him. His English wasn't super, but good enough that he knew how much we appreciated him. That was all that mattered.
Back in the room we got all our things packed up and have plenty of room. Like I said earlier...not much shopping or purchases were made. So I guess that is a good thing, at least when it comes to packing up! I filled out my questionnaire and these are our final thoughts on the MSC Armonia. The ship is clean and small. It has no bells or whistles, so if you were coming to be wowed by a magnificent ship, this one is not the one for you. However, the price was right and our big cabin with the balcony was excellent. We were in cabin 1064. The itinerary was good, but really we have no desire to hit any of the stops again. Maybe Ibiza and other areas of Sardinia, but the other places - not really. This isn't a good cruise if you haven't seen the biggies of Italy yet. Do all that first, then like us, add this on as a "sure while we are over here let's hit a few new places" cruise. But not really one I'd fly over just to do. The Amalfi Coast is amazing, but this stop didn't show you Capri, Positano or Sorrento. Those are nicer and need to be visited on a land trip, not a cruise because you aren't in the port long enough to enjoy and explore - and the port stop in Salerno (and the town itself) are just ok. The food was better than the last time we were on this ship, but again, the hot food could be hotter and the cold food could be colder. The restaurant is a much better choice than the buffet, but that might be a personal thing. The excursions were pretty good considering the short times at the ports and were easy enough to book on the ship and the price seemed fair enough. The entertainment onboard was again, just ok...but we are a captive audience and it beats watching TV in the room (not many channels were in English). We bought 5 hours of internet and I have exactly 5 minutes and 30 seconds left. I hope it is enough to get the blog posted tonight. It was worth the money but I don't know if you'd need that much if you weren't wanting to upload pictures and trying to post a blog every day.
So I think that just about wraps it up. I'll add more to the above paragraph if I think of anything else, but its nearly midnight and tomorrow is an early day. We have to be out of the cabin by 8:30 and can get off the ship just after 10am. Tomorrow is a travel day to the Rome airport and a night at the Hilton. Looking forward to conditioner and a wash cloth. :) But this is the point in the trip when you are ready to just snap your fingers or be like Dorothy and click your heels together and instantly be back in Kansas. Ha Ha.
Our goal today was to be out the door by 7:30 and we did manage to sneak a quick breakfast in the dining room. I ordered waffles with bananas (I could handle the rejection today) and I did manage to snag my favorite mini doughnut. It tasted so good with my cappuccino and we were off to a good morning. However, my waffles were pancakes and they had bananas, but there were only four little slices. I suppose that counts. Today I had plenty of sauce over the top as the bananas were cooked. Guy however, craving waffles, didn't order fruit on his and his pancakes came naked and boring. Instead of asking for syrup he nibbled on them and had a doughnut and scrambled eggs. Sometimes things get lost in translation, which is cool, but they have a waffle station at the buffet, so they do actually have them.
We were out the door by the time we had hoped and stopped outside the ship and spoke to the local girls at the info area about what to do in town. This one fabulous young lady told us we could take a side trip to a small nearby town by local bus for under 2 euros each. Or she gave us a map of Salerno and told us each street to walk down and what there was to see. So that is what we chose to do...a walk around Salerno. Keeping in mind it is still before 8am, nothing is open, so we walked around looking at empty dirty streets. We decided to hop in a cab and take a ride up to the castle til the shops opened. It didn't take too long to find one and we got in. We told him where we wanted to go and he was nice enough to tell us the price. 20 euros each way. Hmmmm....Guy tried to negotiate the price a bit, but he said "MSC fixed price". How on earth did he know we had just come off the ship? Guy thought it was stamped on our foreheads, but I guess it makes sense. Why else would two lost looking Americans be walking the streets before most people in town are awake. Anyhoo...we told him that was too much and before we could get out of the cab he was offering options such as Pompeii! Um...no. Cab Dude, we appreciate the offer. but we have like 4 hours. So we got out and thanked him for the half a block ride he gave us. He was nice.
A few shops were open and we got post cards, but we went into every tobacco stand but no stamps were to be found. We went to the post office and the line was so long and people were sitting all around - Guy thought it looked like a medical clinic. Ha Ha. So post cards but no stamps. As the shops slowly began to open, we had made our way all the way across town and found restrooms at the train station. It's a good thing as it was mission critical for me! So as we walked all the way back through the town, it really began to come to life around 10am. I went in lots of shops and even tried a few dresses on. A couple were quite fantastic, but they were a no. And speaking of shopping. I didn't buy much the first part of the trip because I had been to all the places before and I waned to take goodies home to my loved ones from the new places. But shopping in the ports was not good at all and I will definitely not need to buy a bag to bring home goodies in. There aren't any. Sigh. So I hope everyone reads this before I get home. There is minimal swag making it back to the USA. The big winner is usually my mom for taking care of the cat every day. She gets extra. But I'm going to have to take her out for dinner when I get home instead. Shopping? Fail.
As we made our way back to the ship we checked our steps and we had walked over five miles. No wonder our feet were hurting. So we boarded the ship, cooled off with a soda, had a snack and parked it on our balcony to watch the scenery go by as we were leaving the port and floating up the beautiful coast of Italy. Note to those who might be taking this ship and itinerary, we are on the right side (the starboard side - to talk in official boat lingo) and that is the side to be on. We had more good views than not. Especially the ride up the Italian coast line. Sadly, it is so terribly hazy, the Amalfi coast was less than its beautiful self today. We sat out on our balcony until the Isle of Capri went by and we had finished our room service lunch. I was first in the shower as a big ole nap was a necessity and with a long hot shower and my pjs on, I slept for a couple of hours. It was awesome.
We are contemplating what to do tomorrow. We can get off the ship around 10:30am, but we are missing the train to Rome by about 30 minutes. The next one isn't until about 1pm. So what are we going to do til then? We thought about having the boat hold our bags and do an excursion, but we've seen Pisa, Pompeii and Cinque Terre. So we are tossing around renting a car and driving it. It would be a nice drive along the coast to the Rome airport but it will be over 4 hours of driving. The train is going to take the same amount of time. So we are pondering and we were going to check with the desk just to make sure we weren't missing any ideas, but finally decided to go by train and we booked the tickets online. Done.
Tonight at dinner neither one of us were too hungry, but we nibbled on several courses since it was our last night. We started with them bringing us smoked salmon on a crouton. It was a bit strong. Then we moved on to our appetizer. Guy had fried salted cod (which was much better than his fish and chips the other day) and I had cauliflower soup - very good. Our second plate was a pasta. Guy had cannelloni and I had veggie risotto. We didn't care for any of the entrees tonight, so we both had grilled veal (sliced thin) and vegetables. This was an option available any night. Our sever brought us out fries as well because he was afraid we didn't have enough food. We did. For dessert we had previously seen some cannolis go by and they looked GREAT, but I couldn't eat a whole one. So we just asked for one and two spoons. The server brought out pistachio ice cream, too. I guess he thought we weren't ordering enough and knowing it was our last night he wanted to make sure we ended on a good note. The cannoli wasn't as good as it looked, so I actually polished off most of the ice cream. It was a pleasant surprise. We thanked our server and shook his hand. Depending on where we sat depended on who our server was. But we kind of found our favorite spot against a wall and it was always open. Probably because most people want by the windows. However, the window table server wasn't as nice as this other guy, so we kept going back to the same spot. It was a pleasure meeting him. His English wasn't super, but good enough that he knew how much we appreciated him. That was all that mattered.
Back in the room we got all our things packed up and have plenty of room. Like I said earlier...not much shopping or purchases were made. So I guess that is a good thing, at least when it comes to packing up! I filled out my questionnaire and these are our final thoughts on the MSC Armonia. The ship is clean and small. It has no bells or whistles, so if you were coming to be wowed by a magnificent ship, this one is not the one for you. However, the price was right and our big cabin with the balcony was excellent. We were in cabin 1064. The itinerary was good, but really we have no desire to hit any of the stops again. Maybe Ibiza and other areas of Sardinia, but the other places - not really. This isn't a good cruise if you haven't seen the biggies of Italy yet. Do all that first, then like us, add this on as a "sure while we are over here let's hit a few new places" cruise. But not really one I'd fly over just to do. The Amalfi Coast is amazing, but this stop didn't show you Capri, Positano or Sorrento. Those are nicer and need to be visited on a land trip, not a cruise because you aren't in the port long enough to enjoy and explore - and the port stop in Salerno (and the town itself) are just ok. The food was better than the last time we were on this ship, but again, the hot food could be hotter and the cold food could be colder. The restaurant is a much better choice than the buffet, but that might be a personal thing. The excursions were pretty good considering the short times at the ports and were easy enough to book on the ship and the price seemed fair enough. The entertainment onboard was again, just ok...but we are a captive audience and it beats watching TV in the room (not many channels were in English). We bought 5 hours of internet and I have exactly 5 minutes and 30 seconds left. I hope it is enough to get the blog posted tonight. It was worth the money but I don't know if you'd need that much if you weren't wanting to upload pictures and trying to post a blog every day.
So I think that just about wraps it up. I'll add more to the above paragraph if I think of anything else, but its nearly midnight and tomorrow is an early day. We have to be out of the cabin by 8:30 and can get off the ship just after 10am. Tomorrow is a travel day to the Rome airport and a night at the Hilton. Looking forward to conditioner and a wash cloth. :) But this is the point in the trip when you are ready to just snap your fingers or be like Dorothy and click your heels together and instantly be back in Kansas. Ha Ha.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Day 18 Olbia, Sardinia
Oh Sardinia, our time together was too short.
At the 6:30 bell I got out of bed and started to get ready. We weren't docked in the port yet, but Sardinia was gliding by outside my balcony. I stepped out to take a peek. I'm already intrigued. Looked like it was going to be another awesome day as the sun was out, but it was going to be a hot one. I went back to start getting ready because even though I didn't sleep good last night, I was stoked about this island. Eating breakfast by 7:30 my guy didn't have tiny doughnuts on his platter...the good kind anyway, but I did find a lovely chocolate covered one (or two) and they were yummy. Guy stuck with his favorite, eggs benedict, and I had french toast. I didn't ask for bananas today, I couldn't take the rejection two times in a row. I ate as quickly and as I could and left Guy at the table as we were passing some cool stuff and the morning light was perfect. So I ran up for my camera and took a few snaps.
We opted not to visit the town of Olbia (the port town) and ventured by bus to the town of Porto Cervo. It was about a 25 minute ride and the scenery was lovely as we drove along up through some hills but still along the coast line. We made an unexpected stop as one of the passengers needed to get off for a minute. I don't think she was car sick, just afraid. She was crying a little and her son was patting her back. Then another friend went out to talk to her and then they were both crying and touching each other's faces. Someone got off the bus and offered her dramamine, but she said no in a way that made me think it wasn't motion sickness. The tour lady got off and offered to let her ride in the front, but she refused. Back on the bus we took off and she held onto her son with a death grip. I can understand the fear thing. She and I would be a trip together in an elevator. :) However, I'd like to find her and tell her not to take the bus to Amalfi tomorrow. If she thought today was scary...oh my lands. Scariest bus ride of my life was a few years ago from Sorrento to Positano (on the Amalfi Coast). We took the boat back to Sorrento that day. Wow... that was a bad one.
Arriving at the town of Porto Cervo we walked around and took in the sights. Definitely beautiful, but we weren't sure what to think. The reason I say that is because the town seemed fake. Fabricated. Like they were trying too hard to make a cool town. Like a Las Vegas recreation of an Italian village. The lady in the tobacco shop showed us a picture of the town in 1969 where only a few buildings existed. Now it is completely built up around its little marina - today lined with gigantic yachts. So the town isn't that old, but the buildings are all made to look old. But don't get me wrong, they were colorful and beautiful. I got a few post cards and stamps, so that was easy. Then we looked around the shops. Versace, Gucci, Prada, Rolls Royce, etc. All the big names were here. Most of the stores were not open as it was before 11am, but still...I'm not sure anyone from our boat is going to shop those shops. I certainly wasn't. The lady in the tobacco shop said the shops were stacked "like a cake" so we had many levels to explore. Still, the only thing we could afford were snacks. So I had a gelato and Guy had some Pringles and a Coke. As we sat in the shade and took it all in, there were a couple hundred people walking around, mostly from our ship. They were in T-shirts and sporting fanny packs. Not the crowd the shop owners were looking for I'd guess. So if this is the playground for the uber rich and famous, I wonder what they think of our group...the old guys taking their shirts off and walking around. Except for the snack bar owner, I'm not sure the town is too fond of those on the ship excursions. Ha Ha. However, the people working in the stores looked terribly lonely.
We were done walking the area before it was time to go back to the bus. So we contemplated taking a taxi across the way to the next town. However, they said it could take 10 minutes or 20, depending on traffic. If it was going to be 20 minutes each way, then it wasn't going to be worth it. We walked around a bit more and then headed for the bus. The sick/scared gal sat right next to Guy, I had a baby hanging over the back of my seat at the top of my head, there was a REALLY LOUD Italian lady talking on the phone right in front of us and everyone on the bus was a sweaty hot mess. That was the ride back. At the port we had to go through security in two places, which was fine, because the terminal had a gift shop and we picked up a few tea towels. That was our only purchase of the trip. Once again the ship had all the passengers on board and was heading out by 2pm. WAAAYYY too short of a stop. I'd like to have seen more of Sardinia with its rocky terrane and beautiful beaches. It's an hour and a half flight from Italy or a 10ish hour ferry ride. I wonder if we'll ever come back? TBD.
Back on the ship we popped in the restaurant for lunch. I had the same sandwich I had yesterday, with a side of fruit. Guy had spring rolls, sea bass with a loaded baked potato and ice cream. He said it was hands down the best fish he has had on the trip so far. It did look delicious. I had ordered a cappuccino, but took it togo as the boat was pulling out and I wanted to watch from outside. This was a really interesting port. There were buoys all over the place with small boats navigating them. I thought they must have been some kind of fish nets, but Guy thought more on the side of harvesting clams or something like that. On the way out I took some photos with my little camera and a few with my phone. One large mountain had a cloud hovering over it for the longest time. As we went by I could see the cloud was moving, but not really. Like it was coming up and over the mountain, but staying stationary. I know there is a meteorological explanation for it, so I tweeted it to Jim Cantore from the weather channel for an explanation. LOL. We'll see if he responds.
Alas! In the tobacco shop in Porto Cervo I was able to re-load my Vodafone sim card. We're back, baby! In touch with the 3G real world. It was a nice feeling. We checked our mail and surfed a bit. Now that the boat is pretty far away from land, we've lost the tower signal, but I'll have it back first thing in the morning when we arrive in Salerno. They don't tell you how much you are getting for your 20 euros. I think because it depends on what you are using it for. But the lady did tell me that calls outside Europe were very expensive. So I'm assuming the call to my mom one day wiped me out before and if I had not done that, I'm wondering how much data I would still have. Interesting. The sim card is a pretty nice deal tho. Having data saved us with the GPS in the car. I'll just know to call with Viber using the data that way instead of making a straight up call. All a good learning experience!! Speaking of wifi and 3G, things are a bit too slow on the ship today for uploading pics. Will try to find a cafe tomorrow and upload all at once.
While I'm blogging, Guy is up top catching some sun. I'm on our balcony with my feet up and the breeze isn't too overwhelming. I hear music and games going on. I'm sure it is really crowded up there. As I type this he just came back down bringing me a Pepsi Zero and said they were playing bingo. He said whey they were calling the numbers they were saying "N as in NUTELLA". Ha ha. We are struggling with what to do tomorrow but I think we have it figured out. Our stop in Salerno is short. I thought we were going to take the boat ride up to the town of Amalfi, but when Guy told me it was a bus ride back, this sister said no way. Remember earlier in the blog I mentioned the most terrifying bus ride of my life? Well that bus was speeding along the Amalfi Coast. Been there, done that, no way. So the other option was a short bus ride to the next town of Vietri. I figured I could handle that. So we went to the excursion desk and talked with the gal about our dilemma. When we told her we've already been to Positano and Sorrento, she told us those were actually better towns than our options for tomorrow...and the town of Vietri was even smaller than Positano, which isn't big. So with that said...we decided not to book anything and just go into Salerno and look around, then if time, take a quick boat ride up to Vietri. The excursion gal said the info center in the port tomorrow was really good and she agreed we'd be better off making our own plans. We can get off the boat around 7:15am, but have to be back on by Noon. Sheesh...again not nearly enough time to enjoy the spectacular offerings of the Amalfi Coast. Especially for those who haven't been there before and this being their only chance. Bummer.
Tonight's dinner was the "Gala". So we spiffed up just a bit more than usual and headed down for dinner before 8pm. You didn't pick what you wanted tonight, they just brought out EVERYTHING! However, I did see coming in that several people had King Prawns (heads attached). That doesn't gross me out, but the smell does. I like shrimp, but not al-natural. So I told our server he could skip me on that one, which he did. Guy tried them but they were strong. So our starter was a fried quail egg. (That's a first). Then scallops that were individually baked in the escargot dishes. Then we had asparagus soup, a cheese ravioli with some kind of seafood sauce on it, Guy had the shrimp, we cleansed our palates with lime sorbet (drank it again) then our filet with mashed potatoes. Our dessert was your choice of baked Alaska or a creme with caramel and toffee pieces. We went for the creme. It was a bit bland so we took a few bites and bolted because our 9:45 show was starting. Side note about the baked Alaska. For all you cruisers out there, you know the drill. The wait staff all come out carrying baked Alaska cakes with sparklers on them to loud music and everyone is clapping. Same drill here with only one exception. The sparklers were just fake flames that were tiny. It kinda lost its zip if you know what I mean. We laughed and had a good time with it, tho.
We did find seats in the theater just before they turned the lights down. Tonight's show was called 'Natural'. Again tonight the show lasted about 35 minutes. The dancers are so bad - total train wreck. But the singers are good and the acrobats are good. Basically it is the same show every night, just different music and outfits. The tricks are the same. Overall...the theater gets a C, but hey, we don't have anything to do anyway. :)
Ok...time for bed and as I finish my blog I whip on the boat's internet again real quick to check my Twitter and guess what dear blog followers?!? Yes, Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel replied to my tweet! I feel kinda famous today! Amanda Hickman...I know your British author favoriting your Tweet was a big deal...but hey...this is JIM CANTORE we are talking about! Woot Woot!!
So good night from the middle of the Mediterranean between Sardinia and Italy. Tomorrow, the amazing Amalfi Coast! Did I mention Jim Cantore replied to my Tweet? Oh, yeah. I did. Ok then. Good night. I don't think I can sleep now.
At the 6:30 bell I got out of bed and started to get ready. We weren't docked in the port yet, but Sardinia was gliding by outside my balcony. I stepped out to take a peek. I'm already intrigued. Looked like it was going to be another awesome day as the sun was out, but it was going to be a hot one. I went back to start getting ready because even though I didn't sleep good last night, I was stoked about this island. Eating breakfast by 7:30 my guy didn't have tiny doughnuts on his platter...the good kind anyway, but I did find a lovely chocolate covered one (or two) and they were yummy. Guy stuck with his favorite, eggs benedict, and I had french toast. I didn't ask for bananas today, I couldn't take the rejection two times in a row. I ate as quickly and as I could and left Guy at the table as we were passing some cool stuff and the morning light was perfect. So I ran up for my camera and took a few snaps.
We opted not to visit the town of Olbia (the port town) and ventured by bus to the town of Porto Cervo. It was about a 25 minute ride and the scenery was lovely as we drove along up through some hills but still along the coast line. We made an unexpected stop as one of the passengers needed to get off for a minute. I don't think she was car sick, just afraid. She was crying a little and her son was patting her back. Then another friend went out to talk to her and then they were both crying and touching each other's faces. Someone got off the bus and offered her dramamine, but she said no in a way that made me think it wasn't motion sickness. The tour lady got off and offered to let her ride in the front, but she refused. Back on the bus we took off and she held onto her son with a death grip. I can understand the fear thing. She and I would be a trip together in an elevator. :) However, I'd like to find her and tell her not to take the bus to Amalfi tomorrow. If she thought today was scary...oh my lands. Scariest bus ride of my life was a few years ago from Sorrento to Positano (on the Amalfi Coast). We took the boat back to Sorrento that day. Wow... that was a bad one.
Arriving at the town of Porto Cervo we walked around and took in the sights. Definitely beautiful, but we weren't sure what to think. The reason I say that is because the town seemed fake. Fabricated. Like they were trying too hard to make a cool town. Like a Las Vegas recreation of an Italian village. The lady in the tobacco shop showed us a picture of the town in 1969 where only a few buildings existed. Now it is completely built up around its little marina - today lined with gigantic yachts. So the town isn't that old, but the buildings are all made to look old. But don't get me wrong, they were colorful and beautiful. I got a few post cards and stamps, so that was easy. Then we looked around the shops. Versace, Gucci, Prada, Rolls Royce, etc. All the big names were here. Most of the stores were not open as it was before 11am, but still...I'm not sure anyone from our boat is going to shop those shops. I certainly wasn't. The lady in the tobacco shop said the shops were stacked "like a cake" so we had many levels to explore. Still, the only thing we could afford were snacks. So I had a gelato and Guy had some Pringles and a Coke. As we sat in the shade and took it all in, there were a couple hundred people walking around, mostly from our ship. They were in T-shirts and sporting fanny packs. Not the crowd the shop owners were looking for I'd guess. So if this is the playground for the uber rich and famous, I wonder what they think of our group...the old guys taking their shirts off and walking around. Except for the snack bar owner, I'm not sure the town is too fond of those on the ship excursions. Ha Ha. However, the people working in the stores looked terribly lonely.
We were done walking the area before it was time to go back to the bus. So we contemplated taking a taxi across the way to the next town. However, they said it could take 10 minutes or 20, depending on traffic. If it was going to be 20 minutes each way, then it wasn't going to be worth it. We walked around a bit more and then headed for the bus. The sick/scared gal sat right next to Guy, I had a baby hanging over the back of my seat at the top of my head, there was a REALLY LOUD Italian lady talking on the phone right in front of us and everyone on the bus was a sweaty hot mess. That was the ride back. At the port we had to go through security in two places, which was fine, because the terminal had a gift shop and we picked up a few tea towels. That was our only purchase of the trip. Once again the ship had all the passengers on board and was heading out by 2pm. WAAAYYY too short of a stop. I'd like to have seen more of Sardinia with its rocky terrane and beautiful beaches. It's an hour and a half flight from Italy or a 10ish hour ferry ride. I wonder if we'll ever come back? TBD.
Back on the ship we popped in the restaurant for lunch. I had the same sandwich I had yesterday, with a side of fruit. Guy had spring rolls, sea bass with a loaded baked potato and ice cream. He said it was hands down the best fish he has had on the trip so far. It did look delicious. I had ordered a cappuccino, but took it togo as the boat was pulling out and I wanted to watch from outside. This was a really interesting port. There were buoys all over the place with small boats navigating them. I thought they must have been some kind of fish nets, but Guy thought more on the side of harvesting clams or something like that. On the way out I took some photos with my little camera and a few with my phone. One large mountain had a cloud hovering over it for the longest time. As we went by I could see the cloud was moving, but not really. Like it was coming up and over the mountain, but staying stationary. I know there is a meteorological explanation for it, so I tweeted it to Jim Cantore from the weather channel for an explanation. LOL. We'll see if he responds.
Alas! In the tobacco shop in Porto Cervo I was able to re-load my Vodafone sim card. We're back, baby! In touch with the 3G real world. It was a nice feeling. We checked our mail and surfed a bit. Now that the boat is pretty far away from land, we've lost the tower signal, but I'll have it back first thing in the morning when we arrive in Salerno. They don't tell you how much you are getting for your 20 euros. I think because it depends on what you are using it for. But the lady did tell me that calls outside Europe were very expensive. So I'm assuming the call to my mom one day wiped me out before and if I had not done that, I'm wondering how much data I would still have. Interesting. The sim card is a pretty nice deal tho. Having data saved us with the GPS in the car. I'll just know to call with Viber using the data that way instead of making a straight up call. All a good learning experience!! Speaking of wifi and 3G, things are a bit too slow on the ship today for uploading pics. Will try to find a cafe tomorrow and upload all at once.
While I'm blogging, Guy is up top catching some sun. I'm on our balcony with my feet up and the breeze isn't too overwhelming. I hear music and games going on. I'm sure it is really crowded up there. As I type this he just came back down bringing me a Pepsi Zero and said they were playing bingo. He said whey they were calling the numbers they were saying "N as in NUTELLA". Ha ha. We are struggling with what to do tomorrow but I think we have it figured out. Our stop in Salerno is short. I thought we were going to take the boat ride up to the town of Amalfi, but when Guy told me it was a bus ride back, this sister said no way. Remember earlier in the blog I mentioned the most terrifying bus ride of my life? Well that bus was speeding along the Amalfi Coast. Been there, done that, no way. So the other option was a short bus ride to the next town of Vietri. I figured I could handle that. So we went to the excursion desk and talked with the gal about our dilemma. When we told her we've already been to Positano and Sorrento, she told us those were actually better towns than our options for tomorrow...and the town of Vietri was even smaller than Positano, which isn't big. So with that said...we decided not to book anything and just go into Salerno and look around, then if time, take a quick boat ride up to Vietri. The excursion gal said the info center in the port tomorrow was really good and she agreed we'd be better off making our own plans. We can get off the boat around 7:15am, but have to be back on by Noon. Sheesh...again not nearly enough time to enjoy the spectacular offerings of the Amalfi Coast. Especially for those who haven't been there before and this being their only chance. Bummer.
Tonight's dinner was the "Gala". So we spiffed up just a bit more than usual and headed down for dinner before 8pm. You didn't pick what you wanted tonight, they just brought out EVERYTHING! However, I did see coming in that several people had King Prawns (heads attached). That doesn't gross me out, but the smell does. I like shrimp, but not al-natural. So I told our server he could skip me on that one, which he did. Guy tried them but they were strong. So our starter was a fried quail egg. (That's a first). Then scallops that were individually baked in the escargot dishes. Then we had asparagus soup, a cheese ravioli with some kind of seafood sauce on it, Guy had the shrimp, we cleansed our palates with lime sorbet (drank it again) then our filet with mashed potatoes. Our dessert was your choice of baked Alaska or a creme with caramel and toffee pieces. We went for the creme. It was a bit bland so we took a few bites and bolted because our 9:45 show was starting. Side note about the baked Alaska. For all you cruisers out there, you know the drill. The wait staff all come out carrying baked Alaska cakes with sparklers on them to loud music and everyone is clapping. Same drill here with only one exception. The sparklers were just fake flames that were tiny. It kinda lost its zip if you know what I mean. We laughed and had a good time with it, tho.
We did find seats in the theater just before they turned the lights down. Tonight's show was called 'Natural'. Again tonight the show lasted about 35 minutes. The dancers are so bad - total train wreck. But the singers are good and the acrobats are good. Basically it is the same show every night, just different music and outfits. The tricks are the same. Overall...the theater gets a C, but hey, we don't have anything to do anyway. :)
Ok...time for bed and as I finish my blog I whip on the boat's internet again real quick to check my Twitter and guess what dear blog followers?!? Yes, Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel replied to my tweet! I feel kinda famous today! Amanda Hickman...I know your British author favoriting your Tweet was a big deal...but hey...this is JIM CANTORE we are talking about! Woot Woot!!
So good night from the middle of the Mediterranean between Sardinia and Italy. Tomorrow, the amazing Amalfi Coast! Did I mention Jim Cantore replied to my Tweet? Oh, yeah. I did. Ok then. Good night. I don't think I can sleep now.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Day 17 At Sea
We slept in today and it was great. No need to worry about breakfast when you don't crawl out of bed til almost 11. We were ready for lunch before noon and waited patiently for them to open the dining room. :) Lunch today - I was the big winner with a fantastic pork sandwich with fries and some pasta and Guy had the fish and chips (greasy) and a tuna salad. All through lunch I had goose bumps and especially when we got to our cold room. So I sent Guy up with a walkie talkie to see if there were any lounge chairs open for us to sit on. Day at sea means everyone is out sunning. So he radioed there were a few seats but it was super windy. I gathered our goodies and headed up. He was right...windy. So we finally found a place to sit. I blogged about yesterday in Ibiza and he napped and people watched. After a bit we began to be in the shade so Guy scouted out a new place and we moved some chairs in a pretty good spot, probably not meant for lounge chairs, but we weren't in the way and some glass panels were blocking the wind. It was toasty warm and we actually got a bit hot for the first time all day.
I headed down to a better wifi location and uploaded my blog and some remaining photos and finally got several days worth of pictures up. It took about 45 minutes, but while I was gone there had apparently been a slue of crazy games they were playing one level down that Guy could overlook and see. At least he had some entertainment. When I got back we each took turns going down for some snacks and after a bit more sun decided to head down to our balcony. It wasn't in the sun, but was breezy and a bit cool, so we sat inside the room with the door open (next best thing to actually being out there - but no wind) and decided which excursion we were going to take tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we will be in Sardinia at the port of Olbia. Trip Advisor says once you get past the industrial area of Olbia the town is ok, but we opted to ride a bus to Porto Cervo, supposedly a pretty popular vacation spot. Not to worry, I'll have all the details tomorrow once we get back!
After a shower and super fast power nap, I got ready for dinner. I booked us for the 9:45 show, so I knew we had to be to dinner by 8. I was running a bit behind and we probably weren't seated before 8:10, but it was Italian night and all the tables were decorated Italian style and the servers had on red, white and green vests and bow ties. It was cute. I knew it was Italian night but didn't think to wear my red sweater! Shoot. But anyway, dinner again seemed kinda slow. However, we commented that the food is pretty good and would give it closer to a b+. The reason I won't give it an A is because the cold food isn't really super cold and the hot food is never really super hot (the pastas and soups usually are). So when I eat food that hovers around room temperature I worry. I'm sure they know what they are doing. Anyway, dinner was a starter of some kind of cheese with tiny little balsamic beads on top. Good (but not cold). I spread mine on bread but others were just eating it with a fork. I may have been in red-neck mode...but that seemed to be the best way to eat it. Then came minestrone soup for me and prosciutto and fruit for Guy. I opted for no pasta tonight, but Guy got a salad of romaine, mozzarella and tomatoes with a vinaigrette dressing, which he said was good. After that, we had our main course which was a meat dish served with a chunky white salt on the side and roasted potatoes. It was a recipe from Eataly (the famous Italian stores in Chicago, New York, and a few other places) and apparently MSC has two ships with Eataly restaurants on them - that would be nice! And for dessert, to keep with the theme of the night, of course I had tiramisu and Guy thought he had ordered it too, but they brought him lemon sorbet, which he actually preferred.
We scooted out of the restaurant as quickly as we could, because the show had begun 10 minutes ago. We did luck out and find two empty seats and caught the rest of the show. It was actually over by 10:15...and we thought maybe we had the wrong time and it started at 9:15, but I checked and it was only a half hour show. There were two singers, on an older guy they named "Italian Johnny" and a girl. Italian Johnny was very good at and one point I didn't think he was actually singing it, but he was! They invited the audience to sing with them in favorites like Volare and Gloria (which they sang in Italian) and it was a bit goofy, but we participated. The dancers on the ship are mediocre, but the singers were good and they had a couple swinging from ribbons, which were entertaining. So we were entertained in the short 20 minutes we sat in there.
Afterwards, we came back to the room and I'm back on schedule with the blog. I wanted to get done tonight because tomorrow we have to meet at 8:45 for our excursion and we'll need to be sure to eat before we go. 6:30 wake up call. Yikers!
And so sticking with the theme of Italian day on the ship....Ciao and buona notte!
I headed down to a better wifi location and uploaded my blog and some remaining photos and finally got several days worth of pictures up. It took about 45 minutes, but while I was gone there had apparently been a slue of crazy games they were playing one level down that Guy could overlook and see. At least he had some entertainment. When I got back we each took turns going down for some snacks and after a bit more sun decided to head down to our balcony. It wasn't in the sun, but was breezy and a bit cool, so we sat inside the room with the door open (next best thing to actually being out there - but no wind) and decided which excursion we were going to take tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we will be in Sardinia at the port of Olbia. Trip Advisor says once you get past the industrial area of Olbia the town is ok, but we opted to ride a bus to Porto Cervo, supposedly a pretty popular vacation spot. Not to worry, I'll have all the details tomorrow once we get back!
After a shower and super fast power nap, I got ready for dinner. I booked us for the 9:45 show, so I knew we had to be to dinner by 8. I was running a bit behind and we probably weren't seated before 8:10, but it was Italian night and all the tables were decorated Italian style and the servers had on red, white and green vests and bow ties. It was cute. I knew it was Italian night but didn't think to wear my red sweater! Shoot. But anyway, dinner again seemed kinda slow. However, we commented that the food is pretty good and would give it closer to a b+. The reason I won't give it an A is because the cold food isn't really super cold and the hot food is never really super hot (the pastas and soups usually are). So when I eat food that hovers around room temperature I worry. I'm sure they know what they are doing. Anyway, dinner was a starter of some kind of cheese with tiny little balsamic beads on top. Good (but not cold). I spread mine on bread but others were just eating it with a fork. I may have been in red-neck mode...but that seemed to be the best way to eat it. Then came minestrone soup for me and prosciutto and fruit for Guy. I opted for no pasta tonight, but Guy got a salad of romaine, mozzarella and tomatoes with a vinaigrette dressing, which he said was good. After that, we had our main course which was a meat dish served with a chunky white salt on the side and roasted potatoes. It was a recipe from Eataly (the famous Italian stores in Chicago, New York, and a few other places) and apparently MSC has two ships with Eataly restaurants on them - that would be nice! And for dessert, to keep with the theme of the night, of course I had tiramisu and Guy thought he had ordered it too, but they brought him lemon sorbet, which he actually preferred.
We scooted out of the restaurant as quickly as we could, because the show had begun 10 minutes ago. We did luck out and find two empty seats and caught the rest of the show. It was actually over by 10:15...and we thought maybe we had the wrong time and it started at 9:15, but I checked and it was only a half hour show. There were two singers, on an older guy they named "Italian Johnny" and a girl. Italian Johnny was very good at and one point I didn't think he was actually singing it, but he was! They invited the audience to sing with them in favorites like Volare and Gloria (which they sang in Italian) and it was a bit goofy, but we participated. The dancers on the ship are mediocre, but the singers were good and they had a couple swinging from ribbons, which were entertaining. So we were entertained in the short 20 minutes we sat in there.
Afterwards, we came back to the room and I'm back on schedule with the blog. I wanted to get done tonight because tomorrow we have to meet at 8:45 for our excursion and we'll need to be sure to eat before we go. 6:30 wake up call. Yikers!
And so sticking with the theme of Italian day on the ship....Ciao and buona notte!
Day 16 Ibiza
Tired from the day before, and knowing we had all day and night in Ibiza, we set no alarms and woke up on our own. About 10:30 I finally started to move around and actually felt better than I thought after a good nights rest. We were already docked in the port and people were pouring off the ship. I figured this was a good day to run the track (not really a track like we had on Celebrity's ship, but a walking path) and I was right. There were maybe 20 people sunning on the upper deck and it was wide open for a run. I had set my running app with wifi in the room to get it started and then turned it off. When I began my run, it was working without wifi, so I was excited. Today she was talking to me in kilometers, not miles, but I figured I'd go til she said I had gone over 5k. The scenery was amazing from the top of the ship and I got a great view of what was to come for the day.
After a nice hot shower I got ready for lunch. We decided to eat on the ship instead of going into the town and trying to find a lunch spot as we had skipped breakfast and didn't want to wait. We basically had the dining area to ourselves and took our time with a nice lunch. Guy had pork marsala and it was delicious. I was trying to be a bit more healthy today and I had a small selection of local cheeses and a fruit plate. *Confession time: tired of eating -- there...I've said it.* So after lunch I blogged about the previous day, packed our backpack, and off we went on our exploration of Ibiza.
Kind of thinking it would be a repeat of Palma, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was completely different! From the top of the ship I had already seen the castle on the hill, but the town lining the ship yard looked much like yesterday. However, when we boarded the bus and it made a turn for the town, you could see that below the castle was what was called old town and it was dotted with beautifully stacked white-washed buildings that looked like some of the Greek towns we've been to before. We came across an information kiosk, got a map of the city and chatted with the girl about going to the part of Ibiza with the night clubs and nightlife. We didn't sign up in time to get the ship's excursion tour as it was full, but the info gal told us it was an easy cab ride then we could come and go when we wanted. Excellent.
We spent the next few hours walking the outer parameter of the castle and all through the town. There were lots of unique shops and cafes and we stopped at one cafe in the "Dalt Vila" section of Ibiza, called el Bistro, to take a break from the heat, get some drinks and use their wifi. It was funny because this was a total hippy town. It was covered with peace signs, flowers, and brightly covered fabric. This was our best stop so far as it was really clean, unique and sometimes even funny. Guy was patient as I went in and out several shops and made a few purchases. They did say there would be shopping in the town we were going to tonight, so I didn't keep him too long. It was a bit difficult to find stamps, but we did find some in a tobacco shop (it was quite fancy with a glassed in room just for cigars). We bought some drinks, snacks and stamps. It was nearing 6pm so we headed for the ship to shower, eat and head out for our big evening of nightlife. If you know us, this is totally out of our comfort zone. We are old fogies that prefer the sounds of Harry Connick Jr. and his big band. But when in Ibiza, known for their famous night clubs, we forced ourselves to go.
Dinner in the restaurant was again really good. We both started with the Asian appetizer and the potato and lentil soup. Then Guy had the tuna steak (breaded and seared) and I had the eggplant surprise. I say that because I didn't really know what it was. But it was good. Guy asked for some lemon for his tuna and it took awhile to get...so he ate slow. But when it did arrive there were enough lemon slices to squirt over every tuna in the dining room. We both had the apple tart for dessert and even tho it was good, it tasted like it may have been baked in an oven that had something burnt in it. I know this taste from experience. LOL
Our shuttle tickets were good all day, so we hopped back on and went to the drop off spot by old town where we caught a cab to Platja d'en Bossa. Our cabbie didn't speak English, but the other cabbie that was next to him spoke perfect English, which is good, because we weren't sure where to tell them to take us. We had the names of three night clubs the ship was taking their tour group to, but the cabbie said you want to go to the lights, the shopping, and the action first, right? We said "yes" and he told our driver to take us to Bora Bora. Away we go. The ride was not long, but was about 15 Euros. He dropped us off in the center of the action and when we got out it was like being in a bad section of Daytona. We got out of the cab and went the opposite way of a guy that looked like he was going to try to talk passersby into going into his bar. The opposite way led us to a really nice gip joint where I got an Ibiza tea towel and post cards (already had the stamps). As I stood in the line to pay, which was really long, Guy stood out front to evaluate our next move. When he came back in to check on me, he proceeded to describe the atmosphere of our surroundings. Not so good. As we stood outside the store, every bar had people out front trying to get you to go inside. One guy across the street physically touched people, took their glasses, and was loud and obnoxious. We definitely didn't want to go that way, but a similar scenario was in each direction. It was nothing like we had in mind. This island is famous for its nightlife and DJs. We had no idea "sketchy" would be the word of the night. Definitely a younger crowd and not our scene at all. We thought from what we heard it would be a place where the rich and famous come to party. I mean they even had an ship "excursion" to come here - the one that was SOLD OUT when we checked on it. Ok..so that means these poor people were stuck in this area for 4 hours. Lucky for us it was sold out and we went the cab route. Speaking of a cab, we hailed the next one we saw and our evening in Platja d'en Bossa was shorter than the time it took to boil an egg.
Happily back at the old town, it was more our speed...a small market of hand made items, street music and people dressed as hippies singing about love and peace. I'd rather be accosted by a hippie than and skanky drunk guy. We walked around the town and tried really hard to find Guy a Tshirt. He likes the simple ones, but those are pretty hard to find. We stopped for some ice cream and enjoyed looking at the town lit up at night and the beautiful boats in the marina. After we felt like we'd had enough...and it was nearing midnight, we hopped the shuttle back to the boat and went to the piano bar to listen to a blonde Italian lady in 10 inch heels sing old pop songs in English. Guy walked the entire ship looking for some popcorn. He came back unsuccessful. We are such party animals.
Overall, Ibiza has by far been our favorite stop. It was beautiful and fun. We'd do this stop again on a future cruise, but probably take a day trip to one of the famous beaches and then go into the old town at night for dinner and shopping. So Ibiza gets our first official Thumbs Up of the cruise!
Tomorrow is a day at sea. Looking forward to doing nothing. However, being on a ship full of Europeans on the sun deck I fear only one thing. Old guys in Speedos.
After a nice hot shower I got ready for lunch. We decided to eat on the ship instead of going into the town and trying to find a lunch spot as we had skipped breakfast and didn't want to wait. We basically had the dining area to ourselves and took our time with a nice lunch. Guy had pork marsala and it was delicious. I was trying to be a bit more healthy today and I had a small selection of local cheeses and a fruit plate. *Confession time: tired of eating -- there...I've said it.* So after lunch I blogged about the previous day, packed our backpack, and off we went on our exploration of Ibiza.
Kind of thinking it would be a repeat of Palma, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was completely different! From the top of the ship I had already seen the castle on the hill, but the town lining the ship yard looked much like yesterday. However, when we boarded the bus and it made a turn for the town, you could see that below the castle was what was called old town and it was dotted with beautifully stacked white-washed buildings that looked like some of the Greek towns we've been to before. We came across an information kiosk, got a map of the city and chatted with the girl about going to the part of Ibiza with the night clubs and nightlife. We didn't sign up in time to get the ship's excursion tour as it was full, but the info gal told us it was an easy cab ride then we could come and go when we wanted. Excellent.
We spent the next few hours walking the outer parameter of the castle and all through the town. There were lots of unique shops and cafes and we stopped at one cafe in the "Dalt Vila" section of Ibiza, called el Bistro, to take a break from the heat, get some drinks and use their wifi. It was funny because this was a total hippy town. It was covered with peace signs, flowers, and brightly covered fabric. This was our best stop so far as it was really clean, unique and sometimes even funny. Guy was patient as I went in and out several shops and made a few purchases. They did say there would be shopping in the town we were going to tonight, so I didn't keep him too long. It was a bit difficult to find stamps, but we did find some in a tobacco shop (it was quite fancy with a glassed in room just for cigars). We bought some drinks, snacks and stamps. It was nearing 6pm so we headed for the ship to shower, eat and head out for our big evening of nightlife. If you know us, this is totally out of our comfort zone. We are old fogies that prefer the sounds of Harry Connick Jr. and his big band. But when in Ibiza, known for their famous night clubs, we forced ourselves to go.
Dinner in the restaurant was again really good. We both started with the Asian appetizer and the potato and lentil soup. Then Guy had the tuna steak (breaded and seared) and I had the eggplant surprise. I say that because I didn't really know what it was. But it was good. Guy asked for some lemon for his tuna and it took awhile to get...so he ate slow. But when it did arrive there were enough lemon slices to squirt over every tuna in the dining room. We both had the apple tart for dessert and even tho it was good, it tasted like it may have been baked in an oven that had something burnt in it. I know this taste from experience. LOL
Our shuttle tickets were good all day, so we hopped back on and went to the drop off spot by old town where we caught a cab to Platja d'en Bossa. Our cabbie didn't speak English, but the other cabbie that was next to him spoke perfect English, which is good, because we weren't sure where to tell them to take us. We had the names of three night clubs the ship was taking their tour group to, but the cabbie said you want to go to the lights, the shopping, and the action first, right? We said "yes" and he told our driver to take us to Bora Bora. Away we go. The ride was not long, but was about 15 Euros. He dropped us off in the center of the action and when we got out it was like being in a bad section of Daytona. We got out of the cab and went the opposite way of a guy that looked like he was going to try to talk passersby into going into his bar. The opposite way led us to a really nice gip joint where I got an Ibiza tea towel and post cards (already had the stamps). As I stood in the line to pay, which was really long, Guy stood out front to evaluate our next move. When he came back in to check on me, he proceeded to describe the atmosphere of our surroundings. Not so good. As we stood outside the store, every bar had people out front trying to get you to go inside. One guy across the street physically touched people, took their glasses, and was loud and obnoxious. We definitely didn't want to go that way, but a similar scenario was in each direction. It was nothing like we had in mind. This island is famous for its nightlife and DJs. We had no idea "sketchy" would be the word of the night. Definitely a younger crowd and not our scene at all. We thought from what we heard it would be a place where the rich and famous come to party. I mean they even had an ship "excursion" to come here - the one that was SOLD OUT when we checked on it. Ok..so that means these poor people were stuck in this area for 4 hours. Lucky for us it was sold out and we went the cab route. Speaking of a cab, we hailed the next one we saw and our evening in Platja d'en Bossa was shorter than the time it took to boil an egg.
Happily back at the old town, it was more our speed...a small market of hand made items, street music and people dressed as hippies singing about love and peace. I'd rather be accosted by a hippie than and skanky drunk guy. We walked around the town and tried really hard to find Guy a Tshirt. He likes the simple ones, but those are pretty hard to find. We stopped for some ice cream and enjoyed looking at the town lit up at night and the beautiful boats in the marina. After we felt like we'd had enough...and it was nearing midnight, we hopped the shuttle back to the boat and went to the piano bar to listen to a blonde Italian lady in 10 inch heels sing old pop songs in English. Guy walked the entire ship looking for some popcorn. He came back unsuccessful. We are such party animals.
Overall, Ibiza has by far been our favorite stop. It was beautiful and fun. We'd do this stop again on a future cruise, but probably take a day trip to one of the famous beaches and then go into the old town at night for dinner and shopping. So Ibiza gets our first official Thumbs Up of the cruise!
Tomorrow is a day at sea. Looking forward to doing nothing. However, being on a ship full of Europeans on the sun deck I fear only one thing. Old guys in Speedos.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Day 15 Palma de Mallorca
Today - the island of Palma De Mallorca off the coast of Spain. We woke up still at sea because we were not supposed to get into the port until 3pm. However, not feeling we could tackle the buffet again, we were up early enough to have breakfast in our restaurant (the one reserved for passengers with balcony rooms - and we can go when we want and sit at a table for two, unlike the main dining area that has set dining times and you have to set with other people). The menu selection was nice and I decided to get pancakes with bananas. Guy had eggs Benedict. When the food came out, my pancakes were small (two of them) with no bananas. Our server said "no bananas on the ship". So then I asked for syrup and he said they had put some on the bottom. No need to ask for more, they were small and it was no big deal. BECAUSE - alas, like our hotel in San Gimignano, TINY DOUGHNUTS!! The beautiful little pastries that are super soft, covered with powdered sugar and in the middle, the most delicious pudding. That was really all I needed. The one server - all he did was to walk around with a tray of pastries, doughnuts and croissants. I new he'd be back around. And he was.
After breakfast we contemplated going up top to catch some sun, but the areas were packed and we didn't want to get too hot and sweaty before going on our city adventure, so I blogged from the day before and hopped on the internet for a very brief time to upload a few things. As I was uploading, a French guy and his son came over and says "parlez-vous francais?" I said no, English. He immediately switched to English and starting asking me about the internet, how good was it, how much did it cost, where on the ship it was free... which I quickly told him NOTHING on the ship is free, not even a daily newspaper. I was more than happy to explain everything to him, but as we talked MY internet was ticking away and I hadn't saved my blog changes so I couldn't just stop. Ha Ha. But I think I answered all his questions, and I was sympathetic because like me...I recognized the desperate look in his eyes to be connected to the world again. Funny how we let technology become such an important part of who we are that when we don't have it you actually feel uncomfortable. The Internet anyway...I think could go everyday without the TV.
After this we walked around the ship and sat up top enjoying the scenery. It was a bit cooler today and of course the blue mediterranean waters are spectacular. Again today we really wanted to take an excursion, but nothing was really sounding good, so when the boat docked and it was time to go ashore, we hopped our bus to go into the city center. The ship wasn't going to leave the port until close to 1am, so you had to be back on the bus by midnight. No worries. LOL. The town was nice. A combination of an island/city feel. The cathedral and palace areas were lovely. Guess what? Yep, they had a red hop on hop off bus and we bought our tickets and boarded the bus. For future reference for those who may be reading this and will be taking this ship/itinerary...the hop on hop off bus comes right outside the shipyard, so we wouldn't have needed to purchase the transfer into town. But we had no idea...so all was good. We sat up top of the bus in the open air and got a really nice tour of the city. We hopped of at the castle, but it closed at 1pm, so we just took advantage of the scenery and the next bus came back around within 20 minutes. After making the entire loop of the tour, we hopped off again and walked the tree-lined streets filled with shops and eateries. I did try on a few dresses in one shop and to my dismay, they didn't fit. One size too small, the other too big. Sad day.
As we walked along the street, pretty much every little eatery had wifi. There was a McDonalds McCafe but I told Guy no...I couldn't do it. So we walked down a few doors and found a nice little cafe called Born 8, where we got some soft drinks and Guy had a chocolate filled croissant. The wifi was good and I was able to upload 3 days of pictures and we both Vibered home. We were there about an hour or so and our $6 in beverage/snack charges seemed like nothing because of all the free wifi we took advantage of. It was nice and they were nice. After that, we bought a few post cards, took a last look around the area and headed for the shuttle. We could still get back to the ship, shower and get ready before the last dinner bell rang. It was wear white night. Luckily I did have a white shirt and it was fun to see all the people on the ship dressed in white.
Dinner consisted of again a nice selection of options from the menu. We both had the eggplant and mozzarella appetizer and the tuscan soup, but I opted for the vegetarian quiche while Guy had the mini lamb chops. They were good, I had a bite, but were small - more of a sampling. I had the black forrest cake for dessert and Guy had a fresh fruit plate. My cake was REALLY good, but I did save a few bites for Guy. So overall, dinner was very nice, we were stuffed and I did remember to bring my camera to document the food. After dinner we went back to the room and I couldn't get my face off and pjs on fast enough. I was exhausted and was out like a light. I did have some seriously weird dreams that woke me up and the tugging of the ship pulling out of the port, but other than that...it was a good nights rest.
I'll get link to the photos on the blog in the next day or so. :)
After breakfast we contemplated going up top to catch some sun, but the areas were packed and we didn't want to get too hot and sweaty before going on our city adventure, so I blogged from the day before and hopped on the internet for a very brief time to upload a few things. As I was uploading, a French guy and his son came over and says "parlez-vous francais?" I said no, English. He immediately switched to English and starting asking me about the internet, how good was it, how much did it cost, where on the ship it was free... which I quickly told him NOTHING on the ship is free, not even a daily newspaper. I was more than happy to explain everything to him, but as we talked MY internet was ticking away and I hadn't saved my blog changes so I couldn't just stop. Ha Ha. But I think I answered all his questions, and I was sympathetic because like me...I recognized the desperate look in his eyes to be connected to the world again. Funny how we let technology become such an important part of who we are that when we don't have it you actually feel uncomfortable. The Internet anyway...I think could go everyday without the TV.
After this we walked around the ship and sat up top enjoying the scenery. It was a bit cooler today and of course the blue mediterranean waters are spectacular. Again today we really wanted to take an excursion, but nothing was really sounding good, so when the boat docked and it was time to go ashore, we hopped our bus to go into the city center. The ship wasn't going to leave the port until close to 1am, so you had to be back on the bus by midnight. No worries. LOL. The town was nice. A combination of an island/city feel. The cathedral and palace areas were lovely. Guess what? Yep, they had a red hop on hop off bus and we bought our tickets and boarded the bus. For future reference for those who may be reading this and will be taking this ship/itinerary...the hop on hop off bus comes right outside the shipyard, so we wouldn't have needed to purchase the transfer into town. But we had no idea...so all was good. We sat up top of the bus in the open air and got a really nice tour of the city. We hopped of at the castle, but it closed at 1pm, so we just took advantage of the scenery and the next bus came back around within 20 minutes. After making the entire loop of the tour, we hopped off again and walked the tree-lined streets filled with shops and eateries. I did try on a few dresses in one shop and to my dismay, they didn't fit. One size too small, the other too big. Sad day.
As we walked along the street, pretty much every little eatery had wifi. There was a McDonalds McCafe but I told Guy no...I couldn't do it. So we walked down a few doors and found a nice little cafe called Born 8, where we got some soft drinks and Guy had a chocolate filled croissant. The wifi was good and I was able to upload 3 days of pictures and we both Vibered home. We were there about an hour or so and our $6 in beverage/snack charges seemed like nothing because of all the free wifi we took advantage of. It was nice and they were nice. After that, we bought a few post cards, took a last look around the area and headed for the shuttle. We could still get back to the ship, shower and get ready before the last dinner bell rang. It was wear white night. Luckily I did have a white shirt and it was fun to see all the people on the ship dressed in white.
Dinner consisted of again a nice selection of options from the menu. We both had the eggplant and mozzarella appetizer and the tuscan soup, but I opted for the vegetarian quiche while Guy had the mini lamb chops. They were good, I had a bite, but were small - more of a sampling. I had the black forrest cake for dessert and Guy had a fresh fruit plate. My cake was REALLY good, but I did save a few bites for Guy. So overall, dinner was very nice, we were stuffed and I did remember to bring my camera to document the food. After dinner we went back to the room and I couldn't get my face off and pjs on fast enough. I was exhausted and was out like a light. I did have some seriously weird dreams that woke me up and the tugging of the ship pulling out of the port, but other than that...it was a good nights rest.
I'll get link to the photos on the blog in the next day or so. :)
Monday, June 8, 2015
Marseille France Day 14
Today our stop was Marseille, France. From the looks of it, when we pulled into its port, is a much larger city than I was expecting. I had already Googled it with our precious Ship wifi minutes and found there was a hop on hop of bus. It made 13 stops and we could explore the city at our leisure. We could disembark at 12:20 and we had to pay 16 euros each to ride the bus into town. The ride was about 20 minutes and we were to get on the bus where it dropped us of. When it stopped and it was time to get off, the building out my window had trash all out front as well as an old mattress just laying on the steps. It looks as if it had been there a while. I asked Guy if we were supposed to get off and he said "yep". There were other buses stopped, so even tho the area looked a bit sketchy, you only had to walk one block before you could look down and see the marina.
Guess what? Civilization! Ahoy mateys ... Starbucks ahead! I can now add a France mug to my collection of Starbucks mugs. I'm having trouble snagging an Italy one...but I'm hoping the Rome airport will have one. We'll see. I'm only collecting the countries instead of each town because that could get overwhelming (and expensive) and I only have so much space in my cabinets at home. However, part of the fun is the illusive mugs I can't find. Like Italy! Ha Ha. I didn't find one last year either. Challenge accepted. I'll just have to come back. I didn't get the mug when we first passed because it is just off the bus stop and I didn't want to carry it around.
Approaching the marina area (which is beautiful) I see a market! Yippee! It looked to be the kind I like - hand made goodies made by the locals - linens and other types of things, but at least half were hand made. Guy dropped me there as he went to scout out the hop on hop off bus. It only took me about 20 minutes to see everything and I was wishing I had made the meet-up time sooner, but I figured I could waste another 30 minutes reviewing the goods. However, Guy found me early and said the hop on hop off said CLOSED! What? However, he did find a local tram that took you up to the huge church on the hill and it did narrate along the way. It didn't make 13 stops, but was still better than catching a cab.
After purchasing a few tea towels at the market, we hopped the tram and began our journey around Marseille. I'm sure the port area is the dirtiest area and it is Sunday and most of the shops are closed - which makes an area look run down, but it is one of the dirtier places we've been on the trip. Lots of trash in the streets and sidewalks. I saw a big dead bird just lying by a parked car and the area is covered with graffiti. First impressions. I apologize for my less than spectacular review to my French expert, Amanda Hickman, as I'm sure you've been here and know the beautiful spots. The marina, however, is quite spectacular - as was our view from the cathedral that was built on the site of a Roman temple and dates back to at least the 13th century.
Perched high on a hill, this magnificent church had the most amazing mosaics. I took several photos, but it more amazing to see in person. We walked through the different areas of the property, including one section that was actually hot inside from all the burning candles. For 1euro you could purchase and light one for whatever issue you need to pray for. There were lots of needs as the room was quite warm. Guy located some post cards in the gift shop and they had stamps as well! We also took lots of photos of the port and the city from our birds eye view. It was worth the ride up on our little tourist train.
Back down into the marina again, we went in a few gift shops, but not really much to buy. We did want to find a bakery and there was one along the side road we had come down on from the bus. We went in and to buy a beautiful baguette was less than a dollar. So we asked the gentleman for a baguette, a coke and a water. The poor feller was suffering from some kind of rash on his neck and arms. My official germ flag has been raised. But then the baguette. He picked it up with his hands and touched it from top to bottom as he put a small piece of paper in the middle and closed it with a piece of tape. We paid our bill and thanked him. No words needed to be spoken, the bread would not be eaten. So as I took a photo of it to remember how beautiful it looked, there was a homeless old man begging on a corner. Success. I handed the baguette to him, he took it, then mumbled a few words. As we walked away (the Starbucks was just ahead) we saw him walking away from his spot. He was going towards the dumpster. As I looked at him and he looked at me, he just stood there for a second and Guy told me to stop looking. I didn't care what he did with it, it was just curiosity if he was going to throw it away, or if he was going to look for something to eat with it. I did as Guy said and went into the Starbucks, bought my mug and a chocolate chip cookie and sat at a table while filling out my post cards. I tried to log into the wifi to upload some photos, and it was free, but they wanted my name, address, mobile phone number, and I had to click a button that said I agreed to let them give my info to a third party. Shame on you Starbucks! You can do better than that! So needless to say, no upload.
Guy asked the Starbucks girl if there was a nice bakery nearby and she said yes just down the road. She said it was new and would be open (at first she said lots were open all around, but Guy reminded her it was Sunday and everything was closed). So we ventured down to the bakery and it was quite nice. Part of a bigger store and had everything from cheeses, breads, meat, fish, etc. Almost like a small Eataly. So I bought a baguette for Guy, a different kind of roll for myself and some brie cheese to put on our bread. The guy at the counter was really helpful and explained the different kinds of cheeses by making the sound of a goat so I'd know which cheese came from a goat or cow. LOL! We sat outside the store at a table and ate our snack. It was nice.
Back to the bus and back to the ship we did go through a very industrial area with old rail road tracks. Looked like a good place to make a movie. You know the scene where some kind of deal goes down at night in a part of town that the cops won't even go to. There I saw two guys. A white guy with dreads yelling another guy that was scooting along the ground quickly enough to be stirring up some dust with his hands and feet, the guy on the ground obviously afraid of the guy with the dreads. We had already passed before I could point it out to Guy. Odd scene and my last sight in Marseille. This big world is an interesting place.
Back on the ship we grabbed some snacks and we were really tired, so we showered (it was another hot one today) and crawled under the covers for a quick nap. By the time we woke up, it was about 8:30 and it was hard to have to put my face on and do my hair just for dinner. And it was fancy night. So I just pulled my hair up and put on a black dress I bought at the market in Luino. Didn't bring many dressy items on this trip. But as usual, the crowd had on everything from tuxedos to blue jeans...so we fit in just fine. Dinner was nice. I forgot to take my phone to take pictures, so I'll just have to explain. :) Our starter was a little piece of pruscitto with a little melon ball. Next we had pasta that was made on the ship. It looked like large ravioli and it was stuffed with ricotta and asparagus. The sauce was a very light cream sauce. It was probably the best pasta we had on the trip. Next came a small filet of fish with some mashed potatoes. Then came the sorbet to clear the palate. It came in a tiny silver cup, and is usually served with a spoon. But when he sat it down there was no spoon and it was melted. So we sat for a minute to see what the French couple next to us would do. I think they were waiting for us. But next thing I knew, the French guy was sipping his like a drink, then his date did the same. So salute! Guy and I clinked our tiny little silver cups together and down the hatch. Guy laughed and said the staff was probably doing an experiment to see what people would do when served sorbet without a spoon. - After the "experiment" came our beef dish. It was served with roasted potatoes (about 3 little pieces) and I asked for mine medium well. It was so cooked it was difficult to cut. So I took one bite and already full from all the other courses I ate my potatoes and was happy to be done. Plus, I knew the dessert was a coconut pistachio cake and even tho I didn't have room, I did manage to eat it. It was nice.
After dinner it is now 11pm. We have to go online and select a showtime we want to attend. I had selected the 9:45 yesterday, but not knowing there would be such a long nap and such a long dinner, we obviously missed it. But we got out of dinner just at the 11pm show was starting. When we went in, they scanned our cards and it beeped at her. She said to follow her we had to register. I told her we had chosen the 9:45 but dinner ran late. She said "ah - go inside". So we aren't sure why they are requiring people to choose a particular show. We've never experienced this before. But I told Guy maybe they are doing it to get an idea of the demographics attending. Who knows...
The show tonight was called Cleopatra. It was mostly dancing, but there was a singer (she was amazing) and a contortionist (I had to look away a few times...it was just painful to watch) and then two guys that did some amazing things. They were ripped and their muscles even had muscles, but they did some balancing things together that was just amazing. At one point the one guy was standing on the other guy's head - the guy on the bottom then stood up and I again had to look away. I could just see his neck muscles giving out and his neck snapping. Tonight they also introduced the senior staff of the ship, from the kitchen to the captain. They also gave a certificate to the employee of the month. He was a cook and seemed pretty excited! Then the captain thanked the audience and repeated his speech in six languages. Impressive.
Tomorrow...the island of Palma De Mallorca off the coast of Spain.
Guess what? Civilization! Ahoy mateys ... Starbucks ahead! I can now add a France mug to my collection of Starbucks mugs. I'm having trouble snagging an Italy one...but I'm hoping the Rome airport will have one. We'll see. I'm only collecting the countries instead of each town because that could get overwhelming (and expensive) and I only have so much space in my cabinets at home. However, part of the fun is the illusive mugs I can't find. Like Italy! Ha Ha. I didn't find one last year either. Challenge accepted. I'll just have to come back. I didn't get the mug when we first passed because it is just off the bus stop and I didn't want to carry it around.
Approaching the marina area (which is beautiful) I see a market! Yippee! It looked to be the kind I like - hand made goodies made by the locals - linens and other types of things, but at least half were hand made. Guy dropped me there as he went to scout out the hop on hop off bus. It only took me about 20 minutes to see everything and I was wishing I had made the meet-up time sooner, but I figured I could waste another 30 minutes reviewing the goods. However, Guy found me early and said the hop on hop off said CLOSED! What? However, he did find a local tram that took you up to the huge church on the hill and it did narrate along the way. It didn't make 13 stops, but was still better than catching a cab.
After purchasing a few tea towels at the market, we hopped the tram and began our journey around Marseille. I'm sure the port area is the dirtiest area and it is Sunday and most of the shops are closed - which makes an area look run down, but it is one of the dirtier places we've been on the trip. Lots of trash in the streets and sidewalks. I saw a big dead bird just lying by a parked car and the area is covered with graffiti. First impressions. I apologize for my less than spectacular review to my French expert, Amanda Hickman, as I'm sure you've been here and know the beautiful spots. The marina, however, is quite spectacular - as was our view from the cathedral that was built on the site of a Roman temple and dates back to at least the 13th century.
Perched high on a hill, this magnificent church had the most amazing mosaics. I took several photos, but it more amazing to see in person. We walked through the different areas of the property, including one section that was actually hot inside from all the burning candles. For 1euro you could purchase and light one for whatever issue you need to pray for. There were lots of needs as the room was quite warm. Guy located some post cards in the gift shop and they had stamps as well! We also took lots of photos of the port and the city from our birds eye view. It was worth the ride up on our little tourist train.
Back down into the marina again, we went in a few gift shops, but not really much to buy. We did want to find a bakery and there was one along the side road we had come down on from the bus. We went in and to buy a beautiful baguette was less than a dollar. So we asked the gentleman for a baguette, a coke and a water. The poor feller was suffering from some kind of rash on his neck and arms. My official germ flag has been raised. But then the baguette. He picked it up with his hands and touched it from top to bottom as he put a small piece of paper in the middle and closed it with a piece of tape. We paid our bill and thanked him. No words needed to be spoken, the bread would not be eaten. So as I took a photo of it to remember how beautiful it looked, there was a homeless old man begging on a corner. Success. I handed the baguette to him, he took it, then mumbled a few words. As we walked away (the Starbucks was just ahead) we saw him walking away from his spot. He was going towards the dumpster. As I looked at him and he looked at me, he just stood there for a second and Guy told me to stop looking. I didn't care what he did with it, it was just curiosity if he was going to throw it away, or if he was going to look for something to eat with it. I did as Guy said and went into the Starbucks, bought my mug and a chocolate chip cookie and sat at a table while filling out my post cards. I tried to log into the wifi to upload some photos, and it was free, but they wanted my name, address, mobile phone number, and I had to click a button that said I agreed to let them give my info to a third party. Shame on you Starbucks! You can do better than that! So needless to say, no upload.
Guy asked the Starbucks girl if there was a nice bakery nearby and she said yes just down the road. She said it was new and would be open (at first she said lots were open all around, but Guy reminded her it was Sunday and everything was closed). So we ventured down to the bakery and it was quite nice. Part of a bigger store and had everything from cheeses, breads, meat, fish, etc. Almost like a small Eataly. So I bought a baguette for Guy, a different kind of roll for myself and some brie cheese to put on our bread. The guy at the counter was really helpful and explained the different kinds of cheeses by making the sound of a goat so I'd know which cheese came from a goat or cow. LOL! We sat outside the store at a table and ate our snack. It was nice.
Back to the bus and back to the ship we did go through a very industrial area with old rail road tracks. Looked like a good place to make a movie. You know the scene where some kind of deal goes down at night in a part of town that the cops won't even go to. There I saw two guys. A white guy with dreads yelling another guy that was scooting along the ground quickly enough to be stirring up some dust with his hands and feet, the guy on the ground obviously afraid of the guy with the dreads. We had already passed before I could point it out to Guy. Odd scene and my last sight in Marseille. This big world is an interesting place.
Back on the ship we grabbed some snacks and we were really tired, so we showered (it was another hot one today) and crawled under the covers for a quick nap. By the time we woke up, it was about 8:30 and it was hard to have to put my face on and do my hair just for dinner. And it was fancy night. So I just pulled my hair up and put on a black dress I bought at the market in Luino. Didn't bring many dressy items on this trip. But as usual, the crowd had on everything from tuxedos to blue jeans...so we fit in just fine. Dinner was nice. I forgot to take my phone to take pictures, so I'll just have to explain. :) Our starter was a little piece of pruscitto with a little melon ball. Next we had pasta that was made on the ship. It looked like large ravioli and it was stuffed with ricotta and asparagus. The sauce was a very light cream sauce. It was probably the best pasta we had on the trip. Next came a small filet of fish with some mashed potatoes. Then came the sorbet to clear the palate. It came in a tiny silver cup, and is usually served with a spoon. But when he sat it down there was no spoon and it was melted. So we sat for a minute to see what the French couple next to us would do. I think they were waiting for us. But next thing I knew, the French guy was sipping his like a drink, then his date did the same. So salute! Guy and I clinked our tiny little silver cups together and down the hatch. Guy laughed and said the staff was probably doing an experiment to see what people would do when served sorbet without a spoon. - After the "experiment" came our beef dish. It was served with roasted potatoes (about 3 little pieces) and I asked for mine medium well. It was so cooked it was difficult to cut. So I took one bite and already full from all the other courses I ate my potatoes and was happy to be done. Plus, I knew the dessert was a coconut pistachio cake and even tho I didn't have room, I did manage to eat it. It was nice.
After dinner it is now 11pm. We have to go online and select a showtime we want to attend. I had selected the 9:45 yesterday, but not knowing there would be such a long nap and such a long dinner, we obviously missed it. But we got out of dinner just at the 11pm show was starting. When we went in, they scanned our cards and it beeped at her. She said to follow her we had to register. I told her we had chosen the 9:45 but dinner ran late. She said "ah - go inside". So we aren't sure why they are requiring people to choose a particular show. We've never experienced this before. But I told Guy maybe they are doing it to get an idea of the demographics attending. Who knows...
The show tonight was called Cleopatra. It was mostly dancing, but there was a singer (she was amazing) and a contortionist (I had to look away a few times...it was just painful to watch) and then two guys that did some amazing things. They were ripped and their muscles even had muscles, but they did some balancing things together that was just amazing. At one point the one guy was standing on the other guy's head - the guy on the bottom then stood up and I again had to look away. I could just see his neck muscles giving out and his neck snapping. Tonight they also introduced the senior staff of the ship, from the kitchen to the captain. They also gave a certificate to the employee of the month. He was a cook and seemed pretty excited! Then the captain thanked the audience and repeated his speech in six languages. Impressive.
Tomorrow...the island of Palma De Mallorca off the coast of Spain.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
The Cruise Day 13
Day 13 - La Spezia and MSC
We actually had a wake up call this morning to make sure we didn't miss our train. We had time for breakfast and packed ready to go, the hotel called us a cab. Yes, the train station was about a 7 minute walk (and we saw an old couple pulling luggage and going by our hotel on their way to the station), but it is already hot and the train station is uphill. Cab. One minute ride. 10 Euro. Worth it to not be a hot mess before 9am.
We rode three different trains today. No problems with connections. Pretty easy. None of the trains were anything fancy, in fact some were sorta yucky commuter trains covered in graffiti. The trip was uneventful, with lack-luster scenery, the train cars were hot inside and all pretty full. But still a better choice than renting a car as there was not a good drop off close to the port and we didn't have to try to navigate the busy interstate around Milan again.
When we got to the MSC port the process was easy, but they kept our passports. Never a big fan of that. Guy asked about going off ship into France tomorrow and they said just to take our cruise cards. I'm sure it will be fine, but boarding the ship we saw others with their passports, but they were European. Oh well.
Once on the ship we got to our cabin where I wiped everything down with my nine remaining lysol wipes. Not the spray job I prefer, but better than nothing. The remote control, light switches, hangers, drawers. The works! LOL! While everything was drying, we went to find a bite to eat and looked around the ship. For obvious reasons, we are not big fans of buffets. Case in point - today there was a shirtless man reaching his body under the sneeze guard into the food area. One worker told him he needed a shirt on, but he paid no attention. It was gross. I know it's a hot day, but there are a lot of stinky people on this ship. Looking forward to us pulling out of the dock and blowing some fresh air around.
The mandatory safety drill is always a treat, but today was extra fun with it being so hot, they had a smooshed together like sardines. Someone in front of me was ... how do I say it ... "less than fresh smelling" and they had us nearly touching each other front to back. We get the point. I think their drill was a bit excessive on this hot day, but 15 minutes then done and done. As I put my lifejacket away, I hoped I didn't have to touch it again...if you know what I mean.
My SIM card has finally run out after a call to my mom and to buy Internet on the ship is pretty ridiculous. The guy at the counter was honest and said it is slower than internet on the land and it is usually free at the ports in a cafe. For convenience and so I didn't feel completely cut off from the world, I did buy 5 hours of internet at a bit over $10 per hour. We'll see what it gets us - probably just Viber calls to home and posting some blogs. But I will try not to be too crazy when I can't post my blogs on a regular basis anymore. My type A - OCD has kicked in and I'm grumpy, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I'll just type the blog in my notepad and copy and paste when I can. You'll have to forgive the typos as I probably won't be trying to make it perfect. I don't like being separated from my technology! I'm so spoiled...
We've been on this ship before when we cruised the Greek Islands. It's just ok - nothing fancy - and last time we gave both the ship and the food a B-, but we are on the ship for the itinerary, not the amenities and I'll just have to take a few breaths and count to 10 when naked man is at the buffet. To make my life easier, Guy did buy me the coffee drink package. I can have two coffees a day and that includes frozen cappuccinos and other fancy coffee drinks. YAY! He knows how to make a girl happy. I'm sure the guy making my cappuccino will have a shirt on.
With that said, our cabin is really nice, big and has a full balcony. We have what you'd almost call a walk in closet and we both put our things away and put our suit cases up. So that is nice. Very comfortable space. We both feel pretty gross from our train rides, so Guy has taken a shower (we even have a bathtub) and is checking out the quality of the bed. FINALLY a soft bed he says. A few things that european hotels lack: 1. wash cloths...I forgot to bring any and it's not a good thing. 2. conditioner. Europeans must not have tangles in their hair. 3. soft beds - where is the Westin Heavenly Bed when you need it?
Guy has it arranged so that we can eat dinner whenever we want and it will always be a table for two. Not that we aren't social, but sometimes we just like to be alone and hate making small talk with strangers all night, every night. But tonight we've both showered and are feeling a bit tired. Guy ate a cheeseburger around 4pm and it has made his stomach a bit grumpy, So I just went up and got something from the buffet (naked guy not around) and brought it back to the room. I've got my PJs on and Guy has his eyes glued to the Champions League Final (soccer). He says we have movies on our TV but we have to watch them at certain times...not like Amazon Prime when you just start it when you want. :)
Our cabin guy is from India and is exceptionally nice. I like him already! When I was up getting food, Guy told him our remote wasn't working. So he went to the room next door and got theirs. He said "now yours works and theirs doesn't". Funny. Funny. Funny. It should be a good week with him.
We get into Marseille, France tomorrow around 11am and can go ashore from noon to 5:30pm. Not sure if we are going to do an excursion or not. May just take a ride into the town and explore. Depending on when I get up, I may go up and run the track or go to the gym. I'll see how much energy I have and how hot it is. No alarms. No schedule. No worries.
Will post a few pics tomorrow that I took today. They are nothing fancy and not worthy of burning precious ship wifi minutes. I'm sure I'll find wifi in Marseille.
We actually had a wake up call this morning to make sure we didn't miss our train. We had time for breakfast and packed ready to go, the hotel called us a cab. Yes, the train station was about a 7 minute walk (and we saw an old couple pulling luggage and going by our hotel on their way to the station), but it is already hot and the train station is uphill. Cab. One minute ride. 10 Euro. Worth it to not be a hot mess before 9am.
We rode three different trains today. No problems with connections. Pretty easy. None of the trains were anything fancy, in fact some were sorta yucky commuter trains covered in graffiti. The trip was uneventful, with lack-luster scenery, the train cars were hot inside and all pretty full. But still a better choice than renting a car as there was not a good drop off close to the port and we didn't have to try to navigate the busy interstate around Milan again.
When we got to the MSC port the process was easy, but they kept our passports. Never a big fan of that. Guy asked about going off ship into France tomorrow and they said just to take our cruise cards. I'm sure it will be fine, but boarding the ship we saw others with their passports, but they were European. Oh well.
Once on the ship we got to our cabin where I wiped everything down with my nine remaining lysol wipes. Not the spray job I prefer, but better than nothing. The remote control, light switches, hangers, drawers. The works! LOL! While everything was drying, we went to find a bite to eat and looked around the ship. For obvious reasons, we are not big fans of buffets. Case in point - today there was a shirtless man reaching his body under the sneeze guard into the food area. One worker told him he needed a shirt on, but he paid no attention. It was gross. I know it's a hot day, but there are a lot of stinky people on this ship. Looking forward to us pulling out of the dock and blowing some fresh air around.
The mandatory safety drill is always a treat, but today was extra fun with it being so hot, they had a smooshed together like sardines. Someone in front of me was ... how do I say it ... "less than fresh smelling" and they had us nearly touching each other front to back. We get the point. I think their drill was a bit excessive on this hot day, but 15 minutes then done and done. As I put my lifejacket away, I hoped I didn't have to touch it again...if you know what I mean.
My SIM card has finally run out after a call to my mom and to buy Internet on the ship is pretty ridiculous. The guy at the counter was honest and said it is slower than internet on the land and it is usually free at the ports in a cafe. For convenience and so I didn't feel completely cut off from the world, I did buy 5 hours of internet at a bit over $10 per hour. We'll see what it gets us - probably just Viber calls to home and posting some blogs. But I will try not to be too crazy when I can't post my blogs on a regular basis anymore. My type A - OCD has kicked in and I'm grumpy, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I'll just type the blog in my notepad and copy and paste when I can. You'll have to forgive the typos as I probably won't be trying to make it perfect. I don't like being separated from my technology! I'm so spoiled...
We've been on this ship before when we cruised the Greek Islands. It's just ok - nothing fancy - and last time we gave both the ship and the food a B-, but we are on the ship for the itinerary, not the amenities and I'll just have to take a few breaths and count to 10 when naked man is at the buffet. To make my life easier, Guy did buy me the coffee drink package. I can have two coffees a day and that includes frozen cappuccinos and other fancy coffee drinks. YAY! He knows how to make a girl happy. I'm sure the guy making my cappuccino will have a shirt on.
With that said, our cabin is really nice, big and has a full balcony. We have what you'd almost call a walk in closet and we both put our things away and put our suit cases up. So that is nice. Very comfortable space. We both feel pretty gross from our train rides, so Guy has taken a shower (we even have a bathtub) and is checking out the quality of the bed. FINALLY a soft bed he says. A few things that european hotels lack: 1. wash cloths...I forgot to bring any and it's not a good thing. 2. conditioner. Europeans must not have tangles in their hair. 3. soft beds - where is the Westin Heavenly Bed when you need it?
Guy has it arranged so that we can eat dinner whenever we want and it will always be a table for two. Not that we aren't social, but sometimes we just like to be alone and hate making small talk with strangers all night, every night. But tonight we've both showered and are feeling a bit tired. Guy ate a cheeseburger around 4pm and it has made his stomach a bit grumpy, So I just went up and got something from the buffet (naked guy not around) and brought it back to the room. I've got my PJs on and Guy has his eyes glued to the Champions League Final (soccer). He says we have movies on our TV but we have to watch them at certain times...not like Amazon Prime when you just start it when you want. :)
Our cabin guy is from India and is exceptionally nice. I like him already! When I was up getting food, Guy told him our remote wasn't working. So he went to the room next door and got theirs. He said "now yours works and theirs doesn't". Funny. Funny. Funny. It should be a good week with him.
We get into Marseille, France tomorrow around 11am and can go ashore from noon to 5:30pm. Not sure if we are going to do an excursion or not. May just take a ride into the town and explore. Depending on when I get up, I may go up and run the track or go to the gym. I'll see how much energy I have and how hot it is. No alarms. No schedule. No worries.
Will post a few pics tomorrow that I took today. They are nothing fancy and not worthy of burning precious ship wifi minutes. I'm sure I'll find wifi in Marseille.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Stresa Day 12
Rosalie gave Guy a wake up call when they were all about ready to meet for breakfast. He hurried down for a last quick visit before they headed out. A shuttle was taking them to the Milan airport. Their flight (Swiss Air) was taking them to Zurich then United to Washington DC, then home. Rosalie text Guy when they made it to the airport and hopefully in enough time to get Gracie some Swiss chocolates. (still a bit disappointed we didn't make it to Switzerland on the trip).
Guy and I barely made breakfast this morning as they stop serving at 10. LOL. We sleep in a bit more when there is no one to meet or no schedule to follow. After breakfast we sat out on our balcony and Guy downloaded some music and I surfed a bit. We then gathered up our dirties and headed for the laundromat. It was only about 10 minutes away by walking. When we got there, only one washing machine was open. A local girl helped us get it going. I still needed to do a small load of whites and even tho one small machine was done, it was occupied and I wasn't sure what was appropriate etiquette in an Italian laundromat. I sat there while Guy walked to the train station to get our tickets for tomorrow. As I waited, an elderly local lady was washing her comforter and spoke NO English at all. She was trying to chat up a conversation, but soon she found out I was a dumb American and knew no Italian. So she thumbed thru a magazine when she struck out with me. Bored with the selection of magazines she headed out as her washer had 20 more minutes. In about 10 minutes she returned and I think told me that I had clothes in the big one that was for bigger objects such as her comforter, I needed to use the smaller ones because they cost less (4 euros vs. 7 euros). I tried, with hand gestures and desperate facial expressions, to tell her I was dying to put my laundry in a small one, but what was in there wasn't mine. She pointed to a basket and told me to unload it. All that was in there was a small rug. Sigh... so I put the rug in the basket and loaded up the small washer. She insisted on working it for me (even tho the instructions were in English) but I gladly let her. And we now have suds in the small washer and our time at the laundromat will be a bit shorter. After I loaded the small one, the big one was done and I tried the dryer. Much easier to operate and even tho the local mama didn't insist on taking over, she was giving me signals from her chair and a thumbs up in approval when it started.
As Guy took his turn babysitting our clothes, I went to the supermarket to look for some Lysol. A germ-o-phobe by nature, I was looking for a big can of Lysol for the cruise. You always hear about that nasty virus that turns your cabin into a vomitorium for a few days. Hence the reason I always do a thorough cleaning and disinfecting before we unpack our things. But no luck. I did see one giant bottle that I could make out saying it killed 99% of bacteria, but it was enough to clean about 47 cabins. So when we go into the town for dinner we'll see if there is another supermarket.
Back at the laundromat I only had a few minutes left on the dryer and I was needing a potty break, so I folded up what was dry, loaded the small washer into the dryer and headed back to the hotel with the first load. When I got to the room (hauling laundry up several flights of stairs like a Sherpa with a really full bladder) the key didn't work. So back down to the desk and the gal said "oh yes, room with extended reservation gets new key today"...and they were already ready in our 220 slot behind the desk. Back up the stairs with our fresh smelling duds I unloaded and headed back to the laundry to go fold. Nice and easy, it only took up only a little bit of our morning and we are now set for the rest of the trip. Guy went with me back to the grocery thinking they HAD to have Lysol (or its equivalent) but alas...I was correct.
We walked around the town looking for a restaurant to have dinner at tonight and maybe a sandwich for lunch. No luck really with either, so we headed back to the hotel to eat a snack on the rooftop where we were going to hang out by the pool anyway. Then Guy remembers they stop serving at 2pm. It's 2:06. Erf. So I send him up while I trot back to the town where I saw a little sandwich shop. When I got there, the sandwiches where sitting in the front window, heat of the day, only covered by a netting to keep the flies off. No and No. So I went to the square and ordered two orders of "toast" (ham and cheese) at a restaurant and the guy didn't really speak much English, but got my sandwiches wrapped in foil, brought me a water and took my credit card. Yes and Yes. Back at the hotel we grab a couple of Coke Zeros from the bar (which comes with chips and peanuts - officially the sides to our toast) and commence with our poolside picnic. It's hot today and all our days in Stresa have been hazy. Still, this part of Italy is amazing (the scenery) and I'm soaking up every minute.
So on the trip so far, I've only used my iphone to take photos with. For someone with a photography degree, this seems like it might fall into the category of a mortal sin. However, uploads have been super fast and I already have lots of photos of all these places as we've been here before. They were quick to share with Cara so she had copies and since I have a local SIM card I have wifi and can post on Instagram and quickly upload to my Picasa account. However, on the cruise, I will crack out the point and shoot (still seeming like a sin, but not quite as big). We were trying to pack light and all my gear is not packing light. So iphone it is and it has seemed a bit more like a vacation (minus the hours of blog time).
It's 6pm and the day has gone by fast. Laundry, swimming, napping, eating, blogging, surfing...a pretty nice day so far. The Internet is sketchy up here tho. I wanted to research all the towns we are going on the cruise, but I only got Ibiza done and the connection went kaput. So that will be my reading for tonight after dinner as the blog is almost done and hardly any photos to upload. I checked in at work today via email, but my co-workers are so fabulous they can handle anything. However, break is a quiet time, so I'm not missing too much (except Grey Dawg was apparently dawgnapped). I also got an email from church and our website needed updated, so I came up to the room and luckily it could all be done from my ipad. So I did feel a little useful today.
I got to pick our dinner spot tonight, so I chose the Trattoria due Piccioni. Trip Advisor rates it #10 in Stresa. On a side street you'd normally miss, we found it with no problem because we mapped it and my Apple watch tapped me when to turn left and right. It led us right to the door. The menu was a bit limited, but still lots to choose from. So much for not eating much today. We had a starter of local cheeses and some kind of "jellies" one was some kind of caramelized onion and the other was some kind of pickled something. Both really good. And all the cheeses were excellent. Next we had our main dishes. I had risotto with crispy speck (ham) with some kind of cheese and Guy had the ravioli. Mine was GREAT and Guy got the green weenie. There must have been two kinds of ravioli on the menu and when he ordered he just said "ravioli" but someone next to us got ravioli and it looked completely different. However, this one was not good. I tried it. It wasn't nasty, but still, compared to mine it was. He took a few bites and trust me when I say this family will pretty much eat anything. He just couldn't. So I ate what I wanted of mine and we switched plates. The waitress didn't really speak much English, but I could tell by the look on her face that she was afraid I didn't like it (because it was in front of me now). But I assured her it was no problem. We had also ordered some kind of vegetables with local warm cream cheese. She asked us if it was "to start" and we said no, "with second plate" (first plate being the cheeses). So after we finished our risotto, and it had not arrived yet, we were actually good with that because we were full and Trip Advisor said be sure to get dessert. So after they cleared our plates, they brought out more silverware. That is when we knew we'd be getting the veggie cheese dish. When it came out it was quite lovely. It was actually more like a light fluffy quiche. It was good and we managed to eat it all and then of course they had a special dessert that was tiramisu but only called biramisu as it was made with a local beer. So as Trip Advisor suggested, we ordered it. It did actually taste like beer a little (the lady fingers must have been soaked in it) but we were so full it was painful to take the last few bites. The staff was friendly and the place was super cute. Very quaint. We'd go back (just not ordering the ravioli next time).
As we entered the main square, the place was hopping! I guess it should be as it is Friday night. All the outdoor restaurants were packed and there was an old guy playing the accordion. An older patron of the restaurant he was playing in was in the street dancing and clapping to his song. She was having a good time. When in Rome! (or Stresa). We walked back to the hotel along the edge of the lake and took a terrible selfie. We really need a selfie stick, but I'm resisting this. I'd rather be stuck with bad selfies. At the hotel Guy changed a bit more money and checked us out so in the morning we'd be ready to go. I'm sad to say I didn't find Lysol in the town...so I may be stuck with just my packet of Lysol wipes I brought. I prefer hosing the room down. Looks like it will just get a wipe down.
Talked to my Mom for a long time tonight and Nero is doing fine. She house/cat sits for me and is an expert cat lover. So I know the boy is fine. Guy just saw online where the Swiss Air flight just landed in Chicago, so we are thankful the family has made it home safely. We expect a text anytime. Little did they know he has been following them online. Stalker. Apparently they missed their connecting flight in Zurich because we didn't realize they'd have to go thru passport control. So their United flight went on without them and they hopped on the next Swiss Air Flight to Chicago. Their flight to STL hs been delayed so they aren't getting home as soon as they thought. Bummer as it has already been a VERY long travel day. Hopefully they'll just stay the night with Rosalie. Anyhoo... my mom, sister and I needed to get our chatting in as we are unsure on the ship how much Internet we'll have. So mom and I hung on the line for some time tonight and I'm getting ready to call Amanda now :)
Well, that was our day and now it is time to get all our clean clothes back into our bags. Betty took a few of my purchases home with her, so that was helpful. I haven't bought much, but I've been saving my purchases for places we've not been before. I've been known to buy an extra bag to get all my stuff home. So we'll see. However, I've not been in my usual shopper mode on this trip.
So officially one final "Good Night" from Stresa. Tomorrow we'll be on the MSC Armonia floating in the Mediterranean. Sounds exciting!!
Guy and I barely made breakfast this morning as they stop serving at 10. LOL. We sleep in a bit more when there is no one to meet or no schedule to follow. After breakfast we sat out on our balcony and Guy downloaded some music and I surfed a bit. We then gathered up our dirties and headed for the laundromat. It was only about 10 minutes away by walking. When we got there, only one washing machine was open. A local girl helped us get it going. I still needed to do a small load of whites and even tho one small machine was done, it was occupied and I wasn't sure what was appropriate etiquette in an Italian laundromat. I sat there while Guy walked to the train station to get our tickets for tomorrow. As I waited, an elderly local lady was washing her comforter and spoke NO English at all. She was trying to chat up a conversation, but soon she found out I was a dumb American and knew no Italian. So she thumbed thru a magazine when she struck out with me. Bored with the selection of magazines she headed out as her washer had 20 more minutes. In about 10 minutes she returned and I think told me that I had clothes in the big one that was for bigger objects such as her comforter, I needed to use the smaller ones because they cost less (4 euros vs. 7 euros). I tried, with hand gestures and desperate facial expressions, to tell her I was dying to put my laundry in a small one, but what was in there wasn't mine. She pointed to a basket and told me to unload it. All that was in there was a small rug. Sigh... so I put the rug in the basket and loaded up the small washer. She insisted on working it for me (even tho the instructions were in English) but I gladly let her. And we now have suds in the small washer and our time at the laundromat will be a bit shorter. After I loaded the small one, the big one was done and I tried the dryer. Much easier to operate and even tho the local mama didn't insist on taking over, she was giving me signals from her chair and a thumbs up in approval when it started.
As Guy took his turn babysitting our clothes, I went to the supermarket to look for some Lysol. A germ-o-phobe by nature, I was looking for a big can of Lysol for the cruise. You always hear about that nasty virus that turns your cabin into a vomitorium for a few days. Hence the reason I always do a thorough cleaning and disinfecting before we unpack our things. But no luck. I did see one giant bottle that I could make out saying it killed 99% of bacteria, but it was enough to clean about 47 cabins. So when we go into the town for dinner we'll see if there is another supermarket.
Back at the laundromat I only had a few minutes left on the dryer and I was needing a potty break, so I folded up what was dry, loaded the small washer into the dryer and headed back to the hotel with the first load. When I got to the room (hauling laundry up several flights of stairs like a Sherpa with a really full bladder) the key didn't work. So back down to the desk and the gal said "oh yes, room with extended reservation gets new key today"...and they were already ready in our 220 slot behind the desk. Back up the stairs with our fresh smelling duds I unloaded and headed back to the laundry to go fold. Nice and easy, it only took up only a little bit of our morning and we are now set for the rest of the trip. Guy went with me back to the grocery thinking they HAD to have Lysol (or its equivalent) but alas...I was correct.
We walked around the town looking for a restaurant to have dinner at tonight and maybe a sandwich for lunch. No luck really with either, so we headed back to the hotel to eat a snack on the rooftop where we were going to hang out by the pool anyway. Then Guy remembers they stop serving at 2pm. It's 2:06. Erf. So I send him up while I trot back to the town where I saw a little sandwich shop. When I got there, the sandwiches where sitting in the front window, heat of the day, only covered by a netting to keep the flies off. No and No. So I went to the square and ordered two orders of "toast" (ham and cheese) at a restaurant and the guy didn't really speak much English, but got my sandwiches wrapped in foil, brought me a water and took my credit card. Yes and Yes. Back at the hotel we grab a couple of Coke Zeros from the bar (which comes with chips and peanuts - officially the sides to our toast) and commence with our poolside picnic. It's hot today and all our days in Stresa have been hazy. Still, this part of Italy is amazing (the scenery) and I'm soaking up every minute.
So on the trip so far, I've only used my iphone to take photos with. For someone with a photography degree, this seems like it might fall into the category of a mortal sin. However, uploads have been super fast and I already have lots of photos of all these places as we've been here before. They were quick to share with Cara so she had copies and since I have a local SIM card I have wifi and can post on Instagram and quickly upload to my Picasa account. However, on the cruise, I will crack out the point and shoot (still seeming like a sin, but not quite as big). We were trying to pack light and all my gear is not packing light. So iphone it is and it has seemed a bit more like a vacation (minus the hours of blog time).
It's 6pm and the day has gone by fast. Laundry, swimming, napping, eating, blogging, surfing...a pretty nice day so far. The Internet is sketchy up here tho. I wanted to research all the towns we are going on the cruise, but I only got Ibiza done and the connection went kaput. So that will be my reading for tonight after dinner as the blog is almost done and hardly any photos to upload. I checked in at work today via email, but my co-workers are so fabulous they can handle anything. However, break is a quiet time, so I'm not missing too much (except Grey Dawg was apparently dawgnapped). I also got an email from church and our website needed updated, so I came up to the room and luckily it could all be done from my ipad. So I did feel a little useful today.
I got to pick our dinner spot tonight, so I chose the Trattoria due Piccioni. Trip Advisor rates it #10 in Stresa. On a side street you'd normally miss, we found it with no problem because we mapped it and my Apple watch tapped me when to turn left and right. It led us right to the door. The menu was a bit limited, but still lots to choose from. So much for not eating much today. We had a starter of local cheeses and some kind of "jellies" one was some kind of caramelized onion and the other was some kind of pickled something. Both really good. And all the cheeses were excellent. Next we had our main dishes. I had risotto with crispy speck (ham) with some kind of cheese and Guy had the ravioli. Mine was GREAT and Guy got the green weenie. There must have been two kinds of ravioli on the menu and when he ordered he just said "ravioli" but someone next to us got ravioli and it looked completely different. However, this one was not good. I tried it. It wasn't nasty, but still, compared to mine it was. He took a few bites and trust me when I say this family will pretty much eat anything. He just couldn't. So I ate what I wanted of mine and we switched plates. The waitress didn't really speak much English, but I could tell by the look on her face that she was afraid I didn't like it (because it was in front of me now). But I assured her it was no problem. We had also ordered some kind of vegetables with local warm cream cheese. She asked us if it was "to start" and we said no, "with second plate" (first plate being the cheeses). So after we finished our risotto, and it had not arrived yet, we were actually good with that because we were full and Trip Advisor said be sure to get dessert. So after they cleared our plates, they brought out more silverware. That is when we knew we'd be getting the veggie cheese dish. When it came out it was quite lovely. It was actually more like a light fluffy quiche. It was good and we managed to eat it all and then of course they had a special dessert that was tiramisu but only called biramisu as it was made with a local beer. So as Trip Advisor suggested, we ordered it. It did actually taste like beer a little (the lady fingers must have been soaked in it) but we were so full it was painful to take the last few bites. The staff was friendly and the place was super cute. Very quaint. We'd go back (just not ordering the ravioli next time).
As we entered the main square, the place was hopping! I guess it should be as it is Friday night. All the outdoor restaurants were packed and there was an old guy playing the accordion. An older patron of the restaurant he was playing in was in the street dancing and clapping to his song. She was having a good time. When in Rome! (or Stresa). We walked back to the hotel along the edge of the lake and took a terrible selfie. We really need a selfie stick, but I'm resisting this. I'd rather be stuck with bad selfies. At the hotel Guy changed a bit more money and checked us out so in the morning we'd be ready to go. I'm sad to say I didn't find Lysol in the town...so I may be stuck with just my packet of Lysol wipes I brought. I prefer hosing the room down. Looks like it will just get a wipe down.
Talked to my Mom for a long time tonight and Nero is doing fine. She house/cat sits for me and is an expert cat lover. So I know the boy is fine. Guy just saw online where the Swiss Air flight just landed in Chicago, so we are thankful the family has made it home safely. We expect a text anytime. Little did they know he has been following them online. Stalker. Apparently they missed their connecting flight in Zurich because we didn't realize they'd have to go thru passport control. So their United flight went on without them and they hopped on the next Swiss Air Flight to Chicago. Their flight to STL hs been delayed so they aren't getting home as soon as they thought. Bummer as it has already been a VERY long travel day. Hopefully they'll just stay the night with Rosalie. Anyhoo... my mom, sister and I needed to get our chatting in as we are unsure on the ship how much Internet we'll have. So mom and I hung on the line for some time tonight and I'm getting ready to call Amanda now :)
Well, that was our day and now it is time to get all our clean clothes back into our bags. Betty took a few of my purchases home with her, so that was helpful. I haven't bought much, but I've been saving my purchases for places we've not been before. I've been known to buy an extra bag to get all my stuff home. So we'll see. However, I've not been in my usual shopper mode on this trip.
So officially one final "Good Night" from Stresa. Tomorrow we'll be on the MSC Armonia floating in the Mediterranean. Sounds exciting!!
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Stresa Day 11
The crew met for breakfast at 9 today. It was really good! They did offer some kind of bacon - that was a bit more crispy than usual and was pretty tasty! I had yogurt with granola, bread with cherry jelly, half a pear and of course a piece of the "bacon". The coffee comes with hot milk and it was excellent. I did have a small glass of juice that was orange, lemon, carrot and peach juice. Hmmm..a bit tart but tasty.
After breakfast we met in the lobby and headed for the boat dock. The kids and I plotted the story line of our video today and shot our first scene by the boats. It was going to be a discovery trip where they found a new species of bird. Of course spoken in an Australian/British/Pirate accent. While we were doing this, boat captains came out from everywhere to try to get you to ride with them instead of the main big boat. They offered the same price as buying a ticket at the main counter, but you didn't have to pay any kind of taxes. It ran hour on the hour and he even had a credit card machine in his boat. It made no difference to us, so we opted for the smaller boat. We boarded and it held less than 40 people, but there were maybe only15 or so on it. It took us around Isola Bella and made the first stop at the little island next door (not much to see there) and then it docked on Bella.
We decided to do the Palace/Garden tour. As many times as we've been here, we've never taken the time to look at the gardens. The palace was nice and Cara was narrating some of the story boards. We saw the room where Napoleon slept, but apparently he came unannounced with 60 of his people and they only stayed two nights, left a smelly mess and were quite rude. Funny. There are some other stories I've heard about the island, but will need to wiki them and add to the blog. (Found it...gardenvisit.com says: A small rocky island in Lake Maggiore is wholly occupied by the Borromeo villa and its garden extravaganza. Soil was shipped in. Like a flower-strewn barge, the island now drifts amongst the snow-capped mountains of the lake. Following the baroque taste for placing a villa at the centre of a layout and allowing avenues to draw the scenery into a garden, Isola Bella employs the lake and mountains as garden features. Local legend relates that the ladies of Borromeo's household asked the Count to build on the island so that they would not have to listen to prisoners screaming in the dungeons of his mainland castle. The stepped terraces remind one of painters' interpretations of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.) In the garden the kids and I finished up our short film and they are quite the little actors. There were actually some beautiful peacocks that were all white. They are oblivious to the people poking ad prodding at them, but there was apparently some territorial issues between the men peacocks and the one poor girl bird that wanted nothing to do with their affections.
After the tour we did a bit of shopping (I bought a new red purse) and decided to have some lunch. We ate at the same place we eat at every time. It is good food, but because of the location on the water we don't seem to venture to a new eatery. Why change now? :) I ordered a caprese salad as I didn't really want hot food and the rest of the table shared pizzas and spaghetti. The pizzas were said to have been excellent and they certainly looked good! After lunch a few gelatos were purchased and Cara and the kids perused the gip joints. John got a type of sling shot and quickly acquired some rocks. He could shoot them pretty far out into the water. I could see he really wanted to aim at the nearby ducks, but I'm sure he feared the wrath of those around if he even pointed in their direction.
When we were waiting for our boat, another taxi was backing out and bumped into a fast local guy that came in too hot. I think it was not the taxi guy's fault, but he certainly wasn't watching either. He leaned out of the boat to see if there was damage and a few words and gestures were exchanged...then they both went on about their business. The next boat that arrived was not our guy, but Guy showed him our tickets and he waved us on. We were back at the main boat dock within minutes and Cara and the girls stayed behind in the town to shop, while Guy and I, along with the two Johns headed for the hotel. We chose the rooftop pool, and the Johns went for the big pool by the lake. More room for the youngest John to jump around in. When we got to the top, there was only one other person up here, so it is nice and quiet. Guy and I took a quick dip and then sat in the sun to warm up. It certainly didn't take long! I sat in my chair and edited the "movie". It was a low budget short film, but I'm certain it will win some kind of award. (At least from the grand parents)
Guy and I talk about coming to Italy in retirement and living in Stresa for about 3 months. It is beautiful, but part of what makes it so fun is staying at the La Palma, overlooking the lake, and sipping drinks on the hipster rooftop by the pool. We obviously can't afford to stay here for 3 months, so we may re-think our plan. I think we need to apartment shop on Lake Como...but Stresa is certainly beautiful. It's fun to think about it anyway, even if it never really happens. ;)
We ate dinner again tonight at the Mamma Mia. The staff is so nice and they love Big John (I think he likes them, too!) Our food was great. Guy ordered calamari and they suggested two plates to make sure everyone got a bite. Good plan. Lots more fish dishes were ordered tonight and Cara and I got pizzas. Tasty! As we got ready to go, the staff had their photo taken with big John and they were cute. They also gave him a jar of their super spicy peppers (he better slide that over to Cara, she's the only one at the table that can handle it). After we said our goodbyes to the staff, the fam headed over for one last gelato. We hate it that it is their last night. I think this has been the best family trip ever. The kids are awesome and love trying new things. Food. Adventures. Boats. You name it.
On the walk home we took a few more videos in slow mo and one in time lapse. I think there is a slight chance we may have worn the kids out. LOL. Back at the hotel Cara and I airdropped some last pics to each other (thanks for the one of Guy holding a cat purse...he'll love that when he sees it in the day's photos). We went outside the hotel and sat up the phone to take a family photo. We did several takes, but I think we got a pretty nice one. After that, big hugs all around to everyone. They have a breakfast awaiting them at 6:30 am...and Guy will make his way down there...I on the other hand, even tho I love them all dearly, am going to stay under the covers as they'll be on their car ride to the Milan airport by 7am. I'll see them all in about 10 days from now...
Back in the room I uploaded today's photos and watched some of the videos of the kids. I sure do love those guys. Wow. And for the first time ever on a vacation I feel a little homesicky. I think it's just because everyone is leaving tomorrow and we've had such a good time it's hard to see them go. So to help ease the yucky feeling in my gut, I Vibered my mom and surfed Facebook to see what everyone at home was doing. Not sure any of that helped. :| But one more day in Stresa (we've located a laundry mat - tomorrow's duty in the morning) and then a train ride down to catch our cruise. I'm sure all the excitement from that will ease my homesickness as it will be all new places and all new adventures. Homesick? I must have a fever!!
Good night from Stresa.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Stresa Day 10
A hazy day today. So you know it's gonna be a warm one. I had set the alarm for 8 am but hit the snooze once. Still undecided on the plans today, I skipped breakfast for a run along the lake. It was already getting hot. Guy had brought me up two little chocolate croissants, but I just wasn't hungry. I heard breakfast had decent bacon here, so I will make the breakfast bell tomorrow. However, discussions at breakfast led to multiple happenings today. Cara took us to the boat dock so we (me, Guy, Betty and Big John) could take the high speed boat to Luino - as today was the big market day. It would be a full day as the high speed boat doesn't leave the town again til 4:20. Cara, John and the kids were going to take the gondola ride to the top of the mountain, but it was down for repairs. They found out there were a few things for the kids to do higher up the mountain, so they were going to return one of the cars to Avis and keep the other one for a little longer. I tried to give Cara my phone with the GPS, but they were feeling adventurous today. Rosalie chose to have an "alone" day just to sit in quiet and read. So everyone was doing what they wanted to do today.
We got to the boat dock only 10 minutes before our boat was to leave. We didn't have tickets yet and by the looks of things we were not sure Luino would be our destination today. Luckily the line moved quickly and we made it. I was disappointed I couldn't sit on the top in the open air, but I guess the high speed boat moves too fast and an upper deck was not an option. So I did get a nice seat in the front where there was a bit more of a panoramic view. Did I mention it was hazy? Probably the most haze I've seen here. You could still make out the little spotted towns along the lake, but they lacked color and clarity. Our boat made three stops and the 4th being our destination. We arrived just after 11am and the market was in full swing. Guy scouted things out for us and helped direct us through the maze of little portable shops. We had almost 5 hours in the town, so it was the best market shopping ever...no rush at all.
The shopping girls met the boys for lunch and Guy found a place to eat that had an nice outdoor area. It was called Acquisto Fashion Cafe in Piazza Guiseppe. I googled them and not only did they not even register on Trip Advisor, they had no website. That's ok, because is was just ok. The boys had spaghetti with clams, Betty had wide noodles with mushrooms (looked from a can) and I had spaghetti pomodoro. We shared a bruschetta (Betty said it was her favorite so far on the trip) and a caprese salad. The bread was also very nice. Our food came out at different times, and we were not the only table this was happening to, but lucky for me I'm a fast eater and actually beat Betty whose food came out first.
Did I mention it was hot today? 85 degrees and a tiny bit humid. So after lunch we figured we'd all meet for gelato around 3:15 to cool off and just to check in. Betty and I found an Italian guy with some really different clothes and we bought a few things from him. His English was good and he took credit cards (I high fived him when he said he did). After we were getting ready to go and Betty had paid, I found a scarf I liked and as I was digging for some Euros he waved me off and said a "gift". So that was cool! We didn't buy that much, but like I said, he was really nice. We found a few other goodies and enjoyed looking at all the stuff. I did buy a little single ravioli press, so now I'm committed to making raviolis!! Pretty excited actually! So when we met up for gelato, Betty wanted to go back and buy a purse for Rosalie and I told her to go up and make a right. She wanted strawberry, so I got her one scoop and I had chocolate, pistachio and amaretto. A nice new combo. The problem was Betty just might have gotten lost and by the time I found her, her strawberry gelato was running down my hand. Did I mention it was hot today? But we managed to salvage some and then found a drinking fountain that we used clean up in. It was kinda funny actually.
The boat ride back was nice and we were back at the hotel by 5:15. Just in time to rest, shower and go eat again. I love vacation, but sometimes I actually get tired of eating! But I did get a few minutes to enjoy the balcony and start my blog. As everyone was coming down to the lobby, the kids were telling us all about their adventure today. They had gone up the hill that normally has the gondola on it and found rides. A cross between go-carts and a roller coaster. Apparently they were in their own cart and could control the speed to go down as fast or slow as they wanted on rails like a roller coaster. They were stoked and had a great day, finished by swimming in the pool.
Dinner tonight was at the Ristorante Lo Stornello. A little fancier than last night, but so so delicious. If you get a chance to take a look at today's photos, Cara and I made sure we documented everyone's dish. Their presentation was lovely. It was a 2 hour dinner as our dishes were slow to come out and that was fine because it was the night's entertainment. However, when that happens we tend to fill up on bread and tonight was no exception. They brought out endless supplies of fabulous rolls and tiny bread sticks that were crunchy but delicious. Guy and I shared a plate of local meats and cheeses. All very tasty, but you know how it is...there is always one that is exceptional but they are all fun to try. I wasn't super hungry tonight, so I ordered carrot soup as my second plate. It had some kind of cheese in the center that was a goat cheese, but was a cross between feta, sour cream and cream cheese. I could have eaten a bowl of just that! LOL. Usually we go for gelato afterwards, but we decided to splurge on desserts and we were glad we did. Guy and I split a chocolate lava cake that was amazing, but the rest of the orders were equally as fabulous.
Stuffed, and while the big kids had limoncello, Rosalie and I took the younger kids to get gelato. They all went for the GRANDE cups, but don't worry, these guys can put down the gelato. Not a drop was wasted. They ate as we headed back for the hotel taking funny photos of them posing and there was lots of laughing. Apparently the kids have been taking a rock from each location and they want to build an Italian driveway (or at least one brick) so Rosalie took them to where there were some rocks. Back at the hotel, we took some funny videos and I got them all wound up. Then said goodnight! LOL Hopefully they'll sleep good tonight.
Tomorrow will be the last day for most of the clan. So I'm sure they'll spend it wisely doing fun things and enjoying every minute. I think a boat ride to Isola Bella is on the list. We'll probably tag along! Not to sound like a broken record, but today was another amazing day.
We got to the boat dock only 10 minutes before our boat was to leave. We didn't have tickets yet and by the looks of things we were not sure Luino would be our destination today. Luckily the line moved quickly and we made it. I was disappointed I couldn't sit on the top in the open air, but I guess the high speed boat moves too fast and an upper deck was not an option. So I did get a nice seat in the front where there was a bit more of a panoramic view. Did I mention it was hazy? Probably the most haze I've seen here. You could still make out the little spotted towns along the lake, but they lacked color and clarity. Our boat made three stops and the 4th being our destination. We arrived just after 11am and the market was in full swing. Guy scouted things out for us and helped direct us through the maze of little portable shops. We had almost 5 hours in the town, so it was the best market shopping ever...no rush at all.
The shopping girls met the boys for lunch and Guy found a place to eat that had an nice outdoor area. It was called Acquisto Fashion Cafe in Piazza Guiseppe. I googled them and not only did they not even register on Trip Advisor, they had no website. That's ok, because is was just ok. The boys had spaghetti with clams, Betty had wide noodles with mushrooms (looked from a can) and I had spaghetti pomodoro. We shared a bruschetta (Betty said it was her favorite so far on the trip) and a caprese salad. The bread was also very nice. Our food came out at different times, and we were not the only table this was happening to, but lucky for me I'm a fast eater and actually beat Betty whose food came out first.
Did I mention it was hot today? 85 degrees and a tiny bit humid. So after lunch we figured we'd all meet for gelato around 3:15 to cool off and just to check in. Betty and I found an Italian guy with some really different clothes and we bought a few things from him. His English was good and he took credit cards (I high fived him when he said he did). After we were getting ready to go and Betty had paid, I found a scarf I liked and as I was digging for some Euros he waved me off and said a "gift". So that was cool! We didn't buy that much, but like I said, he was really nice. We found a few other goodies and enjoyed looking at all the stuff. I did buy a little single ravioli press, so now I'm committed to making raviolis!! Pretty excited actually! So when we met up for gelato, Betty wanted to go back and buy a purse for Rosalie and I told her to go up and make a right. She wanted strawberry, so I got her one scoop and I had chocolate, pistachio and amaretto. A nice new combo. The problem was Betty just might have gotten lost and by the time I found her, her strawberry gelato was running down my hand. Did I mention it was hot today? But we managed to salvage some and then found a drinking fountain that we used clean up in. It was kinda funny actually.
The boat ride back was nice and we were back at the hotel by 5:15. Just in time to rest, shower and go eat again. I love vacation, but sometimes I actually get tired of eating! But I did get a few minutes to enjoy the balcony and start my blog. As everyone was coming down to the lobby, the kids were telling us all about their adventure today. They had gone up the hill that normally has the gondola on it and found rides. A cross between go-carts and a roller coaster. Apparently they were in their own cart and could control the speed to go down as fast or slow as they wanted on rails like a roller coaster. They were stoked and had a great day, finished by swimming in the pool.
Dinner tonight was at the Ristorante Lo Stornello. A little fancier than last night, but so so delicious. If you get a chance to take a look at today's photos, Cara and I made sure we documented everyone's dish. Their presentation was lovely. It was a 2 hour dinner as our dishes were slow to come out and that was fine because it was the night's entertainment. However, when that happens we tend to fill up on bread and tonight was no exception. They brought out endless supplies of fabulous rolls and tiny bread sticks that were crunchy but delicious. Guy and I shared a plate of local meats and cheeses. All very tasty, but you know how it is...there is always one that is exceptional but they are all fun to try. I wasn't super hungry tonight, so I ordered carrot soup as my second plate. It had some kind of cheese in the center that was a goat cheese, but was a cross between feta, sour cream and cream cheese. I could have eaten a bowl of just that! LOL. Usually we go for gelato afterwards, but we decided to splurge on desserts and we were glad we did. Guy and I split a chocolate lava cake that was amazing, but the rest of the orders were equally as fabulous.
Stuffed, and while the big kids had limoncello, Rosalie and I took the younger kids to get gelato. They all went for the GRANDE cups, but don't worry, these guys can put down the gelato. Not a drop was wasted. They ate as we headed back for the hotel taking funny photos of them posing and there was lots of laughing. Apparently the kids have been taking a rock from each location and they want to build an Italian driveway (or at least one brick) so Rosalie took them to where there were some rocks. Back at the hotel, we took some funny videos and I got them all wound up. Then said goodnight! LOL Hopefully they'll sleep good tonight.
Tomorrow will be the last day for most of the clan. So I'm sure they'll spend it wisely doing fun things and enjoying every minute. I think a boat ride to Isola Bella is on the list. We'll probably tag along! Not to sound like a broken record, but today was another amazing day.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Travel Day / Stresa Day 9
The Alongis met at 8 am for breakfast and Guy and I were about 10 after before we got there. The rest of the clan was already present and accounted for and most had already gobbled up their breakfasts. Two bad things this morning. 1. No. Mini. Doughnuts. Gah! How can this be? After making this discovery yesterday - and anxiously awaiting today's breakfast, I have to say I am feeling a twinge of disappointment. And 2. We have a member of the group a bit under the weather today. So instead of taking a really long travel day and hiking around Cinque Terre, we opted for the interstate route to make the fastest b-line to Stresa. This, however, was not a disappointment as none of us minded to make it a shorter travel day. Most of the group has been there before, but for those who have not been there...the adventure awaits for another trip!
As we said goodbye to the Le Terre Rosse hotel staff, they gave us all "presents" as we left. Some of us got pen and ink sketches of San Gimignano and the kids got little jars of marmalade. They told us next time we were in the area we had to stay with them. :) The place was amazing and kudos to Guy -trip planner extraordinaire - for finding such a fantastic spot. The girls found Luna and told her goodbye, but alas, she was gone when I came out. Gotta love a hotel with a friendly loving cat. With the cars loaded and the address of La Palma Hotel loaded into the iphone, Siri guided us out of Tuscany and to the interstate. Some of the trip was beautiful scenery, but some was just industrial areas. Looks like we saw the headquarters for Barilla, Lindt, Riuniti, Autogrill, and a few others. Not sure why that is exciting...but hey, the rolling hills of Tuscany were gone and we had to get excited about something.
Traffic was heavy today. June 2 is an Italian holiday, like our 4th of July. Especially heavy around Bologna and Milan. Lots of campers, but not like our gargantuan campers we have in the States. These are a bit smaller. So as we traveled up the road, John stayed close behind and my eyes were always in the mirror checking on them. However we had our walkie talkies and we chatted often. So if they did get separated from us they would have just given us a shout. We did have one close call as all the cars came to a crawl and the abrupt stop almost caused some rear-ending. And one other time we almost missed our turn and as John said later, the Italians seem to drive a bit too fast and are all over the road, but are courteous when you need to merge in a hurry.
We took a couple of breaks, got gas and had lunch at the Autogrill (which are super fun). We are not sure what kind of games the van behind us was playing, but we played "lets see how many Italian words we can say with each letter of the alphabet". We struggled after 4 or 5 words per letter and by the time we got to H we began to grow weary. Luckily Stresa was only about 20 more minutes away and our road trip was nearing completion.
We do love the familiarity of this hotel and it is absolutely gorgeous. Our room faces the Lake and we checked with Betty and John to make sure they didn't want it. They also had a lovely view, so we are staying put. Whew...not that I cared to give up the view, but they are on the 6th floor which is really about 8 floors via the stairs. Everyone settled into their new digs and I opted for a quick nap, Guy and Rosalie went into town to explore, and Cara and the kids went to the big pool across the street. When Guy came back I didn't seem to be able to snooze much longer, so we went up top to the small pool on the roof of our hotel. This similar view has been the wallpaper of my ipad for the past two years. Seeing it makes me feel good. I did take a few pictures, but it is very hazy today. So hopefully it will be better tomorrow. We certainly are not complaining about the weather, tho. It has been amazing.
We are going into town around 7pm for dinner and Rosalie and I may take a nice long walk afterwards. I'm looking forward to an early morning run along the sidewalk by the lake. Again. A little piece of Heaven on earth.
Dinner was at the Ristorante Pizzeria Mamma Mia. The hotel made us a reservation and it was outside under their awning. It was a warm night, no jackets needed. It was a fishy kind of night. I think everyone had fish but me. I wasn't very hungry tonight but ravioli sounded good. They tasted homemade with cheese and spinach. The sauce was hardly anything, very nice change from the heavy sauces I've been eating. The rest had a variety of fish dishes. Trout, sea bass, perch and a white fish. They all looked pretty similar...but tasty! The staff waiting on us was extremely nice, very attentive, and enjoyed visiting with Big John - testing his Sicilian. Before we left we set up a reservation for Thursday night! That must say something about the restaurant. We skipped dessert because we did know of a good gelato shop here, so we stopped in for some small cups of the creamy deliciousness. My coconut was really good. Big chunks of coconut. After dessert we walked toward the lake and Guy and Rosalie tried to figure out the boat schedule for tomorrow. Apparently the fast boat doesn't go up to Locarno, Switzerland anymore. Grace was pretty disappointed as she wanted swiss cheese and chocolate. I think we can manage that in this town. Guy confirmed the schedule with the desk clerk and he was right. Game changer...so even at nearly midnight, the plans for tomorrow are unsure.
While the family sat atop the hotel sipping a variety of drinks, Rosalie and I went for a walk so I could map out a nice area to run tomorrow. Looks like I'll have to make some shorter loops, but that's ok! The view will be spectacular. We walked 2.8 miles and then up 8 flights of stairs to the rooftop. We both got our steps in for the day, but Rosalie had quite a few more than me.
So good night from Stresa, tomorrow promises to be another day filled with adventure.
As we said goodbye to the Le Terre Rosse hotel staff, they gave us all "presents" as we left. Some of us got pen and ink sketches of San Gimignano and the kids got little jars of marmalade. They told us next time we were in the area we had to stay with them. :) The place was amazing and kudos to Guy -trip planner extraordinaire - for finding such a fantastic spot. The girls found Luna and told her goodbye, but alas, she was gone when I came out. Gotta love a hotel with a friendly loving cat. With the cars loaded and the address of La Palma Hotel loaded into the iphone, Siri guided us out of Tuscany and to the interstate. Some of the trip was beautiful scenery, but some was just industrial areas. Looks like we saw the headquarters for Barilla, Lindt, Riuniti, Autogrill, and a few others. Not sure why that is exciting...but hey, the rolling hills of Tuscany were gone and we had to get excited about something.
Traffic was heavy today. June 2 is an Italian holiday, like our 4th of July. Especially heavy around Bologna and Milan. Lots of campers, but not like our gargantuan campers we have in the States. These are a bit smaller. So as we traveled up the road, John stayed close behind and my eyes were always in the mirror checking on them. However we had our walkie talkies and we chatted often. So if they did get separated from us they would have just given us a shout. We did have one close call as all the cars came to a crawl and the abrupt stop almost caused some rear-ending. And one other time we almost missed our turn and as John said later, the Italians seem to drive a bit too fast and are all over the road, but are courteous when you need to merge in a hurry.
We took a couple of breaks, got gas and had lunch at the Autogrill (which are super fun). We are not sure what kind of games the van behind us was playing, but we played "lets see how many Italian words we can say with each letter of the alphabet". We struggled after 4 or 5 words per letter and by the time we got to H we began to grow weary. Luckily Stresa was only about 20 more minutes away and our road trip was nearing completion.
We do love the familiarity of this hotel and it is absolutely gorgeous. Our room faces the Lake and we checked with Betty and John to make sure they didn't want it. They also had a lovely view, so we are staying put. Whew...not that I cared to give up the view, but they are on the 6th floor which is really about 8 floors via the stairs. Everyone settled into their new digs and I opted for a quick nap, Guy and Rosalie went into town to explore, and Cara and the kids went to the big pool across the street. When Guy came back I didn't seem to be able to snooze much longer, so we went up top to the small pool on the roof of our hotel. This similar view has been the wallpaper of my ipad for the past two years. Seeing it makes me feel good. I did take a few pictures, but it is very hazy today. So hopefully it will be better tomorrow. We certainly are not complaining about the weather, tho. It has been amazing.
We are going into town around 7pm for dinner and Rosalie and I may take a nice long walk afterwards. I'm looking forward to an early morning run along the sidewalk by the lake. Again. A little piece of Heaven on earth.
Dinner was at the Ristorante Pizzeria Mamma Mia. The hotel made us a reservation and it was outside under their awning. It was a warm night, no jackets needed. It was a fishy kind of night. I think everyone had fish but me. I wasn't very hungry tonight but ravioli sounded good. They tasted homemade with cheese and spinach. The sauce was hardly anything, very nice change from the heavy sauces I've been eating. The rest had a variety of fish dishes. Trout, sea bass, perch and a white fish. They all looked pretty similar...but tasty! The staff waiting on us was extremely nice, very attentive, and enjoyed visiting with Big John - testing his Sicilian. Before we left we set up a reservation for Thursday night! That must say something about the restaurant. We skipped dessert because we did know of a good gelato shop here, so we stopped in for some small cups of the creamy deliciousness. My coconut was really good. Big chunks of coconut. After dessert we walked toward the lake and Guy and Rosalie tried to figure out the boat schedule for tomorrow. Apparently the fast boat doesn't go up to Locarno, Switzerland anymore. Grace was pretty disappointed as she wanted swiss cheese and chocolate. I think we can manage that in this town. Guy confirmed the schedule with the desk clerk and he was right. Game changer...so even at nearly midnight, the plans for tomorrow are unsure.
While the family sat atop the hotel sipping a variety of drinks, Rosalie and I went for a walk so I could map out a nice area to run tomorrow. Looks like I'll have to make some shorter loops, but that's ok! The view will be spectacular. We walked 2.8 miles and then up 8 flights of stairs to the rooftop. We both got our steps in for the day, but Rosalie had quite a few more than me.
So good night from Stresa, tomorrow promises to be another day filled with adventure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)