Cinque Terre

  We were really looking forward to visiting the Cinque Terre again! David and I came here on our honeymoon (almost 13 years ago) and were excited to see it again. Sydney joined David and I on our Cinque Terre excursion and Eric decided he wanted to stay in the kids club. Cinque Terre means “Five Towns” and they are all accessible via Train or you can walk between them. They are located on the Ligurian Sea in Northern Italy. The pastel colored houses are perched on the hillside. Once you start taking photos it hard to stop because everywhere you look there’s something incredible!

We caught the train to the first hill town (Riomaggiore) and when we stepped off the train we saw a huge mural that showed the workers as they were building the train tracks and tunnel. Most of the journey is through a tunnel in the rock that connects all 5 towns. Must have taken a long time to build. Before it was built the towns were isolated from each other and many residents never left their town. We walked up the hill of Riomaggiore and explored all the alleyways and found some stairs, which led us up to the top of the town with a panoramic view. There is only one main street with minimal cars. There was a green shuttle van that transported passengers to the top and bottom of the town. We nicknamed it “The Green Thing” because we kept having to get out of it’s way!

Every single town, no matter how small, has a church with incredible statues, artwork and pillars. This town was no exception. We stepped into a church that had arched ceilings, marble floors and appeared to also have ornate memorials and headstones perhaps for important deceased townspeople. They really make a big deal about their dead people!

Next we hopped on the train heading toward Vernazza, which is where we stayed on our previous visit. Vernazza is the only town with a natural harbor and is the most picturesque. It is no longer a hidden gem but has become very well known so can become overrun with tourists. We saw a lot of school children on field trips (what a great field trip!) We decided to eat lunch in Vernazza and we ended up at the same restaurant that we had eaten at many years ago. It was still delicious! We started chatting with the couple at the next table and found out that they were from Portland! Pretty funny!

We had a great time and Sydney enjoyed getting all the attention from her Mom and Dad. Great to have a girl with me so we could do some shopping! We each found unique rings to buy and I also bought two really vibrant oil paintings of the Cinque Terre. The Italian artist has a shop in Vernazza and we talked to his wife quite a bit. She is American and has lived in Vernazza for 10 years. She met her future husband when she was on vacation and then moved there. Wow that would be quite a lifestyle change!

In all this walking around I never mentioned the fact that it was raining. That’s because it didn’t tarnish our experience at all. In fact it kind of made it more fun! We were able to see most of Riomaggiore before it started raining hard. It was almost coming down sideways as we were waiting for our train. Then the lightning storm began. It was very dramatic to watch. We’d see the flash of lightning and then hear the loud boom! Sydney freaks out with lightning so I have a picture of her cowering behind a building.

In Vernazza we ducked into a Gelateria since it was beckoning us and just sat inside and watched the rain while enjoying our gelato. As we told Sydney, it’s all part of the adventure and makes for a good story. She kept telling us how much fun this was so this will be a very good memory for her.

Once we got back to the ship we picked up Eric in the Kids club and he had a great day too so everyone was happy! Next stop is Villefranche in the south of France!

Tunisia and Naples

Tunis, Tunisia (for some reason this did not originally post so I'm posting it now)

I can now mark off “See Live Camels” from my bucket list! Okay it’s not actually on my list but it was pretty unique to see 4 or 5 camels lined up outside our cruise ship and they were giving rides. Very tourist trap like but it was fun to watch! This port is the only one in which we arranged a shore excursion and I was curious to see what I thought of going on an organized tour since I’m a do it yourselfer. Tunis is on the northern tip of Africa and is 98% Muslim but is very liberal compared to most Muslim nations. We did see some women with the headgear on but there were probably more women that were not wearing it. The official languages are Arabic and French but English was also on most signs. This was the best port to enjoy a shore excursion because the merchants are known for being extremely aggressive and it was nice to be with others on our ship for this tour.

We enjoyed visiting Carthage which are ruins of Ancient Roman Baths (those Romans were everywhere!). We also visited Sidi Bou Said, a hillside community that reminds me of Greece. All the houses are whitewashed with ornate and colorful (usually blue) doors. The weather was beautiful and we had an outstanding view of the Mediterranean. Tunisia also has a lot of Olive Groves and produces Olive Oil, which is exported.

Considering that most Americans only speak English I am always amazed when I hear people from non-English speaking countries talking fluently in English. Most of them are able to speak several different languages. In Tunis children learn Arabic in school and then they introduce French to them. In 5^th grade they begin learning English.

We really enjoyed having explanations as to what we were looking at and our tour guide was very good. Hey, he even talked to Sydney and Eric so he’s A-Okay in my book! Glad I took a shore excursion because I’ve often wondered what they were all about. They’re all different but in this case we all agreed it was worth it. Sydney said that Tunis was her favorite place we’ve visited so far.

Naples

Naples surprised us! We had heard all the stories about how dangerous it was because of pickpockets and the Mafia. Therefore, we expected it to have an element of danger. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth. When we departed the ship we needed to catch a bus to the train station and catch the train to Herculaneum, which was buried by the same eruption as Pompeii. We bought a combo bus/train pass and as we were waiting at the bus stop I asked a man, who was also waiting, if we were at the right place. Luckily he spoke some English and confirmed we were going the right direction. Once we got on the bus our tickets didn’t seem to work in the machine and 2 or 3 Italians tried to help us out. It never did work and apparently the bus driver didn’t care so it wasn’t a problem. Before we got off I asked the guy, who I originally talked to at our bus stop, which direction we needed to go to the train station and he said “I show you”. This nice stranger walked with us all the way to the station and down some stairs to the ticket window. He then asked the person (in Italian) at the ticket window if we had the right tickets for the train and she confirmed that we did. We thanked him and then he went on his way. His name was Giovanni (very Italian!) I kept waiting for someone to try and rip us off but it never happened. We found the people to be extremely warm, friendly and helpful!

The kids loved going on the train, which was mostly frequented by the locals. Once there we took a walk down thru the town until we reached the site. When we entered the ruins Sydney and Eric thought it was so cool to be able to look down on the ancient city and see where buildings were. There was a boat that was recently restored. Must have been trying to get away when the eruption occurred. It showed the charred remains of it and they even salvaged the oars and anchors. It’s about 2000 years old so amazing it could be restored and on display. We were able to walk among the houses that have been excavated. This had been a very wealthy town so the houses were huge with columns and frescos on the walls and ceilings. Most houses even had the original tile still on their floors. This was a great site to visit for many different reasons:

· It’s better preserved than Pompeii

· The site is not too large which makes it easy to explore with kids

· Not very touristy which makes it much more relaxing than Pompeii. No vendors were outside the entrance trying to sell us trinkets.

· No crowds

On our way back to the train station we saw a Museum that looked interesting. We didn’t really know what it was about and kind of had to convince the kids to go to it. Turns out it was a Virtual Museum about Pompeii and Herculaneum. It was very high tech and interactive. One room had a floor that just looked like gravel and pumice but when you walk on it the floor becomes the beautiful tile that was found in the houses. They also had holograms of the jewels that were found and there were even images on the walls of people walking. The kids had so much fun here it was hard to get them to leave. Sydney said it’s her favorite museum she’s ever been to! Some of the most interesting things you find when traveling are not necessarily listed in guidebooks.

After our big day out the kids decided that was enough for them and just wanted to hang out in their kids clubs. David and I decided to find a place to have dinner in Naples. You can’t go to Italy and not eat their food! In our quest for food we discovered that most restaurants do not open for dinner until at least 7:00pm. We found a place up an alleyway and it turned out to be a good choice. Very authentic and we were the only Americans!

We found a huge mall with high domed ceilings. The tile and details on the walls looked more like something you’d see in a church. Seems to be a tourist and local hangout. The mall leads into a mostly pedestrian street lined with shops and street vendors. Great area to walk around in and avoid some of the crazy traffic. The traffic is quite chaotic and lets just say that all the drivers in Naples would be given traffic tickets if they drove that way in the States. The Vespas (motor scooters) almost outnumber the cars. It was not uncommon to see 3 people on a Vespa. Lots of times you’d see one or two children on them. The little cars usually have many people in them as well. We saw one of those smart cars (tiny tiny) that are originally designed for 2 people. In this particular car there was 2 adults, a 3 year old and a child probably about 1, sitting on the dads lap as he was driving. I guess safety isn’t a concern.

Our overall impression of Naples was very good! This was probably our best day yet and we did not feel unsafe in any of the areas we visited. You still have to be aware of your surrounding though and probably not a good idea to be out late at night but other than that we thought it was a great destination!

Valletta, Malta

Pulling into port today was pretty amazing! It was like going back in time about 7000 years! In fact some of the buildings are thought to pre-date the Egyptian Pyramids.
We did a lot of walking in the city center which has it’s most historic sites. We visited St. John’s Co-Cathedral which has something extravagant to look at on the walls, ceilings, and floors! We loved looking at the buildings and I keep reminding the kids to look up because that’s where all the interesting stuff is on the buildings. Valletta’s Grand Harbor is a destination in itself. Lots of restaurants and I love all the painted doors. I could just take photos of doors!

We’re learning that the kids do best when we do short burst of sightseeing followed by time on the ship. The picture I’ve included indicates that they need a break from walking. After we all went into Valletta for awhile we came back and they played in the pool. They wanted to go back to their kids clubs so we let them do that and then David and I went back out and did some more exploring. When wandering down one of the side streets there was an entrance that just looked like a shop or perhaps an apartment building. We discovered that it was The Shipwreck of St. John’s Cathedral devoted to his memory and the shipwreck on Malta that occurred in 60 A.D. They do love St. John here! Anyway we walked into the little entrance and discovered a large cathedral within this building. There were impressive paintings on the walls and ceilings. There was also a crypt in the basement. Fun to find something that we didn’t expect!

Onboard The Disney Magic

The sun made an appearance on our cruise departure date. We had about half a day to explore more of Barcelona so we did quite a bit of walking around the old city and walked its narrow little alleyways. It’s a great walking city and very pedestrian friendly. Eric has a new favorite animal. It’s called a pigeon! They’re all over the place and he loves to run after them and tries to get them to land on his hand (got some video of that!) Another highlight for the kids (and Mommy) was visiting Barcelona’s Chocolate Museum. There were incredible sculptures made entirely out of chocolate!
Your ticket to enter the museum was a chocolate bar. Heaven!

We boarded the Disney Magic in the afternoon. It’s very efficient and there were no lines to wait in which made us happy. We were excited to see our stateroom because Disney upgraded us to a Deluxe Stateroom with a Verandah. We entered the room and noticed there was a gift bag on the bed. Since we’ve cruised with Disney before they gave us a bag with a bunch of goodies in it. We love our verandah and it’s bigger than I thought it would be. There’s room enough for 2 chairs and a table and all 4 of us can comfortably be out there. It will be fun to enjoy the view when the ship pulls into the various ports. I’ve included a picture of us at our table on Formal Night. When I told Eric he had to dress nice because it was Formal Night he said, “I hope we don’t have to do this Formal Night thing again!”

The first day we are at Sea so it’s very relaxing and both the kids were just chomping at the bit to go into the kid’s areas. Sydney is now in Ocean Quest, which is the Tween’s hang out areas. She is given more independence and loves her newfound freedom. We were trying to walk her up to the Sports court but she was gone like the wind as she just can’t get enough of hanging out with kids her age. She has already made a new friend named, none other than, Sydney. Well at least it’s easy to remember the name. Eric is also really enjoying the Oceaneer Lab although it’s harder to extract information from him so we’re not sure what he’s been doing in there.

We’re looking forward to beginning our port adventures!

Barcelona

We survived the 15 hours of plane travel and we are now in Barcelona. For all of us who travel in coach let me just say that sleep is highly unlikely. Hard to get comfortable in teeny tiny seats with no leg room. However, the flights went extremely smooth and we had no delays. When we went through customs in Barcelona Mr. Smiley didn’t ask us one question (not even sure if he really looked at us) but we did get stamps in our passports! For those considering making this journey with kids just keep in mind that it may be hard for them to go without sleep for this long and a melt down may be forthcoming. I’m not mentioning any names but Sydney and Eric know whom I’m talking about. Don’t plan anything on the day of arrival and let it just be a rest day.

As we were walking to our hotel I had to ask someone in one of the shops directions to our hotel. He said he would just show us so he walked out with us and pointed us in the right direction. As we were walking and talking I told him we were from the U.S. and he said we were very lucky as he sees us as having so much more opportunity. He said in Barcelona there is not much opportunity and he works very long hours (14 hour days) for very little pay. I told him he should come to America someday!

We’re staying at Hotel Jardi, which is a historic hotel on a picture perfect square. I especially like the fact it has an elevator (not all hotels do). So when it came time for us to carry our luggage to our room, which was on the 7th floor I said to David, “I sure am glad there’s an elevator here!” We had to stop dead in our tracks as we came around the corner and saw the repair crew fixing it so it was temporarily out of order. Stairs were steep and kids had a hard time carrying their luggage so there we were Eric and Sydney at the front bounding up the 7 flights unencumbered. After being awake for a full 24 hours David and I were carrying our backpacks along with the children’s suitcases up 7 flights of stairs. We’ve never felt so alive!

I know people will ask about our weather so here it is so far. I’ve realized something very important! The rain in Spain does NOT fall mainly on the plane. It falls, in buckets, all around Barcelona. Didn’t think it could rain this hard for 2 days straight but apparently it can! We're staying 2 days post cruise so hopefully we'll see some sun. We decided we really don't mind the rain and kind of makes it quiet and places are mostly filled with locals so we don't have to contend with the throngs of tourist that are here in the Summer months. It definitely is worth it to come in the Spring!

We went into El Corte Ingles, which is a huge department store. It even has a grocery store in the basement. Eric and David went off and Sydney and I did some looking around. We had lunch in a cafeteria-style restaurant on the top floor with and amazing view of the city! Funny moment occurred when we all had to make a restroom break before heading out. I had finished up and when I opened the door to leave I saw Eric standing alone in the hall waiting. There was a nice older man also waiting out there for his wife. He was trying to strike up a conversation with Eric and was asking him (in Spanish) if he was a Spanish boy but Eric only shook his head. I told him we are from the U.S. so he then spoke to us in English and kept patting Eric on the head. When we left he told us Eric was a very good boy and patted his head just one more time! Eric didn’t really seem to mind! Afterwards, we hopped on Bus Turistic and saw the highlights of the city, which had an audio guide explaining the sights along the way.

We found a great Tapas Bar called Taverna Irati. We stood at the bar and helped ourselves to whatever looked good. After you’ve finished they count the toothpicks on your plate and charge accordingly. Such a great idea! Don’t know why it hasn’t caught on in the U.S.

We’re looking forward to boarding the Disney Magic and seeing more of the Mediterranean!

Let's Go!

After many months of planning, our departure date is finally within reach. Like all families about to embark on a trip, each member has their own vision of what their ideal trip will be like. My husbands ideal trip: relax, see some incredible sites, enjoy the sunshine, and read a good text book (he doesn't read fiction).

My vision: Hopefully this is where all my research has paid off. I want to see as much as possible and since we have our own itinerary figured out we should be able to hit the ground running (okay maybe walking). So much to see and so little time! I know we'll probably have to forego a few sights if the kids are feeling overwhelmed and tired but I'm okay with that and hopefully we'll be able to return someday. I also plan on doing some relaxing onboard the Disney Magic and I'm looking forward to reading my fiction book.

Sydney's (Age 11) ideal vacation: It can be summed up in 3 words, "MAKE NEW FRIENDS." She can hardly wait to hang out in the ships kids club and meet some new friends. She's already told me she wants to be in the club during dinnertime because then she will get to eat with the other kids. "I think it will be fun to go out to dinner and talk with all my friends!" I am happy to report she has no confidence problem!

Eric's (Age 8) Vision: Staying in Barcelona and practicing his limited Spanish on the locals. He knows how to say El Gordo Gato (The fat cat) so we'll see how far that gets him! He's promised to try Tapas (similar to appetizers) and will try anything that looks like mini hotdogs.

As you can see, we each have our own ideas about this trip. Interesting to see how it lives up to our expectations.

As many people know I am the queen of light packing. We will be gone for a little over two weeks and our luggage consists of one carry on per person. The kids will also each have a backpack with things that will hopefully occupy them during our travels. I thought I had it all figured out when I was thinking about what each child would take in their suitcase. That is until Sydney told me the other morning that she had already done some packing and had put alot of items in her suitcase so I said "Let me see what you've packed." I figure that she is only a "light packer in training" so I must cut her some slack! Let's just say that I didn't think about the fact my 11 year old daughter might have ideas of her own and apparently there are some things that she "just can't live without!" However, I did have to stand my ground on a few items and when I was wrestling the extra large binoculars out of her hands that we "absolutely have to take," I knew I was doing the right thing!

Well all the planning is done and now it's time to fly!

The Best Laid Plans

I pride myself in being super organized when it comes to travel planning. I think of all the possibilities and even have back up plans. I mark everything off my checklist so I don’t forget anything. Swimsuits? Check. First aid kit? Check. Comfortable shoes? Check. Raging volcano in Iceland that has stranded thousands of travelers and created the worst air travel nightmare in Europe’s history? Well I guess I didn’t think of EVERYTHING that could go wrong! The good news is that we are flying into Spain, which seems to be the country least affected by this volcano. Let’s just hope it doesn’t do another major eruption or else I will have to personally have a little talk with it! This is a perfect example why it is so important to purchase travel insurance on your trip. When the unexpected happens it’s nice to know that you are protected. Some policies cover travel delay up to a certain amount that compensates for additional costs such as hotels. Some of the stranded travelers have been sleeping in the airport for 5 nights! If I had to sleep in an airport for 5 nights I think my usual pleasant demeanor would be a distant memory!

I was talking to Sydney the other day about this Volcano and since this is a pretty major natural disaster asked her if anyone was talking about it at her school. She looked at me like I had lost my mind and said, “Why would they? It doesn’t have anything to do with us and ya know, kids are just interested in themselves!” I guess I have my answer.

We are continuing to watch the situation and at this point it looks like we should have no problem getting to Barcelona. Hopefully the volcano, who’s name no one can pronounce, simmers down. I have my own name for it!