Think of all the joy you’ll find …….. Update - January 06

[superme80]

Great report! So sorry you were so sick and you had to cancel your trip. I am so excited for your up coming trips!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Karin! Looks like you are having a nice trip right now☺ I love seeing your pictures of your trip! So beautiful and old world. Lucky bride to get married in a real castle.

Hope you and Tom have a great rest of your trip!

 

[englishrose47]

Hi Karin just keeping up!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Hello! We are back from vacation and I am back at work after my 9 week break.

I am sorry I have not been updating lately, but we didn't get on the internet too much during our vacation in Italy in September. We were pretty much taking it VERY slow, especially since this is a very touristy beach town and there isn't really much to do apart from sitting on the beach (which we do not like), going window shopping on the main street and taking long walks along the peninsular the city sits on. Well, yes, there are two more things you can do - sleep and eat and we had lots of both. I am going to just post a few more photos of our week, but not a real TR, as it would be pretty much the same every day.

We got home 8 days ago on Friday in the evening, picked up Pixie from the cat hotel and did some shopping for school which started the following Monday. There was lots to do around the house (we have quite a few apple trees and they there were apples all over the lawn. Did I mention that we had to do lots of laundry as well?

We spent Sunday taking my 82 year old aunt, who lives in London and had lost her husband of over 50 years in late June, for an excursion. Her son, our cousin, had asked if she could stay with some other cousin who is already retired for a few days. It is amazing that she is still travelling at her age, but this was the first solo trip in a long time and she had not been here in a long time. Everyone took her to places where she had been on former vacations for some good memories. Tom and I took her to my school, which she had always asked to go to, then drove through the "Mill-quarter" for more than an hour and ended up in Passau, Germany, where we boarded the Kristallschiff,

a river cruise ship, which has been fitted with over 7 Million Swarovski Crystals for a trip down and up the Danube again. It is a two hour trip and she really enjoyed it. In the evening we all met with some more family members for dinner.

Monday I went back to school. We met with family and my aunt again for dinner and had quite a late night. The rest of last week was filled with the start into the new school year. First week we don't usually have a timetable and everyone has to be there from 8am until the end of the school day. I cannot wait for my time table to kick in, as we only have to be there during the actual lesson times.

Now I am trying to catch up with replies, then I will post a few more pics of our September trip, before finishing off the Cinque Terre trip. Guess than it is HIGH time to finally finish off Tom's birthday trip.

And on the planning front ....... we only are 6 months and 1 day out for our next trip to Disney! During our Cinque Terre trip I remembered (a day late) that I could now book my DVC and even though we were late, we got a week's stay at our desired resort, Beach Club Villas! Now we can just walk over to Epcot for sampling some yummies during Flower and Garden.

We also booked our car over a week ago for the stay. The company we usually book with had a 25% off special. Couldn't let that slip away.

And on Tuesday I can start making dining ressies. Guess I will need to get into planning mode again this weekend, as we have no idea where we want to eat so far.






Finally ..... on to replies
​

Your holiday looks so fun! I am quite an Olympic fan so I loved the ski jump area! Did they land in the grass

It was such a lovely vacation. We were both pretty happy we got to go on it.
And while the landing area looks like grass, it is a synthetic "carpet" which is very close in condition to the icey snow they jump onto in the winter.

Your view from your hotel room is beautiful, I love palm trees!
Your meals looked great, can't wait to hear more

We were just in awe with the view of Lake Garda from our balcony. It was just so lovely to sit out there and just enjoy the scenery. Lots more to come pretty soon!

Enjoyed your tour of Grand Cayman, and your Strawberry Mudslide and the Taste of Georgetown Tour sound really yummy

It was so nice to come back to Grand Cayman and the decision to take the tour was a great one! We really loved the tour and it was so worth the price as all the tastings were really nice.

And of course, sampling the different varieties at the Tortuga Rum Company would be a great stop!

You cannot go to Grand Cayman and NOT sample some Tortuga products. Their rum cakes are just too good.

The Berg Isel looks liLke a fun stop, and the views after you took the funicular to the top are awe inspiring!

It was awesome to be able to go up there. I had thought about stops along the way, but Berg Isel never came to mind, so to just catch a glimpse of it and then turn back and visit was awesome.
The view was really great - I just love the Tyrol. It is so beautiful with all the mountains.

Looks like you had a really nice room in Riva del Garda, and a super view of Lake Garda also!

Given that I changed hotels a few times before the trip I was super happy with what I had decided on in the end. It was a really nice, old world hotel and we will definitely be back as Riva is just beautiful and we did not have enough time to explore. ​

 

[dizneeat]

Tom is super creative!

Thank you! He really knows how to use that computer.

He's following you saying, "Come back to WDW!"

That's what we said!

Quite a few Disney Reminders so far. The font, the balloon and the hidden Mickey, trying to make you feel at home.

It was funny seeing all those Disney reminders and we actually really enjoyed seeing them.

The views from the ski jump look incredible and scary.

Whilst I really enjoyed the view and the scenery, I would not even go close to the area from where they jump. That is quite the steep slope. I would be so afraid that even in the summer I would slip and fall.

The view from the balcony and ship are breathtaking.

I was so in love with that view and would wander out onto the balcony over and over again. It was hard saying goodbye after those two days.

What is with the hats ???

They (= the wedding party) were British, Rosie, VERY British.

The Castle looked interesting pity you didn't have time to explore . Your breakfast of rolls and meats looked yummy, of course the eggs and bacon and eggplant as they in America call the veggie looked delish!!

It was unfortunate that we did not have more time, but on the other hand it gives us a reason to go back to Malcesine and the castle.

Those treats look tasty!

Jill in CO

They were! Loved every little bite of them.

That's Disney Font!!!

Wow..what a view!

Visting a castle or eating ice-cream....I think you made the right decision!! hahaha

Sometimes you need to get your priorities in order and in those circumstances - the ice cream won.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin

After finding out we'll be on the PC cruise together I wanted to read some of your TRs. There's a lot of familiar faces around here too, sorry I'm late to the party. I started with last year's Med cruise and I'm sooooooo glad Tom's birthday trip was so much better than that one.

Hi Pam!
Great to have you.
I am so happy that we will get to do the Panama Cruise together - always fun to know some DIS friends are along for the ride.

I really really really need to update that Med cruise thread, but too many things happened lately and being on vacation didn't help either, but let me tell you that you are brave to read along, as my TRs are usually pretty looooong.
We were so lucky with Tom's birthday trip and I really want to get that one updated soon too as we still had a few fun surprises along the way.

How fantastic that they were able to change your flights and you're able to go on a bonus trip to F & G!!!

I was over the moon happy that Lufthansa was so easy to work with when I wanted to change the flights - gives us a whole week of F&G fun. We visited as part of Tom's birthday trip last March, but only had two half days and one of them was Easter Sunday - mega crowded parks! So we are really looking forward to enjoy Epcot and F&G to the fullest next March.

All the birthday pixie dust was too cool. Your side trips are very fun to see.

There was LOTS of birthday pixie dust and the best was the BLT upgrade. The view was amazing. And thank you for sticking around for the side trips as well.

I love all your stops for icecream, mom and I are like this as well

I can see us getting along pretty well.

Great report! So sorry you were so sick and you had to cancel your trip. I am so excited for your up coming trips!

Thank you!
Thank goodness I am over my bronchitis and that cancelling our trip resulted in an extra trip in the end. Can't wait for F&G and this time we will have enough time to explore.

Hi Karin! Looks like you are having a nice trip right now☺ I love seeing your pictures of your trip! So beautiful and old world. Lucky bride to get married in a real castle.

Hope you and Tom have a great rest of your trip!

We had two lovely trips this summer, Tammie, thank you! I will post a few pics of the second one right after I am done here and then try to update the Cinque Terre one.

Hi Karin just keeping up!!!

I know I can count on you, Rosie! More coming up right now!

 

[Pinkocto]

How lovely to see your aunt and spend some time with her. Fun to do the river cruise. Were you planning on taking her on that when you took pictures of it on your Germany weekend?

I hope you get your school schedule soon

 

[dizneeat]

As promised, before I will update, here are just a few pics of our week long trip to Lignano, a beach town on the Adriatic Sea.

So, here we go ...... I am trying to get it together by days, but I didn't take many more pics the longer we were there, as we did about the same every day ..... so there will be a lot of food pics with a bit of scenery in between.

We started out early and this is what it looked like

rainy and cold ....... but a few hours later we would see this

We stopped at Spittal to fill up the car and our purses (ATM wanted )

and finally we made it to Italy.

About an hour and a half later we had made it to our destination, but decided to go grocery shopping before parking the car. The garage is tiny and spots are really narrow and sometimes hard to get into and out of, so we did not intend to move the car.

Took us about an hour to check out the store and do our shopping before we arrived at our home for the week. (those photos were taken later, hence the mess)

Living area

dining area

kitchen

hallway to the master bedroom

second bedroom with two single beds

bathroom

master bedroom

the chair in the master bedroom folds out

view from the window

As you can see by the lack of people in the street it was early afternoon, when everything is closed and restaurants do so too. We had thought ahead and were preparing our own lunch, a quick salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice

spinach and ricotta filled tortellini with pesto

and coffee and profiteroles for dessert

After unpacking and a bit of rest we went for a walk down main street

and after window shopping we returned to our apartment and had a "picknick" dinner

​

 

[dizneeat]

How lovely to see your aunt and spend some time with her. Fun to do the river cruise. Were you planning on taking her on that when you took pictures of it on your Germany weekend?

I hope you get your school schedule soon

It was wonderful to see her again, especially since we all could not be there for my uncle's funeral and it felt so good to give her a really big hug. She is a trooper and I take my hat off to her for travelling on her own at her age.
And to answer your question about the river cruise. We had only heard that she was coming to visit, when we got back from the Cinque Terre. My aunt had always wanted to come "home" to Austria and visit a Christmas Market, so we thought of seeing her in Winter.
And all Spring and Summer long, whenever we went to Passau to do some shopping I would always say, that I was hoping we would be able to squeeze in that river cruise. We never got around to it, but having Aunt Friedl here was the perfect opportunity to finally go on that cruise.

We finally got our schedules, but it will take me a while to get used to it. I have three school days a week that change every other week. On the other hand I have one morning and one afternoon (and two afternoons every other week) off. So I guess I will survive this school year.

 

[dizneeat]

September Italy trip - part 2

We started day 2 with having for breakfast what was left over from the previous day's dinner

and "Krapfen" for dessert

After breakfast we got ready and went for a walk along the beach

and then out to the Terra Mare, which is built into the ocean

Loved the kite seller

There is also this little train going around

and I noticed Peter Pan's hat (well actually it is an Alpine carabinieri's hat)

we continued down the beach promenade

​

 

[dizneeat]

September Italy trip - part 3

We walked all the way to the Junior Park, which we had not seen before

and then walked all the way back. We were discussing stopping at a restaurant, but then decided to catch up with childhood memories and went to a rotisserie grill

and we had a yummy lunch. After it, we had a break and some down time.

Later that afternoon we went for another walk along the harbour

and along a bike and walking path that runs along the lagoon

we walked for quite a while, then turned towards the town

Once in town we thought this looked pretty peculiar, the shops at the bottom were open and nicely done, while the other floors were not finished yet.

We headed back to our flat and freshened up, then decided to go for a drink

We had a nice table with a view of the fountain, but while waiting for the drinks to be served we found there was something wrong - there were loads of mosquitos!

Thank god, we didn't like the drinks much

and quickly paid and left. We had a homemade dinner at the apartment and then went for another little walk. On the way back to the apartment I picked up an ice cream

before calling it a day.

​

 

[dizneeat]

September Italy trip - part 4

We started the next day exactly the same way we had started the previous one, with breakfast in the apartment.
Again, we went for another walk, along the same main street

Around 11.30 we stopped at an outdoor bar for a drink

and then walked to our favourite restaurant for lunch

after lunch we walked back to our apartment through the empty main street

We rested for some time and lateron that afternoon had some dessert with wine and a glass of Prosecco

We needed to do some more grocery shopping and went to a small neighbourhood store and on the way we discovered a new wine bar and thought why not try it.

Usually you would get something to nibble on with your drink, but here they were serving wonderful, crusty white bread, topped with some prosciutto.

And after doing some shopping we had dinner at the apartment before going out for another walk

and we ended the day with some ice cream again.

​

 

[dizneeat]

September Italy trip - part 5

Breakfast looked just like all the other days, there was just another dessert

then we went out to do some shopping. I needed a new bag for school and a few other things. Back at the apartment we decided that we didn't want to go out for lunch, but instead we walked all the way out to the fish market and picked up some goodies for lunch. On the way back we picked up some veggies and a basket of strawberries. Once back I cut some of the strawberries up and headed back down for some ice cream to make myself a Sundae.

Yummy first course!

Tom then went on to make lunch

You know what's really nice after lunch? Siesta!!

And in the early evening we decided to walk off some of those calories and take a walk along the beach

Someone's feet touched the water

and we came across these awesome sand sculptures

Hidden Mickey??

As we later found out there was a celebration of some members of the military that day and we got to watch those planes fly over

We were still full from lunch so decided to skip dinner, but not missing the ice cream

The next morning, after breakfast we put on our walking shoes and walked along the walkway that runs along the lagoon until we got to its end.

Again, it was a beautiful walk, but also a really long one. Once we were back in the city we headed to our favourite restaurant for lunch.







​

 

[dizneeat]

September Italy trip - part 6

Again, it was a beautiful walk, but also a really long one. Once we were back in the city we headed to our favourite restaurant for lunch.

and dessert was picked up later

Afternoon meant some rest and then packing up all our things again, as we were going home the next day.

In the evening we walked up to a restaurant very close to our apartment for dinner

Dessert was consumed back at the apartment

plus

equals - yummy

And even better

with a glass of something bubbly

and one of these beauties

And then the last day dawned. We had breakfast, packed everything up and did some last minute fruit and veg shopping and by 11am we were on our way. We made two more stops to pick up some groceries we wanted to take home and at 12.30 we arrived at a really nice restaurant with an open grill, where we had had lunch several times before.

After lunch we got on our way and about 6 hours later we arrived back home.





​

 

[englishrose47]

They (= the wedding party) were British, Rosie, VERY British.

Well I never !!!! Must be a new Brit. TraDITION!!

tHSE pIZZAS WERE AMAZING , ESPECIALLY THE SEAFOOD ONE, HOW BIG WERE THEY CUZ I SAW 3 DIFFERENT ONES

 

[jedijill]

I love your vacations.....the food always looks so good!

Jill in CO

 

[Pinkocto]

Look at all that glorious food!!!

Looks like a very delicious relaxing vacation

How did you eat the seafood pizza?

Your school schedule sounds like it will keep you on your toes.

Well that's great that you were able to combine the Passau cruise with your aunts visit

 

[momof3princes]

Yes I was wondering too how to eat that seafood pizza! It looks delicious though
Looks like you had a nice getaway, the beaches are very different there then they are here, the set up is interesting to see. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to more

 

[GoofyFan1515]

spinach and ricotta filled tortellini with pesto

Is it bad that I seem to always end up commenting about your food porn???

and "Krapfen" for dessert

Not exactly sure what this is, but it sure looks yummy!

After breakfast we got ready and went for a walk along the beach

I know you and Tom aren't huge fans of the beach, but I know a certain "water person" and I would love spending some time here!

We were discussing stopping at a restaurant, but then decided to catch up with childhood memories and went to a rotisserie grill

Looks like a great choice to me!

Usually you would get something to nibble on with your drink, but here they were serving wonderful, crusty white bread, topped with some prosciutto.

I have to admit I never had much experience with prosciutto before trips to Disney (okay, probably none actually), but I have really grown to love it.............and combined with some really good bread and that looks like a super choice to me!

and we ended the day with some ice cream again.

It's always a good time for ice cream!

and we came across these awesome sand sculptures

Almost like being at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom!

Hidden Mickey??

Looks like one to me...............

equals - yummy

Absolutely!

 

[jenseib]

I know not to catch up when I am hungry and yet I still do it. stupid me!

The area is so beautiful. That beach is very pretty...especially with the sun shots.