4/24/2010 Med cruise: Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your Ears

[linkandclover]

Okay - I'm not really excited about this excursion - but I'm caving in to my male dominant household (every once in a while I've got to let them to feel like they have some control ) We're doing the DCL Highlights of Monaco and Top Car Museum. The guys in my life like cars and any opportunity to see a Ferrari is on the top of their list. DH is seriously bummed that I won't let him spend our excursion money to drive one in Italy. I know - I'm an awful wife



I have another possible option for your husband. I am possibly arranging a private tour from La Spezia to go to the Ferrari museum and Lamborghini factory and possibly the Pagini (not sure if this is spelled correctly) factory if there is time. I may have room for 1 more. Let me know if he is interested. I need to sort it out by the end of the day.

Debby

 

[Happy Goofy]

Oops, I see Yvette is doing the same thing! Yay!

We are doing Bardo, Medina, Carthage and Sidi Bou in Tunisia

 

[TheCruisers]

Okay - I'm not really excited about this excursion - but I'm caving in to my male dominant household (every once in a while I've got to let them to feel like they have some control ) We're doing the DCL Highlights of Monaco and Top Car Museum. The guys in my life like cars and any opportunity to see a Ferrari is on the top of their list. DH is seriously bummed that I won't let him spend our excursion money to drive one in Italy. I know - I'm an awful wife

We are on that excursion too, and for the same reasons! If nothing else, our guys can all talk cars and hockey and we can go drink somewhere!

Eleasa

 

[NC_Tink]

I have another possible option for your husband. I am possibly arranging a private tour from La Spezia to go to the Ferrari museum and Lamborghini factory and possibly the Pagini (not sure if this is spelled correctly) factory if there is time. I may have room for 1 more. Let me know if he is interested. I need to sort it out by the end of the day.

Debby

Thanks Debby! But we're headed to Pisa -- already have our train tickets and admission tickets for The Leaning Tower.

We are on that excursion too, and for the same reasons! If nothing else, our guys can all talk cars and hockey and we can go drink somewhere!

Eleasa

Eleasa -- sounds good to me -- think they'll notice if we vanish for a little bit?

 

[skoi]

For Monte Carlo et al we're DYI to Nice to see the Chagall Museum, Cathedral, and beach.

Jeanne: I feel your pain. Still sick, and with Pascha/Easter coming up plus the trip it's a horror. This is the BIGGEST holiday in the Orthodox Church- including approximately 4 hours of church from 11:00PM Sat. night until 3-ish Sunday morning complete with a huge procession around midnight. Then, blessing of the food baskets (everything we weren't allowed to eat during Lent) and eating. So we leave the house around 10:00 PM and don't get home until 5:00 AM. And I have family coming for Easter dinner. No eggs dyed yet. No food cooked, and I lost my recipe for Pascha bread.

For the trip: No magnets done. No gifts bought. I've given up on making a FE thing and will just decorate bags and hang them out because I'm so not-crafty. No tickets for Vatican Museum bought, nothing really planned to my wishes, because I'm so anal compulsive about vacation. And ds keeps counting down, like every hour of the day to remind me to get going.

After this vacation, I'm going to need another one.
Julie

 

[salboz]

Just wondering if everyone is doing the TA or if there will be a few left to be excited with for the duration.

 

[skoi]

Just wondering if everyone is doing the TA or if there will be a few left to be excited with for the duration.

We're not doing the TA, so we'll be around. I almost talked dh into it, but no luck...

 

[NC_Tink]

Just wondering if everyone is doing the TA or if there will be a few left to be excited with for the duration.

We'll still be around - we don't fly out until April 20th - we can continue to party/anticipate until it's our turn I'm pretty sure that there's a few others

 

[Dicecatt]

We are not doing the TA! I hope more people will be around because I'm addicted to this thread, I'll go through painful withdrawals if everyone suddenly disappears!

 

[Californiacruisers]

Just wondering if everyone is doing the TA or if there will be a few left to be excited with for the duration.

We are not doing the TA but we are leaving a few days early to spend time in Barcelona.

 

[grlzmom]

For Monte Carlo et al we're DYI to Nice to see the Chagall Museum, Cathedral, and beach.

Jeanne: I feel your pain. Still sick, and with Pascha/Easter coming up plus the trip it's a horror. This is the BIGGEST holiday in the Orthodox Church- including approximately 4 hours of church from 11:00PM Sat. night until 3-ish Sunday morning complete with a huge procession around midnight. Then, blessing of the food baskets (everything we weren't allowed to eat during Lent) and eating. So we leave the house around 10:00 PM and don't get home until 5:00 AM. And I have family coming for Easter dinner. No eggs dyed yet. No food cooked, and I lost my recipe for Pascha bread.

For the trip: No magnets done. No gifts bought. I've given up on making a FE thing and will just decorate bags and hang them out because I'm so not-crafty. No tickets for Vatican Museum bought, nothing really planned to my wishes, because I'm so anal compulsive about vacation. And ds keeps counting down, like every hour of the day to remind me to get going.

After this vacation, I'm going to need another one.
Julie

Well at least we aren't alone.

We did H1N1 flu while you were in Morocco so that put me behind. What a waste all those vaccines were

You are a better person than I because Saturday night for us will be Easter Vigil service (similar time length) and I already told dh it's not gonna happen.

I'm usually super organized and can't believe the mess I'm in now.

Count me in for the vacation AFTER the vacation group.

I have one week and I'm playing on facebook.

I hope you guys feel better. Did you catch some viral bug or is it just post trip crud?

 

[salboz]

Glad to see some company joining me in being left out.

 

[linkandclover]

We are still here until the 22nd.

Julie if there is anything I can do to help you out let me know (I love to put off what I need to do and that would be a great excuse).

 

[auntlynne]

and the B2B group has 9 days 4 hours till Sail Away from Port Canaveral. (I leave the day before - Friday, April 9, flying out of Nashville - Southwest Airlines with luggage flies free). Tick Tock Tick Tock.

I'm working on itineraries and print outs for this cruise.

Figured out La Spezia, printed out train schedules:
(La Spezia Centrale) train to Lucca (one of the few remaining towns with a complete city wall)
bike 2.5 miles around the top of the wall
walk around town
lunch
train 25 min to Pisa (S. Rossa station - 5 minutes to Field of Miracles!)
Pisa sites
train to La Spezia

Rome (after hours working on public transport v walking, I went to Google and plugged in sites and they gave directions (and clear maps) on how to walk most of it.

Regional train Civitavecchia to Roma S. Pietro
Climb the Dome tour of St Peter's Basilica (look down into church from inside the dome, then climb to the top for view of Rome)
walk to
Piazza Navano (Fountain of the 4 Rivers)
(Lunch)
Pantheon
Trevi Fountain
The Disney Store
Piazza Spagna (Spanish Steps, Fountain of the Boat, McDonald's - got to use the toilet somewhere)
McD's or Babbington's Tea Room for afternoon break
public transport (subway or bus) to
Colosseum &
Roman Forum (especially Arch of Titus)
walk to
San Pietro in Vincoli (St Peter in Chains) to see Michelangelo's Moses
subway to
Roma Termini
train to Civatavecchia


..So I'm here, but not here.

 

[guynwdm]

The docs finally arrived. I am in stateroom 6143. I am around just trying frantically to get work done before leaving town. Flying into Barcelona the morning of the 22nd and still trying to decide where to stay while there.

 

[Lhagerty]

Hi Lynne,

We are doing that same itinary but we hired a driver for the day. Now you have me thinking that we should just do this on our own. Would you still have the links for the train schedules for that itinary?

Thanks,
LuAnne

 

[skoi]

Wow Lynne, you're incredibly organized. I have a vague idea about what's what, but very vague. That's why I ultimately went with DCL in Tunis. One thing I learned in Morocco, my Arabic is very bad. I don't want to provide entertainment for another Arabic speaking country this year trying to speak to people.

Now, I'm looking into transport from airport to hotel, hotel to port, port to airport. Man, driving to Port Canaveral made my life so easy.

Julie

 

[skoi]

Well at least we aren't alone.

We did H1N1 flu while you were in Morocco so that put me behind. What a waste all those vaccines were

I hope you guys feel better. Did you catch some viral bug or is it just post trip crud?

Sorry to hear about the H1N1. Sig got sick in country, I think either from people in the house or the kids in the ward. Then I got it, still have it, and Sadie got sick the night before we left. None of us have successfully kicked it yet. Bleh.

Wow nine days. I envy you guys, sort of. If I had only nine days I'd be in total panic mode, then I'd be getting things done.

Julie

 

[shushh]

We're not doing the TA either. We're leaving for Barcelona on the 20th so will still be around to chat.

It seems like we're the only one to do a private tour in Tunis! We're heading for the Medina, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said as well. We just though it'd be nicer to go through the souks with a local and in small group. Hope it'll be ok. Now I'm starting to worry...

Lynne you are very organised!

And Lubi, wow!!! Congratulations! Surely it must be time to go shopping...

 

[shushh]

Was wondering if anyone could possibly tell me what the average prices have been for one way flights from Orlando to New York in Dec around Christmas time?

Only because currently for some reason (for our trip to the states in Dec), flights from Sydney to Orlando are cheap with both United and Delta. And we're considering buying our open jaw flights through to New York with orlando as a stopover if the price isn't much more than adding a domestic leg to the international Syd-Orlando leg.