August 18, 2010...Can't wait for the MAGICal Mediterranean!!!

[mindelmouse]

OH MY... we are changing excursions --- and then looking at others...
Looks like we will do Rome ourselves... LaSpezia is back up in the air!
added Sidi Bou Said and Carthage now....

how's the port booklet for the kids coming along? Are you still waiting on a lot of ports?

 

[Adsmama]

OH MY... we are changing excursions --- and then looking at others...
Looks like we will do Rome ourselves... LaSpezia is back up in the air!
added Sidi Bou Said and Carthage now....

Oh no! What happened? Rome should be easy enough to do on your own. La Spezia- we are walking to the train station and doing the cinque terre towns- 5 Euro pp and super beautiful

 

[pixie08]

Oh no! What happened? Rome should be easy enough to do on your own. La Spezia- we are walking to the train station and doing the cinque terre towns- 5 Euro pp and super beautiful

Yea we also decided not to go to Florence or Pisa. We are scheduled to do the Santa Margherita/ Portofino tour. I have heard the 5T is easily done on your own and it is beautiful!

 

[crzy4dals]

Oh no! What happened? Rome should be easy enough to do on your own. La Spezia- we are walking to the train station and doing the cinque terre towns- 5 Euro pp and super beautiful

Nothing happened... just the more research we do the more we keep changing our minds....
We are thinking that we might do the ferry to the last town and then train back!

The book is coming along - I have picked up 20 folders for them ... need to count how many kids we have and pick up more if needed - I love Staples they were a penny each!

 

[MacG]

A friend at the office recommended Florence over Pisa. I'm struggling with the travel time and the DW wants to take it easy since Rome will be a full day. I wish Florence wasn't so far (via train). We'll probably make a quick stop in Pisa and roam around the University of Pisa and get lunch before heading back to the ship.

OH MY... we are changing excursions --- and then looking at others...
Looks like we will do Rome ourselves... LaSpezia is back up in the air!
added Sidi Bou Said and Carthage now....

 

[K8T]

Mindy, glad the reunion went well, after our last one, I said I would never go to another!

Crazy4dals,

I would love to do Cinque Terre too, but with dd, I don't think it will be as such fun for her, as the Leaning Tower in Pisa. We got the train here before and it was OK, although there isn't a great deal to do there, except go up the tower, eat pizza and ice cream!

We still haven't decided about Tunis, but the more I read, the more I think we will be OK with a taxi!!!

Sometimes too much information isn't a good thing, it just makes you change your mind all the time. I need a plan and to stick to it!.

30 days!!!!

Kate

 

[Vicky29]

All this talk of Italy has made me rememember I need to go shopping for an Italian phrase book - we ate some very strange things last time because we couldn't understand the menu We'd assumed most menus would have English translations but they didn't, this time I'm going prepared and armed with the word for toilet, which with a 3 year old in tow we'll definately need

 

[K8T]

A friend at the office recommended Florence over Pisa. I'm struggling with the travel time and the DW wants to take it easy since Rome will be a full day. I wish Florence wasn't so far (via train). We'll probably make a quick stop in Pisa and roam around the University of Pisa and get lunch before heading back to the ship.

Florence is definately much much nicer and interesting than Pisa, although not easy on the train, as it involves at least one change. I think Disney do a Florence on your own, which basically is drop you off and pick you up. That may be worth doing, it is a wonderful city.

Pisa is a very different experience. If you are unlikely to come back to Europe for some time, you MUST go to Florence.

Kate

Vicky, in the tourist places, the restaurant will have an English Menu, they just don't produce them until you ask!!!

 

[Vicky29]

Hi K8,

Just read your post re Tunis. Feel free to ignore me - but I wouldn't do it in a taxi, Tunis felt like a very different world - the markets felt quite opressive and there was just a general sense of things being able to go wrong quickly. On our trip we did the 'Tunis on Your Own' - trip which was quite reasonably priced - in reality when we got there most people were spooked and stayed together. In fact we didn't move far at all. When we got back to the ship everyone, regardless of the excursion seemed to feel the same. I'm glad we went, but I also wouldn't have felt comfortable being on our own there and not on a disney trip. People were also quite obsessed with Elizabeth whilst we were there, she's very fair, blonde, blue eyed etc.. and about 6 people randomly came up and kissed her, lots of others were pointing at her, stroking her hand etc. I travelled round Sri Lanka independantly, about a year after the Tsunami, and always felt safe despite the different way of live and the poverty, but there was just a different feeling about Tunis. I'm not trying to put people off and as I said, I am glad we went, I just think this is perhaps one to do with Disney. Please do feel free to ignore me

Best Wishes
Vicky

 

[Vicky29]

Hi K8 (again),

We went to 4 different restraunts in the ports and asked for English menus - none of them had them Those of you going to the big destinations may well fare better than we did

Take Care
Vicky

 

[K8T]

Hi K8,

Just read your post re Tunis. Feel free to ignore me - but I wouldn't do it in a taxi, Tunis felt like a very different world - the markets felt quite opressive and there was just a general sense of things being able to go wrong quickly. On our trip we did the 'Tunis on Your Own' - trip which was quite reasonably priced - in reality when we got there most people were spooked and stayed together. In fact we didn't move far at all. When we got back to the ship everyone, regardless of the excursion seemed to feel the same. I'm glad we went, but I also wouldn't have felt comfortable being on our own there and not on a disney trip. People were also quite obsessed with Elizabeth whilst we were there, she's very fair, blonde, blue eyed etc.. and about 6 people randomly came up and kissed her, lots of others were pointing at her, stroking her hand etc. I travelled round Sri Lanka independantly, about a year after the Tsunami, and always felt safe despite the different way of live and the poverty, but there was just a different feeling about Tunis. I'm not trying to put people off and as I said, I am glad we went, I just think this is perhaps one to do with Disney. Please do feel free to ignore me

Best Wishes
Vicky

Thanks for this, I read similar, but have been chatting to a friend, who works out in Africa finding oil, and often is in Tunis, he said whilst they come over a bit pushy, we will be fine, as long as you stick to the tourisr trails and stongly advised us to go to Sidi bou said and Carthage. We also have some other friends who go to Tunis every year on holiday and they have told us some dos and don'ts.

Interesting you had that experience with your daughter, we had exactly the same in Istanbul, it was a two day stopover and we headed to the Spice Market, off the beaten track and people kept coming up and stroking her face etc. etc. She was dressed up quite cute, with bunches, so next day we dressed her down and she didn't get quite so much attention. Apparently they touch young blonde children for luck, although we didn't like it, some would offer her food, which we obviously refused. I am blonde myself and went travelling on my own in my 20's backpacking. I had less attention - apart from in parts of isolated Yugoslavia (as it was then), than DD had in Istanbul!

Kate

 

[Cliffside]

I love the Little dogs, OH's mum had a Lahsa, I trained a lot for my job (Hearing Dogs for Deaf People), and ****zhu's.



Great about the Havenese, I assessed one for Hearing Dogs about 6/7 years ago, one of the first in this country. A lady had brought them into the UK and was promoting the breed, there were only about five dogs in the UK and she thought one going through to us, would be good publicity. It worked so well and now there are loads working as hearing dogs and many more in the UK.

Great you all taking on rescues, I managed a rescue centre for the Blue Cross (North Shore in the States), before focusing on behaviour and training, we didn't get many 'breed' types in, lots of crosses, but all my dogs have been rescues.




Kate

That is so awesome that you managed a rescue center. What a great sense of satisfaction that must have given you. That is so interesting what you said about the Havanese. i read that the Havanese in the US were from 5 dogs that people brought over from Cuba. I was shocked when I saw a purebred Havanese on petfinder. According to the women running the rescue group the previous owner got engaged and the fiance did not want the dog.


My DD was devastated when we had to put our dog down. She was only 2 1/2 and was also a rescue. She had been asking for a dog since she could talk.....and she talks a lot. She spent all year in school writing about how she rescued her dog.....We were going to wait till after the cruise but the house was so empty. We only have him a week and he feels like part of the family.


Susan

 

[Cliffside]

Susan it's call couch to 5k or c25k for short. I started 4 weeks ago and its been so good so far... hard but doable. I seemed to get a lot of followers here on our thread to try it with me.

We leave for Paris on Aug 14th.

I am so impressed. I checked out the website. It looks like an awesome program,but at this point I probably need to EASE back into an activity program.

Wow the 14th. That is sooooo soon.

 

[Cliffside]

thanks for asking guys...the reunion was fun. Some people I hadn't seen in 30 years, some I had reconnected with on Facebook, so it wasn't really awkward to talk with them. Some had the same stick up their behinds that they had in HS. Our friends in South NJ had my kids for the night, so after getting home late last night, we got up early and headed down there to spend the day at their pool club and went out to dinner. We just got home and I'm exhausted. BTW, dressing for the reunion was easy, just wore one of the outfits I bought for palo or semi formal night...worked out great.

I can't believe I leave for Barcelona in less than 30 days...it's unreal after so long waiting.

Had a conversation with the kids in the car tonight in preparation of the big reveal...told them that a lot of cruise ships leave out of the Barcelona ports and did they want to go down to the port one day and check out which ones did. My DS only wanted to know if the Disney Cruise would be there...I played dumb saying I didn't think so but maybe we could catch it in port. Then he tried to convince us to try to get a room on it and cancel our hotel if it was there.....I was busting holding in the laughter.

Mindy,
Glad you had good time at reunion. That story about your kids is hysterical. I don't know if I could handle not spilling the beans.

 

[Cliffside]

OH MY... we are changing excursions --- and then looking at others...
Looks like we will do Rome ourselves... LaSpezia is back up in the air!
added Sidi Bou Said and Carthage now....

I'm working on Malta. I am so sorry....I just got so behind when i thought we might not be able to go.

What are you changing your plans to? Did you decide. I keep trying not to second guess myself. What cabin are you? I think we are right across the hall from one another.

Susan

 

[Goofy559]

We too have had a rescue dog. He was a chocolate brown spaniel mix from the pound. Who knew when we picked him that Guinness would live to be 19! Despite the fact that he was blind and deaf for the last 5 years of his life DD was devastated when he went to puppy heaven in January. We told her that he could see and hear again and was happily chasing squirrels. We recently added a new puppy to the family. Roxy is 10 weeks old and is a lab/shepherd mix. There's something to be said for a housetrained rescue!!

 

[Cliffside]

A friend at the office recommended Florence over Pisa. I'm struggling with the travel time and the DW wants to take it easy since Rome will be a full day. I wish Florence wasn't so far (via train). We'll probably make a quick stop in Pisa and roam around the University of Pisa and get lunch before heading back to the ship.

I am also rethinking that day. We are currently booked on dcl excursion of Pisa and Florence. It seems like such a long day after Rome. This is where I wish we were on the 11 night and had the sea day in between to rest. We were only going to do Florence but DD said she really wanted to see Pisa and the one and only time I was Italy I did not go to Pisa so i could spend the day in Florence.
Still have a couple of weeks to decide.

 

[Cliffside]

We too have had a rescue dog. He was a chocolate brown spaniel mix from the pound. Who knew when we picked him that Guinness would live to be 19! Despite the fact that he was blind and deaf for the last 5 years of his life DD was devastated when he went to puppy heaven in January. We told her that he could see and hear again and was happily chasing squirrels. We recently added a new puppy to the family. Roxy is 10 weeks old and is a lab/shepherd mix. There's something to be said for a housetrained rescue!!

Congrats on your new puppy. Yes, I must admit it is nice that he is housebroken.

 

[ejw]

does anyone know where to find the train schedule from la spezia to cinque terre and then between the villages?

thanks, ellen

 

[GratefulDad]

Oh no! What happened? Rome should be easy enough to do on your own. La Spezia- we are walking to the train station and doing the cinque terre towns- 5 Euro pp and super beautiful

Hello,
I was wondering if you found out any information on trains/ferries in the Cinque Terre region? I love to take a train out to the towns, and possible take a ferry back? Any info on this???


Mike