Hi guys,
Well, were home after 35 days of vacationing. Ive got a lot to post, so get ready for a long read get a cup of something warm and something to nibble on.
I have so much to share with you guys and thought several of you would like to hear about the trip where we all left off.
Unfortunately, I am so freakin sick that I had to go to the doctor this morning for my second round of meds so it was good to know the rest of you were sick too and it wasnt just me.
First, it was so weird when all of you left the ship. It was totally different on the second leg. We had so many Europeans and dozens of languages. We started off with a massive amount of moving staterooms for many of us. It turned out that the room we went to was one of 8 that have the smallest closets on the ship. The room continued to be a nightmare for the entire trip with maintenance showing up every day sometimes twice a day to repair our air conditioning, soaked floor, etc.
DCL was very kind on the last day to give us a nice discount on our next trip, which we were thankful to receive. We immediately upgraded our room for the PC next year to make sure that didnt happen again. The good part was that Bob, Dale and Gordy were across the hall, so each day we had our door wide open and got to visit with them (actually we whined to them each day!
)
The 11 night was so busy that most of us never saw each other. I saw Cayla on Sunday and then on the last day. I kept telling everyone I was on a European search for Cayla. Jennifer and Rachid (Misseulalie), Ted and Kathy (Littleowensmommy), Karen and Alex (Rufustee), and Apryl (Faithfullyeeyore) and us did a lot of excursions together and saw each other each night at dinner. We did not meet the majority of the 11 nighters from our other thread, but met several other B2Brs who werent Disers. We only had a couple of sea days and they were not as packed with stuff to do as the repo. There was only one or two art of entertaining and since Chris, Robert and Susie werent there I didnt go!
The ports were spectacular and we loved the Italy and France.
Palermo was fun and really interesting. I would go back there especially to eat. We did the city and Ballaro Market tour. The market was not that great after seeing the La Boqueria in Barcelona, but Rachid (the master of languages) helped me buy some shoes. Our hike around town let us see some of the back streets that we called the real Palermo.
Naples: The Amalfi coast was the best DCL excursion we went on it was a day we will never forget. Our tour guide was the best Ive ever experienced making it that much more special. We were ready to move to Sorrento (where I bought my first purse), Positano was gorgeous followed by a wonderful lunch (thanks to Karen grabbing the best table in the restaurant.) We loved the food so much that it took us a while to realize it was only the first course! The towns were terraced up the hillsides with dramatic drops down into the ocean with no beaches, just rocky cliffs. For those of you who have been to Laguna Beach, CA it is very similar, but more dramatic because of the color of the water and the steep drops. They are famous for the lemons growing in every yard used to make lemoncello. The lemons were as big as Zoes head. It was a great day.
Olbia, as most of you know I was eating my way through Europe (by the way I only gained 2 pounds, but it felt like Id gained about 8 so everything must have shifted.) So, I was doing the Ravioli making class. Oblia was desolate and very windy (Jonathan and Zoe stayed on the ship.) We rode for an hour to get to the restaurant, but the class was so short followed by another hour of waiting for lunch that was good, but not great. I did, however, make pasta next to Joey Fatone and his daughter. It wasnt worth the money and Id skip that stop if I had it over to do again. I must say that another person I talked to loved it.
We loved Rome
we took the train on our own (found it very easy to manage.) Once we got there we took the hop on hop off bus for the tour around town. Every minute there was something to see, I cant wait to go back there for a longer visit. Then we went to the Trevi fountain and started our walking/shopping/eating tour. I bought 4 beautiful purses (only Italian made for this stop), Jonathan bought 2 ties and then we sat and ate pizza and gelato. We loved every minute of this day, it was great. For those going on this later (Linda) watch out the shuttle stopped running at 7pm, so when we returned we had a surprise 3 mile jaunt to the ship.
The sea day was welcomed after three days of touring. At this point we all said, I dont know how the 10 nighters will do this! Advice for 10 nighters pack one bag, dont unpack!!!!
La Spezia: we lucked out here. It was a rainy day (all other days were outstanding weather.) The town was very cute with great shopping and food. We walked to the train and went to Pisa. Got out the see the leaning tower and the sun came out. We strolled the beautiful town and grabbed some food and drink and hit the train where the rain came down again.
Marseille, France: In the morning I did a 2 hour bus tour of the town. It was far prettier than I was expected. In the afternoon, the three of us did a trip to Aix en Provence. It was gorgeous! Our tour guide was a historian, so he was brilliant. There was a flea market of all local artist that was amazing. It was more like an art fair than a flea market. We bought the best bread Ive ever had. I would go back to this region and spend a month touring.
Villefranche, France: gorgeous. Bought another purse and matching shoes (French hand made this time) walked the town and (of course) ate food. Then took the tour of Monaco and Eze. Both were stunning, but we would have spent a whole day in Eze.
Our final sea day I barely made it out of the cabin to pack, weigh and prep our departure. Wednesday I woke up sick and we were off to BCN. The airport DCL transport was a bit of a mess and the cab wait was long, but Anna (CACruisin) had emailed us to let us know what to do, so we followed her orders like the scripture had been handed to us. When we got to Air France it turned out that we were only allowed one bag each (20k) with one carry on. So, we were ready to pay a fee. They took our bags and then told us it would be 655 Euros and if we didnt pay we couldnt get on the plane! We stood there in shock without a clue what our options were... and since it was 3 am
travel agent time, we were screwed.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn at the
Disneyland resort and we have to agree that the downtown Disney was not nice. The food was awful and so unbelievably expensive. We were really surprised and decided right there not to go to the park. We only had two days in Paris anyway, so we hiked all over Paris. We took Air India home on Saturday and it turned out to be the nicest airline wed every used. The food and good service just kept coming. Caught an early flight on the connection and got home the night before wed planned. Good thing too because I was getting sicker and sicker. As some of you may remember I had a house of company waiting to go to Disneyland when I returned. My SIL had opened up the house, dusted and vacuumed everything, stocked the fridge, cleaned the car and had everything ready for us to come home. It was great. Unfortunately, I was too sick to go to DL today so they took off to try to hit the new submarine rides. Good thing because it took me two hours to read all the posts.
It was a fantastic trip and Ill never forget it, but it was the relationships we made that will last forever. Im looking so forward to seeing so many of you out here at DL and on the PC.
Ill answer all the questions for Erik on my next post tomorrow. I have so many things to show you and Jason that I may not let you see the parks!!!
Also, Anna, I will send you my email to get you set up for your visit too. PS: I dont believe you are really married!!!!
Kathy is unpacking in her new home and probably wont be able to post for a month!
DD16 thinks I'm nuts! I'm just glad DH isn't home.
Hope everyone else is doing well!
WOW what a trip 
and we met so many of you wondderful fun people - so many GREAT memories - Thanks to all and thanks for all the candy and gifts in my Fish Extender
It's an e-ticket, for sure!
