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

[GoofyFan1515]

I needed somewhere to sit to stuff myself with the eyes.

You said that "seafood" was fried? Doesn't look like any fried seafood I've ever had in my part of the world. Where I'm from, we call that bait!

Wow, hard to tell in this picture, but are those PEOPLE crowded all over that boat??? Looks like a serious overload to me........more like how many they cram on the Ferry Boats heading over to MK from the TTC around park opening/closing time.

Some more beautiful scenery and great pictures! Such a wonderful trip you are having. Slippery marble and some of those steep steps would make me proceed very cautiously.

You two must really like to move around when you get to Disney. I was stressed when Pat and I did a single split stay trip. I can't imagine moving around that many times. You DO realize that they have buses at Disney that do a great job of transporting you to the different parks??? You don't have to move to different resorts and bring the parks to you..............

 

[jedijill]

Wow, your trip sounds epic! I cannot wait for that trip report!

More gorgeous shots of Italy!

Jill in CO

 

[momof3princes]

Your summer plans look so fun! You have a bit of everything packed in. Sounds like you need fun summer plans after all the hard work for school
That water is beautiful, it is neat to see people sunbathing on the rocks! Love the churches too.

 

[jenseib]

This upcoming trip looks fabulous. I am more than slightly jealous of all the exciting things you are doing.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Your upcoming plans sound awesome! You are getting a variety of experiences for sure!

Love these pics. Was this a castle at one time?

 

[dizneeat]

Fantastic plans! I am still so happy that I gave you the decisive hint for this vacation! And I hope you will live the PC as much as we did!

Thank you, Magdalene! We haven't forgotten who pointed out the best part of this vacation. I still owe you something for it.

You said that "seafood" was fried? Doesn't look like any fried seafood I've ever had in my part of the world. Where I'm from, we call that bait!

Guess you could use it as bait. Thing is, that people in the area used to be fairly poor and they would sell the "real" fish and keep the little ones for themselves. Having tried what they can make from the "bait" I am glad they did what they did, as those little buggers were pretty tasty.

Wow, hard to tell in this picture, but are those PEOPLE crowded all over that boat??? Looks like a serious overload to me........more like how many they cram on the Ferry Boats heading over to MK from the TTC around park opening/closing time.

I had to go back and check the picture. Yes, it looks overloaded, BUT that is only because everyone wants to sit outside. It never occured to us that it could be overloaded, as the inside (downstairs) area was ALL empty, so I guess it was okay.
As far as the Ferry Boats at the MK at closing time ........ thanks but NO thanks, I'd rather take a taxi back to my resort than being herded onto one of those.

You two must really like to move around when you get to Disney. I was stressed when Pat and I did a single split stay trip. I can't imagine moving around that many times.

Actually we don't mind moving around that much especially since Disney gets to take care of transporting our luggage. Yes, this time we are moving more than in other years, but it works out fine and since we usually travel around a bit we are used to only having a night or two at a hotel.

You DO realize that they have buses at Disney that do a great job of transporting you to the different parks??? You don't have to move to different resorts and bring the parks to you..............

They have BUSES????????? Yes, I do, and I am pretty stressed out already as we have decided to try them again (did use them once before and did NOT like it at all) to go to MK in March (from BC). We are fine with walking to the Studios and driving to AK, but MK, not so much. So we will try the buses - but I guess we will end up getting a taxi instead.

And BLT is always a favourite as we both are often tempted to NOT go to a park if it includes a bit of a hassle or we have something else still to do, so having to pack up a day early and move to BLT will allow us to enjoy the last evening (instead of staying in doing the packing) without having to use a bus or car to get to the MK for EMH.

 

[dizneeat]

Wow, your trip sounds epic! I cannot wait for that trip report!

More gorgeous shots of Italy!

Jill in CO

We kept adding and adding and in the end we were a bit surprised at HOW long this trip is going to be, but since we have not been to the US last summer it should be okay. I can't believe anyone is still willing to read along on my TRs as it always takes me SO long to finish them. Thanks for being such a good friend.

Your summer plans look so fun! You have a bit of everything packed in. Sounds like you need fun summer plans after all the hard work for school

Thank you. Now that they are finalized and most everything is booked we are getting so excited as well. And yes, we packed A LOT into it. Ah, thanks for your kind words.

That water is beautiful, it is neat to see people sunbathing on the rocks! Love the churches too.

It is so typical to see the people on the rocks in that part of Italy. And we were so lucky that the weather was as nice as it was, because not only did we have a picture perfect sky, but we did get those beautiful colours of the water as well.

This upcoming trip looks fabulous. I am more than slightly jealous of all the exciting things you are doing.

Thank you, Jen. Coming from you as a TA, that means a lot to me.

Your upcoming plans sound awesome! You are getting a variety of experiences for sure!

Love these pics. Was this a castle at one time?

Thank you, Tammie! We are really looking forward to this years vacations. As much as I loved Italy last summer (and want to repeat it rather sooner than later) we really missed the Disney magic.

There is an old castle sitting on top of the hill and we are on our way up to it.

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 7, August 22

Exploring by ship - Part 3

When we were done we walked up to the castle which is on top of a hill.

It was quite a hike up there, very steep and slippery and it had gotten pretty hot as well. We paid the entrance fee and walked through the gates and further up until we reached a huge courtyard.

There are just ruins left of many parts of the castle, but the whole area is still very well kept. We walked around the courtyard and then up to some small towers before moving on to the amphitheatre.

It was a beautiful place and we could very well concerts or a play in there.

We spent a lot of time exploring and looking around

before we slowly went back to the city centre.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 7, August 22

Exploring by ship - Part 4

We spent a lot of time exploring and looking around before we slowly went back to the city centre.

Before we had started our exploration we had quickly glanced at the boat’s timetable and were now heading towards the harbour. So, when we arrived there, we were pretty surprised to read that the next boat left in about 90 minutes.
We had misread the timetable.
Now we had more than an hour to kill. Well, it was quickly decided that we would walk back to the town and find a restaurant along the pier to have dinner. Within minutes we were back and looked at the first restaurant. They had a menu posted, but there was nothing we really liked, especially reading their prices. So we walked on. A few steps further down we found a nice looking restaurant, unfortunately with no menu posted outside. We asked about a table and the server just pointed inside the restaurant. Okay, we’ll find our own table. We did and sat down and were handed a Spanish menu. We needed to flag down the server again and with a sigh he went to get an English menu. By now I was getting pretty annoyed with the server. I was done with it when he threw the menus on the table.
We had a look at it and there was nothing on the menu that would have justified the way the server treated us, so we just left. We walked a bit further along the pier and came across a small place with garden furniture, offering pizzas. It didn’t look like much but nearly all the tables were occupied, so we thought we would give it a try. Asked for a table and were led to one right away. They handed us a menu and asked for drinks. And while we waited for them we looked around and really liked the food we saw on other tables.

They had a wide variety of pizza on offer and we both decided to get one that was a bit out of the ordinary. Tom ordered a

Pesto Pizza, red pizza with no cheese, but spread with pesto and I had a

Margherita that had lettuce and cherry tomatoes on top. And while we waited for our food a wedding party went by to celebrate on one of the ships that were anchored nearby.

It was fun to watch until our pizzas arrived. Both had sounded strange, but were very tasty and we liked them a lot. And after paying the bill we had a restroom break and then headed up the long steep steps into the town again. We strolled along the main road again and stopped at an ice-cream parlour that offered Porto Venere ice-cream,

which was pretty tasty. And then it was already time to head back to the harbour

not to miss the next ship that went along the Cinque Terre. The ship already sat in the harbour and people were starting to line up, so we jumped in line and within minutes we were allowed to get on board. Again we found nice seats on the preferred side and within a few minutes we left the pier.

And were surprised when we did not go towards the rock with the little church on top. Had we picked the wrong boat? We soon were to find out that they had closed the passage and all ships were held close to Porto Venere and our boat had to drive back and around the rocks and pass them from the other side.

By now it was past 2pm and we knew that it would take quite some time to get to Monterosso, so we decided not to get off in Manarola and just enjoy the ride up to Monterosso.

It was fun and we enjoyed the stops of the ship along the way. And about 75 minutes after we had started our journey we arrived at Monterosso.

To be continued ..........​

 

[jenseib]

Those pizzas do sound a bit strange but I bet they were good. I am eating at Via Napoli in just a few days and these pizzas are making me excited for it. LOL

 

[dizneeat]

Those pizzas do sound a bit strange but I bet they were good. I am eating at Via Napoli in just a few days and these pizzas are making me excited for it. LOL

I have never had pizza with salad on top and expected the lettuce to be cooked, but it was fresh and tasted pretty awesome. Tom's looked strange, but tasted soooo good.

Have fun at WDW, Jen. Is this the trip with the cruise on the Magic? So envious of all your travels.

 

[franandaj]

I'm glad to hear that you have got your plans together for this trip, but I'm sad that you won't be doing the part on the Queen Mary in Long Beach! Vegas is a lot of fun though! We actually prefer to stay off of the strip because we like gambling and like the out of the way hole in the wall casinos that have Blackjack with a low table limit. We did go to Caesar's Palace and play on our last trip there and enjoyed it. I also saw that Gordon Ramsay restaurant on our way to the casino! I can't wait to try that place.

You'll have to get me your dates, so I can block out a day during your trip and come out and meet you!

Your day in Italy looked nice, I do have to chime in with everyone else that the pizzas looked very non traditional, but I'm sure they were good! We have a number of pizzas here in the US where they put the greens on top after baking. And you can't go wrong with Gelato!

 

[jenseib]

I have never had pizza with salad on top and expected the lettuce to be cooked, but it was fresh and tasted pretty awesome. Tom's looked strange, but tasted soooo good.

Have fun at WDW, Jen. Is this the trip with the cruise on the Magic? So envious of all your travels.

Yes it is...boarding the Magic on the 7th

 

[jedijill]

I love salad on pizza! Nice contrast between the hot pizza and cold salad!

Jill in CO

 

[Flossbolna]

I never had a pizza with normal lettuce leafs, but my favourite pizza is a margerita with ruccola on top - sometimes also with shaved parmesan. I would imagine yours to be similar.

 

[momof3princes]

The castle ruins are so interesting! That must have been some place to live back then! Good for you for not putting up with a server who was not every customer service oriented! It looks like you made a good choice anyway, both pizzas looked really good

 

[GoofyFan1515]

When we were done we walked up to the castle which is on top of a hill.

It was quite a hike up there, very steep and slippery and it had gotten pretty hot as well.

Based on the gorgeous coastal views...........very much worth the effort!

We asked about a table and the server just pointed inside the restaurant. Okay, we’ll find our own table. We did and sat down and were handed a Spanish menu. We needed to flag down the server again and with a sigh he went to get an English menu. By now I was getting pretty annoyed with the server. I was done with it when he threw the menus on the table.

We had a look at it and there was nothing on the menu that would have justified the way the server treated us, so we just left.

Sounds like the correct choice!

They had a wide variety of pizza on offer and we both decided to get one that was a bit out of the ordinary. Tom ordered a

Pesto Pizza, red pizza with no cheese, but spread with pesto and I had a

Not my typical choice for a pizza, but actually that does look pretty good.........if they would just throw on some mozzarella!

The wedding party's Limo???

 

[dizneeat]

I'm glad to hear that you have got your plans together for this trip, but I'm sad that you won't be doing the part on the Queen Mary in Long Beach!

So was I initially. When we had to drop our plans for VGC I was thinking about having that one night and then move to the Best Western, but it would mean missing a few hours at DL, so DL won and we will leave Vegas a little later, arrive towards the evening at DL and be right there the next morning when they open the gates.

Vegas is a lot of fun though! We actually prefer to stay off of the strip because we like gambling and like the out of the way hole in the wall casinos that have Blackjack with a low table limit. We did go to Caesar's Palace and play on our last trip there and enjoyed it. I also saw that Gordon Ramsay restaurant on our way to the casino! I can't wait to try that place.

We love Vegas, but we are not gamblers. We have only stayed off the strip once and were so disappointed. Ever since we have always stayed at a hotel on the strip. I was looking at the Paris or Venetian, but then I found an awesome offer for Caesar's with a strip view, so that won. Not to mention being close to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant, as we really really want to eat in one there.

You'll have to get me your dates, so I can block out a day during your trip and come out and meet you!

Alison, it would be AWESOME if you could come to DL and we could meet up. I am going to PM you the dates!

Your day in Italy looked nice, I do have to chime in with everyone else that the pizzas looked very non traditional, but I'm sure they were good! We have a number of pizzas here in the US where they put the greens on top after baking. And you can't go wrong with Gelato!

Those pizzas were very off the beaten track. But they both sounded interesting and we both were pleasantly surprised. And I can never pass up some Gelato. So many different flavours too - someone had to do the task.

Yes it is...boarding the Magic on the 7th

Happy sailing, Jen!

I love salad on pizza! Nice contrast between the hot pizza and cold salad!

Jill in CO

I have only had it twice and the other one was a lot of ruccula under prosciutto. I started picking off half of it, as it was so much. But the salad on this pizza was just the right amount.

 

[dizneeat]

I never had a pizza with normal lettuce leafs, but my favourite pizza is a margerita with ruccola on top - sometimes also with shaved parmesan. I would imagine yours to be similar.

I've had Ruccula under prosciutto before, never had had normal lettuce, but it sounded good and it was. It added some extra crunch to it.

The castle ruins are so interesting! That must have been some place to live back then!

It must have been awesome. The views from the castle are amazing and you would have been pretty secure the way it sits on those rocks.

Good for you for not putting up with a server who was not every customer service oriented! It looks like you made a good choice anyway, both pizzas looked really good

It looks like there was a reason why they were not really busy. The other restaurant was much more "down to earth" and the food was pretty good.

Not my typical choice for a pizza, but actually that does look pretty good.........if they would just throw on some mozzarella!

There was some cheese underneath - the pesto was spread on top. And it was to die for!

The wedding party's Limo???

The bride and grooms ride! It looked really fun.

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 7, August 22

Exploring by ship - Part 5

And about 75 minutes after we had started our journey we arrived at Monterosso.

We walked around a bit, did some window shopping and then agreed on having a little break.

We soon found a small bar that offered inside seating

and we ordered two glasses of

local wine and a large bottle of water. When they served the wine we were also served some snacks,

salted peanuts, black olives and caper berries. It was so relaxing and we really enjoyed our little break. They sold a lot of local wines and spirits and there was an

orange liqueur Tom wanted to try. We ordered a glass and it was really wonderful and so we bought a bottle to take home. Once we had had our break we strolled around a little more and then went back to the harbour to take the next ship back to Vernazza. It was the last one that day, so we were hoping to make it on board. There was a HUGE line and a man was calling out where the ships went to. We could not believe it, but most of the people wanted to go on the first ship, which was bound for La Spezia. Our ship did not go all that way, so less people wanted to board. We were so lucky as it was already pretty full and we even got a seat on the outside.

It was a nice ride back to Vernazza and we enjoyed our time and the view a lot.

About 20 minutes later we arrived in Vernazza where we got off and slowly walked past the harbour.

We picked up a Cinque Terre calendar for 2016 and a few more pieces of Focaccia and some other food items. We took our time and even though, about 10 minutes later we sat in our little apartment.
We had a little break after taking a shower and sat outside and enjoyed a glass of the

Prosecco we had brought with us. It had been such a lovely day and we sat outside enjoying our drinks until it started to get dark.
We still had quite a few groceries and so we prepared our dinner ourselves. I made some

tomato salad, dressed with seasalt and lemon juice, we had picked up some pieces of Focaccia on the way home, one was like a

Focaccia pizza, the other a

Vegetable Focaccia. We still had

black olives and a chunk of

Chili Pecorino,

a filled flatbread,

two cut pieces of Focaccia and a

small individual Focaccia. There was even some yummy

salami. We laid the table and had a nice dinner

before we started packing all our stuff as we were to leave again the next day. Packing took a little longer than expected but around 11pm we were ready for our last night in Vernazza.

To be continued ..........​