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

[dizneeat]

7

Day 9, August 24

A whole day of sightseeing - Part 4

And after saying our goodbyes we walked back and forth over the Ponte Veccio,

enjoyed some of the views and did some window shopping.

After that we headed towards the town center again and passed a Pandora Store.
I really love to have momentos of the cities we go to, so in we went to ask if there were some Florence specific beads. Needless to say there were. I picked the one I liked the most and the saleswoman offered to add it to my bracelet right away. I gave it to her and she called some of the other saleswomen over to show them that my bracelet was a Disney Parks one.
They went kind of crazy over all the Disney beads.
Later, they noticed that I missed some spacers on my new bracelet, so they showed me some they had and we got two as I needed them anyway. Purchases in hand we moved on and it started to drizzle again.

We still wanted to find the Disney Store and walked in that direction and after a few more minutes and some looking around we finally found it.

Like most of the European Disney Store it was a small store, but it was nicely done. Lots of paintings on the walls and arches in the room

and they even had some Florence specific merchandise.

We picked up a few things and when we got outside it had started to lightly rain again. So, that meant that it was time for us to head back to our apartment. We had the choice of either walking home for about 40 minutes in the rain or head over to the railway station which was about 8 minutes away and use the sightseeing bus to get back to our apartment. The sightseeing bus won. We walked over to the railway station and got in line

and within 5 minutes a bus arrived. We did not even bother to go and sit upstairs as by now it had started to rain even more, so we just sat there and waited for the bus to leave. A few minutes later we were on our way. It took about 20 minutes to get to the stop that was closest to La Farina apartments and we got off, stopped for bread at the bakery and headed back to our lovely “home”. We rested for a while, while watching a little TV, then had another “picnic” dinner which yummy things that were hiding in our fridge. We then packed up most of our stuff and took it down to the car, so we would not have to do it all in the morning. Work done we had a well deserved drink out of the fridge

and then spent the rest of the evening in front of the TV.

To be continued ..........​

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh my I was many updates behind. I am enjoying everything. All those focaccias looked so yummy! and you already know how much I like the ice cream The water looked so clear I would have had a hard time not going swimming. but like others have said it looks perilous to get down to it!

The Florence pictures are bringing back some memories. I visited there back in 2003. I'm still upset that I didn't see as much of the city as I should have. The friend I was traveling with had her own agenda...

Fun to have a private walking tour, even if it wasn't on purpose.

All the details in the Disney store are too cute.

 

[dizneeat]

Oh my I was many updates behind.

You are excused! You have been on vacation!

The water looked so clear I would have had a hard time not going swimming. but like others have said it looks perilous to get down to it!

The water had such an awesome colour, but as you said, getting down to it was not all that easy and the whole area was so rocky. Too dangerous for me.

The Florence pictures are bringing back some memories. I visited there back in 2003. I'm still upset that I didn't see as much of the city as I should have.

We had never been to Florence before and we live so close, it is such a shame. But we were pretty happy we stopped there, even though the one full day we had was just not enough. There is lots more to see and we will definitely go back.

Fun to have a private walking tour, even if it wasn't on purpose.

It was awesome to have the guide to ourselves, he really personalized the tour. We have been so lucky with private tours (by accident or intended) on our travels. I guess the tour we are going to share with friends in Cartagena is going to be awesome as well.

All the details in the Disney store are too cute.

Those Disney Stores are tiny, but they sure pack a lot of the towns history Disney style into it.

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 10, August 25

Florence in the morning and Venice in the afternoon - Part 1

When we woke up it was overcast, but the rain had stopped. I got ready and while Tom was taking a shower I went to the little bakery to pick up some Panini for breakfast. Once I was back we laid the table and had a long and nice breakfast.

Then it was time to clean up the kitchen and pack up the rest of our stuff which we took down to the car before checking out at around 10am. We had talked about heading to the Piazzale Michelangelo if the weather was fine that day and so we started our drive to that viewpoint above the city. When we arrived we were shocked to see the parking lot shock full.
We drove all around the parking area, but there was nowhere to park our car. So we drove along the street until we found a spot to turn around and started a new search with the same results.
Tom suggested that I got out and took photos while he drove around one more time, but I wanted both of us to enjoy the view. So after a third round around the parking area we decided to try and find a spot to park the car a little further away. And while we were slowly driving along the street we saw the beautiful church on top of the hill and there was a street leading up to it. We turned around at the next possible spot and there was ample parking space halfway up to the church.

We parked and enjoyed the view from up there and then headed up to the church itself.

There was a small cemetery with lots of marble tombs which we visited before climbing the next few steps up to the church itself.

We entered and it was beautiful.

The artwork was stunning and we spent quite some time checking out the whole building including the crypt. I think we must have spent at least 20 minutes exploring. Once we were done we left, slowly walked down the steps and were amazed that you could even see the old city walls from up here.

It was just a short walk to the Piazzale Michelangelo and we soon arrived and the view we were rewarded with was stunning.

We spent quite some time walking up and down and taking photos before we decided that it was time to walk back to the car and get going.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 10, August 25

Florence in the morning and Venice in the afternoon - Part 2

We spent quite some time walking up and down and taking photos before we decided that it was time to walk back to the car and get going.

But before we left the Piazzale we stopped one more time to pick up some ice-cream. There was a small ice-cream stand that offered something I wanted to try,

Crema Florentina. So we picked up a small cup and I tasted it while we walked uphill, back to our car. Hm, that first spoonful was not really the nicest I ever had, but some ice-creams get better the more you try. I tried a second spoonful and it did not get any better, it just tasted horrible. So it was put into the next bin we came across. It took us a little longer to walk up to the church and our car again

and when we had finally made it there we had a drink out of our ice-box before we left. It took about half an hour more until we had left Florence behind us

and we were now on our way to the last stop of our journey, Venice. The drive on the motorway was uneventful

and we were happy to have ordered a Telepass,

which let us drive through all the toll stations without stopping. We arrived in Mestre shortly before 3pm

and only had to cross the long bridge to get into Venice. When we came close to the end of the bridge we hit the traffic jam. There are several parking garages when you first arrive in Venice and they are kind of the end of the road. So now we were stuck as it can take quite some time until the cars are parked around that time of day. It took us about 25 minutes and we had reached our destination, the hotel Ca Doge, which even offered a reduced parking rate for hotel guests. There were two cars in front of us trying to get into their parking area,

so I got out and headed over to the hotel entrance. And it was closed. So I rang the bell, but nothing happened. I tried the door again and no, it would not open. Rang the bell again and nothing happened. By now, Tom was sitting in the entrance of the parking area and I walked over and finally someone arrived and told us that check in was closed for a few minutes as someone had fainted in the parking area and they were taking care of the emergency. Okay, that’s fine with me. Didn’t take more than a few minutes and a very friendly receptionist arrived and told me to follow her to check in. And another few minutes later all the paper work was done and we were just waiting for a maid to separate the beds in our room. The only thing that bugged me a bit was that you had to hand over your car keys and we had planned on leaving all our stuff in the car and only take the carry-ons and computers with us. So, while we had to wait anyway we talked to one of the parking attendants and they told us that cars that were parked here overnight would be put up on the upper level of the stack garage, there was CCTV and the doors would be closed overnight, needless to say that cars on upper levels would be locked and the keys be put in the office. Okay, that worked fine for us and we removed everything we would need for the night’s stay and took it up to the room with us. It was a beautiful room. There were heavy beams on the ceiling and the furniture fit in perfectly.

The room itself was pretty small but we were in awe when we found out that our room even had a tiny balcony.

The bathroom had a huge shower with a large rainshower head and all different nozzles all around the sides.

The whole room was done in marble and looked like it was taken right out of a magazine. So after exploring the room we freshened up a little bit and then headed out into Venice. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we followed our usual route into Venice.

There were lots of people in the streets and we even ran into a few newly wed couples.

About 20 minutes into our walk we found a small restaurant and decided to stop for a quick lunch.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 10, August 25

Florence in the morning and Venice in the afternoon - Part 3

About 20 minutes into our walk we found a small restaurant and decided to stop for a quick lunch.
We found a cozy table inside and ordered

a glass of red wine for Tom and

a glass of Pinot Grigio for myself and

a bottle of water for us to share. We had a look at the menu and I decided on ordering a plate of

Mozzarella and tomatoes, while Tom ordered a

grilled prosciutto sandwich. It took a while to come out, but we were very happy when our lunch was served. We sat and chilled for quite some time until we went on with our walk

and soon we made it to the Rialto Bridge. Most of it was hidden behind scaffolding but the shops were still open and we did a bit of window shopping. We did a bit more than window shopping once we had reached the other end of the bridge and the Disney Store.

And after picking up a few more items we walked all the way to St. Mark’s Square.

There were lots of tourists around, but it was still easily manageable. Our next stop was the bridge of sighs. There is another bridge that lets you have a lovely view of it and with gondolas going through it was really a nice photo spot.

We were thinking about walking back, but then decided against it and bought tickets for the vaporetto, a water-bus.
Many other tourists had the same idea, so there were loads of people in line and we missed the first one. But we got onto the second one which was packed with people.

The trip up the Canale Grande takes quite some time

from St. Mark’s Square and we were lucky to finally find some seats after about 20 minutes being squished in by lots of other travelers. Finally we made it to our destination and got off the ship.
It was just a short walk over to our hotel and we rested a bit in our room. We both took showers and the marble tiles were pretty slippery. After that we watched a little TV and enjoyed some down time. Around 7pm we headed out again, this time in search of some dinner. We walked towards the same area we had been before and tried to find a restaurant that tickled our fancy. We walked past a few of them, but then we came across one that looked inviting and we asked for a table. Getting a table was not the problem, we were quickly seated at a small two top behind a wall, but the owner and only one help were doing all the service. They worked hard, but since they had to do the salads and make the pizzas as well, it took some time for drinks and food to come out. Tom and I had ordered some Diet Cokes and were now waiting for our pizzas to get done. It took a lot longer than we had expected for them to be served. Tom had an

Anchovis and Salami Pizza, while I had ordered a

Capriciosa Pizza and we enjoyed them once they had reached our table. It took quite some time again to be able to pay the bill and then we headed outside again.

It had started to lightly rain again and we did not waste much time heading back to our hotel. We were both tired and relaxed on the beds, watching TV until we fell asleep.

To be continued ..........​

 

[linetbo]

I would love to see your Pandora charms. I

 

[dizneeat]

I would love to see your Pandora charms. I

Here you go. This is my Disney one.

My "memories" one.

All the Murano beads come from Venice, Italy.​

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 11, August 26

On the way back home … - Part 1

We were up early again. Tom made some tea and we had a cup, then we went to have showers. Tom let me go first, as I still needed to wash my hair. I was pretty careful not to slip on the marble tiles and when I was done I realized that I had not put my towel by the door. I carefully opened the door, leaned out and my feet started to slide. There was no way to prevent it, I slid along the tiles until I reached the bottom. It must have been quite the noise as Tom came rushing to the door. I could not even answer, as I was laughing that hard. And the whole accident left a nice black and blue souvenir on my thigh where I had scraped along the shower door.
A few minutes later I was out of the bathroom still laughing and advising Tom to be extra careful in the shower.
Once we were both ready we went down to the breakfast room. The hotel is fairly small and we were wondering where there was room enough for a breakfast room, so we asked at reception and were told to just walk over to the building next door and that was where we found the breakfast room. It was bigger than we had expected for that size of a hotel and there was more than enough to choose from.

We both had two plates. My first plate had

salami, cheese and butter and a Panini, Tom’s first plate had

the same, plus some extra spreadable cheese. Tom’s second plate had

more salami and cheese, another spread and a hard boiled egg. I had chosed an old favourite,

a Panini, butter and Nutella. We really enjoyed our breakfast a lot. We had until 11.30 to leave our room,

so we went for another walk. This time we took a different route

and soon found ourselves in empty little streets with Venetians who were on their way to work.

It was a nice quiet walk and we were quite happy with it. And after so many turns and crossing little bridges

we finally found ourselves at the Fish Market.

Tom loves that kind of thing and we took our time to explore the market.

We walked further on and ended up on the Fruit and Vegetable Market. It was one colourful array of things

and we could not help ourselves but buy a few things. Bags heavy we walked to one of the Vaporetto stops, but there was nowhere to buy a ticket, so we decided to just walk back to the hotel.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 11, August 26

On the way back home … - Part 2

Bags heavy we walked to one of the Vaporetto stops, but there was nowhere to buy a ticket, so we decided to just walk back to the hotel.
It was a nice leisurely walk

and when we passed one of the gelaterias, I got myself a small cup of

Cassata ice-cream. We sat on a bench opposite a church and I enjoyed my ice-cream.

But then it was time to really make a move on and head back to the hotel.

We got all our carry-ons and went down to the garage, where our car was already parked at the exit. So we just loaded our stuff in, tipped the parking attendant, got in and off we went. Soon we had left Venice

and found ourselves on the motorway.

We made great progress and when we got close to Latisana we decided that we had enough time to drive towards Lignano, as one of our favourite restaurants is on that street. Soon we stopped there and headed inside. Since it was a weekday there were just a few guests there

so we were sure lunch would not take to long. But then after a glance at the menu we knew we were in for a longer break. They had some yummy things on the menu and so Tom ordered the

Cozze alla Tarantina, mussels in hot tomato broth, while I ordered the

Lasagna al Forno, the meat lasagna. They were both really good and quite large portions. But we still had ordered a fish for our main course. Tom had ordered a

Branzino, which came with a side of Polenta and a

Mixed Salad. The whole fish looked mighty big and even after it had been fileted there was more than enough of it on Tom’s plate. My choice had been the whole

Sole, which was very yummy. We both worked hard, but neither of us was able to completely finish the fish. So, there was no way we would be able to fit in some dessert and we just paid the bill and headed back outside. On the way to the restaurant we had seen several farmers who had little booths next to their farms from where they sold vegetables and farm products. We stopped at one and got a whole watermelon, some baby zucchini, tomatoes and some cheese. Shopping done it was now really time to head home. Soon we were back on the motorway and driving towards the border to Austria.

The motorway winds between the mountains and the views are really pretty

and soon we had crossed the border

and were back in our home country. It was a beautiful day for driving and the traffic was pretty light, so we made good progress.
We stopped one more time to fill up the car and pick up a

coffee drink for Tom and an ice-cream cone for myself. Then we drove for another four hours

until we reached our home town and finally our home, where we unpacked the car and settled into every day life again.

FINALLY DONE!!!​

 

[franandaj]

What a great trip! I read along on my phone the whole time and I hate commenting from my phone, but I fear if I don't comment now, I'll never remember!

I don't know why I was surprised when you were in Florence, you kept saying Florence but I was confusing Florence with Verona, so I was surprised when you were showing the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio instead of the stadium and Romeo and Julie balcony. I love Venice and would love to visit there again someday.

What did the awful gelato taste like? That's very scary about you falling in the shower! I'm glad you weren't hurt! How neat to take such an exotic vacation within driving rage from home.

 

[dizneeat]

What a great trip!

I was so heartbroken when we had to cancel last years summer trip, which was to include a b2b on the Fantasy with friends. It took me a long time to come up with something here in Europe, especially since we did not want to fly somewhere.
Then I remembered how much we had loved the Cinque Terre and it took off from there. In the end it turned out to be a very memorable trip for all the right reasons. We are already thinking about repeating the trip.

I don't know why I was surprised when you were in Florence, you kept saying Florence but I was confusing Florence with Verona, so I was surprised when you were showing the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio instead of the stadium and Romeo and Julie balcony. I love Venice and would love to visit there again someday.

Verona and Milan are still on my list. I have been to Milan when I was young but I would really like to go back.
Venice is so close to where we usually go to Italy for, for a long weekend. It's a 70 minute drive and we always visit when we are there. It IS a beautiful city and there is always something new to discover.
We have never noticed the many cruise ships, but they look a bit out of place when going out at sea.

What did the awful gelato taste like?

I have a very light lactose intolerance (I can have little doses, but bigger quantities don't sit well with me ) and I really want milk and milk products super fresh. Now that ice-cream tasted like milk that was off and I mean really off.

That's very scary about you falling in the shower! I'm glad you weren't hurt!

It would not have been so "funny" had I not warned Tom numerous times to be careful in there. And then when I fell, it was like i was watching myself fall in slow motion. I was already laughing before I hit the floor. And yes, I was pretty lucky I was not hurt apart from the bruise.

How neat to take such an exotic vacation within driving rage from home.

It actually made us realize how beautiful and full of history Europe is. Sometimes you don't see what's right in front of your nose, because you want other things so much more (WDW, DL ...)

 

[dizneeat]

Now that I have FINALLY finished my TR inside my TR - I really want to finish Tom's birthday trip report. Especially since we leave in exactly 4 weeks for our next trip to WDW.

I will repost the part of the day I had started before we left for our summer trip, so you might remember where we were at. ​

 

[linetbo]

Love it!!!!! now the Magic cruise report.

 

[dizneeat]

Love it!!!!! now the Magic cruise report.

It's coming! It's coming!

 

[dizneeat]

​

Day 5, April 1

A Taste of George Town - Part 1


We woke up at around 7am and got right up and ready to head to the top deck. We walked around a bit,

then headed to the front

and found a nice spot to watch the ship drop anchor at Grand Cayman.

And while we got closer we could see a few other ships already in the bay. We crept closer and closer and finally it was time for a crew member to raise the Disney Cruise Line flag.

And while we watched we say quite a few tenders going by and one ship even tendering their guests in what looked like lifeboats.

There were tenders coming in and people were leaving to head to the D-Lounge to check in for their excursions. We were in no hurry as we had not booked a DCL excursion and knew that we would have to wait until people on a DCL excursion had been tendered ashore.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

​

Day 5, April 1

A Taste of George Town - Part 2


We were in no hurry as we had not booked a DCL excursion and knew that we would have to wait until people on a DCL excursion had been tendered ashore.
So we just strolled back to our stateroom to drop off our cameras and it was already made up. Nothing better than to come back to our stateroom and find it nice and clean. Perfect stateroom host to say the least. Quick restroom break and we were ready to head to Lumiere’s for breakfast.
Lumiere’s was pretty empty and we were quickly led to a table and served

coffee and orange juice. Today we stuck with our favourites and were happy to order a hearty breakfast. Soon our trusted starters, the

Swiss Bircher Muesli, Muesli with Raisins, Shredded Apples and Yogurt and the

Mornin’ Tug Boat, fresh blend of Strawberries, Bananas, Almonds, Raisin Granola and Low-fat Yogurt arrived. Once we had cleared our bowl and glass it was quickly taken away and our main breakfast course arrived. No surprise there, we had both opted for the

Traditional Eggs Benedict, Toasted English Muffin with Grilled Canadian Bacon served with Poached Egg and topped with Hollandaise Sauce. Breakfast heaven.
About half an hour after we had entered Lumiere’s we said goodbye to our servers and went to the elevator and up to our room. By now we thought it would be safe to head to the Buena Vista Theatre for a tender ticket, so we changed, got our things together and walked downstairs. When we arrived at the theatre they asked if we were on a tour and since we were not we were handed a tender ticket

and ordered to step aside for a second. It really took only a second, as a crew member was just taking a group of people downstairs to the tender and we were told to just go along with them.
Yeah, that was easy.
We got onto the next tender and were soon on our way.

It takes only a few minutes and soon we arrived at Grand Cayman. And after getting of the tender we just walked around and did some window shopping as we still had over an hour’s time to kill.

So after visiting the Tortuga shop, a liquor store, several other stores that sold clothes and a peek into Del Sol we headed toward the ray sculpture fountain and a little market.

And after checking it out we decided that since we still had quite some time and were thirsty to try out the restaurant/bar, the Paradise Seaside Grill, that was across the street, directly at the water.
We walked over, asked if it was okay to only order a drink and were then taken to a small table right at the water’s edge. We had an awesome view of the Magic

and some of the other ships that were anchored in the bay. There was also what looked like a little yellow “island” which belonged to a diving school.

The server had handed us a menu and we were deciding on what to try. Their

Strawberry Mudslide, Irish Cream, Vodka and Kahlua with a good amount of strawberries mixed in sounded very interesting to me and Tom wanted to try a

Sharkarita, a mixture of Tequila, Triple Sec, Sweet & Sour and Cranberry Juice. We ordered a

bottle of water as well, as we were really thirsty too and soon all our drinks arrived. They looked pretty yummy and even yummier when photographed against the backdrop of the Disney Magic. And now it proved helpful that we had had a rather opulent breakfast, as both drinks were pretty strong. We sat for quite some time before settling our bill and with only 5 minutes to spare we made it to our destination, a small church right opposite the restaurant.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

​

Day 5, April 1

A Taste of George Town - Part 3

We sat for quite some time before settling our bill and with only 5 minutes to spare we made it to our destination, a small church right opposite the restaurant. There we met the rest of our small group and the guide of today’s tour, “A Taste of Georgetown”. The guide introduced herself as Allison

and told us what was to come before we all introduced ourselves as well and then we were off to our first destination and our first sample of Georgetown food. It was not far to walk as Guy Harvey’s restaurant was just a few steps down the road.
We were all led upstairs and there was a table set for us on the patio and we were quickly served some ice water while Allison explained what we were to taste,

Red Snapper Cayman Style, which was Pan seared Red Snapper over a bed over roasted peppers in a mild sauce, rice and beans and fried plantain. Allison had explained that the portions would be small but they were enough to get a taste of the island cuisine, it was delicious. The skin of the snapper was crisp and the actual flesh was moist, the peppers were super tasty and while rice and beans on their own were a bit underwhelming, eaten with the peppers it was perfect.
And the fried plantain was just wonderful. It was the first time I had tried one and I really liked it. While sitting and eating Allison told us more about the island and how some of it came to be and how their food culture had developed before we said our goodbyes to the restaurant and headed outside again. We all followed Allison down the road and finally into a small souvenir shop.
Allison laughed as we all tried to figure out what we were to see or eat there, but she then took us to a glass covered area in the floor

and explained that one of the first wells was right underneath our feet. Photos done we moved on past the ray fountain again

and over to a small building at the crossroads which was protected as it was very old.

Allison went inside and then opened up the booth

and we were to try another speciality of the islands,

Hot Pepper Jelly. We had seen it many times before, but never cared to try it or to even think about it and now we got to try it there.
Allison had put out Carr’s Water Biscuits, the jelly and some “flower” tea (I think it was Hibiscus) for all of us to try. We tried the tea first, but I am very picky with my tea and it was not really my taste, then when it was our turn, we both picked up a water biscuit and with the little spoon we put some of the jelly on top and tried it. It was really good, mild first, but then the heat kicked in. A great accompaniment for cheese. It was so good, we went back for seconds. Allison told us that they sold the jelly in the little shop and to come back later if someone wanted to buy some. We were sure we would come back for some.
And while Allison closed up the shop again we had time to enjoy and take photos of the beautiful flowers all around.

Soon we found ourselves on the move again

and our next stop was the Post Office.

They do not allow photography inside, but the architect had been in the marine and all his buildings reflected ships in some kind of the way and this building was no different. The ceiling looked very much like an upside down ship, very beautiful. Sightseeing done in there, we walked on.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

​

Day 5, April 1

A Taste of George Town - Part 4

Sightseeing done in there, we walked on. We walked away from the busy main street onto the back streets

and finally came to another unique eatery, Singh’s Roti Shop.

Would we have been on our own, we would not in a million years have gone inside, but here we were on a food tour. They had set up two tables that were pushed together for us and we all took seats in the plastic garden chairs, waiting for things to come. First off, Allison brought out small cups of a

locally brewed beer. I don’t drink beer, so Tom got a double dose and while it was not the best beer he has ever tasted, it was quite nice and refreshing. Next we were served a

Roti, an Indian flatbread, filled with various things, and folded together into a little parcel. We were served three different sauces with it, a

Mango based, pretty sweet, rather runny one, a

Tamarind sauce, which was rather on the “dry” side and a hotter yellow pepper sauce. We put a little bit onto our plates

and I tasted each of them just like they were. The Mango one was a bit too sweet for my liking, the Tamarind one was my least favourite, it tasted a bit bitter and the yellow pepper one was my favourite, rather harsh and hot, but it tasted really nice with the roti. We had the Vegetarian Special Roti, Pumpkin, Spinach and Potato. It was nice but a little under seasoned for my taste, but with the hot sauce it was just perfect. There was time for a restroom break for some and once everyone was ready to leave we started to walk back to a more lively area of Georgetown. Allison led us to Heroes Square

and told us all about the brave people whose monument we were looking at. And after exploring the square we walked towards our next food tasting. We stopped at the Tortuga Rum Company where we had a few minutes to look around while Allison and an employee prepared our tasting portions. We were served some

rum punch and a sample of the rum they sold plus everyone got to try half a beef pasty and a whole rum cake. And while I was still munching away I remembered that when I had booked the tour I had read that “though the portions are just tasting size you will not walk away hungry”.
How true that was.
After we had finished our feast we moved on again, walking past a tile mural

that had all the important dates of Grand Cayman embedded in the artwork. We had one more food stop ahead of us, but before we reached it we stopped and looked inside a small church which had been designed by the same architect that had designed the Post Office. And indeed you could see his touch on the inside of the church.

Our last stop of the day was an Italian Restaurant, Casanova’s, which was important to the Georgetown, Grand Cayman community because of its way to help the community.
We could see the restaurant, which sits right at the beach from afar

and when we walked closer we could even see the fishmarket, which was two tables underneath two tents by the side of the road.

And finally we had reached the last stop of our tour.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

​

Day 5, April 1

A Taste of George Town - Part 5

And finally we had reached the last stop of our tour.

Inside the restaurant

we were led to a nicely decked out table where we all sat down. Soon we were offered some ice water and some

crusty Italian bread and some olive oil to dip it in. And while Allison was still talking about the restaurant’s history and importance to the community we were served a small, but very tasty portion of

Pasta Contadina, Penne Pasta with tender strips of chicken, fresh mushrooms, cream and touch of Pesto sauce, topped with freshly grated Parmesan. And there was still a dessert waiting for us, a wonderful

Tiramisu, Ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with light and fluffy Mascarpone cream and flavoured with cocoa.
It was delicious and since Tom does not like Tiramisu I got double the treat. Some of the other members of our group were a bit in a hurry as one couple in particular needed to be back on board in ¾ of an hour, so we said our goodbyes, chatted with Allison a bit more and finally said goodbye to her and headed outside.
We did a little bit of shopping, Tom had seen a liquor he had wanted to purchase, we stopped at Del Sol and a jewellery store where we got a Grand Cayman Pandora pendant for my bracelet and finally picked up some of that Hot Pepper Jelly, then walked through the shopping mall again before heading back to our pier.
While walking towards Disney’s tenders we had to walk past a line of other cruisers and would you believe it, our tour mates were still in line. Turns out that there was only one boat, the “lifeboat” going back and forth and they were way past their “all aboard” time and so were quite a few people behind them. We chatted while they stood and waited before we said goodbye and wished them a pleasant rest of their cruise before heading over to our pier. When we arrived the well loved tent and drinks dispensers greeted us

and we picked up a cup of pineapple water, which was nice, cold and refreshing. Cup emptied and put in the bin we just walked onto our tender without any waiting at all and were on our way back to the Disney Magic again. From the ship we could still see the people in line for the "lifeboat" and were so happy to be on the Magic.

Soon the boat docked alongside the Disney Magic

and people started to get back on board. We sat in our seats on the lower deck until most people had cleared and then just walked up and onto the ship. Our belongings went through the scanner and soon we were in the elevator up to deck 7. When we returned to our room our host had gotten rid of the “little mess” we had made before we had left the ship and we could not believe how much better the service was this time compared to our last cruise. We both took showers, then went to sit outside on the veranda

with an adult beverage,

some new beer for Tom and I was sipping the Prosecco. Tonight’s show was Villains Tonight, which we have already seen and do not like that much to repeat it. We were a bit tired after all the walking around in the sun and dinner was over 2 hours away, so we thought about not going to dinner at all and just order room service, but then we remembered that Cabanas was an option as well. So after a while up we went to Cabanas,

where we were greeted and led to a nice little table. Our server and assistant server introduced themselves and soon we were served our Diet Cokes and a

breadbasket and some

Mint Yogurt Dip was placed in front of us. I remembered not liking the Dip previously, but tried anyway and I had remembered correctly.
Didn’t like it, so while Tom braved it, I stuck with butter. Soon our starters arrived. I had ordered the

Princess Madeleine Salmon Royal, marinated slices of Salmon with Honey Mustard Dressing. Tom tried a soup,

The Beast’s Potato and Sausage Casserole Soup, a hearty recipe with a touch of Paprika. Both were really nice and soon after we had finished them, we were brought our main courses,

grilled New York Strip, served with seasonal vegetables and

Steak Fries. The server insisted we needed some ketchup and again we were served

three blobs of ketchup in the form of a Mickey Head. Both steaks were perfectly cooked and very nice, the veggies were fresh and still had a bit of bite to it and you cannot go wrong with fries. There was nothing on the dessert menu that we really wanted, so after our mains we packed up our stuff and left after tipping our serving team.
We walked outside and past the soft serve ice cream machine and in the spur of the moment decided that this was the perfect dessert.

I cannot remember what the flavour was, but it was a bit on the runny side and we quickly finished our cones. We picked up two cups of ice each on the way back to our stateroom to fill up the ice-bucket and when we returned, we found the beds turned down and a funny new towel animal.

And after a little while Tom took out the laptop and we watched a few episodes of Hell’s Kitchen, while sampling some of the sweet and salty treats we had found in our fish extender so far and some nice cold beverages out of the fridge.

And when we started to fall asleep while watching Gordon shout at his kitchen brigade we knew it was time to finally call it a day.

To be continued ..........​