Cruise Day 8: Ajaccio/Corsica

The 8th day of our cruise found us in the port of Ajaccio on the Mediterranean Isle of Corsica.  As you might guess from our magnet today----which makes both Jason and I giggle (and our adventure guide, Robyn, found amusing, too)---one of Ajaccio's claims to fame is that it was the birthplace of Napolean Bonaparte in 1769....so we thought it only appropriate that our magnet be a Disney-fied Napolean! LOL

Today was another pretty casual and relaxing (& fun) day---both on and off the ship....so again I'll just run you through what we did and saw for the day. 

Day 7: Florence

The seventh day of our cruise brought us to the port of "La Spezia" on the coast of Italy.  This is the port from which we made our journey up into the Tuscany region of Italy to the city of Florence.  Jason created our magnet for this day with a picture of a very famous covered bridge in Florence (called Ponte Vecchio) with Mickey on a gondola boat (we know that's really more Venice...but we thought it looked good on the magnet and it was, at least, Italian! LOL).  Keep a lookout later in this post because Jason and I were able to visit this very bridge and take some pictures...it was nice to once again see the images we pulled off the internet for our door magnets in real life.

We had to drive quite a ways to get to Florence from the port, but our tour guide Samuelo filled part of the time with some information about what we'd be doing that day and the rest of the time he let us just chill on the bus----a nice time when some of our fellow Adventurers napped (after all it was a long day the day prior in Rome and another early morning for this adventure)....and Jason and I spent time visiting with our new friends, Trish & Ben, who were also in the Adventures by Disney group (....just for the record...for those of you who think Jason and I are crazy for taking such a long vacation....get this........

Day 6: Rome

Well the next stop on our cruise of the Mediterranean with Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney was one of the stops we were most excited about:  Rome. Of course Rome is an epic city with such mythology (both figuratively and literally LOL) around it.  It's full of amazing iconic things to see.....things that almost everyone in the world recognizes if you see a picture of them...but that not everyone really gets a chance to see in person (like the colosseum in our magnet----with "Emperor Goofy" LOL----Jason was particularly pleased with how cute this magnet turned out!).  So we were very excited for our first trip to Rome to see some these amazing pieces of the past....and it's good that we were excited, because our guides, Robyn and Tina, had already warned us that Rome was going to be our longest day of the adventure----as most of the day would be on foot so we should be prepared to do a LOT of walking. Tina kept joking and saying, "You know they always say that 'Rome wasn't built in a day"...but we're gonna see the whole thing in a day!!"....

....and she was right!!  It was a busy day...with a fair amount of walking (Jason and I are relatively active in our lives, obviously....not really "fitness people" necessarily, but not averse to a good walk.....so we didn't find the amount of walking to be too much, but at the end of the day we definitely knew we'd walked the entire city of Rome!! LOL

Cruise Day 5: Naples/Sorrento/Capri

Well, Day 5 arrived and very much like Meryl Streep circa 1985, we were "Out of Africa"!! LOL....and our next stop, as you can see from the day's magnet, was Naples----or at least that was the port at which the ship docked.  In actuality, Adventures by Disney and other (and better) plans than for us to just stay there near the port.  Instead we spent the morning part of our day in the town/region of Sorrento (and, very appropriate to our magnet, our activities for the day did involve pizza) and then the afternoon on the island of Capri.

It was an early day again....UGH!  Of course, to be honest...at this point on vacation any day that starts with me getting up before 9am is starting to feel "early" to me...and with our current itineraries, it seems I am having to get up each morning anywhere between 6am and 6:45am each day (and for those of you at home, you have probably done the math and realize that's actually earlier than I get up for WORK!!!------tell me how on earth did I end up on a vacation with earlier mornings and longer days than my job!?!? LOL)  Anyhow....an early day...and a relatively long one....with a lot of sun....so by the end of the day, we were really feeling it----but it was an amazing day.  It's hard to say that any day is "my favorite" so far on this trip since we've done so many amazing things and been so many amazing places already.....but this day was a good one and one of, if not THE, best (so far)!

Goodbye Adventures by Disney

Well, here in Barcelona it is now Saturday, the 18th of September-----
and I know that in terms of my actual posts I am several days behind
(having not even yet gotten our Naples day up on the blog yet----I
promise to try to get everything up in the next few days....keeping
up with blogging is much harder than I imagined it would be! LOL).
That said, however, I think it's worthwhile to just acknowledge that
a new phase of our vacation is beginning today. This morning most of
the Mediterranean cruisers got off the ship and all of our
TransAtlantic shipmates started boarding the ship and we've already
started connecting with some old (and new) friends....

....but that also means that a phase of our vacation has come to an
end. Last night was our final night with the Adventures by Disney
group. We had a reception where they played a slide show with images
from our trip that really tugged at our heartstrings...gave us our
final pins and then at dinner we said goodbye to all of our new
Disney friends from this adventure----and to Robyn and Tina. I gave
them both a hug and I actually cried when we said goodbye. It was
hard to consider that this morning we would wake up and we would
still be on vacation....but without all of them. At the beginning of
the journey they told us we would all end up being like family....and
they were right.

I already know for certain that in the next few days (as I try
desperately to catch up with blog posts of all the days that are
still missing here) I will reflect back on this experience.....but
until that time I want to just post a message here to say that
Adventures by Disney was everything we hoped it would be and
more....it truly did reshape the way we vacation and gave us the
opportunity to experience an incredible adventure in an even more
incredible way!

(To Robyn, Tina & all our Adventures by Disney friends-----thank you
for such an amazing experience....we miss you all already and we will
cherish forever the memories from our adventure!! xoxo, Erik & Jason)

Cruise Day 4: Tunisia (cont.)

....when last we left our fearless travelers, they were finishing up 
a morning of bread-baking, belly dancing and henna tattoos in an 
authentic traditional Berber village in Tunisia. So what's next for 
our adventurers?! LUNCH!!

That's right....after all the activities already provided by the 
village and the family who run it, they also served us lunch. Lunch 
was served at a long family style table inside one of the buildings 
in the village and was served by members of the family that run the 
village. There was, of course, berber bread (like the bread we baked 
in the stone oven outside----even though Jason is a man LOL) and then 
they served a really nice tomato soup that had an orzo type pasta in 
it. This was followed by an appetizer dish that I believe they 
called a "brick"----it was basically scrambled eggs (and I think 
spinach??) inside a deep fried shell. Then came the main course---- 
chicken served over cous cous with some vegetables (like sweet 
potatoes and, I believe, cabbage and carrots) in it and over which 
they poured one of two kinds of flavor sauce. One they called "hot 
sauce" and was clearly made with hot peppers----it had a pretty good 
kick. The second, a milder version, they referred to as "baby 
sauce" (because, apparently, if you needed to eat that one you must 
be a baby....LOL. Never being one to shy away from spicy foods, I 
opted for the hot sauce.

Cruise Day 4: Tunisia----PART 1

(Ok...so I'm at another little wifi spot for a brief time this afternoon....this time in Villefranche (near Monaco)...so I have time to post a little bit before running to get on the ship)

Well Day 4 of our Mediterranean Cruise took us to, arguably, our most exotic port of call: Tunis in Tunisia...a country in Northern Africa.  Jason was particularly proud of this day's magnet....and it ended up being very appropriate because we got to ride camels...AND, without even realizing the connection, our ties at dinner were Aladdin/Genie ties! LOL   But I'm jumping too far ahead....so....

Now, let me say this right of the gate---I know this port was a controversial one for many people.  Lots of people were excited about it because of how unique and exotic was....lots of people ended up not liking it because they had a bad experience (I have heard rumors that the area of Tunis to which Disney Cruise Line sent most guests was overcrowded and crazy and not as much fun as many had hoped)....and I know that there were more than a few people, both on the ship and back home, who had misgivings about visiting Tunisia because it is a primarily Muslim country and it was, ironically September 11th the day we arrived in Tunis.