DAY 5 – MALTA
Today we got up at 6:00 AM which seemed very early and we were in no hurry until we realized that we had 5 minutes to get to the ABD meeting place. Today we went to Malta – well more particularly to Gozo which is a small island in the Malta archipelago. First of all we took a bus all around the Island of Malta (which is only 18 miles long) and then we got on the ferry and went over to Gozo. There we transferred to jeeps and four wheeled all over the island. The driver of our jeep was named Calypso. She had short, red streaked hair. And she drove VERY fast. She stopped at various locations on the island and we took some incredible shots.
Unfortunately today in Gozo it was VERY windy. Like really REALLY windy. There is some interesting history about the Island of Malta – it was originally founded by the Knights of St. Peter and apparently St. Peter was shipwrecked on the island. You can see the forts that they built I believe in the 17th Century and it’s like Lord of the Rings – they can all see at least one tower and when they saw bad peoples (the tour guide’s term) coming they would light the fires and the warning would be sent and then the Knights would go and defend the island. Then it was conquered by just about everybody except the US and now is pretty much just in the tourism business.
So we bounced and sped over the island until we got to the salt flats. Malta originally made salt. And at that time they called it white gold. Nowadays I think it is pretty much just a tourist destination. Next we drove to the Blue Window which is absolutely incredible and you’ll have to look at our pictures to see what we mean. The ocean is so blue and beautiful and turquoise. It was so windy that the ocean was crashing into the rocks. Made for more dramatic pictures for sure. Tom tried to get me into the ocean so that we could have some action shots but I think the only action would have been my body being smacked into the rocks. But you can see that the land has been shaped by so much wind. And there are some amazing natural sculptures as you drive by. And after the wind and the jeep my hair – should I opt to dye it black and white – looked rather like Cruella de Ville’s hair.
Then we bounced over to lunch. Did I mention that the jeep was really high and I had to literally climb into the jeep on my hands and knees? And that when I got out I had to sit down on the bumper and sort of fall out of the jeep on my rear end. Man that was so slick of me – and believe me nobody was laughing at me. Okay almost everybody was. But hey we’re on vacation!
So after that we walked down to the bay and some people stuck their feet into the Mediterranean. It was way too cold and choppy for me to do that. I’ll have to try again in Capri. Tom says that the water in our cabin is desalinated water from the Med so I am bathing in the Med every single day. If the water doesn’t get warmer and calmer than this I am going to have to go with that explanation.
So we got back into the jeep and bounced and sped back to the harbor and caught the ferry back to the mainland of Malta. Then we came back to the ship and dinner tonight was a Caribbean theme. And the food was delicious. I had a lovely grouper and shrimp dinner and Tom had a jerk seasoned steak. And the dessert was delicious. They have an option called the sweet sensations where they give you small bite sizes of the three most popular desserts. So now to bed. The swell now is running against us so the vibrations are different but I think after this day after all the wind and all the climbing in and out of the jeep we will be fine. And tomorrow – Tunis and Africa!! Oh and tonight’s towel animal is either a dinosaur or an elephant. We’ll let you be the judge. Oh, and with each towel animal at night, we also get gold chocolate mint doubloons.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Mediterranean Day Three
DAY 3 – Disney Cruise Line
We woke up this morning and had some breakfast. We encountered some really rude surgical infections doctors – every time I reached for a tong the guy would huff and sigh so of course I took three times as much stuff as I would have liked just to annoy him further. Hey, I’m not perfect. Unfortunately almost all of the food that was supposed to be hot was cold and all the stuff that was supposed to be cold was room temperature. Hopefully didn’t get a bug.
So we went by the Disney Cruise Line desk and had to fill out this ginormous questionnaire about our physical health which we said was fine and we got a blue we’ve already checked in card. So we went back up to the room and I did crossword puzzles and Tom listened to books on tape until it was time to get on the bus to go to the cruise terminal. When we got there we got to bypass every single line there was because we had already pre-registered. If you have the chance to go to a hotel pre-cruise I highly recommend it because it literally saved us an hour or two of time. We got to take a picture with Spanish Mickey Mouse and then we got on the ship.
Our room was not ready so we dumped off our carry-ons at the Adventures by Disney suite at the Suite Sea and got to see Robyn. It was so nice to see her and to dump all our cares and concerns and planning inadequacies on her. It was so nice to see her. Of course she did refer to the Rome day as the Rome Death March so you’ll have to stay tuned to find out how that turns out.
They had the sail away party at 4:30 PM. We were sitting on our balcony and it was all blue and sunny and by the time we got to Deck 9 (we are on Deck 7) it was pouring rain. So the sail away party was delayed about 15 minutes and we went to that and I danced around like an idiot and Tom stepped way back so that they couldn’t tell we were together. Just kidding. And then we went to an Adventures by Disney reception and they introduced everyone and they gave us a way awesome backpack and some daily pins.
After that we came back to the room and we spent some time on the balcony however someone in our vicinity smokes and so it was short lived until we went back into the suite and shut the door. That is so irritating. So we went to the welcome party at the Buena Vista Theater and that was very entertaining. We then went to dinner at Lumiere’s. About half way through dinner the ship just pivoted around in its space and took off the opposite way. At least I think that’s what they were saying. Anyway we had spicy calamari and blue crab and lobster chowder and seafood risotto. Do you sense a theme here? All seafood, all the time.
So we are now underway and on our way to Malta. We have a sea day tomorrow but I’m not sure what we are going to do – maybe spend some time on our smoke filled balcony. We paid for it after all. BAH!! We are still quite jet lagged so going to bed relatively early however it is 10:30 PM the only problem with late dining.
Today’s towel animal was a stingray with eyes of chocolate.
We woke up this morning and had some breakfast. We encountered some really rude surgical infections doctors – every time I reached for a tong the guy would huff and sigh so of course I took three times as much stuff as I would have liked just to annoy him further. Hey, I’m not perfect. Unfortunately almost all of the food that was supposed to be hot was cold and all the stuff that was supposed to be cold was room temperature. Hopefully didn’t get a bug.
So we went by the Disney Cruise Line desk and had to fill out this ginormous questionnaire about our physical health which we said was fine and we got a blue we’ve already checked in card. So we went back up to the room and I did crossword puzzles and Tom listened to books on tape until it was time to get on the bus to go to the cruise terminal. When we got there we got to bypass every single line there was because we had already pre-registered. If you have the chance to go to a hotel pre-cruise I highly recommend it because it literally saved us an hour or two of time. We got to take a picture with Spanish Mickey Mouse and then we got on the ship.
Our room was not ready so we dumped off our carry-ons at the Adventures by Disney suite at the Suite Sea and got to see Robyn. It was so nice to see her and to dump all our cares and concerns and planning inadequacies on her. It was so nice to see her. Of course she did refer to the Rome day as the Rome Death March so you’ll have to stay tuned to find out how that turns out.
They had the sail away party at 4:30 PM. We were sitting on our balcony and it was all blue and sunny and by the time we got to Deck 9 (we are on Deck 7) it was pouring rain. So the sail away party was delayed about 15 minutes and we went to that and I danced around like an idiot and Tom stepped way back so that they couldn’t tell we were together. Just kidding. And then we went to an Adventures by Disney reception and they introduced everyone and they gave us a way awesome backpack and some daily pins.
After that we came back to the room and we spent some time on the balcony however someone in our vicinity smokes and so it was short lived until we went back into the suite and shut the door. That is so irritating. So we went to the welcome party at the Buena Vista Theater and that was very entertaining. We then went to dinner at Lumiere’s. About half way through dinner the ship just pivoted around in its space and took off the opposite way. At least I think that’s what they were saying. Anyway we had spicy calamari and blue crab and lobster chowder and seafood risotto. Do you sense a theme here? All seafood, all the time.
So we are now underway and on our way to Malta. We have a sea day tomorrow but I’m not sure what we are going to do – maybe spend some time on our smoke filled balcony. We paid for it after all. BAH!! We are still quite jet lagged so going to bed relatively early however it is 10:30 PM the only problem with late dining.
Today’s towel animal was a stingray with eyes of chocolate.
Mediterranean Day Two
DAY 2 – WE HAVE ARRIVED (May 14)
Today we woke up as we should always wake up every morning with a warm, smiling flight attendant asking us if we would like some orange juice. And then vanilla French toast and scrambled eggs and turkey sausage and fruit and bagels or croissants and coffee brought in a silver coffee urn. I looked out the window and you could see along the horizon the effects of the volcano burping but underneath us the clouds were so fluffy and white that you actually felt that you could step out of the plane and walk on them.
So we landed in Barcelona and you cannot imagine the relief that washed over us. We were here – and after all that fussing and worrying. The entire airport smelled like cotton candy. I think we need to make LAX smell like oranges – not to be outdone you know. We made it through immigration and then waited for our bags. And waited. And waited. And then 2 of our 3 showed up and we waited. And waited. Just as Tom was about to despair our last bag arrived. Outside it was pouring. If it rained that hard in Los Angeles they would have called out the national guard for a weather emergency. So we step out of the arrival area and into the warm and loving arms of Disney.
While we were waiting we ran into a couple from North Carolina who were also on our cruise and are also doing Adventures by Disney and who are staying in the same hotel before AND after our cruise. There were a lot of people on our flight who are doing a Royal Caribbean cruise. Too bad for them we have the best cruise. We’ll get the best weather and the best ocean – they can have the rain and the rough seas. Just my completely unbiased opinion. So we are driven to our hotel. The one word I have to say about the parts of Barcelona I have seen is charming. And man does this place have interesting architecture. They love the effect of buildings apparently suspended over nothing. I suspect that they do not have many earthquakes here.
So Tom and I checked in – and they upgraded us to a junior suite with a beautiful view of the beach and a very large hotel right smack in the middle of our view. And by some miracle the room was ready. And since this is a pre-hotel booked by Disney Cruise Line we were able to check in for the cruise while in the hotel so tomorrow we only have to pass by security to get onto the ship. Score!!
So we came up to the room and then went to find some lunch. The one restaurant in the hotel was reserved for some doctors’ convention on surgical infections – ewww– so we had lunch in the hotel bar. We asked the very nice server for some recommendations and we had three tapas: mushroom croquettes, vegetable tempura and Iberian ham. Iberian ham is delicious and VERY expensive. I was going to buy some but you can’t bring it back into the United States or the cheese either.
So after that we came back upstairs and took a nap. Tom said get up at 5. Sure no problem. 5 came and went and Tom got up and I snoozed and snoozed until at least 7. We went over across the street and they have the Diagonal Mar mall. You know for a country that is refreshingly cool the interiors of the buildings are SWELTERING. I swear the cotton candy airport was 100 degrees inside. So was the mall. But interestingly enough they have such region specific stores as Nine West, Toys R Us, Sanrio, Bath and Body Works. It was like walking around South Coast Plaza. They had a HUGE grocery store in the mall and so we walked through and the food looked so yummy and interesting and I would love to have bought more than water but what would we do with it but they had an entire wall covered in that Iberia ham and about 5 people to help you get some so you can see that it really is very expensive even in the grocery stores. As we were walking the hall in the mall they had a cart selling goat meat and it was right on the goat’s leg – hoof and all.
For dinner we had cheese soup (the best ever), salad with feta cheese, Tom had the Catalon stew and I had the sea bream – not my favorite fish but it was well cooked and too late I remembered that aubergines is raisins. LOL! You can tell that Barcelona is further north than Los Angeles because it gets dark very late here however while it is now 9:30 PM my body thinks it is noon and while I’m exhausted I do not feel sleepy. Hopefully we can get some sleep. Tomorrow is our first cruise day. Yay!!!!
Today we woke up as we should always wake up every morning with a warm, smiling flight attendant asking us if we would like some orange juice. And then vanilla French toast and scrambled eggs and turkey sausage and fruit and bagels or croissants and coffee brought in a silver coffee urn. I looked out the window and you could see along the horizon the effects of the volcano burping but underneath us the clouds were so fluffy and white that you actually felt that you could step out of the plane and walk on them.
So we landed in Barcelona and you cannot imagine the relief that washed over us. We were here – and after all that fussing and worrying. The entire airport smelled like cotton candy. I think we need to make LAX smell like oranges – not to be outdone you know. We made it through immigration and then waited for our bags. And waited. And waited. And then 2 of our 3 showed up and we waited. And waited. Just as Tom was about to despair our last bag arrived. Outside it was pouring. If it rained that hard in Los Angeles they would have called out the national guard for a weather emergency. So we step out of the arrival area and into the warm and loving arms of Disney.
While we were waiting we ran into a couple from North Carolina who were also on our cruise and are also doing Adventures by Disney and who are staying in the same hotel before AND after our cruise. There were a lot of people on our flight who are doing a Royal Caribbean cruise. Too bad for them we have the best cruise. We’ll get the best weather and the best ocean – they can have the rain and the rough seas. Just my completely unbiased opinion. So we are driven to our hotel. The one word I have to say about the parts of Barcelona I have seen is charming. And man does this place have interesting architecture. They love the effect of buildings apparently suspended over nothing. I suspect that they do not have many earthquakes here.
So Tom and I checked in – and they upgraded us to a junior suite with a beautiful view of the beach and a very large hotel right smack in the middle of our view. And by some miracle the room was ready. And since this is a pre-hotel booked by Disney Cruise Line we were able to check in for the cruise while in the hotel so tomorrow we only have to pass by security to get onto the ship. Score!!
So we came up to the room and then went to find some lunch. The one restaurant in the hotel was reserved for some doctors’ convention on surgical infections – ewww– so we had lunch in the hotel bar. We asked the very nice server for some recommendations and we had three tapas: mushroom croquettes, vegetable tempura and Iberian ham. Iberian ham is delicious and VERY expensive. I was going to buy some but you can’t bring it back into the United States or the cheese either.
So after that we came back upstairs and took a nap. Tom said get up at 5. Sure no problem. 5 came and went and Tom got up and I snoozed and snoozed until at least 7. We went over across the street and they have the Diagonal Mar mall. You know for a country that is refreshingly cool the interiors of the buildings are SWELTERING. I swear the cotton candy airport was 100 degrees inside. So was the mall. But interestingly enough they have such region specific stores as Nine West, Toys R Us, Sanrio, Bath and Body Works. It was like walking around South Coast Plaza. They had a HUGE grocery store in the mall and so we walked through and the food looked so yummy and interesting and I would love to have bought more than water but what would we do with it but they had an entire wall covered in that Iberia ham and about 5 people to help you get some so you can see that it really is very expensive even in the grocery stores. As we were walking the hall in the mall they had a cart selling goat meat and it was right on the goat’s leg – hoof and all.
For dinner we had cheese soup (the best ever), salad with feta cheese, Tom had the Catalon stew and I had the sea bream – not my favorite fish but it was well cooked and too late I remembered that aubergines is raisins. LOL! You can tell that Barcelona is further north than Los Angeles because it gets dark very late here however while it is now 9:30 PM my body thinks it is noon and while I’m exhausted I do not feel sleepy. Hopefully we can get some sleep. Tomorrow is our first cruise day. Yay!!!!
Mediterranean Day One
DAY 1 AND DAY 1 AND DAY 1 (May 13 and May 13 and May 13)
Our May 13 began at 2:30 AM. Worry about traveling and ash clouds made it impossible for us to sleep. In an effect to spread the pain, Tom and I made poor Brett get up at an unheavenly hour to drag us to the airport. We arrived, went and sat down and crossed our fingers so hard that I was afraid they were going to fall off that we would make it on time to Atlanta to catch our flight (hopefully) to Barcelona. Boarding was supposed to start at 7:40 AM and at 7:30 AM they announce that the plane is overbooked and if your ticket does not have “confirmed” on it you might be out of luck. Our tickets did not have “confirmed” on them. So thus begins the total freak out on my part which unfortunately lasted until we were wheels up in Atlanta. Turns out that it was for people who had no seat number but a confirmed flight. We’ve had seat numbers for 6 months. Phew. They were looking for volunteers to give up their seats. Which was NOT going to be us.
Oh, and btw, for those of you with young children they have now changed the rules that you have to inform them that you are bringing a baby on board and your ticket has to say traveling with infant in arms on it. I heard that announcement like 200 times while we were waiting for the flight. Well then, just before they start boarding they say okay this plane (the one at the gate which we were assuming was our plane) was the plane that was supposed to depart at 6:20 AM and did not -- so now we are going to have to move gates. So an entire stampede of humanity rushes to the new gate and there is no plane. So we wait and wait and still no plane. And then we hear the gate attendants talking and one of them asks what happened to the plane and they said it is blocked in by an American Airlines plane and so it can’t get out to come over here. The plane had actually been at the airport for a while although couldn’t get to the proper gate due to that other plane.
So when the plane did show up it was being driven by a grounds crew man. You could tell because of his orange vest. So we ended up leaving 45 minutes late because of the time it takes to board the plane but since the plane no longer had any one it we didn’t have to wait for them to deplane first. And it reminded me of Brian Regan talking about flights because they say we are boarding Zone 1 and every zone in the boarding area rushes the gate. But they made up time in flight and we arrived in Atlanta only about 10 minutes late although the guys in front of us going to Memphis for the BBQ competition missed their flight. Well anyway we get on the plane and the plane is PACKED with people – even business class was cramped – I can only imagine what it was like in steerage.
So on with the day. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Atlanta. I thought LAX was a busy airport. Atlanta was packed. There was not one seat available in the area for our flight. We even went into the Sky Club and there were 4 seats available in the entire club. We went in there with some rapper dudes. They spoke. I did not understand a word they said. I’m not sophisticated enough I guess. And no I don’t know who they were. So anyway we go over to the check-in and finally got onto the plane. You cannot imagine how excited we were after all that worry. And international business class is HEAVEN. They brought us food. And then they brought us more food. And then because we were hungry they brought us even more food. And then followed that with food. We had asparagus soup and seared ahi and salad and cheese and steak and potatoes and cheesecake. No kidding. And the seats were amazing – like the lounge chairs at home. And for the first time in a long, long time we were able to sleep. A little but it was nice. And thus ended our entire day spent on a plane or in airports.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Disneyland and Haircuts
Crazy fun moms + Disneyland = a grand time!
I went with my mom to Disneyland for her birthday because she has sweet connections and got me in free too! It was a GREAT day to be at Disneyland! We walked on to almost every ride we wanted to go on! Star Tours, Space Mountain, AstroBlaster (Buzz Lightyear), and more. The only ride we had to wait on was Peter Pan for 20 minutes (we would have had to wait on Indiana Jones, but we got fast passes for that one).
We had a yummy lunch at Cafe Orleans. We did a little bit of shopping when we were finished with all the rides we wanted at about 2-ish. I got a t-shirt (see below), a crazy cute charm bracelet and a panda pillow to go in my bamboo forest room.
All in all it was a good day, even if, once again....my legs hurt (and they still hurt me even now).
And today, I finally got my hair cut like I've been wanting to do for a couple of months. I'm really happy with how it turned out! It's so nice and light. Mark (my hairstylist) always does such a wonderful job on my hair.
I went with my mom to Disneyland for her birthday because she has sweet connections and got me in free too! It was a GREAT day to be at Disneyland! We walked on to almost every ride we wanted to go on! Star Tours, Space Mountain, AstroBlaster (Buzz Lightyear), and more. The only ride we had to wait on was Peter Pan for 20 minutes (we would have had to wait on Indiana Jones, but we got fast passes for that one).
We had a yummy lunch at Cafe Orleans. We did a little bit of shopping when we were finished with all the rides we wanted at about 2-ish. I got a t-shirt (see below), a crazy cute charm bracelet and a panda pillow to go in my bamboo forest room.
All in all it was a good day, even if, once again....my legs hurt (and they still hurt me even now).
And today, I finally got my hair cut like I've been wanting to do for a couple of months. I'm really happy with how it turned out! It's so nice and light. Mark (my hairstylist) always does such a wonderful job on my hair.
Disneyland and haircuts
Crazy fun moms + Disneyland = a grand time!
I went with my mom to Disneyland for her birthday because she has sweet connections and got me in free too!
I went with my mom to Disneyland for her birthday because she has sweet connections and got me in free too!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
BLIZZCON!!
Ok! People ::coughChiemicough:: have complained to me that I haven't written about the "one interesting thing" that I did this summer yes. (She seems to think I have no life and haven't done anything interesting....how sad that it's pretty much true.)
Ok, a couple weeks ago I had the chance to go to gamers heaven...BlizzCon!! So much fun and so little time to do it in! On Friday I went with Brett and Dustin and Chiemi went in another car. We had planned to meet up but that didn't happen. There were SO many people wandering around in lines outside that I had no clue where to go to get our badges and phat loot (goody bag) that we needed to get inside. We managed to find our way inside just as the opening ceremony started and that was very interesting and we got to see the trailer for the next WoW expansion and that was AWESOME!!! I'm so excited about it!!
After the ceremonies we walked around and looked at stuff a bit and then went to a panel where they discussed some features of the new expansion to come. Very interesting and it's even got Brett interested in coming back to try it out. After that we went to lunch at Coco's where we had a very mediocre lunch. Wish I had gone to the one restaurant that had a Blizzard themed menu for the weekend! McCormick and Schmick's!
After lunch we went back and I went to The Guild's panel. The Guild is an online show about people who play WoW together and I think it's funny. Brett wasn't interested and got bored so he went off to find another source of entertainment, leaving me by my lonesome. After that panel, I went to another one about WoW sine I didn't know where to find Brett and my phone wasn't working. I did see Dustin and Chiemi at that panel but they got up and left when I looked away, unfortunately since they wanted to go home about that point. I didn't know what to do so I did a little more wandering and watched the costume, sound alike and dance contests. Some people were weak, but some of them were quite impressive. If you think I have no life cuz I play WoW, these people have even less. Sad to think about.
I finally had an epiphany about 8:45 to try restarting my phone and it work and I got ahold of Dustin and Chiemi and we went home.
Saturday we went and stood for a couple more panels, went to a few booths and played the new WoW expansion demo they had. It was fun! After that I wanted to get my face painted so I waited in a long line for far too long and got my exciting WoW night elf face markings. They turned out to be very cool looking. Kinda evil. O_o
After that we were going to leave when we were stopped by someone trying to get people to his booth (as mentioned on Chiemi's blog). We went over and did our little interview (which I don't personally think is interesting enough to be posted, but what do I know?). After that we went to turn in the Intel prize cards we got walking over to the story booth. Yay for winning things and free stuff!
All in all it was a fun experience and I wouldn't mind doing it again in the future.
Ok, a couple weeks ago I had the chance to go to gamers heaven...BlizzCon!! So much fun and so little time to do it in! On Friday I went with Brett and Dustin and Chiemi went in another car. We had planned to meet up but that didn't happen. There were SO many people wandering around in lines outside that I had no clue where to go to get our badges and phat loot (goody bag) that we needed to get inside. We managed to find our way inside just as the opening ceremony started and that was very interesting and we got to see the trailer for the next WoW expansion and that was AWESOME!!! I'm so excited about it!!
After the ceremonies we walked around and looked at stuff a bit and then went to a panel where they discussed some features of the new expansion to come. Very interesting and it's even got Brett interested in coming back to try it out. After that we went to lunch at Coco's where we had a very mediocre lunch. Wish I had gone to the one restaurant that had a Blizzard themed menu for the weekend! McCormick and Schmick's!
After lunch we went back and I went to The Guild's panel. The Guild is an online show about people who play WoW together and I think it's funny. Brett wasn't interested and got bored so he went off to find another source of entertainment, leaving me by my lonesome. After that panel, I went to another one about WoW sine I didn't know where to find Brett and my phone wasn't working. I did see Dustin and Chiemi at that panel but they got up and left when I looked away, unfortunately since they wanted to go home about that point. I didn't know what to do so I did a little more wandering and watched the costume, sound alike and dance contests. Some people were weak, but some of them were quite impressive. If you think I have no life cuz I play WoW, these people have even less. Sad to think about.
I finally had an epiphany about 8:45 to try restarting my phone and it work and I got ahold of Dustin and Chiemi and we went home.
Saturday we went and stood for a couple more panels, went to a few booths and played the new WoW expansion demo they had. It was fun! After that I wanted to get my face painted so I waited in a long line for far too long and got my exciting WoW night elf face markings. They turned out to be very cool looking. Kinda evil. O_o
After that we were going to leave when we were stopped by someone trying to get people to his booth (as mentioned on Chiemi's blog). We went over and did our little interview (which I don't personally think is interesting enough to be posted, but what do I know?). After that we went to turn in the Intel prize cards we got walking over to the story booth. Yay for winning things and free stuff!
All in all it was a fun experience and I wouldn't mind doing it again in the future.
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