A Disney Cruise Tale – Spain Without Spanish

Barcelona's Sagrada FamiliaSpain Without Spanish – Joseph Green

“The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain was designed by architect Antoni Gaudi in 1882. It stands fifty feet tall at its tallest point, the central spire of Jesus Christ. The Sagrada Familia is also covered in some of the most beautiful carvings one would ever hope to see,” said the short, pale woman leading the tour. “Blah. Blah. Blah,” is all I heard through the roaring crowd of sweaty tourists craning to get a glimpse of the cathedral. Now that was all good and well, but by the time I looked upon the face of that beautiful cathedral, I had been awake for well over forty-eight hours. I looked at my friends, and by the look on their jet-lagged faces, I knew they shared my grief. Don’t get me wrong the cathedral was absolutely stunning! I had never seen something so beautiful in my life, but at this point all I wanted was lunch. What was the best part? I had no idea how to order lunch. I, regretfully, did not think Spanish was important to learn in high school. Now I am in Spain with a horde of grumpy tourists and no way to communicate.

In 2012 I was given the privilege of choosing a destination of my choice for my senior trip.The Heart of Barcelona  My family, being avid Disney vacationers, gave me no other choice but to choose a destination provided by Disney. My mother read me a list of possible cruise destinations for 2013, and after a little consideration I chose a seven-day cruise through the Mediterranean. The cruise departed from Barcelona, Spain and included stops in France and Italy. My mother had taken French in high school and college and spoke it well enough to get by. Mom had also recently started teaching herself Italian in preparation for the cruise. It seemed as though my trip would turn out to be quite lovely! We would fly from Atlanta to Barcelona, hardly having to wait at the airport, and board the ship promptly. That is until my parents made the choice to spend two days in Airport on the way to BarcelonaBarcelona to do some sightseeing. No one in my family spoke, or had taken any classes that taught the Spanish language, except for me. So who do you think they expected to communicate to the locals in Spain? You guessed it, me.

Bill Gates once said, “I give the most difficult jobs to the laziest people because I know they will find the simplest way to complete them.” Although I passed Spanish with an A, the online program teaching us had a slightly faulty teaching design. The “lazy people,” or as we called them, “gifted slackers,” found a way to complete the percentage of work we were asked to complete without doing any work at all. If one were to log on to this program and choose a speaking assignment without plugging in a microphone, one would find that the program itself would complete their work. Nearly the entire 2013 graduating class of Riverfield Academy passed Spanish I and Spanish II by doing absolutely nothing. We thought we were so smart. Unbeknownst to my parents, I could not speak one bit of Spanish. Unbeknownst to me, at the time, I was actually going to need to speak Spanish.

August of 2013 finally came. After months of preparations, and constant haggling, courtesy ofSpain from the Air my mother, we were on our way. Approximately eleven hours and roughly 25,000 miles later, we landed in Barcelona. Early morning Barcelona was stunning from the airplane window. An orange and pink sunrise cast over the mountains broke through crests and painted the seaside city. I couldn’t wait to step foot on the ground, and experience the view firsthand. Sadly, my excitement was diminished by the hours of airport hell I had to endure. We had planned on seeing the Sagrada Familia as early as possible in a hope to avoid the crowds, but it was already 11:00 and we hadn’t even checked into the hotel.

Buildings in BarcelonaAfter a short break in my hotel room, I met my family in the hall and we decided to walk to the Cathedral. I enjoyed seeing the historic city during the walk; the pastel buildings with intricate balconies and moldings. It felt good to stand after such a long flight. As we wove our way through mazes of crowds, the smell of pastries and pastas filled the air. The tempting smells would mean my demise. Sure enough, as we approached the cathedral, my only thought was, “food.” Apparently my family felt the same because after our tour it was my time to shine. My mother turned to me and said, “I’m hungry. Everyone else is hungry. Let’s get something to eat!” My stomach dropped. They were all expecting me to order, and I did not know how.

We walked back toward the hotel. Along the way, my mother or father would ask, “What Exploring Barcelonaabout here? This place looks good.” I would respond with, “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m fine with anything.” That bought me time. The group, being too tired and grumpy to come to a consensus, would not choose a restaurant to eat. This did not bother me at all! The more time we killed arguing about food, the more time I got to hide the fact that I didn’t know how to speak Spanish. After an hour of listening to my stomach growl and seeing food pass right before my eyes, not even I could handle it. It was time to man-up and deal with situation at hand! Though running and hiding seemed rather appealing as well.

Barcelona SelfieWe sat down outside of a corner-side restaurant. Locals walked in and out carrying food, their faces satisfied with their order. I looked at my family. They were sweaty and worn out from walking. I knew they must be starving. As I stood there, feeling regret for not taking Spanish more seriously, a thought crossed my mind. “What if, instead of telling my parents I couldn’t order food, I do what I’m supposed to do? Ask this guy if he speaks English!” A burst of energy flowed through me. If the man working the counter spoke English, there would be no need for my family to know that I don’t know Spanish. If he didn’t, not only would I embarrass myself in front of the locals, but I would also have to explain to my family that I couldn’t communicate with anyone. I balled my fists, swallowed what little pride I had left, and marched into the restaurant.

The man working the counter looked at me and said, “hola.” I immediately felt stupid and Lunch at a cafe in Barcelonaintimidated as I muttered, “hola,” back to him. Nervously, I looked him in the eye and said, “Engles?” He responded, “Engles? Si!” I buried my face in my hands and thought, “Oh, God. If this guy really spoke English he would’ve said yes, not si!” My thoughts were interrupted when the man corrected himself to say, “Ah! I mean yes!” Upon hearing those words, my jaw dropped. Relief flowed over me in the form of a tall, tan Spanish worker with a strange accent. I smiled and said, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get my family.”

Through lunch I contemplated my actions. I may not have taken the best approach by not La Rambla, Barcelonatelling my parents I didn’t know Spanish, but I realized something. I could navigate this city if I needed to. I could be an ordinary, adult, American tourist. Simply asking that man if he spoke English gave me the confidence I needed to speak with others. In that moment, I realized that I had become literate in the subject of tourism.

Disney Cruise in the Mediterranean – Sorrento and Pompeii

DSCN3524Links to the other parts of this trip report are at the very bottom of this post.

On Thursday, August 15th, we awoke in Naples.  I’ll be honest – I, for one, was getting pretty tired!  This would be our last port before a day at sea and the return to Barcelona.  Again, I’d scheduled a day-long tour with Can’t be Missed Tours.  The price was right and the itinerary sounded perfect – we’d travel to Sorrento after making a brief stop at a scenic overlook above Positano, then spend the afternoon touring Pompeii.  After the resounding success of the previous day’s tour of Rome with the same tour company, we were raring to go and have another action-packed, fun-filled day under the summer sun in Italy!

Everything started off great – same as previous days, up early and hitting the breakfast buffet DSCN3528before waiting to leave the ship.  The port of Naples was not a tender port and we were able to leave the ship without waiting in the theater with a bunch of other families – we walked right off from the main lobby and we were almost the first to leave.  We easily found the port station in front of which we were to meet our tour guide.  Slowly, the crowd grew and included many of the same people we’d toured Rome with the day before.  No tour guides.  I saw another building and walked down to the people waiting there to see if maybe our tour guide was waiting for us there.  Sure enough, a small, older man and a taller man (in very snappy attire!) were waiting – silly, I know, but they looked sketchy to me.  They were holding a sloppy, hand-lettered sign that simply said “CBM”.  I immediately decided they were impostors and walked back to the rest of our waiting group members.

DSCN3530Shortly, the two “impostors” walked over and began asking if any of the group were waiting for C.B.M. – they never said, “Can’t be Missed Tours” – I was still skeptical until they began calling out the last names of the families booked on their tour.  We were among those called and so were the families we’d met the day before.  We ended up with the older man – who had the unlikely name of Guido (literally “guide” in Italian).  So, Guido herded us into a large van/small bus-like vehicle, introduced us to our young driver and we were off.  I’m pretty sure if we hadn’t had Stephano as our guide in Rome, we would have been perfectly (or at least a little) happy with DSCN3537Guido.  Compared to Stephano, though, Guido was a disappointment.  Where Stephano shared interesting stories and fun facts while asking the group questions regularly to keep everyone engaged, Guido lectured.  Guido was not as easy to understand as Stephano – his English was much more heavily accented and, as the day wore on, his lectures took on a rather hilarious quality.

We were in bumper-to-bumper traffic headed high above the coast for our first two stops – and we were pretty exhausted – we all found it really hard to stay awake!  Since Guido was hard to understand, it was easy to tune him out.  Our first stop was unexpected – we stopped at an inlaid wood factory and Guido put on the hard sell.  It was interesting for about two minutes and then we were ready to get onto the good DSCN3543stuff.  Sadly, Guido had other plans.  After the explanation by the factory owner of how inlaid wood products are made, we were shuffled into the showroom where we stayed for what seemed like forever!  A couple of people bought some really small, inexpensive items – I’m convinced they did this in an attempt to end the hostage situation and it did seem to work.  Back on the bus again, we headed for an overlook above Positano.

Here’s the thing – we’re a family that likes to DO things rather than just LOOK at things and this tour was starting off a big boring disappointment.  More traffic and we finally arrived at the DSCN3553overlook, which, oddly enough, still included a big sales push by Guido – this time for lemonade or lemon ice or something from a small food-truck along side the roadway by the overlook.  Seriously, he tried so hard to get people to buy a beverage – the more he tried, the more determined I was NOT to buy anything (I’m a little stubborn that way).  We looked over, we took pictures, we waited….and waited…..it was pretty hot out there in the sun….with nothing to DO!  Finally!  Back on the bus.  Once more, Guido lectured on our way to Sorrento and as we drew closer to town, he began again with the hard sell – this time for a particular restaurant and the fixed price lunch there.  I’m pretty sure literally everyone from our group ate there except the six of us – I needed a Guido-free opportunity to explore and our time in DSCN3547Sorrento seemed too precious to waste on a big sit-down meal.  I convinced Raymond, Megan, Grant, Joseph and Jason that I could find us something good and quick to eat, leaving us more time to see the gorgeous city of Sorrento.  Guido gave us a time to meet back at the bus and we practically ran for freedom.

Downtown Sorrento was easy to find and was one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen!  It was hard not to be distracted by the variety of shops and boutiques as I scanned forDSCN3548 something akin to fast food.  Set back from the main street in a small alleyway, I spotted the perfect place!  Tony and Rosy’s Pizza.  Stepping inside, we found the tiny, strictly to-go eatery deserted – except for Tony and Rosy and another cook.  The pizza oven was the centerpiece of the room and we were made to feel very welcome.  No one spoke any English, but they were thrilled to have attracted tourists!  We found the prices to be amazingly reasonable and ordered a gigantic 12-slice rectangular pizza, half buffalo (tomato and cheese), and half pepperoni or Margherita or some such (I loved the buffalo so much!).  We picked out DSCN3549bottled beverages and took a bunch of pictures while Tony prepared our pizza and put it in the oven.  He presented us with a souvenir bottle opener to take with us and off we went to find a place to sit and eat.

In the middle of town, next to a horse-drawn carriage stand, we found some empty park benches perfect for enjoying our lunch while people-watching.  We polished off our pizza in record time and were off to see what Sorrento had to offer by way of shopping.  What a variety of establishments!  Clothing, shoes, kitschy souvenirs, inlaid wood furniture (of course), and gelato!  Using our lessons from Paola in Florence about DSCN3550good, site-made gelato, we found a shop that passed muster and ordered cones for dessert.  I remember mine was pistachio and it was delicious.  We went into a wine/cooking store and purchased not only wine, but olive oil, limoncello, and a souvenir wine opener as well.  On the way back to the bus, I stopped to buy a kitchen towel I’d seen along the way that featured Sorrento and lemons.  Okay – GREAT time in Sorrento and now on to Pompeii – we were even early for the bus.

Here’s where we began to notice Guido’s strange way of speaking – we had less opportunity to tune him out when he DSCN3563moved back to the middle of the bus for the ride to Pompeii (probably he noticed us falling asleep earlier).  Guido began to prepare us for the sights of Pompeii and with ever-increasing frequency to use the words “special” (which came out spatial – “spay-shul”) and “proper” (with those rolling Italian R’s).  As the afternoon wore on, we would hear those two words so many times, we began to predict when he would next use special and proper to describe things from homes, to streets, to gardens – pretty much everything became a “special proper” something.

DSCN3565Pompeii is huge!  Armed (or should I say “eared”) with our “personal whispers” as Guido called them – we once again were given listening devices so as not to miss a single thing about the glories and wonders of all that is special and proper in Pompeii.  The tour started off well.  Guido was easy to follow (under a plaid umbrella to provide him shade for lecturing) and there was, indeed, so much to see!  We toured streets, homes, stores, and incredibly well-preserved baths.  We also saw storage areas where hundreds of excavated artifacts and even human remains were visible.  We noticed that the tour became slower and slower in the afternoon heat, finally stopping altogether.  Here’s where being used to summertime in Louisiana really paid off.  We were pretty comfortable, warm, but not HOT and the humidity (for us) was completely tolerable.

We wandered off, exploring as much as we dared – within earshot so we wouldn’t accidentally DSCN3568get left behind.  When Guido announced it was time to return to the bus, we knew we had seen very little of Pompeii – and absolutely none of the really interesting (risqué) parts.  Later, a look at the map and we could tell it was actually a very tiny percent of Pompeii that had been visited on the tour.  We ended up resenting the time wasted at the inlaid wood factory and the Positano overlook – if this tour would have gone straight to Pompeii first thing in the morning before visiting Sorrento, we would have enjoyed it much more.

Pompeii2The bus dropped us back at the port terminal where we had time to purchase some souvenirs in the Vespa store.  Back on the ship, exhaustion set in.  All in all, even though we’d wished the day had gone a bit differently, we still got to do and see so much – it was hard to feel disappointed.  And while I may have physically been in the theater for the “Magic and Illusion of Scott Pepper” (that evening’s show) I fell sound asleep!  When we were in Pompeii – I looked down at one point and noticed I was bleeding into my shoes from the ravages of jet-lag-induced swollen feet (sores from my shoes had formed on my Achilles tendons).  It didn’t really bother me – I was having a great time, but I was absolutely beat and all of us were ready for the at-sea day we would have on Friday.  Rest and relaxation were not on the agenda, but much less walking would be involved.  Exhaustion aside, cruising on the Mediterranean was turning out to be everything we’d hoped for and much, much more.

Links to all the other parts of the trip report:IMG_6349

 

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Our Disney Mediterranean Cruise Part 6 – Palo and Evening Shows

IMG_1758Welcome to Part 6 of our Disney Magic in the Mediterranean trip report.  Links to the other pages of this trip report can be found at the very end of this post.

So, when we last parted, our group had just returned to the Magic after our first day in Italy (Tuesday, August 13th).  We had an unbelievably amazing time in Pisa and Florence, but the day was not over yet!  For that evening, we had dinner reservations at Palo.

If you’ve not cruised with Disney before, Palo is an adults-only Italian restaurant that offers quiet dining, exceptional service, and beautiful views from the top of the ship.  There is currently a $25 per person up-charge for this dining experience – we’ve always felt the price was reasonable.  Raymond and I had been to Palo several times before (sans offspring) – but part of DSCN3126the reason we waited until late in the summer to sail was so Joseph would be 18 and could finally enjoy Palo with us.  Megan could have eaten with us in Palo on our Alaskan cruise in 2011, but we decided it wouldn’t be fair to only take one child, so Raymond and I managed to tough it out on our own.  Twice.

When we arrived back on the ship, our original plan was to get ready for dinner (Palo has a dress code, so we wore cocktail/semi-formal attire) and see the early show before our 8 o’clock reservation.  We were too late returning to catch the show – “Walt Disney The Dream Goes On”.  This was a little disappointing because we love the Disney shows and try not to miss a single one – however, it DSCN3331was worth missing it – we would not have sacrificed a single second of our time in Pisa and Florence for anything!

All gussied up, our little group of six made our way to Deck 10 and into Palo.  We were greeted by our server, Sylvester (from India).  Sly escorted us to our table by the window and brought the sommelier over to help us select our wine.  Raymond and I have grown accustomed to the really great service in Palo, but on that night, once Sly realized that Megan, Grant, Joseph and Jason were visiting Palo for the first time – he pulled out all the stops!  In addition, I’ve got to add that the sunset that night as we sailed off the Italian Coast was stunning.

DSCN3333Plates quickly began arriving – appetizers we ordered and also surprises Sylvester brought for us to try.  Having eaten hours and hours earlier (and only pizza and gelato, you may recall) – we tried not to fall upon the feast like a pack of ravenous dogs!  The calamari was the best I’d ever had.

The time came to order our entrées.  I know Joseph ordered two (one of which was the rack of lamb)!  There was a huge variety of orders around the table.  When it came to my turn, I wasn’t starving anymore, so I had Sly surprise me and he selected the Osso Bucco which is very tasty, but comes in a really generous portion.  So large, in fact, that Sylvester thought IDSCN3334 didn’t like it because it looked like I’d hardly touched it when I was finished.  No one at the table ordered the special of the day which was lasagna – so of course, a couple of orders of lasagna appeared magically in the center of the table so we wouldn’t miss out on it.  We ate.  And ate.  Very little conversation took place – mostly just small exclamations of delight were all that could be heard around the table.

At this point, we were feeling pretty sated – but Palo’s famous chocolate soufflé was calling to us!  It is prepared to order, so we knew there would be about a 20 minute wait.  We ordered coffees and, of course, Sly brought big bowls of ice cream which he set down in the middle of the table – just to tide us over.  I was shocked at how fast that ice cream disappeared!  The soufflés are served very warm, straight from the oven, with a pitcher of vanilla sauce on the side.  The sauce is poured into the DSCN3330dessert’s center as soon as it’s placed in front of you.  It’s super-rich, gooey chocolaty heaven!

We walked in at 8:00 pm and waddled out exactly THREE hours later.  We told Sylvester that we’d be back on Friday for brunch and if it could be arranged, would love to have him again as our server.  Oh, so full and exhausted, we made our way to our cabins.  Tomorrow we would arrive in Civitavecchia and spend the day in Rome.  There was nothing – not one thing about our trip so far that could possibly have been any better.

A bit about the shows on Disney Cruise Line.  The Disney stage shows are absolutely excellent,IMG_0712 Broadway-quality entertainment – perfect for all ages.  The theater itself is wonderful and refreshments are available (even adult beverages) at the theater’s entrance.  There were five different Disney shows on our cruise and two shows by other entertainers.  We had main seating for dinner, so I’ll post our assigned restaurant on the rotational dining schedule in parentheses before the name of each evening’s show.  Here’s the recap:

8/10 (Animator’s Palate) All Aboard!  Let the Magic Begin! – We’ve seen this on all the Disney cruises we’ve taken.  It’s a great way to get excited about all the magic and excitement Disney has in store for you on your high seas adventure.

DSCN08768/11 (Anamator’s Palate) Twice Charmed – An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story – This is a cute story and as the title implies, it’s based on a favorite tale, but with a twist.  Songs, costumes, effects are all top shelf!

8/12 (Parrot Cay) Junk (Comedy and Percussion / Not Disney) – For non-Disney entertainment, these guys were great – hilarious, clever, and highly entertaining.  A little bit Blue Man Group-ish and a whole lot of FUN!

8/13 (Lumiere’s) Walt Disney The Dream Goes On – I’m sorry we missed this one since we’ve never seen it before.  I know absolutely nothing about it.

8/14 (Animator’s Palate) Villains Tonight! – This was the first time for us to see Villains and I’ve DSCN0865got to say it shot straight up the list to my most favorite Disney Cruise Line show EVER!  Disney does a great job of adding jokes to their shows specifically for adults – not inappropriate humor in any way, just clever references, puns, and bits only the more mature members of the audience will “get”.  Villains seemed to do a better job with this than other shows.  Plus – I’m a big fan of the villains in general and am very happy they get their own big stage production.

8/15 (Parrot Cay) Scott Pepper (Magic and Illusion / Not Disney) – I’m sorry, guys.  This show started out alright, but it was 8:30 pm after an entire day in Rome (next post on the trip report!) and I’d had some wine with dinner.  I’d love to give you details about Mr. Pepper’s magic show, but I fell sound asleep.

DSCN09008/16 (Lumiere’s) Disney Dreams – This is a show we’ve seen on every Disney cruise and we never get tired of it.  Honestly, it’s spectacular.  ALL our favorite Disney characters make an appearance in this show – they sing, they dance, the special effects are spectacular – what’s not to love?

Up Next – the port of Civitavecchia and an unbelievable day in Rome!   

Here are the links to the other parts of our Magic in the Mediterranean trip report:

Cruising Disney’s Magic in the Mediterranean (Part 3)

DSCN2922This is Part 3 of our Mediterranean Cruise on the Disney Magic Trip Report.  Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 here. (Links to all parts of the trip report are at the bottom of this post)

Barcelona, Spain:  Cruise Departure Day.  Raymond and I are early risers.  On Saturday, August 10th we were up, showered, dressed and packed in record time (too excited to sleep!).  We’d left the rest of our party the night before with strict instructions on what time we needed to meet in the hotel lobby, knowing they would sleep until the very last possible minute.  This gave Raymond and I an unexpected bonus adventure – we had plenty of time to walk leisurely from the hotel to (do not get mad at us!) one of the many Starbucks of Barcelona for breakfast.  After coffee and muffins, we strolled back to the hotel soaking up the early morning sights and sounds and saying goodbye to a great city…we vowed to come back someday and visit again.

Surprise!  Megan, Grant, Joseph and Jason were all up and ready to go by the time we got backDSCN2894 from breakfast.  We gave them directions to a couple of different bakeries (including Starbucks) and sent them off (yes, I was a little nervous knowing they were out there alone in a foreign city) – threatening them with dire consequences if they didn’t return on time for our appointed port shuttle departure.  As usual, I worried needlessly and we were all situated with plenty of time to spare.

The lobby of the Renaissance is tiny (as are the rooms and most especially the elevator) compared to American hotels.  There were a ton of cruise passengers (many different nationalities) everywhere waiting to leave and in that DSCN2888cramped space, it was pandemonium!  We were clumped together with our properly tagged luggage with several minutes to kill when one of the Disney reps approached us (seemed grateful we were both ready to go and in good humor) and offered to let us board the bus that was just about to leave – YES!  Even in Spain, Disney pixie dust is present.

Now WAY ahead of schedule, we were already on our way to the Magic.  Barcelona has such incredible architecture and scenery – I DSCN2934concentrated on seeing as much of it out the motor coach’s window as I could on our way to the cruise port.  Soon, the Magic came into view and we found ourselves standing in line outside the cruise terminal.  The air was crackling with excitement!  The line moved quickly, we got our paperwork processed, received our Castaway Club lanyards and were boarding the ship in what seemed like no time at all.

The weather was gorgeous and we would soon be sailing for France – life was feeling pretty DSCN2935darned sweet as our group enjoyed the buffet in Parrot Cay (now Carioca’s) before spending the afternoon exploring, completing our life-boat drill, and getting unpacked  while soaking up the the overall feeling of excitement among everyone on the ship.  Raymond’s and my assembly station for the drill was actually in Animator’s Palate – so, of course I then referred to our assigned location as our “mustard” station for the rest of the cruise.  We invited the rest of our traveling party to our cabin for happy hour (opened the wine we’d purchased in Barcelona) before our early dinner seating (which became a daily ritual).   Dinner that night was in Animator’s Palate and the show for the evening was All Aboard Let the Magic Begin.

The next day (Sunday, August 11th) was spent at sea.  I believe at-sea-days intimidate some people – they worry there won’t be enough to do on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean.  This was the first of two at-sea days for our cruise and we absolutely packed them full of action.  For me this day started out (after breakfast) with a visit to the spa for a pedi.  Every member of our party had a spa appointment scheduled during the cruise – Joseph, Jason, and Raymond were each getting aDSCN2960 massage and Megan and Grant a couples’ massage.  I just wanted cute toenails, but as it turned out, the pedi included a fantastic leg massage that did wonders for my poor still-swollen-from-jetlag feet!  Raymond and I had scheduled a Martini Tasting seminar in Sessions bar – Anne Marie from Jamaica was our hostess and we had a LOT of fun learning about martinis (which we drink….never).  As we were getting in the elevator after our seminar, I mentioned to Raymond that, while I’d enjoyed the Martini Tasting, I probably shouldn’t have finished all the samples we were given – a lovely woman from Great Britain turned to me and exclaimed, “Why NOT?!!  You’re on HOLIDAY!”  Yes, indeed!

We (all six of us) relaxed that afternoon by the Cove pool.  Then, as Raymond headed off for his massage, I got ready for Formal Night.  We had an “All Hands On Deck” cheese platter with our happy hour glass of wine before, looking very spiffy, we made our way to dinner.

Once again, we were back in Animator’s Palate, but this time we were dressed to the nines.  We enjoyed our meal very much and the DSCN2964evening’s show afterwards was Twice Charmed.  Honestly – we were so excited to arrive in Villefranche the next day and all of us, except Grant, had seen this show before – we kind of wound down and were ready for sleep once the show was over. Well – Raymond and I headed back to our cabin and the youngsters…. probably best we didn’t ask.  (Really – they were well-behaved as far as we know.)

Back in our cabin, Raymond and I sat out on our balcony with a little bit of wine (leftover from happy hour) and the chocolate left on our bed by our cabin steward.  The Mediterranean was so calm, the weather beautiful, the stars in the sky so different from home – we loved this moment so much, it also became our habit every night of the cruise –DSCN2966 to end the evening just this way.

Tomorrow we would arrive in France.  I had studied French from 7th grade through my first year of college.  This was a big deal for me – not just because I had always imagined what France would be like – I had planned no formal tour or excursion in France.  We’d be on our own.  I had a plan – well, several in fact, but they depended on ME!  Getting us around and safely back to the ship.  Armed once again with Rick Steves’ induced confidence…we drifted towards our next port and off to sleep.

Please come back for Part 4 (Villefranche) on Tuesday, February 11th!  If you have any questions about cruise planning, excursions, anything at all, feel free to ask and I’ll do my best.

Links to other parts of this trip report: