Tag Archives: Disney Mediterranean Cruise

Cruising Disney’s Magic in the Med – Pisa and Florence

Posted on by

DSCN3133This is Part 5 of the trip report for our 2013 Cruise aboard the Disney Magic in the Mediterranean.  See the end of this post for links to the report’s other parts.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013.  We have arrived in Italy and this day would be a BIG deal!  Courtesy of Rick Steves’ advice, I’d contacted Florence Tours and arranged for guide Paola Migliorini to meet us at the cruise port in La Spezia to take us to both Pisa and Florence.  Paola would show and teach us as much as possible, then have us back to the Magic on time.  Kind of a challenging plan.  Rather than the closer and more popular port of Livorno, Disney has DSCN3136chosen La Spezia – a two hour drive from Florence!  Again, having only one day meant we had to prioritize, so we were basically just planning to make a very short stop at Pisa’s famous tower before jumping right back into the van to spend as much time in Florence as possible.

The first obstacle – getting off the ship!  Once again we were up, dressed and ready to go – only to find ourselves in a holding pattern with all the other non-Disney excursion families waiting to take a tender to shore.  Finally, we were able to leave the ship and, once we reached the port on the tender, we dashed along the waterfront to find Paola holding our name sign and looking a bit worried about how much of the DSCN3138day had been wasted.  She’d been able to park very close so we jumped in the van – I rode shotgun – and hit the road.  I kind of felt sorry for Paola at this point – she put on her microphone so she could make a presentation about everything we were seeing in the Tuscan countryside and Raymond and I were the only one’s awake and listening.  I could tell she was not angry really, but puzzled about Megan, Grant, Joseph, and Jason falling asleep so quickly!  I did my best to explain how much we’d packed into our trip so far and hoped that made her feel better.

First stop:  Pisa’s Leaning Tower.  Looked just like we expected it to and we quickly started snapping pictures.  Walking around we noticed “keep off the grass” signs all around a grassy area – filled with tourists!  Finally a lone policeman with a loud whistle came around and shooed everyone off theDSCN3146 lawn – it was hilarious watching people try to quickly pose for pictures before the angry whistle-blowing cop got to them.  Back in the van, Paola took us for a quick tour around Pisa – pointing out the gorgeous architecture and beautiful bridges over the river Arno.  We learned that the shutters on all the buildings must be painted with only certain colors (green, brown, tan) in keeping with the town’s history.  Had there only been more time, we would have loved to see and do more here.

A bit about packing for day tours in Italy.  I studied quite a lot (shocking, I know) about how to dress appropriately, how best to blend in and not to stand out too much as a tourist (pick my pocket, please), and, most importantly, how to dress properly for entering cathedrals in Europe.  I ended up asking everyone in our group to avoid shorts, jeans, graphic tees, and tennis shoes/sneakers.  Important:  Shoulders DSCN3161and knees must be covered to enter cathedrals and there are “fashion police” at church entrances checking for this!  Improperly dressed visitors are either not permitted to enter (what a shame to come all that way and not get to see everything!) or are required to wear a cover-up of sorts – I referred to as the “blue poncho of shame”.  I’m guessing these must be available for purchase somewhere near each cathedral – we sure saw a bunch of them.  While it was August and pretty warm, we were all happy to be nicely and properly attired for our sightseeing adventures.

IMG_5855On the way to Florence, Paola once again pointed out places of interest from hilltop castles to leather processing centers.  Much of the Tuscan countryside was beautiful.  There were also, just like in the U.S., some abandoned and rundown homes and buildings.  Everything we saw and learned was interesting as Paola tried to make the most of an unfortunately long drive.

Raymond and I had both made a point of reading Dan Brown’s Inferno earlier in the summer.  Most of that book (it’s great, we highly recommend it!) takes place in Florence as the main character, Robert Langdon, visits all of the DSCN3199city’s most famous sites as he tries to solve a mystery.  We had visions of these places from the story and couldn’t wait to see how the book compared with reality.  We had no idea that Florence actually restricts vehicle access in the city’s center – unless you live in the heart of Florence, you are not allowed to drive your car anywhere near the museums and cathedrals.  This was why having Paola as our guide was so fantastic – she does live in Florence and skillfully navigated the narrow, crowded streets – getting us right to each attraction on our schedule – in air-conditioned DSCN3201comfort!

First item on the agenda?  The Academia to see David!  Seriously, until you are standing next to this 17-foot-tall masterpiece, you can’t really imagine how spectacular he is.  First Paola guided us through a few of the rooms full of incredible works of art from various eras.  We only had time to see a very few things before we entered the room full of  Michelangelo’s sculptures.  The fact that we couldn’t see it all was the only disappointment of the day.  David stood at the far end of the room – which was absolutely packed with tourists!  As we made our way closer to David, Paola taught us about the other Michelangelo works in the room.  Finally – there we were – gazing up at the most amazing, incredible, enormous, beautiful statue in the world.  Paola was very patient and encouraged us to walk all the way around and view David from every angle.  She pointed out how realistic Michelangelo had tried to be with David’s musculature, but how the statue’s head and hands are disproportionately large – possibly because David may have originally been DSCN3212intended to adorn a building’s rooftop.

A few minutes later and we were off again.  I’d requested only two things from Paola that day and otherwise left the touring plans up to her.  One was that we not waste time in a sit-down restaurant for lunch – I asked for a quick grab-and-go meal so we could keep touring.  The second request I made was to squeeze in a DSCN3217visit to a local wine store sometime during the day so we could continue what we’d started in Barcelona – buying a local wine to enjoy back on the ship.  Paola was very accommodating.  For lunch we bought pizza by the slice in the tiniest pizzeria I’d ever seen!  Delicious!  Paola guided us to a gelato stand for dessert and gave us a lesson on how to tell if the gelato is made on site (or manufactured in a factory and shipped in).  Pizza and gelato in Florence, Italy.  We were in heaven!

DSCN3287Before we moved on to the Duomo, the Santa Croce convent,  the Palazzo Vecchio, and the Ponte Vecchio – Paolo took us for a gorgeous drive to an overlook above the city so we could see the beauty of Florence from a distance and take pictures.  The rest of the day was wonderful and absolutely flew by.  Paola demonstrated some keen driving skills as she directed the van down a narrow street completely packed with tourists and gypsies performing with drums.  We were also treated to an amazing demonstration of the modern artists studying in Florence – they displayed their talents with chalk paintings on the street.DSCN3249

Our last site to visit would be the Ponte Vecchio (bridge over the Arno) lined with shops.  We walked along the bridge window shopping the many different shops until a jewelry store with reproduction silver coins that could be worn on a necklace caught our eye.  Megan, Joseph and I chose the coin we all liked best and bought three just alike – for which I asked the merchant if we would get a discount for buying “bulk” and he said, “of course”!

Very close to the bridge was a wine store Paola recommended and when we arrived we were delighted to discover that she had called ahead and arranged a wine tasting for our group with the shop’s owner, Tony.  This was a completely unexpected treat – Tony actually turned away some patrons that came in after us and asked them to return in 30 minutes because we IMG_5930had an appointment!  The wine was delicious, Tony was a gracious and charming host, and we could think of no better way to end an absolutely perfect day.

I felt sorry for Paola on the long drive back to La Spezia.  I could tell she was really tired so I tried to keep a conversation going to keep her from getting too sleepy – like everyone in the back of the van.  Back at the port we exchanged European double-cheek-kisses and bid farewell to Paola, who was luckily spending the night nearby with a girlfriend.  Paola’s husband is also a licensed guide in Florence and specializes in walking tours of the city.  We DSCN3231would love to return to Florence and see all the things we missed this time around.

Of course, we wished we’d had more time to explore Pisa and Florence, but instead of focusing on all that we hadn’t seen that day, I thought about every incredible, fantastic, wonderful moment.  As we rode the tender back to the Magic, we marveled over the fact that we were in Italy and we’d walked the streets of Florence where the Medici family had ruled and the world’s most famous artists had lived and worked.  There is absolutely DSCN3252nothing I would change about this perfect day.

Up next:  Dinner at Palo and more adventures in Italy!

To read more about this trip, please follow these links:

 

 

DSCN3259

DSCN3311

 

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

Posted on by

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:

 

 

Cruising the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic – Part 2

Posted on by
DSCN2763

Our First View of Europe

Our first view of Europe was from the plane’s window as we prepared to land in Barcelona.  It was breathtaking!  Seeing those beautiful peaks also meant the long, seemingly endless flight would soon be over!  Plans to sleep on the plane had failed miserably and I, having ignored all the advice I’d read about coping with jet lag, had feet and ankles so swollen it was reminiscent of the last month of pregnancy.  The six of us had basically spent the entire transatlantic jaunt watching movies and eating.  Running on fumes, we drug ourselves through customs without incident and looked for our Disney transfer bus.

DSCN2810

In the Heart of Barcelona

As I mentioned in Part 1, I booked all the tours and shore excursions for this trip on my own, however, the hotel in Barcelona and transfers there from the airport and then to the port for boarding the Magic and finally back to the airport, I booked through Disney.  Having used Disney transfers in the past, I knew they’d be reliable, English-speaking, and stress-free (especially for a group of six).  The hotel would be centrally located – within walking distance of all we wanted to see and do in Barcelona on our one-and-only day there.  So, we boarded our motor coach at the airport and headed for the Renaissance Hotel Barcelona.  The weather was gorgeous – crystal clear blue skies, tons of sun and highs in the mid 80’s.

DSCN2778

The Sagrada Familia

Luckily, one of our rooms was available for us to use when we arrived.  It was still morning, so we freshened up, piled all the luggage in a corner and headed out onto the streets of Barcelona.  I did not book a tour for the inside of the Sagrada Familia due to time constraints, but we wanted to see this famous cathedral at least from the outside.  Our “real” tour for the day was scheduled for 4:00 pm.  We had plenty of time to walk all the way around the cathedral taking pictures – WOW!  Amazing! – before finding a place to stop and eat lunch.  I’d wanted to buy water and wine to take on the ship with us as well – shops and restaurants lined all the streets along the way from the Sagrada Familia back to the hotel.

DSCN2796

Delicious Lunch at a Corner Café in Barcelona

I’d love to be able to tell you the name and exact location of the fabulous corner café where we enjoyed lunch.  Sleep deprivation, hunger, and jet lag had all combined to make that part of the day a bit hazy.  We were pretty grouchy – I remember that well enough.  After a great meal, we made our beverage purchases and hobbled back to the hotel for a little siesta.  After a very short rest, we headed back out, but this time we were going to Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter – The “Old City” where we would meet our tour guide, Amanda.  On the way we made a quick stop by the Hard Rock Café to pick up a couple of pins for Raymond and Joseph’s collection.  The Hard Rock was packed!

DSCN2793

Poor Megan – SO Tired!

I booked our tour for Barcelona late in the day, hoping we could use it as motivation to stay awake and keep moving!  I figured it would be timed just right so we could have dinner right after the two-hour tour ended, walk back to the hotel along the famous La Rambla and get to sleep early in preparation for setting sail the next day.  This still seemed a solid plan – except for one tiny thing.  The tour I’d booked….was a SEGWAY TOUR!  None of us had ever been on a Segway, we were exhausted, had aching feet and were generally cranky!  Uh-oh.

DSCN2822

The Placa Sant Jaume, Barcelona

We met Amanda from Barcelona Segway Tours at the Placa Sant Jaume – a square in the center of Barcelona’s Old City.  She arrived on her Segway and guided us a short distance through the very narrow streets to the tour company’s headquarters.  Helmets, Segways, and release forms properly distributed – we headed out to a nearby courtyard for our Segway lesson and practice session.

DSCN2829

Barcelona, Look OUT!

Who knew?  Seriously – I’m not kidding – this was hands down one of the most fun things any of us had ever done.  Megan noticed right away and commented that “You want to cure jetlag and cranky-ness?  Just get on a Segway!”  It was so EASY!  Before we knew it, we were off on an incredible tour that took us through the Gothic Quarter (Roman ruins!) to the waterfront (Christopher Columbus Statue!) – along the waterfront past Barcelona’s man-made beach with its khaki-colored sand imported from the Sahara Desert.  How we didn’t wreck at the beach I’ll never know – we were completely distracted by the total lack of clothing on the sunbathers!  Amanda was delightful, spoke excellent English and her love of both her job and her city were obvious.

DSCN2852

Segway Tour in Barcelona – Most Fun EVER!

When the tour was over, we were entirely refreshed, excited about what the next day would hold and ready to eat!  We ended up at a seaside restaurant with outdoor seating where we ate a leisurely dinner and enjoyed delicious Spanish wine while the sun set beside us on the Mediterranean.  After dinner we did indeed walk along La Rambla and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the bustling Catalonian city.  Once back at the hotel, we couldn’t get to our rooms fast enough – exhaustion had set back in.  We promptly fell into our beds and were sound asleep in record time – dreaming about the sights yet to see on a journey that was only just beginning.

Links to other parts of this trip report:DSCN2897