Seizin' the Day...@ Walker Way : FINALLY!! We Believe in MAGIC...Part II

I know, I know it's been 10 months but I finally finished it! Enjoy :)

Saturday, July 30, 2011

I woke up and we were in another new place. Welcome to DUBROVNIK, CROATIA.

Momma and I headed to the lounge to wait for our excursion of the day to begin. By this time the guy selling drinks at the door (to take off the ship with you) knew me, my name, and that I wanted a Sugar Free Red Bull. I like consistency. ;)

Fun Fact: I figured out that Red Bull helps me combat “carsick-ness”. :) They called our group number and we were on our way to discover Croatia!

Fun Fact: Croatia is not part of the EU (European Union) and does not use Euros. They use the Kuna. We also had to carry our passports with us.

We had a 1 ½ hour drive up the Adriatic Coast. Such beautiful scenery!

About 30 mins into our drive from Dubrovnik, we arrived at the Bosnia-Herzegovina border. We had no idea that would be part of our adventure of the day. We saw the Bosnian Riviera and ended up back in Croatia. I find it interesting that a whole part of a country could be surrounded by another country.

We finally reached the Neretva River. Waiting for us were 3 ladjas (traditional wooden boats) and two musicians playing Dalmatian (think polka) music.

They we really fun to see and listen to…and I think they had fun playing for us. :)

We boarded the boat and glided through one of the most beautiful and best preserved wetlands in all of Europe for the next 90 mins. We were surrounded by water, marsh, lillypads (with frogs),

mountains…and that’s about it!

On the boat there were dried figs and Loza (the local brandy aka FIREWATER) for us to enjoy. The figs were awesome…

the Loza, was rough to get through. ;)

This experience was one that has never crossed my mind…but I am very thankful that I got to do it. :)

We finally arrived at the restaurant at the Hotel Villa Neretva in Metkovic, Croatia. You can only get here by boat and it’s totally worth the journey.

We passed a few houses on the way…yes I am jealous. :)

After the “3 Hour Tour” (sorry lol), there was a rush for the restroom at the restaurant. And yes, even in Europe, there’s a line for the women’s restroom. Lol I braved it and went for the men’s room (which was totally fine…even if it was lit by candlelight.) ;)

We sat outside on the patio of the place with a very nice group of people. We met a mother/daughter team from Seattle and a grandmother and grandson from New Jersey. Nice company with and amazing view!

For lunch we had wine, (my new thing is…I don’t drink wine…unless I’m in Europe) spaghetti bolanese, pork chops, potatoes, and flan for dessert.

After lunch, the locals crowned a “Queen and King” of the trip and they danced around as the musicians played some more. :)

Back into the boats we went and ended up back at our bus. We were very sad that it was time to leave this magically beautiful place.

On our way back to Dubrovnik, we stopped at the Franjo Trudman Bridge.

They originally started building the bridge in 1989 but had to stop due to the Croatian War of Independence in the early 90s. During this time, thousands of lives were lost and so much of Croatia was destroyed from attacks by Serbia and Yugoslavia.

Thankfully the Croatian government was able to regain control of their territory that was previously held by rebel Serbs. We had an amazing tour guide that told us about all of this and how he and the rest of the Croats were affected.

Fact: It’s only been 16 years since the war was over. It’s truly amazing how much and how fast they have rebuilt this country. All of the “new” houses and building have the same orange roofs. You know immediately that these places were bombed by Serb mortar shells. The orange is also to symbolize new life and rebirth.

After our super interesting history lesson, we were dropped off in front of the Old City of Dubrovnik. The walls surrounding the city were constructed during the 12^th – 17^th Centuries…and they are still here. They say that these complex structures are amongst the largest and most complete in all of Europe. Crazy!

Within the walls are mostly shops and restaurants now. Here we ended up buying hats on the pretty, hot and sunny day. After wandering around a bit, we got back on a shuttle and went back to the ship. I would definitely like to return one day to “The Pearl of the Adriatic.” Hvala Croatia! (Thank You Croatia.)

At dinner, back on the Magic, we reconnected with Debbie, Stephanie and Monica. We told them about all we saw and they told us about their adventures of the day. They went to the beach and unfortunately they left Debbie’s camera in a bunker on the beach where they changed clothes. Bummer about that, but they still had an amazing day!

After dinner, we decided tonight would be the night for Karaoke! There were some really great singers…and then there were others that were definitely having fun. ;) I did some Edwin McCain (because Momma likes it when I sing this song) and then Steph and I were backup singers as Monica signed “We Are Family.” She did a great job and we all ended up having a great time. :)

ANOTHER great country and ANOTHER great Day!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

This morning I woke up and we were still sailing. We weren’t supposed to arrive in VENICE until this afternoon…so we took our time and took it easy this morning. The sights from our balcony as we approached the port were pretty cool.

Venice is in this sort of lagoon surrounded by several islands. To get to Venice from the Ship, you have to take a smaller boat or water taxi from the pier. So we get off of the Magic, and immediately boarded a smaller boat for our excursion. We visited two of Venice’s “most prominent islands of the Northern Lagoon,” Burano and Murano.

After a 45 min boat ride, we reached the brightly colored fishing village of Burano. Burano also has a tower with a tilt in its center. I’m thinking that this is a very Italian trend. ;)

This village is well known for its lace making. Women still sit inside of and outside shops creating these beautifully, delicate and intricate pieces...

…and man do they want so they want to sell you what they have! I tried on a beautiful skirt but decided it was way more Euros (let alone dollars) than I wanted to spend there…so I put the skirt down and made a break for it when the salesperson wasn’t looking. ;) My mom on the other hand, is very curious about hearing other people’s stories, and has no problem talking to strangers. Therefore, I think another saleslady, in another shop got offended when my mom was genuinely interested in the lady and her shop and island…yet not interested in buying anything. After this I tried to evoke the “Don’t Talk to Strangers” rule that I always heard about when I was growing up…she refused to abide by this rule. ;) Although Debbie was not with us on this excursion, I have a strong feeling that she has the same problem of being way too friendly. I am not like this…they are both way nicer than I am. ;)

I did end up with a pretty coral scarf from Burano before we got back on our boat to head to Murano.

Murano is known for its glass blowing. We went to a large glass blowing factory and watched one of the master craftsmen create a horse in less than 5 mins…so impressive. Their showrooms were filled with the most beautiful things…but unfortunately we had to leave our cameras off…they said that they are afraid of others trying to copy some of their unique pieces. I left here with a glass beaded bracelet with tiny flowers on the beads. We had a little free time so we checked out all the little shops around and we bought 3 pieces of glass blown “candy” for Debbie, Monica and Stephanie.

I also found an ATM while we were here. The surroundings were just amazing. The “streets” of water with the bridges that connected them were just so cool! This was another beautiful Sunny Sunday. A lot of the town/village/island was quiet and closed since it was Sunday.

We watch boats pulling up into “parking places” just like they would do if they were in a car on land. :)

Back to our water taxi and back to the Magic. The sun is beginning to set and Venice is just beautiful. :)

Today’s dinner was a little different since the ship is saying in Venice over night. Debbie decided t to sit this one out and so Momma, Steph, Monica, and I had dinner downstairs in the dining room…in a booth…we were very happy that this was not our regular table. (yes we’re spoiled with our current table) Of course the wait staff was nice, but they weren’t OUR guys, ;)

Monica and Stephanie were kinda tired, so we parted ways after dinner. Momma and I weren’t done yet so we went do to the Guest Services desk (yes we used the Platinum line) to find out that best easiest way to see “Venice at Night.” Well the guy at the desk basically told us that it was too far to walk (in the dark) for us. So we took his advice and called it a night. Waiting on my bed was a nose-less Koala…I think out steward needs a little practice. ;)

Monday, August 1, 2011

We woke up to Day 2 in Venice. We saw a lot of cool things yesterday so we decided to take it easy and watched the “Morning Show” with John and Calvyn (the addition of the Cruise Director show with letters and guests on the ship was pretty cool) and ordered room service while we watched “Casino Royale.” Well that settled it, the last scene of the movie took place in St. Mark’s Square…basically RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW…we hadn’t seen that yet…so we got up, got dressed and got out of that room…Off to see more of Venice! I have loved every one of our excursions, but getting to checkout Venice on our own was also extremely cool. Right off the ship we saw a sign for The Hard Rock Café and I knew that was one of my missions of the day…find the HRC and get a guitar pin for my collection. ;)

After walking down the long (long) pier (so maybe the guy at Guest Services was right), we found the water taxis that would take us to St. Mark’s Square.

Venice is supposedly one of the “Most Romantic Cities in the World”…well la-di-da! lol After our tour guide from yesterday informed us of the sewer system (or lack thereof) here in Venice, it suddenly became less “romantic” to me. ;)

Seeing all the gondolas and gondoliers was kinda surreal at first. We pondered throughout the day about paying 80 Euro to take part…at this point; we were still on the fence.

Anyways, the church in the center of the Square was (again) very intricate and beautiful…

...until you looked down. Lol It had been raining a few days before and there still was some water left in the square and thus there were wooden planks and risers leading up to the steps of the Church.

Fun Fact: When the streets of Venice flood, Venetians put on their “plastic boots” and get on with their day. :)

Behind the Square are lots and lots of narrow streets, made of cobblestones and steps, filled with shops and connected by canals. It was a maze of souvenir shops and high end boutiques with pizza and gelato places scattered in between. On some of the wider (not by much) streets there were free standing carts with more stuff to buy. It was (another) hot and gorgeous day and if you were standing in the open areas the Sun definitely got ya…but for the most part we were shaded in the (humid) maze. :)

We stopped in a lot of shops on our way to find the HRC. I ended up buying a couple of blown-glass crosses form Murano, my Mom found a watch she liked and I bought a cool black and white checkered lace mask. Carnival is huge in Venice and there were mask and costume shops everywhere!

If you are a shopper of the latest fashions, this is the place for you! Dolce & Gabana, Fendi, Prada, Gucci, Armani, Versace, Valentino, etc (just to name a few) were all represented. I did a whole lot of “window shopping” today. ;) I was highly disappointed however, that everything in the Disney Store was in ENGLISH and not Italian. ;) lol

We stopped on several bridges and watched the gondolas. Still holding out at this point. ;)

Finally, we found the Hard Rock Café…right across the canal from the Best Western. lol So I went in and checked it out and got my obligatory pin.

Right outside was a gondola stop, so we sat on a bench and watched for a bit. There were several of families of tourists waiting in line for their turn at the “experience”. I saw a couple of kids splashing around on the steps and I just wanted to shake their parents for not noticing that their children were playing in SEWAGE WATER! EWWWW! The sun was in full effect at the part of the day and we watched several gondolas full of hot (temperature wise), sunburnt, and therefore slightly cranky passengers. At this point I realized that this experience is one we could pass on. I don’t know about you but, floating around fairly close to sewage water began to sound less appealing. But don’t get me wrong…Venice is still an amazingly beautiful place but…I was thoroughly spoiled by the riverboat in Croatia two days earlier. :)

After a few hours and a lot of walking, we decided we saw all we could that day…but not before I got to try some gelato. I went with their version of cake batter…and it was an excellent choice! ;)

We made our way back to the water taxis and then back to the Magic.

Back to our room as we pulled away from the dock as the sun began to set…Ciao Venice!

Dinner was great but nothing of extra special note.

But you must see our towel friend that was waiting for us after a stop at the Red Frog Pub. :)

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Today was another Fun Day at Sea. Although I’m very thankful for these days, I wish they were spread out a little better over the 12 days. We definitely needed recovery days during the first 4 days. :)

Coconut shrimp was lunch.

I had another massage today that involved these herb ball thingys (yes that’s the technical term). It was good stuff, but honestly, I enjoy the old fashioned regular hard pressure massages more. :) After that, I had a consultation with the acupuncturist…Thursday I’ll be seeing him again.

Other than that, I didn’t do much until we had to get ready for our 2^nd Formal Night. I headed back to the spa one more time today and got my nails painted. I had brought polish with me but had no remover…and none of the shops sell remover, but they are happy to redirect you to the Salon. ;) What the heck, I might as well. :) The chick that did my nails was form England and her name was Jade. It was fun taking to her as she dished a little Carnival dirt and made me feel awesome when she said I didn’t look 30. ;)

Before dinner we went to the Captain’s Cocktail/Past Guest Party where we had complimentary drinks and h’ordeuvres. They also showed us a video of basically the history of Carnival and introduced the new ships coming up, with new routes to Greece and Australia…and yes that totally got me thinking! ;)

I took a few more pics (that I didn’t buy). We did some pre-dinner sushi…well actually; I ate some while my mom made faces. ;)

Prime Rib and Baked Alaska was the good stuff for dinner! :)

The one criticism I have about the entertainment of the week, came from tonight’s show. It had a crazy corny game show theme…and that’s about all I could tell you about it…since Steph and I left after about 10 mins. ;)

We called it a night and when I got to my room, a lovely swan was waiting for me and a plate of petit fours.

Good Night! :)

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Happy 27^th Birthday Monica! Welcome to MESSINA, Sicily!

Fun Fact: “The Godfather” movies were filmed here in Sicily.

Today we were finally heading to the beach! I think a day at Naxos Beach, was a great way to spend the first half of Monica’s birthday. :) The beach was privately owned and full of beach chairs fairly far away from the water. At first I was slightly bummed, but once I dropped my stuff in the chair and headed to the water, all was right in the world. :)

Fun Fact: The Adriatic Sea is slightly FREEZING!

But Monica and I sucked it up, grabbed hands and headed in. The water was rough in the impact zone where the waves were breaking. But once you got past the breaks it was rather calm. Debbie and Stephanie joined us while my Mom sat on the edge of a paddle boat just enjoying the view. :)

Speaking of the view, from the water, you can see Mt. Etna, another living volcano. Texas has a lot of things, but volcanoes ain’t one of ‘em. ;)

After a bit, Stephanie and Monica headed back to the umbrella and chairs. I then proceeded to talk Momma into joining me in the Sea. She agreed and I helped her into the FREEZING water as she screamed for about 3 mins. ;) After she was no longer frozen, she was glad that I got her out there. I love the water in case you didn’t know. There’s nothing quite like it when you’re just floating out there with no cares in the world. Very tranquil…until a wave gets you and fills your nose and mouth with salt water. :)

When the 3 of us were ready to get out, I went into “Baywatch” mode to help 2 “self-proclaimed old ladies” get out of the water alive. ;) Like I said, near the shore the water was pretty rough so I escorted Momma back to solid ground and then returned to get Debbie back to terra firma. :)

Back in the beach chair, I took a quick siesta, as Momma bought jewelry from a vendor that was walking around the beach.

We were getting close to being hungry (fighting with the ocean will do that to you for sure), so we got out of our wet stuff (Momma got yelled at by a Sicilian woman for changing in the bathroom instead of the “changing” room) and we were off in search or lunch.

Fun Fact: Sicily is the birthplace of the Canoli.

So yes, the plan was to find canoli! But first, we stopped at a restaurant next to the beach and had some of the most AMAZING PIZZA EVER! Unfortunately it took forever to get to us. I’m fairly sure that they had to milk cows, and make their own cheese that made up the AMAZING 4 cheese pizza…and went to an orchard and picked their own apples to make the apple cinnamon pizza we had for dessert. But it was totally worth the wait!

However, we basically had to swallow it whole so we wouldn’t be late for the bus to take us back to the Magic. We had a ton left over so when we found Monica, Debbie and Stephanie we had them help us out. And with them came the magnificent canoli. Debbie let us try hers and it melted in your mouth for sure!

Unfortunately, we only got to enjoy Sicily for half a day but it was such a great day nonetheless. :)

I dropped stuff off at the room and Stephanie and I decided now was the perfect time to check out the waterslides on the very top level of the Magic. When I got to their room, Monica was in the shower…so we decided this would be the perfect time to do some birthday decorating. Banners and a bed full of balloons! :) She was definitely surprised! We’d do more celebrating later night.

We got to the top deck and as we were waiting in line, it was cool to see a panoramic view of Messina. The slides were fun and the WaterWorks thing was great but cold! After a bit of lounging on the deck and almost falling asleep, I headed back to the room and got cleaned up yet again. :) This was now the most opportune time to enjoy a nap on the balcony…so I took it!

I was pleasantly awoken by the voice of our Cruise Director. A little while after leaving Messina, we were fortunate to pass Stromboli…another active volcano. This was so cool and the fact that it was on our side of the ship was even cooler!!! My mom and I were pretty much in awe of this and in awe of the fact that we were so close to it. Right as we were exactly in front of it, black smoke began coming out of it…like it was staged. I even got video of it! That is definitely Mother Nature at her finest!

Pre-dinner sushi again and Momma and I checked out the casino. Here, I met Aleksander from Algeria (or maybe it was Albania) either way, he was a cocky 22 year old blackjack dealer that was a hoot…but mainly because I was winning. ;) I played up until it was time for dinner…aka Monica’s Birthday Dinner! We had decorations, horns and everything! Hearing waiters from all over the world singing Happy Birthday is always greatness!

After dinner, it was Monica’s choice as to what we did next. Monica is awesome at slot machines...so off to the casino we went! They went to the slot machines and I went back to blackjack (to lose what I had won of course) but this time with Daniel from Miami. I can’t believe that my own countryman took my money! ;) Well I can…but it’s usually in Vegas…not in the middle of the Mediterranean. ;)

After we played a bit, went to Red Frog Pub where Monica decided to call it a night and I ordered a Cruzan (appropriate brand for this bar) Vanilla Rum and Coke…yes I it’s what I call an “Adult Coke Float.” We sat and chatted as Momma got a Rum Punch…minus the rum and Debbie got an actual Rum Punch. ;)

Timmy was our entertainer for the night from one of the Carolinas. I had seen/heard him play throughout the week. He’s great! He plays everything from Jason Mraz to Kenny Chesney to Sister Hazel and even did a medley of Sublime and Hanson and Zac Brown Band. Yes he played a lil of everything and when I say everything I mean everything I would possibly like. :)

Another great ending to another great day!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

This is our last Fun Day at Sea, aka Acupuncture Day, aka LAST DAY on board the Carnival Magic!!! This day came way too soon. :(

Momma and I watched the Morning Show and I got a special surprise when my Mom’s letter about me was read during the show. I love you Momma…even if you are crazy from time to time. ;) I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to see everything we’ve seen and done over the past 30 years.

I had lunch once more courtesy of the Red Frog Pub and their coconut shrimp and salad from the “create your own salad” bar outside the pub. I took it to go and joined my mom on the Lido Deck. Today is all about taking it easy and enjoying being here one last day. :)

I went back to the spa for my acupuncture appointment. This is the first time I’ve tried this. Although though it was super relaxing, I don’t think that it did much for me. I wouldn’t rule out doing it again, but maybe it’s something that needs to be done several times before you can feel results.

I headed back to the room to chill a bit (since I was now full of mellowness). Steph called and wanted to check out the ropes course on the top deck. Unfortunately it was pretty windy today at sea so it was all closed up. Note to future Magic guests: if you really wanna checkout the ropes course, don’t wait until the last day…because it might be closed. ;) More good ‘ol fashioned laziness on the deck happened instead. Sadness began to set in when I got around to the daunting task of packing. But it was fun looking at souvenirs and such from each stop. :)

Dressed for dinner, Steph and I decided to meet for a pre-dinner drink at Red Frog Pub and sat on the deck at the swing/table. I would love to have one of these. (I later found out that these are super expensive.)

Our last supper included an awesome crabcake

and the crowd favorite: Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

…and a hilarious round of “find the butter” that my mom invented. ;)

One last night with our amazing wait-staff…We will definitely miss Luis, Juan and Blago. *Not sure who the waiter is making the “kissy” face…he just wanted to be in the picture too. :)

One last walk through the Casino and one last stop for some live music and we called it a night to make sure everything was ready to leave tomorrow. All good things come to an end…sigh. :)

Waiting in our room was our last towel animal; I think it might be a lobster???

Also waiting for us was a medal, autographed picture of Cruise Director John & Calvyn

and a GOLDEN SHIP ON A STICK!!! Lol This was all because my mom wrote a letter to that silly Morning Show. What a great way to end our journey on the MAGIC!

Hasta mañana Barcelona!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Waking up in Barcelona was good…except for the fact that this means we gotta get out of “OUR” room and off “OUR” Ship. Farewell, Magic you will be remembered fondly! :)

Before we head back to The States we need to checkout Barcelona! Thankfully we had signed up for an extra day in Barcelona with transfers from the pier to the hotel…otherwise; we would have been in this lovely 2 hour taxi line…No gracias! ;)

We got to the hotel and only one of our rooms were ready so we dropped all of our stuff and got on a shuttle that would take us to the center of Barcelona. Here we met our personal tour guide for the day, Ivan. :) He happens to live in Dallas, but was home for the summer. He was super kind to show these “crazy” ladies around Barcelona. :) We met him at the bottom of the Christopher Columbus (ring a bell?) monument and this is where we would start our long day of discovering Barcelona…

Our first stop was by the beach. Steph and I had to at least stick or feet in. ;) (Later I found out that the “Beach in Barcelona gained status as the best urban beach in the World according to National Geographic and Discovery Channel, with the third total beach in the World.” We should’ve stayed longer. ;)

The sun was shining and the humidity was definitely high today. Lunch time was here and we stopped close to the water at the Santa Marta Barceloneta restaurant for sandwiches...

and authentic Sangria!

After a quick pit stop…

we were on our way through the streets of the city.

If I didn’t know where I was, I my think I was in New York City. I had the same feeling in some places we saw in Italy. But it makes sense since NYC was basically built by European immigrants and we ARE in Europe. ;)

Once again, there are some absolute beautiful places here. Dallas does not look like this. All of the architecture of the buildings and churches and fountains are super impressive.

After walking through the never ending maze of streets and buildings, we reached Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s most famous street. This street was packed with tourists and street performers and souvenirs and trees and pet shops and flower stands and, and...there was even a Hard Rock Café (where I got my pin)

and a Starbucks (where I got my “Barcelona” cup). :) It was cool but just incredibly packed.

From here we rode the subway to take a short break from walking. This was a 1^st time experience for Momma. :) And yes, there are rats that run next to the tracks a la NYC. ;)

Our next stop (via taxi) was up at the top of the hill of El Carmel. We arrived at Park Gϋell that was made by the artist Antonio Gaudi. This was an amazing site and sight. :) The buildings look almost like a Candy House from “Hansel and Gretel.” The whole park there was made of beautiful mosaics. At the top level of the park there was an amazing view of the city. Too Cool!

This post may not seem like it, but we have now been walking for close to 7 hours.

The last shuttle back to the hotel is 1 hour and 15 mins from now…just enough time for us to stop for dinner. We ordered some tapas and I tried a little of Ivan’s Ox Carpaccio. Not terrible at all. ;) The bill seemed to take FOREVER.

So we had to run to the shuttle stop…we got there just in time to see that the shuttle was full…and the next one would be on its way…in 30 mins. ;) So we all took a seat and caught our breath near the harbor.