Jane in FL - May 2007

Day 2 and 3 - May 27 and 28, 2007

Well, since we last emailed we have had lots of fun and have seen many wonderful things.

Our 1st day in Barcelona was great! After FINALLY getting on the ship and wolfing down some food at Topsiders, we went on our 1st excursion- a city tour of Barcelona. It was beautiful! Barcelona is the second most important port city in the Mediterranean so there were lots of ship and and a maritime feel. We saw the site of the 1992 Olympics and learned that the people consider time there the "before" and "after" the Olympics. The Olympics changed the city all for the better. We also walked around a famous cathedral-in-the- making by Gaudi. Nothing inside as it won't be complete until 2050. We did not care for the architecture....but the guy is/was famous! Finally we went back to the ship for dinner at Animator's Palate- NO SHOW!!! They save that for only 1 special night. That's OK, the food was great as are our servers. Donna (MIL) and Davis requested the same servers from their 14 night crossing so we are really getting great treatment! Finally we went to the Welsome aboard show....fantastic! There we learned that Joey Fatone and his Dancing With The Stars dance partner Kym Johnson were on board with their families and everyone was kindly asked to allow them family time....but that they would perform for us one night!! No word yet when......

Yesterday was a day at sea. We slept in and just hung around....we attend some programming and shows. We also checked out the food and met many of the folks Donna and David had befriended. The hightlights of the day were 1) The Golden Mickey's show and 2) Ellory lost a tooth!!! Remind us to tell you about that whole ordeal (which still is to be played out tonight).....for the price of this internet I can only share hightlights, no details;)

Today we went into our 1st port- Palermo on the coast of Sicily. It was lovely! We took the "palermo for Kids" tour and all enjoyed it. We took a bus tour of the city and ended up at a palace (a prince and his family still live there). There Ellory learned about making of tile and make a cast of a flower. They the kids were given a finished one to take home. The whole time the Disney folks were filming and taking pictures, probably for promotional materails. Maybe you'll see us in a brochure or on a commercial!! After, we had some Gelato and walked over to a local puppet theatre. I thought it would be corny but has happily surprised. It was AMAZING!! The marrionettes were probably 4 ft tall and the story was a Christian/Crusades/Love Story, all in Italian. The kids were really into it even though they could not understand the language. We were all sad to see it end. From there we went into a beautiful cathedral where the remains of Palemo's patron saint (Rosalea) is buried, then it was back to the ship and we set sail for Naples. We'll arrive early tomorrow where we go to Pompeii, Sorento, and Capri. Dinner tonight was at Lumiere's and was French theme....great Creme Brulee!

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