Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Mediterranean Madness Part XI: Sea Day

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Master and Commander


At Sea/Day 10
Well, the sea day started off with a bang for us, as both kids spent the night in Grandma's room. So, we eased into the day and casually made our way to the dining room for a very relaxing, satisfying breakfast.

The weather was picture perfect. The sea was glass and there was no wind to speak of, and the sun was a beacon of happiness.
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The kids always seem to enjoy their grandparents.

After breakfast, Seth went to the kids club, and Caitie went shopping with Grandma, while we went to the solarium for some adult only time. As creepy as that sounds, it just means the solarium is reserved for adults only. It's a CHILD FREE ZONE! Yay! We were there for only a few minutes when Sarah's sister Micah and her husband, Christopher came in and began sunning on the quiet deck. I worked on my trip review and Sarah read. It was like having a day off. We even ate lunch there in the Park Café. It was okay. I still prefer the dining room. But today was about convenience.
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A very nice pool.             I set down writing this review long enough to stuff my face!

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Brooks Aehron
009007 After lunch, Sarah took Seth swimming, so they visited the water slide. Caitie attended the encore show with Brooks Aehron, where there was standing room only, and, according to Caitie, it was a fantastic show. Afterwards, Caitie decided to challenge her old man to a rock climbing race. We geared up and took our marks. When the race began, I was up the wall and making good time. I paused to find Caitie, for I didn't want to smoke her in the race, and realized that she was about to ring the bell while I was analyzing the competition. It is fair to say that she won. To me, the only reason to climb the wall is so you can repel back to the deck. I kicked off from the wall and the anchor man controlled my descent in two short bursts. What a rocking good time! It was only when I got back to the bottom that I realized I shouldn't have attempted that climb.  My ribs were so not ready for me to scale a wall, and I immediately regretted my actions.  I took a few extra pain pills on day 5, and the next morning as well.  
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In order to recuperate from the climb, Sarah and I attended another wine tasting and this time I identified the mystery wine and won a bottle of champagne.  The wine tasting cost 20.00 dollars a person, and we had a great time. And the samples were generous and tasty. The only problem I had was trying to hear the wine presentation, as the centrum was always soooooo LOUD! Ugh.
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The wine tasting is highly recommended. Especially if you have a formal night planned!

Tonight was also our last formal night. We had a great dinner and decided to attend the show, but I don't even recall what show we watched. Apparently it didn't overly impress me. But not many of the shows did. I don’t really care, for my goal was to enjoy Europe, not the shows. They were inconsequential to me.
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Everyone had a great day. And we snagged some pretty good shots of the evening.

I was in significant pain that evening as we stumbled around our tiny stateroom trying to accommodate both kids back into the program. But we climbed into bed knowing that tomorrow was our last port call. But what a day it was going to be!  

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Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day 

Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii 

Part XIII Sea Day

Part XIV Back to Barcelona

Part XV The Journey Home and Final Thoughts

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Mediterranean Madness Part X: Santorini Serenade

And What a Day it Was!
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Day 9/Port 6
The ship pulled into the caldera of what was once the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history and anchored amongst the islands of the ancient volcano that made up the islands surrounding Santorini.  In mid October the sun was still behind the mountains and enough moonlight remained for us to see the villages of Fira (FEAR AH) and Oia (EE YA) lighting the crest of the cliffs, and the donkey path was clearly marked by lantern lights.  As the sun came up we sat on our balcony and watched the white-washed buildings in the village create the illusion of snow against the dark volcanic cliffs.  Caitie remarked, "It looks like LEGO snow!" and it did.  This was going to be a great day.  We so looked forward to Santorini, and even bothered to watch all of those over-the-top love story movies set on the island in anticipation of what we would see.  The Traveling Hood of some sister's pants and Mama Mia were the top of the list.  I have to admit, I was strangely entertained by Mama Mia.  Maybe because I am old enough to remember Abba.  I think its one of the few movies with Meryl Streep that I actually enjoyed.  But I digress... 
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Early morning shots. We were excited to be in Santorini!

The easiest tour plans we made for the entire voyage were for our stop in Santorini.  We decided that was our day to skip a formal tour and simply enjoy the island.  We had our eyes on a few restaurants recommended on Cruise Critic, and we had a few places we wanted to visit, but overall, it was not going to be a regimented day.  So far, our biggest decision was whether or not to ride the donkeys up the hill from the port.  Sarah read every incident where a tourist fell from the donkeys and their lives were tragically altered from that point forward.  She was determined that wouldn't happen to us.  Not at all.  (Ahem, Maestro, cue the ominous music) And then it happened.  The best laid plans of mice and men....
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Note that Seth is smiling and having a blast!
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Note that Catie is smiling and having a blast!
(It's all fun and games until something goes wrong.)

Donkey Disasters and Mule Madness
Caitie wanted to ride the donkeys, and I thought it would be fun myself.  After all I'm a Texas cowboy and I've sat a saddle before.  Seth and Sarah wanted nothing to do with it and chose to ride the cable cars.  At a few minutes after 9, we were well ahead of the Barbarians, and neither line was devastatingly long.  As we stepped off the tender, Sarah pointed and said, "There's the donkey guy."  I looked and saw him holding a sign and saw him turn with a group of people and start walking away.  I understood that Sarah was telling me to follow that man, so Caitie and I got in behind him and started walking.  I expected she would accompany us to the ride and then get on the cable cars.  I looked back and was surprised when I didn't see her but concluded that she sent us our direction and she and Seth went on their way.  The line for the donkeys was short and Caitie and I were on our way within a few minutes.  By the way, the donkeys turned out to be mules.  And most mules are the size of a small horse. 
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Catie is in the the blue sweater. Note that she's getting farther and farther away from me. When we got to the place where the woman was dismounting, the attendant sent us farther down the street to a different place.

Riding the mules was exactly what I expected.  The mules were trained from so much repetition that one only has to sit on the animal and it would take you to the top until you got off of it, and then a handler will redirect it to the bottom.  There are no bits or bridles or whips, and you won't have need of any of those items, so save them for your honeymoon.  The mule knows what to do and will do it, even if reluctantly.  A small guide rope was wrapped around his nose and tied to the saddle, but that is as much of control as you will encounter or need.  Caitie climbed on her mule and I was immediately behind her.  She was all giggles and smiles and was having a grand time.  We clopped along to the first doglegged turn on the path and Caitie's mule stopped walking.  I yelled at her to kick it, but the mule stood motionless no matter what she tried.  I began trying to slow my mule in order to stay up with her, but those mules were impossible to redirect.  He knew what to do and knew how to do it.  I was only confusing him.  I wasn't terribly troubled about Caitie, for I knew the mule would do what he was supposed to do.  About this time, a gaggle of German riders clustered the path between me and Caitie and I lost sight of her.  When I got to the next curve, I could see that her mule had joined the German's in their ascent, so I quit worrying about her.  I regretted not being able to get her photo, but the trail was long and I was certain I could slow my mule enough for her to catch up.
026The path was roughly ten feet wide and there is a four foot tall retaining wall that lines the edge of the trail for the entire journey.  If any tourist ever fell off that path, then it was completely operator error.  The mules usually walked in a cluster of about ten or so at a time, and there was plenty of room for that to happen.  I felt safe for the entire journey.  Caitie managed to catch up to me within 20 feet or so, and I could see that she was having a blast, so I quit restraining my mule and let him have its head.  He was a fast walker and liked being in the lead.  The gaggle surrounding Caitie were causing quite a scene.  They were all terrified, and were screaming at their mules, which confused them greatly.  One of the sounds one woman was making was similar to a cowboy yelling "HAW!"  Their terrified screams were causing the mules to walk faster than normal, but everyone was perfectly safe.  I tried to allow that cluster to pass me by, but my mule would have none of it.  One Australian woman was practically sobbing to herself, "I will never to this again!" over and over.  I asked her what was the matter and she said that to a control freak, being on a mule that can't be controlled was too much!  I told her that it's just like a Disney ride, you just let it happen, but she said my words didn't comfort her in the least.  Oh well.

025After the 15 minute ride, a photographer was standing in the street snapping shots of each rider, and by this time, Caitie and I were together and we were both laughing and having a grand time.  I asked her how she got her mule walking again and she said she started talking to it in Greek and it took off.  Ha!  That was the first time I knew that Caitie could speak Greek.  All this time we were focusing on her learning her math tables, and she was apparently learning Greek instead.  Go figure!  What she was doing was mimicking the yells of the workers who where herding the mules.  Whatever works, right?  The mules kept climbing the mountain and we kept riding.  Soon, there were shops around us and we kept climbing.  We were shopping via mule.  Not something you get to do every day.  After another minute or so, a man was helping the riders dismount and we jumped off our mules and tried to figure out where Sarah and Seth were.  We knew they had to have beaten us up the mountain and I fully expected to see them standing there when we were back on the ground.  At that moment, I realized that we didn't have a plan for where to meet.  We never discussed it.  I just assumed the mules and the cable cars ended their rides at the same place.

So, I thought about it a moment and concluded that since we didn't see Sarah, then there must be an exit where the mule riders go, and that must be where Sarah and Seth were waiting for us.  So, we started walking down the path, climbed the last few steps to the top, and glanced at the shops surrounding us.  At some point I realized there was no set exit.  So I had no idea where we were or where Sarah was.  I asked a few tourist if they knew where the cable car exit was, and a man told me about two blocks "that way," and pointed to the left.  Okay, since we didn't know where we were or where our exit was, we would just go to the cable cars and wait there.  Well, we walked two blocks "that way" and we found ourselves on the main highway that passed through town.  Hmmm.  Something was wrong.  I found a store vender and asked about the cable cars and looked sheepish and then pointed and said, "A leeetle bit that way."  Okay, another turn to the left.  So, we went a leeeetle bit that way and I asked a man riding a scooter if he could show us where the cable cars were.  He shook his head and pointed down the road we were walking along, and then pointed to the left.  Hmmm.  We walked a little farther, but I knew we were completely in the wrong part of the village.  We were now in a residential area, and no one, and I mean NO ONE spoke English.  I tried Spanish also.  Nothing.  And Caitie's Greek only seemed to work on mules.  So, I would walk up each person and say, "Cable car?"  And they would all shake their heads or simply point some random direction.  So, I changed my question to, "Does anyone habla cable cars?" but that didn't help either.  Every tourist we met on the road we asked, "Cable cars?" but no one could help us.  Eventually we ended up at an elementary school, and then we came out on the main road again and passed by several car rental places.  Finally, I found a street that looked to go back to the shops, so we walked that way hoping for a miracle.  I knew Sarah had to be beside herself with worry.  Things like that are horribly stressful to her and I knew she was just short of calling the Embassy and requesting a Seal team be activated to rescue us.
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Despite our angst, we paused for a photo.
Caitie and I finally found a map with a "You Are Here" spot marked on it.  It was nice to know I was still on Santorini.  The cable cars were on the map, but I could find the mule path and tried to figure out where we went wrong.  Caitie suggested we go back to the mules, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, either.  I asked another tourist about the cable cars and in French she told me at the church.  Okay.  At the church in Santorini is like saying at the Baptist church in Texas.  They have one next to every Dairy Queen back home!  Every blue dome in Santorini is a church, and they are everywhere.  So, I found St. John's on the map and we started walking that way.  We circled the church a couple of times and at one point found a place on the path that overlooked the sea and we could see the cable cars immediately below us, and I could see that they passed into a tunnel under the mountain.  But where do they come out?  We shook our heads in frustration and decided that if we went behind the church, maybe we could figure it out.  ARGH!

Meanwhile, back in the jungle... 

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Sarah and Seth tell this story from a slightly different view point.  Sarah saw the man with the donkey sign as soon as she stepped off the tender, and she said "There's the man with the donkeys." She said at that point Caitie and I disapperated into nothing and we were simply gone, having vanished into a vapor, or beamed onto the Enterprise.  She said it was as if the rapture happened and she missed it, along with everyone else on the planet--save Caitie and me. For all she knew, aliens were probing us at that very moment.  They turned around and we were gone!  As if we had never existed!  We're talking Twilight Zone stuff.  She said they walked down where the mules started and didn't see us, and then walked around to the cables cars and still couldn't find us.  Seth kept saying, "They wouldn't just go get on the mules without telling us."  His logical right brained thought process didn't understand what was happening.  Finally, Sarah concluded that we had gone to the mule ride and went to get on the cable cars.  By this time, the barbarian population had increased and they stood in line several minutes before their ascent.  It is probable that Caitie and I were already at the top before them.  When they excited the cable cars, Sarah immediately found several members of our family party who were waiting for their excursion to start and asked if we had come by.  Of course, we were probably down by the elementary school by then, so they were clueless.  Sarah decided that we must be waiting at the mule ride exit point, so she headed that way.

Meanwhile, Caitie and I were like Marcus Brody on Indiana Jones movie 3, where he was wandering through the streets of Cairo mumbling, "Does anyone speak English?"  We ended up again by the elementary school and by this time I knew that Sarah was officially in crisis mode.  Forty five minutes had passed and we were worse off than before we started.  Much worse.  Finally, we found a man in a lawn chair sitting behind a short fence with a sign that said, Tourist Information Center.  I asked him how to find the cable cars and in perfect English he explained that we had to walk all the way down this street, turn to the left, walk all the way to the end of that street, and then stop at the church, where the cars exited.  How many times had we circled that church without seeing an exit?  Well, we summoned our strength and pressed on.

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You can see part of the donkey trail from the cable cars
Sarah and Seth were in a full blown high speed wobble.  They were having a horrible time figuring out where the riders dismounted from the mules.  She found the photographers in the street and saw that the riders were dismounting at that spot.  At this point you have to conclude that we were destined to fail.  Our mule gaggle didn't dismount for another four or five minutes PAST this point, so we had no hope of actually stumbling into each other.  Sarah and Seth kept circling those shops on the off chance that they would run into us.  After the fifth time she passed a small Greek vender, he stopped her and asked if she needed wine.  She declined a tempting offer and asked him about the mule ride.  Armed with the proper information she returned only to discover that we were no longer there, and decided to take one last gamble and walk to the cable car exit.  Apparently they had to take a path that scaled the cliff in a punishing climb to the top. 

Caitie and I arrived at the church for the hundredth time and frowned when we saw no cable car exit.  I was growing frustrated and wanted to pummel the next German barbarian who ignored me, and I had one in sight.  Finally, standing in front of the church, I realized there was one thing we had yet to try.  We hadn't walked THROUGH the church.  Would it be that simple?  We respectfully worked our way through the courtyard and into the doors of the sanctuary.  That's when I saw the path extended through a second gate and the path entered the tourist district.  BINGO!  We arrived at the cable car exit and ran into those same family members who excitedly said, "Have you found Sarah yet?  She was here 30 minutes ago looking for you!"  Well, I planted a flag right there and adamantly refused to move.  We would spend the rest of the day sitting at the only exit from the island.  Eventually they would return to this spot.  After another 10 minutes, an incredibly worked up and completely disheveled Sarah and Seth stumbled off of their cliff pathway and collapsed in a heap at our feet.  As I predicted, Sarah was distressed.  We took a few minutes to collect ourselves while recounting our tales and explanations.  In all, we only lost an hour, but it felt like half a day.  Let's now salvage what we could of the day.  We needed to find Tony's car rental place, and it just so happens that Caitie and I had passed it several times, and that was one place we knew how to find.

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They had many choices at Tony's for rentals
030When we arrived at Tony's I was immediately comfortable with our rental selection.  I don't know if the man and woman working the store were Tony and his wife, but I suspect they were.  Immediately Tony's wife saw how exhausted we were and ushered us to our chairs and continually asked, "Are you okay?"  I think she was worried we would pass out in her lobby.  Our car rental was ready to go, and Tony sat down with a map and showed us step by step where to go and how to get there.  He told us that if we drove to Oia it would take us 20 minutes.  He told us that a trip to the winery would take 10 minutes.  He showed us the map and told us that if we went to each place we wanted to visit to put 5 liters of gas in the car when we returned.  If we went to less places, then put a little less gas.  He was very agreeable and he didn't get all wrapped up with the inspection.  He showed me every small scratch on the vehicle and said, "It's okay."  We agreed that the scratches were already there and then sent us on our way.  Before we leave with our rental, let me also mention that we spent 45 euro to rent the car for the day, and we also added 10 euro for full coverage insurance for the day.  You can't get a cab ride up to Oia and back and come out any cheaper.  And driving in Santorini is NOTHING like driving in Athens or the rest of Europe, for that matter.  Almost all of the cars on the road were other American tourists who rented cars, so the driving conditions were very familiar to us.  This was an excellent choice!

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The air conditioning was nice!
We took off and drove to Oia on a very pleasant drive along the coastal road that wound its way through the lava flows and ash deposits and arrived in Oia without any trouble.  We drove through town first and then circled back to see if we could find a place to park.  Having been to Athens and knowing how the Greeks drive and park, I was certain I could find a place.  We stopped behind another rental and parked.  At that time, a huge tour bus drove around the corner and frantically waved his hands telling us that we chose poorly.  We loaded up again and drove another block and found a parking lot where we paid 2 euros for 5 hours.  That was more than enough time.

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We walked along those incredible streets of Oia with the white washed walls and the blue church domes, and were enthralled with the simplistic beauty and majestic complexity of the Santorini village life.  The island is simply charming.  And the views are breathtaking.  I think I can describe the joy you experience as you walk along those incredible streets.  Do you remember the day you got married?  No, seriously, think back to those days when you were still excited about your spouse and were eagerly anticipating that joyous day.  Can you remember the anticipation of that wonderful day when your spouse would complete your life and bring you true joy?  Well, that's what actually happens when you experience Santorini.  It's like being the focus of a symphony.  Or better, it's like being caught up in a symphony and simply experiencing it while it just happens around you.
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Oia is a paradise. The weather was great and we had a fantastic day wandering the streets.

058We stopped at a cafe in Oia named Skiza, where we had commanding views of the sea below and the white houses clinging to the cliff around us.  Our waitress was lovable and smiled warmly whenever we asked her to help us.  She showed us how to sign up with her free wi-fi, and made several suggestions about the menu.  I ordered the chicken pie, which was to die for, and Sarah ordered the Greek salad, which was rich with local produce and a crumbling feta cheese.  It was really tasty.  Caitie ordered a turkey and cheese sandwich on a baguette, and really liked it, but spent more time trying to beg bites of my pot pie than eating her sandwich.  Seth ordered the Margherita pizza and gobbled it up.  Sarah had a glass of dry red wine that came chilled which we weren't used to, but it was wonderful.  We also ordered a large bottled water, and the kids got Cokes, one of which was a tea with lemon.  All together we spent less than 40 euro and were enthusiastically satisfied.  We spent another hour walking the streets and picking up a few souvenirs.  I found a really nice piece of art that came with a certificate of authenticity.  
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The stress seemed to be getting to Seth.
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Holy Grecian Formula! This food was awesome!
Oia is a fantastic place to visit, and we marked it down as a place to return to -- without the kids, of course.  You could easily rent a hotel room that was built into a cave on the cliffside and spend a day walking the shops and enjoying the beauty that is characteristic of that wonderful island.  There are also beaches available; one with black sand, the other with red.  And one or two historical ruins were available to tour.  We didn't visit those places, but we did visit the winery.  We drove back to Fira and passed through town to the winery, which was situated with perhaps the best view of the island available.  All together, that drive took about 20 to 25 minutes. 

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The winery was a great place to visit. The views were awesome and the wine superior. We bought several bottles to take home with us.

We spent an hour at the winery and chose the flight of six samples while the kids drank hot chocolate and ate some kind of bundt cake.  We liked most of the wines we sampled, but they gave us dessert wines in the flight, and I don't typically like sweet wines, even as an afterthought to a meal.  We enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and used the free wi-fi signal to FaceTime our family back home.  Of course, we woke them up from an early morning sleep, but it was unavoidable.  We bought a few of the selections we enjoyed and then returned to Tony's to drop off our car.  Tony's wife was glad to see us and destroyed our credit card slip while we watched her.  The car rental was the easiest transaction we worked while on the entire cruise.
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We ran into Christopher and Micah, who rented bikes for the day. They had a BLAST!
 
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A beautiful marina below town.
We had an hour remaining before we returned to the ship, so we walked the shops and found the Greek vender who helped Sarah locate the mules.  We wanted to reward him with some business and, while the kids ate some tasty Greek soft serve ice cream, we allowed him to offer us some wine samples.  His prices were highly exaggerated, but we owed him one.  So, we ordered some wine and some rather tasty olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic stuffed olives, which he shipped to our home.  Again, we don't recommend this vender because his prices were very high, but he was very helpful.  If you do want to have some wine shipped home, there are vendors in Santorini that will take care of that for you.
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I wanted to visit one of the many blue domed churches we saw. They are beautiful churches, indeed.
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We ran into George Anne on our way down. The cable cars may be easier, but going up on the mules was super cool.

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Not ready to leave just yet.
We rode the cable cars back to the bottom.  The line to get on the cars was about five minutes long, and Seth was not charged, but Caitie, who is fifteen, was charged as an adult.  Upon exiting the cable cars, we found the line to ride the tenders back to the ship to be rather lengthy.  Sarah was not ready to return to the ship, so we walked along the dock and sat down in the cafe by the donkey rides and had one final drink before surrendering the island to the Greeks.  This cafe also had free wifi, and it was probably the best signal we had on the entire trip.

Then we got back in line for the tenders and after a fifteen minute wait, we were back on the ship and fully lamenting leaving Santorini.  Sarah and I had a few minutes before our 6 o'clock dining time, so we sat in the Schooner Bar and toasted the island and made a wish to return.  Some final thoughts about Santorini:  We don't feel regret for not hiring a tour.  We don't feel as though we missed out on anything.  Our relaxing (minus the rough and chaotic mishap) day was a pleasant change from the regimented tours, and by this point, our Culture Fatigue was advanced and we desperately needed a simple day of mindless amusement.  Seth also noted that next time he would ride the donkeys.  He thought the path was very narrow and dangerous, but it is a trail as wide as a single lane road, and the fence lined the path for the entire journey.
134After dinner we attended the second of the Centrum Aerial Shows.  We enjoyed the Jack and the Beanstalk show earlier in the cruise but this one was an alien/techno weird show that did not really impress any of us.  After the centrum show we decided to attend the main show since tomorrow is a sea day and we get to put our clocks back an hour tonight!  Tonight's show was Brooks Aehron a concert pianist.  It was a fantastic show, probably our favorite of the trip.  He turned out to be a very accomplished musician as well as a great entertainer.  The ship even gave him an encore performance the next afternoon (Caitie and Sarah's mom attended) and it was standing room only in the Tropical Theater!  Tomorrow is a much needed Sea Day, hope the great weather holds out!

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What a fantastic day we had! We're going back. (Next time without the kids!)

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day 

Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii 

Part XIII Sea Day

Part XIV Back to Barcelona

Part XV The Journey Home and Final ThoughtsPart I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day 

Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii 

Part XIII Sea Day

Part XIV Back to Barcelona

Part XV The Journey Home and Final Thoughts