On this 10-day cruise, we had one day at sea. Andy and I spent it drinking and relaxing. What? You’re shocked? Come on, it’s us!

A workout, late breakfast and a bottle of Chianti on our balcony. Pure heaven.

We had plans to go onshore at the stop on Crete but ran into our new friends Ron and Jan and ended up whiling away the day drinking and chatting with them on the ship.  Oh, and I won the blackjack tourney – woo hoo! – and Andy and I teamed up with our new Aussie friends to win the trivia contest. Another day well spent!

 

Keeping with the theme of our first day in Italy, the second and third were HOT. Like mid-90s hot.  “Walk on the side with shade,” became our constant refrain.

For Rome, we decided to do a day on our own – no guided tour. The highlight of the day was the Capuchin Crypt, a museum that tells the history of Capuchin monks and showcases the bones of more than 4,000 of those monks in artistic forms. Sounds creepy, but was an eerily beautiful memorial. We weren’t allowed to take pics but I downloaded one from the web to give you a feel for it. There were 5 or 6 dioramas – all made with bones and they told a story of how the monks lived and their beliefs about mortality. A really nice tour and – bonus – it was air conditioned!  The rest of the day consisted of a bit of the hop on/hop off bus, a less than inspired pizza and drinks in our favorite piazza in Rome, the Piazza Navona, and a walk back to where we picked up our transportation back to the ship.

In our port stop of Sorrento, we had signed up for a “make your own pizza” excursion that would take us to Naples. The tour was less than interesting, but the pizza was pretty good and we had a great time during the hour or two we were left to our own devices. A little drinking, a little shopping. The hydrofoil trip back across the bay of Naples gave us spectacular views of Sorrento as we returned.

The next day was “at sea,” and we made the most of it by totally relaxing.  After lunch, we wandered to the casino where we were told there was a blackjack tournament. There were just six of us signed up so the tourney was a quick seven hands. 15 minutes later, guess who was the winner? One Kristi DesJarlais. $180 richer, we wandered back to our room to sit on our balcony and drink the fabulous bottle of Chianti we purchased on our wine tour in Tuscany. Total relaxation. Later that night, after dinner, we teamed up to play trivia with the Aussies we had met at dinner a few nights before. Against about 10 other teams, we came in first place. A winning day for the DesJarlais!

I haven’t mentioned it before, but this cruise line – Oceania – is exceptional. The ship is about the same size as one of the really big ones – maybe a few fewer floors – but there are only about 1,000 people onboard. So it makes for a really open, uncrowded feel. All spaces – staterooms and public spaces – are bigger and more luxurious than any other ship we’ve been on. And most everything is included so it feels really easy and great. All in all, a fantastic experience. Can’t recommend Oceania enough.

 

We had a beautiful first day in Italy. Mid-80s, not a cloud in the sky, a fantastic tour guide and loads of great food and wine. Heaven.

The ship docked in the port of Livorno, which is just a bit southwest of Pisa and about an hour west of Florence. We chose to book a tour on our own with a local guide – Guido. I can’t recommend him enough! He is a native of the Chianti area of Tuscany and his love of the region and its food and wine really shines through. I don’t think he and Biker stopped talking for a single minute of the seven hours we were together!

We stopped at two beautiful wineries – each with a lovely story of how they came to be and each having fantastic wines and olive oils to try.  First up was Castello di Fonterutoli, a centuries old – 1435! – fort where the owner’s family has been making wine since the 1700s. Here we sampled great Chiantis, a nice Vermentino and a good Cabernet (although IMO the cabs from California are far superior). We also learned the origin of the black rooster as the symbol for the DOCG certification — in the early 1200s, the area was war torn as Siena and Florence fought over ownership of the Chianti region. Tired of the fighting, the two sides agreed to draw the dividing line at the meeting point of two knights, each riding from their city at the early morning crow of the rooster. It’s said that Florence’s black rooster was starved the day before so that he would crow early, giving the Florence knight a head start. When the two met – at the small hamlet of  Fonterutoli – the Siena knight had just barely begun his journey (you can see Siena from Fonterutoli). The dividing line was set, and when the Chianti certification of DOCG was established the black rooster was chosen as its symbol.

Our next stop was at Castellare di Castellina, a beautiful winery made up of four properties that were bought together in the 1970s. We toured the cellar, with a “library” (of old wine vintages), and had a nice tasting of four Chiantis.
Our next stop was lunch, and it was magnificent. We had pasta and a beautiful bottle of our absolute favorite wine  – a Brunello di Montalcino. The weather was perfect for sitting on the patio and enjoying the lovely views. 

Back to the ship for a requisite nap, a workout and then a lovely dinner in the ship’s French restaurant.

Heaven.

We’ve spent the past two days in the South of France – first in Aix-in-Provence and then in Antibes. We’re reminded of how much we enjoy the vibe of France – walking through town, stopping for a coffee or wine and a bite to eat, people watching and the incredible art and shopping.

Our first stop in France was in the port city of Toulon. We took a shore excursion to Aix-in-Provence but quickly ditched the walking tour for our own wander. It started to rain so we found a nice restaurant where Biker could get his daily pizza and I could have the Croque Monsieur I suddenly craved. Plus wine. Of course. Back on the ship, it was a nap, a dip in th

e pool, drinks with new friends at the bar and a show that featured music from old movies.

Day 2 in France was in the lovely little city of Antibes. With no scheduled excursion, we wandered into town and though the local market, where we saw – and smelled – amazing spices, salts and herbs and every curry known to man.

 

We headed toward the Musee Picasso – a restored castle of the Monaco Grimaldi family where Picasso painted for a bit in the 50s.

It’s a nice little museum with 50 or 60 of his works, plus a photo exhibition of behind-the-scenes of Picasso’s life over the course of 20 years or so. Great views of the sea from the terrace.

After the museum, we found the Absinthe Bar, a little basement bar Picasso frequented while living here that serves the mysterious green liquid. It’s an interesting process. We were given a container of water with spigots around the bottom, two glasses filled with a little pure absinthe, two slotted spoons and a cup of sugar cubes. The barkeep instructed us to place the slotted spoon across the lip of the glass, put a sugar cube on it and open a spigot to drop over the sugar, melting it into the glass of absinthe. There’s a lot of lore around this drink – that it’s a hallucinogenic, a drug and a way to find your artistic self. Before drinking it, Biker was a bit nervous that it might show up in drug tests. So, Google being our friend, we did some due diligence before taking a sip. Turns out the tales are all quite tall and it’s just regular alcohol, especially when diluted about 4:1 with water and sugar. Tastes like licorice and leaves your tongue feeling funny. Not my favorite drink.

 

As the ship sailed away, we bid goodbye to France and hello to our favorite European country – Italy. Can’t wait to spend the next three days exploring new depths of this beautiful and fascinating culture.

Ciao.

 

After two and half beautiful days in Barcelona, we boarded our cruise ship – the Oceania Riviera – around 2:00 Tuesday afternoon. After settling in, we decided to start a new cruise ship tradition – start at the top of the ship and have a drink at every bar or lounge all the way to the bottom of the ship. Six drinks later, we decided this is an excellent tradition.

Oh, and along the way, Andy decided to start doing videos about his thoughts. Trust me when I say they got pretty funny as the night wore on. Perhaps we’ll share a few along the way. Or perhaps not. 🙂

On the first cruise day, we stopped at the port of Palamos, Spain, where we took a shore excursion to three medieval villages. Interesting history about how people lived in these walled towns and why – pirates! – and how the towns have been restored. Back on the ship, we had some lunch and took a nap, then I had a massage while Andy entertained people at one of the bars on board – natch – then off to a very nice dinner and a comedy show. Night was topped off with Andy winning $70 at the casino. Score.

 

 

Barcelona, like most European cities, is a study in contrasts.  Old structures mix with modern buildings, the pace of traffic is scary fast and yet a meal is agonizingly slow, wide treelined avenues mesh with narrow alleyways where it’s easy to get lost, lots of healthy movement and yet they all smoke and there’s tempting gelato everywhere.

Our two days here were spent exploring this vibrant and proud city. Our primary means of transport was the double decker tourist bus – an easy way to get around and hop off when we wanted to see something or have a snack or drink.

The highlight of our stops – beyond wine and coffee! – was the Sagrada Familia, a church that’s been under construction for 100+ years. They say it will be completed in 9 years, in time for the 100th anniversary of architect Antoni Gaudi’s death. Gaudi’s work is everywhere in Barcelona. It’s a whimsical style, ornamented with colorful tiles and mirrors. It’s all a bit gaudy, and Andy and I wondered if that’s where the word ‘gaudy’ comes from but Google says no.

Our experience here was heightened further by the fact that we happened to arrive three days after the terrorist attack where a van plowed into a crowd of people in a very busy pedestrian area.  Our hotel is just about a block off the spot on La Ramblas where it all happened. There are 13 memorials – one for each victim. During the day there are peaceful gatherings where people hold up signs indicating solidarity between Christians and Muslims. Another group holds up signs offering free hugs; there’s a long line. At night, prayer vigils are held near the memorials. Police are everywhere we go; they  carry automatic rifles in the open and are on high alert, watching people very intently. And yet life goes on. The tourists keep coming. The city’s dichotomy continues – fast and slow, old and new, pain and healing.

 

 

Biker and I made a super-quick trip to Arkansas and Missouri this Memorial Day weekend to scout locations/narrow down the options for a future property purchase. Unfortunately, due to weather, the only riding day we got was Sunday. But it was glorious!

We arrived at a cabin on Lake Taneycomo just east of Branson on Saturday early afternoon.  The forecast called for severe storms early evening and the sky looked a bit threatening so we decided to take the truck out and about for the afternoon. We wandered over to Kimberling City to check out Tablerock Lake. Such a beautiful setting!
Then we headed east toward Bull Shoals Lake. All of the flooding southern Missouri experienced the past weeks is on full display, with rivers out of their banks and bridges closed. As the skies darkened, we headed back to the cabin to cuddle up with a movie and a bottle of wine.

Sunday morning dawned clear and beautiful, and we loaded up on the bike and headed out about mid-morning. After a frustrating stop to get our helmets talking to each other – let’s just say there were a few angry words exchanged! — we turned south and headed into Arkansas.  For all you Arkansas motorcycle fiends, here are the roads we took –Highway 86 to Blue Eye, 311 to Forest Green, 103 south to 21, then north to 221 (road to nowhere), and over to Eureka for lunch. We ate at a Mexican restaurant there (pic of Biker attached). Yummy food but no margaritas – responsible riding!  Our waiter, Jade, was a wealth of information about the area and a heck of a nice guy.  After lunch, we headed south on 23 and turned off on a side road to take a peek at Beaver Lake. So pretty, see pic!  Then off for more riding – north on 23 to 62 (for 10-15 miles north of Eureka a seriously great road), took at side turn onto 187 but the bridge was flooded out so had to backtrack, then swung north of Beaver Lake on 62 over to Rogers, and east on 12 (great road just east of bridge for about 5-10 miles).  South on 23 to Huntsville, where we stopped for a snack, then 74 east and 21 north then back into Branson.  Biker wants me to add that he is impressed with the new front and rear suspension on the bike and proclaimed it a great success.

All in all, a beautiful day of riding and were able to rule out a few places – north and northeast side of Tablerock Lake is too steep and way too populated so it’s out. We know we want waterfront and there are plenty of options. Right now, leaning toward Beaver Lake or a major river like the White. Still more places to consider and lots of time to make a decision.
Back to the cabin for another movie, more wine and couch cuddling. Awwww!

Headed home now and it’s another beautiful day in northwest Arkansas.  The truck just doesn’t take the curves like the bike!

 

 

We. Are. Exhausted.

So let’s start with yesterday. Cause I was waaaaaay too tired last night to write the blog. We spent most of the day at Animal Kingdom. Rode perennial faves Dinosaur, Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari. Our driver on the safari had such a weird cadence to his voice, Alex and I had a hard time keeping straight faces. We spent a good chunk of the middle of the day drinking beers (the boys) and margaritas (me) on a great patio with a view of the big carved tree. We even made a Mickey with our drinks. You know I’m all about staying on brand; it’s the job. LOL The weather was again absolutely fantastic.

We went to Epcot for an overpriced – but pretty good — dinner at the Mexican restaurant there. Then quickly monorailed to Magic Kingdom for Wishes, the nightly fireworks show. Then we made a rookie mistake – we thought we could get to Space Mountain quickly and make it through the line pretty fast. No on both counts. First mistake? Ignoring the ‘105 minutes’ wait time sign. We found out – 110 minutes later – at 10:55 p.m – that it was right. And the coaster just isn’t living up to most others these days. Home late. Asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

This morning – despite our late night – we stuck with our plan to start super early so I could ride my hands-down favorite – and in Biker’s top 3 and Alex’s top 5 — Soarin’.  We were at Epcot before they opened and ran – yes, ran – to Soarin’ when they opened the gates. Keeping up with the long legs of Biker and Alex is no easy feat! Rode it twice in a row, then moved on to what we call the Chunkmaster but what is really called Mission:SPACE. 2 Gs are still 2 too many!  So many deep breaths and thank God for the cold oxygen they pump into the small space they put you in! Then over to Hollywood Studios for the bulk of the day. Our first ride there, the amazing Rockin’ Rollercoaster, had ‘technical difficulties’ just after we got in our seats. They hustled us off and down a hallway where we had the option of waiting for the ride to be fixed or getting free FastPasses to make up for those we lost. We took the passes and moved on to the Tower of Terror. Both the Tower and the rollercoaster complete my top 3 rides at Disney so once we got back on the coaster and made it through this time with no problems, I was a happy girl. Storm Troopers and a people watching period, and then we were off to Disney Springs for pizza and back to MGM for a wander through the Star Wars area for Alex.

20,000 steps both days. Simply exhausted. But having a great time!

That’s what we call Disney World. Make fun of us all you want, but we love the place.   We’re those weirdos with strategies for which direction to go first, we know where all the bathrooms are without consulting the map, and we absolutely know our way around each of the parks without needing help. Like I said, we love it.

So, this time it’s me, Biker and Alex. We spent most of the day at Magic Kingdom and then went to Epcot for dinner at the Nine Dragons Chinese restaurant. It was a gorgeous day – easily the best weather we’ve ever had while here.  And we had a blast riding some of our MK faves — Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lighyear (where Alex showed Biker the meaning of a high shot count!), and the Haunted Mansion, to name a few. 

A few observations:

• There are a lot of people here on Spring Break, and when we went to the Spaceship Earth ride at Epcot, where they have you put in your home location, the entire east coast was lit up. Makes sense.
• There are a lot of people – I’d put it at 25% or more – wearing Disney shirts. Old, new. Young, old. Mickey, Minnie, Elsa, Buzz … name your fave Disney character and we saw a shirt today with him/her on it. A trend I’ve never noticed before. Lots of ear headbands, too.
• You can’t use – or even carry – a selfie stick in a Disney park.
• The hot dog place at the far end of Main Street has really good corn dog nuggets. 🙂

Today is our last day of fun in Australia. Tomorrow begins the journey home.

We started off the day bright and early with a hike to watch the sun rise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta – the spiritual icons for the Anangu, the aboriginals who live here.  The sunrise and hike were great, but the amazing number of flies that constantly buzz around your head – they seem to LIKE bug repellant – made it a necessity to constantly swat around your head.  Many of our pictures feature people swatting around their heads!

An afternoon of relaxation and pampering at the hotel spa, and we were ready to head out to the Sounds of Silence dinner and Fields of Light art exhibit.  Great dinner – we tried kangaroo and crocodile! – and a fantastic astronomy talk and beautiful walk through the art exhibit. What a way to end our trip!!

It’s been an amazing trip to this proud, diverse, friendly country.  But we’re definitely ready to go home. See you all soon!