Our second day at sea started rather early. I had some laundry to do, but every time I checked the laundry room, all the washers and dryers in use; in fact, once, I carried a whole load of clothes to the laundry room and had to carry it back to our stateroom. Anyway, while I was sleeping, Zman (bless the dear man) got up around 2:00 am and put the laundry in the wash. He said shortly after he did so, other people came in and used the last of the washers. While he was waiting for the laundry, he took his camera and wandered all over the ship to take pictures; he said it was a good time because no one (except a few crew members) were up and about. We slept in (after Zman finished the laundry and came back to bed) til about 9:00 am. Our "Personal Navigator" (a ship publication we receive every night to alert us to the next day's activities) said we would pass the island of Monte Cristo (4 nautical miles away) on the port side at 10:00 am and the island of Elba (1.5 nautical miles away) on the starboard side at 1:00 pm; I looked, but it was too hazy to see anything. Also, about 1:00 pm, the captain shut down the engines and let us drift until sometime at night; we were 60 miles from our next port, La Spezia, and we would have arrived too soon. I "fried" the laptop by letting the battery run down as I was trying to post blog entries (Zman has obviously recovered it). Zman napped in the afternoon while I watched "Roman Holiday" (for the first time) and recognized some of the sights we had seen the day before; I also saw a part of "Under the Tuscan Sun" and I believe Diane Lane's character, Frances, traveled to Positano, so I enjoyed seeing and recognizing the Amalfi Coast. And I watched "The Making of the Disney Magic", which was fascinating to see how the ship was built and how the design was developed.
I had hoped lil Z would hang out in The Stack, the teen only area, and make some new friends. She has checked it out but wouldn't go to any activities. After meeting Brendan on the Rome tour yesterday and hearing what he does at the Stack (meet friends he's made, then they go somewhere else because it's too noisy to talk), lil Z has went to the Stack a few times. She's seen Brendan there and also met and played chess with another Brendan, this one from Lancaster, California.
In the evening, Zman and I had reservations for dinner at Palo, the adult fine-dining restaurant aboard ship. But, before dinner, we did a little on board shopping. Tara, the cruise shopping and
port expert, purchased a number of Chantecler bells from the island of Capri (one of the sights when we were ported in Napoli/Naples) to sell to cruise guests who weren't able to go to Capri. There are a couple of stories surrounding Chantecler bells. The first is a legend about a shepherd boy in the 1600's who lost his sheep; as he searched for her and night began to fall, he heard the tinkling of a bell and followed the sound to find his sheep in St. Michael's light with the bell around its neck. It is said the bell was St. Michael's gift to the shepherd boy and the island, and the bell is considered a gift from Heaven, a symbol of the Saint and his blessings, and a token of good fortune. A Chantecler bell was given to a Colonel Woodward as a gift for President Roosevelt at the end of World War II; the islanders like to think that the magic ringing of St. Michael's bell that guided the Americans to liberate Italy during the war. I purchased a bell and wore it to dinner at Palo. Zman had forgotten to pack neckties from home (and he had the perfect gray one with Mickey Mouse on it, too!), so he wanted to buy a tie from one of the onboard shops; he had bought one on Father's Day but was still looking for a dark tie and their selection on Sunday seemed to be only pink and odd red shades. Their selection was still limited to the reds and pinks, but he did find a nice tie that would go with his dark gray dress shirt.
We also saw a show in the Walt Disney Theater prior to our shopping. The show was a musical called Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story. It takes place right after the ball, when the Prince is searching the kingdom for the mysterious girl he fell in love with. In this twist, the Wicked Stepmother gets help from a new character, the Wicked Fairy Godfather Franco. She and her two daughters manage to break both glass slippers and Franco miniaturizes Cinderella to mouse size. Of course, the Fairy Godmother shows up to return Cinderella to her original size and counsels her that the Prince fell in love with what was in Cinderella's heart, not her outward appearance. Cinderella shows up to the second ball, where the Prince must choose his bride since the girl he fell in love with cannot be found. She is about to be thrown out but just then the Prince wants to hear what she has to say. He sees past the peasant clothes, recognizes his love, and the Fairy Godmother changes everyone at the ball from their black and white apparel to colorful versions and Cinderella into her beautiful, white, sparkly wedding dress. The Wicked Stepmother, Anastasia and Drusilla become Franco's servants because Cinderella, despite their attempts, still won the heart of her Prince.
Dinner at Palo was fabulous. I ordered calimari for the appetizer and Zman had a smaller portion of a pasta entree for his appetizer; I think the pasta appetizer was just the right amount for an entire meal. We both had filet mignon and our server, Annie-Marie, had said we would be able to cut it with a butter knife. It was so tender, it melted in the mouth. Annie-Marie, who is from South Africa, also taught us how to say "thank you very much" in her native language, Afrikaans; it sounds like "buy a donkey"; she said her language is very close to Dutch. Dessert was chocolate souffle, which Susan from our regular dinner table had recommended, and it was excellent! The chef came to our table to make sure we enjoyed dinner.
I had hoped lil Z would hang out in The Stack, the teen only area, and make some new friends. She has checked it out but wouldn't go to any activities. After meeting Brendan on the Rome tour yesterday and hearing what he does at the Stack (meet friends he's made, then they go somewhere else because it's too noisy to talk), lil Z has went to the Stack a few times. She's seen Brendan there and also met and played chess with another Brendan, this one from Lancaster, California.
In the evening, Zman and I had reservations for dinner at Palo, the adult fine-dining restaurant aboard ship. But, before dinner, we did a little on board shopping. Tara, the cruise shopping and
port expert, purchased a number of Chantecler bells from the island of Capri (one of the sights when we were ported in Napoli/Naples) to sell to cruise guests who weren't able to go to Capri. There are a couple of stories surrounding Chantecler bells. The first is a legend about a shepherd boy in the 1600's who lost his sheep; as he searched for her and night began to fall, he heard the tinkling of a bell and followed the sound to find his sheep in St. Michael's light with the bell around its neck. It is said the bell was St. Michael's gift to the shepherd boy and the island, and the bell is considered a gift from Heaven, a symbol of the Saint and his blessings, and a token of good fortune. A Chantecler bell was given to a Colonel Woodward as a gift for President Roosevelt at the end of World War II; the islanders like to think that the magic ringing of St. Michael's bell that guided the Americans to liberate Italy during the war. I purchased a bell and wore it to dinner at Palo. Zman had forgotten to pack neckties from home (and he had the perfect gray one with Mickey Mouse on it, too!), so he wanted to buy a tie from one of the onboard shops; he had bought one on Father's Day but was still looking for a dark tie and their selection on Sunday seemed to be only pink and odd red shades. Their selection was still limited to the reds and pinks, but he did find a nice tie that would go with his dark gray dress shirt.We also saw a show in the Walt Disney Theater prior to our shopping. The show was a musical called Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story. It takes place right after the ball, when the Prince is searching the kingdom for the mysterious girl he fell in love with. In this twist, the Wicked Stepmother gets help from a new character, the Wicked Fairy Godfather Franco. She and her two daughters manage to break both glass slippers and Franco miniaturizes Cinderella to mouse size. Of course, the Fairy Godmother shows up to return Cinderella to her original size and counsels her that the Prince fell in love with what was in Cinderella's heart, not her outward appearance. Cinderella shows up to the second ball, where the Prince must choose his bride since the girl he fell in love with cannot be found. She is about to be thrown out but just then the Prince wants to hear what she has to say. He sees past the peasant clothes, recognizes his love, and the Fairy Godmother changes everyone at the ball from their black and white apparel to colorful versions and Cinderella into her beautiful, white, sparkly wedding dress. The Wicked Stepmother, Anastasia and Drusilla become Franco's servants because Cinderella, despite their attempts, still won the heart of her Prince.
Dinner at Palo was fabulous. I ordered calimari for the appetizer and Zman had a smaller portion of a pasta entree for his appetizer; I think the pasta appetizer was just the right amount for an entire meal. We both had filet mignon and our server, Annie-Marie, had said we would be able to cut it with a butter knife. It was so tender, it melted in the mouth. Annie-Marie, who is from South Africa, also taught us how to say "thank you very much" in her native language, Afrikaans; it sounds like "buy a donkey"; she said her language is very close to Dutch. Dessert was chocolate souffle, which Susan from our regular dinner table had recommended, and it was excellent! The chef came to our table to make sure we enjoyed dinner.
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