Soggy Moose Expedition Quest Game!!!!

Do You Want to Play a Game? 

We have been planning a trip and we have not disclosed any information as to where or when.

So a game is in order, one simply needs to figure out where we are going. I am thinking of posting clues on the Soggy Moose Travel Blog. Not sure how many clues would be needed.  Probably one or two clues a week. I am thinking of limiting the number of guesses to one a week per person. I would use a calendar week of Sunday - Saturday.  Guesses or your correct answer would have to be PM’ed to me (via Facebook), giving a time stamp.  A twenty question game would go to fast. 

Also your guess or answer to the location of the trip must include your reasoning as how you came to your answer. 

The prize would be a something I have turned on my lathe, maybe a pen or bottle stopper, or maybe something else,  give the winner a choice. Wood used would be of my choosing. 

Open to anyone anywhere, after all it is a global game. 

So who is in??

Rules subject to change yadda yadda yadda etc etc etc legal mambo jumbo etc etc 

“Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life” 

― Michael Palin

“NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!” 

CLUE #1 - Hope the volcano doesn’t blow.

THE GAME IS AFOOT!!!!!!!

Big all inclusive blogpost for cruise:

GOOD MORNING VENICE!!!!!

We awoke to a blustery rainy day. We have basically packed and will head to breakfast. 

After breakfast and when we are ready to head to the port we will take a bus to Venice and then the people mover to the port. The Disney Magic is berthed in Number 117. 

We hear the ship is full so if sail away is wet one the common areas of the ship will be crowded. Then again we may get lucky and the rain will abate. 

After breakfast we packed up and took the bus to Venice and the the People Mover to the Cruise Dock area. Checked our bags in and got checked in and waited to board.

After boarding we delivered Fish Extender gifts and then had lunch.  After lunch we explored the new re-imaginerred areas of the Magic. I like the new adult areas they have a nice classy look. O’Gills looks very inviting.  Topsiders is now Cabanas, lots more room and the flow will be much better. The new water areas look like fun. Will add more on them later.  Deck 10 aft of Palo is great, nice and roomy. There are also some shade ares on Deck 10 that are rather nice. 

Off to meet the Facebook group folks. After this we made our way back to the room and one bag had arrived. We quickly unpacked the bag and went to safety drill. After the Safety Drill we made our way to Deck 10 to sail away. Due to Port Pilot etc we would not depart until 1800. We sailed away with our friends and enjoy a nice evening as Venice disappeared from our sight. . 

One bag was late in arriving, there was a note in Italian stating something was taken from the bag and as far as we can tell nothing is missing. So we can retrieve the item in Barcelona. 

Back to the room to prep for dinner which will be in Animators to night. There was a pretty nice sunset and I got a few pictures. 

Very nice dinner and back to the room as we lose an hour. I am going to get to the gym in the morn before breakfast.  

Cruise Day 1 and 2,  At sea…. Heading to Athens.  

Up and at um, got in a workout and a very short walk, then breakfast in Cabanas. Very happy with the set up, easy to just get what one wants and move on. 

There is a Disney Vacation Club meeting and the return cruiser meeting. I really want to hear the speaker and see how he is. 

DVC meeting was as expected, nothing really new.  From there we went to the return cruisers meeting. I was able to chat with Brent the cruise director and and express Disney Cruise Lines need to do a better job on rewarding loyalty of their return cruisers. No real mention of new itineraries. 

Had a nice offering for lunch, it is called a schwarma (sp?) basically a gyro. I had beef and lamb, many nice sauces were offered. 

We were able to attend the speaker’s lecture and found the speaker to be very good and informative, with a fast paced style of presentation. 

After lunch was a mixology class which was organized by a Facebook group. This was a lot of fun, and informative. 

Next was a celebration of a friends Golden Cruise. Her 50th cruise.  A small private reception, with friends. 

Next was the evening show Twice Charmed, enjoyable.  

The dinner in Palo, the upscale adult restaurant. Dinner was amazing, with Chef Silvio offering us a table full of delights. Shrimp the size of lobster, perfect steak, perfect pasta, and a chocolate soufflé ended the evening. A stroll around the deck ended the night. About midnight.   

Decided to sleep in so woke at 0700, we started a load of laundry. I went to breakfast and found English Bacon and Brown sauce to make a nice Bacon sandwich. 

Walked about the ship then decided to start organizing photos to share, while waiting for the speaker, Richard Monroe. Todays topic will be Rhodes The Colossus. 

Lunch and then an other lecture - Crete was the topic. We then went and experienced the AquaDunk. That was a LOT OF FUN- I REALLY LIKED IT. The redone kids slide, Twist n Spout,  is SLOW>>>>>>>>, So we got a couple Aqua Dunks in. 

Then I went to O’Gills and watched the Tour. 

The evening Show was a Beatles tribute band. They were great. In all our cruises we have never seen such crowd energy in the audience. 

Dinner was good , shrimp, fried brie, pear salad, and a lobster mac and cheese was for me. We had chocolate cake from a  fellow cruisers 50th cruise. 

ATHENS/ Pireaus/ Corinth :

Up and took some pics from our veranda as we arrived. Then cleaned up and off to breakfast. Cabanas was a literal zoo. I had put my stuff down to get a coffee and upon my return I had been displaced. Oh well, grabbed my stuff and ate a bowl of porridge standing. Another dining room should have been made available much earlier. 

We got ourselves together and were ready to go for our 0800 departure. 

We found our guide and were off to Corinth about an hour drive. 

We crossed the Corinthian Canal which connects the Aegean and Ionic seas. A very very narrow canal.  We then found our selves at the fortress on the acropolis of Ephesus. We spent a short time climbing up to some of the walls. From there we made our way to Corinth.

Corinth was interesting and I found it nice and compact. This assisted in giving one a overall view of the temples and markets. We were able to see the spot where Paul preached to the Corinthians. The markets  of the city were separate as there were markets for the offerings to the gods and markets for the everyday things. 

From there we made our way to a sea side restaurant where we had moussaka and calimari. This restaurant was located at the entrance to the canal and there was a rather unique bridge, in that it submerged rather than drawing up, or opening up in any other manner. Pretty kewl!!. 

From there we were back to Athens for a quick tour of the Acropolis of Athens, visiting the Acropolis and the other highlights of this site. 

Back to the ship, and went to O Gills to watch the last of the Tour de France. From there we cleaned up and went to a friends room to enjoy the sunset. 

Then off to dinner at Animators, To bed right away as a busy day again tomorrow. 

 Ephesus  

We met our guide Atto at the port , and drove to the  Basilica of St John. This is a church ruin where John the Apostle is buried. This site also has a fortress which contains a mosque. There were also some European Storks flying about.An Amazing site with much religious history. 

Next we were off to Ephesus to explore the site. Many workings were going on. One can not help but contemplate what life must have been like there. The Terrace house and the restoration is amazing and will be ongoing for a good long time. 

Next was lunch at the farm house. A typical greek lunch of many delights. 

Then we were off to Virgin Mary’s House. A house where it is believe Mary lived after the crucifixion of Christ. 

Back to the port where there were 4 big ships and a small security point making forlong lines and were a bit late getting out of port. 

We then went and did a couple AquaDunks and then cleaned up and went to O’Gills to watch the Tour. 

Next was sail away which made us late to the show Villains Tonight. Then was Dinner at Lumieres and off to bed. 

Crete

Up early to see us arrive in this port for the first time, no fire boat or other greeting. After breakfast we met in the atrium, and headed to the bus station where we caught a bus to Knossos. About a 30 min bus ride. Entry to the archeological site included entrance to the museum in the city. 

Great site where the restoration gave one a feel for the grader and the color of these cities. Lots of good photos. 

The we grabbed the bus to the city where we stopped for lunch at Hari’s Creperie . 

I had a crepe with meat onions tomatoes and peppers in a tomato sauce. Pretty darn tasty. 

Then we went to the museum where the display was amazing. It featured items from the  Knossos site. Very very very well done. 

We walked back to the ship and are catching up on stuff. Watched the Tour. Watched sail away which made us to late for the evening show. 

Went and listened to the speaker about Santorini and then dinner and bed. 

   

Rhodes

We were up a little early, I went up top to watch us sail in. We had breakfast in Parrot Cay, was called Carico’s - but will always be Parrot Cay to us,   and then made our way off the ship. We found a gate and started to wander about when we found a shop just opening and purchased a local map. It did help us find the Street of the Knights. It was great being off early and having the streets not yet crowded, well no one really on the streets yet. 

The Street of the Knights is a lane which has been restored and is rather quaint and peaceful. At the top of the Street of the knights one finds the Palace of the Masters. Many artifacts are stored there and the mosaics were great. The wood work in the ceiling was beautiful.  Many references to the Palace of Masters state one should plan an hour, we were there two. 

We then made our way to the Clock Tower, as we were to meet others at 1100, We  waited as they were late so we made the trip to the top. The cost is 5 Euro and you get a drink of choice at the bar, so a good deal. Our friends showed up and we started to amble the streets, we found a fish pedicure place and talked them down to 30 minutes for 6 Euro. Very much like the cleaning stations we would find while diving. 

The Fish Spa was nice and did feel good. I would really recommend it to folks to rejuvenate their tired feet. 

We then found our way to Mikes, a nice restaurant where we had gyros and a boot  of beer. After a peaceful lunch, Lynn found a jewelry shop and got some earrings. 

We made our way back to the ship, taking time to put our feet in the water of the Aegean  .  On the ship we changed and did an AquaDunk, and then hit the adult pool. Wind made it a pinch cold as we got out. Back to the room and cleaned up and it is time to watch the Tour. 

Mykonos 

Up early to catch the sunrise, but the sun was blocked by a hill. Yet the light was nice as it hit the Windmills. 

Had breakfast and got ready to go explore. 

Off the ship before 0900 and made our way to town. We first walked to the windmills taking photos along the way. It was nice being there before the crowds get in. It appears there is one more cruise ship in town. 

From the windmills we made our way via many of the back streets to find the Maritime Museum. This is a small not very well marked building that we walked by once before we found it. There is one sign and it is in Greek, so as they say it was Greek to me did apply. 

Inside there are several models of ships that sailed the Aegean on display. These included trade vessels and  military vessels. This gave a good perspective of the Phoenicians and Greek naval battles. There were several artifacts such as anchors, oil lamps, and of most interest to me were the carpenter tools. There is also a nice collection of very early maps. 

Next on the agenda was lunch,  we wandered till we found a great small family owned restaurant. It was named Spilis, we both had a pork gyro loaded with some great fresh items. Cost was only 2.50E. There was also free wifi so we caught up on email and Facebook. 

Lynn wanted gelato  and there is the best ever gelato here in Mykonos.  Lynn had a cone with Nutella and caramel and I had a cone with pistachio and a yogurt with cherries. All great. 

We next made our way back to the ship taking time to wade in the Adriatic. 

When we arrived back on the ship we check the laundry room and it was pretty darn empty so we gathered all the dirty clothes and laundry is being done. 

Off to hear the Irish band in O’Gills, only to find trivia going, not what the navigator said. 

Had our servers speed up dinner so we could return to  O’Gills to enjoy some Irish Reals. 

Off to bed as it will be an early day in Santorini.

Santorini 

Up a bit before 0600 to get up to see us sail into the caldera of Santorini. Kinda dark and the light was not the best for photos. I was able to have a bit of breakfast as Cabanas was open and there was very few people there, so I grabbed a bowl of porridge and a bacon sandwich and went to deck 10, 

We were pretty well ready to go so we gathered our stuff and made our way to deck 5 to get tender tickets. We were lucky and got on the first tender and were the first on the cable car. We met our guide and walked through old town of Fira and met our bus. It was then off to Oia. Walked about took many pictures. It was a hot and humid day.  After our visit to Oia, we made our way to Akrotini where there are ruins of the pre big volcano boom. The ruins are covered and interesting. 

From the ruins of Akrotini we went by a couple of beaches and found a restaurant. A most enjoyable time and Lynn and I had a mixed lamb and beef solvaka with pita break. I had a Red Donkey beer. A local micro brew that was very fresh and very nice. 

After lunch we made our way to the Santos Winery where we sampled three wines. Our guide was not that great and seem to want to rush us along. Others were getting flights and little bites of food. I am speculating this was the doing of our guide. Anyway we were dropped in town and made our way through the gauntlet of shops. Lynn got some of our typical key chains to be made into Christmas ornaments. I did find a Greek cotton shirt for a very reasonable price. 

We opted to take donkeys to the base of the cliff over the cable car. We paid our 5 Euro and were told to move down the hill, which we did and were receiving many mixed messages. We aggressively made our dissatisfaction with the service we were receiving  known and were told we had not paid. I responded in a manner which left no doubt that we had paid and we started to get some service.  Finally Lynn was given a donkey and tied to another group, and off she went. The other three of us were finally assigned mounts and  were with a couple other folks and made our way down the hill. This is a fun way to go down and not bad at all. The donkeys are well cared for and  very gentle. Some people were freaked out by this mode of transportation. I really enjoyed it. The route is a narrow cobble pathway with very very steep sides. Not for the faint of heart. 

We tendered back to the ship, cleaned up a bit and went to O’Gills to catch the end of the Tour. Then it was up to deck 10 to see the sights was we sailed out of the caldera. 

Back to the room to catch up on logs etcetera and get ready for dinner. It is Pirate nigh tand personally I am getting a tad bored with some of the Disney entertainment offerings. I am sure others who have not seen pirates night do enjoy and it is good fun for them.  

After dinner we crashed and did not even go to fireworks. 

Sea day: 

Up for sunrise and took bunches of photos. Breakfast then made it to the 11:00 talk on  Malta. Lots of early history and nada on WWII history of Malta. Lunch and then a shadow puppet show that was great. Then  went to watch the tour and down load pictures. 

Evening show was Heidi Blenkenstaff and then O’Gills and dinner and bed. 

We also got a load of laundry done. The donkey ride clothes kinda smelled. 

Malta: 

Up and out for sail in at 0600. Some sunrise and and arrival pictures. Breakfast and then off the ship to explore the city of Valletta , on Malta. 

We walked up the hill to the city gate and found our way to the Hastings Gardens. Very nice gardens here in Malta. From there we made our way to the St Johns Co Cathedral. An amazingly ornate cathedral. From there we made our way to St Paul's Cathedral  of the Ship Wreck. A small but very significant cathedral. Here is the wrist bone of St. Paul and a section of the marble from the column where St Paul was martyred. We then found a little cafe and had a nice tuna sandwich for lunch. 

We made our way to the Saluting Battery for the noon gun salute. From the Saluteing Battery location we noticed the Lower Barrakka Gardens. Not may tour groups there at all. We then made our way back to the cruise port. We found a port side bar and enjoyed a drink, of local beer (Cisk) and local soda (Kinnie). 

We the restocked our Gozo honey supply and back to the ship. 

Catching up on journals and watching the Tour. 

Got free bingo cards so we played. 

Dinner and bed. 

Fit bit said  10.6 miles and 21000 steps plus.

Last Sea Day 

Took care of Tips yesterday and delivered some 5 hour energy to Nanu a waitress at O’Gills. 

Now the sea day. Woke to a very very very foggy morn and the fog horn was sounding.  

We packed , Palo Brunch, Morning Bingo, Watched Planes’ 2, Show and dinner, sleep and up to get off ship. 

Got off ship and DCL could not find what they took out of our bags. After waiting a long time !.5 Hours, we caught a cab to our  hotel, Cuitat Del Prat , in the La Prat area of Barcelona. 

A nice neighborhood, not a tourist in sight, or hop on or hop off bus to be found. Local shops and people walking their dogs in a local park. Lots of local cafe’s , bakeries, and small markets. 

We found a farmers market and bought a kilo of peaches, some cheese, and sausage, and bread for dinner tonight. 

Watching the tour in Spanish and then switched to German. 

Looking forward to getting home to see Taiya.  

A Day in Venice. 

We got up and made our way to the breakfast buffet here at the Plaza Hotel. A nice breakfast was had, meats, cheese, cereal, a nice selection of breads, and an espresso machine. A couple three shots of espresso and a bacon sandwich made the morning for me. 

We strolled across the street and caught the bus to Venice. This is a nice short ride and from the bus station we started with one goal to stroll the streets and alley ways to drink in the ambiance of Venice. This goal was met with no problem. We soon found our way to the Rialto Bridge, stopping in various shops here and there. We soon found ourselves again at San Marco, and continued our walk to a park a good ways down along the canal. The park provided shade and a short respite. There was a statue to an Aviator and a statue to a Polar Explorer. I have no clue as to who they were as the base of the statues was very worn. 

We noticed the Locks of Love on several of the bridges here in Venice. Couples place a pad lock to seal their love on bridges in Venice. Kinda KEWL!!

After the park we took a water taxi back towards an area where we felt the Disney Magic would sail by as she arrives in Venice. We planned to have lunch before the arrival of the Magic so a nice canal side restaurant was found. We lingered over pizza and salad to enjoy the shade. We then made our way to a point on the Grand Canal in the shade of Dogana di Mare, (a 17th century customs house). 

Shortly after 1500 the super structure of the Magic was sighted. We watched and photo graphed the Magic as she sailed by on the Grand Canal. 

From there we walked back to the bus station, stopping for a gelato. We did notice a couple bits of graffiti saying “NO BIG SHIPS”. 

We caught the #2 bus and arrived at our hotel. We dropped our day bags and walked to a local market only to find it closed. Yet there was an Oriental market open where we found some wine and Mango Mochi. 

We are now back in the room, cleaning up and getting bags ready to board the ship tomorrow morn. 

We did find an Italian TV station doing a recap of Le Tour, so we are up to speed. 

 Mr. Fitbit says today we walked 9.66 miles.

VENICE !!!!!

Paris to Venice via over night train:

And Venice : 

It was a dark and stormy Night, a shot rang out as the train entered the tunnel. Oh wait this is not the Orient Express, or a Snoopy novel, just the over night train to Venice from Paris. 

At about 1935 hours our train showed at the departure platform. We made our way to Platform L and made our way to carriage #93 and settled into our double sleeper room 36 and 32. The room is about 8’ X 4.5 “ . There are three sitting spaces and it will later be converted into bunk beds. There is a sink cabinet with a sink and toiletries  provided. 

The train leaves from Gare de Lyon at 1959 hours and is scheduled to arrive in Venezia Mestre at 0930 ish. Our sleeper room is First Class and includes a continental breakfast of beverage , plain or chocolate croissant and juice. Given the size of the room it is comfortable. There are overhead luggage storage racks which are quite ample. 

For our evening meal we opted to picnic in our cachet,  Sandwiches on fresh baguette , a drink and a pastry. Enjoying watching the French countryside pass. 

At Passport Control your passports are collected and will be returned one hour before your arrival at your destination. At this time you are also given a card for your breakfast  and a card for an evening  drink in the restaurant/bar car. When you go for your drink you ask for your beds to be turned down. 

Hey it is our anniversary!!!!!!!

I found the beds rather comfortable and fell asleep as the train rocked. We were awakened at about 0500 by a border crossing dog. The officer asked our nationality and the dog sniffed my socks and shoes. They then moved to the next room. We napped till 0600 when we dressed and went to the dining car. We received our breakfast. We enjoyed breakfast as the train made it’s way to Milan.   

We left the train at Mestre, and walked across the street to our Hotel. Very pleased with the accommodations. As we were unpacking we had a knock on the door and were greeted by some of our Cruise Friends. (I will never post anyones names unless they give me permission to do so.) 

We were all ready for lunch and walked to local pizza pasta place. I had a great pasta Bolognese  with a very nice spicy olive oil, Lynn had a pizza, All was very good. Full, we decided to make our way into Venice by train and purchase water taxi and bus passes for a 48 hour period, this will work perfect to get us to the cruise terminal on Monday. 

We grabbed a water taxi with three goals in mind, # 1 was to find the last Gondola Garage. This is a location where the gondolas are worked on and maintained. Check - Found it. Next was San Marco Square, not really had to find, so Check #2 down. The last was to find Harry’s Bar, a Hemingway haunt. Check - Found it. From there we decided to take a water taxi back to the bus stop. During this ride the skies darkened and it started to rain shortly after we got on a very very very crowded bus. The bus is very convenient as it stops right in front of our hotel. So now we are in for the night after a nice day in Venice. 

Trying to find a replay of the Tour on the television, so may have to go to the Internet to get todays Stage results. 

We will be at Breakfast at 0700 and then back into Venice to see the arrival of the Disney Magic.   

Issues posting pictures etc so will try in the morning 

LILLE to PARIS to VENICE.

LILLE to PARIS to VENICE. 

Very glad we got up early and hit the road to Paris. The GPS indicated it would be a 2 hour 30 minute drive, so we figured we would add an additional hour. The first 100 miles  went “Fluide” ( French for no probs all going smoothly). The last 20 was stop and go with mostly stops. We go to the first Avis office to learn for some unknown reason we were given the wrong drop off location. Que sera sera, c,est la vie, so we drove across the Seine to the Gare De Lyon station. Dropped the car and made out way to the  reception desk fro Italiarail. The train we are on has been sold out for the following dates, July 7-13. Glad we prepaid and booked. 

We now have a few hours to explore Gare De Lyon. First stop lunch at Costa Coffee. Do a bit of typing and catch up on Face Book, etc etc etc 

More later after we get to Venice.

General thoughts: 

It has been a great trip, thus far. I very much enjoyed our time in England and keep realizing we need to see more of the UK country side. 

Travel in Europe is much easier than in the US, as the public transportation is far better. 

Travel is really a book with empty pages waiting to be etched upon with the wonderment of the world. 

ARRAS START, STAGE 6 of Le Tour!!!!!

Start At Arras - 

We got up 0530 and out the door. The drive to Arras took just under an hour. We located a public parking space and made out way by foot to the Citadel where the starting festivities were to take place. We walked past an area where the caravan was being staged, probably an area the size of 4 football fields. We easily found the sign-in podium and staked claim to a spot at the front of the barricade, about 0830. We learned that the sign-ins will start at 1130. 

Cloudy and a mist was falling all day.  

The spectators are kept entertained with a couple of magic acts and Emcees keeping things going. Also this is a time for various sponsors to had out their various goodies. We got a couple of sun hats, scarfs, and a blow up pillow. They were also passing out fresh fruit, peaches, plums and apricots. 

A big screen played highlights of the past years tours, and highlights of the previous stages. A very very crowded scene and very different from waiting along the route. 

As the Caravan departed we maintained our spots by the Sign-In Podium. Lynn did try to get nearer to the Caravan Route. 

Slowly the riders start the sign in process, we snap pictures of many riders, here are a few———

Not all the riders had a spring in their step. One could sense the soreness of their mussels as they walked up and down the stairs. 

After the sign in the riders departed on the neutral start. We had noted Peter Sagan had not signed in, and were wondering what was up. Soon he arrives, of course I put my camera up, but got it out and set to auto and clicked a few. My guess is there was a problem in getting to the start area for his team. 

Traffic was very very very very hectic and slow moving. So we decided to eat some bread and cheese in the car and wait for things to clear out. We opted not to try and get to Wellington Cave a WWI site, and simply head back to the hotel. 

We got back to the hotel, dropped our day bags, and headed to a restaurant to watch the tour. Alas they did not have a TV even though they were listed as an official route restaurant.  So we went back to our hotel and our room could not be accessed. Oh well so we are waiting in the lobby for some one to show up at the desk. I did turn on the TV in the breakfast area so as to watch Le Tour.  

Tonight will be repacking for the journey from Paris to Venice by train.