September 29, 2006

I never got to finish writing yesterday. I was so tired that we turned in at 9:30 p.m. Yesterday afternoon, we visited Melk which was another beautiful abbey. We were a little peeved about the walking tour because the pace, but the whole experience became worthwhile when we got into the library. My goodness, it was beautiful! We walked back to the ship through the town and enjoyed the sights. I even purchased an edelweiss apron. After a hot tub break and dinner, we watched the ship go through a lock before going to sleep.Today was busy. We had an early breakfast and then boarded buses to Salzburg. Our first stop was Mondsee. It was the location of the movie wedding in ‘The Sound of Music’. It was exciting to see the aisle and the steps to the altar from the movie, and it was a great indication of things to come. Aidan and I made sure we walked down that aisle. Afterwards, we found an Internet café and check the e-mails before getting back on the bus.We slept most of the way to Salzburg, but were ready to sample the city's charms when we got there. Between Mozart and ‘The Sound of Music’ we could've been kept busy for a few days. The guided tour took us to important places. On the Mozart side, we saw where he was born and lived as well as the 250th birthday exhibition. Aidan and I visited the exhibition during our free time and loved it - Aidan was particularly good at the shooting game that Mozart used to play. As for ’The Sound of Music’, there were so many spots that we were able to visit - the graveyard in St. Peter's, the gardens where they sang ‘do-re-me’, the fountain from ’I Have Confidence’. It was great! We took the tram up to the fortress near the abbey (as in THE ABBEY from the movie) and had a traditional Austrian lunch. Talk about fabulous.We slept a lot on our way to Passau in Germany. We did get to see the crossing of the border. We then had a relaxing evening in the hot tub, dinner, 1 salsa dance, 1 cha-cha and 2 merenges!

September 28, 2006

I write this sitting on the deck, eating fresh grapes that we purchased after walking tour of Dürnstein. It is such a beautiful and peaceful morning. Another reason why this vacation has been so phenomenal!Yesterday was a very long day. We spent the day in and around Vienna. The morning tour that included St. Stephen's Cathedral was lovely, but I was dealing with an awful sore throat. However, once we finished and got to a pharmacy for some medicine, I was much, much better. We did a quick shopping trip getting a few items from H&M, an edelweiss ring from a shop that specializes in enamel work, and some roses from a flower shop. Instead of staying in the city we went back to the ship for lunch and a nap. I felt much better for the visit to Shonbrunn Palace. It was beautiful. I now find that I'd love to learn more about Marie Therese. I started to also piece together the history of Johann Strauss and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna. Oh, and I was in flower garden heaven most of the day. After dinner we had tickets to a lovely concert in a concert hall that Johann Strauss conducted/played in. Oh my, the music was lovely. The program was definitely memorable and the singers were superb. There were dancers too, but I was not too fond of the male dancer. After the show, they served us goulash before we went to bed. I then managed to watch a little ‘Sound of Music’ on TV before bed.This morning was great. It was cold and foggy when we set out on our walking tour. The town was so quaint and lovely. We purchased some Christmas stuff and apricot items. We even walked up to the castle ruins. I don't have to go to the gym today! We got fresh pastries from the bakery and purchased fresh grapes on the roadside. This is the life!

September 26, 2006

I write this as the world passes by on our sail towards Bratislava in Slovakia. Is a beautiful sunrise and the river is so peaceful and almost postcard perfect. Is almost as if we are in a dream.Yesterday was a lovely birthday for Aidan. After a phenomenal breakfast buffet that even included boiled eggs, we were off for a tour of Budapest. Our guide was great and took us to two spots, Heroes Square and Mathias Church. Aidan and I slept on the ride between the two sites - I was quite embarrassed that I did. Anyhow, Heroes Square was fascinating for its statues, and for the translation of what Hungarian names meant English. I really enjoyed Mathias Church. It had been taken over by the Turks at one point and was elaborately painted inside. It was just so beautiful! The Hungarian crown jewels were also in Mathias Church and the enamel inlaid crowd was beautiful.We returned to the ship and had a great lunch with cabbage soup and Hungarian goulash among other things. We returned to the cabin and there were balloons and chocolates all over the bed with a Happy Birthday note to Aidan from the housekeeping staff. We then had a quick run down to the shopping district to buy a bathing suit for me (70% off!!!). We then went to visit St. Andrews, which housed the artists village. Again, we slept on the bus trip. I think it was the air-conditioning being turned off and on. We had a tour of the area by a guide and a visit to the marzipan museum. We then had pastries in a café. Talk about sublime. We went shopping and met up with a vendor who gave us the history of various Hungarian crafts. I loved that. We then purchased a box where the key is hidden and a chess set, both with hand engravings.The evening was relaxing. We sat on the sky deck while the boat left Budapest. Akos, the cruise director, gave us commentary as we sat on lounge chairs watching the amazing sites go by. Dinner followed with a surprise birthday cake for Aidan – complete with a roman candle on top and all of the staff singing Happy Birthday. Upon returning to our room, we opened the curtains to watch the sites go by. And that is how we woke up. It is amazing!

A true vacation day! After breakfast looking at the river passing by, I ended up asleep until 11:30 a.m. Yes, I had a luxurious morning in bed while Aidan went up on the sky deck to watch us go through our first lock. There are 62 more to go through, so I'll see one eventually. When I finally got up I did 15 minutes of cycling and rowing in the gym followed by another 15 minutes of yoga and ballet. It was then off to another superb lunch with tomato soup, stuffed cabbage, Austrian bread, and roast beef with bernaise sauce.The afternoon took us into Bratislava. Like Budapest, I love to see the window boxes. The flowers are so beautiful! Bratislava is a lovely city and we enjoyed visiting the castle and the old town. We found a flag for Aidan and purchased a few lace items and some decorated eggs. We also discovered that I looked like a gypsy – really! I was treated somewhat oddly by store owners because of it.Tonight we went into the hot tub after dinner and then watched the end of the flute quintet concert. We aimed to watch the boat disembark from the sky deck, but instead watched it from the lounge. We enjoyed watching people dance and eventually did a cha-cha, merengue, and a waltz/rhumba before heading to bed. We have a long day tomorrow in Vienna, but it should be fun!

September 25, 2006

Today is officially day three of our honeymoon. There are moments where I cannot believe that we are on a real vacation. A vacation that I've been eager for over a year! Our adventure began on Saturday the 23rd. Somehow we made it out of the house, still on cloud nine from the previous day. After visiting Aidan’s family and my family, Brendan dropped us off at the airport and we were on our way. I spent some time talking with a wedding guest before we boarded, and then we were off to New York.New York was not as great a layover as it was expected to be. We had a good Chinese lunch and made it through security. We then had hours to wait and the concourse was not that conducive for enjoyment. Granted, I had a change of nail polish at the spa, but that was the best part. We couldn't find a book for me to use as a Journal. And we had to pay $3.40 for Vitamin Water!Anyhow, we boarded Lufthansa and the flight was actually quite good once we got off the runway (2 hours after boarding). The hot meal was okay and the breakfast was fine. It wasn't British Airways, but it got us to Frankfurt. We have 30 minutes to get to our gate in Frankfurt and literally just made our flight on Sunday morning to Budapest. Our luggage didn't make the plane though. This meant that we got to stay the same clothing for many more hours. Upon arrival at Budapest we were taken to a coffeehouse and received instructions on what was to happen for the afternoon. We then got to wander about for a few hours. We had a traditional Hungarian meal at an outdoor café. The shopping was fun, but we wanted to shower. We still had a few hours to wait. We got to the ship and took a nap before we finally got our luggage around 5 p.m. Showering was sublime, and we were ready for dinner. After a security briefing, we had a five course meal. I'm going to be fat after this trip. We talked with our table guests and then we were off to bed. This morning I gave Aidan his birthday present. We are going to take a tour of Budapest today and then will be off to visit an artists village this afternoon. We then sail for Bratislava this afternoon, and it will definitely be a fun day.

Reception Memories - Marisa's Version

The first thing I saw when we entered the Maritime Museum was the flags. Aidan had about 40 flags on the flagpole. We knew we were a bit behind time-wise but had about one hour and 15 minutes of slacking the timetable. We could theoretically catch up.Walking up the steps and into Commissioner's House was indescribable. It was almost what I think walking into a movie premiere might be like. Everyone was taking pictures and calling out to us and coming to hug us, etc.. The cakes were set up on the table in the entrance hall, and they were beautiful! I put my bouquet down on the table between the cake so everyone could see the bouquet jewels. It was then off for family pictures. It was pretty well organized, and we got through them in good time. We then tried to catch up with our guests before the Regiment Band and the Pipe Band began to perform. They were fabulous and the dancers had me feeling so proud when they did the Barracks. I loved every minute of the performance and was on cloud nine when the bands played ‘Scots Wae Hae’ at marching pace.We then got into the cake cutting. We started by looking at the knife and server since we had engraved our information on my parents set. We cut my cake, the Aidan’s cake and then served up a slice of each to feed each other. My goodness, the cakes were so good! It is a shame we do not eat more. We were then on to the second performance, and I danced the Highland Fling with the dancers and then watched the performance of the Sean Truibhas and the Sword Dance. The Pipe Band then washed into the building, and we were able to get into the dances. Aidan and I danced to ‘So In Love’ (he was so good) and we immediately followed by dancing with my dad and his mom to ‘The Way You Look Tonight’. My dad and I sang the words throughout the whole thing.We still had a few things to do before the evening wound up. The speeches went well with Aidan, myself and Brendan doing the honors. Then came the shocker. Yes, there was belly dancing! A few of my students were good sports, and we ensure that many jaws hit the floor. Even Alegna had on a hip scarf. We rounded up the night with the performance to ‘One’. That really had people stunned to see Aidan with the top hat and cane. We had good fun with it and the energy we got back from everyone was fabulous.Before you knew it the sparklers were being handed out. The time had gone pretty quickly, but we had made up for lost time! We walked out amid the sparklers. It was so beautiful. We stood in front of the taxi and looked out the sparkling Commissioner's House. As we boarded the taxi friends were calling out that they loved us. It was amazing. As we rode home we were happy that the whole day and evening had gone so well.

Reception Memories - Aidan's Version

We arrived at Commissioner’s House and Josh played us in to the building where we spoke to a few people before heading outside to the balcony to take the formal photographs. Once that was complete, the massed bands of the Bermuda Regiment and Bermuda Islands Pipe Band marched onto parade for a short performance for us. They played “Scots Wa’ Hae” as a quick march as per Marisa’s request and she thoroughly enjoyed it. We went inside and cut the cake and met a few more people. The pipe band organized themselves again and performed in front of the flagpole at sunset along with the dancers. Marisa could not resist performing the Highland Fling in her dress. Following this was our first dance. I remembered most of the steps and I think it worked out quite well. Marisa’s belly dancers did a short show. Again she couldn’t resist. Alegna joined in also. Marisa, Brendan and myself then each made a short speech and it was time for the last dance. Again, I remembered most of it, although the people were so stunned that I was actually doing something like that, that they probably wouldn’t have even noticed the mistakes I made. The sparklers were passed around and lit and so it was time to go. So we headed out to the awaiting taxi as all of our adoring fans waved from the balconies, shut the door and drove off around the corner of the building and out of sight.

Ceremony Memories - Aidan's Version

We were ready to go at 4pm on schedule, but unfortunately some of the guests were taking their time, so we eventually started at about 4:10. I tried to follow Brendan and Chantal at the prescribed 4 pew spacings, but with my parents on each side it was a bit difficult. Once I arrived at the front, I turned and watched Alegna walk down the aisle. She got about half way and then realized that she was by herself and started to cry. So we had to try to placate her. Once she made it to her parents she was fine. Marisa headed down the aisle looking very lovely with her parents alongside. She arrived at the front and our families exchanged greetings. The parents went back to their respective places and Marisa took my arm and we proceeded to the altar together. The service proceeded and before we knew it, it was time to say our vows. Marisa of course had memorized hers, but I had to cheat. However, I did read a line at a time and repeat it to her to ensure that I was talking to her and not the book. Father Jerry handed over the dish for the rings and Brendan looked like he was emptying his pockets of change as he took out the five rings to be blessed. Then it was off to sign the register, whilst Marisa’s godfather Phillip played the violin, and before we knew it we were being introduced as Mr and Mrs Aidan and Marisa Stones. A fanfare of trumpets and Handel’s Water Music and we headed out of the church and down the steps to the carriage whilst Josh played the pipes.
We sat in the carriage to allow as many people as possible to see us and then we proceeded out of the car park and along the road to Church Bay. It was nice to have a few quiet moments on our own and the photographer took a few shots whilst we were there. We then boarded the taxi to Commissioner’s House.