Castaway Cay

The seven-day Disney Cruise included visits to Key West, The Grand Cayman Island, Cozumel and Castaway Cay. In Key West we had a catamaran sail followed by snorkeling. Unfortunately it was a rough day at sea and the snorkeling wasn't as good as it might have been otherwise. We did see some bright fish and many jellyfish. Dieter kind of panicked when he found himself in the middle of four of those sea creatures and consequently he ended up with 12 stings and a not-so-good attitude towards jellyfish. The seven-mile beach at Grand Cayman was fun and the kids enjoyed the water and sand. In Cozumel we introduced Erik to the art of bartering. He was, as usual, embarrassed by our actions, but quite pleased with his new chain and Aztec calendar piece. Our excursion of touring the Mayan ruins was cancelled due to poor weather (thunder and lightning). The highlight of the island hops was Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. Dieter met his hero (above) and took a photo of the Flying Dutchman which is anchored at the island. All this sparked even more interest in pirates. He was delighted to participate in the pirate event on board the ship. Georg even got dressed up but we think he looked more like a wrestler than a pirate. Erik tried very hard to avoid any contact with "that dude."

After 5 days of Disney World and one day at Universal Studios Georg and I are ready to say goodbye to the Disney "endurance tests." The kids could go another week but we're done. We leave for London England tomorrow, stopping over in Detroit along the way. I guess we will fly all night and arrive on October 3 in the morning. We only plan to stay one night in London so we'll miss seeing our friend Stan (who arrives on the 5th). We then fly to Paris where we plan to buy a car to test our nerves abroad. We are hoping to meet up with our friend and former neighbor Jorge Antunes and his family in Paris or Lisbon. Thank heavens for technology so we can keep in touch!