An Expat In Italy: Dans le Pays de Disney

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Dans le Pays de Disney

Layovers. One of the lesser fun things about travelling. Sometimes you may have such a short layover somewhere that you find yourself Usain Bolting it through the airport, a panic stricken face blurring by others who seem all too leisurely filling out their metal seats. Other times, you may have a whole work day to sit around and wait, idling twiddling your thumbs and trying not to spend a fortune at the overpriced boutiques, if there are any that is - B know all to well about 2G terminal at her favourite destination. ;) The latter of these unchosen options was our fortune when leaving Iceland for Milan. Our layover destination: Paris.

8 hours.
8 hours to sit in an airport and wait.

Or would we.....

The answer: Nope! While in Paris, we were going to take advantage of our location to pop by a family favourite destination, because....well...why not!

So upon landing in Paris we, after a bit of a struggle trying to get to the train which we eventually missed anyways, bumbled around to find a taxi and embarked towards the land of Disney. Aka, Disneyland Paris.

Having been to both Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida, I have to say Disneyland Paris was a different experience.

Yes, the Small World ride had their ever annoying song endlessly playing so that park goers in a 100 yard radius could hear it, entering on to Main Street made you feel like you were part of another world, the ever popular castle loomed straight ahead of you making little children wish for gowns and tiaras ride lines extended for 60 min or more, being bumped and banged from every side by eager little children hungry for a tummy tickle on a ride, and generally there were throngs of crowds that you'd have to weave through. However, there was also smoking while in main parts of the park, many rides closed due to renovations (which I get, it's a winter thing at parks because it has to be done and why not during the slow season), and...... no ears!! Nope. Just a headband or sorcerer's hat with mouse ears attached. Sadly disappointing.

Needless to say, we had did end up having a grand time walking around, seeing the sights, eating a foot long hotdog, and taking in a couple of rides. It was a more unique way, than usual, for us to pass our layover time and B finally got to go to a Disneyland. Me...I'm 3 out of 4. ;)

Entering Disney, Disneyland Park

Not bad for a 6:30am flight

Main Street Disney

My new home ;)

Casey at Bat lunch spot

They must be getting ready for Easter

Alice in Wonderland maze - much better if you're a kid :p

Gotta do the classic tea cup ride when in Disney

The song that gets tirelessly stuck in your head

These are all part of the different "Lands" but I'm not sure which is which,

or all the names of them for that matter lol

Feeling a little cowgirl-esque

Someone got some ears

In one of the back walkways. Beautiful!

Disney Studios

Would've loved to meet Walt

No comments:

Post a Comment

Language Fun

As I meet new people and visit various countries, I'm finding out fun, interesting english words used in various parts of the world.

Here is a list of what I've learned/heard so far:

(Please note that different regions may have different terms within the categories I've listed. I'm just labelling them this way for the ease of purpose and am not saying that everyone from these areas uses these terms).

European

take away (to go)

toilet (bathroom)

tissue (Kleenex)

coloured pencils (pencil crayons)

rubber (eraser)

queue (line)

number plates (license plates)

letter box (mailbox)

Australian

a (er ending)

arvo (afternoon)

metro (subway)

dooner (duvet)

twigged (suddenly realised)

chemist (pharmacist)

full stop (period)

uni (university)

lollies (candies)

stroppy (pouty)

swimmers/bathers/boardies (swim suits)

dummy (pacifier)

fizzy (pop)

bin (garbage can)

rang (called)

car park (parking lot)

bannister (railing)

pinch (steal)

dunny paper (toilet paper)

English (UK)

fancy (desire/want)

quid (monetary unit)

squidgy (soft)

wee (go to the bathroom)

stone (unit of mass)

tube (subway)

rubbish (garbage)

galoshes (rubber boots)

loo (bathroom)

jumper (sweater)

vest (tank top)

knickers (ladies underwear)

flat (apartment)

lorries (trucks)

purse (wallet)

bag (purse)

rang (called)

tea (dinner)

pinch (steal)

mobile (cell phone)

urInal (urinal)

wanker (insulting word)

American

rain boots (rubber boots)

hair band (hair elastic)

plan (prep time)

duty (supervision)

Things I'm Learning in Italy

25. You will not find salt and pepper (or any condiments for that matter) on restaurant tables in Italy. You may ask for them, but good luck getting them in most places.

24. Italians answer the phone not with hello/ciao, but with "pronto". I believe I was told that it has a historical context from the days when calls were connected through an operator. They would say "pronto" meaning 'now' to alert the operator to put the call through (they were ready).

23. Italians count with their fingers differently (or at least different from what I usually have seen back home). Thumb = 1, pointer = 2, middle = 3, ring = 4 and pinky = 5.

22. Mozzarella is served in water in a bag. Apparently this makes it more moist and keeps the flavour.

21. While it is customary to remove your shoes when entering someone's house in most places in Canada, that is not the case here. I don't think I've had anyone remove their shoes when entering my place, unless its my NA friends. I've heard that this is the case in Italy....unless you provide your guests with a pair of slippers to wear.

20. Shoes sizes are different. I went from a 6 to a 36 in the conversion ;)

19. Credit cards from the bank are often pre-paid: you load it first then use it.

18. You'll get asked at many shops, "Do you have change?" Yep, they actually want exact change and will totally, patiently wait for you to count it out. Definitely not a NA thing. When someone starts counting out change there, often it's followed by a collective sigh from the line following.

17. Many places are closed from 1:00-3:00 in the afternoon. Why? Good question. I'm still trying to figure that one out. My guess: leisurely lunch.

16. Take away is not a thing here, even for coffee. If you go to a coffee bar, you: order, stand, drink and leave. Probably the one thing Italians don't seem to do so leisurely here.

15. Scooters don't seem to really have to follow the rules of the road, or stay in a lane. Nope. You should see their owners zip in and out of traffic, and quite closely between cars.

14. When a wall falls down and blocks a road, do not expect it to get cleaned up quickly (or even at all its beginning to seem). Have had a new path to school for about a month now.

13. Lines for things aren't always a usual in many places. Learn to be a pushy part of the clump, but not super rude, and don't sit back on your heels. If you do, you'll find yourself budged often and not getting anything (especially food).

12. When you guy things the instructions are in Italian (go figure) and aren't accompanied by pictures. Hope you have inferring skills. :/ Good luck!

11. There are lizards / geckos that can get into your house and run along the wall. Ewww!

10. Wine is like water - cheaper than it too, and it's served EVERYWHERE!! (Even at school functions/events)

9. You have to wear gloves when buying non-packaged produce at the grocery store. Also, you weigh it and print out a bar code for it right there.

8. Gloves are actually worn any time anyone is preparing food for someone other than their self of their family. High health codes in Italy. Interesting considering smoking is done almost anywhere. Breathed in a lot of second hand smoke walking downtown, or while in the train station.

7. Pre-packaged produce at the grocery store can be cheaper than bulk. Who'd have thunk!

6. There are community garbage and recycle bins. You find the closest one on the street and drop your stuff in (paper, glass, garbage, plastic - not all in each area though).

5. Small, bitty cars the the norm in Italy. Even those get super close to things (like other vehicles and the sides of walls). Doesn't seem like having a large horizontal scratch along your vehicle seems to phase car owners here.

4. Pink, clear geckos are good for you. Not to eat, of course, but they eat the bugs in an abode. In my mind, the little sucker can still take a hike!

3. People will stand REALLY close to you in line, and have no problem budging if there is a space in the line. Have felt many an unwanted warm breath on my head while in a store.

2. I get VERY excited when there is English writing on packaging. It doesn't happen often, if at all, so when it does please take a moment to be appreciative of that fact.

1. Italians, who speak English, often apologize for it (broken, hesitant). However, we are always just SO grateful to have someone we can communicate with without pantomime.