Lots of eatin', lots of walkin'

Our perfectly planned day yesterday almost went south at the beginning when we got to the movie theater and there was no 10 a.m. show. I KNOW the website showed one, but they said the first one was 11:20. So...what to do! Hey, at Downtown Disney there's lots to do. We strolled from one end to the other, went through shops like World of Disney and thought about all the things we'd like to buy, sipped sugar-free lattes from a sidewalk stand, and then went to the movie. Unfortunately, during the stroll we passed Cooks of Dublin and drooled over their fish 'n chips lunch menu. So when the movie ended at 1:20, we decided to skip the drive up the road to the JCC. Who needs free, kosher food anyway? We walked back to the Pleasure Island side and ate fish 'n chips. I also got a small bowl of vegetarian curry lentil soup. OMG, it was SO good!

Animal Kingdom provided lots of opportunity for walking. In fact we walked about 2 hours through the Pangani Forest and saw gorillas, kangaroos, meerkats, all manner of rodents, lizards, snakes, and amphibians, as well as okapi and other hoofed creatures. I took a lot of pictures which I'll try to post later on. Exhausted and hot, we walked back to our car and drove to Epcot where we walked over one mile just to get to Mexico from our car. The new tequila bar was really worth it, though. The ambiance was great, and we each ordered a Tequila Flight of 3 half-shots. It was a delicious and fun tasting. From there it was an easy walk across the pavillion to ride through the Grand Fiesta. It used to be River of Time, but then they added Donald Duck and the other two birds in a cartoon in there. Not an improvement in my book, but Mark likes it. The most fun thing was that it was the first time we had been in the Mexico pavillion or ridden that ride since we had actually been in Mexico. It really made the views of Acapulco in the ride much more real, and I had a better appreciation for the country and its culture than before.

We then walked up to Italy to the new pizzeria. The water they use to make the pizza is supposed to be just like the water they use in Naples. We ordered a house salad and the Orotano pizza, which included cheese, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, artichoke (fortunately not many), and red peppers. It was thin crust and absolutely delicious. Mark had his usual Merlot with that, and I chose Sangria for something fun and different. There was also pistachio gelato with coffee for dessert. Hm...hm...good.

From there it was nearly a mile and a half to walk back to the car, so that's what we did instead of taking the tram to the parking lot. We figured it was the least we could do after all we ate. By 9:30 p.m. we were home and doing laundry. We LOVE that we can spend a day at Disney and be home in less than an hour. Unbelievable. I also got to chat with Evey about wedding plans for about half an hour last night, so that was just a wonderful ending to a wonderful day.

This morning we will go to the gym for the weight machines and walking the track, but that's the good part. Unfortunately we have to fly back to Maryland for my pre-op physical tomorrow. I really go hours and hours without remembering the cancer when I'm here. It's also weigh-in day tomorrow morning. I didn't exactly stay on my diet this whole week, so I just hope I didn't gain anything when I hit that scale at Cindy's house tomorrow morning. We are only staying two nights there before driving back down here for Labor Day Weekend, so I don't have to get too upset about leaving, YET.