Disney Cruise - Day Nine: Corsica

Our next port of call was Corsica. To be honest, I was really looking forward to our three stops in Italy the most. Everything else was just kind of icing on the cake.

We had previously arranged for a half-day beach break excursion without Caleb. (We were going to leave him on board with the Disney nursery staff.) But we were called in our stateroom a couple of days before to let us know our excursion had been cancelled because of a problem with the tour company they contracted with.

So instead we were left with a free day in Corsica. This was actually a bit of a relief after five pre-arranged shore excursions. A chance to explore a city on our own was just what we wanted at this point. So off we went into Ajaccio to see what the day held!

Corsica ended up being an unexpected treat on our trip. Without a guide or agenda, we were free to go at our own pace, stop when we wanted to, and plot our own journey.

Additionally, Corsica was beautiful. As in I-want-to-live-here beautiful.

Again, we had awesome weather. We really hit the luckiest streak of sunshine imaginable.

We did a bit of shopping and stopped at a cafe for a quick drink and a bite. (Mostly we needed an excuse to use a toilet, but the espresso and white chocolate cranberry cookie I had were a welcome bonus!) Caleb had apricot juice here!

Ajaccio is the birthplace of Napoleon, so with the help of a map we could barely read, we managed to find the house he was born in. We didn't bother going inside this time. It was just too crowded, and today was less about sightseeing and more about relaxing.

After that, we found a little beach near the town center, so we went down to hit the sand for a while.

Of course, I had to get the obligatory feet-in-the-water shot. Look! I'm standing in the Mediterranean Sea! And it's cold!

Caleb must have felt that every rock on the beach was misplaced, because he spent the majority of the time throwing them back into the ocean. He loved the beach. Even though the water was cold, he didn't care at all. I can't tell you how many times he's asked to go to the beach since we've been back home.

It was such a relaxing afternoon. Tommy and I laid out on the towels we brought from the ship, I read a book, Caleb played in the water. I could have stayed there all day.

After a while at the beach, we decided to head off to the other end of town to see the Napoleon monument.

Caleb was pretty wiped at this point, so Tommy found a bench to sit at with Caleb while I climbed to the top of the monument and looked out over Ajaccio.

Corsica ended up being one of my favorite stops. I had virtually no expectations for it, but it ended up being such a relaxing nice time to spend together as a family. Looking back, I would have trimmed back on the pre-planned guided tours and done a few more days on our own like we did in Ajaccio.

Unfortunately, we knew our time was almost up. We only had one more port of call left and a day at sea before we had to disembark for good in Barcelona. It had been so much fun, and we had seen so many cool things, it was hard to imagine how we could end on a higher note than Corsica. But we still had Villefranche left!

Oh, but one more note from Corsica: