No buses, boats, monorails, or automobiles today as Boardwalk access to Epcot is on foot. So this morning we got up and leisurely strolled to Epcot at 8:30 a.m. We sent Chris on ahead to get fast passes for Soarin', but Test Track would be our first ride stop. The ride was new and improved since the last time we were there as a family in 2007. There is a design studio to create your own simulated vehicle to test on the track. Soarin' and Living with the Land were our next two rides. Soarin' is one of Aunt Bev's favorite rides--one of mine, too.
Eating our way around the World Showcase was on the agenda for lunch. Starting in the cobble-stoned streets of London at a quaint little pub where fish and chips were on the menu and then moving swiftly to the Tangierine Cafe of Morocco for Shwarma, you would think we would have had our fill...but we were just getting warmed up. Next we walked to Japan, one of the most picturesque countries in the World Showcase with its towering blue-roofed pagoda surrounded by beautiful gardens and streams filled with colorful koi fish. Five-year-old Brad loves sushi, so we all had a great excuse to try some California Rolls (cooked sushi) and pickled ginger at the Katsura Grill. Ross and Mary became quite adept at using chopsticks to eat their rice. A unique and astounding attraction in the Japan pavilion is watching the candy artist turn a ball of taffy-like candy in a matter of seconds into a dog on a stick or a taffy ball into a turtle on a stick complete with perfectly blended colors and happy painted-on faces.
At the Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie in France, pastry choices included croissants, eclairs, mousse, quiche, souffles, tarts, cheese platters, and sandwiches accompanied by...(said with a French accent) "but, of course"...French roast coffee. The new Artisan Ice Cream and Sorbet shop also provided cool and creamy, rich dessert type choices for our party to sample before moving on. The Kringla Bakeri og Kafe of Norway allowed Joel to get his lefse fix and sample some School bread (Skolebrod) that he recalls his great grandma Nygaard preparing many years ago. A Norwegian club sandwich and parfait and I think our group had finally gotten its fill of eating around the world...for lunch, anyway. No trip to the Norway pavilion is complete without posing by the giant troll found in the gift shop.
In Italy, the live street theatre singers of Naples grabbed Mary to dance with them and then recruited Beth to help them entertain the crowd. I was afraid that they were going to ask Beth to sing, but luckily they just wanted to dress her up in Ohio colors and parade her around. The Maelstrom ride in Norway and the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros in Mexico were two of the rides we went on in the World Showcase before making our way back to Future World for another round of Test Track followed by Spaceship Earth and the Seas with Nemo and Friends. The timing of the rain showers today coincided perfectly with our indoor play time at Mission Space Race; then it was back to Mexico where we dined on nachos, tacos, and Churros and watched the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks and light show.
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