Six Days At Sea

They are wineing, dining and entertaining us like crazy but it is still 6 days in a ship with no port. It is part of any world cruise. The oceans are massive so to get anywhere you have to cross them. We missed the 6 days across the Pacific by boarding in Singapore. Now we are almost home to Ft Lauderdale after 6 days at sea. 

The mood on the ship started changing when we left continental Europe, headed for the Azores. After our last port which everyone agreed was a wonderful surprise, the mood really changed. Everyone was packing and generally ready to be home. Our first event was a Mariners Lunch to thank us for being there, champagne was served. The next day was a formal night with a gala in the theater before dinner, free alcohol. Wine was served at dinner also. Missing from the formal night was escargot. Lobster was there and a few of us did not order it. We have had it a lot. We asked if we could special order escargot and were told we would get it the following night. Then it was on the menu the next night. 

There is a Johnnie Walker rep on the ship giving talks and tastings. We went to one, nasty stuff. But if you like scotch, they were pouring pretty much as much as you wanted. We were shown a short film about how they made a special issue for the Queen's Jubilee. They made 60 bottles at $150,000 each! They still have some if anyone is interested. We chatted with the rep telling him we would be in Scotland in July. He is going to set us up for a special tour of one of their many distilleries, one that is not open to the public. Should be nice. Johnnie Walker sponsored the masked ball that night. They had 24 cases of scotch to pour at the event. It was at 9:30. We had had time changes for 4 nights in a row. By 9:30 everyone was tired, we were sleeping already. They ended up pouring only 2 bottles! Now the ship has 23 cases of free Johnnie Walker that they cannot sell. 

And all we could see outside were waves and clouds with some rain mixed in. 

They had crew talent shows, one with the Indonesians, the other with the Filipinos. They had a lot of fun doing them. Another afternoon was the passenger talent show. There were some good singers but the highlight was a Jewish lady from Brooklyn. She stood up there for 20 minutes talking about her relationship with her husband and had us all laughing like crazy. She was better than the comedians who had done shows onboard. 

And all we could see was waves and clouds, it was time to get home. 

They did a farewell reception with a speech by the Capt. The entire voyage went 31,000 miles and used 8.5 tons of fuel. The ship's hostess rattled off all the things that had been done for charity, raising over $12k. The port guide gave a synopsis of the entire cruise in about 5 minutes with pictures to go along with it. She did a great job and brought back a lot of memories. Then they ran a video of the crew doing silly things like falling into the pool, hiding in closets in one of the suites and a chef taking a rubber chicken out of a pot. It was very funny. A long cruise like this you get to know the people, passengers and crew. We become one big dysfunctional family. With all the memories, maybe I am not ready to get off the ship after all. 

Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal Day Two

We took our time leaving the ship. Nothing is usually open before 9 or 10 so why hurry. There were a few stores right on the pier but we had browsed thru them last night so walked directly to the Main Street. Our first stop was the super market. It is so interesting to see what different products they have in other countries. We decided what we would buy later as we did not want to carry it all day. 

Heading into town we found a Chinese Store. They carried everything. We were hoping they would have bubble wrap for packing but they did not. We continued on to the market. It started raining and poured for less than 5 minutes. That had happened yesterday also, rain for a couple of minutes then beautiful sunshine. There were a few tourist shops at the market as well as a lot of fruit and vegetables. I bought a pineapple as our guide had told us they were the best in the world here. I have my doubts but the pineapple on the ship has not been ripe so I figured it was worth a try. They will cut it for me in the kitchen. Now I had a pineapple to carry as well as a couple of small bags and I was way too hot in a light jacket under my rain jacket so we headed back to the ship. I bought a few items in the grocery store to take back as well. Mel waited for me on the main street. He said 3 different people asked him how to get to the ship from there. It was right behind him, hard to miss. That was just weird. 

We kept to the main street this time, headed to the old fort. There was a military museum inside. We went in for €1 each. There was a small room with some guns and uniforms. I thought that was it. We continued on into the fort and there was room after room of old military stuff inside. It was actually quite large. Mel was more interested than I was. It was mostly about the wars Portugal had in Angola, Mozambique and Guina in the 60's and 70's, something we know little about. From there we tried to go into a convent but it was closed. There was a square in front of it with a church on the other side. The church was covered with scaffolding. They were putting up lights for an upcoming festival. Inside the church was quite ornate. The front of the sanctuary was all covered in gold. The walls had beautiful tiles. We continued down the street in search of a restaurant. We stopped in a few stores along the way. We were still looking for bubble wrap. One store had a lot of housewares. On a shelf with some bags was a plastic bag full of bubble wrap. It looked like it had been stuffing in one of the bags. I used it to ask if they sold bubble wrap. When I had asked in the Chinese store I was directed to the bras. The check out lady said I could have it, even offered me a bag. That was nice, free bubble wrap!

We found a nice outdoor cafe. Mel had grilled octopus I had a ham and cheese sandwich on the same bread we had eaten yesterday. This sandwich was better, the cheese was melted and I put some of Mel's lettuce and tomato on it, yum. We went into another church which was also very ornate, no pictures allowed. We continued back toward the ship stopping at a few stores on the way. We made one last stop at the grocery store to buy green wine. Our guide had told us we should try it so we bought 2 bottles. It was on sale for €1.40!!! Hope it is drinkable. We are going to host a wine tasting in our cabin for our tablemates. If we take it to the table they will charge us $18 corkage fee. 

Back at the pier we used wifi for a bit. I called Piper to wish her a happy 4th birthday. I think she was happy to hear from me. It will be great to see her again. We were back onboard by 3 but will go off again to use the wifi and post this. Our last port was really nice. Very glad we were able to stay overnight to see both the island and the town. 

Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal

If our coming into port today was anything like our upcoming Atlantic crossing, we are in for a ride! It was pretty rough. A Primcess ship came in right behind us. They were not scheduled to stop here but did because of bad weather on the way to England. That weather is why we are in Ponta Delgada overnight rather than going to Horta on another island. Hope the weather passes quickly. 

We had no idea what to expect here. I knew from joining a tour that we would see crater lakes and hot springs. What I didn't know was how beautiful and green this island is. We met at 8 am for our tour. There were 14 of us divided into 2 vans. We immediately headed out of town. The farms were all surrounded by volcanic rock walls, so they were all black. Many are totally covered by greenery. In another month that greenery will be hydrangeas in full bloom. There are hydrangea bushes everywhere. It must be beautiful. We headed up an old volcano to an overlook to see the crater lake. It was beautiful with thick green foliage all around it. On the way down we were to stop at a hot springs but it wasn't open yet so we continued on to a small town. This one is on the north coast, Ponta Delgada is on the south coast. The island is about 10 miles wide, 50 miles long. In the town we went to a liquor factory. They gave us samples of what they make which is everything from pineapple, blackberry and cherry liquor to milk and rice pudding liquor! Most of it was delicious. It was not great doing a tasting at 9:30 in the morning though. I just wanted to take a nap the rest of the day. 

We went back to the hot springs. We had to walk about 10 minutes to reach them. There were beautiful ferns everywhere, very much like in New Zeland. They had pools set up at the springs. They had had a heavy rain the night before so the water was very muddy. Our guide told us the mud is good for your skin. I wouldn't have wanted to go in. There was also a beautiful waterfall there. After the hot springs we headed along the north coast to another lookout. They have many in the island as it is very mountainous. This time we could see the rocky coast as well as rolling hills with cows and horses. We were told it looks like Ireland. We have never been so could not verify that. 

Further along the north coast was a tea plantation. We had a short tour of how they process the tea. It was interesting. We have been to many tea plantations but don't think we have gotten that much information before. We continued on to yet another lookout over the thermal area. There is a town actually built in the crater of a volcano. There was steam rising in many places that we could see from the top of the hill. We also passed by a beautiful golf course. It was very hilly. We went down into the town to a bakery behind someone's house. There they made a bread that was similar to an English muffin but sweeter. We sat and ate sandwiches. I also had passion fruit soda, it was very sweet but good. We then went to where the steam was coming out of the earth. It was very much like Yellowstone including the smell. They had a pipe with hot water coming out of it that women actually use for cooking. Just up the street were 2 more pipes with cold water, one was sparkling water. It was interesting to try natural sparkling water. It was full of minerals, so didn't taste very good, but it was bubbly. 

We went to another crater lake that we had seen from the last outlook. One side of the lake had boiling water coming up, yet there were ducks swimming nearby. The heat must be concentrated in that one spot. Next to the lake is another thermal area where they cook food. There were dirt mounds which means there is a pot inside. It takes about 7 hours to make a vegetable and meat stew. A nearby restaurant specializes in that dish called cozido. Unfortunately we were unable to try some. There were many different water birds there as well as many cats. 

We went to yet another lookout to see a volcanic cone off the shore that had collapsed creating a lagoon. There is nice snorkling and diving there and every year there is a cliff diving contest. It was really beautiful. There was a pretty chapel at that stop also, which had 101 stairs to reach it. Mel went up as did a few others in our group. I declined. From there we went to our last stop, an overlook into the highest priced neighborhood on the island. There were a few large homes, not mansions by any means. One had been a convent converted into a home. We took the freeway back to the city. The roads are very good here. I thought we would go directly back to the ship but our guide and driver drove us thru town and pointed out some spots of interest. That was really nice, now we know where to go tomorrow. 

Cadiz, Spain

Cadiz is a city of towers and balconies. It is on a peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean and a good viewpoint of ships heading into the Mediterannan. In the old part of town are narrow streets with old buildings. Each one has lacy wrought iron balconies, many with plants and flowers. It was really pretty. We were cleared to get off the ship at 8 am but after our experience yesterday we decided to wait until almost 9 to get off. Even at that hour most places were closed and the streets were empty. There was a tourist information booth in the cruise terminal giving out maps of the city. They pointed out the 4 walking tours, each with it's own color line. They actually had lines painted on the sidewalk, it almost felt like a scavenger hunt trying to follow them. 

We set off following the purple line. We ran into 2 other couples attempting to follow the same route. We kept running into each other off and on all day. The first attraction was City Hall. It is a big, very ornate building. We then went to the cathedral. It was closed until noon so we would have to go back. Next was an old Women's hospital that had a painting by Goya in the chapel. Unfortunately it was also closed. Around the corner was the highest tower in the city. There used to be over 160 towers, there are about 120 remaining. We climbed to the top and had a very good view of the city. One floor down from the top they had a camera oscura. They use a mirror to reflect an image of the city on a dish shaped screen. The guide pointed out a lot of churches in the city as well as the fort, gardens, etc. We could see people walking in the streets, it was interesting. We continued following the purple line to another church then next door to another. Above 5 arches in the sanctuary were old paintings of the life of Jesus. Three of them were painted by El Greco. The line took us in circles going past historical buildings. We finally got to the end then headed back to the cathedral. 

Now the streets were getting crowded and all the cafes were open. We visited the cathedral then chose a cafe with wifi. It will be nice to get home and have unlimited internet. Paying by the minute on the ship is a pain. We had the same lunch that we had had both the other days in Spain, fried calamari for Mel, tortilla Espanola for me. It was the best yet but also the most expensive. We walked back past the Women's hospital to see if it was open, it was not. We then started to follow the longest street in Cadiz to the water. There was a nice botanical garden there. We walked on the walk by the ocean rather than thru the garden. 

We came around one of the points on the peninsula and decided to follow the blue line. That took us back into the middle of the city and past more churches. There must have been a church every 2 or 3 blocks, many of them very large with old, ornate decorations inside. We heard parts of 3 different services as it was Sunday. We found the end of the blue line then continued to a large square where we had started the day, in front of the City Hall. We then went back to the ship. There was wifi in the terminal so we left our things in our cabin and went back out. There were a lot of people trying but the Internet was not very good. I was unable to get emails or download any pictues but Facebook came right up, pictures and all. They must have a powerful server. We were back onboard by 5 pm to get ready for dinner. We had again walked over 8 miles. It will be nice to have 2 sea days to rest before our last two ports in the Azores. 

Malaga, Spain

The big attraction of this port is the Alhambra in Granada. It is about two hours away. We were there a long time ago so decided to stay in Malaga and see the sights there, we had never been. We were cleared to get off the ship at 8 but the first shuttle into town wasn't scheduled to leave until 9 so we waited until 8:45 to disembark. We were the first ones on the shuttle but it ended up leaving at 8:55 so we were glad we had gone out a bit early. It dropped us at the end of the LONG pier, right at the edge of town. 

Our first stop was the Alcazaba, a Muslim fortress from the about the 11th century. It was barely 9 am and most of the stores were closed along the way. Luckily the Alcazaba opened at 9. We went in and were about the only people there other than security guards. The walk wound around going up higher on the hill. There were beautiful gardens and fountains along the way. Closer to the top there were a few exhibits of pottery and such which had been found at the sight. The view of the harbor was very good, we took a lot of pictures of the ship! Almost at the top I asked a guard how to get to the castle which was even further up the hill. We had to go back the way we came or take an elevator from the top, which we did. 

Once back at street level we headed toward the castle. We found some stairs but no signs anywhere. A ways up I finally asked if we were headed in the correct direction to get to the entrance to the castle. It was a very long and steep walk. There were a few stairs but it was mostly just uphill. It took us about 40 minutes to reach the top, it was a strenuous climb. We went inside to see what was there, not much. There was what looked like an old chapel turned into a museum with a few displays. You were allowed access to walk along the walls of the castle, which was nice, but after the climb I didn't feel like doing a lot more stairs. We went up part way just for the view. We were really high up. There was a small cafe on the castle grounds so we stopped for a cafe con leche. It was very good. 

We decided to take the bus back down the hill and into town. It arrived shortly after we did to the stop but the driver did not have change for a €20 so we ended up walking after all. It was really steep going down, hard on the knees. We got our exercise again today. We had walked over 8 miles yesterday, almost 8 today. Once down where we had started we headed toward the cathedral. We could see it clearly from the castle. Stores were now open and there were more people on the street. We found the cathedral and paid to go in. It was a WOW! It had a very high ceiling with a number of alcoves all around the sides of the sanctuary. Each alcove had old paintings or statues, very elaborate and beautifully done. We were there about 30 minutes looking at it all. 

Next we headed to the Picasso museum. When Picasso was alive he always said he wanted his art to be exhibited in Malaga after he died, the place of his birth. His daughter donated most of the pieces in the museum. There were many from when he was young which were very detailed and lifelike. He did not change to the style he is known for until his later years. There were a lot of people there as on the street. Once done with the museum we headed in the direction of the main shopping street. We stopped at a cafe for lunch, again out on the sidewalk and with the same food. Mel's calamari wasn't as good as it had been yesterday. My torta Espanola was better! The waiter was quite a character. His job was to stand outside and get people to come into the restaurant. He especially talked up the young women. He said he had been a bar tender on the Disney Wonder for a year. He had loved the experience. 

We found the walking street, it was packed. Most of the stores were higher end. It seemed like everyone was just walking, not doing very much shopping. At the end of the street I asked a police officer the way to El Corte Ingles. He said it was down a busy street, about a kilometer away, so we headed off. It was a nice walk but we were already tired from our climb. Once at the store we visited every level just to see what they had. A sales woman approached me and said "English?" I told her yes, but I speak Spanish, in Spanish. She was very relieved, it was cute. I tried on a couple of tops then we went down to the grocery store again. I do enjoy looking at the different food and am always on the lookout for candy made in the country we are in to bring home to Siera. Now that she's older she doesn't eat as much candy as before but now she has a little sister. Bad grandma for bringing home junk food. 

We headed back to the ship. We ran into a couple from the ship and chatted for a bit then went to the shuttle. We were back at the Cruise Terminal at 4. There were some nice shops there so we shopped a bit. The Duty Free had very cute bottles of Sangria. I bought it more for the bottles than the sangria but tried it once we were onboard. It is very good. I may have to buy a larger bottle in our next and last port in Spain tomorrow. It was another beautiful day in Spain. 

Cartagena, Spain

We had no plans here other than to try to visit several museums. We docked shortly before 10 and were on the gangway when they announced that we were free to leave the ship. We followed the crowd, the HAL Eurodam was in port also, so lots of people, to the main walking street and just started walking. There were some beautiful buildings in the area, built after the Spanish civil war. Many of them are Art Deco in design. We asked about a transportation museum we had heard about but no one seemed to know what I was talking about. We first visited the Crafts Center. There was a lot of ceramics and some modern things, not the classic Spanish art I had seen in the past. From there we headed toward El Corte Ingles, Spain's equivalent to Macy's. It was quite a long walk but we found it. 

Inside the dept store they had food in the basement, including a large grocery store. I like looking to see what they have. We looked for the souvenir area and again it was not what I expected. In the past they had a lot of beautiful things which were made in Spain. Now they had magnets and some small plates, but nothing very nice. We looked around a bit then headed back toward the port. 

There were cafes on the sidewalk all along the street. We waited until we were back on the pedestrian only section to choose one. Mel had calamari, as usual. I ordered a tortilla de patatas which is a Spanish omelet with potatoes. I ate those almost daily when I went to school in Valencia for a summer many years ago. It was delicious as was the cafe con leche. The ship served flan after dinner so my Spanish food experience was complete. We may eat the same tomorrow!

We had really wanted to visit some museums. We arrived at the former City Hall which was a gorgeous building, just as it closed. The guard allowed me to take I picture of the staircase then closed and locked the doors. The info office next door said there are museums open until 6, like the Roman Theater museum across the street. We went there. It looked small from the outside but actually had a tunnel to a building in the next block then continued until you were out in the theater! It was like an amplitheater but they showed models of how it had once been a theater with a large stage. From there we exited and ended up in front of the facade of an old church. It had been built on top of part the theater. We were looking for the exit but ended up on top of the hill at the base of a castle. We continued up and visited the castle museum also then went back the way we came, passing the church and finally following an alley around to the main entrance of the Theater museum. We had left bags there so had to go back. 

We were only a block from the pier. We headed that way, past where our ship was berthed, to the Museum of Underwater Archeology. They had a lot of items from old ship wrecks. They had examples of items processed with the correct conservation methods versus some that were not. It was very interesting. They had a number of coins that were found including some beautiful gold ones. One Spanish wreck was found off the coast of Virginia by a private treasure hunter. Spain actually sued for possession and won, but the artifacts are still in a museum in Virginia under mutual agreement. They just had one of the two anchors found at that museum. 

By now it was after 4 pm. All aboard was 5:30. We headed back to the ship. Mel used the phone while I went onboard. There were hundreds of jellyfish in the water by the ship, I had never seen that before. We walked over 8 miles today and up almost 30 flights of stairs. Hopefully we will both be ready to do it again tomorrow in Malaga. 

Civitavecchia, Italy for Rome

We stayed in Rome for a few days before a prior cruise so had seen most of the main sights. One place we missed that I really wanted to see was the catacombs. I contacted a tour operator a year ago to see about arranging for a private tour to pick us up at the ship and take us there. They wanted €250 per person, so I nixed that idea. HAL had a tour going just to the catacombs then to a farm for lunch so we signed up for that thinking it would be an easy day and we would see what I wanted to see. I started thinking maybe it was wasting our time there to just do that so asked if we could change to the transfer to Rome. Then we could do the catacombs on our own and see other things as well. I was told that there were so few people on the tour that they would have to cancel it if we canceled so we would be taking the original tour. 

We boarded the HAL bus shortly before 8. There were only 18 of us on a full size bus so everyone had a window seat. The guide started telling us about our day and it included things that were not in the tour description, which was a pleasant surprise! Our first stop was the St Sebastian Catacombs. A description I have read say the tunnels were built for Christians to worship in secret without persecution but in the tour they only mention them as being Christian burial tunnels. At one time there were 60 different ones with hundreds of thousands of tombs. There are only 6 remaining today, St Sebastian being the oldest. We had a guide from the catacombs for our group. We were not allowed to take pictures which was disappointing. Because it is a burial ground and sacred, they do not allow them out of respect for the dead. I think it was also to sell postcards. There are 7 miles of tunnels in this location, we were taken thru less than a mile of them. There were niches on all the walls and some marble plaques where wealthier people were buried. Before the tunnels were opened to the public all the remains were removed to more private locations. The floors were dirt as were the walls and ceilings. Some families had entire rooms where many were buried. There was a small chapel where St Sebastian was originally buried. There was now a tomb for him in the church that was built above the catacombs. Our last stop in the tunnels was an area for wealthy Romans. They cremated their dead so there were burial urns in the elaborate tombs. When the church above had been built hundreds of years ago, they wanted to stableize the ground so had buried this part of the catacombs. They were rediscovered in 1922, so are intact. There had been no looting since they were buried for so long. The ceilings had intricate carvings on them, one had fresco paintings. It was a very interesting tour, I was glad to finally see the place in person. 

Our next stop was the Pope's summer palace! That was a total surprise as there had been no mention of it in the description. A couple of people complained about it as they had walking issues so had chosen an easy tour but the rest of us were very happy about it! Castel Gandolfo is built on a hill overlooking a beautiful lake. It was quite an uphill climb to get into the Summer Vatican City. Outside the gates were many shops and restaurants. We had over an hour to explore on our own. One of the last stores down the street was selling cheese, cookies and salami, giving out very generous samples. I think all of us ended up there at one point, buying something because we felt obligated after all the samples but also because it was good. We were not quite as hungry for lunch after that. 

Our last stop was lunch. It was at a farm but the farm was a beautiful winery and exclusive restaurant. We first had a demonstration on how to make gnocchi by the owner of the farm, and given wine and appetizers. The wine was delicious, but I am not much of a wine drinker so who knows. Everyone else seemed to like it too. We were then given a tour of the restaurant which is actually under the beautiful old stone farm house. The largest rooms, where we ate, were ancient Roman cisterns, a great atmosphere. They had caves that went on from there including an old looking dome with a skylight. It was a beautiful place. Lunch started with a salad and red wine. And bread and olive oil as well, of course. They also produced their own olive oil. Next we had a plate with lasagne and gnocchi which was very good, followed by tiramisu, one of my favorite desserts. During lunch I asked our waitress if we couldn't have white wine as well, even though the red was very good. I got a cheer from the table when they brought it. I went to buy some wine to take home to our daughter and discovered it was only €4!!! That is a bit more than $4 a bottle. I got a cheer when I announced that to the rest of the group also. 

It was a 90 minute ride back to the port after that. Most of us slept after all that food and wine. The tour had been excellent, everyone agreed. Excellent tour, lousy description. I did mention it to the Shore Excursions office. I wonder if they will actually change it. They never even mentioned the summer palace which made it very special. We were back onboard at 5 pm.