John and Diane sail the Mediterranean

Dubrovnik sounds wonderful if hard on the knees. Glad that you both held up so well and enjoyed your day. And while it's never fun to miss a port, it certainly sounds like you made the best of things!

Looking forward to more!

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Katakolon, Greece

I think Katakolon is the perfect port; it exists only to go to Olympia and the town itself can be walked in about a half hour. There’s good Greek food, some nice things to buy, and if you don’t go to Olympia, it’s almost like a half sea day.

Because there’s a noise that sounds like a metal desk being scraped across the floor just above us which seems to recur intermittently in the very early hours of the morning, it makes us sleep a bit later to make up for all the interruptions. Because of that, we were awakened at 8:00 (so late!) by the Cruise Director’s announcement that we were in port. That was followed by the gym, breakfast and showers, and then we were ready to go ashore, which required all of a 5-minute walk to get into town. As I said, the perfect port!

In 2012 we grabbed a taxi to travel to Olympia with our friend Sky Goodrich, and we really enjoyed visiting the ancient site. We pretended to run the track in the stadium, took photos of the beautiful spring blossoms, and read all the placards telling us what we were seeing. It was a wonderful outing, but we didn’t feel like we needed to do it again.

There are basically two main streets in this cute little (emphasis on the “little”) town. One has most of the shops and the other, facing the port, has almost only restaurants, primarily specializing in local fish as well as Greek dishes. The last time we were here on a warm spring day, John, Sky and I sat at a seaside table and enjoyed a lovely Greek lunch. This time, we went into the first cafe we found (to stay warm) and enjoyed wifi and cappucino. After a bit, John saw a Greek salad (his favorite) being delivered, so he decided we needed to also have lunch here. I ordered a gyro (pronounced yeero, I learned last spring), but it wasn’t what I expected. Instead of meat and tomatoes and tsaziki stuffed inside a pita, it was a large plate with French fries on the bottom, topped with slices of roast pork, and surrounded by tomatoes and tsaziki. It was good, but I was disappointed that it wasn’t what I expected. Spoiled girl here!

Then it was time to mail our postcard (one to our 11-year-old granddaughter from each port) and return to the ship. A leisurely afternoon ensued, followed by trivia with Woody and Susie, who are “back from the dead.” Now Jane and Bill are down with “it” and John and Diana were at a CSI cocktaill party. Dinner was just four of us for the fourth evening in a row, but a different four this time. After dinner, Henk and Lucia, the CSI escorts, joined us, along with our friend Don who had had dinner with us the night before. We sat and chatted and chatted until they almost had to throw us out.

We skipped the show and had an early night to bed. Sometimes that is just such a good idea!

I love "cruising" with you!!! Thank you for taking us landlubbers with you!

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Piraeus, the port for Athens

Today was an example of how good intentions sometimes go wrong. Last night after dinner, Henk (of Cruise Specialists) told us that the best way to get into Athens is to take the train, which costs 3 euros and takes passengers right to the Plaka, where the Acropolis and Parthenon are located, along with lots of restaurants and shops surrounding.

Rain was forecast, so we got going about 9:00 for a 1-1/2 mile walk to the train station. It was really pretty easy to find, especially when I asked about every quarter mile for directions. Basically, you just stick to the seaside roadway/sidewalk until you see elevated train tracks, and then go into the nearest building. That was fine until we got inside the building and saw that the line for tickets would be about 20-30 minutes. It had also begun raining, so we made the decision that Piraeus would be a lovely destination for the day. The fact that we’ve been to Athens about a dozen times had something to do with it, and off we went to find - you guessed it! - cappucino and wifi.

The cafe we found was truly wonderful. It was a bakery first and a cafe afterward, and the smells of baking bread and pastries were just heavenly. We had two cappucini and two small croissants, John’s filled with chocolate and mine with custard. Just delightful. After about 45 minutes our pastries were long gone, our coffee cups were empty, and Facebook was up to date. By the way, if you wish to follow our trip with photos, John does about an entry a day on FB at dianeandjohn st john and you’re welcome to check it out.

We left the cafe/bakery as it was sprinkling, but after about ten minutes the rain just poured down. Fortunately we were near an office that had a large stone overhang, so we stood there, watching the rain and lightning and listening to the thunder, for about ten minutes. If you’ve seen news about the deadly floods in Athens, you’ll know that the storms we experienced today are related. One of John’s photos shows cars lined up at an intersection about 18 inches deep in water. We were surprised they could get through.

Once back at the port, we spent some time (and more free wifi) at the cafe there, and then boarded the ship. It was nice to take off wet shoes and jeans and put on some dry clothes before heading up to the Lido for lunch. I think our favorite spot there is the “Asian Station,” where yesterday’s offering was Chinese. I had soba noodles with sweet and sour chicken and vegetables while John had the same combination but with rice rather than noodles.

After some reading and watching the thunderstorm it was time for a relaxing afternoon featuring a lovely nap. At Trivia last evening there were actually all eight of us. We came in second (we’ve only won once since we boarded), and then off to dinner. Finally there were six of us at dinner! We just chatted and laughed and it was nice to all be together again.

The “multi-instrumentalist” on the evening’s showroom performance didn’t interest us, so it was back to our cabin for some reading and then lights out.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Rhodes and Lindos, Greece

We’ve been to Rhodes a couple of times and really love the place. The city of Rhodes is a wonderful walled medieval town with a couple of wide streets but far more narrow alleys and passageways. Rhodes was the headquarters of the Knights of St. John for a couple of hundred years before they were forced off the island by the Ottoman Turks and ended up being the Knights of Malta.

When we’ve visited here before, we’ve always stayed in the city, and in the spring, while on the WC, we wandered here and there with our friends Rich and Ginny and I discovered the delights of tsaziki (I’m not sure if that’s spelled correctly or not). It’s a combination of yogurt and spices and is a wonderful dip for pieces of pita bread. This time, however, we wanted to get out of the city for awhile, so we signed up for Mary’s (Mamebo) tour to Lindos, a beautiful hillside town of whitewashed buildings with an incredibly old temple at the top.

Our $25.00 tour (HAL’s was $89) took us across the island, first to a ceramics factory (I do hate the “sales” stops, but this one was at least halfway interesting) and then to Lindos. Approaching, it looked like we were about ready to join the cast of “Mamma Mia” in one of the whitewashed homes across the valley. The beaches we could see were perfect curves of white sand and soon we were at the parking lot at the top of the city. A 10-minute walk took us down the hill to the town “square” (which was not anywhere near square), and then our guide told us that we’d be walking 300 steps uphill to visit the ancient temple. Then he laughed and told us, “I just wanted to scare you; it’s really only 297!” My calves are still complaining!

Since it’s November, most of the shops and cafes we passed were closed, but we continued, up, up, and farther up. Finally we were at the base of the temple and our guide told us that the original part of the temple was at the top of the hill and was over 3,000 years old. The newer parts (only 2500 or 2000 years old) were below it on the hill. Some of the ruins were in excellent condition while others were partial, such as the columns which had modern parts inserted between the old bits. Even with all those steps, it was quite worth it.

One of the best things about the whole day was the sun! We’ve been inundated with so much “liquid sunshine” that it was really great to see blue sky and be warm. I had decided to just wear a turtleneck and a light sweater and forego the jacket, but halfway up the hill I took the sweater off and was still warm. What a treat!

We drove back to the city of Rhodes, where we disengaged from the group and wandered the streets. They’re very familiar by now, but some of our favorite places from the spring were closed for the season, so we just kept walking. Finally, we were near the end of the town when we found a small cafe for some beverages and wifi. I ordered a cappuccino while John ordered a “medium” Mythos (one of the local beers). We both laughed when it arrived; it was a liter (quart) of beer in a glass boot, and there was no way John was going to be able to finish that and get back to the ship on time. He did manage to get through about half of it before we had to pay and hit the road.

By the time we got back to the ship the sun was setting, and we just took it easy until time for Trivia (second again!). Dinner was great, but it had been a very long day so we just went off to “pillow island.”

Just got caught up.

Wonderful reports.

Diane thank you again so very much for taking your time to post almost daily. Cruising with you and John is such a pleasure. Please continue to enjoy your trip.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Souda - the port for Chania, Crete, Greece

We’ve been to Heraklion, Crete, but we’ve not only never been to Souda and Chania on the same island; in fact we’ve never even heard of them. That’s why it was such a treat to make a new discovery and find another ancient city.

Mary (Mamebo) also arranged this walking tour through the old town in Chania. It seems that Souda is just a small village that serves as the port, but all the “action” is in Chania (pronounced han-ya). En route to our main destination, we stopped at a hilltop memorial and chapel which helps to remember the fighting the Cretans did to protect their island, not once but several times. Apparently Hitler told Mussolini to conquer Greece and told him that it should take no more than two weeks. In fact, the battles lasted seven months, giving the Allies and the Russians time to prepare in other areas. A quote from Hitler even gave credit to the Greeks for their tenacity in battle. Our guide was quite open about the continuing animosity between the Greeks and the Germans, saying that the Germans had neither repaid the money they were to pay Greece nor returned the antiquities they took. It was as honest an opinion as we’ve heard from a tour guide; most of them try to avoid offending anyone.

We began our walking tour at the market, or agora, of Chania. It’s an indoor mix of old-fashioned market with produce, meat and fish along with souvenirs and cafes. The main theme of our walking tour had to do with the 5,000 year history of Crete, beginning with Minoans and continuing through Greeks, Venetians, Muslims and then Greeks again. We saw a Greek Orthodox church with both a cross and a minaret on opposite sides of the top - quite a unique situation. It was built as a Christian church, taken over by the Muslims who erected the minaret and then re-taken by the Greeks who left the Muslim symbol and rebuilt the cross. It remains as a representation of the stages of the history of the city. One of our tour members wanted to know why they didn’t just remove the minaret, and our tour guide said that it represented Crete’s history. Later, we heard the same man raising the same question, and the guide replied, “It’s my island and my history; it will stay there!”

The rain came and went, and when we returned to the ship at about 1:00, it cleared and our afternoon on the ship was pretty mild. There was free wifi from the port building, and there were several crew and passengers taking advantage of it.

Last evening we attended the “Cellar Master’s Dinner” in The Pinnacle. They do this a few times on longer cruises, and John especially enjoys the courses with paired wines. When we arrived, the guests were being hosted in the Explorers’ Lounge next to the Pinnacle and servers were handing around flutes with prosecco flavored with Grand Marnier. After a while we were invited inside and seated with two couples. One turned out to be our next-door neighbors and the other (their best friends) were Woody and Susie’s next-door neighbors. Small world!

Our first course was pate served on a curved crispy bit of cheesy bread, so thin you could see through it. The paired wine was a nice prosecco and they went together well. Next was one of my two favorite courses; a pumpkin cappuccino mousse, AKA soup with lots of foam. It was really excellent and I could have used seconds, but I knew there were several more courses to come. The paired wine was an Italian dry white, and I especially liked that one.

Next was a small piece of lobster with a delicious sauce (my second favorite), with a chardonnay. Since I’m an ABC wine drinker (anything but chardonnay), I had them pour it and then gave it to John. The main course offered a choice: rack of veal or a Stilton tart. I opted for the tart since I’m not much of a meat eater and I do love any kind of blue cheese. Everyone else had the veal and most considered it pretty much so-so, since it was cooked well past medium. The tart, however, was delicious. The wine with this course was an Italian red, and everyone had good things to say about it.

Then it was time for dessert, which was a rectangular plate with a pot au creme in a flaky crust at one end and a mango mousse at the other. Pretty darned good, if I do say so. The sweets were served with small glasses of sherry, followed by a cheese course with small glasses of port. I don’t care for either, so the sherry just sat there, but I told them not to even pour the port.

Overall, it was a really nice dinner, but with too much food and too much wine. We knew that going in, so there’s no excuse, but it was excellent food and it was really nice to meet some new friends. There’s one more Cellar Master’s dinner at the end of November, and we’re deciding whether or not we’ll do it again. We’ll have to wait and see.

It was a busy but fun day, and I’m sure we’ll both sleep like rocks.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Piraeus, the port for Athens

Today was an example of how good intentions sometimes go wrong. Last night after dinner, Henk (of Cruise Specialists) told us that the best way to get into Athens is to take the train, which costs 3 euros and takes passengers right to the Plaka, where the Acropolis and Parthenon are located, along with lots of restaurants and shops surrounding.

Rain was forecast, so we got going about 9:00 for a 1-1/2 mile walk to the train station. It was really pretty easy to find, especially when I asked about every quarter mile for directions. Basically, you just stick to the seaside roadway/sidewalk until you see elevated train tracks, and then go into the nearest building. That was fine until we got inside the building and saw that the line for tickets would be about 20-30 minutes. It had also begun raining, so we made the decision that Piraeus would be a lovely destination for the day. The fact that we’ve been to Athens about a dozen times had something to do with it, and off we went to find - you guessed it! - cappucino and wifi.

The cafe we found was truly wonderful. It was a bakery first and a cafe afterward, and the smells of baking bread and pastries were just heavenly. We had two cappucini and two small croissants, John’s filled with chocolate and mine with custard. Just delightful. After about 45 minutes our pastries were long gone, our coffee cups were empty, and Facebook was up to date. By the way, if you wish to follow our trip with photos, John does about an entry a day on FB at dianeandjohn st john and you’re welcome to check it out.

We left the cafe/bakery as it was sprinkling, but after about ten minutes the rain just poured down. Fortunately we were near an office that had a large stone overhang, so we stood there, watching the rain and lightning and listening to the thunder, for about ten minutes. If you’ve seen news about the deadly floods in Athens, you’ll know that the storms we experienced today are related. One of John’s photos shows cars lined up at an intersection about 18 inches deep in water. We were surprised they could get through.

Once back at the port, we spent some time (and more free wifi) at the cafe there, and then boarded the ship. It was nice to take off wet shoes and jeans and put on some dry clothes before heading up to the Lido for lunch. I think our favorite spot there is the “Asian Station,” where yesterday’s offering was Chinese. I had soba noodles with sweet and sour chicken and vegetables while John had the same combination but with rice rather than noodles.

After some reading and watching the thunderstorm it was time for a relaxing afternoon featuring a lovely nap. At Trivia last evening there were actually all eight of us. We came in second (we’ve only won once since we boarded), and then off to dinner. Finally there were six of us at dinner! We just chatted and laughed and it was nice to all be together again.

 

The “multi-instrumentalist” on the evening’s showroom performance didn’t interest us, so it was back to our cabin for some reading and then lights out.

Diane and John,

Love your postings. We have followed you for years. Sorry, we didn't get to meet you on the Koningsdam last year.

For the future, there is a quicker way to get into Athens. There is a bus shuttle that makes two stops. One at Hadrian arch near the Temple of Zeus Columns and Sygtagma Square near the Parliament. Hadrian Arch is the stop for the Acropolis.

Neat thing is that your round trip ticket can also be used on the metro plus you can so use it on a bus from Metro station to port. All this for approx 4 Euros (2016 price).

The tricky part is getting to the bus/shuttle stop which is across the street which is busty with traffic. Marty (Martezz) & Gary made it across easier than we did. Next time I am going to walk to the right of the port and cross at the light.

Ticket can be bought onboard or at newsstand at port entrance. Be sure the shuttle is running if it is late in the season.

Thanks again for all the suggestions you have given over the years!

Sunday, November 19, 2017

At Sea en route to Valetta, Malta

Hooray, a sea day! Because the ship’s clocks moved back one hour last evening, we had an extra hour’s sleep - always a good idea. I usually use my IPhone to tell time during the night, but it has not received the “time change” message yet, so I had to look at it and subtract an hour to find out what time it was.

Because of the extra hour, we woke up a bit earlier, in time to spend a bit of time in the gym before breakfast and church. I was surprised to see someone new officiating at the church service, but he explained that the previous pastor’s wife, who thought she had bronchitis, was diagnosed with small blood clots in her lungs and had to be medically disembarked in Rhodes. We were all quite surprised and there was prayer for both of them. There is hope that they’ll be back, but no one really knows.

Since today was Sunday, it was our “split a Dive-In burger” day, and that’s what we did. The burger was really good, and the confession part of this is that we also split a hot dog with sauerkraut and bacon bits. Such gluttony, but they were both really enjoyed.

During our lunch, the captain came on for his regular mid-day talk and gave us an update on the current norovirus outbreak. For the last week, almost as soon as we boarded (and no, it wasn’t our fault), an outbreak of highly contagious norovirus has plagued (no pun intended) the ship. Every day the captain comes on at noon and lets us know the progress of the efforts to eradicate the illness. We get exact numbers and percentages of those who are ill and are reminded to wash hands frequently, and the Purell containers outside of each food location are manned by stewards who make sure we use them. At one point, 2.7% of passengers were infected, but now it’s down to about 1%. Hopefully it will disappear soon. Actually, this is the first captain that we’ve ever sailed with who gives us such detailed information. He also is free with his advice; today he said that some of those who reported to the infirmary today had had the illness for a few days and he was critical of them not reporting it immediately. I think some people don’t want to pay the infirmary fees, and we had suggested to one of the officers that no fees be charged for anyone with norovirus, which would encourage people to report, but apparently that suggestion was ignored.

For the first time in a very long time, I enjoyed afternoon tea today. Very coincidentally, a long time friend and teaching colleague is also on the ship, something we discovered when we were still in Rome. We taught junior high school together for almost 20 years, (Judy in math and me in English) and the main purpose of today’s get-together wasn’t to drink tea and eat pastries, it was to catch up on who’s doing what. We shared family photos and got up to date on many of our former teaching colleagues. It was a great reunion and we’re hoping to do it once more before the cruise is over.

This evening is another “Gala” night, so I have to choose which of the three remaining evening gowns I’ll wear. I’m leaning toward the purple one, but who knows.

Enjoy your posts - bring back good memories!~

About norovirus - we have found that people choose not to report because they do not want to miss ports they had looked forward to seeing. Too bad because virus then spreads to others!

Monday, November 20, 2017

Valetta, Malta

There are a few cities in the world which are a joy to sail into, and Valetta is one of them. The walls of the city, more than fifty feet in height and built of beautiful beige sandstone, present the sailor with an incomparable view on approach. We docked at 8:00, and by then most of the passengers were on deck for the view, and those who hadn’t been here before were pretty amazed.

Because we’ll be here for two days and we had no set plans, we just stuck with our usual morning routine and finally were ready to disembark at about 10:00, with plans

to take the HOHO (Hop On, Hop Off) bus on the blue line, seeing the west side of the island and, hopefully, finding a place to “hop off” for lunch.

While we drove, first through Valetta and then across the countryside, we heard a great deal about the history of the island, going back about five thousand years. There were Phoenicians and Venetians and Arabs and English and many others, finally resulting in the independent republic of Malta, the only country in the world to speak Maltese. It’s a favorite vacation spot for the British as well as Scandinavians and other Europeans, and we can easily see why.

One of its highlights of Malta is the city of Mdina (yes, that’s the spelling) and it’s pronounced “M - dina.” Mdina is another glory built in sandstone, with a beautiful church and extensive walls. Their specialty is glass, and it’s easy to see the influence of the Venetian glass art in the pieces we saw. Our minister collects chalices, and in the spring we were able to find a beautiful one to take home. It even arrived in one piece, which is always a worry with glass. On that visit we spent most of a day within the walls, but this time we were more interested in other areas, so we continued on.

As the tour continued, we saw a great deal of agriculture and learned that Malta is self-sufficient in many areas, including pork, rabbit, milk, strawberries, and many, many others. We had thought about getting off in St. Paul’s Bay, an area where the apostle Paul came ashore on his way to a trial in Rome. However, we had been looking for a little seaside village with cafes, and since that didn’t seem to be available, we stayed on until we arrived in St. Julien, farther up the coast.

From our drop-off point, we hiked down the hill, turning this way and that and finally found ourselves at a lovely little beach surrounded by several cafes which became candidates for lunch. We settled on Andrew’s Pub, where fish was readily available and we could sit outside for a lovely view of the sea. John had fish and chips and it was calimari and chips for me. The local beer was John’s choice and they had Strongbow cider on tap, which I do appreciate.

Finally, bellies full, we wandered back up the hill, found the drop off/pickup spot, and about ten minutes later the bus arrived and off we went. The rest of the drive was primarily along the sea, and it was ever so beautiful. When we arrived back at the port we headed to the 1 euro elevator which takes people up, up and up to the city’s level, and it gave us an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful walk through the city center. We looked in stores and enjoyed some of the archeological sites, and then found an outdoor cafe for John to have his new favorite drink: an Aperol Spritz, while I had a Diet Coke (out of an actual glass bottle). By the time we left the cafe, it was dark, but the streets were illuminated by multi-colored lights in beautiful designs. At one point, the lights formed a dome over the street, but I couldn’t get the whole thing in a photo.

Then, deciding it was time to head back, we took the elevator down to port level and wandered along the port to the restaurants and cafes that front the water. Since we were still somewhat full from lunch, we just wanted to share a pizza and a bit of wine, so that’s what we did. The wine was a local Maltese red, and a half bottle was quite enough. At about 9:15 we finally made our way back to the ship, but we’d decided that we had to tough it out until 10:00, but then it was really time to hit the sack. What a wonderful day.

P. S. Yesterday I failed to mention that Vox Fortura (I spelled it incorrectly the first time) performed for the second and last time. They are an amazing group, with beautiful voices that create incredible harmonies. Their last song was “Nessun Dorma,” the wonderful tenor aria from Turandot. You can pull them up on You Tube and I hope you too think they’re spectacular. In fact, this was the first time I purchased a recording after the show.

Great posts!

Glad to hear there was a Cellar Master dinner, too ;)

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Malta - Day 2

Another brilliant blue sky with some clouds greeted us this morning, and after our usual morning routine, we decided that since we’d taken the “Blue Line” yesterday, we’d take the “Red Line” today to see an entirely different part of the island. When we take HOHO buses we much prefer to sit upstairs for the view (unless it’s raining), and the sun made it quite pleasant - except for the wind. Boy, did I have trouble with those tangles in my hair.

The Red Line is the south route, and we headed away from the port and into the countryside. We drove through Paola (named for an early settler, not the Apostle Paul) and continued to Tarxien, where the archeologists are hard at work unearthing (literally) great numbers of ruins, some of which we saw as we passed by. We continued on, seeing some beautiful farmland and small villages, and our road went through a tunnel under the island airport’s runway. I don’t much like tunnels, and this one did nothing to cure me of that concern. We finally arrived at the south coast, the location of the Blue Grotto. Much like the one on Capri, the combination of cave reflection and the sun makes the water in this one appear an eerie shade of blue. It was too rough to chance it, but having been in the one on Capri, I think I know what it looks like.

Our next stop was the site of several prehistoric temples as well as an archeological museum. I would have loved to “hop off” at this stop, but all aboard was 3:30, so I guess we’ll wait until our next visit.

Then it was time for the drive almost straight back to Valetta, and one of the stops was near the center of town, so we did our final “hop off” and hiked up the hill for a last-chance wander. After a rather thorough look-around, we settled in at the same cafe we had visited for drinks the evening before, this time for cappuccinos and lunch. It was almost too late for cappuccino (in the Med it’s considered a morning beverage) and too early for lunch, so we combined the two. My club sandwich was the most unusual one I’ve had, with bacon, tomatoes and melted cheese on one layer and egg salad on the other. Since I like all of those things, I rather enjoyed the whole thing. John had a local specialty, which was a filling of spinach, bacon and ricotta in a pastry crust which surrounded the whole thing. He thought it was pretty good, and at least it was a taste of local culture.

Finally it was time to head back to the ship, but I took a bit of a detour when I discovered a black chiffon scarf with a design in sequins. The best thing was that it was only 3 euros, so I couldn’t pass it up. It’s perfect for a formal night wrap.

We got some rest back on the ship and then met our tablemates for our first group visit to The Pinnacle. Poor Woody was under the weather with a really bad cold and cough, but Susie showed up to represent the family. We had a great time but of course ate too much and decided that next time we really don’t have to eat everything on the plate.

The show last evening was a Tina Turner impersonator, and she was pretty good. She didn’t really look like Tina, but her outfits were pure Tina and her voice sounded enough alike to be entertaining.

By that time it was 11:00 and time for some sleep. It was a long day but a thoroughly enjoyable one, and we’ll both look forward to our next visit to Malta, whenever that may be.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Palermo, Sicily

If all you ever learned about Sicily came from The Godfather, you really should come and visit. There is so much more to the island and today we had the opportunity to see a great deal of it.

When I was flipping through my cruise folder, I found a confirmation of a tour from Palermo to Cefalu, a beautiful medieval town that is a beachside destination for many city-dwellers. We had both forgotten signing up for it, but it sounded like a great idea. Of course, since it is November, the beach was empty and most of the shops and restaurants were closed, but the small streets and alleyways were perfect for wandering. It had been more than an hour’s drive from the port, so when we arrived in Cefalu (chef - a - lu), it was almost time for lunch. The town was built by the Normans in the 11th Century, and it sits at the edge of a beautiful sea which we found inviting even in the chilly weather.

We wandered up the stone streets, having learned that the center of town is usually at the top of a hill and contains a church. That’s exactly what happened here. As we approached the top of the hill, there was a really nice piazza with restaurants around three sides and a Norman church on the fourth. We decided that lunch and a bathroom were the first priority, so we sat outside the one cafe that remained open and ordered two small pizzas, one glass of Sicilian white wine and one Fanta. They were pretty darned good and were almost finished when we decided that we had had enough.

When we tried to enter the church, we found that its door had been locked, probably for the afternoon siesta. Oh well. Then it was time to head to the gelato store (really, really yummy) and down the hill to meet our group members at the van. All eight of us were on time, and then it was time to drive across the countryside to the town of Monreale to visit one of the largest churches I’ve ever seen, easily big enough for a football game. The amazing attraction of this church, however, was the mosaics which surrounded the inside of the church below the ceiling and told the story of the New Testament. Above the altar was a huge mosaic portrait of Jesus and above the opposite end of the church was St. Mary. We wandered around the village for a bit and then met our van and driver for the drive back to Palermo.

Once there, the next half hour consisted of a driving tour of this city of a million inhabitants, learning about locations of some scenes shot for The Godfather, and then a return to the ship. It was a long day but a fascinating one, and it’s always good to get out of large cities and see something of the country side.

The evening was a relaxing one (we actually won at Trivia), and dinner was followed by a performance by the Veendam singers and dancers. Finally off to bed to get a good night’s sleep in advance of tomorrow’s port.

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cagliari, Sardinia

Another day, another Italian island and our last chance for pizza and gelato in their home country. After the million people of Palermo, Cagliari, one of the largest ports in Italy, seemed very small and walkable - and that’s what we did. There was a shuttle bus to take us through the port area and almost to the center of town. We began there and just walked and walked and walked. John was on a mission; he remembered a small square where we had stopped for cappuccino the last time we were here. I had no memory of such a place - until we walked around a corner and I saw it.

There was almost a “strip mall” of small, family-run cafes, and we chose the first one that had the two requirements: cappuccino and wifi. They also had some delectable pastries, so John had a croissant filled with and sprinkled with chocolate and, since there were no croissant cremas, I settled on a large sugar donut with no hole but a filling of custard. They were both delicious.

After about an hour break, we continued on our way up the hill. The city is nothing if not steep, so stone stairs were required and we did as many as were comfortable, and then started walking in a different direction, ending up at a beautiful small church dedicated to St. Michael the archangel. It was founded and is still run by the Jesuit order and is a classic of baroque architecture. Since we had no idea where we were going on this particular part of the walk, it was just a bit of serendipity that we found it.

We were still a bit full from our morning snacks, so we just walked and walked and walked. In most areas we seemed to be the only non-Italians - except once when we rounded a corner and found ourselves “followed” by a group of HAL passengers on a walking tour of the city. We went upstairs and downstairs and ended up in view of the ship’s shuttle, but then decided that since this was our last chance, we’d find a place for pizza. Our “find” was back in our starting place, but a different cafe from our morning stop. The pizza, capriccosa, was one of our favorites but needed another two minutes or so in the oven. The outer crust was perfect, but the crust under the middle was almost undercooked. Unfortunately, it only earned a 5 or 6 on our 10-point scale.

To make up for it, we walked next door to a place with at least three dozen flavors. My two choices, lemon and cherry, were delicious, but John’s chocolate chip (with almost no chocolate chips) and hazelnut (with no hazelnuts) was a bit disappointing. They did, however, keep us company back to the shuttle, and thence back to the ship.

We had some time to rest (and finish yesterday’s post) before it was time to get to Trivia. The highlight of the evening, however, was our Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room. Of course there were choices, but I opted for the cream of pumpkin soup, the main course of turkey and its favorite accompaniments, and then pumpkin pie for dessert. Could it be any more classic?

We finished a few minutes after 10:00 so the show had already begun. Bill and Jane were headed into the “get-away seats” in the back of the show lounge, but we told them we’d head up to the Crow’s Nest for some music and limoncello. About ten minutes later, they came in and told us that the show was soooo bad (how bad was it?) that they took all they could and then exited. I guess the “comedian” was dressed in a male version of baby doll pajamas along with red patent leather shoes and no socks. His main trick seemed to be making a balloon dog, but that was the extent of his balloon talent. We were very glad to have come up to the band playing in the mostly empty Crow’s Nest, and the four of us talked and danced and just had a really nice visit.

We were having such a great time that it was almost midnight, with the band long gone, before we headed down to our little home away from home. It was a nice Thanksgiving and we’re now giving thanks that tomorrow is a sea day.

Friday, November 24, 2017

At Sea en route to Gibraltar

Ahhhhh! Another sea day. I seem to appreciate them more on this cruise because it is so port intensive that a break is very welcome. One of the nice things about yesterday was that it seemed to go by very slowly and we enjoyed every moment.

The best news we had yesterday was when the captain came on and said that there had been NO new cases of norovirus, so it looked like it was under control. Because of this outbreak, a crew member must get people’s coffee for them, which causes a bit of a queue. When John asked this morning, the young man pouring his coffee told him that he thought today would be the last day of this “Code Orange” situation.

An interesting gentleman yesterday spoke about “Operation Mincemeat” during World War II. A book called The Man Who Never Was was written about it (which I read in high school) and the whole idea was incredibly clever. An unidentified body was used in the operation, dressed in an officer’s uniform, and supplied with supposedly top secret papers in his pocket. Because they couldn’t use photos of the dead man for his ID, they found three soldiers who resembled him and used their photos for his military papers.

They then shot him out of a submarine’s torpedo tube toward the beach, where he washed up. The ****s bought the whole thing, hook, line, and sinker, and because of the operation, they believed that the Allied invasion would not take place on the beaches of Normandy.

Because it was fairly pleasant yesterday, John took advantage of our “balcony,” otherwise known as the Promenade. Sometimes there is so much foot traffic on it that it’s like the Indy 500, but it is nice to have the access - and the reserved chaise lounges.

It’s interesting to experience one of the “Lanai” cabins, since it’s an experience I never wanted to have. Our preference for cabins is one with a verandah, but if that’s not in the cards for a particular cruise, we like Deck 1 (Dolphin Deck) because Deck 2 has people walking on the Promenade above you and Deck 3’s rooms are smaller. For this cruise, we weren’t willing to pay for a verandah cabin because it’s November and we wouldn’t be sitting outside in the sun. Because of that, we booked a minimum outside cabin which was “upgraded” to a Lanai cabin.

So . . . how is it going? Surprisingly, we like it better than we thought we would. It’s great to have floor to ceiling windows with a view of the sea, and during the daylight hours, it really is impossible to see inside the room from outside. After dark, we simply close the curtains to avoid the “lookyloos.” We have friends who have stayed in plain old Deck 3 cabins and they thought it was pretty funny when people walking by on the Promenade outside would stop and use their windows as mirrors, straightening their hair or picking at their teeth. We haven’t had that experience yet, but I think it’s because there is clearly an outside door leading into our cabin.

The cabin is pretty small, but we are doing just fine with it. For example, this is the first time we’ve had plenty of closet space, but the drawers under the desk are gone, so I have to use the little stool in that location to store my hairdryer, makeup and similar items. The bed is, as always, really comfortable, but there is some noise which sounds like someone moving a metal desk that occurs intermittently. We have no idea what causes it, but we’ve decided to just ignore it.

Tomorrow is Gibraltar, and since we don’t arrive until 1:00 PM, we don’t sail until 11:00, allowing us plenty of time to wander around, find a pub or restaurant for an early dinner, and get back to the ship in time to sail.

Just discovered your latest cruise. I enjoy following your cruise blogs so thank you for taking me along virtually.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Gibraltar, UK

Our first visit to Gibraltar was in 2008, when John and I and our friend Woody took a taxi up near the top of “The Rock” where we could see the Siege Tunnels and the Barbary apes. It was a great outing, and I don’t know which one I liked the best. The apes were by far the most fascinating and certainly very active. They’re about 18 inches tall and are always on the lookout for food. If your car window is open they’ll pay you an “up close and personal” call, and when you get out, they swarm around you looking for a snack. I still have great photos of both Woody and John with apes on their heads, although we’ve been told since that that’s not a good idea. They are fun photos, though.

We didn’t dock until 1:00 PM, so about 1:30 or 2:00 we headed into town. There were choices of transport for the mile between the ship and downtown. There’s a shuttle bus, there are taxis, and then there are feet - which we opted for. It only takes about 20 minutes, and when we arrived in the center of town, it was pretty crowded with Saturday shoppers all along the main street. I do love Gibraltar; it’s a bit like an English village, but it seems that all the shop and restaurant employees are Spanish - because they are. Gibraltar is surrounded by Spain and every once in awhile there’s a referendum to see which country the citizens want, but since almost all the citizens are British, the last vote was about 98% in favor of staying in the UK.

We went to our favorite pub, the Gibraltar Arms, but because of the time of day, instead of cappuccino and wifi, it was beer/cider and wifi. We hung out there until all the emails were read and answered and Facebook was up to date, and then we just went wandering. While we’ve explored other areas in the past, today we made a point of finding back streets that were new to us. We even discovered a small area which was called “Little Italy.”

John figured that since this was our last chance for “Jolly Olde,” we’d better take advantage of the fish and chips. That required a check of Tripadvisor to see who had the best of the best, and we found that Roy’s was the place. It’s located in the first traffic-free circle, and boy was it good! We ordered a “regular” to share, and the cod filet was (really) about a foot long. The chips were great too, so it was a great dinner, and - since we shared it - a lot less to eat than we’d have had on the ship.

By the time we’d finished, the sun was down and it was heading toward dark. That resulted in us taking one last walk down the main street and then heading back to the ship. It was a good thing that we wanted to walk, because there wasn’t a shuttle or taxi in sight. Twenty minutes later, we were back at the ship, just in time for our 7:00 call to our kids in California. Our daughter likes to sleep late on weekends, so she doesn’t want us to call until 10:00 AM California time. That’s OK with us, but we have to be in a port that doesn’t sail until at least 7:00, and Gibraltar fit the bill. We talked with her, our 11-year-old granddaughter Jessica and our son-in-law, and then it was time to decide what to do.

Because it was only 7:30 by then, we had some choices. We could have gone to the show, gone to the dining room (for a second dinner), or just gone to our cabin to read (for me) or watch American football (for John). We chose Door #3, and when we arrived back at our room, we checked our phones and discovered we’d walked more than 16,000 steps and over five miles. It made me exhausted just reading it. We did manage to stay awake until 10:00, but just barely. By the time the ship sailed at 11:00, we were sound asleep.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Cadiz, Spain

We really love this port, and it’s a good thing we do, since we’ve been here three times in the last thirteen months. The city itself is beautiful, with open squares and traffic-free back streets, the people are friendly, and because we’ve been here so much, we really do know much of it very well. It’s not a good city for the HOHO bus, because they can only drive around the perimeter of the city, since there are so few places that allow traffic in the city proper.

Docking time was 8:00, but we hate to get caught in the crush, so we waited and disembarked at about 9:30. Our ship was docked right across the street from the main part of the city, and we couldn’t have been more conveniently located unless the ship could have parked in front of the cathedral.

It was dark and foggy until just before docking, and we watched the whole procedure from the Lido deck while we had breakfast. It was still dreary when we headed into town, and after a while it began to sprinkle, so we found a cappuccino and wifi cafe in front of the cathedral. As much as I dislike port-intensive cruises, including almost all those in the Mediterranean, I do like the ability to save on ship wifi and to find places on shore for that purpose - all for the price of a cup of coffee (instead of 27-1/2 cents a minute).

After we’d been sitting for awhile, Bill and Jane happened along and joined us for a half hour or so, until the sun came out and we all decided it was time to continue our explorations. John and I wandered down a backstreet that was new to us and, in another episode of serendipity, we found a first century theatre that was not only fairly complete, but free. It was one of the largest theatres from the Roman empire, seating 10,000 people and covering what today would be an entire block in a large city. We were able to go into a covered passageway that had been a reserved entry for those of the knight class, and use it to gain entry to the theatre itself. After wandering about to see as much as possible, we found a small room where a video showed exactly how the theatre was used in its day. The most interesting part of it was how different areas of the theatre were for different strata of society, with the most important sitting in the best seats, and so on up the seating until the very top (the nosebleed seats) was for women - figures!

From there we wandered along a couple more streets to the beach, since Cadiz is actually on a peninsula. We had looked up “best paella in Cadiz” and found the name of El Faro restaurant, about a half mile down the beach. When we arrived, it was 12:30 and the restaurant didn’t open until 1:00. We looked at the posted menu and inside, decided it was a bit too fancy for what we wanted, and just kept walking until we found a cute little indoor/outdoor place called Pena Flamenca restaurant, owned by a famous Spanish flamenco singer. It had a nice table outside, reasonably priced seafood paella, and delicious tinto verano, our afternoon drink of choice in Spain. We like Sangria, but it’s usually twice the price of tinto and they’re pretty much the same, but without the fruit. A tinto is red wine mixed with carbonated lemonade and it’s just delicious. The paella was good, too, and since we shared, it was just the right amount.

Then it was time to head back to the ship, so another mile or so of walking through absolutely charming back streets took us to the cathedral square and thence to the ship. It’s been another wonderful day in Cadiz, and we’re hoping for a good result at Trivia and a quiet dinner before heading to bed early. Our port tomorrow is Casablanca, and since we spent the day exploring it in the spring (including lunch at Rick’s Cafe), we’re actually taking a ship’s excursion to Rabat for the day. It should be interesting.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Casablanca, Morocco

Even though we visited Casablanca for the first time on the Amsterdam in the spring, we were looking forward to a second visit today. In April we must have walked five miles, out to the Hassan II Mosque and then back to Rick’s Cafe, a place that never existed outside of a Hollywood sound stage.

This time, however, we wanted to see more of Morocco. We weren’t ready to pay $250 each and spend 12 hours for the shore excursion to Marrakech, so in a completely uncharacteristic move, we signed on for the six hour, $79 HAL shore excursion to Rabat, one of four national capitals. It’s only about an hour and a quarter from Casablanca, and we just wanted to get out of town to see a bit more of Morocco.

Morocco is a country that was ruled by the French from 1912 until after WWII, and almost all signage in the country is a combination of Arabic (the official language) and French. On the drive through the suburbs and agricultural areas, our guide gave us some background on the country. It is a very moderate Muslim nation, and while most women had their hair covered, we saw only one in Rabat whose face was almost completely hidden. It seems that the majority of the women who don’t cover their hair are the younger ones, but all seemed to dress very modestly. In fact, we strongly believe that it’s important to show respect in any country by dressing similarly to the local people, so virtually everyone on our tour had long pants (with one man’s exception) and long sleeves.

Our first stop was at king Mohammed VI’s palace, a beautiful Moorish building which didn’t seem to have a great deal of security, but I’m sure it did - somewhere. The guide mentioned that the king doesn’t use this palace very much since he prefers staying in his own home, but that if he’s in residence on a Friday, it’s possible to see him riding his horse from the palace, diagonally across the beautiful and spacious gardens, to the mosque for services.

Next we visited the mausoleum of the king’s father, Hassan II, where are also entombed his grandfather, Mohammed V, and his uncle. It’s another beautiful marble building, this one designed by a Vietnamese architect. Outside the mausoleum is a football field-sized area with partial pillars of various sizes. Apparently this was to have been the world’s largest mosque when it was begun, but it was never finished. Only the mostly complete minaret and the columns bear witness to its intentions. Hassan II looked at this partial mosque and it encouraged him to build the beautiful Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, a true work of art.

Next we headed to the medina, or the old city, where we wandered through narrow alleyways and stopped for hot mint tea. Apparently this medina has become home to an artists’ colony, and between the old buildings and the Moorish gardens, it’s well worth the visit.

By the time we finished our tea, we were ready to head back to Casablanca, and we drove along the oceanfront corniche. There were upscale villas and apartments, many of which are owned by people who only are in residence part of the year. We disembarked the bus at United Nations Plaza, a park and shopping area in the middle of the city. Our guide was going to give us 20 minutes there, but a few of the shopping ladies insisted on more, so 20 became 45. John and I had a postcard for our granddaughter, complete with stamps, but couldn’t find a post office or post box for it. I guess it will have to be mailed from Madeira.

We spent the last bit of our Casablanca time outside a cafe with 1.5 euro cappuccinos until it was time to board the bus back to the ship. It had been a long day, but I’m sure it will look like nothing when we compare experiences with Bill and Jane and their trip to Marrakech. They’ll miss Trivia and dinner because of the length of their trip, and we had considered having the “Mediterranean special dinner” in the Lido - until we got to one of the two main dishes: grilled goat. Sorry, but we’ll be in the dining room this evening. Afterwards, this evening’s show is Casablanca the movie, but I don’t know if we’ll be watching it or not.

Tomorrow’s a sea day, and I can hardly wait!

i could be wrong, but I do believe you can give your mail to the Front Desk. The postcards would go off the ship with the Port Agent just before the ship leaves and he would mail them. You might want to check.

Just wanted to thank you for posting your adventures. I always look forward to reading them.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

At Sea en route to Funchal, Madeira

I know that the hesitation a lot of potential cruisers have is “What shall I do on sea days?” or “Will I be bored?” I guess by now you know my answer to those questions, but today I’ll be more specific about that first question.

First of all, as anyone who has taken an HAL cruise knows, every evening everyone receives a handout, usually called “When and Where” which lists the options for the next day. It has everything from the ads on the back (“The Story of Zultanite: Turkey’s Hidden Treasure” - a “new” gem) to really useful information like the hours of the various dining venues to a long listing, by time, of activities offered for your pleasure.

Today, for example, I found that if I wanted to do crossword puzzles, they’d be available in the Explorations Cafe beginning at 6:00 AM. Mass is at 8:00 every day, and the two brand new Future Cruise Consultants work from 8:00 until noon and then again from 2:00 until 6:00 PM. It’s interesting to see how much busier these two folks are near the end of the cruise when passengers begin having “withdrawals” when they figure out that no one at home will come in twice a day to make their bed, clean the bathroom, and provide fresh towels every few days. What’s the solution? Another cruise, of course.

There are Mahjong games and bridge instruction as well as “Guess the Price of the Peter Max painting.” Windows sponsors a room full of PC’s, where an instructor teaches students how to use their PC in various ways. Unfortunately, they don’t include any instruction on Apple products, so my MacBook Air is just my problem.

A different movie is shown every day, and yesterday’s was, appropriately, Casablanca, shown both in the Wajang Theatre during the day and as the “big screen feature” in the Show Lounge last evening at 8:00 and 10:00. During the last world cruise, there were sixty members of a group called “Road Scholars” (formerly Elderhostel), and because they had lectures in the Wajang Theatre every sea day from 3:00 until 5:00, there was no afternoon movie. I’ll tell you, that raised a lot of hackles. A couple of the group members said that they’d be doing the same thing on the 2018 WC, so I’m anxious to find out how that is set up.

Trivia is played twice each day, at 1:30 and 7:00. We’re used to playing at 12:00 on sea days, but our friends began with the 7:00 game, so that’s where we are. BTW, we won last evening - in a nail-biting tiebreaker. Get-togethers are held for everyone from “Friends of Bill W” to the LGBT Meetup, and those who like appetizers can attend “Sip and Savor” at 5:00, with $4 glasses of wine accompanied by hors d’oeuvres.

As you can see, there are lots and lots of things to do, including what I’m doing right now: sitting in the library (AKA Explorations Cafe) typing or, as the people next to me are doing, playing board games. I don’t think anyone would be bored on sea days.

Marrakech Express

Our friends Jane and Bill took the $250, 12-hour ship’s excursion to Marrakech yesterday, and we got the whole story from them last night in The Crow’s Nest. It was a four hour drive each way. Jane thought the trip was well worth it, seeing a fascinating city and a colorful souk. Bill, on the other hand, sounded like he would have rather eaten ground glass. They were taken on a one mile walk through the souk with no opportunity to shop and then walked back the same way. Their meal sounded like a traditional north African one with chicken and cous cous, which neither seemed to really enjoy. They did, however, have an opportunity to take lots of photos, including way too many of hooded cobras which gave me the creeps. I guess they (primarily Jane) are glad they did it, but would never do it again. It made us glad that we went to Rabat.

We would like to see Marrakech, but would do it on a multiple-day tour of Morocco.

Regarding the errant post card, I did take it to the front desk as I have several times before, but they told me that in this port no mail was going out. I was pretty surprised, but it will go out in Funchal - and probably get home even sooner.