John and Diane's LAST Round the World Adventure

[rafinmd]

Happy Easter. Did you have a joint poolside service with the Catholics like last year?

 

Roy

[boards]

Sunday, April 5, 2015 - Day 90

Ashdod - for Jerusalem

Happy Easter!

 

This was, by far, the best Easter I’ve ever had. It began with sunrise service on Deck 8 midships at 6:00 AM, and as the service progressed, we watched the sun rise over the Israeli countryside. Oh my!

 

And if that weren’t a great beginning, the day got even better. Shimon, our guide, picked us up at 8:30 for a tour of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. We had feared that Jerusalem on Easter Sunday would be just crazy crowded, but it wasn’t nearly that bad. Jerusalem was amazing. As John said in his Facebook post, it just brought all those Sunday school lessons to life. We began at the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, which are right next to each other, since Gethsemane was the location of the olive press, and the place where Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified and where Judas betrayed him. The olive trees in Gethsemane are incredibly old, at least 1,000 years, and by tradition, were in the Garden when Jesus prayed. The church next to the Garden was also very moving.

 

We then drove around the Old City, a square kilometer which is fought over more than any other square kilometer on earth. We passed the Jaffa Gate and finally found a parking place in a garage under the new mall which was built in the former “no man’s land” when Jordan controlled the Old City. We walked the Via Dolorosa and had a tour of the Jewish Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Muslim Quarter (including the Arab Souk), and the Armenian Quarter, and ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, supposedly the site of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus. I’m fairly skeptical of the placement of these events, since they seem to be in the old city, but it was wonderful just to walk through areas where Jesus walked.

 

After Jerusalem, we headed to the Dead Sea for a planned dip in the water where you can’t sink because of its 40% salinity. We ran into some friends who had tried the water, and after getting their negative reviews of the experience and seeing the murky brown water near the shore, we just had lunch and headed back, by way of horrific traffic in Jerusalem, to our ship.

 

Today was a day that I shall never forget. The only thing that made me walked quickly, as our guide asked, was the knowledge that John and I will return in October for a two week tour of Israel, and we’ll have a great deal more time to explore in detail and to see other parts of the country.

 

Tomorrow we’re scheduled to tour the northern part of the country, seeing the Baha’i Gardens in Haifa, Nazareth, the Jordan River, Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Sea of Galilee and a Kibbutz. The history of it and the emotional impact are just incredible, and I can’t get enough.

 

Thank you for wonderful review.

[snookymom]

Happy Easter.

[Janice Jones]

When you make your return trip to Israel, I suggest you take the time to visit the Israel Museum. Some years ago when we were there, we visited many of the places you plan to visit. Toward the end of our tour, instead of going to the Dead Sea with our group, we opted to go the museum. It was the perfect conclusion to our wonderful visit.

What a wonderful experience to attend a sunrise service on the ship as you approached Israel!!!!

[Johnny B]

Monday, April 6, 2015 - Day 91

Haifa, Israel

 

How can any day be bad when it begins with an adventure. Because we came in on a ship and are flying out of Tel Aviv Airport, we needed special treatment, so we were told to meet the port agent at 8:20 and he would take us where we needed to go. The destination was a funny little building across the parking lot (we drove to it), where we gave the immigration official our information and he gave us new departure passes which we were to present at the airport. Our friends saw us being driven away and wondered what we had done!

 

Our tour began with a panoramic view over the Baha’i Gardens in Haifa. This city is the world center of Baha’i, and they’ve built their golden-domed temple in the middle of the hill and then built gardens both up and down the hill - and they are some of the most beautiful gardens you’ve ever seen. After appropriate photo ops, we headed off to Nazareth, a tiny little village in the time of Jesus, and now a sprawling metropolis of nearly 100,000 people. The dead center of town is the old village, crowned by the Church of the Annunciation - in tradition, the site of Mary’s visit by the angel Gabriel telling her she was to bear the child of God. The church itself is the largest in the Middle East and is divided into two levels. The lower level represents the mystery of God and is only illuminated by stained glass windows. This is, again by tradition, the site of the grotto where Mary met Gabriel. Upstairs is a whole different story. It represents the glory and is a huge, brightly lit basilica with an active worship life. In fact, a mass was being held there while we were in the lower level, and the muted sound of the hymns just enhanced the mystery of the place.

 

Next door to the Church of the Annunciation is the traditional “Workshop of Joseph,” which has had a lot of archeological work done, in one place unearthing (literally) a Jewish ritual bath with seven steps leading down to it.

 

We next drove through Cana, site of Jesus’ first miracle, and sure enough, there was the Cana Miracle Wine Shop. Then it was time for the Jordan River and the Yardenit baptism site, where groups of pilgrims come on a regular basis to be baptized “where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.”

 

Capernaum was our next stop, where we wandered around the archeological diggings in the city where St. Peter lived and where, according to the New Testament, Jesus healed Peter’s mother. The town, or what is left of it, sits on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it’s not hard to imagine Peter and his brother Andrew setting out in their fishing boat or Jesus walking on water.

 

We drove past Tabgha, the traditional site of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, and then stopped at the Mount of Beatitudes, a beautiful spot overlooking almost the entire Sea of Galilee, with a small chapel (which I didn’t get to see because my blouse was sleeveless) and lovely gardens.

 

Then it was time to head back to the ship, which should have taken a half hour, but because of holiday and 5:00 traffic, we arrived there at 7:00. The day wasn’t over, however, since our guide had volunteered to drive us to our airport hotel, and that took another two hours. We arrived late, hungry and tired, but were lucky enough to find a small coffee shop downstairs which would sell us a sandwich to share - as long as it was made on unleavened bread, since this is the week of Passover. It was a pretty good chicken sandwich, too.

 

Now we sit in the Tel Aviv Airport, waiting to board our flight to Frankfurt and then on to San Francisco for our granddaughter’s birthday on Saturday. I tried to buy my usual “skinny cappuccino with one pump of chocolate,” but I was told that I couldn’t have that because “The chocolate isn’t Kosher and it’s the week of Passover.” Oh well, all will be well and I’ll begin posting again in Rome.

 

P. S. We're coming back for a two week Odysseys Unlimited tour of Israel in the fall, and we can't wait to see more of this beautiful country.

[ger_77]

Have a safe trip back for your granddaughter's birthday - I'm sure she'll be delighted to see you!

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[snookymom]

Enjoy the birthday celebration.

[bcnvcanada]

Safe travels and will be awaiting your reports. We have enjoyed

your post. Again thanks.

[Skipper's Mom]

Bump.

[MMDown Under]

"Oh well, all will be well and I’ll begin posting again in Rome."

Johnny B

 

Hope your granddaughter is delighted having you home for her birthday celebrations and you are enjoying your time with your family.

[cccole]

I also hope that you are having a fabulous birthday celebration with your granddaughter.

 

Is there any possibility that you will share your recipe for the salmon that you prepared for your friends George and Neil when they visited you in CA? We have salmon often and if you were able to impress George I would love the recipe. I also understand if it is a family secret. Looking forward to your daily reports once you get back to your "home away from home." Cherie

[Johnny B]

April 11, 2015

Davis, California

 

While it is pretty exciting to wake up in Tel Aviv and go to bed that night in San Luis Obispo, it is darned hard on this old body. Now, a few days later, I think I’m past the worst of the jet lag, but I’m not looking forward to it on the way back.

 

After waking up at 4:00 AM and getting to the airport about 5:15, we finally took off right on time at 8:00 AM - I just love Lufthansa. The security in Tel Aviv was tight, as one would expect, but it was even more so in Frankfurt. I almost expected the pat-downs we had in India. We had only a two hour layover in Frankfurt and then boarded for San Francisco. We had booked Economy Plus on our United flight, and because the flight wasn’t very full, we each had two seats - all the easier to get a bit of sleep. We ordered a split of sparkling white wine each during “the cocktail hour,” and then when they eventually served dinner, we asked for another. Because they didn’t have any chilled, the flight attendant went up to first class, poured each of us a glass of the really good stuff, and brought it back to us - free!

 

We arrived in San Francisco about 4:15, right on time, and found that they had new and improved immigration procedures. Just the week before, they had installed several banks of machines into which you just put your passport, photo side down, and it checked us out (looking at those no-fly lists, I guess) and printed out a receipt. Then we took the receipt to an official who looked at it, stamped it, and we were done. Such efficiency!

 

We picked up our mini rental car (have you ever seen a Chevy Spark?) and headed down the freeway to San Luis Obispo, taking only 3-1/2 hours for the normal 4-hour drive. It was sooo lovely to sleep in our own bed for a couple of nights and then to get several errands taken care of while we were there.

 

We drove up the freeway to Davis (near Sacramento) on Thursday, enjoying a relaxing evening with our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter (I’m not sure the relaxing bit applied to her) at the great Italian restaurant adjoining our hotel. Last evening we took Jessica out to dinner while her parents had a “date night,” and then today was the big birthday party. Sacramento has a large area called William Land Park, in which are located the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town, the latter being the site of the party. There must have been forty kids and adults there, but because of all of the playground areas there, most of the kids were on the move at all times.

 

Our gift to Jessica was, appropriately for us, called “Little Passports,” a series of packets, each focused on a different country. She will get one packet each month with information about the country, maps, photos of money, etc. Because we send her a postcard from each port we visit, this seemed the next progression, and she’s pretty excited about it.

 

Tomorrow we’ll have a late breakfast with the kids and then head to San Francisco for the night, wandering over to Cafe Claude (one of our favorite SF restaurants) and just kicking back. Monday morning it’s time to fly the big silver bird again, and it will be the same flight that brought us here - just in a different direction. It will be SF/Frankfurt/Rome and then a good Italian meal in Civitavecchia before boarding the ship on Wednesday. Boy, this traveling thing can really be exhausting!

 

P. S. I'll post the salmon recipe after we get home. I don't have it in my head.

[alsas]

What a wonderful journey safe travels back to us all

[shrimp56]

Thanks for checking in from "home base." We'll look forward to your return :)

[ellie1145]

Hope you have a wonderful time with your granddaughter.

 

Can't wait for the next installment. I feel as if I have been sailing along with you.

 

I dont think we would ever be able to afford a world cruise, but your wonderful descriptions have really whetted my appetite.

 

Hope you enjoy the next part of your cruise once you return to the ship.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to give us all so much enjoyment.

:)

[Johnny B]

Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - Day 100

Civitavecchia, Italy (for Rome)

 

Oh, what an adventure we’ve had! Eight days, 13,653 miles, four hotels, two nights in our own bed, and one wonderful birthday party later, we’ve survived our “San Francisco overland” to celebrate our granddaughter’s birthday. We had pretty calm and uneventful flights (Tel Aviv to Frankfurt to SF and SF to Frankfurt to Rome), were in San Francisco for the Giants’ home opener (the less said the better), and had a packed plane from San Francisco to Frankfurt yesterday, with a six-hour layover before connecting to Rome. The travel could have continued with two trains, one into Rome and then one to this lovely little port city, but we were incredibly tired, so chose the easier way - a 120 euro taxi ride (set price) from the airport to our hotel. Forty minutes later we were checking into our hotel.

 

The best part of yesterday was getting to spend the night in the Hotel Traghetto,a lovely little hotel in Civitavecchia (which I’ve just learned how to pronounce - CHIV uh tah VEK e uh). The room was pretty plain, but it was on the top floor with a balcony bigger than our first apartment and facing the Mediterranean, so we could see the Amsterdam at its dock. The other good thing about the hotel is that it’s the closest one to the port and just across the street from the stop where one picks up a shuttle bus to the ship.

 

After settling into the hotel, we needed some exercise, so we wandered aimlessly along a couple of streets until we found the center of town, where everyone spoke Italian and we didn’t hear any English, always a good thing. There were lots of restaurants, a couple of gelato stores, clothing stores (Italian fashion is always on the cutting edge), and one huge shoe store that went all the way round a corner. Then we found our way back to the hotel and asked the pleasant young man at the front desk for restaurant recommendations. He marked a couple on the map, including a pizza eat-in/take out on the corner. We saw one that had a beautiful dining room, but had no customers - never a good sign. When we asked our hotel guy about it, he just said, “There are much better restaurants - that one is mostly for the cruise ship passengers.” In fact, he walked out with us, pointed down the street, and told us that the restaurant “Pane e Olio” was a good place for dinner.

 

When we walked in, we weren’t sure about it, but it turned out to be our best decision. We were (again) the only English speakers and it was filled with neighborhood folks who apparently eat there often, based on their relationship with the folks in the restaurant. It turns out that it’s a mom and pop place, having changed hands last November. Mom works in the kitchen, teenage daughter waits tables, teenage son eats, and dad wanders around the dining room chatting with the customers/neighbors - pretty typical Italian family. The small dining room (7 tables) was loud with conversation and laughter and we really enjoyed the atmosphere.

 

After eight solid hours of sleep, we began walking along the sea wall to see more of this really lovely little city. We checked out a ristorante/pizzeria for lunch, found two good gelaterias, and then went back to the hotel to pack, check out, and get to the shuttle stop across the street. When we arrived at the ship, we were welcomed home like The Prodigal Son. Jeff’s assistant waiter told us he could hardly wait to see us at the birthday party, our room stewards hugged us, and several people said how nice it was to have us back. We really felt like we were home.

 

After returning to the ship, sending out laundry, unpacking, and generally getting organized, we wandered back into town for lunch. As we sat in the restaurant’s terrace, we saw several shipboard friends, and Alan and Sandra (Alsas) sat down, ordered drinks, and we spent another hour chatting with them. Then six of us, including our other friends Susan and Michael, headed for the perfect gelato. I don’t know if it was perfect, but my limone gelato was pretty darned good.

 

Then it was time to head back to the ship for a 30-minute nap. We woke up two hours later, hopped in the shower, and joined our regulars in the Crow’s Nest before heading down to Jeff’s table for his birthday celebration. His birthday’s on the 10th, but they waited the party for our return.

 

They’re showing Unbroken in the Queen’s Lounge tonight, but as it ends at 12:15, we’re skipping it. It’s time for another good night’s sleep and then, hopefully, we’ll be done with jet lag. Nighty-night.

[MMDown Under]

Welcome back from your WC followers. That was nice of Jeff to hold off his birthday party until your return. Hope you all had a wonderful time.

 

Pane e Olio sounded like a perfect restaurant to soak up the local Italian atmosphere.

[Johnny B]

Thursday, April 16, 2015 - Day 101

At Sea en route to Cartagena, Spain

 

There has been a collective sigh among the passengers for the joy of a sea day. Although the ports have been wonderful and many of those who traveled into Rome yesterday saw The Pope up close and personal, the general feeling is that there have been too many ports too close together. I know, I know, it’s a first world problem, but folks are happy to catch their breath.

 

I think our bodies are back on local time, if still a bit tired. Our 30-minute nap yesterday that turned into two hours was followed by sleeping until nearly 8:00 this morning - an unusual event. We did get back into the gym, though, and while I didn’t have my usual quota of energy, I did a satisfactory job of finishing 30 minutes on the elliptical cross-trainer - but slower than usual.

 

You can certainly tell that we’re in the Mediterranean in the spring now. Today’s temperature is in the low 60’s, and there’s no one out at the aft pool - unless they’re at the smoking area. The sky is gray and it looks like it’s going to rain, so I’m glad that while we were home I picked up some sweaters, because it looks as though they’ll come in handy.

 

Last night’s birthday party was a lot of fun. I guess it’s different when you’re in President’s Club, because Henk, the Hotel Manager, and Gene, the Cruise Director, came and sat with us for quite some time at the beginning of the meal, and when it was birthday cake time, not only the waiters came to sing, but the head chef, the dining room manager, and some other high mucky mucks joined in. I don’t think we’ll ever get to 1400 days (right now we have almost 700), but we’re really happy with our current status. My very favorite two perks are free laundry and half off at the coffee shop. Such a deal!

 

Tonight is formal, so we’ll be at Jeff’s table again. I guess it’s time to head back to the cabin to decide what to wear. Since there are only two formal nights left, the choice is even more important (I guess). Perhaps a nap will be in the cards, too. I can always blame jet lag!

[Johnny B]

Friday, April 17, 2015 - Day 102

Cartagena, Spain

 

If you get a chance to come to this lovely city, take it! Unlike cities where the passenger port is in the middle of an industrial area, we docked outside the yacht harbor, right behind the huge Eurodam and across the street from the downtown area. At about 10:30, a half hour after we docked, John and I wandered down the gangway, decided that the line at the information office was too long to wait for a map, and just had a nice stroll into town.

 

What we liked about Cartagena is that downtown is made up of many pedestrian-only streets, filled with shops, cafes, and lots and lots of Spaniards. The main shopping street is called Calle Major, and it was fun to join the crowds wandering around. We walked and walked until we found ourselves at a place called El Parque, which is a lovely little park into which about a half-dozen city streets enter. We wanted to find the Roman Theatre, the old amphitheatre, but had no idea how to go about it. We realized that that map we had passed up was a necessity, so it was a long, fast hike back to the dock to pick one up. It was almost a mile from where we had begun, and John’s knees were acting up, so I walked back, picked up the map, and then returned to find him, about a half hour later. The old legs really began to tell me their troubles at that point.

 

When I returned with the map, we realized that the Roman Theatre was right at the beginning of our walk through town, and we had passed it more than once. The confusion came from the fact that the entry is in a rather nondescript building that doesn’t have an arena-looking structure anywhere nearby. That’s the secret! We purchased our 5 euro tickets and entered the Museo del Theatre, a series of rooms and buildings which tell the history of the Roman theatre and contain artifacts from the excavations. During the 20th Century, while remodeling a church, the Roman Theatre was discovered underneath the church and an entire neighborhood of Cartagena.

 

The reason we couldn’t see the theatre from the entry was that the museum follows a subterranean path under even more buildings, until one finally exits three blocks later, about midway up the side of an enormous amphitheatre. It must have held thousands of spectators, as it extended at least fifty rows up the hill and spread over several acres. We hiked up to the top row (probably the “cheap seats”) and then down to the orchestra area as well as the stage. It is amazing that this beautiful structure could have lain underground and undiscovered for almost 1500 years.

 

Next we decided to visit Conception Castle, so we followed our trusty map another half mile or so along the Muralla del Mar, the beautiful walkway above the sea, and finally arrived - at the old bull ring? Apparently we had overshot the Castle and found another structure which was being renovated. At that point our walking was nearing an end, so we decided to skip the Castle and head to lunch, since it was after 1:00 by that time.

 

On the bottom of our map was a small ad for Las Casas del Rey (Siglo XVI), a tapas restaurant on the site of the 16th Century massing of troops who went off to fight in Flanders. It was another long walk, but, following the map, we easily found a small, cool restaurant with a bar covered with dozens of tapas from which to choose. The older man in charge, who spoke about as much English as we spoke Spanish (after 4 years in high school and one in college) was really sweet and did his best to explain each of them. We made our selection, ordered sangria, and the tapas began arriving. The first was aubergine (eggplant) topped with bread crumbs, tomato and cheese and baked to perfection. Then came the albondigas (little meatballs), cooked in a light sauce. The next was a baked omelette with potatoes, looking like a small round of bread. Finally came the chorizo sausage with sautéed potatoes. We had ordered what we thought “might” be enough, and by the time all those plates were empty, we were stuffed. With drinks and all of our tapas, the total bill was 21 euro, but then our friend brought out two complimentary shot glasses full of limoncello - just to complete a wonderful meal. All the time we were there we were the only customers, but it wasn’t because it was a bad restaurant (which is usually the case), it’s just that it’s down an obscure side street that we were only able to find with a map. We left after an hour and a half, two very happy and very full wanderers.

 

Now it was time to get back to the ship - not because it was all aboard time, but just because we were tired. The mile walk back led to the ship and a much-needed nap after a wonderful day in a wonderful city. And if we thought we had a good time earlier, sailaway was just the frosting on the cake. Several friends had a table, so we all sat together and talked and laughed and sang along with The Amsterdam Orchestra (Darcy is a wonderful lead singer). The weather was perfect, and when the orchestra began playing “Old Time Rock and Roll,” we just had to get up and dance. That lasted several more songs, and when they were finally done playing, we gave up and headed to the cabin for showers. It was a great day!

[Johnny B]

Saturday, April 18, 2015 - Day 103

Malaga, Spain

 

Buenos dias from Malaga, Spain. It’s a beautiful city with buildings from the Roman era 3,000 years ago to the Byzantines to the Muslims to the Spanish kings and queens to the modern era. Much of the downtown is pedestrians only (so why did those taxis try to run us over?), and the Malaguenos, or locals, take full advantage. There were two ships in today, ours and one of the Regents, so there were lots of tourists, but it didn’t seem that crowded, and more than half the people on the street were locals.

 

We decided that the Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus was the best way to get an overview of the city, and we were lucky enough to find one quickly. The sign on the sidewalk said “$25.00 each,” but the young lady selling tickets told us it was $20.00. Yes, I know it’s great to get a senior discount, but couldn’t they at least wait for us to ask?

 

Sitting over the sea, Malaga has a beautiful setting, rising to the top of a mountain where the castle is located. That was about halfway through our HOHO ride and just after the Plaza de Toros, so we decided to disembark there for a walk through the castle - yet another place we were given a senior discount without asking. I mean, what is it with these people? The castle sits at the top of the hill and then there are steps continuing all the way down the hill to the Alcazaba, the palace fortress of the 11th-14th Century Muslim governors.

 

At the end of our 90-minute tour, we disembarked at the foot of one of the many pedestrian streets and began our own walking tour. One of the first things we saw was the cathedral, which was begun during the Gothic period and is still unfinished. It has one beautiful large tower, but the other tower was never completed after funds ran out in 1792. Its nickname is “The One-Armed Lady.”

 

We wandered through small pedestrian streets and passed shop after restaurant after bar until we reached the above-mentioned Alcazaba, which we entered for the senior rate of 60 euro cents - this time I asked! The best things about this structure are the Roman amphitheatre and the beautiful gardens, filled with sculpted hedges, semi-tropical plants and lots and lots of orange trees.

 

When we finished our exploration there, it was about 2:00 and well after time for lunch. John wanted paella and I wanted sangria, so we found a lovely little restaurant called Le Jardin, and a table outside with a view of the cathedral was just perfect. The paella was mixed, with both fish (shrimp and clams) and meat (mostly chicken) and a great deal of bright yellow saffron rice. The sangria was sold only by the pitcher (oh darn), and both parts of our lunch were absolutely delicious. Even though it was a bit more expensive than some of the tiny streetside cafes, it was still only 29 euros, which we thought was a good deal for a big lunch in a city filled with tourists.

 

By then it was after 3:00, a perfect time for a Spanish lunch to end, and also time for us to head back to the ship. The walk to the shuttle was a bit of a hike, but we got there and arrived back at the ship in fine form - if still full from lunch.

 

There were lots of things we didn’t have time to do today. We had wanted to take a full-day excursion to Granada to see the Alhambra, but the company we contacted had no space. We also would have liked to have visited Picasso’s birthplace and museum, but that would have required about two extra hours. This is definitely a city we’ll come back to, because we enjoyed everything about it.

[GmaPajama]

So glad you're back. I read your posts every morning, and have missed you. What amazing grandparents you are!

[Johnny B]

Sunday, April 19, 2015 - Day 104

Cadiz, Spain

 

I love Spain! We’ve had a wonderful day and evening and all three of our Spanish ports have been absolutely great! John is fighting a cold, so we slept in until Gene made his “we’ve arrived in Cadiz” announcement at 8:00. Then we moved between slow and stop for the next couple of hours until we could meet Josh and Cynthia, former students of ours who live across the bay from Cadiz and were taking a ferry over to spend the rest of the day with us. Cynthia is a Navy nurse at the base there, and Josh is a substitute teacher at the school nearby.

 

They arrived just after 12:00, and we walked back to the ship for a tour and lunch. After the tour, we gave them a choice of ship lunch or Cadiz lunch, and when they chose ship, they still had to choose: restaurant, Lido, or Dive In (hamburger bar). They elected to try the Lido, and when I saw Josh with only a small plate of sushi, I asked him if that would be enough. He just looked at me, smiled, and said, “After this, I’m headed for a hamburger.” And that’s what he did - along with a couple of orders of the world’s best fries for all four of us to share.

 

Then it was time to venture in Cadiz, where Josh showed us a few of his favorite places and we ended up at a small cafe/bar where they didn’t serve sangria, but they did serve tinta verano, a red wine mixed with sparkling water and was absolutely delicious. We had seen a huge (3-4’ in diameter) pan of paella in the back for a large party, but because there was lots left over, the waiter brought us a couple of plates of it with utensils to enjoy every last grain of rice.

 

We just kept walking afterwards and saw a lot of the city, bordered on both sides by the Mediterranean. We finally arrived back at our ship while Cynthia and Josh headed to a cafe for some sangria, and we hugged and promised to get together when they come back to the States for leave in August.

 

This evening was the last sommelier dinner, and we had invited our friends Rich and Ginny as well as Bill and Jane and we had way too much fun. The theme was disco, and as there were six courses, there was disco dancing (including Y.M.C.A.) in the back room of the Pinnacle after every second course. Talk about a way to wear off calories!

There was a contest to determine the best disco dancers, and the prize was a bottle of Cristal Champagne. Since Bill is a killer dancer, he and Jane won, and because we had invited them, they decided that on one of the remaining evenings, they will put the bottle on ice and share it with us and with Rich and Ginny. Such nice folks they are. This dinner was one of the things that HAL does very well, and people who don’t ever participate really miss out on a great deal of fun (as well as really good wines).

 

John’s still fighting his cold, but he managed to get out there and dance and we had way too much fun. We’re only sorry that this is the last Sommelier dinner, because we’ve enjoyed all of them.

 

Now we have two sea days, which is good for John’s cold and good for everyone who walked their feet off in the last three ports. Spain is spectacular, and we can only plan to come back, rent a car, and see as much of it as possible.

[Johnny B]

Monday, April 20, 2015 - Day 105

At Sea en route to Ponta Delgada, The Azores

 

Two sea days on the high seas - an excellent situation in more ways than one. After three port days, it’s lovely to have free time with no obligation to see places that we’ve loved but take a great deal of time and energy to explore - especially when John has a nasty cold that has been annoying his throat and lungs. Poor guy.

 

The other good thing about being at sea is the rocking of the ship. I woke in the middle of last night and the room was gently rocking back and forth, which made me smile and go right back to sleep. It was very calm in the Mediterranean, but now that we’ve left Spain and headed to The Azores, we are beginning to actually feel the sea - and it’s wonderful. In the captain’s noontime message, he mentioned that we were skirting an area of low pressure that would last until the day after our second day in The Azores. No one is sunning out on the back deck, primarily because there’s almost no sun. It was really cloudy and dark this morning, but this afternoon, as I write at about 3:30, the clouds have mostly cleared and I can actually see blue sky.

 

Today we’ve seen a lot of yawning around the ship, since people are relaxing and talking about how much they enjoyed Spain and I’ve even heard discussions about what city was the best. For my part, I think all of them were wonderful and I’d love to re-visit each of them along with several more.

 

I failed to mention our entertainment the other night. There’s a group on board that are faux Beatles, and they put on a one hour show that many people thought was the best of the entire cruise. If you name your favorite Beatles song, I’ll bet they sang it. People were on their feet and clapping and it even got worse when someone, challenged to “throw your panties on the stage,” tossed a Depends up there. The laughter was deafening. During the last song or two my reserved husband grabbed my hand and took me to the small area in front of the stage so we could dance. We were then joined by at least a couple dozen other people and we just danced and sang and laughed until we could hardly stand up. Our friends in the balcony later said that they wished they had been downstairs to join in. The good news is that they’re performing again tomorrow evening, so I guess I’ll have to get my dancing shoes on.

 

The cruise is winding down and some friends of ours commented that they had even been given the coupons for the transfer from the ship to the airport - 10 days early. I’d guess that room stewards will be distributing luggage beginning next Monday, and I’m certainly not looking forward to it. Besides not wanting to pack, it means that this wonderful adventure will be at an end, and even worse, I’ll now have to cook, do my own laundry and make my own bed. We’ll miss our wonderful friends, old and new, but hopefully we’ll be able to get together during the year.

 

After three of the last four nights away from our regular dining room table, we’re happy to be returning to it tonight and looking forward to seeing our waiters and our table neighbors again.

[Belle]

Love reading all about your cruise

and all the things you do and see.

 

I was wondering since your talking

of packing did you take some clothes

and things home when you left for gd's

birthday? Make you have less to pack now.

 

Sorry your cruise is ending for you and all

of us..we will miss reading all the things

we wish we were doing thru you.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write.

[Johnny B]

Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - Day 106

At Sea en route to The Azores

 

It’s another chilly day with cloud cover and the midships Lido the only chance of getting any warmth. Even our stateroom, which has been our cool companion during our months of tropical weather, is feeling too chilly to be comfortable. Ah, the problems of a world cruise.

 

Now, however, the weather has caused more problems. Our itinerary calls for two ports in the Azores, one Ponta Delgado (on the island of Sao Miguel) and one in Horta on the island of Faial. When the captain came on with his 12:45 announcements, he informed us that “the forecast for Horta is, in a word, awful.” There are supposed to be 12-foot swells and 25-30 knots of wind - yuck! Since Horta was to be a tender port, that makes the situation even worse. Therefore, the captain has cancelled Horta and we will be making Ponta Delgado an overnight stop, arriving about 8:00 tomorrow morning and sailing the following day at 5:00 PM. He also mentioned that we’ll be in port while the worst of the storm blows through (with lots of rain in port), so it will not be so bad when we sail.

 

We have several friends whose ancestry is in The Azores, and we’ve wished to visit for several years. I guess one island is better than none, but it would have been great to get to Horta too. Oh well, we’ll go with the flow and I’m sure we’ll love Ponta Delgado, which is supposed to be a lovely spot. We’ve been to the island of Madeira a few times, and it is a beautiful tropical spot in the middle of the ocean, so that’s what we’re expecting of our next (and last) port.

 

Today was our first book club meeting on our newest book, Of Marriageable Age, a story of three young Indians, two in India and one in an Indian community in British Guyana. Having been to India a couple of times, it really strikes home with how the culture operates in people’s lives.

 

This evening is the second show by The Beatles impersonators, and we’re really looking forward to it. Our friends have promised not to throw any unmentionables on stage this time, but we refuse to promise not to dance.

 

P. S. Yes, we did take some things home, but they were primarily gifts. We have unlimited luggage transfer, so we are very fortunate in not having to worry about sending things home.