Rome
May 9, 2009
8:05 PM
All went well disembarking this morning our driver was holding a sign at 8:45 when we exited the luggage area. We got the Rome Airport Marriot Courtyard by 9:45. Rooms were not available so Charlotte and I left luggage and the Snows and had the driver take us to the Hilton Garden Hotel on the other side of the airport.
At 11:30 we boarded another tour bus with 52 other Noordam Vantage Group travelers for a trip to Trivoli a town about 30 miles from Rome where many cardinals built summer homes.
We toured one such palace built in the 1650-1680 time period. It was the palace of a Cardinal who was the son of Lucia Borgia. The frescos were very pretty and had been restored but the gardens were better with lots of fountains and beautiful gardens. More pictures and the last three postcards and deck of playing cards (Roma....that makes 21)
We got back to the hotel by a curious route the Hilton shuttle to the Airport and Courtyard shutte out and were back by 5PM. Luggage was in our room (which is huge by ships standards) so we came down to the lobby for drinks met some fellow passengers from the Noordam two of which will be on our flight to Philadelphia and just finished dinner with them and the Snow...it was spagetti and with drinks and dinner cost over $100....so it is time to stop spending money..(the internet is free so I am typing this one live)
We have said goodbye to the Snows who have to leave at 4 AM to catch their 6 AM flight our schedule is a bit easier with a 9 AM shuttle. Now it is time to get all suitcases to 50 lbs to get around extra luggage fees. The Snows have all three suitcases over the weight limit and Charlotte is weighing ours as we type but we have 4 bags and I am optimistic that we will pass.
Well there are now folks waiting for this free computer so I will close.
Adverdierci
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Off the Dam Ship
Civivecchia
Saturday May 9, 2009
7:45AM
Just finished my Eggs Benedict Italian (tomato sauce and mozzarella) and am sitting here at the Lido with Charlotte and Marlene. Kastawa our Bali an assistant server just brought us another fresh squeezed orange juice and Marlene is going to fill up our coffee again.
We are on board the Noordam until 8:45 because there is a scheduled disembarkation and we asked for the last window. It is the nicest day yet in Rome with sunny skies and probably high 70s. Should be a great day for our last excursion to the Borges estate palaces and gardens for 5 hours.
Last night we redeemed our dam dollars. Charlotte got a t shirt and a sweatshirt (they only had medium small sizes left). Marlene and Lyle took a sweatshirt and a beach towel. We each had over 50 dam dollars. Our meals in the dining room were an exact match on the next to last night Surf and Turf with baked Alaska and last night Lyle had his last steak, Charlotte chose duck orange and my sister and I had beef tenderloin.
After dinner we had to pack up suitcases and have them outside our stateroom before retiring for the night…..we were done by 10:30 and got a good rest until awakened by “our cruise director JT” waking us with disembarkation information at 6:20 PM. So now we have about 30 minutes to kill. I have 7 internet minutes left so I should be able to log on and send this very soon
We just were talking….this is the longest time I have been with my sister since I graduated from high school. It was a very fine experience being with Lyle and her and we all did very much enjoy the cruise experience….but I believe 21 days is ENOUGH so it is back to microwaves, dishwashers, and full time internet.
I hope the blog has let you know we are doing well but I doubt it was that good but it will provide a record for us to maybe organize the pictures (almost 1500 so far) and maybe do a scrapbook.
So once again we are off the dam ship and will do one last day in Rome before flying home on Mother’s Day. I think we will be in Philadelphia mid afternoon if the children want to speak to their Mother. We should reach Raleigh about Midnight Monday morning.
Thanks for reading and in honor of the 200 Russians that sailed with us this leg...
Dos v danya.
Your blogger from the Mediterranean
Dick Macartney
Saturday May 9, 2009
7:45AM
Just finished my Eggs Benedict Italian (tomato sauce and mozzarella) and am sitting here at the Lido with Charlotte and Marlene. Kastawa our Bali an assistant server just brought us another fresh squeezed orange juice and Marlene is going to fill up our coffee again.
We are on board the Noordam until 8:45 because there is a scheduled disembarkation and we asked for the last window. It is the nicest day yet in Rome with sunny skies and probably high 70s. Should be a great day for our last excursion to the Borges estate palaces and gardens for 5 hours.
Last night we redeemed our dam dollars. Charlotte got a t shirt and a sweatshirt (they only had medium small sizes left). Marlene and Lyle took a sweatshirt and a beach towel. We each had over 50 dam dollars. Our meals in the dining room were an exact match on the next to last night Surf and Turf with baked Alaska and last night Lyle had his last steak, Charlotte chose duck orange and my sister and I had beef tenderloin.
After dinner we had to pack up suitcases and have them outside our stateroom before retiring for the night…..we were done by 10:30 and got a good rest until awakened by “our cruise director JT” waking us with disembarkation information at 6:20 PM. So now we have about 30 minutes to kill. I have 7 internet minutes left so I should be able to log on and send this very soon
We just were talking….this is the longest time I have been with my sister since I graduated from high school. It was a very fine experience being with Lyle and her and we all did very much enjoy the cruise experience….but I believe 21 days is ENOUGH so it is back to microwaves, dishwashers, and full time internet.
I hope the blog has let you know we are doing well but I doubt it was that good but it will provide a record for us to maybe organize the pictures (almost 1500 so far) and maybe do a scrapbook.
So once again we are off the dam ship and will do one last day in Rome before flying home on Mother’s Day. I think we will be in Philadelphia mid afternoon if the children want to speak to their Mother. We should reach Raleigh about Midnight Monday morning.
Thanks for reading and in honor of the 200 Russians that sailed with us this leg...
Dos v danya.
Your blogger from the Mediterranean
Dick Macartney
Friday, May 8, 2009
Sorrento and Pompeii
Friday May 8, 2009
Naples, Italy
5:15 PM
Another wonderful day and this is the last full day of the cruise. We landed in the industrial harbor of Naples around 7 AM. Marlene, Charlotte and I had breakfast at the cafeteria and were ready to go on our tour by 8 AM. We were on bus 11 for the full day tour of Sorrento and Pompeii. Again we got on the 2nd bus of the 5 going there and were underway by 8:15. About all we saw of Naples was the port area and then we hit the road to Sorrento about and hour and 15 minutes away. The traffic was a little hectic as we took a narrow scenic route driving along the coast past Mount Vesuvius and then along what is called Amalfi coast. The bus dropped us near the center of town where we had a short demonstration of how the designs are put on that fine Italian furniture. The demonstration piece of furniture was a beautiful card table that had multiple hidden features like a backgammon board, a crap table, a black jack surface and finally a roulette table and wheel. Marlene thought it might make a nice gift for Chad but alas we never did price it. The main shopping area of Sorrento was very close and we had an hour or more to stroll and look at beautiful flowers scores of lemon and orange trees and thousands of motor scooter. We were successful in finding some napkin rings and some other Italian mementos.
We had an early lunch in a very excellent nearby restaurant. We sat on a patio in a garden under grape arbors surrounded by lemon trees. By the way lemon tress bear fruit most all the year here because of the climate. There are also lots of olive trees which are harvested at the end of October. We had an Italian meal of Cannelloni and Veal Scallopini of with a bottle of very good white win for the four of us. Our guide Ezio was helpful in Marlene making a call to Rome confirming our taxi for tomorrow and was good enough to pose for a picture with both Charlotte and Marlene (He is a very handsome Italian man and I would not be surprised if those photos make the scrapbooks.
After lunch a little more strolling and shopping. I finally bought a bottle of Lemoncello after looking at all the lemons and being tempted in almost every store.
We then bussed back towards Naples to Pompeii. Ezio was well versed in this site which was built by the Romans had an estimated population of 20,000 people and was destroyed in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted Lava did not covered Pompeii it flowed the other way but cut off any escape, however three days of ash emitting sulfur fumes suffocated any people who had not evacuated and covered the town with 10 to 28 feet of ash and pumice. The town was discovered in the 1700s and was excavated for amount 200 years until about 20 years ago. About 75% of town has been recovered and the ruins were the very finest we have seen. We truly enjoyed the visit.
A quick commercial stop at a cameo factory was the last stop before returning to the ship at 4:45 PM.
So it is time to pack and get ready to leave ship in the morning. I am out on the Veranda and the ship has not left port and now the very warm sun is in my eyes. We are finishing the bottle of excellent wine we bought in Florence. It looks like we may have too much stuff to fit in the suitcases so some of you may be disappointed. We have decided to go to the formal dinner one last time at 8. Before that I will send this blog and try to use up my internet minutes which are bout 40. We also have to redeem out dam dollars for more souvenirs.
Tomorrow we are staying at the Courtyard near the Rome airport. Charlotte and I have booked the Vantage day tour but Lyle and Marlene are going to stay at the hotel and rest.
I may to try to send a couple of pictures either tonight or tomorrow.
Well the sun has now made typing this very difficult so Ciao ciao…
Naples, Italy
5:15 PM
Another wonderful day and this is the last full day of the cruise. We landed in the industrial harbor of Naples around 7 AM. Marlene, Charlotte and I had breakfast at the cafeteria and were ready to go on our tour by 8 AM. We were on bus 11 for the full day tour of Sorrento and Pompeii. Again we got on the 2nd bus of the 5 going there and were underway by 8:15. About all we saw of Naples was the port area and then we hit the road to Sorrento about and hour and 15 minutes away. The traffic was a little hectic as we took a narrow scenic route driving along the coast past Mount Vesuvius and then along what is called Amalfi coast. The bus dropped us near the center of town where we had a short demonstration of how the designs are put on that fine Italian furniture. The demonstration piece of furniture was a beautiful card table that had multiple hidden features like a backgammon board, a crap table, a black jack surface and finally a roulette table and wheel. Marlene thought it might make a nice gift for Chad but alas we never did price it. The main shopping area of Sorrento was very close and we had an hour or more to stroll and look at beautiful flowers scores of lemon and orange trees and thousands of motor scooter. We were successful in finding some napkin rings and some other Italian mementos.
We had an early lunch in a very excellent nearby restaurant. We sat on a patio in a garden under grape arbors surrounded by lemon trees. By the way lemon tress bear fruit most all the year here because of the climate. There are also lots of olive trees which are harvested at the end of October. We had an Italian meal of Cannelloni and Veal Scallopini of with a bottle of very good white win for the four of us. Our guide Ezio was helpful in Marlene making a call to Rome confirming our taxi for tomorrow and was good enough to pose for a picture with both Charlotte and Marlene (He is a very handsome Italian man and I would not be surprised if those photos make the scrapbooks.
After lunch a little more strolling and shopping. I finally bought a bottle of Lemoncello after looking at all the lemons and being tempted in almost every store.
We then bussed back towards Naples to Pompeii. Ezio was well versed in this site which was built by the Romans had an estimated population of 20,000 people and was destroyed in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted Lava did not covered Pompeii it flowed the other way but cut off any escape, however three days of ash emitting sulfur fumes suffocated any people who had not evacuated and covered the town with 10 to 28 feet of ash and pumice. The town was discovered in the 1700s and was excavated for amount 200 years until about 20 years ago. About 75% of town has been recovered and the ruins were the very finest we have seen. We truly enjoyed the visit.
A quick commercial stop at a cameo factory was the last stop before returning to the ship at 4:45 PM.
So it is time to pack and get ready to leave ship in the morning. I am out on the Veranda and the ship has not left port and now the very warm sun is in my eyes. We are finishing the bottle of excellent wine we bought in Florence. It looks like we may have too much stuff to fit in the suitcases so some of you may be disappointed. We have decided to go to the formal dinner one last time at 8. Before that I will send this blog and try to use up my internet minutes which are bout 40. We also have to redeem out dam dollars for more souvenirs.
Tomorrow we are staying at the Courtyard near the Rome airport. Charlotte and I have booked the Vantage day tour but Lyle and Marlene are going to stay at the hotel and rest.
I may to try to send a couple of pictures either tonight or tomorrow.
Well the sun has now made typing this very difficult so Ciao ciao…
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Second Day In Sicily this time Palermo
May 7, 2009
Palermo, Sicily
4:10 PM
Well the cruise is winding down for us. Our second day in Sicily was much like the first but not as exciting. Charlotte and I tried the Vista Dining room for a sit down breakfast at 8 AM and sat with a couple of widows from the Tacoma Washington area. I did enjoy what I thought was my best breakfast, corned beef hash with two poached eggs.
Around 10 AM we left the boat. It was a 1 kilometer walk to the town the port city of Palermo. The town is a mixture of Italian and Arabic, new and old, sophisticated and plain. We started walking but I could not resist one taxi driver who wanted 50 Euros to take us to all the major sites but I talked him into 20 for the four of us…Oh the taxi was actually an open motor scooter with room for three in the back and one up with the driver. Marlene sat up front and we were off. It was a very delightful ride on a very comfortable sunny day. Within an hour he had scooted us to about 10 locations where we could take pictures of old buildings. He could not speak English and we did not know Italian so he would point to the name of the building in a brochure. It was so good we gave him 25 Euros. Then we shopped as we walked from the center of Palermo back to the ship getting back on about 12:30.
A quick lunch then we went for the dam dollars again. We got 3 each for a game of Trivial Pursuit and a game of Wi Baseball (Lyle was very good at hitting home runs). We tired to double up by winning the Mega Trivia game again but came up way short.
Back in the room starting my blog I realized we still had time to make the daily bingo game. So Marlene, Charlotte, and I just played bingo. It took 45 minutes and it is now 5:15. We had to pay $20 each for Bingo but Charlotte tied the last coverall game with 4 others and got back $15. She and Marlene now went to walk the Promenade Deck.
So I will send this and probably have a drink as we are leaving Palermo. Tonight will be our sixth and last formal evening and we are expecting another excellent meal….remember the surf and turf with baked Alaska.
Tomorrow we stop at Naples and we are on an early tour to Pompeii and Sorrento. Then it will be time to back as that is the last port of call.
Palermo, Sicily
4:10 PM
Well the cruise is winding down for us. Our second day in Sicily was much like the first but not as exciting. Charlotte and I tried the Vista Dining room for a sit down breakfast at 8 AM and sat with a couple of widows from the Tacoma Washington area. I did enjoy what I thought was my best breakfast, corned beef hash with two poached eggs.
Around 10 AM we left the boat. It was a 1 kilometer walk to the town the port city of Palermo. The town is a mixture of Italian and Arabic, new and old, sophisticated and plain. We started walking but I could not resist one taxi driver who wanted 50 Euros to take us to all the major sites but I talked him into 20 for the four of us…Oh the taxi was actually an open motor scooter with room for three in the back and one up with the driver. Marlene sat up front and we were off. It was a very delightful ride on a very comfortable sunny day. Within an hour he had scooted us to about 10 locations where we could take pictures of old buildings. He could not speak English and we did not know Italian so he would point to the name of the building in a brochure. It was so good we gave him 25 Euros. Then we shopped as we walked from the center of Palermo back to the ship getting back on about 12:30.
A quick lunch then we went for the dam dollars again. We got 3 each for a game of Trivial Pursuit and a game of Wi Baseball (Lyle was very good at hitting home runs). We tired to double up by winning the Mega Trivia game again but came up way short.
Back in the room starting my blog I realized we still had time to make the daily bingo game. So Marlene, Charlotte, and I just played bingo. It took 45 minutes and it is now 5:15. We had to pay $20 each for Bingo but Charlotte tied the last coverall game with 4 others and got back $15. She and Marlene now went to walk the Promenade Deck.
So I will send this and probably have a drink as we are leaving Palermo. Tonight will be our sixth and last formal evening and we are expecting another excellent meal….remember the surf and turf with baked Alaska.
Tomorrow we stop at Naples and we are on an early tour to Pompeii and Sorrento. Then it will be time to back as that is the last port of call.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Today in Tunisia
5:15PM May 6
LaGoulette (Tunis) Tunisia
Well it has been a couple of days since I wrote. All continues very well. Yesterday was a sea day and we had a good time on board. Marlene won the Explorations Café daily trivia contest and the Snow Macartney team with two helpers convincingly won the Mega Trivia Challenge against about 100 people it was the third time we tried but we got 14 of 15 plus the bonus question (What was the name of the dog in Peter Pan?). Lyle and I entered the ping pong tourney and the ladies went to tea and learned how to make bananas Flambé. The result is that we each have about 40 Dam Dollars to be exchanged the last day for Holland American logoed merchandise. Dinner was formal and after we watched the Marriage Game again (we would have a harder time with this tour’s questions, this week the newlyweds won) we went to bed early. We lost an hour which we will pick up tonight.
At 8AM we joined 1100 other passengers on tour buses, but we were lucky getting on bus #2 getting out early. We learned about the country of Tunisia…10 million populations in three regions the north for agriculture, the middle for olive trees and grazing and the Sahara desert in the South. Carthage was about 10 miles from the commercial port. We toured some ruins (a roman bath from 300 AD) and learned about Carthage founded by a woman from Phoenicia around 800 BC and the home of Hannibal and the site of the three Punic Wars. The last one ended in 146 BC. Roman rule lasted about 500 years then came the Vandals who destroyed much of the statutes. Next the Turks and the Byzantines took over finally Arabs. The French ruled from 1880 to 1956,
We toured Bardo Museum for an hour, it has wonderful Mosaics, Roman artifacts and a glimpse into palace life under Arabs. Saw a bedroom for the Harem. Lots of souvenir peddlers especially at our next stop in the Medina where we visited a Souk drank mint tea and learned about handicrafts (read carpet demo again) finally we had lunch around 1:30 at a Roman motif restaurant where we had a buffet and wine (a vin rose… the worst wine yet) It was near the cisterns built in emperor Hadrian times that saved water that flowed from aqueducts from the mountain miles away in giant cisterns which are partially excavated. We had toured the baths earlier in the morning.
We then went by St. Louis Cathedral built after the Crusades for the son of a French king and saw more Punic ruins. We finished up in shops at Sidi Bou Said where everything was whitewashed with Blue shutters and window panes… very pretty. Marlene bargained for some ceramic bowls I found some playing cards and finally bought a magnet (those who have seen our refrigerator know there is little room left). The bus made a quick stop at the American cemetery for WWII dead some 2100 graves very well maintained and pretty. We got back to the ship and some enterprising folks were doing camel rides and playing Arabic music (but alas, out 2 gig memory card decided to give out just them some 1450 photos). Sorry you do not get to see the pictures but schedule a three day visit to our house and you may be able to see them all…
Marlene just stopped by to tell me she had decided not to do a tour in Rome on Saturday that I had discussed with the Vantage tour group. So maybe Charlotte and I will go by ourselves. The Snows flight is very early Sunday AM while ours is not until 11.
Whoops the engines just started I guess we about to leave another port. At this one there were 6 cruise ships again so the cruise industry is surely supporting Tunisia.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day in Africa...
LaGoulette (Tunis) Tunisia
Well it has been a couple of days since I wrote. All continues very well. Yesterday was a sea day and we had a good time on board. Marlene won the Explorations Café daily trivia contest and the Snow Macartney team with two helpers convincingly won the Mega Trivia Challenge against about 100 people it was the third time we tried but we got 14 of 15 plus the bonus question (What was the name of the dog in Peter Pan?). Lyle and I entered the ping pong tourney and the ladies went to tea and learned how to make bananas Flambé. The result is that we each have about 40 Dam Dollars to be exchanged the last day for Holland American logoed merchandise. Dinner was formal and after we watched the Marriage Game again (we would have a harder time with this tour’s questions, this week the newlyweds won) we went to bed early. We lost an hour which we will pick up tonight.
At 8AM we joined 1100 other passengers on tour buses, but we were lucky getting on bus #2 getting out early. We learned about the country of Tunisia…10 million populations in three regions the north for agriculture, the middle for olive trees and grazing and the Sahara desert in the South. Carthage was about 10 miles from the commercial port. We toured some ruins (a roman bath from 300 AD) and learned about Carthage founded by a woman from Phoenicia around 800 BC and the home of Hannibal and the site of the three Punic Wars. The last one ended in 146 BC. Roman rule lasted about 500 years then came the Vandals who destroyed much of the statutes. Next the Turks and the Byzantines took over finally Arabs. The French ruled from 1880 to 1956,
We toured Bardo Museum for an hour, it has wonderful Mosaics, Roman artifacts and a glimpse into palace life under Arabs. Saw a bedroom for the Harem. Lots of souvenir peddlers especially at our next stop in the Medina where we visited a Souk drank mint tea and learned about handicrafts (read carpet demo again) finally we had lunch around 1:30 at a Roman motif restaurant where we had a buffet and wine (a vin rose… the worst wine yet) It was near the cisterns built in emperor Hadrian times that saved water that flowed from aqueducts from the mountain miles away in giant cisterns which are partially excavated. We had toured the baths earlier in the morning.
We then went by St. Louis Cathedral built after the Crusades for the son of a French king and saw more Punic ruins. We finished up in shops at Sidi Bou Said where everything was whitewashed with Blue shutters and window panes… very pretty. Marlene bargained for some ceramic bowls I found some playing cards and finally bought a magnet (those who have seen our refrigerator know there is little room left). The bus made a quick stop at the American cemetery for WWII dead some 2100 graves very well maintained and pretty. We got back to the ship and some enterprising folks were doing camel rides and playing Arabic music (but alas, out 2 gig memory card decided to give out just them some 1450 photos). Sorry you do not get to see the pictures but schedule a three day visit to our house and you may be able to see them all…
Marlene just stopped by to tell me she had decided not to do a tour in Rome on Saturday that I had discussed with the Vantage tour group. So maybe Charlotte and I will go by ourselves. The Snows flight is very early Sunday AM while ours is not until 11.
Whoops the engines just started I guess we about to leave another port. At this one there were 6 cruise ships again so the cruise industry is surely supporting Tunisia.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day in Africa...
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday in Mallorca
Mallorca
9:20 AM
Shirtsleeves and shorts sitting on a shady veranda what a beautiful day in Majorica. The ship just dock on our starboard side and I watched in my bathrobe as the lines were thrown and secured. You see we ordered room service and it was on time hot and very good (ham and cheese omelets with bananas and orange slices and of course toast and coffee.
Well I see the passengers streaming off the ship. The gang way is on starboard side aft and people are exiting the second deck into a covered area that open on to a covered walkway which runs parallel to the ship and is fifty feet from my position
Last night we ate at our normal dining time I had prime rib as did Lyle and Marlene. Charlotte ate salmon. After dinner we play two games of pinochle and got back to the room in time to see us depart from Barcelona at 11. We tried taking some pictures with the nighttime landscape feature and some may have turned out.
Charlotte says her knee feels better and she is going to go ashore as is Lyle I think we are waiting for the Snows to return from breakfast then we will be off. It is good not to fight the crows as there are over 1800 passengers who like to all do the same thing at the same time it seems. We will report on the Mallocra Meanderings a bit later we have to be back for a 6 PM sailing.
2:20 PM
I just finished eating a couple of scoops of pistachio mint ice cream after two pieces of pizza. That’s a light lunch on this cruise ship. We had a nice Monday in Mallorca getting of the ship around 10 AM. We had a 30 minute wait for the local bus to town as it was a 40 minute walk or a 10 Euro Taxi ride. We saved 50% since it turned out the 2.50 euros we paid for a ticket was only one way not both. Dropped in the town Centro, at a very modern thoroughfare, we managed to find our way to an older part of town and eventually to the major tourist attraction the old palace and the Cathedral. Since the place is now a museum and the Cathedral both charged for entry we skipped. and just shopped a little. A major shopping item here are imitation pearls mad from glass and ground fish scales. I think Charlotte and Marlene both bought some. I found my postcards and playing cards so I was done early. Finding our way back was difficult (the pigeons must have eaten the breadcrumbs) but we did finally find a bus stop in front of the local department store that made several stops the last of which was back at the port. We shared the bus ride with a couple from New Jersey who are big Vantage Tour and had been to South America too. We may look into the Vantage tour offerings on Sunday when we are back in Rome.
Charlotte’s knee held up pretty well but she did buy an elastic wrap for her knee for 4 euros (the same price as the Cathedral). Somehow we missed the Snows up here for lunch we are sitting at a table by the pool….the roof is open and just now I felt a cooler breeze otherwise it has been warm and pleasant. A PA announcement said the ship was going to test the emergency diesel generator and that the elevators and lifts would be out of service.
Thats the latest from Mallorca …..Adios...
9:20 AM
Shirtsleeves and shorts sitting on a shady veranda what a beautiful day in Majorica. The ship just dock on our starboard side and I watched in my bathrobe as the lines were thrown and secured. You see we ordered room service and it was on time hot and very good (ham and cheese omelets with bananas and orange slices and of course toast and coffee.
Well I see the passengers streaming off the ship. The gang way is on starboard side aft and people are exiting the second deck into a covered area that open on to a covered walkway which runs parallel to the ship and is fifty feet from my position
Last night we ate at our normal dining time I had prime rib as did Lyle and Marlene. Charlotte ate salmon. After dinner we play two games of pinochle and got back to the room in time to see us depart from Barcelona at 11. We tried taking some pictures with the nighttime landscape feature and some may have turned out.
Charlotte says her knee feels better and she is going to go ashore as is Lyle I think we are waiting for the Snows to return from breakfast then we will be off. It is good not to fight the crows as there are over 1800 passengers who like to all do the same thing at the same time it seems. We will report on the Mallocra Meanderings a bit later we have to be back for a 6 PM sailing.
2:20 PM
I just finished eating a couple of scoops of pistachio mint ice cream after two pieces of pizza. That’s a light lunch on this cruise ship. We had a nice Monday in Mallorca getting of the ship around 10 AM. We had a 30 minute wait for the local bus to town as it was a 40 minute walk or a 10 Euro Taxi ride. We saved 50% since it turned out the 2.50 euros we paid for a ticket was only one way not both. Dropped in the town Centro, at a very modern thoroughfare, we managed to find our way to an older part of town and eventually to the major tourist attraction the old palace and the Cathedral. Since the place is now a museum and the Cathedral both charged for entry we skipped. and just shopped a little. A major shopping item here are imitation pearls mad from glass and ground fish scales. I think Charlotte and Marlene both bought some. I found my postcards and playing cards so I was done early. Finding our way back was difficult (the pigeons must have eaten the breadcrumbs) but we did finally find a bus stop in front of the local department store that made several stops the last of which was back at the port. We shared the bus ride with a couple from New Jersey who are big Vantage Tour and had been to South America too. We may look into the Vantage tour offerings on Sunday when we are back in Rome.
Charlotte’s knee held up pretty well but she did buy an elastic wrap for her knee for 4 euros (the same price as the Cathedral). Somehow we missed the Snows up here for lunch we are sitting at a table by the pool….the roof is open and just now I felt a cooler breeze otherwise it has been warm and pleasant. A PA announcement said the ship was going to test the emergency diesel generator and that the elevators and lifts would be out of service.
Thats the latest from Mallorca …..Adios...
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Another Sunny Sunday this time Barcelona
6:05 PM
We are still in Barcelona, a bigger cruise ship than us just passed beside us exiting the busiest cruise ship port in Europe. We are sitting on the Veranda, again me with my shirt off as the sun is hot and the temp read 26 degrees centigrade at the Columbus statute about an hour ago.
By 10AM this morning we were going ashore. Lyle elected to stay on the boat so it was just the three of us. We had a bit of a hassle getting on the port shuttle bus as there were two lines and the bus pulled to ours and the other line had formed earlier(not all cruise ship passengers are genteel). The quick bus ride to the end of the piers was about 5 minutes and I think I counted five cruise ships docked.
We formulated a plan to take the hop-on hop-off tourist bus for 21 euros each. It was also crowded and we started seated on the lower deck instead of the open air second deck. We hopped off a couple of times to check out a Cantaylan museum and Picasso’s art museum but quickly decided that we needed to stay on the bus…for two reasons. First because there was always a line to re board and seats on second deck were hard to get and secondly, because it is a huge city and to finish the bus routes would take several hours. So we rode both the blue and the red lines (skipped the green) for about 5 hours. We considered the highlight the unfinished Cathedral started in the last century worked on by the famous architect Gaudi until his death in 1956 and is still going up. It is called Sagrada Famlia. It will have 17 towers one for each disciple plus the gospel writers and the Virgin Mary with a huge center devoted to Jesus. All donations for entry go to fund the construction and the lines were around the very extensive block. We have lots of pictures and a couple of postcards but we stayed on the bus.
Many other highlights including churches, significant architectural buildings, and beautiful residential areas and sports complexes like the two Olympic sites. Midway of the tour we stopped for a refreshments and a toilet stop which was fun I tried Spanish beer this time but it was draft so I am not sure of the brand. The major mishap early was a severe knee jam by Charlotte when she was told she was going down the up stairs to the second deck on the bus. She turned too quickly and hit it on a sharp corner. She is now sitting along side me on the deck drinking a little Merlot with an ice bag cutting the pain.
We are in Barcelona until 11 and the city of 3,000,000 should be beautiful under the lights but I think we have had enough so it will probably be an early evening since the casino does not open until we are at sea.
Tomorrow is Mallorca…
We are still in Barcelona, a bigger cruise ship than us just passed beside us exiting the busiest cruise ship port in Europe. We are sitting on the Veranda, again me with my shirt off as the sun is hot and the temp read 26 degrees centigrade at the Columbus statute about an hour ago.
By 10AM this morning we were going ashore. Lyle elected to stay on the boat so it was just the three of us. We had a bit of a hassle getting on the port shuttle bus as there were two lines and the bus pulled to ours and the other line had formed earlier(not all cruise ship passengers are genteel). The quick bus ride to the end of the piers was about 5 minutes and I think I counted five cruise ships docked.
We formulated a plan to take the hop-on hop-off tourist bus for 21 euros each. It was also crowded and we started seated on the lower deck instead of the open air second deck. We hopped off a couple of times to check out a Cantaylan museum and Picasso’s art museum but quickly decided that we needed to stay on the bus…for two reasons. First because there was always a line to re board and seats on second deck were hard to get and secondly, because it is a huge city and to finish the bus routes would take several hours. So we rode both the blue and the red lines (skipped the green) for about 5 hours. We considered the highlight the unfinished Cathedral started in the last century worked on by the famous architect Gaudi until his death in 1956 and is still going up. It is called Sagrada Famlia. It will have 17 towers one for each disciple plus the gospel writers and the Virgin Mary with a huge center devoted to Jesus. All donations for entry go to fund the construction and the lines were around the very extensive block. We have lots of pictures and a couple of postcards but we stayed on the bus.
Many other highlights including churches, significant architectural buildings, and beautiful residential areas and sports complexes like the two Olympic sites. Midway of the tour we stopped for a refreshments and a toilet stop which was fun I tried Spanish beer this time but it was draft so I am not sure of the brand. The major mishap early was a severe knee jam by Charlotte when she was told she was going down the up stairs to the second deck on the bus. She turned too quickly and hit it on a sharp corner. She is now sitting along side me on the deck drinking a little Merlot with an ice bag cutting the pain.
We are in Barcelona until 11 and the city of 3,000,000 should be beautiful under the lights but I think we have had enough so it will probably be an early evening since the casino does not open until we are at sea.
Tomorrow is Mallorca…
Breakfast in Barcelonia
Sunday May 3, 2009
8:20 PM
We are in Barcelona and trying to get breakfast up- here in the Lido but it is a very crowded space again. We will wait for the Snows and try to get out here and on shore by 10.
It is sunny and temperature should be in mid 70’s.
Yesterday was a sea day and we had a good time, work outs, trivia games, and a couple of games of pinochle, volleyball serve and about 150 pages of Snowball. The show was the last of the three production shows we had not seen so we it (The Walls Rock). It was preceded by a captain’s toast of champagne and introduction to the crew all in formal white dinner jackets. We also had a bottle of Chardonnay at dinner (three lobster thermidors and I had a rack of lamb). After dinner I played poker for a couple of hours and for the second night in a row won a little. There is a group of Russian on the ship all pretty young and about 5 or 6 play on the automatic poker table with us so maybe it is a bit less competition than the last leg where a guy from Reno (Bill) won most nights.
The ship is docked here until 11 PM so this will be the longest shore day we will have. There are some excursions but we are going to explore on our own. There is a tram that will give us an overview and then I think we will look for the hop-on hop-off tour bus.
Who won the Derby I wore one of my Brown Bag tee shirts yesterday and we caught a few early races on ESPN 2 but this morning I was not able to hear anything about who won. The race ran at about 2 AM Barcelona time and we were asleep.
8:20 PM
We are in Barcelona and trying to get breakfast up- here in the Lido but it is a very crowded space again. We will wait for the Snows and try to get out here and on shore by 10.
It is sunny and temperature should be in mid 70’s.
Yesterday was a sea day and we had a good time, work outs, trivia games, and a couple of games of pinochle, volleyball serve and about 150 pages of Snowball. The show was the last of the three production shows we had not seen so we it (The Walls Rock). It was preceded by a captain’s toast of champagne and introduction to the crew all in formal white dinner jackets. We also had a bottle of Chardonnay at dinner (three lobster thermidors and I had a rack of lamb). After dinner I played poker for a couple of hours and for the second night in a row won a little. There is a group of Russian on the ship all pretty young and about 5 or 6 play on the automatic poker table with us so maybe it is a bit less competition than the last leg where a guy from Reno (Bill) won most nights.
The ship is docked here until 11 PM so this will be the longest shore day we will have. There are some excursions but we are going to explore on our own. There is a tram that will give us an overview and then I think we will look for the hop-on hop-off tour bus.
Who won the Derby I wore one of my Brown Bag tee shirts yesterday and we caught a few early races on ESPN 2 but this morning I was not able to hear anything about who won. The race ran at about 2 AM Barcelona time and we were asleep.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Froliciing on the French Rivera
Monte Carlo
May 1, 2009
3:40 PM
Magnificent Day in Monaco. Temperature is about 77, the sun is shining and I am sitting out on the Veranda looking across a harbor full of Yachts. The Gran Casino shows just over the top of my computer screen about 300 yards across the water up on the higher ground. The panoramic view is quite attractive and a small sail boat and a power boat a gliding by our great ship down below our 6th deck vantage point.
Today we frolicked on the French Rivera. We had a half day excursion that left about 8:30 PM on a bus for the tour called Nice and Eze and it was nice and easy (which is not how you pronounce the cities). Our guide was a pleasant Italian lady (the tour company ran out of French guides). Today with 4 or 5 different tours they took 21 bus loads (nearly 800) of passengers of the ship. The difficulty is that everyone is trying to eat at same time both for breakfast and for lunch since most tours were back for lunch around the same time (1 PM).
Today is May 1 and it is a holiday in this part of the world they called it Labor Day in Italy and a bank holiday here in Monaco. That means at 8:30 AM there was little traffic as no one was working and no stores other than souvenir stands were open so we zipped over to Nice in France in about an hour. Nice is also on the Med so we followed the sea road around and the views were terrific. The bus dropped us right on the beach near a commercial area known as “the flower market” We had an hour to browse the flowers the vegetable and other artisan stands …..An open air market in other words. We did a little shopping and snapped a lot of photos. The area were in was the “old town” which was the part of Nice the Sardinian king ceded to France in 1860 to pay off for help in a previous war. Just above this area was the French part of Nice for always. What happened was that the Greeks originally settled near the coast and the Romans more up the hills. Amazingly we could see Mountains (Alps) with fresh snow from last Monday on them and we also saw people in water and in bikinis on the Mediterranean.
Our second bus stop was a medieval village called Eze. To reach it we had to climb up a very steep path to a walled in town with stone walls, narrow stone streets, and stone living quarters and shops. Since it was so steep Lyle decided to sit and wait for us. The other three of us had about an hour in the village. Again great photo opportunities were presented as there were gardens and the spring flowers are very pretty.
On the way back to Monaco, about 5 miles, the bus stopped and we were able to snap a photo of the royal place from above. Prince Albert is not here as the flag is not flying but shortly a lot of the world will be here in Monte Carlo as the scaffolding and other preparations are moving forward for the Gran Prix of Monte Carlo---a world event for Formula 1 cars.
After a quick change of clothes and a little lunch we were off the see Monaco and the Gran Casino. You must be dressed with no caps or shorts for the Casino and we heard it cost 10 euros to enter. Since it is a 40 minute walk around the harbor and up hill we took a taxi over for 12 euros. After taking pictures we went inside and had to check our cameras. We found there was a room off the vestibule where there were slots and you did not have to pay and present a passport. We did not have a lot of time so we played the slots (draw poker) Lyle won .80 euros and I lost 1.80 euros. Charlotte and I then walked back to the ship as it is a beautiful day and it was downhill. Just as we entered the dock area Marlene and Lyle were getting out of a cab (which cost 17 euros for the return but they were able to share with 2 other passengers.
At the moment we are trying to decide whether to go to a French themed dinner at the pool early or attend out normal dining. Regardless I believe we will drink some champagne and maybe a little wine before the comedy show and dinner. Life on the Rivera is just fine…. now where did I leave my Ferrari or was it the Bentley? There are over 300 Ferraris registered in Monaco and about 50 Bentley in a town half the size of Central Park and with only 32,000 people…Cost for new construction is 50,000 per square meter…………so I guess I will have to settle for my little seaside home in NC which is quite a bargain by comparison. Bon jour
May 1, 2009
3:40 PM
Magnificent Day in Monaco. Temperature is about 77, the sun is shining and I am sitting out on the Veranda looking across a harbor full of Yachts. The Gran Casino shows just over the top of my computer screen about 300 yards across the water up on the higher ground. The panoramic view is quite attractive and a small sail boat and a power boat a gliding by our great ship down below our 6th deck vantage point.
Today we frolicked on the French Rivera. We had a half day excursion that left about 8:30 PM on a bus for the tour called Nice and Eze and it was nice and easy (which is not how you pronounce the cities). Our guide was a pleasant Italian lady (the tour company ran out of French guides). Today with 4 or 5 different tours they took 21 bus loads (nearly 800) of passengers of the ship. The difficulty is that everyone is trying to eat at same time both for breakfast and for lunch since most tours were back for lunch around the same time (1 PM).
Today is May 1 and it is a holiday in this part of the world they called it Labor Day in Italy and a bank holiday here in Monaco. That means at 8:30 AM there was little traffic as no one was working and no stores other than souvenir stands were open so we zipped over to Nice in France in about an hour. Nice is also on the Med so we followed the sea road around and the views were terrific. The bus dropped us right on the beach near a commercial area known as “the flower market” We had an hour to browse the flowers the vegetable and other artisan stands …..An open air market in other words. We did a little shopping and snapped a lot of photos. The area were in was the “old town” which was the part of Nice the Sardinian king ceded to France in 1860 to pay off for help in a previous war. Just above this area was the French part of Nice for always. What happened was that the Greeks originally settled near the coast and the Romans more up the hills. Amazingly we could see Mountains (Alps) with fresh snow from last Monday on them and we also saw people in water and in bikinis on the Mediterranean.
Our second bus stop was a medieval village called Eze. To reach it we had to climb up a very steep path to a walled in town with stone walls, narrow stone streets, and stone living quarters and shops. Since it was so steep Lyle decided to sit and wait for us. The other three of us had about an hour in the village. Again great photo opportunities were presented as there were gardens and the spring flowers are very pretty.
On the way back to Monaco, about 5 miles, the bus stopped and we were able to snap a photo of the royal place from above. Prince Albert is not here as the flag is not flying but shortly a lot of the world will be here in Monte Carlo as the scaffolding and other preparations are moving forward for the Gran Prix of Monte Carlo---a world event for Formula 1 cars.
After a quick change of clothes and a little lunch we were off the see Monaco and the Gran Casino. You must be dressed with no caps or shorts for the Casino and we heard it cost 10 euros to enter. Since it is a 40 minute walk around the harbor and up hill we took a taxi over for 12 euros. After taking pictures we went inside and had to check our cameras. We found there was a room off the vestibule where there were slots and you did not have to pay and present a passport. We did not have a lot of time so we played the slots (draw poker) Lyle won .80 euros and I lost 1.80 euros. Charlotte and I then walked back to the ship as it is a beautiful day and it was downhill. Just as we entered the dock area Marlene and Lyle were getting out of a cab (which cost 17 euros for the return but they were able to share with 2 other passengers.
At the moment we are trying to decide whether to go to a French themed dinner at the pool early or attend out normal dining. Regardless I believe we will drink some champagne and maybe a little wine before the comedy show and dinner. Life on the Rivera is just fine…. now where did I leave my Ferrari or was it the Bentley? There are over 300 Ferraris registered in Monaco and about 50 Bentley in a town half the size of Central Park and with only 32,000 people…Cost for new construction is 50,000 per square meter…………so I guess I will have to settle for my little seaside home in NC which is quite a bargain by comparison. Bon jour
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Terrific Day in Tuscany
Thursday Livorno, Italy
April 30
7:10 PM
A long beautiful day in the Tuscany Region of Italy. We were up at 6 and on the bus by 7:30. It was a two hour bus ride to Florence. Our group of 38 people was fortunate to have “chatterbox” male guide of 30 who made the long day fly by. Our tour of Florence was basically a walking tour hitting the highlights of the downtown area where the renaissance had its center. The first fact we learned was that Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 23 years later Michelangelo was born also in Tuscany. They had a rivalry and Michelangelo won the competition to sculpt the David which is probably the world’s best know statute which was supposed to signify the banishment of Medicis from Florence but they returned and to cover up the slight managed to fill Piazza Della Signoria square with many more statutes. The actual David is now inside a museum (the Academy) and a copy now occupies its original place. The Santa Maria Del Fiore Cathedral (Duomo), the baptistery, and clock tower in the center of Florence are most beautiful we have seen. We had a special local guide who gave us much information via a radio headset that worked well but it was somewhat hard to understand all of her English.
About 2 PM after we had seen Michelangelo burial place (the church of Santa Croce) and had a very nice wine tasting we traveled another few blocks where in a private dining area we had a superb Italian meal of lasagna and chicken with Tiramisu and a shared bottle of wine (the two other people at our table of four did not drink). Needless to say it was delightful and I believe the Lasagna was the best ever again.
After lunch we boarded the bus and returned via a divided highway back toward Livorno stopping a Pisa for a little over an hour. In the Miracle Square there is another Cathedral, Baptistery, and Clock tower combination. The Baptistery is the world’s largest and there has always been a problem with the bell tower. However a few years a German architect was able to change the subsoil and the leaning has been corrected to about what it was 300 years ago. There were plenty of tourists at all sites. There were 5 buses of 38 each from the Noordam.
We rolled back to the ship just after 6: PM. The day was very night a bit chilly this morning and a few drops of rain just before lunch but by Pisa it was truly sunny with fluffy clouds just like Michelangelo painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Surely a terrific day in Tuscany.
In a few minutes we will try to eat again. For this leg we have changed our table to eliminate a cool air draft and now sit at window table for four. So we should see the ship move out of port as we eat as the schedule says we leave at 8 PM.
Well it is a short report and tomorrow is Monaco with another tour just the morning I believe. So instead of averederci I will just say ciao for now.
April 30
7:10 PM
A long beautiful day in the Tuscany Region of Italy. We were up at 6 and on the bus by 7:30. It was a two hour bus ride to Florence. Our group of 38 people was fortunate to have “chatterbox” male guide of 30 who made the long day fly by. Our tour of Florence was basically a walking tour hitting the highlights of the downtown area where the renaissance had its center. The first fact we learned was that Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 23 years later Michelangelo was born also in Tuscany. They had a rivalry and Michelangelo won the competition to sculpt the David which is probably the world’s best know statute which was supposed to signify the banishment of Medicis from Florence but they returned and to cover up the slight managed to fill Piazza Della Signoria square with many more statutes. The actual David is now inside a museum (the Academy) and a copy now occupies its original place. The Santa Maria Del Fiore Cathedral (Duomo), the baptistery, and clock tower in the center of Florence are most beautiful we have seen. We had a special local guide who gave us much information via a radio headset that worked well but it was somewhat hard to understand all of her English.
About 2 PM after we had seen Michelangelo burial place (the church of Santa Croce) and had a very nice wine tasting we traveled another few blocks where in a private dining area we had a superb Italian meal of lasagna and chicken with Tiramisu and a shared bottle of wine (the two other people at our table of four did not drink). Needless to say it was delightful and I believe the Lasagna was the best ever again.
After lunch we boarded the bus and returned via a divided highway back toward Livorno stopping a Pisa for a little over an hour. In the Miracle Square there is another Cathedral, Baptistery, and Clock tower combination. The Baptistery is the world’s largest and there has always been a problem with the bell tower. However a few years a German architect was able to change the subsoil and the leaning has been corrected to about what it was 300 years ago. There were plenty of tourists at all sites. There were 5 buses of 38 each from the Noordam.
We rolled back to the ship just after 6: PM. The day was very night a bit chilly this morning and a few drops of rain just before lunch but by Pisa it was truly sunny with fluffy clouds just like Michelangelo painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Surely a terrific day in Tuscany.
In a few minutes we will try to eat again. For this leg we have changed our table to eliminate a cool air draft and now sit at window table for four. So we should see the ship move out of port as we eat as the schedule says we leave at 8 PM.
Well it is a short report and tomorrow is Monaco with another tour just the morning I believe. So instead of averederci I will just say ciao for now.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Transiistion From East to Western Mediterrean
Civitavecchia
2:30 PM
We have been in the transition mode. Yesterday people started packing and the programs onboard waned. Today everyone was off the ship by 9AM (except the ones doing both legs as we are) and now most of the new passengers have boarded…there are suitcases in the hallways and now a crowd at the Lido having their first meal
The four of us almost missed breakfast because we got there at 8:40 AM and the main breakfast stopped at 8:30 because they started at 5:30 AM. At 10 we took the port shuttle bus to the port town of Civitavechhia just 10 minutes around the docks. The town was not catering to tourists as all the attractions are in Rome about an hour away. We walked around and then I found an internet café. I spent 45 minutes checking e-mail and fantasy teams. I was surprised that no one has tried to e-mail….especially our kids. However, I thought the connection was slow. I found another better place which caters to seamen (the crews of ships that dock here) and spent another hour.
I have joined the other three here at the cafeteria. They of course came back a couple of hours ago and won 3 dam dollars each for winning the Scattergories game competition by one point. The day is very sunny and nice probably around 75 but very warm in the sun. Our verandas are on the shady side of the ship and the view is very industrial. I guess the next activity is the two for one drink specials at the Crows Nest on the observation deck at 4:30 PM. Since the ship leaves port at 5 we should be able to see a lot.
Tomorrow is Livorno the port for Florence. We have a shore excurision for Florence and Pisa I will try to keep the tower from falling. So it looks like the transition time is about over and we will get back to sight seeing. Sorry for the sparse news but it is MORE than we are hearing from you. There is a comment section in this blog.
2:30 PM
We have been in the transition mode. Yesterday people started packing and the programs onboard waned. Today everyone was off the ship by 9AM (except the ones doing both legs as we are) and now most of the new passengers have boarded…there are suitcases in the hallways and now a crowd at the Lido having their first meal
The four of us almost missed breakfast because we got there at 8:40 AM and the main breakfast stopped at 8:30 because they started at 5:30 AM. At 10 we took the port shuttle bus to the port town of Civitavechhia just 10 minutes around the docks. The town was not catering to tourists as all the attractions are in Rome about an hour away. We walked around and then I found an internet café. I spent 45 minutes checking e-mail and fantasy teams. I was surprised that no one has tried to e-mail….especially our kids. However, I thought the connection was slow. I found another better place which caters to seamen (the crews of ships that dock here) and spent another hour.
I have joined the other three here at the cafeteria. They of course came back a couple of hours ago and won 3 dam dollars each for winning the Scattergories game competition by one point. The day is very sunny and nice probably around 75 but very warm in the sun. Our verandas are on the shady side of the ship and the view is very industrial. I guess the next activity is the two for one drink specials at the Crows Nest on the observation deck at 4:30 PM. Since the ship leaves port at 5 we should be able to see a lot.
Tomorrow is Livorno the port for Florence. We have a shore excurision for Florence and Pisa I will try to keep the tower from falling. So it looks like the transition time is about over and we will get back to sight seeing. Sorry for the sparse news but it is MORE than we are hearing from you. There is a comment section in this blog.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Messing around in Messina
Sicily
8:30 AM
I think it is Tuesday but all days feel the same since everything is routinized. It is a sunny day outside our stateroom as I type this and we are in Messina until 1 PM. We have not seen Lyle and Marlene yet so we are waiting a while before we go ashore. There was not any excursion that we wanted to do there is Mt. Etna I think and a Greco Roman theater but we will just wander the village. Yesterday abroad the ship went quickly. I did rest in the morning after playing with this computer and finally got a photo to go.
For lunch I had a bratwurst from the grill in the pool area and then participated in the basketball shooting contest……If you participate in various contests you win “dam dollars” which are redeemable for logoed Holland America merchandise which says “dam ship”. I did not make a basket from the foul line in three chances but ended up with two dollars.
I played a little poker after that and my bad luck continued ran into a flush with same guy as usual when I paired both card of big slick (A, K,) At 4:30 Charlotte and I went to the movies and even got a complimentary bag of popcorn. The movie Nights of Rodanthe which some of you know was partially filmed in North Topsail Beach. In fact the last scene of the movie may show our house as it is taken from the end of Seaview pier near our house panning the shore line but they tried to wash out the background because the book was set on the Outer Banks much further north in an old Inn. The movie with Richard Gere and Diane Lane is good but since we both read Nicholas Sparks book, we agreed the book was better.
A quick change for the formal dinner after the movie. Before dinner the Noordam dancers and singers did a “Ballroom Blitz” show with lots of dancing and many costume changes and yes used the stage lifts again. The dinner was billed a Farewell Dinner and the first ten day cycle of the Mediterranean Adventure ends tomorrow. We all choose the same menu jumbo shrimp cocktail, five onion soup (creamy) and Surf and Turf (filet mignon and lobster tail) for dessert there was a parade where the culinary staff parade in after marching the baked Alaskas around. I think it was the best meal I have ever had from start to finish. I did spill a cherry from the cherry jubilee topping for the dessert on my dress shirt. ( I have another I rented two but they say it is good for only the first cycle…Marlene says they lodged a complaint that we booked one cruise for 20 days not two ten day cruises)
After dinner Charlotte and I went to see time filler called “The Marriage Game” held in the queen’s lounge. You may recall the old TV show; anyway they selected a honeymoon couple married two weeks, a couple married 28 years and were looking for people married over 50 years. One couple declined and we were chosen base on our nearly 42 years of bliss. So there we were couple number 3……..Guess what we did very well missing only 1 and ½ questions out of 8. Two hundred Holland America passengers now know the story our first date, my worst habit, and Charlotte’s bra size to name a few categories. The question we missed our “magic moment” I said was by the fireplace on Timber Lake Drive in Louisville and she said it was in Peru….but there have been a lot of them and this cruise certainly ranks among them. We won a bottle of champagne and we will let you know about more magic.
It is supposed to shower today but we hope it holds off. Still no Snow’s…..I will go make something happen and finish this post later. Avedeverci….
The noon whistle just blew in Messina and back at town center the clock tower should be moving a few animals around like a cuckoo clock. Well Lyle and Marlene had been going
To breakfast when we were coming and we must have passed in the elevators. We set out from the ship and walked down the pier to shore and into town which is of course along the shore line. Since we did not take a tour we just wandered around and took snapshots and some should be very nice. The town was damaged by an earthquake in 1908 I think so many of the building are from right after that period.
The last thing on our Messian agenda was to try some Italian pastries….so we pursued cannollies for a couple of blocks and finally found a small bar that had pastries. The proprietor finally understood what we wanted and went into the room behind and started filling pastry shells with a refrigerated filling out of a plastic tub. It took a while for him to make them, then we asked him to put them in bag (with sign language since he understood little English…..I think he wanted to go to New York City which he said was “Bella” which I think means grand or great. Anyway he placed them on a tray we bought six and placed parchment paper over them wrapped them with decorative paper, tied the package with a blue ribbon and then placed it in a bag. Lyle carried them for the 15 minute walk back to the ship.
Upon checking in we decide to go up to the Lido cafeteria where there is coffee all day. We opened the package and each had a cannolli….wow another best I ever had experience.
So now we wait for the 1 PM disembarkation. In a talk we listened to yesterday Captain Scott told us that it is a tight run back to Civitavecchia the port for Rome where we got abroad a short 9 days ago. Many passengers will be packing and getting ready to leave the ship at 7 AM when we dock many going directly to the airport………but we will have another 10 day adventure along the shores of the Western Mediterranean.
8:30 AM
I think it is Tuesday but all days feel the same since everything is routinized. It is a sunny day outside our stateroom as I type this and we are in Messina until 1 PM. We have not seen Lyle and Marlene yet so we are waiting a while before we go ashore. There was not any excursion that we wanted to do there is Mt. Etna I think and a Greco Roman theater but we will just wander the village. Yesterday abroad the ship went quickly. I did rest in the morning after playing with this computer and finally got a photo to go.
For lunch I had a bratwurst from the grill in the pool area and then participated in the basketball shooting contest……If you participate in various contests you win “dam dollars” which are redeemable for logoed Holland America merchandise which says “dam ship”. I did not make a basket from the foul line in three chances but ended up with two dollars.
I played a little poker after that and my bad luck continued ran into a flush with same guy as usual when I paired both card of big slick (A, K,) At 4:30 Charlotte and I went to the movies and even got a complimentary bag of popcorn. The movie Nights of Rodanthe which some of you know was partially filmed in North Topsail Beach. In fact the last scene of the movie may show our house as it is taken from the end of Seaview pier near our house panning the shore line but they tried to wash out the background because the book was set on the Outer Banks much further north in an old Inn. The movie with Richard Gere and Diane Lane is good but since we both read Nicholas Sparks book, we agreed the book was better.
A quick change for the formal dinner after the movie. Before dinner the Noordam dancers and singers did a “Ballroom Blitz” show with lots of dancing and many costume changes and yes used the stage lifts again. The dinner was billed a Farewell Dinner and the first ten day cycle of the Mediterranean Adventure ends tomorrow. We all choose the same menu jumbo shrimp cocktail, five onion soup (creamy) and Surf and Turf (filet mignon and lobster tail) for dessert there was a parade where the culinary staff parade in after marching the baked Alaskas around. I think it was the best meal I have ever had from start to finish. I did spill a cherry from the cherry jubilee topping for the dessert on my dress shirt. ( I have another I rented two but they say it is good for only the first cycle…Marlene says they lodged a complaint that we booked one cruise for 20 days not two ten day cruises)
After dinner Charlotte and I went to see time filler called “The Marriage Game” held in the queen’s lounge. You may recall the old TV show; anyway they selected a honeymoon couple married two weeks, a couple married 28 years and were looking for people married over 50 years. One couple declined and we were chosen base on our nearly 42 years of bliss. So there we were couple number 3……..Guess what we did very well missing only 1 and ½ questions out of 8. Two hundred Holland America passengers now know the story our first date, my worst habit, and Charlotte’s bra size to name a few categories. The question we missed our “magic moment” I said was by the fireplace on Timber Lake Drive in Louisville and she said it was in Peru….but there have been a lot of them and this cruise certainly ranks among them. We won a bottle of champagne and we will let you know about more magic.
It is supposed to shower today but we hope it holds off. Still no Snow’s…..I will go make something happen and finish this post later. Avedeverci….
The noon whistle just blew in Messina and back at town center the clock tower should be moving a few animals around like a cuckoo clock. Well Lyle and Marlene had been going
To breakfast when we were coming and we must have passed in the elevators. We set out from the ship and walked down the pier to shore and into town which is of course along the shore line. Since we did not take a tour we just wandered around and took snapshots and some should be very nice. The town was damaged by an earthquake in 1908 I think so many of the building are from right after that period.
The last thing on our Messian agenda was to try some Italian pastries….so we pursued cannollies for a couple of blocks and finally found a small bar that had pastries. The proprietor finally understood what we wanted and went into the room behind and started filling pastry shells with a refrigerated filling out of a plastic tub. It took a while for him to make them, then we asked him to put them in bag (with sign language since he understood little English…..I think he wanted to go to New York City which he said was “Bella” which I think means grand or great. Anyway he placed them on a tray we bought six and placed parchment paper over them wrapped them with decorative paper, tied the package with a blue ribbon and then placed it in a bag. Lyle carried them for the 15 minute walk back to the ship.
Upon checking in we decide to go up to the Lido cafeteria where there is coffee all day. We opened the package and each had a cannolli….wow another best I ever had experience.
So now we wait for the 1 PM disembarkation. In a talk we listened to yesterday Captain Scott told us that it is a tight run back to Civitavecchia the port for Rome where we got abroad a short 9 days ago. Many passengers will be packing and getting ready to leave the ship at 7 AM when we dock many going directly to the airport………but we will have another 10 day adventure along the shores of the Western Mediterranean.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Lazy day at Sea
11AM
We have done the treadmill eaten breakfast downloaded last couple of days of pictures from the camera. I am still in breakfast area and am going to try to send two pictures highlights of last two days Turkey and Athens. The first is a picture of the barber and owner who provided my Turkish haircut. The second is a picture of the Snows in front of the Parthenon yesterday. Alas the haircut did not work but here is a picture from Santorini.
We have done the treadmill eaten breakfast downloaded last couple of days of pictures from the camera. I am still in breakfast area and am going to try to send two pictures highlights of last two days Turkey and Athens. The first is a picture of the barber and owner who provided my Turkish haircut. The second is a picture of the Snows in front of the Parthenon yesterday. Alas the haircut did not work but here is a picture from Santorini.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday with Athena
Sunday April 26, 2009
5:00 PM
Greetings to you from Piraeus, a town of 1.2 million just outside of Athens Greece where the Noordam docked at the port. The alarm went off at 6:50 AM and we have been going ever since. But now have retired to our Veranda where it is very comfortable about 75 or 80 F cloudy but sunny. I have opened the bottle of chardonnay and am ready for the daily blog.
Our shore excursion was called “the best of Athens” and consisted of a visit to a museum, the Acropolis, a Grecian lunch and finally shopping in the Platka. Since Athens is about 40 minutes by vehicle or subway from the port area we boarded a nice touring bus at 8:40.
Our first stop after a bus ride that took us by two Olympic Stadiums, Hadrian’s Gate, the US embassy, etc was at the national archaeological museum. There were 5 buses of Holland American passengers with 45 people each and since it was Sunday quite a few other tourists so getting a private tour was problematic. We spent the most time in the Mycenaean Room which had artifacts from the Mycenaen period about 1400 BC. This was a very important period of world history as these people were the predecessors of the Ancient Greeks and were very civilized with farming, towns, economies, and education. Of course much is known from the art which was primarily the burial gifts for the richer people who were buried in tombs in the hillside which have be excavated and chronicled. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the period and passionate about it importance so it was a very fascinating hour. At the conclusion we toured the rest of the museum quickly and saw many Greek statutes which are truly life like. The climax was the one meter high statute of Athena a 1/12 size replica of the actual statute of Athena that was in the middle of the Parthenon for 800 years before being carried away by the Ottomans to Constantinople and lost. Athena was the daughter of Zeus and was the goddess of wisdom but carried a full shield and a lance.
Well the ship is now moving and it is 5:30 PM. We did leave a couple of people that Marlene talked to at lunch when they did not make the bus at 4 PM. One girl was a financial planner for Wells Fargo and the two of them (she is traveling with a female c0-worker) were also the last returning from Santorini
After the museum we took a ten minute ride in the bus to the Acropolis which is the highest part of the city and where the Ancient Greeks wanted to build a temple to Athena high close to the home of the Gods. The Parthenon built for Athena was built by the well respected, Pericles, who ruled a democracy in the Grecian golden age. It took 15 years to build between 447 and 432BC and is made of white marble. It was damaged in 427 BC when the Persians attacked. Eventually it was further destroyed in war when the Ottomans stored munitions and powder there and a bomb hit it. Many of the columns (8x 17) remained standing as the damage was more in the center and to the roof. There is restoration work going on now but slowly. From the Acropolis you get wonderful views including the Agora and the place where the senate met as well as a theater. Quite a fine ruin. The cost of entry was 25 Euros and it was very crowded this Sunday.
Both of the tour sites were brought to life with the fine commentary by our tour guide, but we agree that the cost of the Holland American excursions is too much for what you get.
We are now moving away from port people are waving and we are passing a ferry boat which is quite large but dwarfed by our ship.
From the Acropolis we had a hike to lunch on a small street in the old district of town, the Platka but it was part of the tour. It consisted of three course including appetizers, a main course of beef and rice and baklava for dessert. There was also complimentary wine but not enough that is why I am imbibing now.
After lunch we had a successful shopping experience buying some gifts as well as postcards and my playing cards. All in all a long tiring day and most of the people in the long line waiting to re-board the ship are very glad tomorrow is a sea day ……a break from break neck sight seeing.
However, the Adventure is truly fun and we are having a wonderful time. Who would have ever thought I would visit the Parthenon which was such a big topic of Mr. Gable’s lectures back at Grand Valley High School……remember them Bryan???
So it is back to sea headed for Italia…….
Now posting after dinner which was preceded by a hour long show by a violinist from Wales who I can now hear playing the second show at 9 PM because the Exploration Café where the computers are is next to the theater.
5:00 PM
Greetings to you from Piraeus, a town of 1.2 million just outside of Athens Greece where the Noordam docked at the port. The alarm went off at 6:50 AM and we have been going ever since. But now have retired to our Veranda where it is very comfortable about 75 or 80 F cloudy but sunny. I have opened the bottle of chardonnay and am ready for the daily blog.
Our shore excursion was called “the best of Athens” and consisted of a visit to a museum, the Acropolis, a Grecian lunch and finally shopping in the Platka. Since Athens is about 40 minutes by vehicle or subway from the port area we boarded a nice touring bus at 8:40.
Our first stop after a bus ride that took us by two Olympic Stadiums, Hadrian’s Gate, the US embassy, etc was at the national archaeological museum. There were 5 buses of Holland American passengers with 45 people each and since it was Sunday quite a few other tourists so getting a private tour was problematic. We spent the most time in the Mycenaean Room which had artifacts from the Mycenaen period about 1400 BC. This was a very important period of world history as these people were the predecessors of the Ancient Greeks and were very civilized with farming, towns, economies, and education. Of course much is known from the art which was primarily the burial gifts for the richer people who were buried in tombs in the hillside which have be excavated and chronicled. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the period and passionate about it importance so it was a very fascinating hour. At the conclusion we toured the rest of the museum quickly and saw many Greek statutes which are truly life like. The climax was the one meter high statute of Athena a 1/12 size replica of the actual statute of Athena that was in the middle of the Parthenon for 800 years before being carried away by the Ottomans to Constantinople and lost. Athena was the daughter of Zeus and was the goddess of wisdom but carried a full shield and a lance.
Well the ship is now moving and it is 5:30 PM. We did leave a couple of people that Marlene talked to at lunch when they did not make the bus at 4 PM. One girl was a financial planner for Wells Fargo and the two of them (she is traveling with a female c0-worker) were also the last returning from Santorini
After the museum we took a ten minute ride in the bus to the Acropolis which is the highest part of the city and where the Ancient Greeks wanted to build a temple to Athena high close to the home of the Gods. The Parthenon built for Athena was built by the well respected, Pericles, who ruled a democracy in the Grecian golden age. It took 15 years to build between 447 and 432BC and is made of white marble. It was damaged in 427 BC when the Persians attacked. Eventually it was further destroyed in war when the Ottomans stored munitions and powder there and a bomb hit it. Many of the columns (8x 17) remained standing as the damage was more in the center and to the roof. There is restoration work going on now but slowly. From the Acropolis you get wonderful views including the Agora and the place where the senate met as well as a theater. Quite a fine ruin. The cost of entry was 25 Euros and it was very crowded this Sunday.
Both of the tour sites were brought to life with the fine commentary by our tour guide, but we agree that the cost of the Holland American excursions is too much for what you get.
We are now moving away from port people are waving and we are passing a ferry boat which is quite large but dwarfed by our ship.
From the Acropolis we had a hike to lunch on a small street in the old district of town, the Platka but it was part of the tour. It consisted of three course including appetizers, a main course of beef and rice and baklava for dessert. There was also complimentary wine but not enough that is why I am imbibing now.
After lunch we had a successful shopping experience buying some gifts as well as postcards and my playing cards. All in all a long tiring day and most of the people in the long line waiting to re-board the ship are very glad tomorrow is a sea day ……a break from break neck sight seeing.
However, the Adventure is truly fun and we are having a wonderful time. Who would have ever thought I would visit the Parthenon which was such a big topic of Mr. Gable’s lectures back at Grand Valley High School……remember them Bryan???
So it is back to sea headed for Italia…….
Now posting after dinner which was preceded by a hour long show by a violinist from Wales who I can now hear playing the second show at 9 PM because the Exploration Café where the computers are is next to the theater.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Easternmost point of the Adventure
Saturday April 25, 2009
6:30 PM
We are in Turkey and it has been a very busy day because we had our first shore excursion this afternoon.
The good thing is we did go to bed early we skipped the main dining room last night and partook of the Greek Barbeque by the pool….think I will stick with the main dining room. Up at 7 AM we were already at a dock in Kusadasi, one of Turkey’s main holiday resorts. It is a city of 50,000 that swells in the summer and gets 900,000 cruise ship passengers each year so the tourist industry is vibrant. It was 66 F today and sunny as it is 300 days each year, so I broke out the shorts for the first time and got a bit of sun on my face the last couple of days.
After breakfast at about 9:30 the four of us got off the ship to go shopping because we had an afternoon excursion starting at 12:15PM the shopping was well organized and there is a bazaar. Since we were the first people of the ship and since it is very early in the season the hookers (men in black suits as Charlotte calls them) were very aggressive trying to sell jewelry, leather, and other things. Very early I stopped to talk with Boris, a man standing in the center of the street who owned 3 leather shops. Anyway we became friends and he invited me into his shop, showed me wedding pictures from Greensboro NC, I also got shown a number of coats of fine lamb’s leather. I barely resisted a genuine Harley Davidson leather vest. Alas back on the street I had lost the other three. Two quick trips around the block and I realized I was abandoned. (Later I was informed by my wife that I abandoned her….and it was almost inexcusable to leave her to fiend off the aggressive merchants). On my own I found an internet café an hour for 1$ thanks Judy for the e-mail and I also caught up on some curling news. I also checked my fantasy baseball teams. I could not figure how to check the blog as it was a Turkish menu.
The next highlight was a Turkish haircut for 5 Euros. Lots of trimming include eyebrows and nose hairs and singeing with flame of ear hair all the while sipping hot apple flavored hot tea. I got back to the ship just before 11:30. We had a quick lunch and headed for the bus and our tour of Ephesus.
The ruins of Ephesus are about 30% excavated and were very interesting. Ephesus was really built 4 times the ruins ore of the third city from about 500 BC it was Hellenic, Roman, and then Ottoman Empire. It was finally abandoned when the river connecting it to the seas silted up. The key highlights were official part of town the baths the library, and the theater which seated 25,000 and was were Paul spoke to the crowds three times I think. He was eventually arrested and jailed as he was cutting into the local business of selling the statutes of Armetis.
The bus dropped us at a high class rug merchant near the port where we saw some weaving and heard about the art…….and were shown a number of beautiful rugs of wool cotton and silk while sipping tea and wine. Again we resisted bring home a carpet... Lyle went back to the ship and Marlene, Charlotte, and I went shopping…..I was able to save them from the men in the black suits. It was a lovely sunny day a lot of fun.
Charlotte and I had our two for one special up in the Crow’s nest. It is now time for the Vegas Show in the lounge (I want to set those lifts in action) and then to dinner. Tomorrow we have a full day excursion in Athens.
It is now nearly 10 PM the Vegas show was fine and the lifts were used extensively. Dinner was also fine I had salmon, Charlotte weiner schnitzel, Marlene, sea bass and Lyle another NY Strip steak. I stopped by the internet place and the manager reset my password as I had trouble yesterday when I wanted to send a picture of Charlotte on a donkey. Anyway patience for pictures may be rewarded. As we are over 300 and a few are good.
Tomorrow is Athens here is a quick fact as a teaser The Academy (est 387 BC by Plato in the grove of Academos) was the world’s first university. Bye from Turkey……
6:30 PM
We are in Turkey and it has been a very busy day because we had our first shore excursion this afternoon.
The good thing is we did go to bed early we skipped the main dining room last night and partook of the Greek Barbeque by the pool….think I will stick with the main dining room. Up at 7 AM we were already at a dock in Kusadasi, one of Turkey’s main holiday resorts. It is a city of 50,000 that swells in the summer and gets 900,000 cruise ship passengers each year so the tourist industry is vibrant. It was 66 F today and sunny as it is 300 days each year, so I broke out the shorts for the first time and got a bit of sun on my face the last couple of days.
After breakfast at about 9:30 the four of us got off the ship to go shopping because we had an afternoon excursion starting at 12:15PM the shopping was well organized and there is a bazaar. Since we were the first people of the ship and since it is very early in the season the hookers (men in black suits as Charlotte calls them) were very aggressive trying to sell jewelry, leather, and other things. Very early I stopped to talk with Boris, a man standing in the center of the street who owned 3 leather shops. Anyway we became friends and he invited me into his shop, showed me wedding pictures from Greensboro NC, I also got shown a number of coats of fine lamb’s leather. I barely resisted a genuine Harley Davidson leather vest. Alas back on the street I had lost the other three. Two quick trips around the block and I realized I was abandoned. (Later I was informed by my wife that I abandoned her….and it was almost inexcusable to leave her to fiend off the aggressive merchants). On my own I found an internet café an hour for 1$ thanks Judy for the e-mail and I also caught up on some curling news. I also checked my fantasy baseball teams. I could not figure how to check the blog as it was a Turkish menu.
The next highlight was a Turkish haircut for 5 Euros. Lots of trimming include eyebrows and nose hairs and singeing with flame of ear hair all the while sipping hot apple flavored hot tea. I got back to the ship just before 11:30. We had a quick lunch and headed for the bus and our tour of Ephesus.
The ruins of Ephesus are about 30% excavated and were very interesting. Ephesus was really built 4 times the ruins ore of the third city from about 500 BC it was Hellenic, Roman, and then Ottoman Empire. It was finally abandoned when the river connecting it to the seas silted up. The key highlights were official part of town the baths the library, and the theater which seated 25,000 and was were Paul spoke to the crowds three times I think. He was eventually arrested and jailed as he was cutting into the local business of selling the statutes of Armetis.
The bus dropped us at a high class rug merchant near the port where we saw some weaving and heard about the art…….and were shown a number of beautiful rugs of wool cotton and silk while sipping tea and wine. Again we resisted bring home a carpet... Lyle went back to the ship and Marlene, Charlotte, and I went shopping…..I was able to save them from the men in the black suits. It was a lovely sunny day a lot of fun.
Charlotte and I had our two for one special up in the Crow’s nest. It is now time for the Vegas Show in the lounge (I want to set those lifts in action) and then to dinner. Tomorrow we have a full day excursion in Athens.
It is now nearly 10 PM the Vegas show was fine and the lifts were used extensively. Dinner was also fine I had salmon, Charlotte weiner schnitzel, Marlene, sea bass and Lyle another NY Strip steak. I stopped by the internet place and the manager reset my password as I had trouble yesterday when I wanted to send a picture of Charlotte on a donkey. Anyway patience for pictures may be rewarded. As we are over 300 and a few are good.
Tomorrow is Athens here is a quick fact as a teaser The Academy (est 387 BC by Plato in the grove of Academos) was the world’s first university. Bye from Turkey……
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunny Santorini
Friday April 24, 2009
Back on board after a day in Santorini. We are sitting on the sunny side of the ship enjoying a bowl of ice cream and iced tea.
Yesterday after sending the blog I did a backstage tour of the theater. There are four singers and 10 dancers that are under contract for 7 to 8 months. This production company does four shows on each 10 day cruise…..so we will see some shows repeated. Other nights they bring in entertainment such as the juggler and last night a solo male vocalist. Auditions are run by a company that represents Bruce Springsteen and there is a week of rehearsals in LA before the company takes to sea. The first week they rehearse hard on the ship but after they have the show down it seems rather easy a couple of one hour shows every couple of days. The crews board in decks A B and C which are below the main deck and there are three more decks below that so the ship is almost as much below the water as above.
The stage has several (4) hydraulic lifts for various sections of the stage that can go down 18 feet and during the show these are controlled by a rigger who sits up above the stage. The stage manager has a very impressive console with video views of the stage and controls to the technical lightning and sound guys up in a booth behind the theater. Dressing rooms are behind the stage and there is a hidden stair case in the fore section of the ship connecting all decks for the crew kind of like a servant’s passage.
I slept a couple of hours before dinner and then had to hurry to get into my formal wear…Charlotte looked lovely in a pearl sequined top and her pearls were beautiful. The four of went to the pre dinner show a very nice male singer from England who did many popular tunes from Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones etc.
Dinner is really fun on formal nights and we shared a bottle of California Zinfandel. After dinner three of us went to the Casino and Charlotte saved money.
This morning the boat was anchored in the center of a volcanic crater. The village of Santorini is perched on the crater rim and is beautiful with white washed walls and many blues as trim. It is said that in 1648 BC the volcanic eruption that created the formation is the largest hat ever happened. To get to shore, for the first time we needed tenders, which are smaller boats holding 50-100 people.
We left the ship at about 10:15 AM. There are two ways to scale the cliffs to the town walk up a twisted switch back or take a cable car…..oh.., or the donkeys. Which travel the path as well. Charlotte and I wanted to ride donkeys and Marlene and Lyle wanted to take the funicular or cable car. Well that was the last we saw of each other until just a while ago when they joined us here in the restaurant area. I have been listening to their day of shopping and eating and generally enjoying the day. The donkey ride was fine ….The donkey were really mules as they we able to carry some heavy people like me. It was a bit difficult to photograph the back of an ass carrying someone else while sitting on a moving animal headed up a 45 degree angle. But the pictures should be fine.
All in all Sunny Santorini is a beautiful picturesque place and is a vibrant economic tourist stop. We found out that in summer over 100 cruise ships a month stop here….but we are early in the season and the local said so far this year cruise ships are down 10% from last year.
Well I think the conversation is waning so I will spell check and send this as the Lido restaurant is a wireless hot spot...
Back on board after a day in Santorini. We are sitting on the sunny side of the ship enjoying a bowl of ice cream and iced tea.
Yesterday after sending the blog I did a backstage tour of the theater. There are four singers and 10 dancers that are under contract for 7 to 8 months. This production company does four shows on each 10 day cruise…..so we will see some shows repeated. Other nights they bring in entertainment such as the juggler and last night a solo male vocalist. Auditions are run by a company that represents Bruce Springsteen and there is a week of rehearsals in LA before the company takes to sea. The first week they rehearse hard on the ship but after they have the show down it seems rather easy a couple of one hour shows every couple of days. The crews board in decks A B and C which are below the main deck and there are three more decks below that so the ship is almost as much below the water as above.
The stage has several (4) hydraulic lifts for various sections of the stage that can go down 18 feet and during the show these are controlled by a rigger who sits up above the stage. The stage manager has a very impressive console with video views of the stage and controls to the technical lightning and sound guys up in a booth behind the theater. Dressing rooms are behind the stage and there is a hidden stair case in the fore section of the ship connecting all decks for the crew kind of like a servant’s passage.
I slept a couple of hours before dinner and then had to hurry to get into my formal wear…Charlotte looked lovely in a pearl sequined top and her pearls were beautiful. The four of went to the pre dinner show a very nice male singer from England who did many popular tunes from Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones etc.
Dinner is really fun on formal nights and we shared a bottle of California Zinfandel. After dinner three of us went to the Casino and Charlotte saved money.
This morning the boat was anchored in the center of a volcanic crater. The village of Santorini is perched on the crater rim and is beautiful with white washed walls and many blues as trim. It is said that in 1648 BC the volcanic eruption that created the formation is the largest hat ever happened. To get to shore, for the first time we needed tenders, which are smaller boats holding 50-100 people.
We left the ship at about 10:15 AM. There are two ways to scale the cliffs to the town walk up a twisted switch back or take a cable car…..oh.., or the donkeys. Which travel the path as well. Charlotte and I wanted to ride donkeys and Marlene and Lyle wanted to take the funicular or cable car. Well that was the last we saw of each other until just a while ago when they joined us here in the restaurant area. I have been listening to their day of shopping and eating and generally enjoying the day. The donkey ride was fine ….The donkey were really mules as they we able to carry some heavy people like me. It was a bit difficult to photograph the back of an ass carrying someone else while sitting on a moving animal headed up a 45 degree angle. But the pictures should be fine.
All in all Sunny Santorini is a beautiful picturesque place and is a vibrant economic tourist stop. We found out that in summer over 100 cruise ships a month stop here….but we are early in the season and the local said so far this year cruise ships are down 10% from last year.
Well I think the conversation is waning so I will spell check and send this as the Lido restaurant is a wireless hot spot...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sporting in Katakolon
Thursday April 22, 2009
1:20 PM
We are in Katakolon significant because it was near the home of the original Olympic Games which began in the eleventh century as a small regional festival dedicated to the god, Zeus. The first Olympic games were held in 776 BC and reached the height of popularity in 576 BC. They were banned in 426 because they were pagan but resumed in 1896. We get a daily bulletin with day’s activities and I copied some of the first paragraph for the blog. We also get a condensed version of the New York Times. CNN BBC and ESPN come on the TV in our room so we are pretty well up to date on news and events.
I call this Sporting in Katakolon because of the Olympics and because this morning I actually did my 35 minutes on the treadmill that I do quite often in Sneads Ferry. We were awakened by the PA system announcing that we were in port and that tours were leaving in a few minutes at 8 AM. We skipped the tour because the destinations were mostly the original Olympic site 45 minutes away and just a field now strewn with large rocks…the ruins.
After showering we went to breakfast and found Marlene and Lyle who had mentioned at dinner that they might sign up late for the tour….they decided against it and woke after we left for the gym……by the way gymnasium comes from the ancient Greek and means a place for naked exercise…..no not us. After eating we planned to leave the ship as there is a little shopping area just of the dock. But just as I took the first picture of another cruise ship docked here too the battery warning came on. So Charlotte and I came back to the ship climbed to the 6th level and retrieved our second battery….then went out shopping…Typical souvenir type stuff but it is always fun to see what is there. After walking up one side and down the other I took a break and went into an internet café where the price was 30 minutes for 2.50 Euro. I checked e-mail and checked my fantasy teams a bit. Charlotte came by and was delighted by the e-mail Monique wrote and the news of Ross’s trip to Asheville.
On the way back to ship we picked up some water light coke, and a bottle of chardonnay we now have a bottle of red and one of white……We will let you know how it goes down.
Almost forgot the GREAT NEWS last night as we were dressing “smart casual” for dinner Charlotte reached into her pants pocket and found a sock YES WITH THE PEARLS ALL INTACT…..I quickly tore up my complaint card about the shoddy bagged security and suggested that we go to dinner early and have a drink to celebrate which we did. After dinner it was Toga Night in the casino but my poker game had not yet started and when we came back to the room I decided to take a poker break and read my cruise book “Snowball” the biography of Warren Buffet got up to page 204 before turning out the light at around 10:15 PM
I am again typing this out on our Veranda Lyle and Marlene updated us on the shopping news and then decided to go eat. Charlotte is writing postcards and we are sharing a zero coke. It is pleasant probably 72 degrees and partly sunny….we did have a couple of short rain showered this morning. There is the ship’s horn I believe we are about to pull away from the dock….Yes we are moving and it is only 1:48 PM everyone must have gotten aboard….they have an electronic system checking IDs off and on.
We are off to Santorni for tomorrow’s stop. Tonight is another formal dinner night and I think Charlotte will wear pearls….Life is good…….
1:20 PM
We are in Katakolon significant because it was near the home of the original Olympic Games which began in the eleventh century as a small regional festival dedicated to the god, Zeus. The first Olympic games were held in 776 BC and reached the height of popularity in 576 BC. They were banned in 426 because they were pagan but resumed in 1896. We get a daily bulletin with day’s activities and I copied some of the first paragraph for the blog. We also get a condensed version of the New York Times. CNN BBC and ESPN come on the TV in our room so we are pretty well up to date on news and events.
I call this Sporting in Katakolon because of the Olympics and because this morning I actually did my 35 minutes on the treadmill that I do quite often in Sneads Ferry. We were awakened by the PA system announcing that we were in port and that tours were leaving in a few minutes at 8 AM. We skipped the tour because the destinations were mostly the original Olympic site 45 minutes away and just a field now strewn with large rocks…the ruins.
After showering we went to breakfast and found Marlene and Lyle who had mentioned at dinner that they might sign up late for the tour….they decided against it and woke after we left for the gym……by the way gymnasium comes from the ancient Greek and means a place for naked exercise…..no not us. After eating we planned to leave the ship as there is a little shopping area just of the dock. But just as I took the first picture of another cruise ship docked here too the battery warning came on. So Charlotte and I came back to the ship climbed to the 6th level and retrieved our second battery….then went out shopping…Typical souvenir type stuff but it is always fun to see what is there. After walking up one side and down the other I took a break and went into an internet café where the price was 30 minutes for 2.50 Euro. I checked e-mail and checked my fantasy teams a bit. Charlotte came by and was delighted by the e-mail Monique wrote and the news of Ross’s trip to Asheville.
On the way back to ship we picked up some water light coke, and a bottle of chardonnay we now have a bottle of red and one of white……We will let you know how it goes down.
Almost forgot the GREAT NEWS last night as we were dressing “smart casual” for dinner Charlotte reached into her pants pocket and found a sock YES WITH THE PEARLS ALL INTACT…..I quickly tore up my complaint card about the shoddy bagged security and suggested that we go to dinner early and have a drink to celebrate which we did. After dinner it was Toga Night in the casino but my poker game had not yet started and when we came back to the room I decided to take a poker break and read my cruise book “Snowball” the biography of Warren Buffet got up to page 204 before turning out the light at around 10:15 PM
I am again typing this out on our Veranda Lyle and Marlene updated us on the shopping news and then decided to go eat. Charlotte is writing postcards and we are sharing a zero coke. It is pleasant probably 72 degrees and partly sunny….we did have a couple of short rain showered this morning. There is the ship’s horn I believe we are about to pull away from the dock….Yes we are moving and it is only 1:48 PM everyone must have gotten aboard….they have an electronic system checking IDs off and on.
We are off to Santorni for tomorrow’s stop. Tonight is another formal dinner night and I think Charlotte will wear pearls….Life is good…….
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Caaual in Corfu
3:30 PM
Back on board from a fine day in Corfu the largest of the Greek Islands. As you noticed I did send the blog from the breakfast table this morning. With a few problems I was able to only be on line 13 minutes (I may get this down to a reasonable expense yet) I am still sorry I cannot send pictures and hope you can get a flavor from the words. At the moment I am at my desk in the room and as I look right out the veranda windows and door I am looking at the Silver Queen still docked as well. Lyle, Marlene, and Charlotte had gone up to deck nine (we are on 6) where the Lido restaurant has some type of food at all times. At this hour there are pizzas and hamburger/cheeseburgers. There are also liberal times for full buffet selections for all three meals we normally eat breakfast there and would eat lunch there if we stayed on board. Today we skipped lunch again but did stop around noon and had coke lights and beers. Marlene had Amstel light I tried Mykoras a Greek lager beer which was good. As I type away I am drinking a Heineken and eating some pretzels that we bought yesterday in Dubrovnik.
We left the Noordam at 9:15 taking our umbrellas but never needing them. A shuttle picked us up at the gangplank and drove us ½ mile to the end of the port. At that point we were offered a tour for 80 Euro by a taxi driver or a taxi ride to town for 10. Marlene was ready to pay the 10 but I suggested we walk a ways. Sure enough there was a local bus top 300 yards further we joined other frugal cruisers waiting for the local bus. We bought a ticket to town for 1.2 euros. The ride was not far less than a mile. We got off the bus and tried to figure out where we were and what we were going to do. Since it was mid morning there was a lot of pedestrian traffic on the streets and the stores were open. After a few minutes we decided to go left and came to the town square where we were told the return bus could be caught. We started wandering toward the old town and soon discovered a wonderful park and could see the old fortress in the distance. I was a bit of a hike over a bridge to get there and the fort was built upon on solid rock and rose probably 1000 to 1500 feet up in the air. I checked the ticket prices and the over 65 rate was only 2 euros. Marlene suggested that Charlotte and I go ahead but thought the trek would be too strenuous for Lyle….so we did probably spending 45 minutes. The history was that the fort had repealed the Turkish army in 1517 when thy stormed the ramparts of the fortifications but a Von Schulenburg (??) took the Venetian soldiers and popped out behind the invaders trapping them in a cross fire and they retreated. So the fort and enclosed area behind it date from the early 1500 s there was a church with historical exhibits inside and other building on the site. The challenge was to climb to the top where there we more walls and a light house. This entire fortification is at the edge of the Sea and they had a moat around it with a drawbridge. The tunnel through the walls was perhaps 500 feet so it was impressive and water leaked through a little. We walked the circular ramparts most of the way to the top with the view of the town and of the surrounding water and mountains getting more picturesque as we went. It was a good way to work off the cruise ship calories too.
Coming down we found Lyle and Marlene sitting on a park bench in the park. She had bought a scarf and linen and had a plan. There was a little trolley type motorized train (like you sometimes ride at zoos) that stopped in front of the McDonald’s near the park. (To use the bathroom you had to show a McDonald’s receipt…..and bathrooms are a logistical problem). Anyway the train was not leaving for 45 minutes at 1. So we needed a bathroom and decide on a café or taverna as mentioned previously.
At 1PM we took the train ride 5 Euros (it was crowded and no room for our knees as we faced each other (the Greek lady in front of me was not too fond of me) It took us by the old ruins of the 600 BC temple of Artemis and we saw an important monastery and of course got the flavor of the entire city too. I was impressed with the Corfu Palace convention hotel. I think Corfu would be a great location for the exotic business conferences (Perhaps the bankers have already found it) also in 1991 and 1992 the countries of the EU met here and admitted some new countries. Here in Greece the currency is the Euros. I did draw another 120 of them from the Alpha Bank down on the Square when we returned this afternoon.
Anyway we did see some old buildings and statutes mostly of the period the British were in charge in the late 1800s and then wandered through the old town many shops with souvenirs as we tried to find our way to the elusive square. Marlene found some Palm Olive soap….yes this is where it originated and I found my playing cards and Charlotte has n new tea cup that comes with a porcelain spoon as well.
A bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon also slipped into my carry on and successfully passed the ship package inspection when we reboarded….might be just the ticket to sit out on the joint verandas at 6 when we disembark from Corfu and head to Katakolon for tomorrow.
Well enough for now it is 3:15 and my shipmates have not yet returned……Let me finish this beer and go look for them…..Do you think they got hooked by the Bingo announcement?
Posting from the Library @ 6:45 PM
We backed out of the mooring at Corfu at 5:35 PM so far everyone has made it back to the ship and we did here of one couple who missed the boat in Rome and joined in Dubrovnik.
Back on board from a fine day in Corfu the largest of the Greek Islands. As you noticed I did send the blog from the breakfast table this morning. With a few problems I was able to only be on line 13 minutes (I may get this down to a reasonable expense yet) I am still sorry I cannot send pictures and hope you can get a flavor from the words. At the moment I am at my desk in the room and as I look right out the veranda windows and door I am looking at the Silver Queen still docked as well. Lyle, Marlene, and Charlotte had gone up to deck nine (we are on 6) where the Lido restaurant has some type of food at all times. At this hour there are pizzas and hamburger/cheeseburgers. There are also liberal times for full buffet selections for all three meals we normally eat breakfast there and would eat lunch there if we stayed on board. Today we skipped lunch again but did stop around noon and had coke lights and beers. Marlene had Amstel light I tried Mykoras a Greek lager beer which was good. As I type away I am drinking a Heineken and eating some pretzels that we bought yesterday in Dubrovnik.
We left the Noordam at 9:15 taking our umbrellas but never needing them. A shuttle picked us up at the gangplank and drove us ½ mile to the end of the port. At that point we were offered a tour for 80 Euro by a taxi driver or a taxi ride to town for 10. Marlene was ready to pay the 10 but I suggested we walk a ways. Sure enough there was a local bus top 300 yards further we joined other frugal cruisers waiting for the local bus. We bought a ticket to town for 1.2 euros. The ride was not far less than a mile. We got off the bus and tried to figure out where we were and what we were going to do. Since it was mid morning there was a lot of pedestrian traffic on the streets and the stores were open. After a few minutes we decided to go left and came to the town square where we were told the return bus could be caught. We started wandering toward the old town and soon discovered a wonderful park and could see the old fortress in the distance. I was a bit of a hike over a bridge to get there and the fort was built upon on solid rock and rose probably 1000 to 1500 feet up in the air. I checked the ticket prices and the over 65 rate was only 2 euros. Marlene suggested that Charlotte and I go ahead but thought the trek would be too strenuous for Lyle….so we did probably spending 45 minutes. The history was that the fort had repealed the Turkish army in 1517 when thy stormed the ramparts of the fortifications but a Von Schulenburg (??) took the Venetian soldiers and popped out behind the invaders trapping them in a cross fire and they retreated. So the fort and enclosed area behind it date from the early 1500 s there was a church with historical exhibits inside and other building on the site. The challenge was to climb to the top where there we more walls and a light house. This entire fortification is at the edge of the Sea and they had a moat around it with a drawbridge. The tunnel through the walls was perhaps 500 feet so it was impressive and water leaked through a little. We walked the circular ramparts most of the way to the top with the view of the town and of the surrounding water and mountains getting more picturesque as we went. It was a good way to work off the cruise ship calories too.
Coming down we found Lyle and Marlene sitting on a park bench in the park. She had bought a scarf and linen and had a plan. There was a little trolley type motorized train (like you sometimes ride at zoos) that stopped in front of the McDonald’s near the park. (To use the bathroom you had to show a McDonald’s receipt…..and bathrooms are a logistical problem). Anyway the train was not leaving for 45 minutes at 1. So we needed a bathroom and decide on a café or taverna as mentioned previously.
At 1PM we took the train ride 5 Euros (it was crowded and no room for our knees as we faced each other (the Greek lady in front of me was not too fond of me) It took us by the old ruins of the 600 BC temple of Artemis and we saw an important monastery and of course got the flavor of the entire city too. I was impressed with the Corfu Palace convention hotel. I think Corfu would be a great location for the exotic business conferences (Perhaps the bankers have already found it) also in 1991 and 1992 the countries of the EU met here and admitted some new countries. Here in Greece the currency is the Euros. I did draw another 120 of them from the Alpha Bank down on the Square when we returned this afternoon.
Anyway we did see some old buildings and statutes mostly of the period the British were in charge in the late 1800s and then wandered through the old town many shops with souvenirs as we tried to find our way to the elusive square. Marlene found some Palm Olive soap….yes this is where it originated and I found my playing cards and Charlotte has n new tea cup that comes with a porcelain spoon as well.
A bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon also slipped into my carry on and successfully passed the ship package inspection when we reboarded….might be just the ticket to sit out on the joint verandas at 6 when we disembark from Corfu and head to Katakolon for tomorrow.
Well enough for now it is 3:15 and my shipmates have not yet returned……Let me finish this beer and go look for them…..Do you think they got hooked by the Bingo announcement?
Posting from the Library @ 6:45 PM
We backed out of the mooring at Corfu at 5:35 PM so far everyone has made it back to the ship and we did here of one couple who missed the boat in Rome and joined in Dubrovnik.
Transistion from Croatia to Greece
6:15 PM
I am sitting on the Veranda and watching little islands go by as we leave the port of Dubrovnik. I am just wearing a short sleeved shirt with a sweater vest, but Charlotte says it’s too cold.
Well it rained most of the day and I now have a new umbrella. After having breakfast we thought the sun would stay out so we bought shuttle tickets to Old Town getting there around 11 AM. It was a unique old city with high walls and stone streets very structured and very clean. It was rebuilt after an earthquake in the 1600s and repaired after being bombed by the Serbs in 1991-1992. So in the rain we walked around looking at narrow streets and bought a few souvenirs keeping our umbrellas up all the time….the shops were small and numerous…there also was a very unique baroque style catholic church that open, and the old rector’s house that was a museum. Several paid to walk the 6300 foot long perimeter of the old town on the wall. Lyle got a bit tired of walking and standing so he and Marlene left after a couple of hours. Charlotte and I stopped at a café on the main street and had a beer and coffee before exploring a little more and taking lots of pictures. around 3 PM. It was then that I sent this morning’s blog. I apologize for sending it from word and sent again…learned another lesson.
I then suggested to Charlotte that we go to hour at the Crow’s Nest bar on the observation deck. The two for one drink specials are the very best bargain on the ship knowledge of which is very secret ……I was told by someone and the word is passed person to person.
Doug MacDonald ,we met some people who live at 144 Windsor Circle on Lions Paw….They have another home in Harrisburg but will eventually move full time. His name is Bill and her name is Fran.
While we were out Widi our steward took down the partition between our veranda and the Snows. Both Lyle and Marlene as well as Charlotte have now moved out on the deck. And we have left the little islands behind and just see open sea still fairly calm.
Next on the agenda is the evening show with a comedian at 7PM and then our dinner at 8.
Tomorrow we stop at the Grecian island of Corfu. We have to plan another shore excursion on our own as the ship will be in port between 8 AM and 6 PM.
It is not raining but still hazy and overcast…..Bye from Croatia…..
Wednesday April 22, 2009
7:45 AM Docking at Corfu.
We opened the drapes and a giant white cruise ship was heading for us. Turns out we are docking at our second port of call at Corfu in the Grecian Islands at the same time as the Silver Queen a passenger cruise ship from Nassua. ( we are watching them watch us in their bathrobes too). So day three port two looks like a better day than yesterday. Wispy clouds with sun.
Last night we went to the entertainment in the lounge at 7. A new comedian-juggler name Pete Mathews a Brit was great….Charlotte and I laughed almost continuously for the 45 minutes performance. At dinner I had a NY strip steak since I had missed lunch as we as a great mixed seafood cocktail and a bowl of lentil soup finished off my Tiamisu and a couple of cups of coffee. The poker game was a bit late in starting and I lost the rest of my original buy in chasing a diamond flush with A-10. Got to bed at midnight but we had to set the clock ahead because of moving a bit further East.
Today we do not have a planned excursion and will take a shuttle to the town ans see what there. I guess this is where Aristole Onassis headquartered his shipping company that eventually attracted Jacqueline Kennedy.
Well Charlotte is showered and ship’s PA system just announced the temperature at 16 degrees or 61 F. So my turn to use the fine shower and get ready for a great day in Greece.
I may try to send this post from breakfast………..
I am sitting on the Veranda and watching little islands go by as we leave the port of Dubrovnik. I am just wearing a short sleeved shirt with a sweater vest, but Charlotte says it’s too cold.
Well it rained most of the day and I now have a new umbrella. After having breakfast we thought the sun would stay out so we bought shuttle tickets to Old Town getting there around 11 AM. It was a unique old city with high walls and stone streets very structured and very clean. It was rebuilt after an earthquake in the 1600s and repaired after being bombed by the Serbs in 1991-1992. So in the rain we walked around looking at narrow streets and bought a few souvenirs keeping our umbrellas up all the time….the shops were small and numerous…there also was a very unique baroque style catholic church that open, and the old rector’s house that was a museum. Several paid to walk the 6300 foot long perimeter of the old town on the wall. Lyle got a bit tired of walking and standing so he and Marlene left after a couple of hours. Charlotte and I stopped at a café on the main street and had a beer and coffee before exploring a little more and taking lots of pictures. around 3 PM. It was then that I sent this morning’s blog. I apologize for sending it from word and sent again…learned another lesson.
I then suggested to Charlotte that we go to hour at the Crow’s Nest bar on the observation deck. The two for one drink specials are the very best bargain on the ship knowledge of which is very secret ……I was told by someone and the word is passed person to person.
Doug MacDonald ,we met some people who live at 144 Windsor Circle on Lions Paw….They have another home in Harrisburg but will eventually move full time. His name is Bill and her name is Fran.
While we were out Widi our steward took down the partition between our veranda and the Snows. Both Lyle and Marlene as well as Charlotte have now moved out on the deck. And we have left the little islands behind and just see open sea still fairly calm.
Next on the agenda is the evening show with a comedian at 7PM and then our dinner at 8.
Tomorrow we stop at the Grecian island of Corfu. We have to plan another shore excursion on our own as the ship will be in port between 8 AM and 6 PM.
It is not raining but still hazy and overcast…..Bye from Croatia…..
Wednesday April 22, 2009
7:45 AM Docking at Corfu.
We opened the drapes and a giant white cruise ship was heading for us. Turns out we are docking at our second port of call at Corfu in the Grecian Islands at the same time as the Silver Queen a passenger cruise ship from Nassua. ( we are watching them watch us in their bathrobes too). So day three port two looks like a better day than yesterday. Wispy clouds with sun.
Last night we went to the entertainment in the lounge at 7. A new comedian-juggler name Pete Mathews a Brit was great….Charlotte and I laughed almost continuously for the 45 minutes performance. At dinner I had a NY strip steak since I had missed lunch as we as a great mixed seafood cocktail and a bowl of lentil soup finished off my Tiamisu and a couple of cups of coffee. The poker game was a bit late in starting and I lost the rest of my original buy in chasing a diamond flush with A-10. Got to bed at midnight but we had to set the clock ahead because of moving a bit further East.
Today we do not have a planned excursion and will take a shuttle to the town ans see what there. I guess this is where Aristole Onassis headquartered his shipping company that eventually attracted Jacqueline Kennedy.
Well Charlotte is showered and ship’s PA system just announced the temperature at 16 degrees or 61 F. So my turn to use the fine shower and get ready for a great day in Greece.
I may try to send this post from breakfast………..
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
First Port of Call
Tuesday April 21 2009
I am trying something new. I am sitting in our stateroom at 7:45 AM, we have just docked at our first port—Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our stateroom looks out across a small harbor to a nice town …a lot of stucco buildings with red roofs. There are scores of small sailboats and fishing boats docked in the water very picturesque.
I plan to write the blog in Word then copy it to the blog and sent it later which should save money and give me more time than typing at 40 cents a minute. The weather is overcast and temperature is about 60 degrees. We did not sign up for a tour so we will get off after breakfast and do some exploring.
Yesterday, I blogged in the morning after the Messina straits, and had some trouble with photos and then with transmissions. The whole process consumed most of the morning, after that Charlotte and I did a little on board exploring and bought a couple of tee shirts. Marlene and Lyle went to a champagne art auction….but did not bid on anything. After lunch I took a nap for a couple of hours. Our first formal evening was last night. Lyle and I ordered rented tuxes that were delivered to our rooms. Marlene looked very nice in a black off shoulder top with a very nice black necklace. Charlotte was lovely in red long sleeved top with a black shawl. At 7 we went to the theater for a show of Broadway tunes sung by four young singers. For dinner we had a four course meat with lobster thermidor for the main course and Marlene treated us to a bottle of Chardonnay. Dinner is very leisurely and we have Indonesian waiters who are with us each meal at table 7 in the main dining room…late seating. After dinner I tried my hand in poker again. I lost three big hands with river suck outs ( the last card won for my opponent) so now I am behind. Got to bed about Midnight…slept well and then awaken with the docking process.
Charlotte has showered so it is my turn….breakfast then some exploration of Croatia….sorry I do not know the appropriate Serbian phase to close.
I am trying something new. I am sitting in our stateroom at 7:45 AM, we have just docked at our first port—Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our stateroom looks out across a small harbor to a nice town …a lot of stucco buildings with red roofs. There are scores of small sailboats and fishing boats docked in the water very picturesque.
I plan to write the blog in Word then copy it to the blog and sent it later which should save money and give me more time than typing at 40 cents a minute. The weather is overcast and temperature is about 60 degrees. We did not sign up for a tour so we will get off after breakfast and do some exploring.
Yesterday, I blogged in the morning after the Messina straits, and had some trouble with photos and then with transmissions. The whole process consumed most of the morning, after that Charlotte and I did a little on board exploring and bought a couple of tee shirts. Marlene and Lyle went to a champagne art auction….but did not bid on anything. After lunch I took a nap for a couple of hours. Our first formal evening was last night. Lyle and I ordered rented tuxes that were delivered to our rooms. Marlene looked very nice in a black off shoulder top with a very nice black necklace. Charlotte was lovely in red long sleeved top with a black shawl. At 7 we went to the theater for a show of Broadway tunes sung by four young singers. For dinner we had a four course meat with lobster thermidor for the main course and Marlene treated us to a bottle of Chardonnay. Dinner is very leisurely and we have Indonesian waiters who are with us each meal at table 7 in the main dining room…late seating. After dinner I tried my hand in poker again. I lost three big hands with river suck outs ( the last card won for my opponent) so now I am behind. Got to bed about Midnight…slept well and then awaken with the docking process.
Charlotte has showered so it is my turn….breakfast then some exploration of Croatia….sorry I do not know the appropriate Serbian phase to close.
First Port of Call
Tuesday April 21 2009
I am trying something new. I am sitting in our stateroom at 7:45 AM, we have just docked at our first port—Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our stateroom looks out across a small harbor to a nice town …a lot of stucco buildings with red roofs. There are scores of small sailboats and fishing boats docked in the water very picturesque.
I plan to write the blog in Word then copy it to the blog and sent it later which should save money and give me more time than typing at 40 cents a minute. The weather is overcast and temperature is about 60 degrees. We did not sign up for a tour so we will get off after breakfast and do some exploring.
Yesterday, I blogged in the morning after the Messina straits, and had some trouble with photos and then with transmissions. The whole process consumed most of the morning, after that Charlotte and I did a little on board exploring and bought a couple of tee shirts. Marlene and Lyle went to a champagne art auction….but did not bid on anything. After lunch I took a nap for a couple of hours. Our first formal evening was last night. Lyle and I ordered rented tuxes that were delivered to our rooms. Marlene looked very nice in a black off shoulder top with a very nice black necklace. Charlotte was lovely in red long sleeved top with a black shawl. At 7 we went to the theater for a show of Broadway tunes sung by four young singers. For dinner we had a four course meat with lobster thermidor for the main course and Marlene treated us to a bottle of Chardonnay. Dinner is very leisurely and we have Indonesian waiters who are with us each meal at table 7 in the main dining room…late seating. After dinner I tried my hand in poker again. I lost three big hands with river suck outs ( the last card won for my opponent) so now I am behind. Got to bed about Midnight…slept well and then awaken with the docking process.
Charlotte has showered so it is my turn….breakfast then some exploration of Croatia….sorry I do not know the appropriate Serbian phase to close.
10:15 AM
Well it has been raining so we dallied over breakfast ( I had Scottish Eggs Benedict smoked salmon, eggs, and hollandaise sauce….very nice) for a while meeting and talking with some nice people from Manassas. They filled us in on the first 16 days of “the crossing” and gave us tips on Barcelona and Monaco where we will stop the second 10 days. It is now clearing so we are going to get off the ship…..
it is now 3 PM and we are trying to post..
I am trying something new. I am sitting in our stateroom at 7:45 AM, we have just docked at our first port—Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our stateroom looks out across a small harbor to a nice town …a lot of stucco buildings with red roofs. There are scores of small sailboats and fishing boats docked in the water very picturesque.
I plan to write the blog in Word then copy it to the blog and sent it later which should save money and give me more time than typing at 40 cents a minute. The weather is overcast and temperature is about 60 degrees. We did not sign up for a tour so we will get off after breakfast and do some exploring.
Yesterday, I blogged in the morning after the Messina straits, and had some trouble with photos and then with transmissions. The whole process consumed most of the morning, after that Charlotte and I did a little on board exploring and bought a couple of tee shirts. Marlene and Lyle went to a champagne art auction….but did not bid on anything. After lunch I took a nap for a couple of hours. Our first formal evening was last night. Lyle and I ordered rented tuxes that were delivered to our rooms. Marlene looked very nice in a black off shoulder top with a very nice black necklace. Charlotte was lovely in red long sleeved top with a black shawl. At 7 we went to the theater for a show of Broadway tunes sung by four young singers. For dinner we had a four course meat with lobster thermidor for the main course and Marlene treated us to a bottle of Chardonnay. Dinner is very leisurely and we have Indonesian waiters who are with us each meal at table 7 in the main dining room…late seating. After dinner I tried my hand in poker again. I lost three big hands with river suck outs ( the last card won for my opponent) so now I am behind. Got to bed about Midnight…slept well and then awaken with the docking process.
Charlotte has showered so it is my turn….breakfast then some exploration of Croatia….sorry I do not know the appropriate Serbian phase to close.
10:15 AM
Well it has been raining so we dallied over breakfast ( I had Scottish Eggs Benedict smoked salmon, eggs, and hollandaise sauce….very nice) for a while meeting and talking with some nice people from Manassas. They filled us in on the first 16 days of “the crossing” and gave us tips on Barcelona and Monaco where we will stop the second 10 days. It is now clearing so we are going to get off the ship…..
it is now 3 PM and we are trying to post..
First Port of Call
Tuesday April 21 2009
I am trying something new. I am sitting in our stateroom at 7:45 AM, we have just docked at our first port—Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our stateroom looks out across a small harbor to a nice town …a lot of stucco buildings with red roofs. There are scores of small sailboats and fishing boats docked in the water very picturesque.
I plan to write the blog in Word then copy it to the blog and sent it later which should save money and give me more time than typing at 40 cents a minute. The weather is overcast and temperature is about 60 degrees. We did not sign up for a tour so we will get off after breakfast and do some exploring.
Yesterday, I blogged in the morning after the Messina straits, and had some trouble with photos and then with transmissions. The whole process consumed most of the morning, after that Charlotte and I did a little on board exploring and bought a couple of tee shirts. Marlene and Lyle went to a champagne art auction….but did not bid on anything. After lunch I took a nap for a couple of hours. Our first formal evening was last night. Lyle and I ordered rented tuxes that were delivered to our rooms. Marlene looked very nice in a black off shoulder top with a very nice black necklace. Charlotte was lovely in red long sleeved top with a black shawl. At 7 we went to the theater for a show of Broadway tunes sung by four young singers. For dinner we had a four course meat with lobster thermidor for the main course and Marlene treated us to a bottle of Chardonnay. Dinner is very leisurely and we have Indonesian waiters who are with us each meal at table 7 in the main dining room…late seating. After dinner I tried my hand in poker again. I lost three big hands with river suck outs ( the last card won for my opponent) so now I am behind. Got to bed about Midnight…slept well and then awaken with the docking process.
Charlotte has showered so it is my turn….breakfast then some exploration of Croatia….sorry I do not know the appropriate Serbian phase to close.
10:15 AM
Well it has been raining so we dallied over breakfast ( I had Scottish Eggs Benedict smoked salmon, eggs, and hollandaise sauce….very nice) for a while meeting and talking with some nice people from Manassas. They filled us in on the first 16 days of “the crossing” and gave us tips on Barcelona and Monaco where we will stop the second 10 days. It is now clearing so we are going to get off the ship…..
I am trying something new. I am sitting in our stateroom at 7:45 AM, we have just docked at our first port—Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our stateroom looks out across a small harbor to a nice town …a lot of stucco buildings with red roofs. There are scores of small sailboats and fishing boats docked in the water very picturesque.
I plan to write the blog in Word then copy it to the blog and sent it later which should save money and give me more time than typing at 40 cents a minute. The weather is overcast and temperature is about 60 degrees. We did not sign up for a tour so we will get off after breakfast and do some exploring.
Yesterday, I blogged in the morning after the Messina straits, and had some trouble with photos and then with transmissions. The whole process consumed most of the morning, after that Charlotte and I did a little on board exploring and bought a couple of tee shirts. Marlene and Lyle went to a champagne art auction….but did not bid on anything. After lunch I took a nap for a couple of hours. Our first formal evening was last night. Lyle and I ordered rented tuxes that were delivered to our rooms. Marlene looked very nice in a black off shoulder top with a very nice black necklace. Charlotte was lovely in red long sleeved top with a black shawl. At 7 we went to the theater for a show of Broadway tunes sung by four young singers. For dinner we had a four course meat with lobster thermidor for the main course and Marlene treated us to a bottle of Chardonnay. Dinner is very leisurely and we have Indonesian waiters who are with us each meal at table 7 in the main dining room…late seating. After dinner I tried my hand in poker again. I lost three big hands with river suck outs ( the last card won for my opponent) so now I am behind. Got to bed about Midnight…slept well and then awaken with the docking process.
Charlotte has showered so it is my turn….breakfast then some exploration of Croatia….sorry I do not know the appropriate Serbian phase to close.
10:15 AM
Well it has been raining so we dallied over breakfast ( I had Scottish Eggs Benedict smoked salmon, eggs, and hollandaise sauce….very nice) for a while meeting and talking with some nice people from Manassas. They filled us in on the first 16 days of “the crossing” and gave us tips on Barcelona and Monaco where we will stop the second 10 days. It is now clearing so we are going to get off the ship…..
Monday, April 20, 2009
Aboard the Noordam
Monday
The internet on board this ship is satellite and I cannot upload photos and the first blog I wrote also failed. So things do not look good. I will make this one shorter and save it before I try sending.
We arrived yesterday a 1PM in the rain from Rome. After going through the boarding process had our first taste of cruise food (all that people say) and then unpacked about 3:30...Somehow probably with security cameras Charlotte's pearls hidden in sock got removed. she was upset but there is nothing we can do about it as jewelry is not covered about $100.
We explored the ship, ate dinner at 8PM caught a small show at the theater, found the casinio and I tried my hand at poker (did all right)..Got to bed at 11:30.
Sun woke me at 6:30 PM and I was on the observation deck as we past by the volcantic island of Stromboli. At 9:30 we went through the straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily on about 1.9 miles wide. In the Odyesey there were plenty of problems but we had none.
Charlotte went to a review of the first 3 ports of call while I got this blog going.
It did not go well with no pictures and no transmission of the first attempt.....sorry.
Today is a sea day and tomorrow Croatia.
The internet on board this ship is satellite and I cannot upload photos and the first blog I wrote also failed. So things do not look good. I will make this one shorter and save it before I try sending.
We arrived yesterday a 1PM in the rain from Rome. After going through the boarding process had our first taste of cruise food (all that people say) and then unpacked about 3:30...Somehow probably with security cameras Charlotte's pearls hidden in sock got removed. she was upset but there is nothing we can do about it as jewelry is not covered about $100.
We explored the ship, ate dinner at 8PM caught a small show at the theater, found the casinio and I tried my hand at poker (did all right)..Got to bed at 11:30.
Sun woke me at 6:30 PM and I was on the observation deck as we past by the volcantic island of Stromboli. At 9:30 we went through the straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily on about 1.9 miles wide. In the Odyesey there were plenty of problems but we had none.
Charlotte went to a review of the first 3 ports of call while I got this blog going.
It did not go well with no pictures and no transmission of the first attempt.....sorry.
Today is a sea day and tomorrow Croatia.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday in Rome
Meet Marlene and Lyle Snow my sister and brother in law. They arrived at the hotel shortly after we completed the last blog. We welcomed them with a bottle of Lambrusco on the balcony which you saw yesterday. After an early dinner in the hotel dining room we retired around 8PM for 12 hours of sleep. The next morning after a buffet breakfast we were ready for a day of adventure in Rome. As you see by the photo the forecast was for rain but the umbrellas were never opened.
After taking the hotel shuttle downtown we headed for the underground and bought a day ticket. Marlene got caught in the closing door but we managed to transfer lines and came up to ground level at the Colesso stop.
We were approached by an English speaker who suggested a guide for 12 Euros. We agreed and had a wonderful one hour tour of the Colliseum which was built in 64 AD and seated 70,000 people who could empty the place in 20 minutes as there were 80 entrances and stairs that served the th
ree levels.
ree levels.Ater touring the Colliseum we were treated to a contiuation of the tour by another guide who took us up Palatine Hill where Romulus founded Rome and saw the ruins of Demeteran's once acre palace.
The guide shared a lot of stories that were humorous. Over Palantine Hill was the forum and on the way to the forum we looked for a toilet.
We then took a rest and looked at the ruins of the Forum which originally had 16 arches and many buildings. Now there are only three victory arches left including then Constintine Arch.
Our next adventure was to get on the Green Line double decker bus that gave us a 90 minute surface road tour of Rome stopping 11 times allowing people to disembark and explore the sites.
Our favorites were the Trevi fountain and the Spainish Steps ..
It is now Sunday morning and I think I gave you a pretty quick tour of Roman Highlights. The port where we board our Cruise is about 75 minutes from the hotel. We have contracted the same driver and car that brought from the airport to take us to the ship. He is coming in less than an hour at 12:30 PM. We plan to board and enjoy an embarkation buffet. So our next post will come after we have boarded the Noorsdam, the Holland American Cruise ship..
Bon Journ o
Dick
Friday, April 17, 2009
A wonderful day in Rome
This photo was taken at RDU yesterday just after we arrived about 10 AM by a nice lady. We had a couple of hours to wait then a 1 hr flight to Philly. In Philadelphia we had a 5 hour wait for our flight. We had a philly steak sandwich and then watched our plane get ready for the flight at 6:05PM
The flight to Rome took 8 hours I watched a movie Australia and Charlotee watched another. The Customer Rest period was cut short by a medical issue for a passenger and I never did any sleep. We got to Rome about 8:15 AM.....endured the longest passport line ever......another lenghty wait for our four suitcases but no customs inspections. Once thru customs we were very fortunate to get a airport shuttle to our hotel for "only 40 euros" we expected taxis to be more. The next picture shows me in the van..
Our drive to the hotel was about 45 minutes the staff was fine and we were in our 5th floor room by 10:15 AM We have a nice balcony, open fileds just byond and you can see St Peters at Vatican City on the horizeon.
The hotlel has a FREE shuttle downtown and we were on it at 11 AM it takes 30 minutes. We had a pizza for lunch in a sidwalk cafe you see the weather in the sun is very warm.... I found a bank across the street magically spitting our Euros so we walked a couple of blocks to the Vatican ..paid 14 of those euros apiece for entrance to the Vatican Museums and a look at the Sistine Chapel.....
We were not allowed to take pictures in the chapel but the colors of Michangelos restored frescos were vibrant. The photo at the left was of another ceiling in the museum.
At 2:30 PM we caught the hotel shuttle and came back to the room. I paid the 17 euros for a daily internet connection, uploaded these photos and Ala .. a wonderful day in Rome.
Ahh but the evening may be equally fine. We have a bottle of red Lambrusco on ice, the hotel has an nice restuarant, and the king sized bed will be much better than a cramped US Airways economy seat.....now if the Snows would just ring the buzzer.....
So far so good........more later.......
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Suitcases are now packed
That was not so hard and I have a bit of room to bring back stuff. Tonight I run my weekly World Tavern Poker tournament at Hulas here on the island at 7:30 have 23 people signed up so far .... that is about normal. Tonight at 7 PM Charlotte has a Session Meeting at Sneads Ferry Presbyterian Church....her area of responsibility is Christian Education. So we will not be worrying about Rome or our Italian until tomorrow.
Don't be afraid of posting on this blog.....I am not under IRS review yet and my poker playing is all legal so there should not be any risk of arrest but then again I have never posted a blog so I may do something illegal here....
Time to go practice my wine drinking and we are having spaghetti mood setting of course.
ciao
Don't be afraid of posting on this blog.....I am not under IRS review yet and my poker playing is all legal so there should not be any risk of arrest but then again I have never posted a blog so I may do something illegal here....
Time to go practice my wine drinking and we are having spaghetti mood setting of course.
ciao
48 hours
NTB Tuesday April 14th
I know a lot can be done in 48 hours and that is what we have left before we go on the adventure. I just got a call from the Mayor asking me to help on a committee to get the townspeople behind phase one of beach nourishment we have been working on for years. Permits are due soon and the mayor is working on money from the state, county and town, but wants to make sure the citizens will support it. So now you know why I am beachmonger and why I selected "sand dollar" for the blog background.
Back to the 48 hours......the grass has to be mowed the first time and it is raining and same is forecast for tomorrow so we may have a full grown weed field when we return on May 10th. The mail is held and the newspaper suspended. We have drawn out the few remaining dollars we have left for the adventure so now we have to pack......my clothes are sitting on the table (see Photo) and there is one more load of wash to do.
Well what are we up to.....it is a Med Cruise of 21 days starting and ending Rome. We booked it last August before the financial collapse (or we probably would not be going) based on a flyer from Vantage Travel who was the tour operator for our trip last year to South America. My sister Marlene and her husband Lyle Snow had been planning to go on the SA trip but had to cancel becausse of medical problems with Lyle. When we suggested a cruise for this year they were very enthusiastic and thus the plans were made.
In 48 hours we leave for Raleigh Durham airport and fly to Philadelphia and then overnight to Rome arriving at 8:45 AM on Friday which is a little over 48 hours in Rome before we can board our ship the Noorsdam of Holland America. We booked directly with Holland America and made our own flight and hotel reervations in Rome saving a bit of money over the Vantage Plan.
Well here's itinerary:
Trip Itinerary:
Date:
4/19 Departs Civitavecchia (Rome) at 5:00 p.m.
4/20 At Sea
4/21 Dubrovnik, Coatia
4/22 Corfu, Greece
4/23 Katakolon, Greece
4/24 Santorini, Greece
4/25 Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey
4/26 Piraeus, Greece
4/27 At Sea
4/28 Messina, Sicily
4/29 Civitavecchia (Rome)
4/30 Livorno (Florence) Italy
5/1 Monte Carlo, Monaco
5/2/ At Sea
5/3 Barcelona, Spain
5/4 Mallorca (Paima) Spain
5/5 At Sea
5/6 Carthage/Tunis (La Goulette)
5/7 Palermo, Sicily, Italy
5/8 Naples Italy5/9 Civitavecchia (Rome) (Ar
Date:
4/19 Departs Civitavecchia (Rome) at 5:00 p.m.
4/20 At Sea
4/21 Dubrovnik, Coatia
4/22 Corfu, Greece
4/23 Katakolon, Greece
4/24 Santorini, Greece
4/25 Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey
4/26 Piraeus, Greece
4/27 At Sea
4/28 Messina, Sicily
4/29 Civitavecchia (Rome)
4/30 Livorno (Florence) Italy
5/1 Monte Carlo, Monaco
5/2/ At Sea
5/3 Barcelona, Spain
5/4 Mallorca (Paima) Spain
5/5 At Sea
5/6 Carthage/Tunis (La Goulette)
5/7 Palermo, Sicily, Italy
5/8 Naples Italy5/9 Civitavecchia (Rome) (Ar
We have another night inThe Courtyard Marriot at the Rome airport then home.
We I have practiced this blog thing uploaded a photo so I guess it will be a go.
I will try to select some people who are interested in what a couple of old folks do in their "golden years"
as Marelne said in your last e-mail Ciao, now where is that Italian dictionary and those other travel books I was planning to take....
Much to do Ciao.....
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