Time

Time is an interesting thing. Flying from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale wasn't too much of an adjustment, it was 2 hours later there and with the long trip, that seemed to work well and there wasn't much of a difference. However, almost each night crossing the ocean we have had to turn the clocks up an hour and now we are on Lisbon time. We are 7 hours ahead of where I started in Denver and that concept alone is interesting. I used to think of César being 7 hours later than me and this time I think of my friends in the US being 7 hours earlier. A comedian made a cute joke about the cutbacks that are being made on the ship and that by taking an hour a night away from us they are saving money. I guess they are! But the body does not seem to change time zones as easily as the clock. The first couple of days I was okay, but now I am sleeping until noon which isn't bad when you consider that really is 5AM at home. And I can't fall asleep at night because it is the middle of the afternoon at home. Oh well, I will adjust I am sure. Others are having the same problem the room steward told me so in the long run I am sure we will adjust. We always do, maybe the older I get the harder it is to change times.

We are at sea today so the sleeping was not an inconvenience at all. Once we are at ports we will have to be up early, ready for the day's events so I'm looking forward to feeling normal again. Today the sky is dark and cloudy. Too bad there is no sun, and it is quite cool and windy. I'm just so thankful that the water is calm! People are complaining about the weather. Actually people are complaining about everything! Amazing to me and so sad. Yesterday I saw the lady again who is blind and has the cutest small yellow lab as her companion. She was so sweet and positive and should be an example for the others who complain so much. I told her that her dog was beautiful with the sweetest face and she said that is what she has heard. I told her it was very hard not to pet her dog and she said that she doesn't like to tell anyone they can't pet her so if she isn't holding the lead, it is okay, and she dropped the lead and picked up the leash so I could pet the dog, Cypress. Cypress knew she was okay to sniff me and she was quite interested in my tennis shoes that must have had Bram's smell on them. What a nice lady and dog, I hope I see them again soon. She is with her husband and imagine what it would be like not to be able to see the incredible sights that lie ahead. That makes me feel even luckier than I already do, I can see these wonderful things.

We are currently on the same course as Columbus took, only in the opposite direction. He even stopped in the Azores to restock for the long trip. We have almost 24 hours before we arrive in Lisbon tomorrow afternoon. I am excited and hope the time goes quickly. I have to turn in my passport today to have the immigration officer okay my disembarkation and I have to pay my bill, just in case I don't return. I plan to be at each port with the ship, so I hope the rendevous and road trip go well! They say I will be one of the first off of the ship because I have to be approved and go through customs. I hope that no one takes away the fragrant smelling pineapple I bought at the greenhouse yesterday for us to enjoy along the way. Other than that, I don't think I have anything that is not legal to take on land.

So once again from the sea, ciao!

Land Ahoy!

At last! After 5 1/2 days at sea we reached the beautiful islands of the Azores! We spent the afternoon at Ponta Delgada, a beautiful spot, a Portuguese island. There are a group of 9 islands, all formed by volcanoes and the land was green and lush. I was here 2 years ago and took a lovely ride in the countryside up to the crater lakes, where two lakes connect and one is blue and one is green. This time I took a tour to the other side of the island and saw Fire Lake, the lake in the crater of a volcano. Absolutely beautiful! Sometimes I feel badly when I talk to people who say they are jsut going to walk around the town because I know how much beauty they are missing. I was lucky to be on this tour and I knew the roads to the top wouldbe curvy so the wonderful tour manager who I know from the past made sure I got a front seat and that was a good thing! I like having friends around and he is the only one on the ship I know. He is from Poland and has a very difficult name to pronounce, of course I still have trouble with Tue, who is my Danish friend in Copenhagen so imagine my trouble with Archadeinsz! Anyway, once I was situated in a front seat and the other passengers got on, we were on our way!

First stop a pineapple plantation! Fascinating how they grow them and I do have pictures of young pineapples, and I did purchase one that they said I could take off in Lisbon so César and I can enjoy it for our drive through Portugal. The flowers were exquisite around the island! We then drove to Ribiera Grande, a beautiful little village, one of the oldest on the island. After a short time there we headed to the top of the volcano to Fire Lake. Ithought it wasinteresting to know that no human inhabitants were on the islands until a couple of centuries ago. And as for animals, well the bat was the only one that is native, although now there are others. Nothing dangerous though. And the plants and flowers and trees are almost all transplants from all over the world, flowers from the Himalayas and trees from Japan. When wealthy people started settling on the land there, they had almost a competition to see who could bring in the most exotic and they are now spreading all over the island. A truly beautiful place to see! And I lucky that I did get on a tour and see beautiful places outside of the charming little town of Ponta Delgada.

And now another sea day and then at noon on Thursday we will arrive in Lisboa! What a lot of paperwork is involved in spending one night off of the ship. I am sure it will be worth it when I am once again laughing with César!

It is cold and windy out and I beleive it is a good time to head to bed! A wonderful day back in Europe!

Finally...

Today was a relaxing day at sea, finally! Seems hard to do much of anything constructive. I slept well and had breakfast late and met some interesting people to chat with once again. I'm glad the passengers are so friendly this trip, it is not always the case. Breakfast was the same food, lunch was delicious sandwiches I remembered from before on this ship, and I broke my rule not to have dessert anytime except dinner and had a delicious caramel tart. I read a while and slept more and had a wonderful dinner at Sabatini's with Jenny and Bernie. The food is incredible and you only get a spoonful of each so you really don't get full until the end of the meal, they doubted me, but agreed I was right at the end. Such delicious food! Jenny spent some time visiting in my cabin, although it was too cold for her to sit on the balcony tonight. I love the balcony and the sound of the ocean so I leave the door open often.

Last night walking through a hallway I saw a crew member I knew from 2 past cruises. He remembered me so I got a nice European greeting kiss from him and we spoke for a while about where he had been and what he'd been doing. He is from Poland and is the manager of the Shore Excursions Dept. so he is already reserving my front seat on the one tour in the Azores that is along quite curvy roads. I'm not taking that many tours with the ship this time, but it is nice to know the manager. His name is difficult to pronounce so he said I could just call him my friend. It is always nice for me to see people smile when they see me. Whether itis a good thing or not to be remembered so well, is questionable, although he assured me it was a good thing. Very nice man, has been on the ship for 10 years.

I got clearance today to go ashore and spend the night on the Lisbon stop. I will get a list of instructions the night beforeI get off and I was told about going through immigration and customs to stay overnight on land. Such a big deal for a night, but I am glad that it is that organized. I even have to tell them where I'll be for the night, which is probably a good thing, and we do already have our hotel reserved in Bayona, Spain. I feel safe with the procedures they require. I hope it doesn't delay my disembarkation that day because I am very excited to get off and see César again.

That is the update for today, not much, but the way it is supposed to be on vacation!

Greetings From...

...The Bermuda Triangle! Yes, it's true, I am currently in that mythical place and so far we are staying afloat. Right before bed last night I read the 'Princess Patter' which told us that we would be in the infamous Bermuda Triangle until noon today. I was exhausted but fell asleep wondering if I would awaken in my bed or in some unknown place far, far away. Whew! I woke up in my own bed and we are still floating toward Europe, unless Murray, we are now in an alternate universe!

And the weather is beautiful so I look forward to a 2nd day in a beautiful, calm ocean! A busy day today, hmmm, who could be bored on the ocean in a ship that is a small city! And there seems to be a lot of interesting people just waiting to be met. Yesterday I had breakfast with a lovely couple from Canada and the wife had been a hair stylist for years and admired my 'straightened hair' and her husband had been a geophsysist (?) and followed that career with one in animal training, he trained marine animals at marine parks. I was fascinated with his stories! Of course! What fun that was and what stories I have to share some day with my kids when we study those animals. Whales, amazing, he said their ability to reason is astounding. I am not sure I could have met a more interesting man, with my love for animals! At lunch, which was on a lounge chair by the pool in the beautiful sun was a slice of pizza, actually the best I've had on a ship, and a chat with 2 ladies from Holland who flew to Florida to take this cruise back home. They said I made a great choice to visit the Keukenhoff tulip gardens when I am there. And dinner was with my new table for the trip, interesting people with so many travel experiences to share. I enjoyed the lecture on the Azores and had a bit of late lunch at the "english pub" luncheon at a bar on the ship. The cottage pie was good, although I only ate a bit. I had to turn down Jenny's invitation to join her and Bernie for tea at 3:30 and I ended up with a much needed nap until dinner. Short day it seemed. I ended the day with my first visit to the "Movie Under the Stars" which was a fun event. I have pictures of me lying under the stars watching the big movie screen. There is a popcorn machine for real movie popcorn, then they come around passing out small snack pieces of pizza and then they come around with hot cookies and milk! I think there are few places you can go where there isn't food! Such a pleasant night under the stars, even if I was unable to eat the snacks!

It is obvious that Princess is feeling the economic pinch too. There is always a captain's champagne party on the first formal night and a large party on the last formal night where the champagne fountain is built in the atrium and there is music and dancing. Last night it was all combined as one event and it wasearly in the evening without the dancing. Dinner was interesting, the food was still good, but the souffle was tiny, 1/2 the size of the container, the only difference in the food I've noticed so far. But it seems the cutbacks are not effecting the pleasure at all, so far.

I was sorry to see that all of the people I met on this ship in October when I went to the Mediterranean are on their breaks so I don't have a friend on the crew, that was sad. I'm used to usually finding someone I know. The tour office manager was a lady I met on the Mexico trip who was a friend of Hernan's, another crew friend, but she left the ship 2 trips ago and will return in 2 more. The photographers are gone too. So I will make new friends I think.

Today's agenda will provide another relaxing day. I just might run out of time to write my book, which was my goal on this part of the journey. I will now go eat breakfast, it's about 10AM here. Then I will meet Jenny for a wonderful lecture from a prosecuting attorney from LA about the OJ Simpson case. I didn't see the man yesterday, but he was fascinating I heard, speaking about the Manson murders. Then we will have a nice sit down lunch in the restaurant and then I will go to the 'towel folding' class to make sea turtles, how could I miss that? Next is the Lisbon lecture which isn't totally necessary since I have my own personal Portuguese tour guide! Then Jenny and I are going to swim in the wave pool and then I'll soak up some sun and before I know it, it will be time for a little nap and then dinner. I'm not sure what evening entertainment I'll enjoy, maybe then I'll just sit and write, maybe.

So, from the sea once again, a fond farewell! (

And Murray, thank you for your suggestion! I put off that class until after the Lisbon/Vigo visit so I will have the pictures to use, but if anything changes, your suggestion is wonderful, something I didn't even realize!)

Sailing...Sailing...

I'm back! Or maybe it should be 'I'm gone!', or maybe Hi again! Anyway, I sailed away from Ft. Lauderdale last night and we are on beautiful calm seas. It's been 3 months since my last trip and it was a long 3 months. I had a hot water heater leak that flooded the house at night, needed 4 new tires on the car and a new garage door! I had surgery and my dear 18 year old bird, Quiggly died. Yep, time to get away again! And people wonder why I don't spend time at home??? That answered the question. However, at the end of July I will become a working girl again, part of the real world!

But the fairy tale isn't over yet and I am going to make the most of every minute left! I am on the wonderful transatlantic cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Copenhagen, via 8 other wonderful countries. This is the same itinerary I've been on before, for my first European trip so I know the wonderful things to come, and this time it is so different! I will be visiting friends in some of the ports which still seems amazing to me.

We have 5 days to enjoy the Atlantic crossing and I plan to read and write a lot. There are interesting lectures and classes that will keep me busy. The food of course is delicious and a nice, although not needed, diversion. Today I will be taking a computer class on making movies from picutres and I wish I would have brought along some to work with, but I have a few from Florida to use.

I flew into Ft. Lauderdale a day early, the best plan to save yourself from exhaustion! I had enough points to stay at the Westin Beach resort so I planned on another enjoyable night of luxury. I arrived at the hotel at 9 at night and went down the street for dinner. I was told that the lights on the beach, which was literally across the street from the hotel, were off because it was sea turtle nesting time. Now that was an unexpected delight! I love sea turtles and taught about them for years in my ocean unit at school so of course I was excited about the possibility of watching a sea turtle nest. I was told the sightings were rare. I planned to walk along the beach after my late dinner but the rain started and made it impossible, it was quite a downpour, much needed I was told. So I went to bed and unfortunately I was unable to sleep, there was a very loud rattling noise coming from the air conditioner, making it impossible to sleep. Finally at 1AM I called the front desk and was moved to a beautiful ocean front room, my other one had been an ocean view, which means if you squeeze your head against the window you can see the ocean! They also bought me breakfast for the inconvenience. I have to say I splurged on lobster benedict and enjoyed every bite! From my room the next morning I could see an area of beach marked off with the yellow tape which my friend had said marked a turtle's nest and rushed over to see it and take pictures. I was thrilled to see that, even if I hadn't seen a turtle. That is the way they mark the places the eggs have been laid and the people are very respectful of leaving these alone. From March 1 to October 31 the lights are kept off that are along the beach for the sea turtles. The high season is in June and July and although that would be incredible to see, I am not sure I could handle the Florida summer heat and humidity. The concierge at the hotel found a number to call for turtle information and I enjoyed speaking with that man. I learned a lot and the area I had seen was the nest of a leatherback turtle, the largest of the sea turtles and the earliest nesters. He said there were probably between 100 and 200 eggs and those turtles bury the eggs over 18 inches deep. If you wonder what the big deal about tha tis, look it up on the internet, they are huge creatures, not made for digging holes like that. They can lay up to 3 times a season and out of those 3 nestings, maybe one baby will make it and live! And the sea turtles swim thousands of miles and return to the place they were born to lay their eggs! A truly amazing feat of nature, I think! In the sand I could see the flipper marks and after all the years of teaching and watching videos with the kids of this amazing ritual, I was thrilled to be standing there looking at the real thing. So with my new information from the park ranger, I will be able to develop a nice unit on sea turtles, and maybe I'll go back in the summer to take an evening walk along the beach watching for sea turtles. I had a delicious dinner at a little outdoor restaurant across from the beach and the server talked me into the local favorite, grouper. It was delicious! Great choice. I spend the morning with my good friend Carole, who drove in from Boynton Beach and we walked and shopped and enjoyed our time together. Interesting that we met in France and walked on the alabaster beach of Etretat together and there we were in America together at the Ft.Lauderdale beach. I took a shuttle to the ship and am now on my next big adventure!

This adventure may be the same cruise as the first one I took, but it will be a different experience. I have my favorite places and know what I want to do in each port. I get to see friends along the way too! César will be picking me up from the ship in Lisbon and we will have our first little road trip, we will be driving to Vigo, Spain, to the next port where I will meet the ship. Wish me luck for that! It will be fun and I will see n. Portugal which he has wanted to show me since we met. I'm sure it will be 2 days of laughter! I will get to see friends in England to spend the day with and then at the end of the trip, Tue,the young man I met on the first trip, has arranged for me to stay at his hotel and he is going to take time to show me around Copenhagen. Then I fly home. But what fun!

More later and thanks for reading about my adventures!

A Religious Experience, January 27, 2009

The Vatican, our destination for the day. We were not up too early although our 80Euro breakfast was only served until 10:30 so we were at breakfast each morning by 10 at the latest. They don't mean you can get there at 10:30, they mean the food goes away at 10:30! And the breakfast was included with our package so don't think we paid that! After a nice breakfast we took our time getting ready, so hard to leave that beautiful, comfortable room!

We took a taxi to the Vatican and when we saw the line we were a little dismayed, I had assumed there would be no line that time of year in the cold, wet weather. Because I am so comfortable talking to people I asked a policeman nearby how long that line was and he said 30 minutes at the longest so we decided to wait. César was talking on his cell and I wandered a little way taking pictures. When I came back there was a man in front of us who had not been there. Neither of us saw him enter the line in front of us. He started talking to us, in English with his Italian accent, and told us he was waiting for a group of handicapped children to show around. He expected them in 1/2 an hour. He was a wealth of information and very kind. As the line moved, after a while he took us to another line and we got through really quickly. César and I had so many questions about this whole experience later. Our first, if he knew about this line, why didn't he go there to begin with, or even take us there sooner. We chatted for a while about Italy and he asked what we were doing the next day. We told him we were taking the train to Florence. He said he could get us tickets to see the Pope, he always speaks to people on Wednesdays and he has special access and could get us tickets for free to go inside and actually see him!! I thought it sounded cool, but our time was so limited and he said he would get them for us and even if we didn't go, we could keep them for souvenirs. It took a while for César and I to get through security and we thought he was gone, but we walked a ways and he was waiting for us and told us he could take us on a little tour if we would like while he waited for his 'kids' to get there. We agreed and the man was fascinating!! I wish I could remember all that he told us. We were both thoroughly entertained by his knowledge and stories. He said he has lived a block away from there for 40 years and goes often. We learned more than we ever could have alone, or even on a tour with other people. Our questions were answered and the facts he shared weren't overwhelming. We had a tour of the basement where all of the popes are buried. They remain there until they are declared saints and then they are moved upstairs into the actual Vatican. I had expected a lot of gold there, but instead the valuable assets seem to be the sculptures. The sizes of things were astounding. In one painting high on the wall, he asked how long we thought the feather of the pen the pope was holding was. I said 2 feet, and it is actually 5 meters long!! He had an incredible way of making the facts he told us meaningful. Being a teacher, I was impressed with his ability to do this. We were both fascinated and we were probably with him well over an hour and thought it was strange that he never got a call from 'the kids'. Although he had mentioned the tickets several times, when we said goodbye he didn't mention them again and we both were hesitant to since we knew we weren't going to go. Although, to be honest, I think if we would have had the tickets, I would have gone for a bit, just to experience that, so I was disappointed he didn't follow up on that offer. As soon as we walked away, I was tempted to go back and ask him about them, and when I looked back he was gone, disappeared! Where did he come from the way he appeared in front of us in the line, and where did he go? We both were puzzled by the whole event! Strange things happen to me when I travel and I was glad that César was with me to experience this strange encounter this time. And so Joseph, our good friend and guide, walked out of our lives the way he had walked in. We agreed he hadn't wanted any payment, didn't ask for anything or act like he expected it at the end, just showed us the inside of his world.

My feet were in so much pain and it was raining so hard that we went to have lunch and then got in a taxi to return to the hotel. César really didn't want to go to the Sistine Chapel, and I wasn't sure I could walk there anyway. But as the taxi pulled away, I changed my mind and asked him to take us there instead. César wasn't too pleased, he said it is not appropriate to tell the taxi driver one destination far away and then change to one so close. I decided that I couldn't leave Rome contendedly if I hadn't seen the famous chapel and needed to see it. As César always is with me, he quickly got over his displeasure at my insisting we go, and I believe he enjoyed the experience as much as I did. What an amazing experience it was! And I am sure I would have had to go back to Rome if I hadn't seen it, so now I am content, even with all that we did miss. Walking in Rome is like walking into ancient history and this Vatican museum was filled with treasures, most of which we didn't see. We didn't stay long, and then headed back to the hotel to rest before our Opera night! We did have to cancel our visit to the Borghese Museum and Gardens and decided I would do that after César left on Thursday afternoon.

It didn't take long to fall fast asleep in the big, comfy bed for a nap! We got up, showered and got dressed up and left for the opera experience! It was in an old church and it was quite cold the whole time. Evidently they don't pay to have the heat turned on, if there even is any which I doubt. So we were quite cold and happy that the experience was just over an hour. We had been told by the hotel concierge that it began at 8PM and to be there a little before that. Well, that wasn't right and it didn't begin until 8:30 so we froze for 1/2 an hour sitting there. We sat in the front row and in gold on the rail in front of César it said, "American Ambassador" so I guess we did have the best seats! We both decided we would not enjoy a 3 hour opera so we chose an interesting alternative. There was a small group of musicians and 4 opera singers. The singers took turns performing arias from different famous operas. We enjoyed the variety of the music, even though we didn't understand a thing! It was a little over an hour long, perfect timing for us and as we left the church, we were quite content that we had now experienced opera in Italy. It was quite a bit more pleasurable than the flamenco of Barcelona! We walked a while and found an empty little restaurant and had a lovely dinner, this time we had spinachi gnocchi, a potato and spinach pasta and it was delicious! We ate real tiramisu for dessert and then walked a few blocks, got a taxi and returned to the hotel. Our taxi rides were quite a bit less expensive than they were the first day after César learned to say, "please start the meter" in Italian when we got into the cab! One driver was very, very angry at him and was shouting in Italian and dear César remained calm and later said that the man wanted him to sit in the front since he didn't trust him.

We arrived back at the hotel quite late, and again the joy of sharing the experience with someone was wonderful as we talked about our day, and the 'religious' experience. Another day was over and we had a trip to Florence to look forward to. I had really wanted to go to Pisa to see the leaning tower but César didn't want to be on a train that long, so that was the compromise I made with him, since we'd gone to the Sistine Chapel, we wouldn't go to Pisa. Someday I will go back there and see that. It would have made our train ride a lot longer having to change trains in Florence, so it was fine that we were just going to Florence. And so, another day in Rome was over.

Three Coins in A Fountain, January 26, 2009

The Trevi Fountain was the first stop on our tour of Rome at night. It was beautiful! I'd seen it during the day on my last trip and was in awe, and at night it is as spectacular, in a different way. There were many more people than my first visit, and it was a cold night. I threw the coins in the fountain, César didn't. Maybe I'll be back one day, one can never see everything there is to see in Rome. I could happily see the fountain again and again, marveling in the amazing sculptures that create it. The immensity amazes! We spent time there taking pictures and looking at it and had time to try gelato at one of the many places located near there. We saw several other sights but only got out of the bus one more time and I was disappointed not to get pictures of the colosseum lit up at night, it was magnificent. We did see and learn about the fountains in the Piazza de Navona, the place we had had dinner the night before. They were also gorgeous fountains! The tour was beautiful, but we had a quite arrogant and not kind young man for the tour guide. At the end of the tour, the part where they drop you at your hotel, the bus was not going to the hotels, but stopping a block or two away and the people had to walk, in a strange city late at night. Once they stopped on a street that was jet black and one young girl told the guide that the 2 of them were afraid to get out there and didn't know where they were and they were met with a sarcastic response that it was Rome, they were safe at night and it was just a couple of blocks away. I was quite disgusted with the tour at that point, and felt this was unacceptable. I told César that I would not get out unless they were right in front of our hotel. The tour guide and driver continually talked in Italian to each other and at one point César made a noise and the tour guide jumped. We were sitting right behind him. In Italian he asked César if he understood and he responded that he did, in Italian. Well you could see the visible anguish on the man's face as he realized that someone knew the unkind things they had been saying about people. To be honest, that is one of the many things I enjoy about traveling with César, his ability to speak and understand a variety of languages. Even though he is not that familiar with Italian, languages come to him so easily that he seemed quite proficient in a very short time. Well, the tour guide continued to discuss things with him in foreign languages, I think he tried some others to test César. He was quite curious about our relationship, living so far apart, but neither of us shared much about that. AND surprisingly, or maybe not, we were taken to the front of our hotel! I will be sure that no one I know ever takes a tour from that company again and we thought about calling the management about the problems, but decided that they wouldn't care with the attitudes we had picked up so far. So when you head to Rome check with me on which tour company NOT to use!

After the tour we had a delightful picnic in our lavish room! At lunch we had ordered a bruchetta with olive cream on it. In Paris we had a bruchetta and it was 1/4 of a large loaf of bread with toppings and toasted, so we expected something similar. Well, we were quite surprised when our 4.5euro appetizer arrived and was one regular piece of bread with a spread on it. So small for such an expense but the taste was divine! It was crushed olives and the combination of the toast and spread was something that we could not just have a taste of. The pasta was delicious too, as it was each place we went. I asked the server where there was a grocery store so we could purchase some of the 'olive cream' and it was a few blocks from our hotel. So the olive 'pate' was the highlight of the dinner. We had an assortment of things Italian and enjoyed our feast. Another late night in Rome which meant that we would not be up early for our trip to the Vatican the next day. A wonderful first full day in Rome!