Down Under!

The journey begins!  On our way now to Austin before we set off on our month long journey. The apartment is packed up into the POD, the car is full with our trip luggage , and items to return to vermont. We are excited about our upcoming camping holiday in New Zealand.  Stay tuned and come along for the ride!  ✈🚐

Last Day at Sea

We’ve travelled for 62 days and over 17,000 miles visiting 34 ports. From our little apartment at sea, we walked out many mornings into a world far different from ours. Riding our bikes, walking through back streets or travelling down the road further away, we discovered warm smiles from people with different religions, colors and limitations. But we found the same desire to love the things that are important. How simple could the road of mankind be if we weren’t spun daily by those with terrifying agendas and media who disperse ever changing sound bites that keep us off-balance.

Our nine weeks floating around has seen many changes. Initially we had to change course away from our Egypt stops because of the revolution only to “sneak” in during a quiet moment before unrest began again. We sailed carefully by Libya in turmoil, careful to remain 100 miles off the coast. After leaving Morocco, a Marrakesh café was blown up where our ship friends had enjoyed a coffee a few days earlier. From CNN International, we learned of the Mississippi Delta floods and Central USA Tornados on the very route we would have travelled at the same time as this trip. We learned of the Japanese nuclear disaster that occurred because of incompetence and continued its devastation because of leaders trying to save face. Our cabin television has begun to blare the 18 month coverage of the Presidential candidates as if we deserve to be sidetracked by this sporting event. And the memory and discussion of 9-11 continues on, deservedly.

To Miriam and I, this has been a Grand Journey. It gave me a time of reflection and solitude following the loss of my Mother. It has also given us continued times of celebration on how fortunate we are to have three families that are our children. They are six sensitive loving adults who all are successfully pursuing their own joy and wrapping us into their lives. There is not a day at sea that we do not receive words and pictures and on land in each of our stops, we have jumped up and down at phone booths talking with them and our three sweet grand children. We have also been gratified that Harvey has some reprieve from his daily pain and Carol continues to have her same enthusiastic voice. But we have also been saddened news of the death of Uncle Norman, and by the battles of our friend Lori Feldman and by Uncle George Grant. We wish them and their families complete healing.

Life is unfolding as best it can and we continue to be grateful for what we have. We look forward to seeing family and friends and walking the meadows of HydeAway Farm.

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Our last stop was certainly a treat. We were to have a short day with a departure time of 2 p.m., but at 8 this morning the captain announced our extended stay, not leaving until 4:30 p.m. The weather was superb, so we headed out for a long walk to the base of the cable car. We were the first ones up the steep ride that took us over the city, gardens and caverns below. The scenic town of Monte was at the top and we had a great vista over the whitewashed homes with red tile roofs below. We took the famous wicker basket sleigh ride back down the mountain – commandeered by two men in white suits and hats, who rode the wooden slates of the sleigh as we sped down the slippery roads for the ten minute ride. Crazy! Together with Karen and Guy, we walked down the rest of the way on the very steep winding roads to the center of town.

Funchal was a delight – a clean, well planned beautiful city. We were lucky to be there on this day, as it was the start of the annual flower festival! The city was lush with loads of exotic flowers and stalls selling plants, bulbs and seeds. The center walkways were decorated with ornate floral arrangements meticulously laid out by gardeners, and costumed men and women performed music and dances in the streets. We enjoyed our walk around the shops and particularly noted how many shoe shops there were. We later learned that the Portuguese are infatuated with shoes!

As we set sail tonight we realized it would be seven days before we saw land once again – sailing on to the “new world”, Ft. Lauderdale….

Cadiz/Seville, Spain

We boarded a small bus at Cadiz portside for our tour to Seville ninety minutes away. We entered this stately city, with its Moorish and Roman origins and architecture. The cobblestone boulevards were huge – void of cars and only available to light rail, pedestrians and horse and buggies. Our first stop was the royal palace and gardens – whose architecture was mostly Arabic – with its mosaics, archways and tile work. Although the Christians took over power in Seville in 1248, they admired the Moorish style. The castle is still used today by the Spanish royal family for weddings and huge gatherings.

Right outside the walls of the castle was the Jewish quarter – a maze of small streets and squares. The Jews provided the financing for all the lavish buildings in the center of the city. After their expulsion in 1492, all the synagogues were destroyed. We didn’t find out if there was still any Jewish presence…

We crossed the square into the largest Gothic cathedral in the world – a monstrosity of church which had at one time been a mosque. We had never seen anything like it – giant pillars, gold inlaid Biblical imagery)! The surprise inside, was a monument built to hold the remains of Christopher Columbus (his orders were to never be buried on Spanish soil – thus his coffin is on a pedestal held by four statues).

Back outside we noticed women and young girls all dressed in flamenco style dresses – beautifully put together outfits with hairpieces, shoes and jewelry to match. Men were also all dressed in suits. Today was the Fiesta of Seville and everyone was heading across town to the fair grounds. We decided to follow people for the mile walk – all who were converging to the site in horse drawn carriages, buses, taxis and on foot. What a wonderfully festive feeling – amazing site to see. No two dresses were alike and everyone (babies and little girls alike) were dressed for this occasion. We only had a short glance into the fair, but could see the thousands of guests eating, drinking and dancing.

Upon our return to Cadiz, and a Spanish dinner on board the ship, we returned to explore the medieval town of Cadiz. It was a magical maze of carless cobblestone streets, will small shops and central plazas – a place to gather, mingle and drink a cup of coffee. Our late departure certainly allowed us to have a great “taste” of Spain!

Motril, Spain

Early morning rough waters entering the port of Motril caused the Captain to abort our arrival. It was a disappointment to many as the Alhambra in the inland city of Grenada was a highlight.
As the ship sailed on, later in the day we had a surprise daylight crossing out into the Atlantic with Gibraltar on the north side. Close enough to get a good view from upper deck, our geographer, Frank, provided us historical commentary.
The added bonus was arriving in our next port, Cadiz, early evening instead of the next day. Hopping off, we strolled the wonderful narrow cobblestone streets of this mid size city as the sun set.

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

We were barely on our bikes when the overcast skies began to rain down on us. Locking our bikes, we opted to walk the city. We expected a small town and what we found was a sophisticated old city with brand name shops and historic and classical buildings. Once the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the port is amongst the largest in the Med and hence is a center of business and culture. Like all the other Italian cities we have visited, the many tree lined squares and quaint plazas were surrounded with outdoor cafes, pizza bars and gelato stands. But, once again, the shops lock up at 1 p.m. for the daily “siesta”, and everything comes to a halt.

Tonight, we’ve been invited by Captain Schoonerbeck to join him and the other Dutch officers, in the captain’s quarters, to celebrate the Dutch Queen’s birthday. Invited guests are Dutch passengers on board! Stephen will have to find someone to speak English with-perhaps the barman. The dining room has been decorated with red, white and blue flags, complete with windmills and “klompen”. Miriam feels right at home…

Royal Wedding at Sea

A sea day with a difference: Our ship was transformed into a British Celebration with the wedding day of Will and Kate. Early morning began with a briefing on the Royals followed by a switch to BBC coverage on big screens. British High Tea and cookies were served with the showroom decorated with British flags and regalia. Perhaps 300 passengers attended, of the 2 billion that watched worldwide. We really are a speck in the sea. Our evening continues with a formal Royal Dance and a Beatles “name that tune event”. If it wasn’t for the Boston Tea Party, our fellow excited American passengers could have had a better chance at being invited to the wedding.

Separately, Carnival Corporation is rarely mentioned as the parent of Holland America, but today there is a celebration onboard of the company’s 100th ship. Today 227,000 passengers on those 100 ships will eat cupcakes and drink free champagne for the record-breaking largest “toast at sea”. Hooray for freebies. Time to follow Carnival stock.