My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on July 24, 2009

It seems like a long time ago, but as I write this post it has only been about a week since we were in Spain. Our last port of call was the city of Vigo, Spain.

The west coast city and metro area is home to a half a million people with historic Kingdom of Galicia roots (one of the first kingdoms of Europe). Our day started rainy (first and only of the trip) although the mist was really not all that bad. We has some clearing as we climbed (by bus) the steep hill to the Monte do Castro estate. Although we didn’t tour the estate, we did enjoy views of the city and coastline from a park at significant elevation from sea level … and yes according to our driver, this is the Castrelos district and “Castro” family is the one known to westerners as Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

Vigo has all the business of a working class city, with billboards, car dealerships and industry. The housing is apartment complex oriented for a large segment here in Vigo and for those who appreciate urban living wouldn’t be a problem … but for many of us who appreciate elbow room, rural and suburban living … life here would be a big change.

The weather began to improve as we worked our way to Baiona,  a tourist community which has beaches and restaurants. The people living in the cities and from around Spain and Europe regularly vacation in this area and shops and restaurants along the waterfront cater to them. The tides and shoreline remind me a bit of the northeastern part of the US, as do the boats.

We hiked up to the statue that welcomes sailors home from the sea which has been its tradition since they were first to hear the news that Columbus discovered America. There is a replica of the Pinta (ship that returned) in the harbor that also marks Baiona’s notoriety.

Photo needs a caption: “Land-Ho” — Katelyn and Brenda “sailing” the Pinta

Sir Frances Drake, the famous English sea captain is also notorious in Baiona … but as a pirate that they called El Draque that the town repelled in 1585.

The weather was still a bit damp as we walked through the town and watched locals dig for clams … or probably mussels. The town was beautiful and with the old building, walls, statues and bridges being maintained so well, it would be a nice place to re-visit. We took back roads which offered gorgeous seaside views on the way back, as well as old churches and bridges (below).

Once back to the city of Vigo it was more industry and city living, with a mix of old businesses and buildings being restored. Many of the old structures are re-habs of the old fishing houses along the harbor. A little renovation would go along way.

Back on the ship and headed for Southampton and our flight home. BTW, this was the only port where I noticed ‘free’ wifi in the port area. Unfortunately it was so heavily used that it was practically unusable, although I did make some Skype to phone calls using my “convoluted” method.

Palm Pre photo from NCL Jade at Puerto De Vigo – click for larger

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Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tags: baiona, europe, jade, ncl, spain, vigo

Posted By RichC on July 23, 2009

Lisboa or Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and the wealthiest of the country. It has remained the capital city since its conquest from the Moors in 1147. The architectural style is a combination of old and new, European and Middle Eastern … especially in historic areas and in the Sintra region – both a town and Portuguese municipality.

The most significant Arab architectural influence that we noticed was in the beautiful Pena Palace and Castelo dos Mouros which sit on a hilltop that is near the town Sintra and overlooks the entire Lisbon area. The view is beautiful and climate a bit cooler (think mountainous), but the grade is steep. The area is now protected as a Sintra-Cascais Natural Park and has very lush vegetation … unlike most of the areas we have visited.

The Pena Palace was the summer residence for the king and queen of Portugal in the 15^th and 16^th centuries and although impressive to look at, has room sizes much smaller than many of today’s homes. Some say this was partially due to being easier to heat with a fireplace in order to take off the evening chill, others suggest that it was merely a summer place and very little formal entertaining was done there. Nevertheless, they had each room set with furnishing as if the king and queen were still living there. Brenda enjoyed the fact that the queen had ‘better’ accommodations than the king … and as she pointed out, “more square footage.” (War of the Roses).

After walking along the flower lined sidewalks and old narrow stone roads (pre-cars), we had a nice lunch and headed back to tour Lisbon, the waterfront and the Lisbon Cathedral.

Slideshow: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ao74pHqkg5qXSCcH7
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Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tags: cruise, europe, jade, lisbon, ncl, portuglal, sintra

Posted By RichC on July 22, 2009

We spent day eleven visiting the Rock of Gibraltar and I particularly liked learning about the history of this fortress. The huge fortified hunk of rock guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean has seen it share of conquest and struggle. Over the years, a series of 32 kilometers of tunnels crisscrossed beneath this mountain of rock and during WWII  housed as many as 10,000 troops. The well equipped facility had  everything those living on/in Gibraltar would need to defend themselves in the event of an invasion. There were large gunnery emplacements and several tiny entrance areas where soldiers could look out and protect the walled city below or observe an invading force from Spain … or the sea. The view to the east overlooks Gibraltar’s airport which divides the present day UK Gibraltar from Spain (still a bit of squabbling going on over this place).

I was amazed at the steep roads in which small buses crawl up the slope. In the early days they used ropes/cables connected to iron rings locked into the mountainside … who knows how many animals and men perished by slipping off in trying to work on this ‘cliff.’

The views from Gibraltar were spectacular as one can see Africa, the Med and the Atlantic Ocean.

Gibraltar Slideshow — 53 photos

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Tags: cruise, europe, gibraltar, jade, ncl

Posted By RichC on July 21, 2009

Today, we mark our return sail back toward the west steaming east in the Mediterranean on this near perfect day. The sky is blue, the water bluer and there is just enough breeze for a lone sailboat to make way well out in the clear horizon (digitally enlarged 300mm telephoto above). It’s now day 10 here and there’s no doubt about it – some serious diet and exercise is on my prioritized task list when I return home. I’m over eating and sleeping too much while detecting a definite bulge around the beltline that has become uncomfortable.

While Brenda and I enjoyed the view and the Mediterranean breezes this Tuesday morning on the balcony, I noticed what must be one of the premier window washing jobs in the world. The spectacular view probably doesn’t get much better than that – I wonder if they would hire someone like me for that job as payment for an early retirement cruise?
😀

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Tags: cruise, europe, jade, ncl, vacation

Posted By RichC on July 20, 2009

We debarked in Chivitavecchia, Italy on Monday and headed by bus to the ancient city of Rome (Roma) and a visit to the Vatican. The thoughts that I had prior to visiting Rome  were of  just another old and somewhat dirty city, but the impression I left with was one of awe … and a “we must return” attitude. For those contemplating traveling to Italy, you need to spend more than a day; there is too much to see and appreciate if you try to do it with less time. A view of Ancient Rome (below) from a distance is impressive to me and can give a slight idea of what it is like ‘just’ trying to see Old Rome in a day … let alone the Vatican too!

The Arch of Constintine – Ancient Rome

We started with a drive into the city and explored the ruins and ancient buildings on our own, although a tour or English guide book would have been helpful. One detour took us down a winding street which ended in a small, but old church (left) that wasn’t really tourist-y.

The massive Colosseum of Rome (below) is perhaps the most well known structure, but there are so many other structures that triggered memories of history lessons and biblical stories … it would have been better to have been prepared prior to walking. (to the right is a map of Ancient Rome — click image for larger, same for photos)

Perhaps there is an audio walking history MP3 for one’s iPod or phone … that in my opinion would have been great.

After our busy and whirlwind morning in ancient Rome, we ate lunch at an efficient, but less friendly restaurant than we had lunch at the day prior. We  joined up with a tour (highly recommended) of the Vatican after some tasty Italian pasta and wine thinking about the Spanish siesta which were the norm just a couple days earlier (Malaga, Spain pretty much shuts down from 2PM til 4PM).

What a fascinating city/state Vatican City is … and very full of tourists. We thankfully had a couple audio headsets and an English speaking guide to help us through the crowded museums and massive halls stuffed with ancient statues, followed by the Sistine Chapel (a bit disappointing and very crowded) and St. Peter’s Basilica (extraordinarily beautiful and massive). Our visit was on Monday is considered a busy day and since it was summer and just a couple days after a visit from President Obama, we had people everywhere. Again this is another place one could spend days looking at art and learning details about. I do know that with my limited historic perspective of the Catholic Church, I came away with much more appreciation of the history recorded and preserved behind the Vatican wall for all who appreciate Christian and ancient history. This is a ‘Bucket List‘ visit for everyone.

Full 2.5meg “illegal” photo of ceiling of Sistine Chapel (no photos permitted)

Instead of including individual photos, here’s a Google Picasa slideshow … or click for a larger version.

Caution: ONLY 92 photos from the Vatican in this slideshow. 😯

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Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | 5 Comments »
Tags: cruise, europe, italy, jade, ncl, rome, vacation, vatican

Posted By RichC on July 19, 2009

What a wonderful day in Italy! We enjoyed a near perfect day in the Tuscany region of Italy heading from the port city of Livorno to Pisa in order to visit the famed Leaning Tower of Pisa, cathedral and baptistery. The crowds were relatively heavy, but flowed easily in and out of the key stops and obligatory photo (holding up the leaning tower).

The cathedral was beautiful and large although the prices to visit each of the key buildings were rather pricey … not to mention the limited numbers who can actually climb the Leaning Tower.

After our visit to Pisa, we headed into the countryside of Tuscany for lunch and learn a bit about Italian wines and olive oil.

It was educational, particularly learning a bit about the “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” label that one sees on most of the supermarket bottles of olive oils. As our host said, it is not that commercial oils are bad, but that the rules which apply to the olive oil production are not understood by most consumers (same for ‘adding’ sugar to wines – as he snidely commented about French wines).

The term “Extra Virgin” has more to do with the acid content than which olives are selected and how the acid content is achieved. According to our family farmer, Italian farmers cannot exist in producing olives for oil or even as a mainstay crop … there just isn’t enough profit in it … so most grow olives in combination with vineyards used to produce wines. Our host was particularly proud of Italian wines and was full of humor and hospitality.

At age 92 (his joke), our host picked on Katelyn as his ‘sidekick’ in order to demonstrate some of the health and seducing power of his products – she played her part well as he work his Italian charm on her during his talk and at lunch demonstrating how each of the five wines were to be compared and enjoyed. The meal was very good and enjoyed by all at our table; we conversed with couples from Germany, England, New Jersey and Australia finding the conversation easy.

By the time we returned to our ship, the heads of each person on riding on the bus back to our ship were bobbing after the wine tasting and good time at the Fattoria Winery.

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Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tags: cruise, europe, jade, ncl

Posted By RichC on July 18, 2009

It is hard to believe that I can actually lose track of time while less than a week into a vacation, but knowing I’m posting a day or two behind has me looking at the calendar for perspective. We are having a great time and enjoying our vacation … both the rest and relaxation of knowing someone else is ‘driving the boat and clearing into each port of call’ AND what we are learning about the “Old World” along the way.

Saturday’s visit to Cannes, France was less “Old World” and more “Nuevo Rich” – from what we could tell. The opulence of this coastal city is definitely fitting for movie stars and the wealthy from around the world. The yacht basin was fun to stroll around as was the red carpet of Cannes Film Festival fame.

For beaches, I’d recommend walking west down the pavilion as the breeze was better and beaches just a bit less crowded (still crowded though). We spent most of the morning swimming in the ‘saltier than what we are use to’ Mediterranean Sea and sunning on the beach. The sand is not the pure white of the Gulf of Mexico, but somewhat similar to the east and west coast beaches in the U.S. Brenda did not want to leave as she felt the water was as therapeutic as being in a spa.

Prior to leaving port, we walk down past several of the designer shops and five star hotels, but the hot sun and bustling crowd had us seeking a shady spot to sit to and sip on a Coke. (although Brenda has been pleased to have her Diet Pepsi on the ship!)

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Tags: europe, jade, ncl, vacation

Posted By RichC on July 18, 2009

After our day in Barcelona, we sailed for Cannes in France. The evening started to get interesting when deck chairs began flying off the deck and doors were quickly battened down. Most passengers realized that we were rolling a bit more than usual, but the seas were not all that much larger than we have seen on past cruises … but that was not true about the wind. I went forward, after a fun run across the deck, to the navigation viewing station which was closed to viewing (normal) but the instruments were available. I spent 30 minutes monitoring the radar images and ‘warning’ messages coming from our ship (NCL Jade) to others in our shipping lane as the winds were above hurricane force and coming across the deck at gusts nearing 100 mph. Here is a cell phone image of the nav station … notice the wind gust at 94 kts.

Although the storm came quick, it was gone by morning and did a fine job of rocking us to sleep. All is well.

Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | 6 Comments »
Tags: barcelona, europe, jade, ncl

Posted By RichC on July 17, 2009

As usual, I’m behind in jotting down a few notes in which to archive our trip and thoughts after a couple of days in Spain. We toured the old part of the city of Barcelona (only wide enough streets to walk) and thankfully had our English speaking guide in which to mention several relevant spots along the way. The history is so multi-layered that unless one remembers the history of conquest and rule in Europe, it is challenging to realize the layers of old city melted into old city. Some of the architecture is preserved (thankfully) and can be pointed out. In walking behind and listening to another tour guide, it was curious to be able to look into one of the particular “basement-looking” windows in order to see some existing construction ‘inside’ the Roman city walls.

One of the more beautiful points along the tour was a visit to Barcelona Cathedral, which has been undergoing reconstruction for many years. This is our first cathedral during this trip and the sheer size, considering it was built before America was even a country, is truly awe inspiring.

Here are just a couple of the photos from inside the cathedral.

Under the main cathedral is a chapel/burial vault of one of the many Christian martyrs; this one was the vaulto of Eullila, a 12-year-old girl who was tortured and nailed to an “X” for her refusal to deny Christ and bow to the Roman conquerors.

The rest of our day was spent walking the main street in Barcelona – La Rambla.

It is a busy place with both tourists and locals mixing and shopping. For those who enjoy food and cooking, the market in La Boqueria is a hopping place with specialty vendors marketing their wares.

By the end of the day, we were once again tired and set sail for our next port of call, Cannes, France.

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Tags: barcelona, europe, jade, ncl, vacation

Posted By RichC on July 16, 2009

After a long day in Malaga, Spain we set sail at 6PM on Wednesday evening. We were all tired out from our day and turned in with a movie on our cabin (Benjamin Button) after a celebration Japanese dinner. Celebration since the scores for my daughter’s Step One medical boards were passing (taken after year two of Med School). They were posted at 11AM EST or 5 PM ship’s time and required an Internet connection in order to check. We were all happy for her and I know she was relieved to have the stress behind her.

I’m composing tonight’s post in the ship’s library after a wonderful evening in Barcelona, Spain. The girls are nearly asleep and I’d just didn’t want to let another day go by before transferring photos from my SD card to my computer … a back up seems prudent considering theft is always a possibility when exploring a big city.

Tonight we walked a significant distance (perhaps 45 minutes) up the Avenue Praral-lel to Place d’Espanya in order to watch the dancing and lit fountains and listen to music. The fountains are called Font de Montjuic and it was well worth the walk, not only the beauty, but admiring the buildings, cafes and city life along the way.

The buildings around Placa d’Espanya – still under restoration (above) & waterfalls in front (below)

A little catch up is in order as we also enjoyed the day yesterday in the city of Magala and drive up the coast of Spain (bus) through the city and then small “farms” as they are called on our way to Nerja. In Nerja, we toured a huge cave with giant stalactites and stalagmites. They were setting up for an underground musical performance while we were there … something that happens only once each year in July.

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Drive up coast and ancient aquaduct bring water to dry areas

Much of the beauty was realized when walking (no cars) in the old town area as we were able to walk to the beach and grab our ‘sand sample’ … something my wife has done ever since our honeymoon. Bummer … the battery on my notebook is dying and a hint for other NCL Jade travelers: There is only a 220v European AC plug available on the ships library.

Updated: Pulled video from Palm Centro of the Fountains in Barcelona

Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | 4 Comments »
Tags: europe, jade, ncl, spain, vacation