Latin Sojourn 2012
Post # 1
November 16, 2012 – Friday – Well, here we are in the middle of the Atlantic after a
very hectic departure, but a wonderful trip so far. Today and tomorrow we are starting to cross
the Atlantic, it is delightful! Where to
start….
The beginning – A bit of catch-up on the pre-cruise excitement… my foot was broken at the end of August while at the beach. As amazing as it seems someone got caught up in a wave, his head crashed into my foot and I was off my feet and in a boot for 10 weeks. So we were rather skeptical as to my ability to go on the cruise and sightsee… but I am a tough “old” broad from Brooklyn and little keeps me down. Hurricane “Sandy” did her best to deter us with a week without electric, heat or hot water (blessed to have no damage). We got our electric back two days before departure date; foot doctor gave me the go ahead for the trip; did tons of laundry; packed and were ready to go… then the snow storm hit. We got to the airport by car service in a blinding snow storm (who would have thought on 11/7/12 we would get such a storm). Many airlines cancelled flights but British Air was ready to go on time so we boarded, only to wait on the tarmac for 5 hours for de-icing. Connections were missed; car service never picked us up at the airport; got to the hotel in Monaco on our own - in only a 22 hours door to door trip. And now we are blissfully sitting on our balcony looking out at the ocean as I type my blog and Mike sits with his feet up on the railing reading… life is good!
Last view as we left for the airport!
MONTE CARLO, MONACO
We started our cruise in the departure port of Monte Carlo, Monaco, a beautiful city we previously spent a week in a few years ago. So we just did a walking tour on our own enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. The Casino in Monaco is grand and very impressive to see, there is a beautiful promenade along the sea with a Japanese Garden, lovely sculptures and plenty of opportunity to enjoy the local sights.
Monte Carlo Casino
Our ship framed by sculpture
BARCELONA, SPAIN
We boarded the ship
very excited to finally be on our way.
Our first port was Barcelona and we were determined to see the inside of
Gaudi’s Basilica – Sagrada Familia. We
have seen the outside several times but most tours don’t go inside as waits can
be very long. We left our tour, went off
on our own to view the inside and it was well worth it (without a long wait)! Gaudi’s outside of the Basilica is very “gaudy”
(the word is actually a play on his name).
It has so many different symbolic, organic sculptures… there are grapes
with the chalice atop them and wheat with a host protruding from it (communion
symbols). The inside is huge, grand,
beautiful and not over the top. Some of
the windows are situated so when the sun shines through them the effect is a
double image. The choir loft encircles
the entire church with room for 1,000 choir members with the ceiling’s height
calculated for the maximum acoustical effect.
It has been over 100 years since the building was started and several
architects have worked on Gaudi’s original project. It was wonderful to finally
see the full Basilica which is still under construction with another (at least)
20 years till completion.
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia
Bunch of Grapes with Chalice
Sheaf of Wheat with Host
Inside view of Sagrada Familia Basilica
Window with sunlight image
Choir loft surrounds entire basilica
CARTEGENA, SPAIN
Next stop was Cartagena,
Spain… in the pouring rain. We did a
walking tour viewing much of the ancient city.
There are beautiful old buildings scattered about, an ancient Bull
Fighting Ring and excavations of Ancient Roman ruins. Interesting to see, but wouldn’t be high on
my list of places to visit again (rain could have influenced my opinion).
Beautiful Architecture
Old Bull Fighting Ring
Ancient Roman Amphitheater
MALAGA, SPAIN
Malaga, Spain was visited
on a lovely, sunny, mild day with so much to see. We started off visiting an active Bull Ring
with a novice Bull Fighter demonstrating the fighter’s moves. No bulls were
injured and no blood shed (no killing bulls in my future). I have seen matador’s outfits in pictures but
the museum at the Bull Ring had their outfits on display… they are fabulous! Each one hand stitched with gold thread – an average
outfit costs about $20,000 per ensemble (I was totally shocked at the price –
price equivalent to a custom made evening outfit). Then we were off to the main Cathedral of
Malaga – a magnificent building with many beautiful chapels and a massive organ. We strolled along the streets, sat in the square,
tasted some local wine, viewed the house where Picasso was born and enjoyed the
local surroundings. That evening was the
Captain’s welcome formal event; we brought out our finery and had a lovely
evening. Food, alcohol, service and amenities
on Regent are amazing!
Active Bullfighting Ring
Sergio - Novice Bullfighter
Bullfighter's Outfit $20,000
Now, that's no bull!
Main Alter of the Cathedral in Malaga
Plumb line used during construction of the cathedral
Organ in the Cathedral at Malaga
Prosciutto hanging in a cafe
We Clean up pretty good!
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
Sergio - Novice Bullfighter
Bullfighter's Outfit $20,000
Now, that's no bull!
Main Alter of the Cathedral in Malaga
Plumb line used during construction of the cathedral
Organ in the Cathedral at Malaga
Prosciutto hanging in a cafe
We Clean up pretty good!
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
The fake Rick's Cafe
Second largest Mosque in the world
Women's Worship Balcony with protective screen
Fountain for washing before entering Mosque
A Giraffe scarf for the Mosque visit - they don't make camel scarfs!
A trip to the Market via Donkey
Moroccan Tea Time
Amazing! Antique photos that look just like us!
16th Century Portuguese Cistern
AGADIR, MOROCCO
Next port – Agadir,
Morocco – definitely not as progressive a city as Casablanca. We saw a show including precision Horsemanship
and went to a Souk… so very interesting to see the spices piled high (with no
hygienic concerns?). Always interesting
to see a different way of life….
Moroccan Precision Horsemen
Shopping at the Souk
Spices for Sale at the Souk
Spices for Sale at the Souk
LAS PALMAS, GRAND CANARY ISLAND
Back to Las Palmas –
Grand Canary Island - We were here last year for a week and it was a lovely
place to visit. We decided to do a
garden tour as we did not get to see any of them last time. They were very peaceful
and lovey places to visit with so many different plant species from around the
world. This is due to the nearly perfect,
moderate constant temperature. If any of
you remember we were in love with the Jamon (Prosciutto) flavored Potato Chips (forget
about Twinkies, this is the real deal) and AMAZING chocolates, after our garden
tour we pursued the favorite items and were able to obtain them – as delicious
as we remembered! Are we ever foodies…
searching halfway around the world for potato chips!
Giant White Bird of Paradise
Ancient Dragon Trees
Symbol of the Canary Islands
Hanging Trumpet Flowers
Lay's Prosciutto flavored Chips - Yummy, Yummy!
We are now at sea and
will be for a few days – oh, how lovely to have breakfast on the balcony and a
late evening cordial looking at the ocean.
Life is good – we are truly blessed!
Love,
Pat & Mike
POST # 2
PS - If you would like to post a comment you may do so below, please do not feel like you have to.
Pat & Mike
POST # 2
PORTO GRANDE, CAPE VERDE
Well,
here we were part way across the Atlantic at a little island – Cape Verde - it must
have been green at one point, but not exactly now – mountainous and arid. It has a beautiful coastline and an amazing
mountain road winding to the top – very exciting in a large bus (of course no
guardrails – gulp). It has small little
fishing villages and really not a lot more.
We went to Sunday Mass in a tiny (severely decaying) Catholic Church
with Mass said in Creole. It was
wonderful to be among the locals and we also to meet a couple who are traveling
around the world in a 44 foot sailboat… they have already sailed from Brisbane,
Australia and expect to be back in Brisbane again next October. They were waiting on Cape Verde (for a few
weeks) for the trade winds to pick up before they could get started sailing to
the Caribbean. We were very happy to
start our sail away across the Atlantic on our terrific cruise liner… not having
to sail on our own (a year on a 44 foot boat with just the two of us – NO WAY).
We
have never done an Atlantic crossing and weren’t sure how we would like the
trip with three consecutive days at sea.
As most of you know we like to cruise to “see the world”, not just float
around the ocean. Well, now we know we
like to do both, it was a wonderful experience!
The Cruise staff always had wonderful activities for you to participate
in or not as you saw fit. There was a
great kitchen tour with the most informative, funny and talkative head chef. It was a real eye opener to see how precise
the entire process is… including a picture of the bread baskets, different
arrangements depending on the number of guests sitting at a table. There was a passenger boat building contest –
boats had to be made from materials obtained on the ship and seaworthy in the
pool with waves created by the activities staff cannonballing (fortunately for
the boat builders it was a waif of a dancer who weighed less than 100 pounds –
no one asked us!). There was a great
afternoon at a country fair with the different staff departments providing the
passengers with fun games. There were interesting
Lecturers, beautiful views of the ocean; huge Frigate Birds following the ship
across the ocean using the ship’s draft to glide above; and a Thanksgiving
Celebration including a Thanksgiving Day Parade. My very own Turkey brought his infamous
Turkey Hat (thanks Linda Campo for supplying him with his chapeau) and he
managed to pick up his own “Turkey”. It
was a very enjoyable journey and we would not hesitate to do a crossing again.
When
you crossed the Equator there is a ceremony on board ships that is quite
humorous. King Neptune and his mermaids
take over the ship (easily done by our Captain relinquishing the ship to him)
and mayhem ensues. The “Pollywogs”
(those who have not crossed before) are initiated into becoming “Shellbacks” (those
who have previously crossed). A very fun
event filled with pageantry (we are already Shellbacks so no fish kissing for
us).
Church - Our Lady of the Light
Fishing Fleet
View from the top of Cape Verde
Kitchen Tour
Arrangement of the Rolls
King Neptune's Mermaids - Pat did not Qualify!
Mary Clark - Pollywog Kissing a Fish
Frigate Bird Soaring Over the Ship
Ship's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Mike with Turkey Hat and a cute Dancing Turkey
RECIFE, BRAZIL
Finally land – Recife, Brazil – the best part of the
tour was returning to the ship to have the wonderful staff waiting for us with
cool towels. We spoke to a crew member
about the reason for stopping at this questionable port and were informed that
Brazil “tells” the cruise company where they want you to visit – where the
money is needed. So if you are visiting
several ports, you have to take the “good with the not so good”.
The Best Part of Visiting Recife - Welcoming Crew with cool towels
Beautiful Sunset at Sea
SALVADOR DE BAHIA, BRAZIL
Next port… Salvador De Bahia, Brazil. A very old city but lots to see and enjoy,
they are working hard to retain the “Old” along with the new – women greet
tourists in traditional clothing and beautiful old buildings are being restored. I aspire to paint as quickly as the street
artist who painted a tile in two minutes using his fingers (of course I
wouldn’t do that – get my hands that dirty!).
While visiting the “Golden Church” we encountered a photo shoot for
Brazilian Vogue – the model was incredibly gorgeous with bisque type skin… fun
to watch the proceedings.
Carnival Band Welcoming Us
Traditional Women's Dresses
Street Artist Painting Tile with His Fingers
Finished Painting - Done in Two Minutes!
Golden Church - 600 pounds of gold!
Brazilian Vogue Fashion Model
Same model - up close
Old Town renovation & preservation
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
You will not see the
typical pictures of Rio in this blog. We
had been to Rio a few years ago and saw all the traditional sites – Sugar Loaf,
Corcovado, The Risen Christ, Copacabana so we decided this time to take a
four-wheel drive tour through the Tijuca National Forest and the Botanical
Gardens. We had a great day, the weather
wasn’t the greatest – overcast and grey but fine for our type of tour… but so
sad for all the passengers who missed seeing The Risen Christ along with the beautiful
views from Corcovado as it was covered in clouds. We ended the day with a visit from our
Brazilian friend, Rosane who joined us on the ship for dinner… so nice to
reacquaint with a Rio friend.
Unique Flower
Botanical Garden - Tree roots that grow out of the ground to gather water
Local Monkey
Copacabana Beach - Sand Art - 10 feet across!
With our friend Rosane from Rio
BUZIOS, BRAZIL
Next
port - Buzios, Brazil - we took a lovely boat tour of the rocky coast with
fishing villages and resorts. The town was made famous by Bridget Bardot’s
visits in the 60’s and has become the San Trope of Brazil. Lovely to walk around and explore on your own
after the tour.
Rocks and Cactus jut out into the ocean
Fishing Trawler sets out as birds fish along side
Lovely view of fishing boats
ILHA GRANDE, BRAZIL
Our
next port was Ilha Grande, Brazil – there are no tours offered because there
aren’t even cars on the island. It was a
beautiful place to spend time at the beach and walk through the trails of the
National Forest. A lovely respite!
Early Morning - Mountains & Clouds (not a black and white photo - natural light)
Incredible Views
Beach we swam at with our ship in view
Santos,
Brazil
Famous for futbol (soccer) player Pele and its coffee… and that’s all
she wrote!
Stained Glass at the Coffee Museum
Sidewalk - Coffee Bean shapes - Portuguese style walkway
Porto
Belo, Brazil
A very mountainous port with a beautiful resort coastline and cable
cars taking you to the top of the mountain.
We toured the beautiful natural surroundings and beaches.
I can always find a place for Chocolate - and Santa too!
Beautiful view of the beach area
Huge Bromiliad ( Mike is 6' 3")
Rio Grande do Sol
Not much there to tell about… I will skip writing about this port!
Pharmacy Sign - They probably need the graphics
Catch of the Day
Punta
del Este, Uruguay
A beautiful port city with fabulous beaches; incredible
homes of the rich and famous of South America; the interesting, huge hand
sculpture jutting out from sand; beautiful art museums including many
sculptures by Salvatore Dali; and an incredible house and art by one of
Uruguay’s famous artists, Carlos Paez Vilaro. A full day filled with art, culture and beauty.
Sculptures at the point of Punta Del Este - made from sand and recyclables
Clark's and Scimeca's at the Ralli Art Museum
Hand in the Sand sculpture - Middle finger is about 15 feet high
Casapueblo - Home and Art Museum of Carlos Paez Vilaro
Montevideo,
Uruguay
Montevideo found us hiring a local guide for a private walking tour of the
city. Florenzia (her lovely name) is a recent
college graduate who just started her own tour business and we were lucky to
have her as a tour guide. The city is
beautiful with so much history surrounding its buildings and statues; meat
roasting on wood burning fires (they love their meat); beautiful vegetables
sold by street vendors; and Patricia’s very own local beer. The streets of the city are mostly made of
tiles and in areas they become worn or broken.
In the evenings there is a phantom street tile replacement person who goes
around and replaces tiles with beautiful mosaic tiles he has made… it is great
to see them all over the city. We walked
until we had to get back to our ship and learned so much about the history and
people of Uruguay – we had a terrific visit.
Historic Water Well in front of marketplace
Meat slow roasting on wood burning grill
Street Vendor's Vegetable Stand
Phantom street tile replacements
Pat's Very Own Local Beer
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Our
last port was Buenos Aires, Argentina – We toured the city on a previous cruise
so we decided to take a Tigre Delta River Tour Cruise. We were so pleasantly surprised with the
beauty of the area, a real contrast of the big bustling city. There are over 100 islands, basically used as
vacation retreats and the only access to the islands is by boat. There are dozens of rowing clubs, beautiful
houses and scenery indicating a very interesting way of life. The infrastructure is based on boating… supermarket
boats, garbage boats and “waterside” ice cream stops and restaurants. A totally delightful trip in the morning,
then to “Florida Street” for a bit of shopping in the afternoon and off in the
evening to a Tango Show. So much to do
in this city and even though this was our second trip there… definitely not
enough time!
Rowing Club boats ready for launch
Museum along the river
Supermarket Boat - they don't take charge cards
Ice Cream Stand
We
disembarked today and I am actually writing the blog on the plane on the way
home – a very long plane trip! We had a
wonderful journey, saw some incredible sights (also some so-so sights), met
some really fun people, reacquainted with crew and passengers we met on
previous trips and had an amazing chance meeting.
I
recognized a woman on one of our tours and then lost her in the crowd. We were on the ship one day and I approached
her saying that I thought I might know her from a previous trip… we couldn’t put that together, so we exchanged
names and the next thing we knew we were hugging, kissing and crying. Mary Clark is the daughter of our beloved,
Emma who we food shopped for 6 years with our volunteer work at Caregiver
Volunteers of Central Jersey. We only
met Mary and her husband Jim twice as they do not live in NJ. Emma died last year at 103 years of age and
is sorely missed by us… it was so wonderful to get to know Mary & Jim and
spend time together. Emma always talked
about her daughter going off on these long exotic trips… who would have thought
we would be sharing one with them!
One Final Picture - Can't resist those sunsets at sea
It truly is a small
world and we are blessed to be able to see so much of it! Thanks for sharing our journey with us… hope
you enjoyed it, we definitely did.
Pat & Mike
PS - If you would like to post a comment you may do so below, please do not feel like you have to.
