Possibly not in order, but when have I ever been...

Friday, April 25, 2008 – Just pulling into Cartagena, Colombia.

What happened to Thursday? Never thought there would be a way to pass the time on “sea” days, but boy, so much going on I didn’t even get a nap! (Although R and Mom slept through parts of the Panama Canal lecture…)

Up and out for our walk around the Promenade Deck. Must be a bit later than yesterday, as lots of people up and out … walkers, power walkers, joggers, all going any which way; all very friendly folks. I prefer those who announce “on your right” when they’re going to pass … not that I’d know right from left, but it’s the thought that counts!

Then breakfast and showers and we’re ready for the day! Spent a nice hour or so lounging in the shade on a comfy chaise lounge. Lovely breeze; good book. Then, unfortunately, had to bestir myself as Bruce and Mark’s cooking demonstration was at 11:30. (R headed to the “how to buy emeralds” lecture, which he said was awful – he walked out when they started to talk about the mysterious healing powers…you know these scientists!!) Bruce and Mark were there early, and were introduced to R’s mother-in-law. (Mark liked that so much that he has declared from henceforth, he would refer to his own mom as Bruce’s mother-in-law!) So…really fun cooking demonstration. They made Escabache three different ways. Escabache is both cooked and marinated fish. It was delicious! (And I’m NOT a fish person!) We have recipes; will definitely give it a try when we get home. (Really do miss not cooking; do you think they have apartments at sea?)

After the cooking demonstration we headed to lunch. Sat at a table for 6 at the back of the boat; beautiful outside view; saw dolphins frolicking! Good lunch; Mom had meat loaf and mashed potatoes; I had the “American” hamburger; R had grilled veggies in a phyllo dough pastry followed by lentil soup. (Editor’s note: I find that I can ALWAYS get vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert…my own personal favorite.) However…I pause, which we didn’t do much of yesterday! Went next to the Panama Canal lecture #2; same speaker, a civil engineer. Not an inspiring speaker exactly, but warm and funny and very well versed in the canal – ought to be, this is his 61^st transit!

Today’s lecture was on the actual building of the canal by the Americans, life in the canal zone, as well as the opening of the canal. Two more P.C. lectures to go!

We actually stayed in the Vista Lounge for our next “event”, guitarist Justin Miller, yet again. He is a really fascinating man, and gifted lecturer. Very funny; an amazing amount of stories to tell. Turns out, while we knew he was a “Dr.”, we thought it was in musicology – but seems somewhere along the way he got his M.D. in spite of the fact that he came from a long line of lawyers and judges! Today he talked about American music from Hoagie Carmichael through to The Wizard of OZ; also played the guitar. Wish he would have more performances, although these past two days were more than we expected!

It was now officially collapse time, but while R could fall asleep, (it was almost 5 p.m.) I just wasn’t able to! (Too much fun and activity, do you think??) Ambled down to dinner around 6:15 in the restaurant; Mom (having way too much food at lunch!) decided to go to the Lido for a casual dinner. We were seated at a table for 8 with some fun and interesting people; one couple from FL, one from CT, and two gals traveling together, one from Seattle and her friend from Honolulu. Lots of various adventures discussed; lots of wine consumed. I had the Dutch split pea soup (delicious!) with their turkey dinner – really yummy; I love turkey! Think that R had the mushroom vol au vent in puff pastry for starters, and know that he followed it up with the ships version of Mac and Cheese! (I tried it, and it was wonderful!) Lots of good conversation, and one of the single gals wants to get together to talk about renting places in Paris! So! Listened to the quartet for a bit, then headed up to the Crow’s Nest to check email. Mostly for R … which is good! To bed around 10.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

So…pulling into Cartagena. I woke up around 6, and voila, we were coming into port! Woke R up and we dressed and headed up to the Crow’s Nest. Lovely entry into town – lots of very small, green islands in the channel. Pulled up next to another cruise ship – the Norwegian Sun, from NCL. Hope we don’t overwhelm Cartagena!

The ship was ready to disembark passengers by 7:40, and I think we were among the first off. Walked through the port station – just beautiful location. Lots and lots of tropical flowers and plants, through a lovely shop (never miss an opportunity!) and out onto the street. Found a taxi driver who agreed to take us around for several hours for $15/each; seems good to us!

While Cartagena is really a HUGE modern city, full of high-rises, (really surprised us; I think I was thinking more of the St. Augustine route…) we really wanted to see the historic old part of the city. So there we went! Walked through the walls and up on top for the view. Whew – REALLY heating up; reminds me of Singapore! Cartagena – at least the historic part – is really, truly lovely; would love to come back here! Old houses and buildings with lots of balconies, painted in great colors! There were street vendors of course, and they were persistent, but certainly not rude. And no, thank you, I don’t need any cigars today! Wandered through and around. A bit difficult, as Mom’s hip was hurting her and she couldn’t walk very fast. (She says it’s easier to walk than stand…hmmm….) Saw the beautiful cathedral, major squares and historic statues. Really enjoyable – although the later it got, the hotter it got! And of course we had to stop at a jewelry store…

Well…esmeraldas (emeralds, for those who don’t speak Spanish) have always been my favorite stone … how fortunate! Was absolutely determined to resist all – but then spotted a really unusual ring – it’s reversible! Seven small emeralds on one side, ring turns around (have to see it to believe it…) to seven white sapphires! Well…what chance did I have? It looks lovely; excellent price, so yes, of course R bought it for me! NO MORE, I promise!!!

After that, we were all hot and tired, so returned to the ship. This time, the port shop was PACKED with people! I really think it’s possible that some folks get no farther than the shop! What a shame, because as I say, could absolutely see us coming back here one day (not on a ship; for a land trip).

We all had our plans for the return: I wanted to swim; R wanted a G&T and Mom wanted wine. So…have all gone our separate ways (although I think the two drinkers are upstairs in a/c comfort…) I swam – REALLY refreshing! Came back to the room, and am now showered and dressed … but what I am really wanting is H₂0 or Coca cola!!!

So, that’s it for now!!
Take care!

m

Monday, April 28, 2008

Hello, again!

To be honest, we’ve had so much good food that I can’t even remember it all, so will skip forward from coming back to the ship, hot and exhausted in Cartagena, to our transit of the Panama Canal.

One word: WOW! Really an amazing achievement – who would ever even THINK of these things? We set the alarm for 5 a.m. yesterday, and were up at the Crow’s Nest by 5:15. Already people there, but we were able to get good front-row seats for the transit. We cruised into the harbor, and slowly, headed toward the canal, Colon on our left, what looks like rugged jungle on our right. We took lots of pictures, but apparently there is some glitch with downloading them into blogspot.com. So, instead, we will do all words first (sorry) and then as soon as we get home, we’ll post the pictures.

First had to wait for a fleet of Caribbean-heading vessels to clear. Then it was our turn. Having never before transited the canal, not at all sure if they use all locks all the time, but a cargo ship from Port Everglades FL entered on the left, then we entered the right-hand canal of the first Gatun lock, of which there are three.

Very, very interesting day. So glad to have had the lectures, as it does give one a real appreciation of the magnitude of the accomplishment. Also thought about all the lives that were lost, both with the French and the US efforts; approximately 27,000 in all; just mind-boggling. After the third Gatun lock, we sailed away onto Lake Gatun, which was a huge area flooded for the canal project. Dozens of boats in Lake Gatun. Not sure if they were coming or going, but all seemed at least to be waiting. Would find it interesting to know how they keep track of everyone. We do know that Holland America makes an advance reservation to ensure a specific date through the canal, and pays quite a bit extra for a daylight transit. I did hear the figure $67,000 bandied about, which sounds like an awful lot – but obviously the canal is a profitable business, as the Panamanians have started digging yet another, larger canal, parallel to the current canal. This new canal is supposed to be able to accommodate the larger ships that are now on the seas.

Lake Gatun was lovely; very wooded and rugged; didn’t see much in the way of settlement, although the town of Gamboa is situated near the start of the Gaillard cut. This cut was the most hazardous part of building the canal. Because it is so tropical here, the ground was very wet – making excavating very hazardous, and there was always the ongoing battle of landslides covering up prior digging. Most of the terraces that were built almost 100 years are still intact, although you could see where slides had since taken place.

Traveled through the Gaillard cut to the Pedro Miguel locks, and under one of the few bridges that actually cross the canal (there is one other one at the Panama City end and the Pan-American Highway). This bridge looked like a miniature of the bridge at Millau, France; when we have web access again (and not those darn ever vanishing minutes) will check and see; wouldn’t be surprised if all the work of one architect.

Pedro Miguel is just one lock; very small and compact, but took us down something like 27 feet. And all this time, we were being followed by the Norwegian Sun, the boat from Cartagena! Wasn’t sure if it was a race or not, but we did get through first … so there!

The Pedro Miguel lock put us into Lake Mira Flores; much smaller, and looks to be the flooded valley of a local river. Followed the lake across (you can see from one lock to the other) for the two-step Mira Flores locks. Have to admit, MUCH easier going down than coming up; made quick progress through Mira Flores – had to laugh though – Mira Flores is where they have a huge 4 story observation tower, and I think that on Sunday, everyone in Panama City must come down to watch the boats past through! Lots and lots of people there, everyone happy and waving; what fun!!

After Mira Flores, we were technically out of the Panama Canal but still in the channel – this time on the Pacific side. Passed a submarine, a U.S. Coast Guard 3-masted schooner, under the Pan-American bridge, and voila, out once again into open water! (Notwithstanding the dozens of ships which were anchored around this side of the canal! Wonder when/if they all get through?!)

By this time it was past 5:30, so we all reassembled in the room to get ready for a fairly early dinner. Lovely table for four by the window. We all started with an amazing lobster bisque. Mom followed that with perch; R with a sirloin steak and me with short ribs and horseradish mashed potatoes. To be honest, I can’t even remember dessert – SO much good food – but mine probably had something to do vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

So, that takes us to today, Monday; a day “at sea” including cruising the Golfo Dulce. VERY leisurely day … AFTER our customary morning walk! Showered, changed and speaking only for myself, spent a quiet three hours or so stretched out on a chaise lounge in the shade of the promenade deck. Then, lunch. GREAT view next to the windows, and we were able to watch jumping dolphins all around! Wonderful! Also good food…R and I had matching starters – bay shrimp cocktails followed by crab cakes (yes, I know…we had two starters…) Then R had a tempura fish served on soba noodles, and I had a sirloin steak with chipotole aioli wap; both excellent. Mom had a fruit compote followed by the crab cakes. We both had a mousse duo – white chocolate and dark chocolate, for dessert.

So, that takes us up to now, so I will close!
Take care, all!
Love,
m