APPROACHING THE CARIBBEAN, REFLECTIONS AND MUSINGS

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

At Sea/Atlantic Ocean

Aboard the Enchanted Princess

Room Aloha 212

Sunny, cloudy, some rain, some choppiness, 80F

 

 

A most beautiful sunrise, 12.05.2023

This certainly has been a lively adventure, from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale and all points in between. 

 

La Sagrada Familia, stolen purse, sfogliatella, markets, churches, vineyards, fresh pizza, medieval villages, a mini suite with 2 TVs, fabulous weather, hometown Aix en Provence, Baroque-Romanesque-Gothic architecture, cobblestone streets, extra virgin olive oil, buffalo mozzarella, gelato, Thanksgiving, St. Peter’s Square, Tuscan farm, truffle smelling dog, Napoleon, fish n chips, The Sanctuary, a litany of just some of the highlights of this cruise! We are so blessed to have the resources and health to take such a grand trip!

 

For the past few days, the transatlantic crossing has been fairly uneventful We have only seen two other ships, headed east. For three days the captain, providing his daily report over the PA system, said we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, whatever that means! I doubt we dropped anchor anywhere. I wish he would tell us how deep the ocean is at the point we are when he speaks, as others have done.  Let me guess. It’s deep!

 

We have seen a bird or two, and I learned that some birds can fly for thousands of miles without landing—the albatross (which we have not seen) is one example.  It has been much warmer every day, and today we were told air temperature was in the 80s Fahrenheit.  We may have passed Bermuda this morning, but TK and I missed that.  Some days have been quite windy, and there have been rain showers that we pass through.

 

The Enchanted Princess is huge, with a length of 1083 feet and a breadth of 126 feet, and we feel very very small standing next to it in port. But, on the ocean where the sea is endless, we realize how small we are and how small the ship is in comparison. I always think of my Mayflower ancestors and how it must have felt to be surrounded by the vast ocean with no clear picture of what lay ahead.  The Atlantic Ocean makes up about 20% of the earth’s surface.  Explorers and pioneers, moving civilization along!

 

Today we had lunch with our Vancouver now Nova Scotia friends, Vickie and Bernie. We met them in 2009 on the Grand Princess, the same time we met Donna and Lawrence (WI), Brian and Nancy (CA), and Colin and Gwenda (GB).  That was such a fun cruise and we have cruised multiple times with these friends.  Vickie and Bernie are now retired and enjoying their new home in Nova Scotia, and they cruise A LOT. To my recollection they have over 800 days on Princess cruise ships. In addition, after retirement Vickie also was the “Destination Expert” on various cruises.  They are devoted cruisers and we enjoyed catching up with them today—and I wish I had taken a photo!  Her blog is at https://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.com/

 

I only have 3 books left from the original 13 that I brought. I need one to read in the airport and the plane and will probably finish the other two tomorrow.  I take the books to the cruise ship book exchange when I am done.  I’m grateful for the gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for my birthday from our Jamestown family!

Three books read on the crossing, plus 2 more to date.

 Another gift from last Christmas was a travel laundry bag that I first saw in Genoa and our Erie family bought it for me—I love this bag, and TK has one too.  This is a great gift for a traveler!  https://kikkerland.com/ 

Great gift for a traveler!!

For years I have intended to describe my “purse” in the blog too.  I admit I won’t win any fashion contest with it, but the bag is very serviceable.  In 2008 I was looking for a bag that would safely carry everything I needed on a trip to France and Italy with my two friends Judy and Cindy (friends from our year in Aix). It had to be lightweight and strong. My first one was black, and I had it for at least 10 years. Five years ago, I decided I wanted a different color and purchased the green one.  It has multiple zippered compartments, but not too many that I can’t find things.  https://toughtraveler.com/

Tough Traveler purse

Contents! Obviously I do not carry my DSLR camera in it all the time

But I could if I wanted to!  Book, phone, wallet, notebook, pencils and pen, sunglasses

Princess daily activities "Princess Patter," password book, business cards, mirror,

lipstick, Tide to Go, hairbrush, emery board, Ziploc bags (for croissants)

OTC meds, insurance cards

By the way, this is THE PURSE I left on the sidewalk in Barcelona

 

Tomorrow I hope that we can enjoy the Sanctuary one last day, but part of the day has to be reserved for PACKING.  This is a very dreaded chore and remember the olive oil, soaps, creams, olives, “immortal oil,” and argan oil I bought. Oh boy.

Entrance to The Sanctuary

TK wanted everyone to see the teacart and choices. 

Dinner Menu for 12.06.2023 

Starters

Dinner Menu Entrees

Always a vegetarian,  2 fish, chicken, pork, and beef entree

and pastas

Carrot Cake tonight--the best dessert ever!

Carrot cake that tasted like carrot cake!!

One more thing:  Two women, "The Mysterious Strings," play violin and cello--they are excellent. The instruments are very unusual.

Cello

Close up of the violin

TK's Takes:  This ship takes the waves very well.  

TIME ZONES:  He laments the 14 time changes we have experienced. We flew to Barcelona with five time zones--but really changed our clocks once. There were more gradual time changes as we traveled east on the Mediterranean. As we headed west again, we have had to change our clocks many times--he counts 14 times going over and returning.  To Janie that just means more sleep. 

I purchased this photo from the Photo Gallery tonight

I like it!

A SANCTUARY ON THE HIGH SEAS!

 Friday, Saturday, Sunday, December 1, 2, 3, 2023

At Sea/Atlantic Ocean

Aboard the Enchanted Princess

Room Aloha 212

Sunny, some rain, some choppiness, 75F

Sunset over the Atlantic Ocean, Saturday, December 2, 2023!

Another view of that glorious sunset!

 

I don’t see how we could get any lazier, which means we are not doing anything exciting. It is almost embarrassing to someone who is going about 90 mph most of the time in Erie. That said, the last three days have consisted of getting out of bed, showering, and heading for the Sanctuary from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

 

What is the Sanctuary? A very serene, luxurious area of the ship with lounge chairs that have six inch padding, placed so one can look out onto the ocean as we sail.  There are pillows and towels, a hot tub, blankets if we need them.  Did I mention that there are attendants who bring coffee, water, soda, croissants, whatever one wants for lunch, and scones, tea sandwiches, and cookies for afternoon tea. 

From the Sanctuary, the ship's bow

 

I have read through three books already and TK’s only complaint is that there is no hammock like the last transatlantic crossing we did.  He loves looking out onto the ocean, my favorite sailor.

 

Very intellectual books I read

After spending a day in this quiet time, we return to our stateroom to change clothes for dinner. Last night after dinner I read some more, and we watched the movie Barbie.  That was my choice because we watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty last night, a movie I did not like. The short story by James Thurber was in the English curriculum when I taught high school, and I avoided it—for whatever reason, I never liked that story. At all. 

 

TK’s Takes: The weather could have been less windy on Friday, Saturday was OK. We were spoiled last year because there was no rain during the day while we crossed the Atlantic.  He liked Walter Mitty better.

Keylime pie for dessert!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM LAS PALMAS!

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Port of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Aboard the Enchanted Princess

Room Aloha 212

Sunny, 82F—another gorgeous day!

Welcome to Las Palmas

 November 30 is a special day, the birthday of second son, Brian. I was able to wish him a Happy Birthday via text at 3 a.m., because we are 5 hours ahead of EST!  I am quite certain our weather is much better than  Erie’s and I hope everyone stays safe back home.

 

Gran Canaria, 93 miles of Northwest Africa, is the 3^rd largest of the Canary Islands and has a population of about 850,000. Las Palmas  itself has a population of about 370,000. Its geography is very diverse, with volcanic mountains, sand dunes, cliffs, and snow at the peak of some of the mountains.  The Canary Islands were used as a refueling point for Christopher Columbus as it was the last port in Europe that his vessels set sail from.   

 

Today we could walk from the port to interesting areas, thank goodness. That said, the ship’s map of Gran Canaria and Las Palmas wasn’t very useful.  I got a map from the tourist information kiosk near the port, but it turned out to be a darn shame that Janie cannot read (English).  I convinced TK that we should go to the Plaza del Pilar to see the market. Because it was quite a distance, we needed to take a city bus. We were up to the challenge, at least I was.

 

We boarded Yellow Bus 47, 1.40 euros/each, and off we went through city streets, traffic, bumping along. Fortunately, the driver indicated our stop to us about half an hour later. There it was, Plaza del Pilar, with nothing going on, nothing. How could this be? I took another look at the tourist information map only to discover that the market was only open on Sundays. If only I could read! 

Big buildings pass us by

At least there was a church at the Plaza del Pilar

 

There we were, no idea of where we were, tall buildings around us, people scrambling by us, all presumably with places to go.  I will say that TK did not say anything, either he held it in, or a new TK had evolved. We had 4 hours to find our ship!  We started walking and several blocks later we saw water. A closer look it was a beach and people were surfing. But our cruise ship was absolutely nowhere to be seen.

Surfers

Beach

Then, right before our eyes, a huge mall appeared.  A WOW mall. We weren’t going to pass that up! This mall was much bigger than Millcreek Mall, all decorated for Christmas, the hustle/bustle of shoppers, and no empty spaces! 

There used to be flower shops in malls in PA too

Somehow, we were able to find a bus stop for Yellow Bus 47 after a wonderful walk through the mall. Back to the port we were. We were not yet fatigued, and TK was yearning for churros. My hunt for sfogliatella took over at every previous port until yesterday. Without much planning we plopped into a bar/café and ordered a small plate of churros and Coke Zero. Oh my! I did not know they were deep fried and covered in sugar—we wish we had ordered a large plate! I’m adding churros to my repertoire!

Our churro bar/cafe

Churros, we already ate two!

TK sees the cutest things

He took the photo for the  temperature. By his method

of calculation, it is 82F/26C

Roundabout, Las Palmas style

Water closet--we encountered one of these 

near Notre Dame in Paris.

 

This part of Las Palmas is probably tourist oriented, but I still needed a few things for those back home, so we zigzagged in and out of some souvenir shops. There was even another big glorious mall near the ship.

Second mall

Janie inside a Christmas tree

 

We could not believe it was only 2 p.m. when we returned to the ship.

Enchanted Princess on the right

 

Tonight we were going to the “Movie Under The Stars,” but believe it or not, it started to rain---we have had the most beautiful weather in every port, it is OK for some rain to fall!

 

Happy Birthday, Brian!

 

TK’s Takes: The churro bar/café had the biggest ice cubes he ever saw.  Janie is not going to be the reader of maps/tourist info anymore.

 

 

 This was a 13000 step day--11,500 yesterday.

Janie's Note: As we begin our journey across the Atlantic, Internet may be sketchy. I will continue to write exciting daily reports, and hopefully I will be able to post them.  

ETERNAL SPRING IN TENERIFE!

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Port of Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Aboard the Enchanted Princess

Room Aloha 212

Sunny, 78F—another gorgeous day!

Port of Santa Cruz

 

This morning as we approached the portT

Janie was really in Santa Cruz, Tenerife!

The Canary Islands form a Spanish archipelago of seven volcanic islands located in the Atlantic Ocean, about 60 miles off North Africa.  The islands were named after the Latin word for dog, “canaria,” possibly because large dogs were found here, or “seadogs” (monk seals) were once plentiful in the waters around the island.  Beaten only by Hawaii’s Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, Tenerife’s Mount Teide is the world’s third highest volcano and the highest point in all of Spain at almost 13,000 feet.

 

One interesting fact we learned from the port lecturer was that areas of the island are used to test vehicles that will navigate the terrain of Mars.  Many movies have been filmed in Tenerife, including One Million Years B.C. with Raquel Welch, Dr. Who, and Jason Bourne.  The Canary Islands are a popular holiday destination with about 12 million visitors yearly.

 

Because of its year round mild weather, Tenerife is considered the “Island of Eternal Spring.” We can vouch for that—today the temperature was around 76F and TK wore shorts!

Even though Princess Cruise Lines knew it would be arriving in this port over a year ago, their planning was not very good. The lines were long as people waited for a shuttle bus to get to the end of the port and entrance to the city. I try not to be negative in this blog, but when 200+ people are waiting for a shuttle bus in the sun with no shade, happiness does not prevail among passengers. Most of the passengers are about our age, with varying degrees of mobility, and standing for 45 minutes in those conditions can be difficult.  There were probably 4 cruise ships in port, but every single passenger knew over a year ago that we were visiting this port. I must imagine that the cruise line knew that too. 

 

Actually, the situation was repeated when we wanted to return to the ship. Again, we waited 45 minutes for a shuttle with about 200+ of our closest friends. The bus capacity was about 60, which meant more waiting for some.  I wonder what it will be like tomorrow in a port (La Palmas) that we were not originally scheduled for!

 

We explored Tenerife last year and opted to amble around the port of Santa Cruz on our own today.

Santa Cruz is another vibrant European city, Christmas decorations galore, monuments, sidewalk cafes and restaurants, and glorious shopping.

Breakfast here, clean and slick

Breakfast, croissants filled with custard

Poinsettias!

No words (can you read this?)

For Lawrence

Lush street with fine restaurants

War Memorial

Our motto—leave no market behind. The Market of Our Lady of Africa was exquisitely planned—two levels full of colorful fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, and other wares.

Market of Our Lady of Africa

Sculpture, seemingly an homage to fishermen

Market-clean and neat

Beans for sale!

Closeup--All are bags of different kinds of beans!

Cheese

Supermarket on lower level

Colorful fruits and vegetables

Two special highlights:

The Police Canine Corps—I think the canine corps officers were acclimating their three dogs to crowds and noise. We were mesmerized by the dogs. The Rottweiler was the oldest and most experienced, totally intent on chewing his toy, off leash. A Belgian Malinois puppy was a little more rambunctious, but mindful of its trainer. The other Belgian Malinois was in between, quite well trained, but still playful. I know not to approach police dogs, but others didn’t seem to care, and the officers seemed OK. After watching these beautiful dogs for at least a half hour…

Police Rottweiler with his toy

Belgian Malanois

Rottweiler tugging his toy

 

The Children---we heard banging rattling noise get louder and louder. Soon we realized children from a Montessori school were dragging cans along the street in a long parade of about 60.  Each child had made a sort of string toy with pop cans, tuna cans, many kinds of cans, and were trailing their cans behind them.  We have no idea if this was a special day, or just a way for the children to be creative in a little parade with their special noisy project.  The Rottweiler had no reaction to the children or the noise. The other two dogs were mildly interested. 

 

I loved this demonstration of dogs and children!  A peek into life on Tenerife!

The children and stringed cans were adorable

Police dogs watching

Very creative!

They walked blocks and blocks!

TK's Takes:  Nice day, liked wearing shorts, saw only one pigeon, nicest market we have seen (except for the fish)