Gibraltar

There are rocks, and then there are ROCKS!  

The Rock of Gibraltar was nothing like I expected.  Close your eyes and envision the Prudential Insurance Company commercial using The Rock.  I was amazed at what I found on this two and one quarter square mile rock.  This behemouth monolith looms 1,400 feet high and can be seen from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.  It stands guard at the narrow strait and is the only exit from the Mediterranean Sea.  It shares a border to the north with Spain.

Within its limestone walls, you can find more than 140 caves, one of which I visited -- St. Michaels.  The Rock has been inhabited since 950 B.C. by just about every country that has launched a boat.  Currently, it functions as a British Overseas Territory.  Spain wants it back.  What makes its history so interesting is its strategic importance during WWII.  The Rock was fortified with 30 miles of tunnels, which you can visit (boo hoo I didn't get to), and gunnery galleries were dug into its slopes, which you can still see.  The Germans tried to bomb it, but after 45 planes were shot down, they gave up.

When we arrived, I expected to see a hugh rock and not much else.  What I saw was a city, a really big city with tall buildings.  The population of Gibraltar is 62,000 all scrunched into a small area on the western side.  Old army and naval ruins stand the test of time while modern civilization encroaches.  Most of the city is built on reclaimed land.

I had a panoramic tour of The Rock.  We drove around the commerical and business area and then out to Europa Point, the western most point of Europe, via a rock tunnel that looked like our vehicle could not fit through it.  Talk about a tight fit.  

Then we proceeded to drive up the face of the rock on very narrow roads with crazy tight switchbacks.  The buses were 20 person capacity because regular tour buses could never make it up the roads.  And at one point, I didn't think the vehicle we were in would make it up either.  I got to ride shotgun and had a great time joking around with our cockney driver/guide.  

The caves are one of the sights to see; and then there are the monkeys.  Barbary apes (actually tail-less macaque monkeys) were brought here by African Moors to help with gathering fruit high in the trees.  They eventually died off and just a handful survived.  The British came to the rescue of the apes by feeding and housing them.  Their numbers increased and this is important to the British who believe Gibraltar will remain British as long as the apes stay on The Rock.  

We arrived at St. Michael's cave and were greeted by the apes (really monkeys) dancing on top of the buses, or sitting in the road.  They put on quite a show.  People were more interesting in seeing these creatures than in seeing the cave, including me.  The cave was nice.....

Michael's highlight of the day, believe it or not, was the airport.  Yes, of course they have an airport in Gibraltar, but it is the only airport in the world where both cars and pedestrians get to cross the runway.  It seems that the main highway in Gibraltar, the one you must take if you want to go over to Spain, crosses over the airport's runway, right at the middle.  They have crossing gates just like on train tracks, that come down when a plane is coming in or taking off.  He crossed it twice and was amazed.

It is worth a return trip!

Portimao, Portugal

We got a taste of city life in Portugal; now we get to see some of the countryside and beach resorts.  Portimao is located on the Iberian Peninsula at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.  It is an ancient trading port and fishing village in the Alvor Region of Portugal.  Despite its Atlantic Ocean address, the city and region is blessed with a Mediterranean climate with year-round sunshine and natural beauty.

The Romans, Moors, Spanish and Portuguese have ruled at one time or another, lending a blend of architecture, food and language. The people in the South generally have dark skin and hair due to the African/Moorish heredity.  Folks in the North are likely to have blond hair and blue eyes.  Portuguese contains many arabic words.  Not noted in the literature, Portimao has a dirty little secret -- it was home to the slave trade.

After a bumpy tender ride to shore and a long walk to get to the bus, I saw high rise apartment buildings surrounding the harbor.  I didn't spend anytime here as we got on the bus and headed out-of-town.  Michael walked the town because his tour was running late so he had to cancel escort duty because he would not make it back in time for the bridge game at 2pm.  He said it was the land of beauty parlors.  He said he passed by at least 50 of them on one street.  I'll let you be the judge.

Our first destination was a village named Lagos, meaning the lakes.  This is a touristy town set along the banks of the Arade River.  Open air vendors were set up along the river walk, and they all sold the same stuff.  Boring........ yawn.  Nothing I needed or wanted.  

We had free time to wander about, but it was hot in the sun and I wanted to sit in the shade.  I sat with a mother and daughter from Scottland and had a delightful conversation.  So why did we visit this place?  It is from this city that Prince Henry the Navigator directed his Voyages of Discovery.  

Check out the toilet in the ladies room.  See anything missing?

The best part of the trip was a visit to the craggy coastline of Ponta da Piedade.  The rugged cliffs overlooking the sea contain numerous grottos and some of the most photogenic rock formations.  We only had a short stop here and besides, if you notice in the picture, there are over 300 steps down -- and that means 300 steps up.  One woman actually SAID she went up and down in the 20 minute stop, and survived!  Standing on the edge of the cliff to snap pictures was somewhat uncomfortable because if someone near you turned around without looking, they could actually knock you over on the lumpy rocky path and ...... you would become fish bait.  There are no protective railings of anykind like in the US.  

We then ventured to another fishing village, turned tourist destination.  Carvoeiro perches dramatically on cliff tops with steep and narrow twisty streets going up from the beach to the top of the cliffs.  It looked like a fun place to explore (not like Lagos), but the driver kept going and going up up up.  At the top of the hill was the Tivoli Almansor Hotel, where we had pastries and tea or coffee.  This was the last chance I was going to get to eat a Belem cake for quite awhile.  The view was terrific.

I did not know that Michael scrubbed his tour, so I was in a mad dash to make it back to the ship by 2pm.  The bus dropped us off at 1:30pm and I hustled about 1/2 mile to get to the tender pier.  And I just made it.  It was a 20 minute ride to the ship and I got off the tender before anyone else could.  I raced to the excursion office to sign in and drop off the backpack they make us carry.  I then rushed to the bridge room, noting it was exactly 2pm ------ and who do I see?  Michael is standing right there!  What a surprise!  Well, no one can say I was late.  I wound up having to play because they were one player short.  Not having any time for lunch, I could survive that.  But I was sticky hot AND ALL I WANTED WAS A SHOWER.  I had to paste a smile on my face and play.....but then I was saved when two more people came in.  I was out of there faster than seeing $$$$ go by when filling your gas tank.

I'm looking forward to the next (the only) sea day on this segment.  I need sleep and rest.  Knees are holding up!!!!!!

Lisbon, Portugal

We spent two days under bright blue skies with 88 degree temperatures for our second visit to Lisbon.   Although Lisbon is located on the Atlantic Ocean, it has the soul of a Mediterranean city with Moorish castles, pastel and white buildings, and orange-tiled roofs.  It is set amid the hills and valleys of the northern shore of the Tagus River on the Iberian Peninsula.  Lisbon is the capital of Portugal.

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, being ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century.  The Moors (arabs) controlled the area from the 8th thru 11th centuries.  The Moorish influence can be seen in courtyards, arches, tiled facades, and crooked narrow streets.  In 1755, an earthquake destroyed much of the city so the buildings we see today were constructed in the late 18th century.  To preserve much of the history of the city, decaying buildings are modernized in the inside, but the facades are saved.   

There are seven hills and to get from one side to another, you have to go up up up, twisting and winding, then down down down.  We took a taxi to lunch with Christine and Barry, and let me say that the driver and Mr. Toad know how to do a wild ride.  Crammed into the back of the taxi, up against the door, I was holding it so it wouldn't pop open.  Driving on such narrow streets at highway speeds gives one a thrill up the leg (or maybe down if you can't hold your water).  More about this later.

The buildings in the old city were painted mostly yellow and pink.  Many had tile on the facade.  There were trolleys and tuk tuks running all over town, and we saw funiculars that go up the steep hillsides.  Many buildings were covered with beautiful "graffiti;"  I call it art.  

There were numerous plazas with statues and fountains.  We even saw a castle!  The roads and sidewalks were paved in patterns with black basalt and white limestone; one needs to carefully watch where one plants a foot as there were quite a few missing cobblestones.  

Both Michael and I had escort duty today.   I remembered the Tower of Belem from my previous visit, a fortress built out in the water to protect the city from the bad guys coming in from the ocean.  To me, this looks like a huge sand castle.  This also marks the spot from where Vasco de Gama set sail on a voyage of discovery around the Cape of Good Hope to India in 1497.  

I also saw the stunning Monument to Discovery, with Henry the Navigator pointing the way.  

I toured the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Jeronomos Monastery.  This is the resting place of Vasco da Gama.  I don't mean to demean this, but I have seen enough elaborate and gaudy churchs to last a life time.  Yawn. 

The highlight of the day was snack time.  Belem cakes!!!!  Oh, how wonderful these delicious pastries are.  I remembered how good they were from our last trip; and I was not disappointed.  A delicious custard in the flakiest of crusts.  I have never had anything that had so many taste sensations.  Smooth silky custard, with the light flakes of crust that melt in your mouth.  I admit it -- I had two.  I brought one home for Michael (and another one for me -- hehehe). 

That was Saturday.  On Sunday, we made arrangements to meet Christine and Barry at the shuttle stop at 12:30 pm (they disembarked the ship in the morning).  They wandered around on one side of the drop off point and we wandered the other side (well Michael wandered, I sat on a bench in the shade).  About to give up on finding them, I saw them go around a corner and sent Michael to catch them.  Christine does her homework about local restaurants, like in Venice and Singapore, and now Lisbon.  We took the aforementioned taxi ride to a local (not touristy) fish restaurant.  Michael was skeptical we would find it since the taxi driver didn't know it and we didn't have the address.  It turned out to be a  wonderful  adventure.  Sea Me, Rua do Loreto, 21-1200-241 Lisbon; phone 213 461 564/65; www.peixariamoderna.com 

My lunch before eating:

My lunch after eating:

After lunch, we walked uphill to the historic Sao Roque Church.  It was built between 1590 and 1619, and is one of the earliest Jesuit churches in the world.  Michael went there yesterday on his excursion, so I will let him tell you about this himself.  I found it extremely gaudy.  Christine and Barry decided to go back to their hotel because Christine all of a sudden didn't feel well. 

We then walked down down down very slippery cobblestone sidewalks to get to the shuttle.  I survived the day, but have escort duty the next 7 ports, plus bridge games in the afternoons.  Hope I last!  It was back to the ship for a shower and dinner, and get used to new people.

Bonus photos:

Funicular

 

 

Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, The Azores, Portugal

What a mouth full for the name of a place out in the middle of nowhere.  Located 1,000 miles from the nearest land, Portugal, this group of nine windswept volcanic islands is a green oasis in the vast North Atlantic Ocean.  The Azores is the western most point in Europe.  I had heard of the Azores, but did not ever expect to visit here.  What could be here in the cold and stormy North Atlantic?  No ships dock here between October and May due to the nasty weather and water conditions.  The only way off the island is by airplane.  I was quite surprised what I found here.

After five straight sea days that were thankfully calm, it was nice to see land again.  We arrived at 8am and was pleased not to hear the bow thrusters revving up like on our last ship.   Michael and I had breakfast together for the first time on the cruise!  We didn't have escort duty today, but we did purchase an afternoon tour.   Here is a picture of the new marina and a view of the city taken from the ship.

This morning we decided to do a walk-about in town to see what there was to see.  The day started overcast and cool, but it was humid.  It didn't take me long to start perspiring as everything is always uphill from the water.  As is typical of old European cities, the old town of Ponta Delgada is a maze of narrow and crooked streets going every-which way.  What looks like an alley is really a street.  Prices for clothing and shoes were quite reasonable.  We walked along the waterfront, saw the Gateway Arch, saw several churches and generally just walked up one street and down another.  The streets and sidewalks were made of black, gray and white volcanic stones that formed intricate patterns.  One must carefully watch where one puts a foot; these streets are ankle twisters.  

After about an hour, I gave up.  I am concerned about my knees lasting for the entire trip.  I had injections in both knees before we left, but the muscles and connective tissues around the knees is what is causing most of the pain.  Therefore, I plan on "husbanding" my resources.  I miss my massage therapist!  

We returned to the ship for lunch and to pick up the tour.  Once on the bus, our guide told us all about life on the island.  There are nine islands in the archipelago.  The smallest is eight square miles and Sao Miguel, the one we were on, is about 35 miles long by 7 miles wide.  Founded in 1427 by the  Portuguese, adventurers soon followed from the mainland and began to cultivate the islands.  As trade between the American colonies and Europe grew in importance, the archipelago became a popular stopover for ships making the long and arduous Atlantic crossing.  The archipelago was strategically located and hosted allied air bases and was a resupply harbor for the navy during WWII.

The island is often compared to Ireland, known for its green and lush flora.  There isn't much fauna here as there are no natural predators.  Rabbits are considered the local wildlife.  There are many national parks and geo-tourism and outdoor recreation is abundant.  According to our guide, the island is pretty self-sufficient except for the need to import fuel.   They are farmers, and grow lots of potatoes, garlic and sugar beets.  Fishing is the number two industry.  Cattle raising is the number one industry.  We saw cows laying about everywhere.  There was so much natural pasture land and here these cows were just laying down on the job.  I thought cows ate all the time.  These cows looked fat and happy.  Apparently, the cow is the national symbol as every gift shop sold T-shirts, mugs, aprons, etc. with cows on them.     

 

We saw rock walls everywhere.  No need to build fences when you can just pick up the volcanic rock and pile it as high as you want.  And it's free!  It is everywhere!  

Our tour took us up a narrow but well maintained curvy road to the rim of a dormant volcano to view Sete Cidades, home of the spectacular crater lakes.  The higher we climbed, the more forested the land became.  When we arrived at the top, it was foggy, but we could still see what we came to see (the pictures aren't the greatest).  We saw three craters within a larger crater!  The lakes were in one crater, a village was in another, and pastoral land was in the third.  Awesome!  According to legend, the twin lakes were given their distinct color when a princess and her lover had to say farewell.  The copious tears they shed gave one lake its blue color and the other lake its green color.  In reality, it is one lake; the green color is caused by the reflection of the surrounding green trees and the blue color comes from the reflection from the sky.  Sometimes fairy tales are more satisfying.

 

Earlier I alluded to the comparison of the Azores to Ireland when it comes to green.  Yes, this place has plenty of green.  Bright green, dark green, in between green.  The climate is humid and it rains regularly so every hill and empty patch of land is lush and green.  The azaleas were in bloom, the pink breaking up the green.   I did not see any trash or graffiti anywhere; this is a very clean island, and is worth taking more time to explore.

Day 4 Sailing on the Atlantic Ocean

Are we living right?  This is our fourth day sailing on the north Atlantic Ocean and we have had a smooth ride so far.  The air has been cool and its been cloudy.   No ferocious storms out here in the middle of nowhere.

We have been so busy, that there hasn't been time to write or do anything but bridge.  I just wanted to let my loved ones know that we are OK.   We get up in the morning, shower and dress, have breakfast, and then the classes begin  We have 36 beginners, a new record for us.  They are progressing very well and they LOVE Michael.  Next comes the intermediate class that is averaging 9 to 10 tables -- that is 36 to 40 people.  We did not bring enough handouts, so I have been putting our little portable printer on overdrive making copies.   

I made a big mistake, that I won't repeat again.  I came up with the bright idea to premake all the practice boards for the intermediate lessons.  That is making 27 extra boards each day.  Guess what we do after the intermediate lesson?  Shuffle and deal.....

Then it's on to a quick lunch and back to the bridge lounge for the game.  The game goes anywhere from 11 to 15 tables each day (that's 60 people) -- literally a full house.  We spend a lot of time getting the people organized, getting the game up and running.  Yesterday, I had to play with a lady that had no business playing in a duplicate game -- what a long afternoon I had.  Michael and I played together on day 2 and actually scored master points.  Its a tight rope that we walk doing this because if we play too well and win or if we screw up and do lousy, it does't look good for us.  

After the game is over and the scoring is done, it is time to make the boards for the next day.  That is another 26 boards to shuffle and deal.  Then its time for dinner, which can take two hours.  

We have had four time changes since we left Miami, losing an hour each time.  This is really messing up my sleep schedule.  We also found out that we have to work every other port day.  

We have one more day at sea before we get to the Azores.  

So there you have it -- what our days at sea look like.  

Bermuda and my Birthday

Two days off, an overnight in Bermuda, no work, and one quiet night when there is no show.  Yippee!!!!  And, today is my birthday.  

We anchored at Hamilton Bermuda, which is located off the Carolina coast.  There isn't much to this 21 square miles atoll that is shaped like a fishhook.  Over 95% of the land is developed with a population of 65,000 residents, making this one very crowded place.  There are over 400 recorded shipwrecks around the island -- ooohhhh, the dreaded Bermuda Triangle ( Michael bought a souvenir t-shirt of this).  First settled in 1609, it offers a unique blend of British tradition and colorful island charm.  Decorative pastel homes are perched upon the limestone hills that only top 250 feet, many of them lovingly restored to their former glory.  The old homes were built with many windows for ventilation, and limestone roof tops were terraced in order to collect rainfall as there is no water on the island.  The climate is tropical, and the national flower is mildew -- hahaha.  

There are numerous bays and inlets, perfect for idling away a sunny afternoon.  Mangroves abound.  And here is a piece of trivia for you:  one parrot fish produces one ton of sand a year (that's its poop).  It is a protected fish here.  Bermuda is know for its pink sand beaches, which I never got to see.  

There is only one export from Bermuda, and that is Gosslin Rum.  The big business here is the reinsurance business.  Everything here, including water, is imported.  Tariffs on imports is skyhigh, with a 100% tax on cars. Thus, living here is extremely expensive.  Due to inadequate roads, families are only allowed on car.  With the import tax on cars, who can afford more than one anyway?  There are some very old and wealthy families here, dating from the early 1800s.  Gas is $8.50 per gallon, so you see a lot of motorscooters.  

I escorted an excursion by boat around The Great Sound.   It was partly cloudy and the air was quite pleasant and it wasn't too humid (thank goodness).  We took a local ferry from the ship to town as ship tenders were not allowed.  This was approximately a 45 minutes ride.  I saw Michael on shore and I waved to him, noticing that there were no packages in his hands.  A girl can hope for a little bauble for her birthday, can't she?  He had gone over to town earlier as he did not have a tour.   I'll forgive him as I guess a Mediterranean cruise is a pretty nice deal.  

We spent two hours viewing some beautiful homes and pretty aqua water.  And that's about it.  Here is a picture of one of the nice houses we saw.  Notice the roof that is used for collecting water.

The pictures I will be using in this blog will be pretty low resolution as I don't have unlimited internet, and it is very slow.  I will replace them when I get home.  As I write this, sitting in my cabin, I am listenig to the drummer banging away.  sigh....

I didn't have time to walk around town as we had dinner reservations at the Prego restaurant on the ship so I immediately returned and dressed for dinner.  We have met some very nice and interesting people on board, so the cocktail hour was enjoyable.  It seems as though people do read the Reflections newsletter; my name was listed today under the birthday wishes column.  Many people came up to me and wished me a happy birthday.  

We had a very nice Italian dinner with Barry and Christine.  They arranged for a birthday cake, and the entire restaurant sang happy birthday.  What a nice way to end the day.

Bridge = Work

The first day of a new cruise means a lot of work because we need to unpack the two heavy and huge boxes that were sent to us at the hotel and assess the equipment, get familiar with the room, and plan for an unknown amount of students.  We also have to unpack bags in our room because if we didn't do it right away, there was no room to walk around with 4 large suitcases and carry-on bags as we only have 216 sq. ft.   And I have to get my sea legs back.  I am not ashamed to admit to a bit of mal de mer this first night as the seas were a bit lumpy.  Plus, I was exhausted from the past week of packing and traveling.  We fell into bed and morning came around too soon.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Bridge Around the World with Michael and Beverly Walker.  We have our work cut out for us on this trip.  We started with six tables of beginners, no microphone, and a room that was way too hot.  We ran out of handouts as we did not expect so many beginners.  And then the intermediate group came in... by this time, I am sweating from running around cleaning up from the beginners and getting the intermediates settled.  We had nine tables for intermediates.  Clean up from the class and prepare for the game in the afternoon.  I don't remember if we even had lunch?!  

The afternoon game on the first day is like a chinese fire drill -- people need to be partnered up, and it is noisy while this is going on.  We had 13 tables and getting everyone's name and ACBL numbers and entering them into the computer is time consuming, especially when you can't read their writing.  Michael was busy with director calls.  I made nametags.  After scoring the game, it was time to clean up and make the boards for the next day.   

In addition to game duties, we also had a meet and greet the instructors at 9 am, a meeting with the cruise director at noon, and a meeting with the excursion people. 

And all I wanted to do was take a shower and go to sleep. But that was not to be.  We had dinner with Barry and Christine, a couple we met on the 2013 World Cruise.  It was fun to catch up on what's happened since we last saw them, including knee surgery for each one of us except Michael.  After dinner, we attended the 8:30pm show because it was the music of Billy Joel.  Great music, very enjoyable show.  And guess what?  We got to hear the show a second time -- from our bed!  Yep, we are right over the stage where the band plays.  

Day 2 of bridge settled down a bit, and now everyone knows the drill.  I have heard so many complements about Michael's teaching -- they love him.  Of course!!!!  We finally found a few minutes after the game and meetings to go outside and get a breathe of fresh air.  

Dinner and a show.  Bed, ah sweet bed.  I am a person who has trouble sleeping, but this night I was out even when the band played for the second show.