Category Archives: Travel

Sea Day 4/9

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

After having been reminded by Ron that I could track the location of the ship by Marine Tracker (or one of several other options available just for anyone in App from their favorite on-line source), I decided to take advantage of this cruise line’s open bridge policy.

 

At this point, there are 119 passengers and ~190 crew. There are 22 nationalities among the crew and a good dozen among the guests. Windstar, like many shipping & cruise lines, provides training space for maritime cadets. The current person is from the UK. His previous stint at sea was on a cable layer. The program alternates between several months in the classroom with a ~ 3 month stint at sea. One of the bridge officers mentioned that one of his rotations as a cadet had been on a Windstar vessel He had enjoyed the passenger ships more than bulk haulers or tankers (two of his other opportunities) and had decided to head into this particular segment of the sailing industry.

The chairs are new, the cabinets older. The bridge is almost entirely electronic to include monitoring and course charting. They do have paper and sextants as an emergency backup (and taking the early morning readings falls to the cadet).
I think this portion of the deck (being above new passenger cabins) was part of the stretch –

with the usual deck chairs, mini-dipping pool (I can hardly dignify it with the label “swimming pool”). The hot tub seems to be a lot more popular.
and then I headed back to my audiobook and stitching…

another ~1000 stitches means that 1/12 pages are totally complete and I have a really good start on the second page. (4 across/3 down)

Barbara Ana’s Dreaming of Klimt – complete. It turned out to be slighting under 300 stitches left rather than the 500 that I thought.

Sea Day 3/9 – sunshine and breeze

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Sea, sky, and breeze is what I get when I open the French Balcony doors. There is enough space to stand there, barely.

 

And, since the network seems to be letting me upload photos this morning – I am providing you with three views – from the door, from the “balcony” end and of note – one of the walls in the sitting area is mirrored. Which also serves to prove that I am actually on the ship.. I mentioned before that Windstar, in an effort to do? increase profitability? make the ship more comfortable? – whatever – had “stretched the ship. I am now in the front original portion of the ship. The bathroom has also been completely refurbished. Strangely enough, the carpet hasn’t been updated and a lot of the furniture is worn… 

Beyond that – I was able to connect with YouTube for a short while this morning which let me see the Las Palmas live feed. Then everyone got up..

I am ignoring the lecturer – for those who are not technology inclined – learning about smart phones might be a good idea… and how to avoid slow, expensive and totally messed up screens..

There was also cross stitching – I worked on three projects. I should finish the Barbara Ana – Dreaming of Klimt tomorrow – less than 500 stitches to go.

The last part of “There is no Planet B” by Cloudsfactory.net dropped yesterday. 200 stitches done and another 2k to finish. 

I also put more stitches into my LongDog sampler. It is the quickest stitch of the batch since it is. monochromatic

.

Now, the other thing I would really like is if Nitka posted the “Winter Dog” so that I could stitch the last of the Four Seasons before the end of the cruise….

Sea Day 2/9 – middle of Atlantic

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

As far as I can tell we are somewhere between the Canaries and the Caribbean. Unlike many of the other cruise lines I have been on, there is no charted course with an indication of current location easily accessible from the in-room TV. Yes, I could wander down and look at the chart next to reception but I really don’t care all that much. Out in the middle of the ocean is more than obvious from the extremely poor connectivity that I am experiencing. 

After attempting to upload photos for about 30 minutes, I gave it up as not worth doing. In case you are wondering if I am attempting this at an obviously busy time – the answer is no. Everyone else seems to be at dinner.

I spent the morning of my day in the forward lounge on Deck 8.

 

1000+ stitches into the Longdog and the afternoon back in my cabin working on the Barbara Ana. The first is 11% complete, the second now 82% done (and, in this case, it is all the fiddly stitching to go).

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow predict to be more of the same!

Long crossing 1/9

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And today marks the start of the real crossing. On this ship it will be nine sea days in a row till we get to Bridgetown. In my world that means eight days of stitching (and probably watching a bunch of CDC CME videos + quizzes) and the last day of an hour of packing followed by more stitching.

Oh, yes, and audio books.

Over the next couple of days I will try to get organized and get some pictures posted of various ship areas as well, since this is not a ship or line with which most of you are familiar. Like any other line, there are the loyal fanatics and the casual passengers. The second group picks for time, cost, and convenience.

So that is about it for the day! Tonight we get back the first of our hours. At 12 knots/hr I am figuring every other day for the time changes…

Another 503 on Dreaming of Klimt which leaves me at 75% complete

and 971 on You Belong to me (taken in the evening without a flash) meaning a “whopping” 9% complete.

This gives me tomorrow for these two as well.

Time for dinner and sleep.

Four Step

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That is how many you need between you and the person in front of you to meet the 2 meter requirement on the escalators at El Corté Inglas. Located toward the left (west) along the shore from the main harbor then several blocks up the hill, the department store is a massive eight storied block. Leaving the ship about 1030, it didn’t take me long to hike the ~1.5 km. 

Starting from the top floor (furniture and cafeteria with excellent wifi if anyone traveling needs to know..) I worked my way down floor by floor. Like any other major department store just about anywhere in the developed world, there were all the major clothing brands that one would expect. Also electronics ranging from e-readers to large screens and a good smattering of games/gaming consoles. My goal was two fold; I needed to find at least one short sleeve shirt, and notions. The last time I really went looking through this particular store prior to this trip was in about 2016. At that point, on the top floor located near the linens and towels there was a small but good section of knitting, sewing, and stitching supplies. Not so anymore. I am going to assume from my sample of two stores, both large and otherwise well stocked. That this particular department wasn’t all that popular or profitable and so no longer exists.  I can say that most definitively after starting at the top and walking every floor down through S4 (sub main 4). There wasn’t even a repair kit in the Supermercado.

Ah well. And as you would expect, this is not exactly the right time of year for short sleeve shirts, especially those with buttons. I wasn’t looking for logo t-shirts, I wasn’t looking for running gear, both of which I found.  So, quietly discouraged, I worked my way back through the city on my second errand of souvenir magnets and was slightly more successful. I didn’t find any as nice as Funchal, but acceptable and distributed all but two by the end of the day. 

I went back to Candles – the fancy version of the normal Veranda restaurant on Deck 7 for dinner and tried the vegetarian options which were excellent. I think I have now consumed both enough food and coffee to fuel me all the way back across the Atlantic Ocean. 

We undocked and headed out promptly at 2200. No detour via Las Palmas this time, so if you want to see/watch lava just head to YouTube and watch the live TV feeds. Same with Iceland. 

On the stitching front – I added 1068 stitches to the monochrome pattern and another 500 to the Barbara Ana. Not a bad day at all considering. 

 

Sea Day #5 – more rock and roll – Star Legend

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

We left Funchal last night and have spent today steaming (well, this is not exactly a steamship but you know what I mean) toward Tenerife where we should dock tomorrow morning.  I had plans for tomorrow, most of which involved a nice walk and stopping at El Corté Inglais while I was at it. Tomorrow is Sunday. So far, I haven’t been particularly impressed that either Spain or Portugal really care about the old fashion Sunday closing laws that are in effect still in many European countries but we will see…

I spent a good portion of the day in the Deck 8 forward lounge working on

as well as the Barbara Ana dreaming of Klimt.

The passenger group is totally different this time. A more international mix which is not surprising since a number of them winter on various Caribbean Islands. Obviously, a ship is an elegant and comfortable way to go home. And actually significantly cheaper than airfare once you add in the luggage that many of these people brought along. Makes sense. I do take a bit for more six months as apposed to four weeks.

Dinner was a lovely salad.

 

potato jalapeño soup

and seared sesame crusted tuna

I disappoint the staff. I have been eating by myself and reading a book on my phone. Dinner than way is 45 minutes. If I share a table with others it takes 2 hours. (why would I want to cut into my reading or stitching time???)

Black Friday – Star Legend

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This commentary is brought to you by the miracle of too much coffee… Anyway. For those of you who are not US the following may be interesting. Everyone else, feel free to skip down several paragraphs.

The background of Black Friday stems from the US retail industry which, on the Friday after US Thanksgiving  finally saw enough customers and sales to transition their year from being in the red (loss) to being in the black (making a profit). The trend was helped by the fact that most other US businesses give their employees that Friday off work. Traditionally as well, it was also the first day of the Xmas holiday season. New decorations, people shopping for presents on a day off etc. Over the years the “Black Friday” has evolved into competing sales and attempts to lure in people with their money. No longer restricted to retail stores, the practice with the accompanying sales has extended into the on-line sales community.

As it turns out, the phenomenon has also snuck out of the US and into Europe. I can’t speak to other areas of the world. I find it extremely disturbing to find “Black Sales” and “Black Friday Sales” signs in the windows of shops in Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands. None of the shop personnel had a clue as to what it meant, just that it had become a “thing” in recent years.

My email has been bombarded with sales and offers. It might be a chance for a merchant to clear out stock that hasn’t moved, but really – that discount might just leave them in Red November.

On to other things – we docked just after lunch in Funchal, Madeira. Unlike the last time we were here, the sun was shining. So much so that I completely ignored the fact that the clouds floating by had rather dark underbellies. I didn’t bother with jacket or take an umbrella. Just walking into the town to see if I could find another notions store (no, none were tourists could easily get to) and to find some magnets. No, I don’t need any, but it turns out that crew members on this ship collect them. My favorite barista hasn’t managed to get off ship in the last couple of ports. It was easy enough to snag some in one of the souvenir shops.

And, I didn’t get too wet considering that the light sprinkles started just after I left the port.

and a view of the Star Legend from the city.

otherwise, it was stitching this morning and I am now contemplating a nap before supper…

Thanksgiving – Star Legend

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

and yes, there was turkey. Also gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. All of it was quite tasty. I skipped the pie.

back in time a moment –

this is the central square – blown up to max as we sailed by

and these are the right and left portions of the bridge we sailed under

and, of course, this is the P&O giant that we followed. and yes, she did clear the bridge. Barely.

and my day? Spent checking on George as he made his flight in Frankfurt which wound up significantly delayed. He was rescued by daughter #2 at SFO accompanied by what I think was a pretty tired pup from a day spent charging around at the beach,

Otherwise, I finished Woodland Dreams – Barbara Ana ~5500 stitches. called for DMC on 18 ct Aida

and added another 550 stitches to Dreaming of Klimt by the same designer.

 

and, just because I know that some of you will understand – I managed to hit a whooping 11kb/sec download speed on a file this afternoon. Which goes a long way to why I am going with fewer and smaller pictures as well as short replies..

Lisbon coming and going – Star Legend

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

We arrived just short of the bridge leading into the center of Lisbon @0530 this morning. Once the pilot boarded we proceeded up the river to our docking location.


George departed late this afternoon for Frankfurt with a follow-on flight in the morning. I decided to get off as well. A brief internet search revealed a notions shop about 1.5 km from the ship. According to the website, it opened at 0900.



After bidding George goodbye, I walked along the river, past a huge P&O cruise ship, a military installation, and a museum before heading inland a couple of blocks. I found the shop complete with a neatly lettered sign informing all that the hours had changed due to the pandemic and would now open at 1000.

So I sat in the central square watching people and admiring the architecture. There are buildings with tiled fronts, those with tall columns plus the mandatory seasoning of religious buildings and statues of various dignitaries/heroes/whomever (like the one below from 1833).

You would also know it Portugal by the sidewalks as there were various mosaic patterns everywhere.

– 

 

 

From the central square, it was an easy hike through the arch and down the main pedestrian zone with all the usual suspects for shops (and no, there was absolutely no competition with Spain for shoe stores. I only saw a couple).

About 2-3 streets up I made a left at the street car tracks and found the Notions shop.

Inside it was exactly like I expected . A counter ran around three sides of the shop. Behind the counter, stacked to the ceiling were bins of buttons/fasterns/yarns/threads, trims and any other supply you could name. Fancy scissors and tools were in the glass cases below the counter. Since this was what I had expected, I had a list of my missing DMC colors. There were three clerks behind the counters fetching/showing and discussing the wares. My clerk found four colors, the fifth would be in tomorrow – but I won’t be here. Oh well. I happily purchased my thread, took another delighted look around the shop and wandered back toward the ship. 

I have been relaxing this afternoon. Apparently the ship will be slightly over 1/3 occupied for the transatlantic sail. There are 29 of us remaining from the previous cruise and about 90 boarded today. Unlike most other cruise lines, if you were on the previous cruise, you don’t have to do a repeat on the muster drill.

We will be sailing in about 10 minutes and I want to watch from my “French balcony….

Sea Day #3 – Rock & Roll – Star Legend

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Having sailed on more large ships than small, I forget how reactive to wind and wave are the smaller ships. The height of waves that would not budge a any ship sailed by Norwegian, Royal, MSC are causing this particular vessel to bob and weave along with it’s forward momentum.

In the middle of this, I was contacted by the front office to inform me that I could move early to my new cabin… Huh? The cabin that your home office emailed me about that I would have for both legs of the trip? That one? Turns out it has been vacant this past leg and they were never informed…. So that is on me, I should have brought the email to their attention days ago.

OTOH – we were on Deck 4 in around the center of the ship. It was incredibly stable. Not so my new location on Deck 5. We are four cabins back from the bow of the ship and I can really feel the movement. Certainly a huge amount more than I notice even going down to Deck 3. Deck 3 is where the med center is located. We all experienced the swab up the nose again since the Portuguese authorities require testing on everyone who is entering Portugal.

I didn’t include this particular photo yesterday. I needed time to think about it. As we came down the mountain in the gondolas, there were a few, rare buildings that were falling down. Something that I found unexpected. The land is limited and I would have expected rebuilding. Whether directly or from sale of the property and someone else building fancy and new.   –

but traveling over several buildings with no roofs, walls standing and vegetation well started inside took me back to more than one helicopter flight in the Balkans. One of the major ways to force out neighbors during the Balkan Conflict was to force out the family at gun point, turn on the gas, close al the windows and doors, followed by leaving candles burning in the attic. The build up of natural gas would happen, the house would explode and burn, leaving only walls…

Sometimes mental connections aren’t always positive. I think it is time to take a nap…

 

Madeira (Funchal) – Star Legend

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We sailed in through mist and rain yesterday . Not a completely auspicious start when you add in a delay inflicted by the port authorities as they didn’t have an available berth at the previously agreed upon arrival time.  Since we weren’t scheduled to leave till mid-day or so today, I suppose someone thought that would make up for the delay? Who knows – since in any case, it was Sunday which kind of interfere with much of the normal walking around port city entertainment.

I did mention the mist and rain – right?

Anyway, it seemed a good use for the raincoat which I had dragged along since California. There was only one other ship in port from a line which I didn’t recognize (Nicko – link here), which we thought at the time was probably German speaking.

Today we shared the port with one of the Aida ships as well as …. Even though the sun was shining, I decided just to stay put. Still not sure it was the best decision, but there you have it.

So anyway our wanderings yesterday – Madeira – given the fact that it was both damp and Sunday there was a limited amount of options in the mid afternoon. I wasn’t interested in roasted chestnuts, nor beverages.  We decided to walk all the way along the harbor to the old fort at the far end and then work our way back.

 

We decided to take the cable car up the hill just as something to do..

We decided that there much be a serious building code which extends beyond what might seem reasonable considering this is an island. There is such a uniformity in building construction that extends to the outer wall color (white->pale cream) and the roofs which are tiled @99%+ in red.

We could see our ship off in the distance, docked the closest to the city of the vessels in port.

Looking down at roads winding back and forth up the hill

there was a steady stream of gondolas, most of them empty going both up and down

and as we headed into the lower station on return, of course the rain increased…

Then of course, there is the fish constructed completely of recycled materials..

We are sailing out as I send this. Tomorrow is a sea day as we head northeast toward Lisbon.

Las Palmas – Star Legend

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No  – we did not call at Las Palmas. But since the weather was decent last night, we sailed past at a very slow speed.

(today is day 1of2 at Maderia so photos from there tomorrow)

The rest of the post is pictures taken from Deck 8.

 

the moon starting to rise

at about 1930

 

From a distance, the glow from the lava reflected up against the clouds and smoke.

which you can see changing gradually as we moved closer

. to

and finally being able to see both lava spewing, then flowing toward the ocean.

La Gomera – Star Legend

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Sunrise on our way into port

 

La Gomera is a smallish island off the path of the larger cruise ships and tourist opportunities. The island boasts a population of around 22k according to our onboard tour sales pitch person with San Sebastian (the main town) numbering around 8200.  It is also known for having a national forest untouched by imports/gardening and carries a UNESCO designation.  

The island itself seems to be mostly exposed rock with layer upon layer laid down at different times.  We strolled along the pier and into the town which has but a few long, narrow streets, a minimum number of shops (and ONLY two shoe stores that I saw!).  

San Sebastian

We stopped at the oldest building, the tower which is reported to be a repository  of some of the earliest documents (closed – as was the archeological museum). 

the tower from the 1500s

and the door probably from the same era

So instead it seems that we are making a tour of Central Markets – 

Central Market

and the associated Supermercado provided yet more chocolate bars. 

We walked a few more streets, stopped for a beverage

with massive older trees providing shade

 

then headed back to the ship.  In the time since we had left the ship – the Sea Cloud Spirit had docked –

Sailing ship in the $$$$$ tradition

 

I will conclude with a picture for Beverly –

strata upon strata

since, from a geological perspective this island has to be extremely interesting…

 

 

Tenerife – Star Legend

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Today’s port is Santa Cruz de Tenerife which is another of the Spanish possessions in the Canary Islands. Anyone who has much cruising out of Lisbon, Barcelona, the UK has probably been here. It is also a favorite on many of the trans-Atlantic routes.  We shared the port today with the same Aida ship as before. And, just because you can’t have enough Germans around (sorry Christian)…. there was Mein Schiff 4.

Yes, that is right. A cruise line that doesn’t name it’s ships but numbers them. I am sorry to say that they have purchased at least one of the Royal Caribbean smaller ships.

Anyway.  The port area is flat and well signed for those of us who might possibly not be able to understand that painted walkways with arrows lead you out of the port and into the city.

Pointing toward the city – follow the blue line…

Signs in the other direction clearly point toward the cruise ships. Having said that, we watched people head happily across a parking lot. I am hoping there was a vehicle waiting as that short cut had obvious, high wire fences to keep either people in or the riff-raff out.

This is an extremely walkable city. but the volcanic origin mountains rise steeply right behind the main portion of town.

 

 

The dragon head marks the port plaza

I thought I remembered a museum along the port toward the tram tracks. The building was there, but there were no signs. And the building was now completely covered – with

 

Wild flowers on the roof

 

I was going to comment before but didn’t. I have no clue why there seems to be such a Spanish obsession with shoes/shoe stores. There are more shoe stores than there are souvenir shops. Along the pedestrian zone both yesterday and today the ratio of shoe stores to anything else varied between 1:3 to 1:4. Sorry, I simply do not understand that kind of fascination with shoes. You can only wear one pair at time and why would anyone need more than 3-4 total pairs to have a good life? Running/hiking shoes, every day shoes, maybe a pair of dress shoes. Add in a pair if there is something you need particularly for work.

[Off soap box – I did not inherit a shoe gene]

Let us rather turn our thoughts toward ceramics – and the original version of poster ads on the wall –

1/3 along this street

 

We found the Central Market.

Entry to the Central Market

 

Unlike our last stop – this one was bustling with customers visiting green grocers, spice shops, butchers, cheese merchants, flowers and a dozen other specialty selections of goods.  I ended up at SuperDino (yes, it is a real store chain) which was downstairs at the market. After the discussion yesterday, I Just couldn’t resist.

chocolate

 

Since neither of us were really in the mood for a tram ride (over the mountains to the other side of the island is a lovely town and the scenery is interesting on the way), we headed back to the ship for a late lunch.

 

 

And, if you are not interested in cross-stitch you can stop reading right about now….

11/12 CloudsFactory SAL

The pattern is called – There is no Planet B. Each one of the creatures is endangered. This months portion are the two top left birds + the words. About 3k worth of stitches of so….

Lanzarote – Star Legend

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It seems I have been here before, the most recent being Feb 2012). The Eldest was along, the ship was the NCL Jade. I did two loops on her out of Barcelona at the time. There may have been a stop here in 2007 when I did my first transAtlantic (Nov) which was on the MSC Sinphonia (looked that up as well). No, my memory is not that good, it is just the advantage of having run an online blog since 2007 (and an email list since 1998). My photos didn’t transfer when I changed servers in ~2015/6 since the German site had to be paid by bank transfer (which I was no longer going to have). I still have all those photos, and should get around to uploading them.

But anyway, that time we took  a ship’s tour (complete with camels) up to the top of the most recent volcano (~1730)

the extent of the volcano

 

in the Canaries prior to last months eruption at La Palma. You could still feel the heat walking across the ground, rising from bore holes. For a certain price, you could have your meal cooked on a grill lowered less than 10 meters down a shaft. I skipped all of that but was still impressed. We saw field after field of lava stone, vineyards growing in slightly dished impressions in the ground. I really didn’t see anything of Accerrife (the main city) at that time.

It is the most northern of the Canary Islands, belonging to Spain. Follow the link to Wiki if you are interested.

Rather than being near the city, we docked a few km out. Unlike some of the mid-range cruise lines, Windstar provided a shuttle bus into town. Our intention was to ride in and then walk back. That turned out to not be possible as the last 1.5 km before the port was along side a major road and completely lacked sidewalk or safe shoulder outside the barriers. There are no stop lights, but a system of interlocking traffic circles. Enough said on that!

The plan was simply to walk – which we did past stores (hello? junk and flamingos…)

La Playa

 

past a small inner area featuring

the whale skeleton

and out along the causeway to a fort which dates from the first days of the islands inhabitation.

Drawbridge

the fort

 

the inside of the fort is a simple but lovely museum (and I really wish that my Spanish existed).  But there were sections devoted to the history of the island, the produce (fish, dyes, aloe) as well as the Spanish and pirates…

the old map

dye stuffs

 

From there we walked through the main pedestrian zone, stopped into a shop or two (I really should have purchased chocolate). And enjoyed the sunshine before wandering back to the shuttle bus and the ship.

 

and a lovely day

Sea Day #2 – Star Legend

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Today was spent at sea.

So I thought I should probably discuss cabins. This particular line wishes to describe them all as suites. Whatever. 270 sq feet (I suppose I should stop and calculate it out in real money) is a nicely sized cabin.

 

from the “porthole”

from the door

 

We spent the day just relaxing. Windstar, like all other cruise lines, has it’s loyalty club – named the Yacht Club. It was the usual (the small ensemble played too loud, drinks were served, munchies as well) followed by the recognition of the most frequent cruisers on board. If I am not mistaken the most “senior” couple have 432 cruises (not days, cruises) on Windstar… (for those of you who sail RCCL – Mario eat your heart out).

The highlight of my day was finishing

Autumn Cat

 

by Barbara Ana. It is the 3rd of 4 with just a small bit of backstitching remaining.

Gibraltar – Star Legend

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(this may be a day of adding photos later – they do not seem to want to upload)

We sailed in to the Gibraltar harbor just before 0800 this morning. It is a planned short day (departures scheduedl for 1300 as it is a fair distance to the Canary Islands).

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is very, very English. There are numerous named buildings and evidence of its military heritage every where.

Classic sign

 

The fortifications are still present, canons (non-functional) abound. There is a Marks & Spencer  (which no longer carries notions) but it does have  Scottish shortbread  and a variety of teas in its small gift ares. The  the yarn shop I found years ago has vanished. Adverts abound for Fish & Chips and the prices are all in Pounds Sterling (Euros accepted but you don’t want the exchange rate).

We walked the length of the pedestrian zone, stopping at Trafalgar Cemetery (members of Nelson’s crew are interned here, but his body was returned to England).

the gravestones remain

but only two have small indications of who is buried there. The rest, being limestone have long since errored. Further down is the gondola station – by which you can take the car up to the top of “the rock.” The last time I was here,  I hiked up, avoiding the monkeys (excuse me, Barbary apes) to see some amazing views. (If you want to see pictures – the largest number are here – from a visit in 2015.

The theater wall

was finished in 2017 by a London artist by the name of Ben Fine who apparently does a lot of street “sign” painting.

We also passed what appeared to be a huge, consolidated school, an amazing amount of new construction (why it surprises me that new buildings and apartment complexes have proliferated I don’t know. The land is limited, so building up is the only option.)

There were also dozens of dogs out for a stroll with their owners following along at the other end of the lead. As an acknowledgment of how common…

Just in case it wasn’t obvious that dogs don’t belong in government buildings

 

We were back on the ship in time for lunch and to watch the sail out from the harbor and passage through the straits.

 

And, my days end –

Meet Sumer Dog

This is the second of four seasonal animals by Barbara Ana. They were freebies from the Nitka.ru site to go along with the full Four Seasons Kit (not yet started).

Cadiz – Star Legend

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Following our usual pattern, we left the ship at a reasonable time and went for a walk. Or hike, depends on how you look at it.

(Note, I wanted to go to El Corte Inglais, only 1.5 miles from the ship along a major road. No sweat, right? And no joy either since they no longer had the notions area that I remembered from years ago, Too much to ask, right?)

Anyway, it seemed like a much better deal at that point to just walk around the old city as being a whole lot more interesting that the new portion, even if the suspension bridge is terribly long and a joy to behold.

Cadiz is one of those historical cities that one feels obligated to visit. Dating from the Phoenician times, it claims to be the oldest continuously occupied city in Europe. Certainly it has changed hands numerous times over the years with all the various groups, invaders, and occupiers contributing to the architecture.

The old city is dense with narrow streets, few of which allow any motorized traffic. There is the usual variety of shops, from clothing to jewelry to shoes to food stuffs, alcohol, coffee, tea and the ever present tabac.  We went by the Central Market. It is primarily food stuffs (being too early in the day for any of the taverns, bars, or restaurants to be open). Even so, I would say that less than 20% of the stalls were occupied.

Mercado Central

After several detours and a wander or two past cathedrals, convents, and public buildings, we made our way back to the ship (only stopping to test out the free wifi in the port which was markedly better than what is on ship, but so slow anyway…

 

Malaga – Star Legend

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The sun appeared on the horizon just before 0800 this morning rising as fiery ball rising from the sea. Glowing large and orange, it bathed the sea in golden light before slipping behind strands of clouds and seemed to gradually diminish in size,

And now that I have waxed on about the glories of morning which also included a quiet deck 8 forward lounged and copious amounts of coffee from 0600 on… I watched as we sailed into Malaga harbor. We sailed past an MSC mega container ship (random estimate of containers by counting height length and depth >2000) and the MSC Simphonia which I thought was just sitting at dock (it had passengers as we later found out).

Avoiding organized tours, according to George’s watch, we hiked about 10,000 steps around the city and up and down.

There were orange trees –

walls from many ages –

the old walls above the city

and the old amphitheater

lunch was from the grill on deck 8. Supper was supposed to be an outdoor BBQ on deck as well. I skipped it after going, finding out that it was noisy, crowded and featuring pork, pork and more of the same. Tofu kabobs just don’t make a satisfactory alternative.

We were underway about 2000 toward Cadiz.

First Finish – just a 60×60 on 18 ct Aida

Spring Cat – Barbara Ana

At Sea – Star Legend

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Up front – no pictures yet. I think that this ship wins my all time award for the slowest internet at sea. And, that includes the middle of the Atlantic & Pacific on any of my previous crossings. There is slow, then there is tortoise.

There were the usual activities on the daily program that one would expect: a sales pitch from the shore excursions people, a couple of game sessions (trivia etc). Later today there is a “Welcome on Board” along with an overview of Malaga, our stop tomorrow.

On the personal front, I managed to sleep a few hours later this morning. Time zone changes really wear me out.  At 0600 the forward lounge on Deck 8 (the top deck on this ship) opens. Regular coffee + specialty coffee drinks available. Also tea, smoothies, yogurt, delicious pastries.  There were few others up, so I was able to enjoy my lattes in relative quiet.

Otherwise, I have almost all the words completed on the “Roll the Dice” (Forbidden Fiber Co) so I switched over to stitch Part 4 on Rooky Woods (Tempting Tangles).

And that is going to be the extent of my day. Reading, napping and a bit more stitching!