Day 107-108 – April 22-23, 2015

We are in Ponta Delgada, Azores. We were supposed to be here for the 22^nd, but the weather was really bad in Horta, Azores, where we were to be on the 23^rd, that we stayed here for two days and one night. The Azores are a part of Portugal in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The seas have been a little choppy the last couple of days while getting here. Ponta Delgada is located on the island of Sao Miguel. What was established as a fishing village in the mid 15^th century was later elevated to city status in 1546; after the island’s original capital was devastated by an earthquake. The island’s lush greenery and flourishing fauna owe itself to the mild climate and substantial rainfall through the year.

Sao Miguel is the biggest of the nine islands of the Azores. It is 65 km long, east to west and from 5-15km wide north to south. There are 240,000 people in all of the nine islands. Each island is given a color name for its vegetation and Sao Miguel is the green island. It is not that they do not have lots of color, but there is so much green because they raise cows, that they are called the green island. This island provides 1/3 milk and ½ the cheese for all of Portugal. Tourism only contributes 10% to their economy. They have an airport on the island that has direct flights to Canada, US and Europe, the three places that many of the people from the islands have emigrated. However, before that they had a different airport, called the cow airport. It was a large runway that was covered with grass and the cows grazed there. You had one of two ways to land; if the farmer was around he would spot the plane and then get the cows off the runway or you would come down on your first approach and scare the cows off, then come back again and land. This airport existed from 1941-1969.

Our tour took us north over the island where we first stopped at the Sta Iria viewpoint for a vista over the north coast. We then visited a local tea plantation and factory, Cha Gorreana, where we sampled some of the Azorean blends. It has been in operation since 1883. The equipment that they had was over 100 years old, and function perfectly. They made three blends of black tea and one green. This factory produces 40 tons of tea per year, with ½ staying in Portugal and the rest exported to Canada and the US where Portuguese people are living. Tea plants can live over 70 years.

Next we stopped at Pico do Ferro, which overlooks the Furnas Valley. Here we saw the crater of the volcano, which is now a lake, where the water is all from rain. The lake sits 280 meters above sea level. They have both carp and ike in the lake. No motor craft is allowed in any lakes on the island, though you can have sail and peddle boats. This point also overlooked an island, Pico de Ferro, which was formed by the volcano. The nine islands were formed by six different volcanic events. Furnas was formed 750,000 years ago. Furnas is only one of two towns that do not face the water on the island, and it is because these towns sit in craters of the volcano. There are 1,500 people living in Furnas.

The next stop was the Terra Nostra Botanic Gardens. Before we got there we went by a pool where the water is heated by the water that comes from the volcano. The temperature of the water is 39 C (about 102 F). Two of the people in our tour stayed to swim rather than see the gardens. The gardens were very interesting. Most of the plants had been brought from other places, but they had one area where they had indigenous plants.

We then headed up to the lake where we saw them take our lunch out of an earthen oven in the ground where it was cooked using natural geo-thermal power. We then returned to the village and had lunch at the Terra Nostra Hotel. The vegetables were good, but the meat was a little dry. However, the wine served with the lunch made it work out very well. In the village we saw more hot springs and learned about the different mineral water sources. On the way back we came along the south coast and stopped at Vila Franca, which was the island’s first capital.

The second day was not quite that full. We first went to the market and went to this small cheese shop, where we bought some great cheese to bring back. We then walked around and took some pictures and bought our last batch of souvenirs. And, we had our last beers, using our last euros, before getting on the ship. It is now 6 sea days and we are home. We have been warned that we will probably have high swells (12 feet) till noon on Friday.

I will try and post one more blog right before we get to Fort Lauderdale to try and explain what it has been like to be on this cruise and what we do on a day to day basis.

1-2 Countryside

3 – Old cow airport

4-6 Santa Iria views

7-9 Tea factory – Cha Gorreana

10 Pico do Ferro view

11-13 Village of Furnas

14 – Naturally heated pool, it is that color because of the concentration of iron

15 – House where the owners of the Botanical Garden live

16-20 Botanical Gardens

21-24 Where they are making lunch in these pots with geo-thermal energy

25 – Lunch

26-28 Hot springs

29 Island off the coast where they hold Red Cliff diving competition.

30 – Sunset

31 – Cheese shop

32-37 Town of Ponta Delgada

38-39 Coastline of town

40 – Steve

41 – Me, by the ship, where we had our beer

42 – Area on the shore side of ship where they do a lot of swimming, no matter the weather, and it was chilly while we were there.

43 – Swimmers

44 – Steve on our balcony

End of the Cruise

Now we are on our way back to Fort Lauderdale and to our new house and our beautiful cats, Tinkerbelle and Sami. This has been a fantastic cruise, as I have said over and over. I thought I might share some of the shipboard life that we have experienced over these 114 days.

As many of you were aware this ship requires you to have a dinner seating, early or late. We originally picked late, but found out that by the time we finished it was too late to go to the show, so we switched to the early seating. We have become very good friends with the couple we were seated with at the late seating. The new table had a woman that spoke only Japanese as well as three others. One gentleman was from New Zealand and his friend Judy was from Vancouver. Just the greatest people and we see them a lot. But, they had a friend coming on in Singapore so they needed to switch tables. We decided to also, and are now seated at a table for 10. It is quite a mix of people. There is an older couple that have been on a million world cruises. There is a gentleman, Jack, that has an ex-wife he talks about all the time. He apparently likes us as he always stops and talks to us when we see him around the ship. There is a woman, Sigrid, who is traveling with her sister. Just a wonderful lady. There is also Erin, from New Zealand, that grew up as a sheep farmer and then became a teacher. Another wonderful lady that Steve has spent a lot of time with working on her phone. And lastly there is Paul, that knows everything. We see and hear him everywhere. Needles to say we have eaten many diners in the Lido.

One thing that we have done consistently for the whole cruise is play team trivia, every sea day at 11:45. There are five us who play. One couple is from Melbourne Beach, Florida and the other woman is from Seattle, Washington. We have done a lot with her and her husband also. We never do well, but have a good time. There was a lot of drama with trivia, as these people do not like to lose, and are very vocal about what is right and wrong. You win ‘Dam’ dollars that you can spend on ship stuff.

Since we are on a World Cruise we often get gifts from the Captain, usually after formal nights. We have gotten Stieff Bears, wireless speakers, silver bowls, mugs, and suitcases as well as other things. Needless to say, we are bringing back more than we took. And, you get chocolate on your bed at night also. We have been saving it in a bag and will give it to the bar staff at the end of the cruise.

There are two specialty restaurants on this ship. The elite one is called the Pinnacle Grill and the other is Canalleto, where they serve Italian food. We have eaten at both, and they are good; however, they require a fee (10 Cnaletto and $29 Pinnacle). However, since we made 4 star we get a 50% discount.

On many of the sea days we have been walking 3 miles around the deck, for a total of 135 miles so far. In fact, my shoes are worn out, so I will get a new pair when I get back. They have holes in the top and there is no support left in them. On port days, we end up walking 10,000-12,000 steps, so we have gotten our exercise, but have probably eaten more than we should. We eat breakfast and lunch up at the Lido (buffet), as well as some dinners. They also have a burger place called Dive In by the pool with gourmet hot dogs and hamburgers as well as a taco bar. Again, the food is excellent. The pool on this ship has a retractable roof, so the area always usable. For big parties and sail away parties they do them there or on the front pool deck. Also, sometimes at lunch they will have special lunches out there, like a Mongolian BBQ.  a

I would be remiss if I did not mention the libations. There are many bars on the ship, but we usually frequent one called the Ocean Bar. We know all the staff at this bar very well. We like it as they have a nice band and it is quieter than some of the others. We are usually there for either the 4-5 or 6-7 Happy Hour. Three of the bars on Holland ships have a happy hour. It is 4-5, 6-7 and 9-10 every day. Buy one drink and get the second for $1. A very nice thing to have. The drinks are not as expensive as on NCL, but they do mount up. During Happy Hour they have hot appetizers, which are also excellent. We brought wine on in some of the ports, as each person was allowed one bottle. One of our amenities for the cruise was four bottles of liquor; we took three rum and one vodka, and were able to finish them all. We purchased one additional bottle of rum from the ship and one bottle of Jameson from one of the ports. All that is left is ½ bottle of Jameson. And, still a few days left.

There are all sorts of activities during the day, including a show in the morning called Good Morning Amsterdam, where they usually interview the talent from the show the night before. It can be interesting. They have cooking classes, lectures on all sorts of topics as well as on the ports of call. They try to sell you things from the shops as well as promoting the casino. We have played roulette once, and won, and that was early on. Or, you can spend the day doing nothing. You would not believe how fast the time passes.

We will miss our room stewards and having our beds made every morning, fresh towels and whatever you wish. We will miss our bar people who know what you want before you get there. We will miss not having a ton of selections on what we want for dinner and from the last three weeks, I will miss someone doing my laundry.

This is the end and there are still a few special events. On the 25^th we are having dinner in the Pinnacle with a couple we met who are from South Dakota. This is their second world cruise. The 26^th is the last formal night, and the captain is hosting a cocktail party before dinner. On the 27^th there is a Mariner brunch, in honor of your Mariner status on Holland America. On the 28^th I start teaching a new class and it is our last trivia game. Also, on the 28^th, all of us who patronize the Ocean Bar are meeting for a few drinks. And on the 29^th we are planning to go to Canaletto’s for dinner with the couple that was at our first dinner table. Then it is getting off the ship.

We got on with four suitcases and 4 boxes, we area getting off with six suitcases and 6 boxes. Lucky for us Holland America is shipping all but four small suitcases by Fed Ex. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone again, to being able to Google whenever we do not know something and getting back into a routine. I think one of the things we missed most was Googling things that we saw or wanted to know more about. As far as the house is concerned, we have already put together a list of what we need to do around the house when we get back.

Thanks to everyone for following this blog. We missed everyone and hope to see you all soon in our house in Florida, or a cruise in the future.

Steve and Mary Anne

Day 104 – April 19, 2015

Today is our last stop in Spain, and we have another all day tour. We are docked in Cadiz and will take the tour to Seville. Cadiz has served as the home port to the Spanish Navy since the 18^th century. The city lies on a narrow stretch of land surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and serves as a main thoroughfare to Seville. Seville, one of the largest cities in Spain, is a 2,000 year old metropolis home to countless historical monuments. Built in the 15^th century to illustrate Seville’s rise in wealth after the Reconquista, the UNESO World Heritage Site, Cathedral of Saint Mary, is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world. In the old part of Seville is the Jewish Quarter. In Seville the Moslems, Jews and Christians lived together peacefully. Also in Seville is the magnificent Alcazar, a monument to the Moorish occupation of Spain, surrounded by glorious gardens. This was a palace built by the Arabs for the Christians.

In 1929 there was an exhibition in Seville to sown the link between Spain, Portugal and the Americas. We rode by a lot of the pavilions from that exhibition and stopped at the Spanish one. You will not believe how beautiful they are. The Spanish Pavilion was used for the movie Lawrence of Arabia as well as a Star Wars movie.

1 – Port

2 – Raphael Church

3 – Woman dressed for fair – they where the gypsy and Flamenco costumes. The fair starts tomorrow in Seville, but there were a lot of people there today.

-Pavilions from 1929 Exhibition-

4 – Cuban

5 – Columbia

6 – Morocco

7 – Latin America

8 – Argentina

9 – Guatemala

10 – Fountain dedicated to the Navigators

-More Pavilions-

11 – US

12 – Peru

13 – Seville

14 – Mary Louisa Park – dedicated to the poet Becca

15-17 Spain’s Pavilion – note the one that says Avilia – they had one of these for each of the provinces, it includes a map and places to sit down

18 – El Cid

19 – Statue – the two columns represent the legs of Hercules that he used to separate Spain from Africa, making the Strait of Gibraltar (Great Britain owns Gibraltar). Ship symbolizes the trip to the Americas and Isabella and Ferdinand and the lion links it to the Royal family

20 – Park bench

21 – Walls that protected the Jewish Quarter

22-23 Statue with black cross that stands where the synagogue used to stand

24 – French Consulate

25-26 Where Washington Irving lived

27 – Where Don Quixote  was written

28-30 Town Square – decorated for the Fair

31-33 Cathedral of St. Mary

34-50 Alcazar – oldest occupied palace, the royal family stays there when they come to Seville

54 – Town hall and cathedral in Cadiz