Sardinia Port Day

We have just returned from our port day in Cagliari, Sardinia after spending the day ashore. This was a new sop for us so it too a few minutes to get all the appropriate maps and directions but once that was done we were off to the town. Our first stop was the old Roman Amphitheatre which is one of the best examples of 2 nd century building in the area. It was not constructed so much as hewn out of the limestone rock into the side of the hill. The only problem was that they hold modern concerts there (originally seated 10,000) and then have constructed platforms and put in new seats. A bit of a disappointment from that point of view. From there it was up into the old walled city and wandering the narrow streets. We stopped at the Torre di San Pancrazio which was a Pisian designed tower. Of course we had to climb to the top (only about 5 stories) but it afforded the best views of the city. I think the pics from there will be good. The Duomo was next, the "oldest" preserved church but there was a wedding going on so we did not spend much time there. We wandered to the Bastione Saint Remy which affords good views of the city where we met the Radovich's again and just sat and talked a bit.
The afternoon was spend wandering and looking at some of the other towers as we made our way out of the walled city, stopped at a really old (closed) church and settled at a sidewalk cafe (again) where we enjoyed the wine the beer and the local pasta. Very good break before coming back to the ship.
After a rest we will enjoy drinks on the 17 th deck before getting ready for dinner and the country western night. We need to relax a bit as tomorrow we visit Rome. The bus leaves around 8 and returns at about 5:30 so it will be a long day. Oh I should tell you that be had our first gelatto. Excellente! Cheers!

Sailing The Mediterranean

Another bit of a late noon report but since yesterday's report we have been at sea just enjoying our last sea day before we hit 4 ports in a row. We managed to get to the dining room for breakfast and had the pleasure of eating with one of the guest artists aboard. The other guests turned out to be a retired teacher from Windsor that worked with Roy. Radovich (?) by name. We had a nice little review because they sail with one of Judy's former sorority sisters and he bowls with Joe Stomp who I see often. Our teaching paths never crossed.
Line dancing was OK but Judy wen to the cooking demo and we can now try a full Italian dinner. I needed more practice line dancing as tomorrow is the big country night. We also attended a lecture on the historical places in Rome which was a nice review. The afternoon was spent at the art auction and at the pool. Tonight is formal night with the "Farewell Party" and champagne waterfall since it is the last sea day. However there will be another art Wine party in a few days. So it will be another late night. Tomorrow we are ashore in Sardinia and we are looking forward to some pasta and wine. Cheers!

Gibraltar - What A Rock (Walk)

Noon report for today is a bit late as it is pushing 4 PM local time. We are set to sail within the hour. Actually with the time difference, the noon report is actually being sent early in the morning. At any rate here is the report for today. We were ashore before 9 am and just returned and no tours for us. No we did it the hard (healthy) way by walking.
We started with the 2-3 mile walk to the 100 ton gun. It is one of those hugh "big bertha" type things only the English version. Before we finally arrived at it, we had passed through the centre of town, and out the South Gate where the Trafalgar Cemetery is located. The battle was actually fought in Cadiz Bar which is where we were yesterday. At any rate this is the place where the dead were buried if they were not just dumped over the side which was the normal practice. There are the marines and sailors that died from their wounds. At any rate I took lots of photos to pass on the the NOAC. After the visit to the gun, we returned to the cable car lift. We waited about 40 minutes because 2 ship's tours were there before us and it is not a continuous running lift but rather an up and down cable car! At any rate we were at the top by noon. However the clouds rolled in and it was awhile before the coast of Africa could be seen. Of course Jude (Norm take note) was afraid of the apes so we had to be careful where we went.
After taking the needed pictures we headed for the Siege tunnels at the north end of the rock but did not go it this time as we have been in them before. After that it was a stop at the WW2 tunnels which have just been opened for touring but having been in the tunnels before we carried on. By the Turkish Fort and on down the mountain. We only bought a one way ticket because we knew where we were going to be and to walk back to the lift was harder than the walk down. After that, and this is always the best part, we stopped in an off the main street British Pub and had fish and chips and of courser the local beer! Cold and tasty. More than one in fact! That was followed by walking the commercial district and a then the mile walk back to the ship.
Tomorrow is our last day at sea and then come the last 4 days which are all port days. We should be good and tired by then. As always, cheers!

Cadiz A Place To VIsit

We have been in Cadiz for about 8 hours and just returned to the ship after spending the day ashore. We had a good time exploring this city that is only 1.7 kms long by 1.2 wide. We were beginning to doubt if there was enough to see here and perhaps should have taken the train to Seville but it really worked out. Being so small we were able to walk around the entire place seeing the forts and guard towers as well as the walls which were built hundreds of years ago. The gardens were very interesting and of course just walking on the old narrow streets was a blast. This city has it right with tour maps and painted pathways so you never get lost (?) and get to see what you are interested in. We did visit the main cathedral but chose to use our euros on the bell tower climb. Again it was the highest point in the city and afforded wonderful views and photos of the entire city. After that it was just more wandering and visiting the churches and old plazas.
Of course we did stop in a plaza for a local beer (2 in fact) and a glass of wine (2 again). They of course serve olives with that so we split the dish of olives (44 to be exact). Total cost with tip was only 10 euros. A bargain at any price. We did encounter an American women buying chamos (?) at a framers market stall. They are deep fried pastry sold by the kilo. She wanted .7 euros worth (the minimum) and proceeded to get her calculator and figure that it was $1.12 "American". She did get the minimum but all I could think of was that is probably why American travellers get a bad name.
We did do a few "videos" for the videos but Judy had had 2 glasses of wine so it took 2 or 3 tries and she forgot to turn the thing off. I did a short one of her after 2 drinks. In any event a very nice place for a day visit on a cruise. So Judy has gone to the pool and then it will be sailing time as we proceed to Gibraltar where we will be tomorrow. Cheers to those in the cool weather. It was 75 and sunny today!

Sailing to Spain!

We are back at sea after spending the day ashore yesterday. We did not get in until 2 pm and sailed around 10 but that was plenty of time to see a few things ashore. Having been there before, we had an idea of what we wanted to do. After walking to town - about 15 minutes - we stopped at the "I" place and got a map and directions. We ran to catch a #31 bus which took us 1/2 way up the mountain to the Botanical Gardens where we spent some time just wandering around. Then we took the "ski type lift" across a deep valley to the top of the mountain to a little village and wandered around there for awhile. That was the start point for the basket sled ride down the mountain. Ma did not want to try it so we opted to take the 2 mile lift down the mountain, bypassing the local bus transportation. We finally ended up in the farmer's market and then wandered to the waterfront where we sat and had a local beer and some local made wine. We just sat there and enjoyed the sun which was finally trying to break out of the clouds where it had been all day. We got back to the ship around 7:30, just in time for a shower and dinner.

Little entertainment yesterdy because of the late sailing but they did have dancing under the windy stars where we practiced our new found talents with the waltz and the cha cha! Can't belive we did that but the instructor was so good that we can at least make a pretense!

A time change led to a late morning again - can't seem to wake up early. We did do our deck walk and finally watch a talk on how they do shows onboard. Interesting stuff. Tonight will bring the Captain's Party for Princess cruisers (usually weak drinks!) and then a show. We need to read up about Cadiz. We decided not to try to go to Sivelle

Short Sea Day

Today is a short sea day as we are expected to be in port in about 2 hours. We were sleepy heads again today and have been just relaxing for the past little while.
Yesterday we spent most of the afternoon at the art auction but did not see anything that was even interesting. After getting ready for dinner, we watch a magician - again - very funny - and then stopped by for the glass of wine. Dinner was surf and turf. The show was a Broadway singer. She was good but the show was only 40 minutes.

This morning Judy again won a free cocktail because of her answer to the question of the day which I submitted as usual. We have already answered today's question. We tried to book a tour for Liverno but the one we wanted had limited capacity and was sold out. So we have booked a Tuscany tour with visits to 2 medieval towns and lunch. It was one of the tours that we had been looking at.
We are about 30 miles from Madeira travelling at about 12 knots. We had really slowed down in the night. Last night the sea was very calm and I hope that my night pictures of the moon and sea turn out. Time to go get ready for a shore day. We have been at sea for just under 7 full days! Show me the "LAND"!

Sunday At Sea!

Sunday at sea and the ship keeps moving. Actually this noon report today is about 5 hours ahead of noon in Ontario as we changed time zones again. That was 2 days in a row. I think that the ship is playing games with us because I noticed that the sunset is at 9:00 pm tonight and that is way too late for our present position. I guess that since tomorrow is a port day they do not want people too tired. As we meet people they all comment on how tired they are every time breakfast at 8:30 this morning and we had 3 waiters helping us at breakfast. Point is there was nobody there. We did go to the 9 am service which included a few songs and a couple of "inspirational stories". After that it was line dancing which was very poor. The girl knows nothing and does not make any bones about it. However the ballroom dance class taught by the cruise director was excellent again. It was cha cha day and the way he breaks it down and shows the dance is enough to make even the poorest dancer (like me) get out there when the real music starts. Jude is now doing her puzzle and resting before lunch. We just finished a 40 minute walk - about 2.5

miles.
    Yesterday afternoon was cleaning day which meant that we needed to do a wash. Everything looks good again. However we were a few minutes late for the tea party where needless to say we drank tea until all the big silver pots were empty. After dressing for dinner we headed to the lounge for a magician and a singer in a 40 minute preshow. We could not bring ourselves to going to the art gallery but we will do that tonight as there is an art auction this afternoon. Dinner was scallops and crab cakes and the show after that was a great song and dance production. It was a "new" one in that we had not seen it before and it was very upbeat with lots of high energy routines. Tonight the main show is a singer. We did not win the free cocktail yesterday as we did not come close to the "number of eggs used every day on this ship" with the answer being 5500. We do have the right answer for today's quiz so we will see if our answer is pulled.
Tomorrow is Madeira in the Canary islands. We get in at 2 pm and sail at 10. We will just wander ashore as we have been here before. We travelled about 400 miles yesterday and have about the same to go which means we will slow slightly overnight. Cheers from the Atlantic Ocean!