I had a call last week from an investigator for Fedex, who said my bag had been found. It arrived today, in excellent shape.
So now, I guess we need to do another cruise so I can wear all my fancy clothes. Or not.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Home - April 7, 2014
On the morning of the 6th we wandered around downtown Santa
Barbara and had lunch.
We found a huge tree that we'd never seen before, right next to the Amtrak station. It's a Moreton Bay Fig tree and was planted in 1876.
At 12:40 we caught the Coast
Starlight for home. We arrived home the
next afternoon.
Spring has come to Salem. It looks a whole lot different from when we
left in February.
But the bad news is my bag is not here. I suppose it's gone forever.
So here are some statistics from our cruise.
Cruise days: 49
Days with the same bloody guitar music in the Horizon
Court restaurant:
49
Distance sailed:
16,597 nautical miles
Ports visited: 20
Countries visited: 13
High temperature: 93
Low temperature: 34
New bird species: 60
San Pedro, California - April 5, 2014
After two pleasant days at sea, we arrived in San Pedro. At the pier we caught a bus to take us to the Amtrak station in Los Angeles. There we had lunch and waited for our train, the 3:00 local to Santa Barbara.
We spent the night at the Franciscan Inn, where we have
stayed several times before.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - April 2, 2014
Two more very warm, muggy days at sea. Highlights included David's second haircut and lots of large jumping fish, followed by lots of leaping dolphins, followed by flocks of birds looking for the odd left over bits.
On the second day, at about 10:00
at night, we were awakened by a shrill alarm and a message from the bridge for
the first aid response team to report to the incinerator room on deck
four. We waited to hear more, but
nothing happened. So we went back to
sleep. About 45 minutes later the
captain came on to explain to us that there had been a small fire in the
garbage silo next to the incinerator. It
had been quickly put out, but they were still working on clearing the smoke,
which affected only the crew quarters.
We arrived in Puerto Vallarta
at noon, after a very pleasant
morning at sea. The weather was very
nice and sunny, not too hot. We had
visited here just last year, but then we didn't go into town. So this time, we took a taxi, which cost us
$6. We had a nice map, but mostly we
just wandered the streets. There's a
very interesting old church, with a filigree crown on top, held up by
angels.
We found some nice old stone steps and followed them up the
hill into an old neighborhood.
There we found the pink bridge that spans the street between
the houses that Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor had there. Both houses appear to be in the process of
renovation.
We walked back down the hill and through a craft
market. We ended up on the Malecon, a
very nice walk that goes along the beach.
It has many works of art along it.
We decided to walk back to the ship, which turned out to be
rather strenuous. It was three miles,
and a bit rough in spots. And by the
time we returned, it had gotten warmer.
But we made it back to the ship in time for tea. We left Puerto Vallarta
at 7:30, headed for Los
Angeles.
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua - March 30, 2014
Today we were anchored off San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. We were here just a year ago, and there wasn't a lot to see. We also remembered gunfire on the last visit, so we just stayed on board. The town itself is pretty small and undeveloped, but there are a number of fancy new houses on the surrounding hills. We figure they are probably vacation homes of wealthy people who are hoping this will be the next Puerto Vallarta. They may have a long wait.
It was another hot day (low 90s) but there was quite a nice
breeze, so we spent most of the day outside on the Promenade Deck. The most
exciting thing today was lots of whales spouting in the nearby waters.
We left fairly early for two days at sea.
Puntarenas, Costa Rica - March 29, 2014
After three mostly sunny days at sea, we arrived in Puntarenas. The weather continues to be hot. On our third day, in the morning, we had a nice shower, but it just increased the humidity. And we watched another movie with popcorn!
Along the way we've seen a couple of whales, numerous
dolphins, and a few birds, including one swallow, who apparently has found an
easy way to migrate. He flies for a
while and then lands on the ship to rest.
Since we have been to Puntarenas twice, including about a
year ago, we decided not to do an excursion.
But we did get off the ship for a
short walk. We left at about 8:00, but it was already hot. Since it's Saturday, lots of families were
out on the beach, having picnics and playing in the water.
They also were setting up for some kind of
street festival. There isn't much in the
town, and what there is is mostly pretty shabby. We had forgotten how much trash there is
everywhere, compared to some of the places we visited earlier.
By the middle of the afternoon it was 93. So we returned to the ship and had ice cream (another recent discovery!)
and sat in the shade until we sailed at 5:00.
Oh, yes. We've also
crossed back over the equator.
Callao, Peru - March 25, 2014
Rather than stay in Callao,
which is not a particularly interesting place, we booked an all day excursion
to Lima. It was a very good day. The drive there took us through neighborhoods
of extreme poverty. There is no public
assistance in Peru,
so if you don't work you don't eat. Many
buildings had rebar sticking out the top.
We were told that those are there in the hopes of adding another story
to the building some day.
Lima has many lovely old buildings. They also have 8 million people, most of whom were in their cars when we drove through.
We had been warned in advance that street crime, mostly
against tourists, has been on the rise recently. Also, there have been anti-government
demonstrations. So the police presence
was astonishing.
As in most South American cities, Lima
has a Plaza de Armas, where their history began. On one side is the palace of the president,
with its colorful guards.
Opposite it is the Cathedral of Lima, originally
built in 1746. It's one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. The front shows three different architectural
styles, as it was destroyed and rebuilt over the years.
Next we went to the San Francisco Monastery, founded in
1774. We were not allowed to take any
photographs inside, which drove me crazy, but I obeyed. There were catacombs and an ancient library,
complete with two spiral staircase and hundreds of ancient dusty books.
Next we went to the Gold
Museum, which holds a huge private
collection of Incan gold items. Again,
no photos.
We had lunch at a restaurant that served us many local
dishes, all very good. We were also
served a Picso Sour, the local alcoholic beverage, which is like a margarita
except with the local rum rather than tequila.
We also had a strange non-alcoholic drink that was served at room temperature and was
vaguely reminiscent of flat cola.
After lunch we stopped at an Indian market, because what's
an excursion without an opportunity to shop!
On the way back to the ship, we drove along the ocean, where there is a
unique park dedicated to romance.
We arrived back at the ship in time for dinner, then we
attended a wonderful show of local folk music and dancing.
We sailed at 10:00
for Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
San Martin, Peru - March 24, 2014
After two nice sunny days at sea we arrived early in San Martin. During our days at sea we made another discovery. Popcorn! They have it for the outdoor big screen movies, but we took some to have while watching a movie in our room.
The only reason for stopping in San Martin is to allow
passengers with more money than they know what to do with to set off on an
overnight trip to Machu Pichu. They will
rejoin the ship in Callao
tomorrow. The ship provided a shuttle
bus ($8.00 per person each way) to take us to Paracas, a small town about a
25-minute drive away. From what we could
tell, there was very little there, other than the usual plaza de armas and an
old church. So we opted to pass.
San Martin looks like a transfer station set in the desert. There is literally nothing here except a
couple or warehouses and a handful of temporary market stalls selling cheap
souvenirs.
We did actually get off the
ship and walk the length of it along the dock.
There were thousands of birds, some sea lions, and many jellyfish.
We've found a neat spot up on deck 17, way in the back
corner of the ship. It's quiet and a
great place to sit in the sun and read.
Today it got up to 86, but there was a nice breeze. Hey, there are some people in our spot!
As we left the port, we passed a line design on one of the
hillsides nearby. Discovered in 1901,
there are a number of these designs depicting animals and other figures near
the town of Nazca. They were created by a pre-Columbian
people. This one is called the
candelabra.
At 5:00 we sailed
overnight to Callao, Peru.
Coquimbo, Chile - March 21, 2014
We had no plans for Coquimbo. It looks very similar to Valparaiso,
with hills rising on all sides. But
that's where the similarity ends. There
is squalor everywhere and none of the charm of Valparaiso.
The most interesting thing here is the sea
lions along the water.
Another
interesting thing is the way buildings are built right on top of huge
rocks.
We walked toward the downtown
area, but it was so depressing that we returned to the ship after a short
time. One thing we were surprised at, though, is
how clean the streets are. No trash
anywhere.
Since we haven't had much exercise on shore, we're counting
on our many trips up and down the stairs for our aerobics. We're on deck 10, the food is on 15, and
services, such as the library and shops are on 6 through 8. So with three meals plus tea every day, we're
getting a lot of exercise.
We sailed for San Martin, Peru,
at 5:30.
Valparaiso, Chile - March 20, 2014
We spent two days at sea, with the weather warming
gradually. On the second day we saw
several whales. Also on the second day
it was my turn for a haircut. It was a
joint project, with me cutting the front and David cutting the back. It turned out pretty good.
We arrived in Valparaiso
at 5:00 in the morning. We had anticipated this to be one of the best
ports, and we were not disappointed. When we
got off the ship, we were immediately put on a shuttle bus to take us to the
passenger terminal, about a mile away.
We were just kind of dumped on the street, left to figure out what to
do. We walked back in the direction we
came from, eventually getting back to the exact spot where the ship was
docked. On the way, we walked through a busy produce market.
Once again, we found a city that felt very European.
Downtown Valparaiso is flat, but the city rises quickly into the hills. It is totally surrounded by very steep hills, crammed with houses and commercial buildings hanging on for dear life. The area we walked in is the artsy neighborhood. Many of the buildings are painted with a mixture of graffiti and street art in bright colors.
There are about 40 very steep hills, with lots of equally steep stairways.
Fifteen of them have funiculars, which are over one hundred years old. We took two of them, and it was quite exciting.
We had lunch at a small cafe high in the hills. We sat on the patio and looked out over the
city. There was an area of cemeteries,
but we couldn't find any that were open.
One had the gate open for work being done, but the guard dog chased us
out.
We walked back to the terminal to
catch the shuttle back to the ship. We
arrived back in time for tea.
We decided that it was time to try having dinner in the
dining room. We both ordered the turkey
dinner, which turned out to be disappointing.
Too much meat, not enough vegetables, and dressing that had tons of
bacon in it. I'm sorry, it was really
not good. It was also our misfortune to
be there for the parade of the baked Alaska.
Woohoo! Oh, well, we tried.
We set sail at 7:00
bound for Coquimbo, Chile,
tomorrow morning.
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