JANUARY RIVER

 We tendered off the coast of Ilha Grande.  This relatively large island is pristine and completely covered in rain forest, and with the exception of at the one small town development is prohibited.  There are no cars allowed on the island.  Ilha Grande has an interesting history.  It was a leper colony before being converted to a prison colony for Brazil's worst.  No one was allowed to go to the island until the prison closed in 1994.  The town has a nice beach, but the town itself is a bit tacky.  I think most of the tourists come here for the jungle hiking trails.  I decided, however, not to take the 5 hour return hike to see the remains of the prison.

Our next tender stop was on the quite beautiful peninsula of Buzios.  There was only a small fishing village on the peninsula until Brigit Bardot moved there in the 1960's following her Brazilian lover.  She eventually was driven out by the paperatzie.  There are 26 beaches, all of which seemed to be busy.  The second picture below shows Bridgit's statue.  Lots of the shops have a variation of "Bardot" worked into the name. 

I enjoy having brief conversations with other guests (particularly while doing laundry).  A few days ago I chatted with a British woman who told me she had visited Halifax on a cruise and that it was quite lovely; but, "I couldn't live there."  I expected that she would continue with a comment on the weather but instead she added:  "It's far too quiet."  Today I chatted with a Chinese woman taking her first Oceania cruise.  She was shocked when she got on what she described as such a large ship (Marina is small by today's standards).  Apparently because we are going to go up the Amazon she thought she was taking a river cruise. 

The first of our back-to-back cruises ended in Rio de Janeiro (strange name since there is no river here) and our second cruise started in Rio.  Fortunately we didn't have to change staterooms as did several of the other guests.  Rio has some beautiful sights (the cathedral, sugarloaf, Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches and Christ the Redeemer statue on the mountain top.  We had gone up the mountain on an earlier visit so skipped that this time.  I have no picture to show you as it was too hazy both days that we docked here.  Despite these sights the city itself is grubby with an amazing amount of graffiti on most of the buildings. We did take a bus tour but spent most of it in traffic jams.

Although we have been on Oceania many times until last night we had never experienced a wait for a table in the Grand Dining Room.  Perhaps the entree menu that gave a choice of steak, prime rib roast, lobster, or duck l'orange lured guests away from the buffet or pizzeria.  We didn't mind the short wait, however, as the sommelier visited our table as soon as we were seated.

Finally, I shall end this blog with a picture of a sunset from our balcony.   

COAST OF BRAZIL

Our second stop in Uruguay was at Punta del Este.  This beautiful coastal city is filled with magnificent summer homes of both Uruguayans and foreigners. 

While Betty stayed on the boat I had a bus ride through the city and then to the countryside where we stopped briefly at an art museum. 

This was followed with a drive to an olive farm for a tasting.  The farmer was very interesting in his presentation of what makes good oil.  We tasted 3 oils with lunch.  Perhaps it was no surprise that they were better than the expensive oils I buy at the Italian market in Halifax.

This trip is actually a pair of back-to-back cruises.  The first cruise is from Buenos Aires to Rio, and as distances are short, it has only one "sea day."  On our "sea day" we were among a group of 30 passengers who took in the Sommelier's luncheon and wine tasting.  This event included six courses and seven wines.  Each wine came with optional refills.  Needless to say we would like to have skipped dinner, but we had accepted an invitation to dine with the Executive Concierge.  I did manage to down a small bowl of soup and some mashed potatoes.

Options for going ashore include just walking around, asking a local taxi for a tour of a couple of hours, taking a tour from an international company such as Shore Excursions.com or taking a tour organized by the ship.  The ships' tours are the most expensive, but we now mostly do those as they are "free" by using our shipboard credits.  So far we have gone on 3 ships tours, two of which were great (the steak tasting and the olive oil tasting).  The third was a bit of a bust.  It was described as a scenic drive through the cities of Itajai and Camboriu.  The drive through Itajai had only one stop at a cathedral.  However, upon arrival at Camboriu we were dropped at a huge beach for a two-hour stay. 

Fortunately, we found a local restaurant where we had a decent lunch and were able to try the local beer.

We had a stop at the city of Santos, but it was pouring rain so we stayed on the boat.  We had tours booked at Parati, which is described as the most beautiful town on this coast.  However, the bay is very shallow so the ship anchored very far away, giving a one-way tender sail of 45 minutes.  A total of 1.5 hours sitting on a hard bench jammed among other old fat people seemed a bit much so we cancelled.

All guests on board get one invitation to a Captain's cocktail hour.  As "platinum" guests we get invited to all of these parties.  So far we have attended three.  Add these boozy events to the ship having giving us bottles of wine for our stateroom, and the sommeliers fearing discipline should a guest's glass get empty at lunch or dinner and we have a good buzz a lot of the time.  Being more disciplined than me Betty now foregoes wine at lunch while I am now reducing lunch wine to one glass.

URAGUAY

                                                             URAGUAY

We are now in the early days of our 27th cruise.  We started cruising in 2008 and hope to be able to continue for a few more.  Seventeen of our cruises have been with Oceania and about half of those have been on this ship, the Marina.  The Marina in now one of the older ships in the fleet, but still elegant.   Because of its age the prices on Marina are slightly lower than on its newer sister ships.  We like the size and a particular oddity in that there are 12 staterooms at the front of deck 7 that have "extended" balconies.  Thus, we can lie on lounge chairs in privacy and not compete for space by the pool.

Oceania offers the best food at sea and equally good wines (included with meals).  The clientele is older and there are no children.  Smaller ships are easier for Betty to navigate and we do not need a huge assortment of bars and late night disco places.  Also, Oceania has the best loyalty program of the various cruiselines.  As "platinum" members we get many perks including credits to spend on board (more than we can spend).  When we got our "platinum" status a few years ago we were awarded a free cruise.  There is a very slight chance that we will be able to amass enough trips to achieve "diamond" status and get another free cruise.

Marina has 8 restaurants, four of which do not require reservations.  These are the main dining room, the buffet, the poolside grill which converts to a pizzeria in the evening, and a vegetarian restaurant that we love to boycott.  Depending on the length of the cruise guests are guaranteed a minimum number of reservations at Red Ginger (Asian), Toscana (Italian), Polo (steaks and more) and my favorite restaurant Jacques (named for Jacques Pepin).  For those of you who don't know Jacques Pepin he is now still active in his early 90's.  Jacques first became famous as the personal chef of Charles deGaulle.  He got even more fame when he turned down Jackie Kennedy's invitation to be chef at the White House.  He was also Julia Child's TV partner.  In addition in being the chef who planned the food for Oceania he is an excellent writer.  I have 3 signed copies of his books (Christmas presents from Oceania).

On our first day of the cruise we docked in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.  Uruguay is a wonderful country with a high standard of living, and very little crime.  We were told that men could carry their wallets in their rear pockets without fear of being pickpocketed.  The climate is good.  One can buy a nice 2 bedroom apartment here for under 200k.  If we were younger Betty and I could consider living here part of the year.

Uruguay is a tiny country and its economy is based exclusively on the export of very high end agricultural products.  Uruguayan beef is the best in the world (even better than Argentina) and so much better than Canadian beef.

On our first full day of the cruise we were docked in Montevideo and took a tour of the city.  The first picture is of the Canadian Embassy, the 2nd is an older downtown apartment building.  The uniformed young man is standing guard over the ashes of the national hero, the sculpture shows how settlers first moved across the countryside.

Our tour of Montevideo ended at a brew pub where we did a "steak tasting".  I expected little pieces of meat, but instead we each got three complete steak meals cooked and served in cast iron frying pans.  All of the steaks were flank steaks but came from different breeds of cattle.  These steaks were not necessarily more tender than what we are used to at home but they are much juicier.  When one bites into the meat there is a burst of juice and flavor than can't be described.  Both Betty and I managed to eat our three steaks, accompanied by four different beers.  Back on the ship we collapsed on our bed and didn't bother going to supper.

BUENOS AIRES

                                                        BUENOS AIRES

 We are off on a new adventure and will be away for the next month.  I'll send you blogs over that period.  Our recent trips have had a few "adventures" and this one may be no different, although our struggles may have started a tad earlier.  Just before we left I discovered a leak in the roof of our bedroom addition, which is my closet.  I chopped 10 inches of solid ice off but it is still leaking.  Friends are emptying the water bucket while we are away.  In the basement I found that the main drainage pipe had split.  I only had time for a temporary fix before we had to leave.

The hardest part of taking a cruise is the stamina required to fly to the first port.  We drove to the airport to find that the parking lot was full.  I had to leave the car in the expensive indoor lot, so Michael and Lu will need a bank loan in order to rescue the car upon their return from Korea.  After flying to Toronto we found that our next flight was delayed.  After sitting for 6 hours we boarded our 10-hour flight to Sao Paulo.  We were so late leaving that dinner was served a 1:30 a.m.  At Sao Paulo we had to leave the plane and go through security before re-boarding for our 3-hour flight to Buenos Aires.

We were met by our pre-arranged driver (Pablo) who took us the 35 kms into the city.  We checked into our lovely boutique hotel in Recoleta (our favorite area of Buenos Aires). 

Exhausted, we wanted to find a restaurant within Betty's very short walking distance.  The closest one did not have an Argentinian menu.  The next restaurant had a lovely orchestra playing, but there were no tables left.  The third place had one table in their sidewalk section.  We only wanted Argentinian steaks, but by the time we had consumed complimentary gazpacho, a magnificent pate and some delicious rice balls we were only able to eat half our magnificent steaks (so much better than Canadian beef).  I wanted a bottle of Malbec and poured over the pages of choice.  I thought I was losing it when I reopened the list as the waiter approached and the wine I had chosen was no longer there.  I eventually realized that I had been looking in the pages of Mendosa Malbecs and now I was in the Malbecs from some other section of Argentina.  A small cultural difference was that every table in our section of the restaurant had at least one bottle of wine on it.  No beers, cokes, or other awful drinks that you would find in a Canadian restaurant.

After a good night sleep I headed out to find a hardware store as Betty's walker needed a little fixing.  I did find a hardware store but they did not have what I needed.  Fortunately I came across a construction site and with a little my pilfering the walker should make it through the trip.

On our second night we ate at another great restaurant.  The picture shows what I got when I ordered empanadas as an appetizer.  If you notice the drinks glasses I think you can assume those women were tourists. 

 

Argentinians love dogs and beef.  Where else would one come across a store selling only steak knives?

On our second full day in Buenos Aires Pablo picked us and took us on a great city tour.  The first picture is of the Pink Palace  where Eva Peron spoke, but did not sing "Don't cry for me, Argentina".

                                                        CROSSING THE ATLANTIC

We had five beautiful days for our crossing from the Canaries to Barbados.  The weather was sunny, the seas were calm and the temperatures ranged from the high 20's to the low 30's.  The sun was on our deck each morning making it too hot to sit outside.  However, the afternoons were great for reading and sleeping.  This picture shows early risers having breakfast outside.

Our livers seem to be surviving although we are giving them vigorous workouts.  Betty and I attended a Cellar Masters luncheon (using up most of our shipboard credits) which started with a glass of Kir Royale and then 6 very expensive, rare wines were matched with a six-course meal.  Although this was a wine-tasting the sommeliers filled your glasses like you were dying of thirst.

 Lu and Mike have a drinks package that includes cocktails in all the bars.  They seem to be challenged to try all of them (an impossible task unless one were on an around the world cruise).

There is lots to do on sea days.  Here is a picture of Lu and Mike participating in a spice identification contest at a country fair held on the pool deck.  Then a couple of pictures from a fashion show in the Atrium.

Everyone on board is spoiled.  Betty completed a mid-cruise questionnaire in which she complained that the shampoo bottles were hard to squeeze with her arthritic hands.  A few hours later new toilitries appeared on our bed and then the head housekeeper knocked on our door and asked if these were satisfactory.

Our first stop on the American side of the Atlantic was Barbados.  This is an island of beaches, and many passengers spend the day on one or the other.  Instead, Lu, Mike and I walked the mile into the city of Bridgetown, a not very pretty or interesting place. 

 It was very hot so part way through our walk we took a respite in an air-conditioned grocery store.  The prices made this stop interesting.  It is cheaper to buy a bottle of rum than a stick of deoderant.  Apparently, in the time of the very rich plantation owners, it was common to bathe in a tub filled with rum.  Hence the expression "Don't drink the bathwater".

A more interesting stop was in St. John's, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda.  Although the city was ordinary, the countryside was beautiful.  Here are pictures of Nelson's Dockyard and Eric Clapton's house.

Our final stop before heading back to Miami and home was in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  San Juan is a clean, colorful city.  Lu, Mike and I walked the hot mile into the old city.  However, there were 4 cruise ships docked in the port (totaling over 14000 passengers) so it was more like pushing your way through the crowds than taking a leisurely stroll

.

I thought I would end this blog with a picture from inside one of the ship's Men's Rooms.  After all when did you last get a picture from someone's john?  As the picture shows, there are lots of carefully rolled towels with which to wash your hands.

                                           SOME BOATS ARE BIGGER THAN OTHERS

STOPS IN THE CANARIES:  After our aborted stops because of high winds we had three stops in the Canaries.  As we had been to these lovely island on earlier trips we skipped our booked tours.  However, each day I took a brief walk into town.  In many way SANTA CRUZ DE LA PALMA

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE

and SAN SEBASTIAN DE LA  GOMERA

are similar towns, with lots tourists wandering around looking in the souvenir shops, and lots of locals drinking coffee or other things at sidewalk cafes.  One of things I liked about each town was that as you left the ship to walk to town there was a blue line on the pavement.  One followed the blue line with its twists and turns until the line ended at the town center.  Santa Cruz de La Palma has the best shopping and most of my shoes come from this town.  However, this time we stopped on Sunday and most of the shops were closed.

LU AND MIKE:  Ours good Antigonish friends Lu and Mike joined the cruise (along with 700 or 800 others) in San Sebastian.  This is their very first cruise and Betty and I are greatly enjoying seeing the ship with its food and entertainment through the eyes of first-time cruisers.   It has been a while since we had that excitement of such a great new adventure.

MORE ON CREDIT CARDS:  In an earlier blog I bemoaned Betty's having been pickpocketed in Barcelona and the fact that we no longer have any working credit cards.  Yesterday we wished to book a future cruise (Feb/27).   Booking on board gives a discount and booking a long while ahead allows us to secure our favorite stateroom.  Of course one must make a deposit, and that is a problem without a valid credit card.  Fortunately, Michael is currently acting as our banker.

THE NEXT FIVE DAYS:    We now have five sea days as we cross the Atlantic to Barbados.  We expect the weather to be warm and sunny, but the only things we expect to see from our balcony are sunrises and sunsets.

 LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA TO ARECIFE

We stopped in Las Palmas where I took a quick taxi to the old city, which seemed to be a very pleasant place.  As it was a long walk to the taxi stand Betty skipped going ashore.

We have met several interesting people on this cruise.  A couple of nights ago we were invited (along with another couple) to dinner at Toscana by Natalia, a member of the ship's management team.  Natalia is from Odessa and when Putin invaded she, her mother and her 17-year old son became refugees.  After being in several countries, Natalia's Mom semi-settled in Bulgaria.  Speaking five languages Natalia got a job as a sales clerk on a cruiseship.  While aboard she met a couple from Nova Scotia who became "her angels".  They sponsored her son for a student visa to Canada and he moved to Bridgewater and lived with this couple until he finished high school.  He is now in technical college.

Last night we had a great meal in the French restaurant Jacques, our favorite place on the Marina, as well as on several other ships of Oceania.   A couple of years ago Jacques was criticized as having slow service and having menus that were too elaborate.  On two of the new Oceania ships Jacques was abandoned and replaced by a casual steak place called Embers.  Passengers revolted and in less than a year Embers was razed and Jacques is now on all the new Oceania ships.  After dinner, we fortunately chose to attend the evening show, despite being skeptical of a concert combining a classical violinist and a flamenco dancer.  The show was fabulous.

When we sailed out of Las Palmas the intention was to go to Funchel, Madeira.  Again, due to high winds we found our port closed.  The ship sailed instead sailed to Arecife on the island of Lanzarote.  This was where we were supposed to go a couple of days ago, but the port was then closed.

Betty and I took a two-hour taxi ride around the island.  Lanzarote is mostly covered with lava from a volcano eruption that lasted for six years in the 18th century.  The island is doted by small white villages and has a real charm despite the landscape being mostly black.  Our driver was great and even stopped for us to have a taste of the local wine.

You can see from the second final picture of this blog where Betty likes to spend most of her time.  By booking a year or more in advance we can claim an extended balcony with both sitting chairs and lounge chairs.  Final picture is more lava on Lanzarote.