LAST COMMENT ON ARUBA: In my last posting I was tad disparaging about Aruba. I must add that on Sunday afternoon we took a taxi to a very nice beach and swam in 29 degree water. My view on Aruba then became less negative. 
A DAY IN GRENADA (THE SPICE ISLAND): Tuesday morning we sailed into the beautiful little harbour at St. George's, Grenada. Grenada has an interesting history. The Carib people, the first inhabitants, were successful in resisting the Spanish in the 17c. However, the French overran the island and wiped out the entire population, many of whom committed suicide by leaping off the cliffs rather than submit. The
French didn't rule long and in the 1700's ceded the island to the Brits. Today Grenada is a constitutional monarch still stuck, as is Canada, with a foreign queen. Of course, you will remember that Ronald Reagan sent in his troops in 1982 after a coup executed the legitimate Prime Minister.
We had no plans for our visit to Grenada and simply disembarked. A taxi driver convinced us to take a tour with his group and along with 6 other tourists we were taken around the island, visiting some waterfalls, seeing cliff divers, visiting a spice factory, etc. As the day was very hot we ended the tour by being driven to a lovely beach. After we had a swim the driver returned and took us back to the ship. All this cost $20 per person. By the way, the temperature each day seems to be 28 and the water temperature 29.
MARCH 24: A sea day aboard our floating nursing home. Betty attended a cooking class. As we were approaching Devil's Island in French Guyana I spent part of the afternoon watching the 1973 movie "Papillon" with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
A WORD OR THREE ON SERVICE: The other night one of our tablemates complained that he forgot his glasses and couldn't read the menu. The waiter returned with a fancy wooden case and offered a dozen or so pairs of reading glasses. I know that fine restaurants sometimes offer this service but I am not certain that I would get such help in any of my usual haunts, such as "The Wheel" or "DeLuxe French Fries."
Most nights we avoid the buffet and eat in "The Grand Dining Room". This means 4 or 5 courses with fairly traditional items starting with caviar, foie gras, or escargot, followed by a choice of soups, a choice of salads and then such ordinary things as prime rib, rack of lamb, ostrich, or steamed Maine lobster (no more than 2 pounds). Occasionally we get a reservation in one of the speciality restaurants. On March 24 a shipboard friend joined us for a meal in the Italian restaurant. Our buddy is a Canadian who is retired, lives in Dublin and travels the world by himself.
As one would expect in an Italian restaurant we started with a basket of bread with oil and vinegar condiments. Here, however, we were given a choice of 12 different olive oils and 5 or 6 vinegars. Probably the food at this nursing home is better than at the R. K MacDonald in Antigonish.
DEVIL'S ISLAND: Although the seas were rough our tender managed (yesterday) to get us to Ile Royale, one of 3 tiny island that made up the French penal colony commonly called Devil's Island. At first it seemed that we had landed on a tropical paradise with monkeys and peacocks. That impression soon changed as we approache the prison ruins and saw the tiny cells and iron shackles. Some of the stories were quite horrific. One French soldier in the early 20c was sentenced for setting fire to his
barracks cots. Once on the island he served 3771 days in solitary confinement. Very few of the 10's of 1000's sentenced here survived to return to France. The prison was established in 1852 and it is absolutely amazing to learn that there were still imates here as late as 1946.
MARCH 26: Another sea day we we approach Brazil. Betty is off taking a Portuguese lesson. I am waiting for the wash to finish and I nurse the aftereffects of 4 glasses of wine at a pre-dinner wine tasting, following by champagne (supplied by a York Prof with whom we ate) and a good bottle of Priorat (from my cache).
A DAY IN GRENADA (THE SPICE ISLAND): Tuesday morning we sailed into the beautiful little harbour at St. George's, Grenada. Grenada has an interesting history. The Carib people, the first inhabitants, were successful in resisting the Spanish in the 17c. However, the French overran the island and wiped out the entire population, many of whom committed suicide by leaping off the cliffs rather than submit. The
French didn't rule long and in the 1700's ceded the island to the Brits. Today Grenada is a constitutional monarch still stuck, as is Canada, with a foreign queen. Of course, you will remember that Ronald Reagan sent in his troops in 1982 after a coup executed the legitimate Prime Minister.We had no plans for our visit to Grenada and simply disembarked. A taxi driver convinced us to take a tour with his group and along with 6 other tourists we were taken around the island, visiting some waterfalls, seeing cliff divers, visiting a spice factory, etc. As the day was very hot we ended the tour by being driven to a lovely beach. After we had a swim the driver returned and took us back to the ship. All this cost $20 per person. By the way, the temperature each day seems to be 28 and the water temperature 29.
MARCH 24: A sea day aboard our floating nursing home. Betty attended a cooking class. As we were approaching Devil's Island in French Guyana I spent part of the afternoon watching the 1973 movie "Papillon" with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
A WORD OR THREE ON SERVICE: The other night one of our tablemates complained that he forgot his glasses and couldn't read the menu. The waiter returned with a fancy wooden case and offered a dozen or so pairs of reading glasses. I know that fine restaurants sometimes offer this service but I am not certain that I would get such help in any of my usual haunts, such as "The Wheel" or "DeLuxe French Fries."
Most nights we avoid the buffet and eat in "The Grand Dining Room". This means 4 or 5 courses with fairly traditional items starting with caviar, foie gras, or escargot, followed by a choice of soups, a choice of salads and then such ordinary things as prime rib, rack of lamb, ostrich, or steamed Maine lobster (no more than 2 pounds). Occasionally we get a reservation in one of the speciality restaurants. On March 24 a shipboard friend joined us for a meal in the Italian restaurant. Our buddy is a Canadian who is retired, lives in Dublin and travels the world by himself.
As one would expect in an Italian restaurant we started with a basket of bread with oil and vinegar condiments. Here, however, we were given a choice of 12 different olive oils and 5 or 6 vinegars. Probably the food at this nursing home is better than at the R. K MacDonald in Antigonish.
DEVIL'S ISLAND: Although the seas were rough our tender managed (yesterday) to get us to Ile Royale, one of 3 tiny island that made up the French penal colony commonly called Devil's Island. At first it seemed that we had landed on a tropical paradise with monkeys and peacocks. That impression soon changed as we approache the prison ruins and saw the tiny cells and iron shackles. Some of the stories were quite horrific. One French soldier in the early 20c was sentenced for setting fire to his
barracks cots. Once on the island he served 3771 days in solitary confinement. Very few of the 10's of 1000's sentenced here survived to return to France. The prison was established in 1852 and it is absolutely amazing to learn that there were still imates here as late as 1946.MARCH 26: Another sea day we we approach Brazil. Betty is off taking a Portuguese lesson. I am waiting for the wash to finish and I nurse the aftereffects of 4 glasses of wine at a pre-dinner wine tasting, following by champagne (supplied by a York Prof with whom we ate) and a good bottle of Priorat (from my cache).
No comments:
Post a Comment