Back in the USA

Hi,
we're home from our cruise. It was great. Better than great. I didn't have to cook, clean, make a bed or worry about a thing for 16 days. Reality has set back in already and I'm not even in this time zone yet.

Formal Night

Cruising the Atlantic was the best part. Six days at sea with nothing but water no matter where you looked off the deck. I was so tempted to dive in and just keep swimming but you never want to hear the announcement "bravo, bravo, bravo" over the P.A. system on a ship. That means someone has gone overboard and they don't think of that as a favorable event on cruise ships. They just want you to eat until your burst. Death by chocolate is preferable to drowning in their books.

Holding up the ship

We met fun people from all over the world. The ship was a mix of Americans, Canadians, Europeans, Aussies, Brits... I think almost every country was represented. A floating United Nations. It's amazing to sit and chat with people and find you have something n common no matter where they are from. Maybe it is because cruising seems to attract like minded souls who love exploring, seek adventure and require 24 hour food availability. Who knew so many people could eat 8 meals a day? It's a wonder that the boat can float with all that food aboard.

Our destination ports on the Caribbean side of the trip were San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maartin. Nothing we haven't already seen and been to but we got off the ship to walk around and stretch our legs. The Caribbean all looks the same to me. Tacky souvenirs, over priced watches & jewelry, alcohol that you can't fly with any more, beaches that they charge admittance to.... Niagara Falls with less foaming water and no "Maid of the Mist", only a banana boat ride for $85. Pass, thanks.

Larzarote vineyard

Once we crossed the Atlantic the island were a lot more interesting to us, the Europeans were now the board passengers. Tenerife was quaint, Lanzarote was exotic and Funchal was just delicious. The cobble stone streets of Tenerife and 17th century architecture were charming. I walked for several hours around town. Lanzarote is a volcanic island, covered in ash from the eruptions that lasted 6 years from 1730 to 1736. They have figured out that if they dig down to the soil and plant grape vines, the volcanic ash top soil provides an excellent fertile growing spot and produces lovely wines. It is the weirdest landscape I have ever seen, almost looks like you're on the moon. We took a bus tour of the National Park where the volcanoes are not active but the ash is still hot and they use pits in the ground to cook food with. Very funky.

Scabbard Fish..... UGLY!!!

In Funchal we went to a fresh produce market and tasted the most interesting passion fruits like nothing I've ever tried before and certainly nothing we get in Yardley, PA. The fish market has one of the ugliest sea creatures, a Scabbard Fish. Prehistoric and nasty looking but delicious, we tried it for lunch. It tasted better than it looked. Lunch was a 2 hour affair in a charming outdoor side street café. We were five people and tried 9 different dishes & local beer. After all that food we walked through the downtown area and found a flower market with orchids for 1 Euro each. It pained me to know that I couldn't get any of them back on the ship or to the USA... bummer! To sooth my spirit I tried an egg tart for dessert (amazing) and we tasted the best coffee ever made. All three coffees cost 1.5 Euros. What a bargain!

Emanuelle & Me in Madrid

We ended the trip in Malaga, Spain, catching a high-speed train up to Madrid. Two nights in Madrid, more food and more walking around with our friend, Emanuelle as our tour guide. It was all so much fun and beautiful. Coming home is such a let down.... but I have the memories and the moments to remember.... now if I could only figure out how to swing a trip like this every month. HA!