Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Slept late again this morning, this time change is making us sleep later, breakfast followed by a lecture “Nelson and Trafalgar”, very good story of the British Admiral Nelson’s life and times right up to his death.  Lunch of hot dogs and hamburger (no buns) then the movie “St Vincent” with Bill Murray, a riot if you’ve not seen it.  Back to the room to get ready for our evening.  Drinks in Martini Bar with music by the pianist then to the Terrace Cafe for dinner before reading and bedtime.  Another one hour time change.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Up a little earlier than the last couple of days, breakfast of fresh strawberries, blue berries and cream plus a nice sweet roll still warm from the oven.  We decided to pass on the shuffleboard, croquet, golf putting, bridge lessons, needlepoint, line dancing and Mah Jongg and just relax this day at sea.  However, we took time for a cooking demonstration by the executive chef from Italy who regaled us with stories of his grandmother’s kitchen.  Also joining him was the head chef from Jacques, one of the four specialty restaurants on board.  They each put together two dishes, two appetizers, one main, and a desert.  In the afternoon we refused the blackjack tournament, art lesson, table tennis, spa, gin tasting (regrets), magic tricks and afternoon tea and had a nap before heading to the Captain’s cocktail party where the free booze flowed.  Our reservation tonight was in the Red Ginger restaurant where we shared an appetizer calamari and tempura shrimp, then Iris had lamb chops and Bob had the sea bass, both very good.  An early evening and off to bed.

At Sea

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Forgot to say we departed Bermuda at 5 PM yesterday and the captain warned us that we would have 3 meter seas tomorrow instead of the 1.5 meters we had experienced to date.  Yippee!  Some last thought about Bermuda - lovely place, lovely people (those we encountered), housing very expensive, “affordable housing” starts at $250,000 and goes up to $800,000, everything you eat, wear and use comes in 20’ containers from New Jersey making everything expensive plus the government levies 7% on all incoming goods, every family is allowed one car so mom has the car to transport the kids and dad rides a scooter.  Other than that it would be a great place to live.

Today we slept late, had breakfast, enjoyed a presentation of big ships of the Atlantic, a history of ship construction with photos of the great ships built for the Atlantic crossings.  Then a presentation about the use of Microsoft’s Windows 10 was very interesting for Iris as she refuses to follow me to Apple and the easy iOS.  At 5:30 we sat in the Horizons Bar for drinks and enjoyed the ship’s orchestra playing for the dancers.  For dinner we enjoyed dinner in the Terrace Cafe snacking around on the various options from the stations.  No monumental but always tasty.  We had seen the entertainer on a previous cruise with Oceania (for Bob’s birthday last year) so decided to read and go to bed early.  Bob was forced to go to bed early as his kindle ran out of battery.  Bummer!  No photos today as the scenery was the same all day.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Laundry done by 8 AM, breakfast in the Terrace Cafe, then to the shops to use up some of the onboard credits - new watch for Bob, 2 handbags, globe that turns when exposed to light, rolling duffle bag and scarf for Iris.  In the morning we attended a presentation about future cruises on Oceania that didn’t tempt us to book another one yet.  Lunch in the Terrace Cafe was with Jacques and Diane that we had met on the Little Havana culinary tour in Miami before our cruise.  Jacques has been in the ship’s hospital almost since we departed but is OK now after $6,000 worth of care.  Not sure what was the problem but now seems normal.  For happy hour we decided on the Martini Bar to enjoy the 2 for 1 drinks while listening to the pianist.  After finishing the drinks we went to the Italian specialty restaurant for a very nice dinner.  We both had a lovely spinach salad with some Italian breads and Tuscan olive oil followed by osso bucco with risotto for Bob and veal parmesan for Iris.  Enjoyed it very much.  Skipped the entertainment and read late due to the hour time change.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Today Bob had a real breakfast so he’s obviously improving.  Boarding a city bus today for our tour with C.C. Smith, a very large black native Bermudian, he regaled us with stories and pointed out what we were seeing including trees and flowers along our route.  We made another stop at the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse (they have restrooms), drove by the magnificent beaches again, a short stop in Hamilton where we enjoyed a cafe latte and the sweet roll we had brought from the ship.  On to St. Georges at the opposite end of Bermuda from where our ship was docked.  The US had an Air/Navy base at St. Georges for many years but after Sam Donaldson did an expose on 60 Minutes about life in Bermuda for the US personnel, Bill Clinton ordered the base closed.  So the local government took over the airport, containing the world’s longest runway, built for space shuttle landings (if necessary) and had to come up with a way to fund the $45 million operating costs paid by the US taxpayers before that.  So they introduced taxes, novel solution.  Speaking of taxes there is no income tax in Bermuda, most of the government revenue comes from the insurance companies that make their headquarters here, the largest being Ace and XL (almost went bust paying World Trade Center claims).  Bermuda has a population of 65,000 and 180 islands (some of which are counted if a rock sticks up above the water line), development is on seven islands connected by bridges and causeways.  The capital is Hamilton with its central location while St. Georges was the original capital.

Arriving back at the ship after 3 PM lunch was limited to the burger and hot dog bar at poolside.  All the returning folks were trying to get something so it took a while but finally we made it.  After a rest we went to the Terrace Cafe for a bowl of soup before bed time.   Read until 10:30 then to bed.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Arrival at Heritage Wharf in Bermuda, 62 hours after leaving from Miami and 975 miles.  Situated on the extreme western end of the group of 180 islands that make up Bermuda this is where the British Navy had a presence until after WW I called the Dockyards.  Today all the buildings are converted to museums, shops and restaurants plus some new installations including seven acres of new land being reclaimed from the Atlantic to serve as the viewing area for the 2017 Americas Cup race to be held here.  Shortly after our arrival we met Sam, our driver for today in his van holding six of us for the morning tour of the islands.  Sam is 76 and was born in Bermuda so was full of stories and legends of the area.  We drove from the extreme western end to Somerset Drawbridge then along the south shore overlooking beaches including Horseshoe Bay and Church Bay then to Gibbs Hill Lighthouse for a photo stop and a drive into Hamilton for a walkabout along Front Street and then a sightseeing drive to Harbour Road and back to the pier.  A full morning with some beautiful scenery.  The color of the water is so beautiful and clear, it is impossible to explain.  After lunch and a nap we ran into Sam, our guide from this morning, and he took us to the shops close by to the ship.  We browsed in the Bermuda Craft Center and the Bermuda Arts Center.  After walking back to the ship it was almost time for happy hour.  We went to the Horizons bar and along with wine for Iris (Bob still is not up for alcohol), we listened to a local Bermudian play a steel pan concert.  Supper after that and an early night.

This is a "Moon Gate", built shortly after marriage to represent a wedding ring to show the eternal love of the new couple.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Miami

Today is our embarkation from Miami on Oceania’s MS Riviera.  Took the shuttle from the hotel to the port terminal, bags handled efficiently, smooth check-in, boarded, had a nice lunch, a short nap, the hated safety drill wearing a bulky life vest and finally going to dinner at the Jacques Restaurant where we enjoyed escargot and prime rib with a glass of wine.  Since then it has been downhill.  Tomorrow started early.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Just after midnight Bob was very sick, really sick.  This went on for hours.  Iris is sure it is norovirus, Bob thinks it was a bad snail.  So Tuesday was a lost day, room service for Iris, nothing for Bob.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Bob is a bit improved this morning.  After nothing to eat yesterday he was ready for toast with peanut butter and hot tea from room service. Thankfully Iris is not restricted.  So a slow day mostly in the room with a lunch in the Terrace Cafe followed by a nap.  Tonight is the Captain’s reception but Bob does not feel like attending so a quiet evening in the room with Iris enjoying some malbec and a cheese platter, Bob having water and ice.  Early to bed.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Austin to Miami

Tony picked us up at 9:00 AM in Georgetown and drove us to the Austin airport where we had a leisurely walk through the TSA Pre-check line, had a coffee, read our books, bought our Salt Lick lunch and boarded our flight to Atlanta.  Arriving in Atlanta we had to change terminals in order to get our flight to Miami and we only had 50 minutes to make the change but it all went off without a hitch.  Upon arrival in Miami we called the Element Hotel and the shuttle appeared to transfer us to the hotel in air-conditioned comfort.  Check in was pretty slow but finally we had our room key and up to the room we went.  After a little rest we decided to have a glass of wine and a snack in the hotel as the location in an industrial area prompted us to not want to leave the hotel.  It is probably four miles to the airport, the closest place to get a bite.  We noticed the couple next to us and what they had ordered and they recommended the chicken wings and curly fries so we ordered that too with a caprese salad.  They couple turned out to be Germans living in Orange County, CA that were naturalized American citizens.  They were leaving for a cruise out of Miami port on Sunday morning.

After our nice supper we were ready for bed and it was a decent hour as we had set our clocks to eastern time.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Miami

Slept until the alarm, unusual for us.  Breakfast in the hotel, nice buffet, back to the room, measured the size of the room and Iris went to the front desk to complain about the size of the room that was far smaller than the advertisement for the room at the time of booking so they moved us to another room that was about double in size, very nice with sectional sofa, king bed, kitchen.  Element Hotels are “green” so much emphasis is placed on saving water and recycling.  We felt it was not good value for money though.

At 11:30 AM we got a driver to take us to Little Havana where we had booked a walking tour of the area focused on cuisine of Cuba.  Cubans have settled in this area of Miami beginning in the late 1950’s and today it is a thriving section of Miami.  Lots of art galleries, restaurants and parks.  Our tour met at an art gallery where the owner was a Cuban that bailed out of Cuba shortly after the Castros came to power.  Ralph (Rafael) met us there and gave us a short orientation talk of what the tour would be and from there our first stop was a sandwich cafeteria where the sandwich station is in the center of a diner counter and there were booths along with tables in a separate room.  We enjoyed empanadas plus a little pastry made with plantains stuffed with chicken and cumin.  All tasty!  Along the street we stopped at Cuba Tobacco Cigar Company to see hand rolling of cigars and packaging for shipment.  This family led by Don Bello legally purchased Cuban tobacco seeds from a third country and planted them in Dominica, Guatemala and Nicaragua and this is the source of the “Cuban” tobacco used in the manufacture of the cigars that are shipped all over the world.  From here we walked to a “ ventanita”, a little window where you could order Cuban sandwiches and coffee.  The sandwich was very good and the coffee was strong even with the cane sugar and cream but tasty.  Iris only gets her caffeine from chocolate so she declined the coffee.  Directly across 8th street from here was the “Ball and Chain”, a night club recreated as a jazz club 60 years after the original closed.  In the 1940’s and 1950’s this was a hot spot for all the big names in jazz like Cab Callaway, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, who were not allowed to stay in local hotels but had to cross the causeway to get to the area that would allow blacks to stay.  Here we had a mojito made with cane sugar, lime juice, club soda and Bacardi Silver rum.  Tasty!  Next stop was to see the Domino park where every table (and there were many) was filled with domino players using double nines instead of the normal double sixes that were thicker than the normal domino probably so it would make the greatest noise when slapped down on the table.  A short walk away we entered an open air fruit market where we learned about plantains and sugar cane while enjoying a glass of sugar cane juice.  This fruit market has been in business for over 100 years.  Current family that owns it had four generations present at the market today.  Ralph retrieved a box of pastries he had bought earlier before the bakery closed and we enjoyed one stuffed with guava jam while standing in front of the Tower Theater.  Our final stop was the Azucar ice cream shop where we had samples of several flavors and then a full cup of our choice.  Very good!  This was the conclusion of our tour so we took a cab back to the hotel and we were ready for a rest after all the walking and standing (3 hours).  A bottle of wine from the bar downstairs was our dinner as we had had so much food on the tour we were certainly not hungry.  To bed fairly early.

Latest News

Just realized that we've not said anything since Bob's birthday on January 31st.  What could we have possible been doing?  Don't ask!
We were in France from early January until March 22nd.  The purpose of this unusually timed trip was to try to solve some problems with our homeowners association where our house is located.  Basically the association is non-existant as maintenance of the common areas has been sadly lacking for a couple of years so one of the other owners joined us in a legal action against the association to try and get a new manager to address the problems.  The French legal system (Napoleon must have been a lawyer) is very complex and nothing like the British (and American) system based on precedent but strictly on the written law.  Mexicans could never live like that.  Anyway it took all that time to get an Advocate (French lawyer) to represent us, write letters and make appeal to a judge.  So now we're waiting on the ruling by the judge to appoint a new manager.  What a production!
It was not all work though - we still enjoy the markets and even if some Saturday mornings were very cold (35 F) we went to the Apt Market to have a sweet roll and coffee at our favorite cafe and meet the folks at the butcher shop, fish stall, cheese stall and the veg stall buying most of what we need to eat for the following week.  Long silk underwear helps during the cold rainy winter market days.  We also had discovered a lovely restaurant last summer in Le Chene, very close to our house, called Le Petit Ecole (little school) located in an old one-room school house that is two floors.  The school teacher probably lived upstairs and now the owners of the restaurant live there.  Downstairs is the dining space in the winter, during summer months the seating is outside in the garden.  So we enjoyed several meals there inside where they have space for 20 diners and we saw Kelly, wife of Chef Oliver have to turn away folks as reservations are required as they serve 20 people every day.  See their website at
http://www.restaurant-lapetite-ecole.com/index.htm
We've had a short stay in Georgetown since returning from France but full of plans and activities to get ready for our summer in France.  We've enjoyed our little time with some great friends including a dinner party with the usual suspects that was wonderful friends that don't seem to forget us even though we're gone for many months at a time.
Now we're packing like mad getting ready for our return to France.  We leave Saturday for Miami where we will spend a couple of days then board the Oceania Riviera for our transatlantic crossing to Barcelona two weeks later..
We will try to do more blogs with some photos after we get to Miami.