KIMC, Week 3

And I'm on a roll!  Welcome to Week 3!  Already!  At this rate, I'll be all caught up just in time to stroll out of internet contact for 33 days on the Camino!

So, here's the end of our cruise journey, and the time at which days just started flying by!  We were a little bored with the cruise ship by now, but the ports were still pretty amazing...and we had visited most of the ports without sea days in between...so we were pretty beat in some of these photos!  We also may have started finally using our booze supplies, resulting in hilarious stateroom photos.  But I'm getting ahead of myself....

Agadir, Morocco
We treated our day in Agadir as a beach day, which was lovely!  We got the shuttle from the port into the city centre, and basically just wandered.  Just off the bus, we met a cook at one of the local hotels who decided to show us his friends' stalls at the market (I found it kind of hilarious, and had a great chat with him in French...Irene found it all a bit too pushy, I think, and worried that he'd try to show us around for the rest of the day).  After we ditched our guide, we tracked down an internet cafe, figured out the Arabic/French keyboard (harder than you might think...it took us forever to find the A key), and then set off for a day at the beach.  As I burn bright red at the best of times, you'll notice that on this day of 30+ degrees and bright sun, I opted to stay fully covered up.  I still managed to burn, through sunscreen, on one patch of my neck that wasn't covered...and my nose.  We had ice cream, wandered the beach, turned down 30 offers to buy sunglasses and watches (and about 5 propositions), and had a nice meal at one of the beachside cafes (where we found another cat to feed...go figure!).

En-route to the beach

Almost there!

The old Kasbah, destroyed by an earthquake (most of Agadir is newly built)

Irene doesn't burn like I do!

Yep...I wore a hoodie in this heat! And only had 1 burn!

Us supporting local sand artists

She ate our pizza, but wouldn't eat the anchovies on top of it

beachside lunch

I really liked Morocco (part of it was, I think, my ability to actually communicate reasonably well with most of the people--they all speak French!), but it is a different sort of place.  People are helpful to the point of absolute annoyance, and will try to sell you pretty much anything (I know it sounds like a stereotype, but it's true).  I found this less annoying than the street selling in Turkey (where I found they wouldn't take no for an answer), however Irene preferred the Turkish attitude.  I think I preferred the historic feel of Turkey, however--Morocco felt very resort-like and touristy, and there were English and French holiday-home owners everywhere.

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
Another day at a (very different) beach.  So much wind!  It was amazing and warm and beautiful (once we found our way to the popular beach, and not the scary groomed beach on the other side of the island, where there weren't even footprints), but very much a holiday destination kind of place.  So, we acted in the tradition of all good tourists and wandered the beach, stopped at little stores, and bought local crafts at the port market.  We also went to the mall (where I attempted to use the McDonald's WiFi), but quickly got bored with that.  Finally, we found a little cafe near the port (there's definitely a trend showing in this post), where we drank a glass of wine and used their WiFi connection to talk to people back home.

Boats for sale on the scary beach

See...not even footprints!  There's our floating hotel in the background

Portside (and mallside)

From the nice beach

Checking in with home (with my iPod)

Of note back on the ship, we have the first appearance of our now-famous (perhaps infamous) Stateroom Sangria, made with wine leftover from dinner, whiskey from Barcelona, and fruit and juice from breakfast, stored in water bottles and plastic baggies in our minibar.  Definitely a more successful recipe than any of the sangria Irene and I tried in the Spanish ports we stopped at (which all sort of tasted like kool-aid mixed with a little bit of wine).

Stateroom Sangria

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Ok, this place was pretty much perfect, and comes closest to Malta as the place I fell in love with for pretty much no reason (no spectacular ruins, no history that I studied in university, no previous interest of going there, really).  We walked our way into town (I suffered trip injury number one--sharp rock to the foot...it's what I get for wearing sandals) and wandered.  We visited the local market, Irene tasted some Madeira wine, and we had a lovely lunch at a little cafe with a hugely entertaining waiter (seriously...he was much better than most of the shows on the cruise ship).

Leaving the port

Market

Market fruits

Flower vendor in traditional dress

Lunch (note Irene's strategic sangria, and the fact that I am not drinking it)

Our waiter, making our dessert...he was an experience all on his own

Flambé strawberries...yum!

After lunch (and a large sangria for Irene), I managed to convince my afraid-of-heights travel buddy to hop aboard the cable car with a quartet of Germans (who found us hilarious, and offered relaxation deep-breathing techniques) to the top of the mountains Funchal is built on, where we toured a church, walked through some gardens, and watched the traditional sled guys (it's how they used to travel from Monte at the top of the hill to Funchal at the bottom) push tourists down the hill in wicker chairs.  Hilarious.

View of Funchal from the cable car

The sled guys, resting

Getting ready to head down the hill

Our Lady of Monte (and me)

Fixing Irene's shoe with gum, so she doesn't fall down the hill

On the way down the hill

Poor Irene...I also convinced her to face her snake phobia after a magic show on the ship.  I'm amazed she's still talking to me!  I think it's because I didn't get us lost on any of our adventures!

After the cable car, we had just enough time for me to pick up a few souvenirs, and to get back to the ship.  Apparently this is one of the ports where people got left behind, so we're pretty happy we made it back on time!

At Sea
Normally I haven't been including days spent at sea, but we may have run out of things to do on the ship (after walking around the decks for hours on the walking track...I think I clocked up 10 miles and attending a jewellery seminar on emeralds...seriously...we were that bored), so we mixed up some Stateroom Sangria and then decided to take photos, before heading to a Three Tenors sort of show (Irene may have slept through much of it).

Slicing the fruit

Enjoying our first sips

And they're starting to take effect

And we start to degenerate into giggles

both of us!

This may have been the second glass

or maybe not

Malaga, Spain
I liked Malaga a lot!  We didn't have any definite plans, so we got the port shuttle to the city centre, and then wandered around.  We had directions from Jana for a good tapas restaurant, so we decided we'd try to find it if we could (exact directions from Ms. Caines: go to town centre, turn right down a bunch of streets, and there it is).  We found first some lovely stores and gardens, followed by the Alcazaba Fortress.

Irene was feeling a little tired after the relentless walking schedule I'd had her on, so we may have taken the elevator to the top of the fortress.  The fortress was amazing, and we spent hours just walking around.  We even saw a Roman amphitheatre at the bottom of the fortress hill!

Me at the top (with my camera-a sign that this is Irene's photo)

View from the top

Neat fountains everywhere

and doorways

Roman Amphitheatre

And what did we find, between the amphitheatre and the church where Picasso was baptized?  The restaurant Jana told us about!  Dear Janabanana: these details may help in your directions for the next people who try to find El Pimpi!

Not the most flattering picture of me

We had a lovely lunch, then wandered a whole lot more before heading back to the ship.  Yay Malaga!  Definitely a nice place to spend a week.  But not as nice as Funchal or Valletta :)

Statues!

No idea about this one...seriously.

Last Day at Sea
I know, two sea day entries in one post!  We actually had a pretty awesome last day on the cruise, including our last batch of Stateroom Sangria, my first (and last) ship martini, a you've been here for 21 days cocktail party (we met a couple whose nephew is a new archaeology prof at MUN), dinner with a Polish family who live in Denmark, and listening to music in the piano bar.  Sometimes you just have to let loose and have a little fun!

I may have moved on to G&T

As did Irene

Barcelona
Off the ship in the rain!  The first real rain of our trip!  So, we got a cab to our hotel (where, wonder of wonders, we were able to check in early) and waited for the rain to end.  Which it did!  We went for a lovely walk near the hotel, and then ordered yummy pizza for supper.  The next day we were up bright and early, and set off for adventures in Barcelona!  We got the Metro to Catalunya Square, and then hopped on a tour bus (I know...cheesy, but worth it) which took us by all kinds of sites (and sights).  We decided to hop off at two of Gaudi's masterpieces- Sagrida Familia church and Park Guell.  All I can say is...amazing!

Inside Sagrida Familia

Outside Sagrida Familia

Park Guell

and again...

and again...with a busker

View over the park

Photo ennui

And that's it for the cruise!  My next post will be Dublin and beyond!  Talk to you soon!

-K-

KIMC, Week 2

Week two begins with us sailing out of Istanbul and making our way back through the Dardanelles (yep, we passed through twice, but the first time was at 4 in the morning...I was sleeping).  The weather continued to be GORGEOUS and it was kind of cool to see (from the ocean) many of the WWI places we've all heard so much about (Gallipoli, Suvla, etc). I have pictures of this, but since one bit of coastline looks much like another, I'll spare you those and just stick in a shot from the ship as we sailed away :-)

Valletta, Malta
Our next port of call was Valletta, Malta, which I fell in love with immediately (Irene was less enthusiastic...I think her heart was still back in Istanbul).  I think it was the wind that got me--reminded me so much of home, even though the buildings and plants were like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean.  The people were lovely, the streets winding and full of atmosphere, and the food...well, let's just say we skipped the two traditional meats, horse and rabbit, and headed for Maltese wine and sausage instead. Disclaimer: I forgot my camera on the ship, so all of the Malta shots are taken on Irene's camera, most by Irene.

Valletta's Port

Walking to the City Centre

Gardens looking out over the city

Moi, looking vaguely dazed...might have been the wind...or the steps

Our first stop upon arriving in the city centre was a phone booth, so that Irene could call home (we didn't have much contact with folks at home, as internet and phones on the ship were ridiculously expensive).  While she got the scoop on all the snow and news at home, I wandered around St. John's Co-Cathedral, headquarters of the Knights of Malta.  Words, and pictures, cannot do justice to the opulence, grandeur and amazingness of this place (especially since you can only take photos in the outer part of the co-cathedral, and not in the museum part, where I saw Caravaggio's "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist"), but I've included a few shots to try to give you all some indication:

St. John's Co-Cathedral

Altar

Chapel Ceiling (yep, every surface looks like this...walls...ceilings)

The floor consists of marble in-laid tomb markers

Chapel

Next we wandered, ducking into shops whenever there was a sudden torrential downpour.  We finally sought shelter in a lovely restaurant when a small thunderstorm started, and then headed back out into the sunshine for a last look around before heading back to the ship.

Back on the ship, looking out over the harbour

In training for a traditional boat race

Harbour View

Barcelona, Spain
Our ship stopped back into Barcelona to pick up new passengers, and drop off those souls who were finished travelling, so we hopped ashore and spent the day wandering Las Ramblas, enjoying the sun, eating in overpriced restaurants, and generally having a good time!  Not a lot to report from this particular trip to Barcelona (more at the end, when we spent a few days wandering), but here's a few pics!

Random tourist, being entertained by a street performer (she was a statue one--really good!)

View from where we ate lunch on Las Ramblas

Heading back to the port!

Casablanca, Morocco
Once again acting on advice from our absentee tour director, we booked a tour of Casablanca (and were glad we did!), but cheaped out a little and just went for the half-day version.  It was nice, actually.  It was another gloriously sunny day, and we visited the local market, Hassan II Mosque (it's HUGE), Casablanca's Imperial Residence, and a craft co-operative (where Irene loaded up on face cream and argon oil).  Our guide was really quite good, knowledgeable and friendly, and on the way we even passed a rally in support of the king.

Our guide, on the tour bus

The market

This little guy is determined NOT to be turtle soup

Hassan II Mosque (Capacity, 100 000 people!)

And so ends Week 2!  I actually had to consult both a calendar and my journal to figure that out :)

More coming your way in my third Cruise update, the excitingly named KIMC, Week 3!  Stay tuned for the rest of Morocco, Gran Canaria, Madeira (amazing), Malaga (also amazing) and post-cruise in Barcelona!

-K-

Missing in Action

Ok, so in reading over my last post, I noticed four things, which I decided to try to address before adding my post on Week 2.

First off, somehow I deleted the first half of the Athens portion of the post, which explains why there's no commentary on what we saw, and I appear to start mid-sentence.  Basically, the missing sentences talk about finding the train station in Piraeus (with a lovely Australian couple), the right train stop for the Acropolis (thanks to a couple from Portugal/France on their honeymoon), and our way to the Acropolis (all before the first tour buses from the ship-take that Norwegian Cruise Lines!).  We wandered the Acropolis, saw the Parthenon, the Agora, and so many amazing sites, then visited some of the street markets (where I actually bought a few things, in a strange break from tradition for me), before settling down for a meal. 

Secondly, I didn't add a photo of the Virgin Mary house at Ephesus at all.  Or any from the rug place!  Oops!

Thirdly, I also didn't add photos of Topkapi Palace.

And, finally, I forgot that we passed Stromboli, an active volcano, on Ash Wednesday as we headed towards Turkey.   So, I've stuck a nice pic of that in here too!  Enjoy!

Oh, and I'm writing my Week 2 post now, so it should be up soon!

-K-

House of the Virgin Mary

Removing silk from the cocoons

Topkapi Palace entrance

Topkapi from outside

Stromboli

And a little closer....