28 August 2008
Hello all from “The Rock”,
The people who put cruises together know a lot about what their passengers need. Having a first day “at sea” was a great way for us to regroup and unwind after our whirlwind visit to London. We didn’t realize how pooped we were until we noted that it was almost eight o’clock when we woke up on our first day afloat. For the two of us early risers, eight o’clock is the next thing to noon on our sleep clocks. The extra winks did us good.
Our first stop at Vigo, Spain gave us an easy transition from merry old London into our new venue; the Iberian Peninsula. We chose to spend our day at Vigo strolling through the town which gave us a small insight into Galacia - the northwest corner of Spain. Parts of the city were 16th and 17th century but most reflected a relatively large city that was very much a part of the 21st Century. We spent a little time touring our first European cathedral, marveling at the stained glass windows and elaborate statues and woodwork. If it weren’t for the presence of worshippers we would have had difficulty defining what we saw as church. Our experiences with the churches we have attended in our lives certainly didn’t include such elaborate houses of worship. The history of Vigo fell into perspective for us when we learned that a nearby town on the Atlantic coast was the first to receive the news of Columbus’s discovery of the Americas when his first ship returned to Spain.
For our next port of call, Lisbon, we decided that rather than spending time seeing another big European town we would travel to Sintra to learn more about the history of Portugal. Our trip from Lisbon to Sintra included a brief stop at Casais, a marvelous little resort town on the Atlantic coastline. The huge homes near the water’s edge and the hotels that had five star written all over their fascades suggested that the wealthy folks in this part of the world had put their stamp of approval on the area. And it was definitely a beautiful spot. We quickly added Casais to the list of places to revisit when the lottery showers us with its favors. The Romans put their stamp of approval on the place in the 2nd Century and it stuck.
Sintra really grabbed our attention. The little town surrounds a palace built by King Charles I in the 15th Century to please his English born wife who found sewerless Lisbon too stinky in the summer time to suit her tastes. The Palace towers above the surrounding village and provides a glimpse of theAtlantic Ocean on a clear day. The queen apparently prospered in the mountain climate at Sintra giving birth to seven royal offspring one of which was Prince Henry the Navigator who made it into the history books with his exploration successes. We spent more than an hour walking through the palace hanging on our guide’s every word. Her commentary was so interesting Dottie lost count of the stairs to the highest tower (over one hundred) but with just enough silent time that Dottie could brag on her 222 step climb to the top of St. Isaac’s Cathedral.
Our guide reminded us that Portugal is a small country; about the size and shape of Northern California north of San Francisco. The country is democratically governed but not in the sense Americans would recognize until about fifty years ago. Before that, a Prime Minister controlled the country for almost forty years. A minor revolution over threw the Prime Minister and a new constitution was adopted that has given direction to the country ever since. A marvelous Bridge greeted us as we entered Lisbon Harbor. The bridge had been built during the reign of the forty year Prime Minister who had his name given to the bridge. When he was overthrown, the Prime Minister’s name was removed and the bridge renamed “Ponte 25 Abril”, the date the Prime Minister was overthrown.
Our next stop was back in Spain and the city of Cadiz. This area in the southwestern part of Spain is known as Andalucia. The history of Cadiz began in the 12th Century and later attracted the attention and ownership by the Carthaginians and the Romans. Today it stands as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Western world.
The old part of Cadiz was just a short walk from our ship so we spent most of a day walking through the old narrow cobble stoned streets and peering into open doorways that allowed glimpse sized bites of how Cadizians live. We visited the Convento de San Francisco and found a quiet sidewalk café on the Plaza de San Francisco for our lunch. Someone on the ship must have announced our presence in town because the marvelous bells in the convent tower peeled exactly 76 times at noon in recognition of Dottie’s birthday a few days earlier. When we asked why all the bells, our waiter simply replied that it was a special occasion. We knew exactly what he was talking about.
We spent our afternoon wandering through the old parts of Cadiz and the Plaza Mina which seems to be the center point of the University of Cadiz. We finished our stroll back to the ship following the shore line and atop the old 18th Century City Wall. We stopped to chat with some student looking young men who understood that we were looking for our ship when we agreed that it was a “barca muy grande”. The students tried to get us to take a shortcut back to the ship and gave us that “loco viejos” look when we headed for the top of the City Wall instead.
Today the weather changed a bit foul and we loved it. We were scheduled to stop at the nothing little port town of Ceuta, Spain but the wind and “chop” made it inadvisable, we were told, to put us ashore by tender. Instead, the captain opted to take the Jade to the port of Gibraltar for the day. Ceuta was only going to be a drop off point for passengers wanting to take a ten hour excursion to Morocco. Since we weren’t interested in Morocco on this trip, we were pleased with the change of venue.
We shuttled from the ship to downtown Gibraltar and then walked the main street a couple of miles to the cable car that runs to the top of Gibraltar. The walk through town reminded us that Gibraltar is still a colony of Great Britain. Although cars haven’t driven on the “wrong side” of the road since 1927, everything else on “the Rock” is British. For generations the British have stationed around 7,000 soldiers at the site. In recent years, that number has been reduced to a couple of hundred whose job it is to maintain the army facilities for a time when they might be needed.
We spotted an English “Bobby” on patrol. After Dottie laid a hug on him he agreed to pose for a picture with Dottie at his side.
The British have controlled the site for several hundred years having defeated the Moors for the ownership of the Rock which effectively controls the Straights of Gibraltar, the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. In the late 18th Century the Spanish, who have long questioned the British presence at Gibraltar, lay Siege to the fortress for four years. The British had already fortified the area and added greatly to the tunnels in the mountain to provide safe quarters for the defending troops. The Spanish finally gave up and left the British on their Rock and their control of the Mediterranean.
We opted to take a 90 minute mini-bus tour of the Rock rather than wait the estimated hour and a half in line to buy a ticket for a gondola ride to the top. After our tour, we decided we had made a good decision. The usual way to see the rock is to ride up to the top via gondola and walk down the side of the 350 + meter rock, stopping to see the several attractions in the park. Our taxi took us to the top and then stopped at all the special sites along the way. We saw enough Gibraltar Apes, actually Barbary Apes (without tales) to fill a dozen zoos. They are cute but sneaky devils that will steal the food out of your hand if you should decide to buy a snack at any one of the several stalls along the way. Our visit to the huge natural cave and the tunnels dug for military purposes impressed us that we were seeing something very unusual. The view from the top of the Rock showed a rapidly expanding island where shore lines are being filled in so that twenty story luxury apartments can be built for those who seem to think Gibraltar would be a wonderful place to live.
We concluded that Spain and Portugal have their really nice places to live if you like California like climate and old things to look at when you’re not busy with other stuff. On the other hand, Gibraltar impressed us as a fun place to visit but only reasonably suitable as a place to live if you’re a Barbary Ape and you like to eat things that humans throw at you and you enjoy having your picture taken when you’re scratching.
We celebrated our tenth anniversary last night by enjoying dinner at the best specialty restaurant on board. The servers sang “Let me call you sweetheart” to us and presented us with a lovely anniversary cake. Some of the guests dropped by our table to congratulate us on our anniversary which we didn’t tell a soul was a celebration of ten months since the fateful day last October when Dottie bought some records from Bill at his Garage Sale.
Life is great but we’re getting pooped. It looks like the only way we’ll get a recuperative vacation will be to come home…………..for a while.
Our love to our family and friends,
Gram and Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Dottie and Bill
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
August 7 2008
7 August 2008
Hello to all from the North Sea (again),
Our stop in Helsinki featured our first use of one of the ship’s “shore excursions”. Since Bill was more than familiar with the rest of the stops along the way, we chose to go with a “Pro” at Helsinki where the local sights are a bit more spread out than in the other Baltic capitals and not as walk able during a day’s visit. Our guide took us to Senate Square where we could take pictures of the marvelous church and government buildings and walk a short distance to an open air street market that was experiencing a dismal business day, what with the light rain and all. An other stop along the way was the Sibelius Monument, honoring Finland’s most famous son, the composer of “Finlandia”. The monument represented a modernistic impression of a pipe organ the pipes of which seemed to float above the ground. The park like setting had a half dozen busses parked at the curb with several hundred people filling their memory chips with pictures of the beautiful setting.
We also stopped at and toured Helsinki’s famous “Church in a Rock”, a modernistic chapel carved into a rock protruding from the ground in an otherwise residential setting. We were impressed with the effort someone had taken to create an unusual and beautiful chapel that was hard to recognize as a holy place with hundreds of people snapping pictures and young boys meeting the challenge presented by the possibility of scaling the rock outside to see what the world looked like from the top. Our three hour tour ended in downtown Helsinki with an invitation to all to extend the tour by shopping the downtown shops and then walking the two miles back to the boat. We were amazed that almost all on the tour accepted the invitation to shop and walk even though it was Sunday and ninety percent of the stores were closed. We chose to return to the ship and find some relief from the light rain that had followed us all morning.
St. Petersburg will probably be the high light of our cruise. Arrangements had been made months before to meet Bill’ Russian friends for a visit while we were in St. Petersburg. The friends, Andrey and Lena Kirillov and their twenty-four year old daughter Natasha, were the product of a student exchange Bill sponsored in the late eighties and early nineties. The exchange featured fifty sixteen year old Russian students visiting Alameda County for a month and fifty sixteen year old Alameda County students visiting Russia for a month. Students and adult advisors were housed in private homes, studied Russian and English and learned as much as possible about their new friends’ culture. Bill and Dee stayed in the Kirillov’s apartment home on two occasions and Andrey stayed in their home when he came to Pleasanton with Russian students as an advisor. Bill and Dee spent four days with the Kirillov’s in 2005 and Natasha spent a month with them in California in 2006.
We had managed to obtain the necessary visas to visit privately with the kirillovs. One isn’t allowed to travel independently in Russia without a visa. Most passengers on our ship who took tours were covered by the tour operator’s visa.
The Kirillov’s had been told that our ship would arrive at 9:00 AM on Monday morning and that we would be able to meet them at “The Gate” to the port at 10:00 AM. We went through passport control and found a free employees’ bus that took us to the gate; about two miles from our ship. We were in contact with the Kirillov’s by cell phone. When we arrived at the gate, accompanied by a guide that we had met who was returning home because her tour bus broke down, we learned by phone that the Kirillov’s would arrive shortly driving a black Nisson sedan. Our new friend, the out of work tour guide, was a godsend. We knew nothing about where we were going and she knew exactly where we needed to go and what we had to do. It took two passport control check points before we walked through the main gate allowing Bill to breathe easily after sweating a bit with the process. He had learned through the internet what restrictions applied on our travel and that we didn’t meet half the demands he had read about. Our visas worked.
Another call to the missing Kirillovs gave us the information that they had an accident and would be a little late. We found a tree to protect us from the light rain and waited. About 10:30 Andrey appeared out of no where carrying a huge bouquet of flowers. The flowers were handed to Dottie so Andrey and Bill could share an embrace that demonstrated their true friendship. Dottie insisted on getting into the greeting act and laid a hug on Andrey that he will tell his friends about at his hundredth birthday. We learned that their car was involved in a minor accident. They arrived at the gate twenty minutes early. While waiting for us, they decided that our arrival should be celebrated with some flowers. They left to find the flowers, found the flowers and then had their fender bender several miles from the gate. Andrey walked back to meet us leaving Lena and Natasha to deal with the accident reporting.
Somehow Andrey managed to hire a car that picked us up and drove us to the scene of the accident. The Nisson and a small truck were sitting where they had collided blocking traffic for miles. Apparently in Russia you may not move cars involved in an accident until the police arrive. It took more than two hours for a policeman to make the scene and an other hour during which Natasha managed to talk the policeman out of the 4000 Ruble fee (about $180 US) to write up the accident report. Natasha told us how the policeman insisted that he couldn’t feed his family on his $800 a month salary and he needed her help. Natasha, who has become quite a mature business person (she is in commercial banking), held her ground and left with the accident report she needed for her insurance company.
The Kirillovs drove to St. Petersburg from their home near Moscow on Sunday; an eight and a half hour drive over poor roads. When they met us they had planned to take us to breakfast. Breakfast passed, lunch passed but we did have an early dinner.
The first place we were taken was St. Isaac’s Cathedral in the center of St. Petersburg. Getting there taught us quickly that traffic is a big problem in Russia’s cities. During Bill’s visit in 1989 and again in 1990 he recalled that the busses that were used with the students could travel at sixty miles an hour on side streets without hindrance. On our visit, our excellent driver never reached fifteen miles an hour as he weaved through the traffic like a pro.
Dottie was treated to a Russian tradition when Andrey ordered the driver to stop. He hopped out and returned a few minutes later with paper cups and a bottle of cognac. As we drove we sipped making the absence of lunch bearable.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral is a popular tourist destination because one can climb a 220 step set of stairs and reach the base of the rotunda and gain a marvelous view of the city. We were all well into the first hundred steps before Dottie learned that we weren’t half way to the top yet. Her smile turned to that determined look we’ve all seen before and we raced to the top. The view was worth the effort. The day was clear and beautiful as we jostled our way through the crowd around the rotunda and headed down. We found the interior of St. Isaac’s as spectacular as the outside as we browsed around and admired the gothic architecture and the hundreds of religious paintings.
Our driver knew all of the special tourists spots in town and he managed to wend our way through the traffic to find each one for us. Ultimately we arrived at the apartment the Kirillovs were using. It was a large apartment by Russian standards but sparsely decorated. The visit to the apartment was a good opportunity for Dottie to see how the more fortunate of Russian city dwellers live.
At four o’clock our party met a couple who were friends that the Kirillovs had met on a recent vacation in Egypt. The man was a professor of psychology and his wife was a teacher of English. We met at a restaurant in a boat on one of the many rivers that course through St. Petersburg, We quickly decided the restaurant must be one of the finest in the city. Our four hour dinner featured a number of cold dishes of vegetables, meats and cheeses in forms we had never experienced. Dottie’s newest experience of the day was the Russian love of toasts and vodka. The first toasts were short speeches by each of the diners accompanied with vodka, and more vodka, and more vodka. She got in the spirit of the evening and presented her own toast accompanied by yet another splash of vodka.
We returned to the ship knowing that we had a very special day. Tuesday the Kirillovs picked us up again to take us to breakfast before they left for their return drive home. One thing led to another and we found that it was past 10 AM when we walked away from their apartment to find a place to eat. What we found was that most restaurants had stopped serving breakfast and had yet to open for lunch. We walked at least a mile or more before we found a 24 hour Sushi/Whatever chain where we had our meal. We ate our fill but didn’t find anything on the menu that looked like eggs and bacon or hot cakes. Breakfast with chop sticks was a new experience for all of us.
Our last port of call was Tallinn, Estonia. Estonia is a unique little country that has been a recognized entity since the eleventh century but rarely as its own country. The Swedes, the Danes, the Germans and the Russians have taken turns conquering and governing Estonia until the fall of the Soviet sixteen years ago. It is now a self governed country and doing quite well by European standards.
Tallinn has been an important port city for centuries. The old part of Tallinn was developed by the Germans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The old town is still pretty much as it was originally built with winding cobblestone streets and quaint houses that occasionally display a chip in their exterior plaster to reveal walls built of stone rather than bricks. We taxied to the top of the town and walked around the town in a downhill direction allowing us to see much of the little town missed by the organized tours. We made our way to the town plaza where we stopped at a sidewalk café to watch the hundreds of tourists from the five cruise ships in the harbor as they pawed through the Estonian handicrafts in booths on the plaza. A short walk back to our ship ended our Baltic visits each of which gave us an interesting insight into this wonderful part of the world.
Our Love to all,
Gram Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Dottie and Bill
Hello to all from the North Sea (again),
Our stop in Helsinki featured our first use of one of the ship’s “shore excursions”. Since Bill was more than familiar with the rest of the stops along the way, we chose to go with a “Pro” at Helsinki where the local sights are a bit more spread out than in the other Baltic capitals and not as walk able during a day’s visit. Our guide took us to Senate Square where we could take pictures of the marvelous church and government buildings and walk a short distance to an open air street market that was experiencing a dismal business day, what with the light rain and all. An other stop along the way was the Sibelius Monument, honoring Finland’s most famous son, the composer of “Finlandia”. The monument represented a modernistic impression of a pipe organ the pipes of which seemed to float above the ground. The park like setting had a half dozen busses parked at the curb with several hundred people filling their memory chips with pictures of the beautiful setting.
We also stopped at and toured Helsinki’s famous “Church in a Rock”, a modernistic chapel carved into a rock protruding from the ground in an otherwise residential setting. We were impressed with the effort someone had taken to create an unusual and beautiful chapel that was hard to recognize as a holy place with hundreds of people snapping pictures and young boys meeting the challenge presented by the possibility of scaling the rock outside to see what the world looked like from the top. Our three hour tour ended in downtown Helsinki with an invitation to all to extend the tour by shopping the downtown shops and then walking the two miles back to the boat. We were amazed that almost all on the tour accepted the invitation to shop and walk even though it was Sunday and ninety percent of the stores were closed. We chose to return to the ship and find some relief from the light rain that had followed us all morning.
St. Petersburg will probably be the high light of our cruise. Arrangements had been made months before to meet Bill’ Russian friends for a visit while we were in St. Petersburg. The friends, Andrey and Lena Kirillov and their twenty-four year old daughter Natasha, were the product of a student exchange Bill sponsored in the late eighties and early nineties. The exchange featured fifty sixteen year old Russian students visiting Alameda County for a month and fifty sixteen year old Alameda County students visiting Russia for a month. Students and adult advisors were housed in private homes, studied Russian and English and learned as much as possible about their new friends’ culture. Bill and Dee stayed in the Kirillov’s apartment home on two occasions and Andrey stayed in their home when he came to Pleasanton with Russian students as an advisor. Bill and Dee spent four days with the Kirillov’s in 2005 and Natasha spent a month with them in California in 2006.
We had managed to obtain the necessary visas to visit privately with the kirillovs. One isn’t allowed to travel independently in Russia without a visa. Most passengers on our ship who took tours were covered by the tour operator’s visa.
The Kirillov’s had been told that our ship would arrive at 9:00 AM on Monday morning and that we would be able to meet them at “The Gate” to the port at 10:00 AM. We went through passport control and found a free employees’ bus that took us to the gate; about two miles from our ship. We were in contact with the Kirillov’s by cell phone. When we arrived at the gate, accompanied by a guide that we had met who was returning home because her tour bus broke down, we learned by phone that the Kirillov’s would arrive shortly driving a black Nisson sedan. Our new friend, the out of work tour guide, was a godsend. We knew nothing about where we were going and she knew exactly where we needed to go and what we had to do. It took two passport control check points before we walked through the main gate allowing Bill to breathe easily after sweating a bit with the process. He had learned through the internet what restrictions applied on our travel and that we didn’t meet half the demands he had read about. Our visas worked.
Another call to the missing Kirillovs gave us the information that they had an accident and would be a little late. We found a tree to protect us from the light rain and waited. About 10:30 Andrey appeared out of no where carrying a huge bouquet of flowers. The flowers were handed to Dottie so Andrey and Bill could share an embrace that demonstrated their true friendship. Dottie insisted on getting into the greeting act and laid a hug on Andrey that he will tell his friends about at his hundredth birthday. We learned that their car was involved in a minor accident. They arrived at the gate twenty minutes early. While waiting for us, they decided that our arrival should be celebrated with some flowers. They left to find the flowers, found the flowers and then had their fender bender several miles from the gate. Andrey walked back to meet us leaving Lena and Natasha to deal with the accident reporting.
Somehow Andrey managed to hire a car that picked us up and drove us to the scene of the accident. The Nisson and a small truck were sitting where they had collided blocking traffic for miles. Apparently in Russia you may not move cars involved in an accident until the police arrive. It took more than two hours for a policeman to make the scene and an other hour during which Natasha managed to talk the policeman out of the 4000 Ruble fee (about $180 US) to write up the accident report. Natasha told us how the policeman insisted that he couldn’t feed his family on his $800 a month salary and he needed her help. Natasha, who has become quite a mature business person (she is in commercial banking), held her ground and left with the accident report she needed for her insurance company.
The Kirillovs drove to St. Petersburg from their home near Moscow on Sunday; an eight and a half hour drive over poor roads. When they met us they had planned to take us to breakfast. Breakfast passed, lunch passed but we did have an early dinner.
The first place we were taken was St. Isaac’s Cathedral in the center of St. Petersburg. Getting there taught us quickly that traffic is a big problem in Russia’s cities. During Bill’s visit in 1989 and again in 1990 he recalled that the busses that were used with the students could travel at sixty miles an hour on side streets without hindrance. On our visit, our excellent driver never reached fifteen miles an hour as he weaved through the traffic like a pro.
Dottie was treated to a Russian tradition when Andrey ordered the driver to stop. He hopped out and returned a few minutes later with paper cups and a bottle of cognac. As we drove we sipped making the absence of lunch bearable.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral is a popular tourist destination because one can climb a 220 step set of stairs and reach the base of the rotunda and gain a marvelous view of the city. We were all well into the first hundred steps before Dottie learned that we weren’t half way to the top yet. Her smile turned to that determined look we’ve all seen before and we raced to the top. The view was worth the effort. The day was clear and beautiful as we jostled our way through the crowd around the rotunda and headed down. We found the interior of St. Isaac’s as spectacular as the outside as we browsed around and admired the gothic architecture and the hundreds of religious paintings.
Our driver knew all of the special tourists spots in town and he managed to wend our way through the traffic to find each one for us. Ultimately we arrived at the apartment the Kirillovs were using. It was a large apartment by Russian standards but sparsely decorated. The visit to the apartment was a good opportunity for Dottie to see how the more fortunate of Russian city dwellers live.
At four o’clock our party met a couple who were friends that the Kirillovs had met on a recent vacation in Egypt. The man was a professor of psychology and his wife was a teacher of English. We met at a restaurant in a boat on one of the many rivers that course through St. Petersburg, We quickly decided the restaurant must be one of the finest in the city. Our four hour dinner featured a number of cold dishes of vegetables, meats and cheeses in forms we had never experienced. Dottie’s newest experience of the day was the Russian love of toasts and vodka. The first toasts were short speeches by each of the diners accompanied with vodka, and more vodka, and more vodka. She got in the spirit of the evening and presented her own toast accompanied by yet another splash of vodka.
We returned to the ship knowing that we had a very special day. Tuesday the Kirillovs picked us up again to take us to breakfast before they left for their return drive home. One thing led to another and we found that it was past 10 AM when we walked away from their apartment to find a place to eat. What we found was that most restaurants had stopped serving breakfast and had yet to open for lunch. We walked at least a mile or more before we found a 24 hour Sushi/Whatever chain where we had our meal. We ate our fill but didn’t find anything on the menu that looked like eggs and bacon or hot cakes. Breakfast with chop sticks was a new experience for all of us.
Our last port of call was Tallinn, Estonia. Estonia is a unique little country that has been a recognized entity since the eleventh century but rarely as its own country. The Swedes, the Danes, the Germans and the Russians have taken turns conquering and governing Estonia until the fall of the Soviet sixteen years ago. It is now a self governed country and doing quite well by European standards.
Tallinn has been an important port city for centuries. The old part of Tallinn was developed by the Germans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The old town is still pretty much as it was originally built with winding cobblestone streets and quaint houses that occasionally display a chip in their exterior plaster to reveal walls built of stone rather than bricks. We taxied to the top of the town and walked around the town in a downhill direction allowing us to see much of the little town missed by the organized tours. We made our way to the town plaza where we stopped at a sidewalk café to watch the hundreds of tourists from the five cruise ships in the harbor as they pawed through the Estonian handicrafts in booths on the plaza. A short walk back to our ship ended our Baltic visits each of which gave us an interesting insight into this wonderful part of the world.
Our Love to all,
Gram Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Dottie and Bill
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Traveler's Lament
The Traveler’s Lament………”Been There, Done That”
Marty and I are into our second day of our third circuit of the Baltic Sea and its marvelous ports of call. Marty has made these stops a half dozen times or more during his 54 cruises in the past three plus years. While I had stopped at these same destinations twice each in the past, our first circuit was still exciting for me. There was a certain degree of anticipation with each stop knowing the sights I would see and the experiences I would enjoy. It was fun.
A second time around took some of the luster off of the shiny side of the apple and my interest became one of looking for new sights and things to do. In most cases, such was hard to come by given the time restrictions of a one day port visit. Now that we’re into our third circuit, I can’t really suggest that the upcoming port calls find me with a lot of excitement and explorer’s interest. In the end, I will know that I will enjoy strolling the same streets and touring the same buildings again but it won’t really be the same. That is, it won’t be the same this time but next time, on our fourth circuit of the Baltic, my Dottie will be here to see all of this for her first time. I will be able to share her excitement and see all of these marvelous sights through her inquisitive eyes. For the first time. Our “second time around” is turning out to be loaded with good times and new experiences for both of us.
Travelers finding themselves in my situation need to be creative in making this cruise even more exciting than the last one.
For instance: Today Marty and I “crashed” the party that the ship’s Master (some call him Captain) threw for the “Latitude Club” members. This is an exclusive club limited to those who have sailed in an NCL ship at least one time before this cruise. As an enhancement staff person, Marty isn’t turned away from such gatherings and I walked in to shake hands with the Captain and his staff in Marty’s shadow. We drank the captain’s drinks, ate the Captain’s canapés, and listened attentively when the administrative staff of the ship were introduced, sans the captain. He was at the door to shake hands with supposed Latitude Club members and then disappeared; probably to keep the ship from sinking or something of that magnitude that Captains do on an hourly basis. While the music provided by one of the dance orchestras was nice (no one danced), it seemed the main reason for the gathering was to sell members on taking another cruise right away. A half hour pep talk was given by one of the cruise sales staff. In my opinion, it was like preaching to the choir. All present were veteran cruisers who will probably take yet another cruise anyway. I should note that of a reported 600 club members on board, it appeared that less than 100 chose to come to the party. They were probably enjoying themselves more bundled up on the wind swept decks trying to catch the little bit of sunshine that escaped occasionally through diminutive holes in the sky full of threatening looking clouds.
One of the officers came to our table and we invited her to sit down for a chat. Her name was Carolyn and I told her that her name would be etched on my Ginko stimulated memory forever because my favorite younger sister is named Carolynn. Her assignment was Chief of Housekeeping. Some ships call this position Hotel Manager because her staff includes the stewards that clean the staterooms, change the linen and keep clean towels in the loo. I told her that her crew was doing a great job down at the bottom of the ship on our floor. I didn’t add that often our room is not “done” until just before the late dinner service. None the less, the lady had a big job and one that all of the passengers profit from.
I was able to ask Carolyn Sir (she had two strips on her epaulets) how many passengers we had on board. She was quick to tell us that 2601 souls are on our current cruise. On asking my second obvious question, She new that exactly 2,830 passengers could be accommodated on the Norwegian Jewel. Marty and I figured that would mean that all of the fold up cots hanging on cabin walls, like in our cabin, would be in use. Since Marty and I fill our cabin to overflowing, I don’t think I’d like to sail as the third person in stateroom 5596.
Back to the role of the becoming disinterested traveler, one might suggest that there’s a ton of stuff to do on a cruise with something for every interest. Let’s see now; what might that be. Today the “Freestyle Daily” implored we passengers to try one of the following on for size:1. How about a Comedy Workshop for “Class Clowns” featuring the cast of “Second City”, an improvisational group entertaining onboard, as teachers. The announcement says that one should come ready to discover how naturally funny you already are. I’ve been called a lot of things over the years but never “funny”. Maybe that’s for someone else.2. Then there’s the “Grand Finale Art Auction with a last chance to collect “the art you really love.” There will be free champagne and a raffle for a $500 bid credit. I’m not into raffles but the champagne sounds like a possibility. I’ll keep that in mind. What do you want to bet there’ll be another “Grand Finale….” or the same thing with another name before the end of this cruise?3. Would you like to show off your talents on the main stage of the Stardust Theater. Come on down an do your thing with the stage band ready to back up your vocal, soft shoe shuffle or what have you. The thing that amazes me is that every cruise I’ve been on has asked for passengers to perform in “Talent Shows” and there are always people who clammer for the opportunity. I went to one of the “talent” shows once and was thrilled to hear a ninety-two year old retired school teacher read a poem extolling the virtues (?) of our current president. I don’t think I’ll go again.4. For you sports there will be a Texas Hold ‘em tournament at 10 AM Or while you’re in the sinning’ area you can sign-up for the qualifying rounds of the slot and black jack tournaments. It only costs $15 to register for the action. He who loses the most doesn’t win; it’s the other way around. Not for me I’m afraid.5. Athletes of the world, your attention please. At 8:00 AM in the Gym there will be a complimentary “Stretch Class”. I think that means for those who show up you will be complimented on how great you look in your exercise outfit (which may be a bit of a stretch).6. Did you know that you can attend a lecture on the finer points of playing the game of cards called bridge. If you pass the daily quiz you can come back in the afternoon and play the game. You don’t even need to bring a partner for the game. The management kindly provides fourths when needed (that‘s where I come in. You were probably wondering how I got this cushy job).7. At 9;30 AM there’s a “Review Dance Class”, with Jack and Carol. If you don’t know how to dance don’t come. I mean, what’s to review if you ain’t already got it? Now at 3:00 PM you can learn how to Cha Cha with Vlad and Alina. It sounds as though it might be and Eastern European version of the Cha Cha but if you don’t know it can’t hurt. Can it?8. Once you athletic types have stretched, you can go out an play tennis at 10:00 AM, Dodgeball at 11:00 AM and Basketball at noon.9. If that’s not enough, Professor Kinnaird will tell you all you ever wanted to know about “Why England is Protestant” . Or, an hour earlier he will let you in on the little known facts about European and Russian Religious buildings. Or, in private consultation, he is known to be available to tell you almost everything about anything you don’t know.10. And if that still isn’t enough to keep you occupied and your brain all atwitter, at 1:00 PM Matt Bloomberg will tell you all you need to know about buying your next camera. This will be especially relevant if you’ve noticed that everyone on the ship seems to have a fancier looking camera than the new one you just bought at Wal-Mart before leaving home.
In the afternoon, things really get exciting. We have “Piano Melodies with Vladimir”, a musician who plays by the hour without ever looking at the keyboard or stopping between songs; “Music Mania” with DJ Pedro; “International Dance Hits with the Ironics”. a great quartet with two very talented girl singers; “Smooth Melodies” with the Alambre Trio, three talented men who sing and make a wonderful sound; “Karoke Blast” with who ever shows up; and Singer/Guitarist RJ “Red”. It’s great if you like music. If you don’t, you can go to your cabin.
Come to think about it, which I obviously haven’t before sitting down to compose this too wordy epistle, being on a cruise ship is a nice place to be. Oh yes, and then there’s breakfast, lunch and dinner plus brunch, tea time and midnight buffet and a Frosty Freeze type ice cream machine that runs 24/7. And for the ever thirsty and/or those who aren’t having a good time yet, we have eleven bars that never seem to close. Happy cruising!
My love to all,
Grandpa Bill, Dad, Bill and Mr. B
Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse
Marty and I are into our second day of our third circuit of the Baltic Sea and its marvelous ports of call. Marty has made these stops a half dozen times or more during his 54 cruises in the past three plus years. While I had stopped at these same destinations twice each in the past, our first circuit was still exciting for me. There was a certain degree of anticipation with each stop knowing the sights I would see and the experiences I would enjoy. It was fun.
A second time around took some of the luster off of the shiny side of the apple and my interest became one of looking for new sights and things to do. In most cases, such was hard to come by given the time restrictions of a one day port visit. Now that we’re into our third circuit, I can’t really suggest that the upcoming port calls find me with a lot of excitement and explorer’s interest. In the end, I will know that I will enjoy strolling the same streets and touring the same buildings again but it won’t really be the same. That is, it won’t be the same this time but next time, on our fourth circuit of the Baltic, my Dottie will be here to see all of this for her first time. I will be able to share her excitement and see all of these marvelous sights through her inquisitive eyes. For the first time. Our “second time around” is turning out to be loaded with good times and new experiences for both of us.
Travelers finding themselves in my situation need to be creative in making this cruise even more exciting than the last one.
For instance: Today Marty and I “crashed” the party that the ship’s Master (some call him Captain) threw for the “Latitude Club” members. This is an exclusive club limited to those who have sailed in an NCL ship at least one time before this cruise. As an enhancement staff person, Marty isn’t turned away from such gatherings and I walked in to shake hands with the Captain and his staff in Marty’s shadow. We drank the captain’s drinks, ate the Captain’s canapés, and listened attentively when the administrative staff of the ship were introduced, sans the captain. He was at the door to shake hands with supposed Latitude Club members and then disappeared; probably to keep the ship from sinking or something of that magnitude that Captains do on an hourly basis. While the music provided by one of the dance orchestras was nice (no one danced), it seemed the main reason for the gathering was to sell members on taking another cruise right away. A half hour pep talk was given by one of the cruise sales staff. In my opinion, it was like preaching to the choir. All present were veteran cruisers who will probably take yet another cruise anyway. I should note that of a reported 600 club members on board, it appeared that less than 100 chose to come to the party. They were probably enjoying themselves more bundled up on the wind swept decks trying to catch the little bit of sunshine that escaped occasionally through diminutive holes in the sky full of threatening looking clouds.
One of the officers came to our table and we invited her to sit down for a chat. Her name was Carolyn and I told her that her name would be etched on my Ginko stimulated memory forever because my favorite younger sister is named Carolynn. Her assignment was Chief of Housekeeping. Some ships call this position Hotel Manager because her staff includes the stewards that clean the staterooms, change the linen and keep clean towels in the loo. I told her that her crew was doing a great job down at the bottom of the ship on our floor. I didn’t add that often our room is not “done” until just before the late dinner service. None the less, the lady had a big job and one that all of the passengers profit from.
I was able to ask Carolyn Sir (she had two strips on her epaulets) how many passengers we had on board. She was quick to tell us that 2601 souls are on our current cruise. On asking my second obvious question, She new that exactly 2,830 passengers could be accommodated on the Norwegian Jewel. Marty and I figured that would mean that all of the fold up cots hanging on cabin walls, like in our cabin, would be in use. Since Marty and I fill our cabin to overflowing, I don’t think I’d like to sail as the third person in stateroom 5596.
Back to the role of the becoming disinterested traveler, one might suggest that there’s a ton of stuff to do on a cruise with something for every interest. Let’s see now; what might that be. Today the “Freestyle Daily” implored we passengers to try one of the following on for size:1. How about a Comedy Workshop for “Class Clowns” featuring the cast of “Second City”, an improvisational group entertaining onboard, as teachers. The announcement says that one should come ready to discover how naturally funny you already are. I’ve been called a lot of things over the years but never “funny”. Maybe that’s for someone else.2. Then there’s the “Grand Finale Art Auction with a last chance to collect “the art you really love.” There will be free champagne and a raffle for a $500 bid credit. I’m not into raffles but the champagne sounds like a possibility. I’ll keep that in mind. What do you want to bet there’ll be another “Grand Finale….” or the same thing with another name before the end of this cruise?3. Would you like to show off your talents on the main stage of the Stardust Theater. Come on down an do your thing with the stage band ready to back up your vocal, soft shoe shuffle or what have you. The thing that amazes me is that every cruise I’ve been on has asked for passengers to perform in “Talent Shows” and there are always people who clammer for the opportunity. I went to one of the “talent” shows once and was thrilled to hear a ninety-two year old retired school teacher read a poem extolling the virtues (?) of our current president. I don’t think I’ll go again.4. For you sports there will be a Texas Hold ‘em tournament at 10 AM Or while you’re in the sinning’ area you can sign-up for the qualifying rounds of the slot and black jack tournaments. It only costs $15 to register for the action. He who loses the most doesn’t win; it’s the other way around. Not for me I’m afraid.5. Athletes of the world, your attention please. At 8:00 AM in the Gym there will be a complimentary “Stretch Class”. I think that means for those who show up you will be complimented on how great you look in your exercise outfit (which may be a bit of a stretch).6. Did you know that you can attend a lecture on the finer points of playing the game of cards called bridge. If you pass the daily quiz you can come back in the afternoon and play the game. You don’t even need to bring a partner for the game. The management kindly provides fourths when needed (that‘s where I come in. You were probably wondering how I got this cushy job).7. At 9;30 AM there’s a “Review Dance Class”, with Jack and Carol. If you don’t know how to dance don’t come. I mean, what’s to review if you ain’t already got it? Now at 3:00 PM you can learn how to Cha Cha with Vlad and Alina. It sounds as though it might be and Eastern European version of the Cha Cha but if you don’t know it can’t hurt. Can it?8. Once you athletic types have stretched, you can go out an play tennis at 10:00 AM, Dodgeball at 11:00 AM and Basketball at noon.9. If that’s not enough, Professor Kinnaird will tell you all you ever wanted to know about “Why England is Protestant” . Or, an hour earlier he will let you in on the little known facts about European and Russian Religious buildings. Or, in private consultation, he is known to be available to tell you almost everything about anything you don’t know.10. And if that still isn’t enough to keep you occupied and your brain all atwitter, at 1:00 PM Matt Bloomberg will tell you all you need to know about buying your next camera. This will be especially relevant if you’ve noticed that everyone on the ship seems to have a fancier looking camera than the new one you just bought at Wal-Mart before leaving home.
In the afternoon, things really get exciting. We have “Piano Melodies with Vladimir”, a musician who plays by the hour without ever looking at the keyboard or stopping between songs; “Music Mania” with DJ Pedro; “International Dance Hits with the Ironics”. a great quartet with two very talented girl singers; “Smooth Melodies” with the Alambre Trio, three talented men who sing and make a wonderful sound; “Karoke Blast” with who ever shows up; and Singer/Guitarist RJ “Red”. It’s great if you like music. If you don’t, you can go to your cabin.
Come to think about it, which I obviously haven’t before sitting down to compose this too wordy epistle, being on a cruise ship is a nice place to be. Oh yes, and then there’s breakfast, lunch and dinner plus brunch, tea time and midnight buffet and a Frosty Freeze type ice cream machine that runs 24/7. And for the ever thirsty and/or those who aren’t having a good time yet, we have eleven bars that never seem to close. Happy cruising!
My love to all,
Grandpa Bill, Dad, Bill and Mr. B
Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
10 July 2008
10 July 2008
Swedes will tell you that Stockholm is Europe’s most beautiful capital. By my observation after three visits, they may be right. But then, I haven’t visited all of Europe’s capital cities. Stockholm is unique in that it is built on fourteen small islands. As the city grew over the centuries, the locals just built a bridge to another island and planted more homes and business buildings. Nearly a third of the city is devoted to parks. Squares and airy tree lined boulevards, along with water ways that seem to be everywhere, do make Stockholm different and quite handsome. Yet the city is a bustling metropolis with glass and steel skyscrapers everywhere but all within a five minute walk from twisting medieval streets and water side promenades.
The Gamia Stan district, situated on the island of Stadsholmen, is Stockholm’s old medieval town that emerged in the 13th century and is home to the present Royal Palace with areas open to the public and a ceremonial changing of the guard at noon on weekdays. The Royal Palace is one of the largest royal castles in the world. It contains 680 rooms and is till in use by the royal family. A Stone wall nearby, built in 1250 AD, gave the city its characteristic shape of a heart. The Stork Yrkan cathedral, located in the oldest quarter of the city, was built in 1279 and is used for royal weddings, baptisms and coronations and open to the public.
During our day in port, I gathered a map from the greeters on the dock and headed into town. Since this would be my first stop in four during the next month, I decided I needed first to find an ATM to get some Swedish Kronor, second find a post office to buy stamps and mail some letters, and third to find an internet café to catch up on whatever might be in my lap top. The first two were easy, the last impossible. I asked several people along my route where I could find each of my destinations. All were helpful with the first two but only one had a possibility for me to follow. The suggestion was made that there might be an internet café at the ferry terminal that I had past on my walk.
I returned to the ferry terminal to find no internet café. What I did find was a snack shop that displayed a beer I had never heard of before. The shop had some outside tables where I could watch the terminal traffic flow by so I sat myself down in a sunny spot and enjoyed my Swedish Beer, this time a half liter. The people flowing off of the Helsinki Ferry reminded me that a guide had talked about the advantages Swedes gained by taking the ferry to Helsinki, Finland to do most of their shopping. The cost of the one hour ferry ride was more than compensated by the significant difference in prices on almost everything imaginable. Everyone off loading from the ferry was loaded down with big plastic bags, ratty looking suitcases on wheels and push carts. One couple that stopped to rest in front of my table was pushing a heavy duty hand truck loaded with cases of canned goods and beer. The load was almost more than the mad could handle. The lady in the twosome had a thirty inch suitcase on wheels that bulged to the point that it looked like it might explode. By their antics and equipment I guessed that their quick trip to Helsinki was a common occurrence. I recalled that the guide also told us that laws regarding the public consumption of alcohol are very strict in Sweden. For that reason many folks use the ferry to Helsinki as a conveyance to party time.
The weather for the most part has been sunny and almost warm. I wore a wool shirt into town today and it would have been perfect except that I am a vigorous walker and I could have gone with something lighter. A brisk wind for the last couple of days has made it uncomfortable for my fellow passengers to sun bathe, but they do it anyway. After lunch today I stripped to my bathing suit and basked in the sun sans breeze. Luckily I woke from a short nap and covered up. The warm sunshine that lulled me to sleep was already beginning to do its work on my freckled skin. A few more quikies in the sun like today and I’ll look like a real sun worshipper.
Those who enjoy sunlight would really enjoy the Baltic Sea in June. Official sunrise today, according to the ship’s bulletin, was 3:37 AM with sunset scheduled for 10:04 PM. As we travel eastward and more to the north the days will be even longer. I recall the pleasure my Russian friends had during a trip in 1989 when they took me out on a river boat at Leningrad ( now St. Petersburg) at midnight to show me that you could read a newspaper by the “midnight sun”. I could.
The Norwegian Jewel sailed away from the Stockholm pier with no bands playing, no serpentines floating down from joyful passengers, as a matter of fact, not a single soul on the dock once the landing lines were released. In the silence of the moment, broken only by the ships deep horn sounding its farewell, a sky full of seagulls appeared as if on cue. The gulls soared, dived and squawked as if the local chamber of commerce had hired them to gull lull us back to the dock to spend some more money with local merchants. We’ve all seen the spectacle of gulls following fishing boats into shore knowing full well that the gulls were there to feed off of the remains of fish cleaning. I looked over the side of the ship to see if staff was feeding but saw nothing of the sort. I could only conclude that the gulls simply liked us……….they really liked us!
Helsinki, Finland was our next port of call. My vivid memories of my past visit to Helsinki was one that remembered a quiet water front scene with blonde teenagers hanging with friends all looking wholesome and neat. It was evident from this visit that my limited vision related to the area where Dee and I stayed following a visit to Russia in 1990. Actually, the visit was marred by the fact that our Soviet visas were not returned to us when we left Moscow for Helsinki. Our intent was to return to Moscow to catch our “paid for” flight back to New York. When we arrived at Helsinki we discovered our lack of visas and immediately tried to phone Troitsk for help from our friends. Soviet telephones were never known to work very well and we never made contact. I spent most of our three day visit scurrying around trying to find a way home. The consulate finally helped us obtain tickets but the only thing available was Business Class and the shock of the sticker price lingers on. We got home but our attempts to get Aerflot to return our money on our unused tickets was for naught. I guess we really didn’t have time to see much of the town on that visit.
A more recent cruise ship stop provided us with a tour of the countryside and we still didn’t see downtown Helsinki. This trip I took the shuttle into downtown and found just another large city that wasn’t very pretty. My search for an internet café took me to the train station where everything always is within a stone’s throw. A few well placed questions and a found the internet café; a free facility run by three young bright people who made using their machines the simplest thing since learning to brush your teeth. After I used the free time to clean up my overloaded email, I found a post office and mailed some letters, bought a few post cards and just wandered for a while. The city was bustling and noisy and not nice enough to recommend that it be made a high priority for visiting when in Finland.
The Norwegian Jewel tied up for two full days at St. Petersburg, Russia. Since I have visited St. Petersburg three times in the past and toured the big sites and a few smaller ones, I decided not to leave the ship but rather catch up on a writing project I’ve been working on. Most of the passengers left the ship at least once during our stay to visit The Hermitage, one of the world’s great, museums and art galleries, Peterhof, Peter the Great’s summer palace, The Ballet and the Opera. My visits in 1989 and 1990 took me to all of these places and I’m sure that the Kirillovs will want to take Dottie and me again when we visit in August. Incidentally, one still can’t wander around in Russia without a visa. Dottie and I have ours for our August visit but they are only good for two specific days. If you are with a tour group you are exempt from the Soviet era visa requirement.
Our weather has been changing by the hour. The mornings have started with a drizzle at dawn evolving into mid-day with warm sunshine and puffy white clouds yielding to overcast skies at sunset, which by the way will be at 11:20 PM tonight. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the marvelous ship board food that I have tried to experience in a selective manner. Imagine if you will being served all of your favorite foods and dishes all day long with an automatic ice cream machine around every corner with plates of cookies always within reach. All one needs to do is take a good look at the more seasoned of the travelers on board with broad smiles and girths aplenty and the allure of all these goodies diminishes a tad………but not completely!
Love to all,
Grandpa Bill, Dad, Bill and Mr. Berck
Swedes will tell you that Stockholm is Europe’s most beautiful capital. By my observation after three visits, they may be right. But then, I haven’t visited all of Europe’s capital cities. Stockholm is unique in that it is built on fourteen small islands. As the city grew over the centuries, the locals just built a bridge to another island and planted more homes and business buildings. Nearly a third of the city is devoted to parks. Squares and airy tree lined boulevards, along with water ways that seem to be everywhere, do make Stockholm different and quite handsome. Yet the city is a bustling metropolis with glass and steel skyscrapers everywhere but all within a five minute walk from twisting medieval streets and water side promenades.
The Gamia Stan district, situated on the island of Stadsholmen, is Stockholm’s old medieval town that emerged in the 13th century and is home to the present Royal Palace with areas open to the public and a ceremonial changing of the guard at noon on weekdays. The Royal Palace is one of the largest royal castles in the world. It contains 680 rooms and is till in use by the royal family. A Stone wall nearby, built in 1250 AD, gave the city its characteristic shape of a heart. The Stork Yrkan cathedral, located in the oldest quarter of the city, was built in 1279 and is used for royal weddings, baptisms and coronations and open to the public.
During our day in port, I gathered a map from the greeters on the dock and headed into town. Since this would be my first stop in four during the next month, I decided I needed first to find an ATM to get some Swedish Kronor, second find a post office to buy stamps and mail some letters, and third to find an internet café to catch up on whatever might be in my lap top. The first two were easy, the last impossible. I asked several people along my route where I could find each of my destinations. All were helpful with the first two but only one had a possibility for me to follow. The suggestion was made that there might be an internet café at the ferry terminal that I had past on my walk.
I returned to the ferry terminal to find no internet café. What I did find was a snack shop that displayed a beer I had never heard of before. The shop had some outside tables where I could watch the terminal traffic flow by so I sat myself down in a sunny spot and enjoyed my Swedish Beer, this time a half liter. The people flowing off of the Helsinki Ferry reminded me that a guide had talked about the advantages Swedes gained by taking the ferry to Helsinki, Finland to do most of their shopping. The cost of the one hour ferry ride was more than compensated by the significant difference in prices on almost everything imaginable. Everyone off loading from the ferry was loaded down with big plastic bags, ratty looking suitcases on wheels and push carts. One couple that stopped to rest in front of my table was pushing a heavy duty hand truck loaded with cases of canned goods and beer. The load was almost more than the mad could handle. The lady in the twosome had a thirty inch suitcase on wheels that bulged to the point that it looked like it might explode. By their antics and equipment I guessed that their quick trip to Helsinki was a common occurrence. I recalled that the guide also told us that laws regarding the public consumption of alcohol are very strict in Sweden. For that reason many folks use the ferry to Helsinki as a conveyance to party time.
The weather for the most part has been sunny and almost warm. I wore a wool shirt into town today and it would have been perfect except that I am a vigorous walker and I could have gone with something lighter. A brisk wind for the last couple of days has made it uncomfortable for my fellow passengers to sun bathe, but they do it anyway. After lunch today I stripped to my bathing suit and basked in the sun sans breeze. Luckily I woke from a short nap and covered up. The warm sunshine that lulled me to sleep was already beginning to do its work on my freckled skin. A few more quikies in the sun like today and I’ll look like a real sun worshipper.
Those who enjoy sunlight would really enjoy the Baltic Sea in June. Official sunrise today, according to the ship’s bulletin, was 3:37 AM with sunset scheduled for 10:04 PM. As we travel eastward and more to the north the days will be even longer. I recall the pleasure my Russian friends had during a trip in 1989 when they took me out on a river boat at Leningrad ( now St. Petersburg) at midnight to show me that you could read a newspaper by the “midnight sun”. I could.
The Norwegian Jewel sailed away from the Stockholm pier with no bands playing, no serpentines floating down from joyful passengers, as a matter of fact, not a single soul on the dock once the landing lines were released. In the silence of the moment, broken only by the ships deep horn sounding its farewell, a sky full of seagulls appeared as if on cue. The gulls soared, dived and squawked as if the local chamber of commerce had hired them to gull lull us back to the dock to spend some more money with local merchants. We’ve all seen the spectacle of gulls following fishing boats into shore knowing full well that the gulls were there to feed off of the remains of fish cleaning. I looked over the side of the ship to see if staff was feeding but saw nothing of the sort. I could only conclude that the gulls simply liked us……….they really liked us!
Helsinki, Finland was our next port of call. My vivid memories of my past visit to Helsinki was one that remembered a quiet water front scene with blonde teenagers hanging with friends all looking wholesome and neat. It was evident from this visit that my limited vision related to the area where Dee and I stayed following a visit to Russia in 1990. Actually, the visit was marred by the fact that our Soviet visas were not returned to us when we left Moscow for Helsinki. Our intent was to return to Moscow to catch our “paid for” flight back to New York. When we arrived at Helsinki we discovered our lack of visas and immediately tried to phone Troitsk for help from our friends. Soviet telephones were never known to work very well and we never made contact. I spent most of our three day visit scurrying around trying to find a way home. The consulate finally helped us obtain tickets but the only thing available was Business Class and the shock of the sticker price lingers on. We got home but our attempts to get Aerflot to return our money on our unused tickets was for naught. I guess we really didn’t have time to see much of the town on that visit.
A more recent cruise ship stop provided us with a tour of the countryside and we still didn’t see downtown Helsinki. This trip I took the shuttle into downtown and found just another large city that wasn’t very pretty. My search for an internet café took me to the train station where everything always is within a stone’s throw. A few well placed questions and a found the internet café; a free facility run by three young bright people who made using their machines the simplest thing since learning to brush your teeth. After I used the free time to clean up my overloaded email, I found a post office and mailed some letters, bought a few post cards and just wandered for a while. The city was bustling and noisy and not nice enough to recommend that it be made a high priority for visiting when in Finland.
The Norwegian Jewel tied up for two full days at St. Petersburg, Russia. Since I have visited St. Petersburg three times in the past and toured the big sites and a few smaller ones, I decided not to leave the ship but rather catch up on a writing project I’ve been working on. Most of the passengers left the ship at least once during our stay to visit The Hermitage, one of the world’s great, museums and art galleries, Peterhof, Peter the Great’s summer palace, The Ballet and the Opera. My visits in 1989 and 1990 took me to all of these places and I’m sure that the Kirillovs will want to take Dottie and me again when we visit in August. Incidentally, one still can’t wander around in Russia without a visa. Dottie and I have ours for our August visit but they are only good for two specific days. If you are with a tour group you are exempt from the Soviet era visa requirement.
Our weather has been changing by the hour. The mornings have started with a drizzle at dawn evolving into mid-day with warm sunshine and puffy white clouds yielding to overcast skies at sunset, which by the way will be at 11:20 PM tonight. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the marvelous ship board food that I have tried to experience in a selective manner. Imagine if you will being served all of your favorite foods and dishes all day long with an automatic ice cream machine around every corner with plates of cookies always within reach. All one needs to do is take a good look at the more seasoned of the travelers on board with broad smiles and girths aplenty and the allure of all these goodies diminishes a tad………but not completely!
Love to all,
Grandpa Bill, Dad, Bill and Mr. Berck
Thursday, July 3, 2008
July 4 2008
4 July 2008
Happy Fourth of July from the Baltic Sea,
The Norwegian Jewel has made her ports of call and is now headed back to Dover to disembark and pick up a new bunch of eager travelers. It’s amazing how slow twelve days can be for those of us who have it to do all over again and how fast they pass for those who are on their annual vacations. This cruise, to-date, has been a new experience for me. “Cruising Free Style” the new Norwegian Cruise Lines motto, seems to be successful because a whole new kind of traveler is evident on this cruise. For the past four nights in a row, Marty and I have been seated next to a couple with a child under the age of three. All of my cruising in the past has been void of small children with only an occasional teenage grand child on board. The average age of adults on board has dropped markedly as well, with literally dozens of young couples in their twenties ever present. The oldsters are still around but not as I’ve known before.
In fairness, regarding the babies next to our table at dinner, the dining room staff recognizes Marty and me as “enhancement staff” and not prone to complain about inconveniences as expected from people who pay the big bucks for the trip.
The younger passengers, especially those with children, very often are Europeans as defined by the voices overheard in elevators and dining rooms. There seems to be a large contingent of Spaniards on board and another large group from various South American countries. The Spanish is easy to identify and sometimes understand. I’ve encountered quite a few Eastern Europeans whose languages are more difficult to identify. Once again, my past travels have encountered many folks from the British Isles and a significantly large number from Germany but not any significant numbers from elsewhere.
Although the make-up of my fellow passengers has change, the ports of call are familiar sites that I have visited previously and the Norwegian Jewel is quite different from other ships I have known. Everything is bigger, or at least seems that way. Since most of my cruises in the past have been on smaller ships, like the Marco Polo now decommissioned, with a passenger maximum of about 800, this ship carries about 2000 more passengers. In the evenings there are always several hundred others heading in the direction I travel, or at least it seems that way.
The passenger make-up is not only younger but perhaps a little less sophisticated. I passed a man of about my age a few mornings ago who came to breakfast in his bib overalls and John Deere cap over a loud Hawaiian shirt. There seem to be more plump little ladies who wear their purse strap around their necks diagonally threaded between the bumps in their shirts and others who wear their over stuffed fanny packs around their middles in front creating a kind of extended front bumper handy in crowds. All of the above are wearing huge smiles and that’s what it’s all about. Most of the above seem to prefer eating in the buffet at some ungodly hour like 5:00 PM and rarely are they seen at any of the venues after dinner that serve up a variety of music and drinks to enhance the evening. They do help provide a full house at the early variety show each evening and clap loudly for the performers and laugh uncontrollably at the comedians.
Our last stop at Tallinn, Estonia was marvelous. Marty, who has made the stop a half dozen times, acted as tour guide as we walked from the ship to Toompea, the “old town” inTallinn. The old town is divided into Lower Town and Upper Town with the buildings in Lower Town dating back to the Middle Ages. A fire in 1684 pretty much leveled the top of the hill so things there are much younger. Both Upper and Lower towns feature winding cobblestone streets that provide a flavor that is hard not to enjoy. The Upper Town was traditionally inhabited by the German aristocracy while the Lower Town was home to burghers and artisans. The name Toompea is the name of the hill named after the Cathedral at the top of the hill. The Germans called the hill Boomberg or Cathedral Hill.
The Cathedral of the Holy Virgin was mentioned in writings as early as 1223 AD and is the oldest church in Estonia. Originally, the German aristocracy used the church. It was only in 1927 that an Estonian congregation was formed. After the fire of 1684 destroyed the church, the King of Sweden ordered that it be rebuilt and donated money for this purpose. The new church was completed in 1686.
So now I’ve mentioned Germans and Swedes and one might wonder what is happening to Estonia. The history of the country is one in which each of their neighbors from time to time decided to invade and conquer. The country and Tallinn, its capital, was first inhabited in the tenth century. Its excellent harbor and location made neighbors envious. In 1219 the Danish invaded and took control. After 100 years they got tired of constant rebellions and sold Estonia to the Germans. After a couple of centuries the Swedes came and then the Russians conquered the country. Estonia declared its first independence in 1918 which lasted until 1940 and the Soviet occupation, followed by the Nazi occupation the year after and the second Soviet occupation in 1944. The Republic of Estonia has enjoyed its freedom at the fullest for the past 16 years when the Soviet regime fell into pieces and a totally new future opened up for many ex Soviet Republics.
Side by side with the Old Town is the New Town with an active business community, an ultra modern mall and wide boulevards with bustling traffic, busses, trolley cars and all the accoutrements of modern life. As you can probably guess, I recommend Tallinn as a definite “must see” for the Baltic visitor.
The next few days “at sea” will provide some time for bridge, sun bathing, Sudoku wrestling, a newly acquired interest, and quality time in one of the many hot tubs on the twelfth floor. It’s a tough life, but somebody has to do it.
My love to all,
Grandpa Bill, Dad, Bill and Mr. Berck
Happy Fourth of July from the Baltic Sea,
The Norwegian Jewel has made her ports of call and is now headed back to Dover to disembark and pick up a new bunch of eager travelers. It’s amazing how slow twelve days can be for those of us who have it to do all over again and how fast they pass for those who are on their annual vacations. This cruise, to-date, has been a new experience for me. “Cruising Free Style” the new Norwegian Cruise Lines motto, seems to be successful because a whole new kind of traveler is evident on this cruise. For the past four nights in a row, Marty and I have been seated next to a couple with a child under the age of three. All of my cruising in the past has been void of small children with only an occasional teenage grand child on board. The average age of adults on board has dropped markedly as well, with literally dozens of young couples in their twenties ever present. The oldsters are still around but not as I’ve known before.
In fairness, regarding the babies next to our table at dinner, the dining room staff recognizes Marty and me as “enhancement staff” and not prone to complain about inconveniences as expected from people who pay the big bucks for the trip.
The younger passengers, especially those with children, very often are Europeans as defined by the voices overheard in elevators and dining rooms. There seems to be a large contingent of Spaniards on board and another large group from various South American countries. The Spanish is easy to identify and sometimes understand. I’ve encountered quite a few Eastern Europeans whose languages are more difficult to identify. Once again, my past travels have encountered many folks from the British Isles and a significantly large number from Germany but not any significant numbers from elsewhere.
Although the make-up of my fellow passengers has change, the ports of call are familiar sites that I have visited previously and the Norwegian Jewel is quite different from other ships I have known. Everything is bigger, or at least seems that way. Since most of my cruises in the past have been on smaller ships, like the Marco Polo now decommissioned, with a passenger maximum of about 800, this ship carries about 2000 more passengers. In the evenings there are always several hundred others heading in the direction I travel, or at least it seems that way.
The passenger make-up is not only younger but perhaps a little less sophisticated. I passed a man of about my age a few mornings ago who came to breakfast in his bib overalls and John Deere cap over a loud Hawaiian shirt. There seem to be more plump little ladies who wear their purse strap around their necks diagonally threaded between the bumps in their shirts and others who wear their over stuffed fanny packs around their middles in front creating a kind of extended front bumper handy in crowds. All of the above are wearing huge smiles and that’s what it’s all about. Most of the above seem to prefer eating in the buffet at some ungodly hour like 5:00 PM and rarely are they seen at any of the venues after dinner that serve up a variety of music and drinks to enhance the evening. They do help provide a full house at the early variety show each evening and clap loudly for the performers and laugh uncontrollably at the comedians.
Our last stop at Tallinn, Estonia was marvelous. Marty, who has made the stop a half dozen times, acted as tour guide as we walked from the ship to Toompea, the “old town” inTallinn. The old town is divided into Lower Town and Upper Town with the buildings in Lower Town dating back to the Middle Ages. A fire in 1684 pretty much leveled the top of the hill so things there are much younger. Both Upper and Lower towns feature winding cobblestone streets that provide a flavor that is hard not to enjoy. The Upper Town was traditionally inhabited by the German aristocracy while the Lower Town was home to burghers and artisans. The name Toompea is the name of the hill named after the Cathedral at the top of the hill. The Germans called the hill Boomberg or Cathedral Hill.
The Cathedral of the Holy Virgin was mentioned in writings as early as 1223 AD and is the oldest church in Estonia. Originally, the German aristocracy used the church. It was only in 1927 that an Estonian congregation was formed. After the fire of 1684 destroyed the church, the King of Sweden ordered that it be rebuilt and donated money for this purpose. The new church was completed in 1686.
So now I’ve mentioned Germans and Swedes and one might wonder what is happening to Estonia. The history of the country is one in which each of their neighbors from time to time decided to invade and conquer. The country and Tallinn, its capital, was first inhabited in the tenth century. Its excellent harbor and location made neighbors envious. In 1219 the Danish invaded and took control. After 100 years they got tired of constant rebellions and sold Estonia to the Germans. After a couple of centuries the Swedes came and then the Russians conquered the country. Estonia declared its first independence in 1918 which lasted until 1940 and the Soviet occupation, followed by the Nazi occupation the year after and the second Soviet occupation in 1944. The Republic of Estonia has enjoyed its freedom at the fullest for the past 16 years when the Soviet regime fell into pieces and a totally new future opened up for many ex Soviet Republics.
Side by side with the Old Town is the New Town with an active business community, an ultra modern mall and wide boulevards with bustling traffic, busses, trolley cars and all the accoutrements of modern life. As you can probably guess, I recommend Tallinn as a definite “must see” for the Baltic visitor.
The next few days “at sea” will provide some time for bridge, sun bathing, Sudoku wrestling, a newly acquired interest, and quality time in one of the many hot tubs on the twelfth floor. It’s a tough life, but somebody has to do it.
My love to all,
Grandpa Bill, Dad, Bill and Mr. Berck
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Baltic Cruise #1
24 June 2008
“The best laid plans of Mice and Men sometimes go astray‘, to quote someone from the past. My airline reservations to get to Dover and the beginning of my first cruise left the field of the almost perfect and slid into the oblivion of second best. For some reason known only to airlines folks, the flight I had arranged that would get me to Heathrow in the AM changed to land me around 2:00 p.m. on the day I had to be at Dover by 4:00 p.m. Since this didn’t work, the next best that could be arranged was a round about flight that would get me to Heathrow in time but had me leaving more than twenty-four hours earlier.
Dottie and Linda, who was spending some time with Dad to help with packing necessary for the big move in the future and to help Tim with an interim move at Santa Cruz, took me to BART late Thursday evening so that I could catch a red-eye flight to Detroit. A much too long lay-over in Detroit connected me with another “red-eye” to Heathrow delivering me in the promised land twenty-four hours before I needed to be. An airport hotel helped with the “catching-up” with sleep and the final route to Dover and the Norwegian Jewel, my home for the next forty-eight days.
Parting really isn’t “sweet sorrow”, as quoth the bard. It’s the pits. Dottie and I realized during that fretful moment that we really have become important in each other’s life. My daddy taught me that grown men don’t cry, but sometimes a tear creeps into being despite one’s determination. Dottie, on the other hand, was all smiles looking forward to having some space she could call her own during the next few weeks.
Flying from San Francisco to Detroit during the wee hours was a snap. I was asleep before the plane left the ground and woke only as the clunk of the landing gears beneath my seat announced our arrival at Detroit. I have heard tell that Detroit is a wonderful place but nine hours trapped in the airport terminal ain’t that great. The only interesting thing about my sojourn was found in the fact that a national convention of “Little People” was convening in Detroit and the airport was filled with more small people than I ever imagined existed. It was interesting to see a dozen or more families with two or three children that were all very small. And all appearing very much as everyone else as they wheeled their suitcases through the airport.
Our flight from Detroit took us around Lake Erie and through the familiar territory of Northern New York State. We skirted Ithaca to the south and Syracuse to the north as we headed into Vermont passing over Montpelier and Barre, cities that evoke some memory from the past that escapes me for the moment. I was pleased to learn through the pilot’s announcement, that the flight from Detroit to London only takes six hours; just enough time for another snooze. By the time we finished a marvelous pasta dinner accompanied by the usual shredded lettuce salad, cold roll, packaged cheese that was nearly impossible to open and the inevitable packaged cookies, we had left the coast of Maine and were over the North Atlantic heading for the British Isles. Oh yes, I must mention the marvelous little bottles (2) of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that helped make the meal palatable. By the time Nova Scotia and Newfoundland had slid under the belly our shiny cocoon, my eye lids were at half mast promising another restful night among the clouds.
I met Marty, my traveling bridge mentor, at Heathrow. After a night at a nearby Travel Lodge, we took the underground into London where we were able to catch a train to Dover. The underground route was inexpensive but not for sissies with heavy suitcases. All went well until we had to navigate a change of “lines” to reach Charring Cross Station where our train awaited. London underground is noted for it’s stairs and non working escalators. Carrying my two suitcases, loaded to the legal limit, up and down a half dozen stair sets convinced me not to repeat the thrill ever again. We made it to Charring Cross and our train and a two hour ride to Dover. At Dover we opted to walk, with suitcases in tow, to the ship. My memory was that the “easy” walk couldn’t have been more than three quarters of a mile. Marty thought it might be as much as a mile. Since both of us had walked Dover in the past, we each knew he was right. Actually, the walk turned out to be more like three mile and worthy of a good sweat by the time we reached the ship where a whole host of smiling faces and a flute of champagne greeted us. We were home.
The Norwegian Jewel is three years old and one of the larger ships in the Norwegian Cruise Line armada of pleasure. To satisfy the gastronomic needs (supposed or real) of the 2700 passengers, no less than eleven (11) restaurants are available. Seven of the restaurants charge an extra $10 to $25 per person for the special atmosphere and food specialties they serve. An interesting feature of the eating business is an electronic bulletin board system that lets passengers know how busy each of the venues is at a given time. If you want to avoid the inevitable queues caused by 2700 passengers wanting to eat at the same time, you have only to find one of the boards and select from the restaurants that are least popular at that moment. What won’t they think of next?
Our passage north toward Copenhagen was rough the first night and into the following day. At least that is what I’ve been told. Ship board sleeping has always been my long suit and the Big Guy’s hand rocking the cradle really takes me to “Z” land big time.
Love to all.
Grandpa Bill, Dad, Bill and …………………….
Sunday, February 3, 2008
3 February 2008
3 February 2008
Hello all from Santa Ana, El Salvador,
Our “red-eye” flight from San Francisco to San Salvador International, in the wee hours of Friday morning was uneventful for some of us and quite exciting for others. I woke several times to see Dottie hanging on for dear life as our plane did the bump and grind through a series of storms over California and Mexico. I can’t recall a rougher flight in a full size airliner in all the years I have flown. Other than a few sore posteriors and welts across the middle from tightened seat belts, all survived. If anything, it was fun watching the flight attendants trying to remain upright as they worked their way up and down the aisle exuding their trained air of nonchalance to assure us that nothing unusual was happening.
We were met at San Salvadore by Santa Ana Rotarians with a van that carried us through the capital city of San Salvador (1.6 million population) and east to Santa Ana, the second largest city in El Salvador with a population of about 170,000. The winding and bumpy roads left most of our group well spent after our bumpy plane ride and two hours on the increasingly hard van seats. The trip took us through rolling hills covered with semi tropical trees and bushes with an occasional Coffee Finca (farm) breaking up the scene. We arrived at our hotel on the west side of town at about 10:00 AM and were quickly dispersed to our assigned rooms. The hotel seemed to be relatively new with the rooms we were given in an obviously recent addition. As most are quick to do, we threw back the drapes on our window to see what kind of view would be our treat. We found a construction site in full bloom creating another addition to the hotel suggesting that the hotel business in Santa Ana is booming.
Our hosts picked us up at noon and wisked us off to a restaurant for our first El Salvadorian meal and a tour of downtown Santa Ana. I think each member of our group that was visiting Santa Ana for the first time was surprised what this little town displayed. We visited the Teatro des Artes, a full scale opera house that was built in 1910. Its grand opening featured an imported opera company from Italy that performed Rigaletto to the acclaim of the locals. Some earthquake damage and general disrepair closed the theater thirty years ago. Today, a group has completed 80% of the planned restoration of the theater with a reopening scheduled for 2010 featuring, you may have guessed, Rigaletto. Every effort has been made to restore the building to its 1910 condition
Santa Ana also is home to a marvelous Cathedral, La Catedral de Santa Ana. The presence of the opera house and the grand cathedral spoke of great wealth in the area in the past. Coffee was and has been the cash crop that has created Santa Ana and afforded it the amenities we visited. The old city hall, now a museum, also spoke of a rich past and provided a wonderful view of architecture from the early nineteenth century.
Our new Rotary friends took us to tour a national archeological site that featured Mayan ruins that had been or were in the process of excavation. The ruins reminded us that El Salvadore was a part of the Mayan civilization that existed throughout much of Mexico and Central America when the Spanish explorers arrived on the scene to claim the area in the name of the Spanish monarchy.
El Salvador, we learned, is the smallest of the Central American countries and the only country that does not meet both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The country is surrounded on three sides by Guatemala and by Honduras on the south. It is about the size of Massachusetts and has a population of about seven million people. 90% of El Salvadorians refer to themselves as Mestizos, 9% Caucasian and 1% Amerindian. 83% are Catholic and many identify with a growing evangelical Christian movement.
Like most of the Central American countries, El Salvador gained its independence from Spain in 1821. The country has had a border dispute with its neighbor Honduras for many decades. The dispute erupted into a four day war in 1969 in what both countries refer to as the “football war” because it broke out during a soccer game between the two countries. Since its beginning, El Salvador has been ruled by a series of dictators. A military dictatorship controlled the country from 1931 to 1979. Poor living conditions and a weak economy led to the development of a movement against the military dictators. Between 1979 and 1981 more than 30,000 people were killed in the struggle between the military forces and an organized guerilla movement. A moderate civilian President between 1984 and 1989 finally stabilized the country. In 1982 the government signed a peace treaty with the guerilla forces ending a twelve year civil war that killed more than 75,000. Today the government of El Salvador is stable and supported by its neighbors and the United States. In 2004, El Salvador was the first Central American country to sign the CAFTA free trade agreement with the United States.
On Saturday we made our first presentation of wheelchairs to about sixty recipients. The presentation was made inside the city’s modern Mall amid shops with names that match many of those at Stoneridge Mall. The presentation was scheduled for 3:00 PM meaning that recipients should probably show up at 2:00 PM or earlier. All was in order when the Rotarians from Pleasanton and Santa Ana showed up at 4:00 PM (probably earlier than expected by Central American time) only to find that the truck delivering the wheelchairs broke down somewhere along the way. By 5:00 alternative trucking was secured and wheelchairs began drifting in. Dottie and I set to the task of unboxing and final-assembling the chairs and the presentations began. By 6:00 PM all recipients with approved certificates had received their wheelchairs and had left. We loaded the few remaining chairs that hadn’t been claimed onto trucks and we headed for our hotel and quick change for dinner
One really needs to be there to fully appreciate the emotion that enlivened the presentation. Recipients with smiles awash with tears of joy were everywhere. Rotarians were seen backing away from the scene to wipe their eyes after being touched by a hug or a “muchas gracias” mumbled by a tragically deformed child. Dottie wore herself out being “chief hugger” as the dozens of chairs found new owners. Family members of recipients were overwhelming at times with their thank you comments delivered from grateful hearts. Those of us on the giving end left the scene grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something greater than ourselves. We each knew that someone else had actually paid for the chairs but the privilege was ours to receive thanks in their behalf. None of us will be the same after the afternoon’s work. And we have a similar presentation scheduled for Monday morning.
Our Santa Ana Rotary friends have been wonderful hosts. Each meal that they have provided was chosen carefully to represent the best of their culture and their town. Our first dinner was at the restaurant Los Comalitos and was specifically chosen to represent the most important elements of El Salvadorian food. Papusa was experienced for the first time by most of our group. Papusa is a tortilla like pancake filled with cheese making it about one quarter of in inch thick. Papusa is so famous that it is not unusual for a restaurant to be called a Papusaria like Pizzeria. Many restaurants have Papusaria in their names. The Papusa was marvelous and something that both Dottie I will look for on future menus. The meal also included baked platinos, banana like plantains. Refried beans, tasting nothing like but looking just alike the Mexican dish we all know, accompanied a slaw like salad that contained some unusual things like jalapeno peppers. The restaurants name translates to “small clay fry pan” in English and the food we were served suggests that everyone ought to have one.
A second dinner was served our group at La Pampa Argentina where the menu specialized in Argentinean food with lots of steak on the menu. The baked potato and steamed veggies that accompanied our meals were the usual but the steaks were out of this world. Bill had a steak served really rare, for a change, which he devoured embarrassingly fast. Dottie’s sirloin was done perfectly but the size of her serving left plenty to share with neighbors and Bill.
Today we were taken to Coatepeque Lake for a day at the lakeside house of a friend of a Rotary friend. Coatepeque Lake is a Crater Lake like body of water in an old volcano surrounded by private lakeside homes. The home that entertained us had its private covered dock where we spent our first hour chatting and getting acquainted with our Rotary hosts. The home cooked meal we were served included oven baked pork, a hearty slaw like salad and a wonderful rice casserole followed by a bread pudding one would kill for. Our afternoon was accompanied by marguerites without end, beer and interesting nibbles which included thinly sliced not ripe yet and very green mango dipped in lime juice and salt.
Our new Rotary friends of Santa Ana have found a place in our hearts even though most of them speak very little English. The hugs and embrazos have made up for the loss of words most of us have found not as much of a hindrance as we imagined.
One of our group found an interesting response to the often heard Habla Usted Espanol. This Texas born Californian was quick to respond that she spoke three languages fluently: English, Texas and Profanity.
We love you all,
Dottie and Bill
Hello all from Santa Ana, El Salvador,
Our “red-eye” flight from San Francisco to San Salvador International, in the wee hours of Friday morning was uneventful for some of us and quite exciting for others. I woke several times to see Dottie hanging on for dear life as our plane did the bump and grind through a series of storms over California and Mexico. I can’t recall a rougher flight in a full size airliner in all the years I have flown. Other than a few sore posteriors and welts across the middle from tightened seat belts, all survived. If anything, it was fun watching the flight attendants trying to remain upright as they worked their way up and down the aisle exuding their trained air of nonchalance to assure us that nothing unusual was happening.
We were met at San Salvadore by Santa Ana Rotarians with a van that carried us through the capital city of San Salvador (1.6 million population) and east to Santa Ana, the second largest city in El Salvador with a population of about 170,000. The winding and bumpy roads left most of our group well spent after our bumpy plane ride and two hours on the increasingly hard van seats. The trip took us through rolling hills covered with semi tropical trees and bushes with an occasional Coffee Finca (farm) breaking up the scene. We arrived at our hotel on the west side of town at about 10:00 AM and were quickly dispersed to our assigned rooms. The hotel seemed to be relatively new with the rooms we were given in an obviously recent addition. As most are quick to do, we threw back the drapes on our window to see what kind of view would be our treat. We found a construction site in full bloom creating another addition to the hotel suggesting that the hotel business in Santa Ana is booming.
Our hosts picked us up at noon and wisked us off to a restaurant for our first El Salvadorian meal and a tour of downtown Santa Ana. I think each member of our group that was visiting Santa Ana for the first time was surprised what this little town displayed. We visited the Teatro des Artes, a full scale opera house that was built in 1910. Its grand opening featured an imported opera company from Italy that performed Rigaletto to the acclaim of the locals. Some earthquake damage and general disrepair closed the theater thirty years ago. Today, a group has completed 80% of the planned restoration of the theater with a reopening scheduled for 2010 featuring, you may have guessed, Rigaletto. Every effort has been made to restore the building to its 1910 condition
Santa Ana also is home to a marvelous Cathedral, La Catedral de Santa Ana. The presence of the opera house and the grand cathedral spoke of great wealth in the area in the past. Coffee was and has been the cash crop that has created Santa Ana and afforded it the amenities we visited. The old city hall, now a museum, also spoke of a rich past and provided a wonderful view of architecture from the early nineteenth century.
Our new Rotary friends took us to tour a national archeological site that featured Mayan ruins that had been or were in the process of excavation. The ruins reminded us that El Salvadore was a part of the Mayan civilization that existed throughout much of Mexico and Central America when the Spanish explorers arrived on the scene to claim the area in the name of the Spanish monarchy.
El Salvador, we learned, is the smallest of the Central American countries and the only country that does not meet both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The country is surrounded on three sides by Guatemala and by Honduras on the south. It is about the size of Massachusetts and has a population of about seven million people. 90% of El Salvadorians refer to themselves as Mestizos, 9% Caucasian and 1% Amerindian. 83% are Catholic and many identify with a growing evangelical Christian movement.
Like most of the Central American countries, El Salvador gained its independence from Spain in 1821. The country has had a border dispute with its neighbor Honduras for many decades. The dispute erupted into a four day war in 1969 in what both countries refer to as the “football war” because it broke out during a soccer game between the two countries. Since its beginning, El Salvador has been ruled by a series of dictators. A military dictatorship controlled the country from 1931 to 1979. Poor living conditions and a weak economy led to the development of a movement against the military dictators. Between 1979 and 1981 more than 30,000 people were killed in the struggle between the military forces and an organized guerilla movement. A moderate civilian President between 1984 and 1989 finally stabilized the country. In 1982 the government signed a peace treaty with the guerilla forces ending a twelve year civil war that killed more than 75,000. Today the government of El Salvador is stable and supported by its neighbors and the United States. In 2004, El Salvador was the first Central American country to sign the CAFTA free trade agreement with the United States.
On Saturday we made our first presentation of wheelchairs to about sixty recipients. The presentation was made inside the city’s modern Mall amid shops with names that match many of those at Stoneridge Mall. The presentation was scheduled for 3:00 PM meaning that recipients should probably show up at 2:00 PM or earlier. All was in order when the Rotarians from Pleasanton and Santa Ana showed up at 4:00 PM (probably earlier than expected by Central American time) only to find that the truck delivering the wheelchairs broke down somewhere along the way. By 5:00 alternative trucking was secured and wheelchairs began drifting in. Dottie and I set to the task of unboxing and final-assembling the chairs and the presentations began. By 6:00 PM all recipients with approved certificates had received their wheelchairs and had left. We loaded the few remaining chairs that hadn’t been claimed onto trucks and we headed for our hotel and quick change for dinner
One really needs to be there to fully appreciate the emotion that enlivened the presentation. Recipients with smiles awash with tears of joy were everywhere. Rotarians were seen backing away from the scene to wipe their eyes after being touched by a hug or a “muchas gracias” mumbled by a tragically deformed child. Dottie wore herself out being “chief hugger” as the dozens of chairs found new owners. Family members of recipients were overwhelming at times with their thank you comments delivered from grateful hearts. Those of us on the giving end left the scene grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something greater than ourselves. We each knew that someone else had actually paid for the chairs but the privilege was ours to receive thanks in their behalf. None of us will be the same after the afternoon’s work. And we have a similar presentation scheduled for Monday morning.
Our Santa Ana Rotary friends have been wonderful hosts. Each meal that they have provided was chosen carefully to represent the best of their culture and their town. Our first dinner was at the restaurant Los Comalitos and was specifically chosen to represent the most important elements of El Salvadorian food. Papusa was experienced for the first time by most of our group. Papusa is a tortilla like pancake filled with cheese making it about one quarter of in inch thick. Papusa is so famous that it is not unusual for a restaurant to be called a Papusaria like Pizzeria. Many restaurants have Papusaria in their names. The Papusa was marvelous and something that both Dottie I will look for on future menus. The meal also included baked platinos, banana like plantains. Refried beans, tasting nothing like but looking just alike the Mexican dish we all know, accompanied a slaw like salad that contained some unusual things like jalapeno peppers. The restaurants name translates to “small clay fry pan” in English and the food we were served suggests that everyone ought to have one.
A second dinner was served our group at La Pampa Argentina where the menu specialized in Argentinean food with lots of steak on the menu. The baked potato and steamed veggies that accompanied our meals were the usual but the steaks were out of this world. Bill had a steak served really rare, for a change, which he devoured embarrassingly fast. Dottie’s sirloin was done perfectly but the size of her serving left plenty to share with neighbors and Bill.
Today we were taken to Coatepeque Lake for a day at the lakeside house of a friend of a Rotary friend. Coatepeque Lake is a Crater Lake like body of water in an old volcano surrounded by private lakeside homes. The home that entertained us had its private covered dock where we spent our first hour chatting and getting acquainted with our Rotary hosts. The home cooked meal we were served included oven baked pork, a hearty slaw like salad and a wonderful rice casserole followed by a bread pudding one would kill for. Our afternoon was accompanied by marguerites without end, beer and interesting nibbles which included thinly sliced not ripe yet and very green mango dipped in lime juice and salt.
Our new Rotary friends of Santa Ana have found a place in our hearts even though most of them speak very little English. The hugs and embrazos have made up for the loss of words most of us have found not as much of a hindrance as we imagined.
One of our group found an interesting response to the often heard Habla Usted Espanol. This Texas born Californian was quick to respond that she spoke three languages fluently: English, Texas and Profanity.
We love you all,
Dottie and Bill
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)