Rio de Janeiro

Sunday morning at about 10 AM, our ship docked in Rio; one of eight ships tied to the dock.  Carnaval (yes, that’s the correct spelling), the pre-Lenten celebration, draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to the city, including the probably twenty-five thousand cruise ship passengers.  Carnaval is celebrated in many countries; in the US it’s called Mardi Gras, but nowhere is the celebration more colorful than in Rio.

Rio de Janeiro, or River of January, refers to time of year that the area was first explored by a Portuguese expedition around 1502.  In 1555 the French occupied some of the area around Rio, until expelled by the Portuguese ten years later.  The local economy grew slowly until the end of the 17^th century when cane sugar became the most important export of Rio.  The production of sugar is still today an important economic activity.  In 1808, fleeing from the Napoleonic Wars, the King of Portugal moved the entire government to Rio where it remained until 1822 when Brazil became independent of Portugal and Rio became the capital of the Empire, later the Republic.  In 1960 a new capital city, Brasilia, was carved out of the jungle and Rio was no longer designated as the capital.  It is currently the second largest city in Brazil, serving as an industrial and financial center and a producer of many goods.

We departed on a city tour which included a visit to Sugarloaf, the conical-shaped rock which is one of the city’s internationally recognized symbols.  Unfortunately due to Carnaval, the city tour consisted of a bus ride through crowded streets and traffic directly to the base of Sugarloaf where we were to take two cable cars from street level to the top of the rock, some 900 meters high.  There we encountered a serpentine waiting line, or queue as the British say, with an hour and half wait before finally reaching the cable car for the first stage of the trip.  The wait at the mid-point wasn’t bad, so we got to the top with its spectacular views of the city in short order.  The magnificent beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema stretched on either side of Sugarloaf.  There was another wait of almost an hour to get from the top back to the midpoint; from there it was a quick ride to the bottom and our waiting bus.  We headed straight back to the ship, seeing nothing else of the city, because we were already two hours late getting back.

 

Once on the ship we took a quick shower to cool down, and then rested for about an hour before departing on another bus to the Sambódromo, the center of Carnaval, to our reserved seating area.  Sambódromo consists of about a mile of brightly lit street, flanked on both sides by immense grandstands holding at least 150,000 people.  The Carnaval celebration begins at 9 PM on Friday night with huge parades of floats (which are pushed manually), dancers and percussionists from various Samba Schools, competing for prize money.  Each parade consists of up to 5,000 participants that pass down the mile-long corridor.  It is loud and colorful, and the spectators enthusiastically encourage their favorites.  Each parade must finish in 1 hour and 20 minutes or less, or the school has points deducted from their score as a penalty.  Six Samba Schools are scheduled to perform on each of the five nights of Carnaval, with the final winners announced on Tuesday night.  With an hour and twenty minutes of competition for each school, plus a little “clean-up” time between parades, you can see that even if everything is on schedule, the celebration continues until at least 4 AM the next day.   Our favorite parade was that of the third Samba School, Unidos da Tijuca, which was elaborate and very beautiful.  This Samba School won the championship in 2010 and 2012.  We were fortunate to sit directly across from one of the judging stands; we saw the performers at their best!

Samba started in the poor sections of Rio as a way of celebrating before Lent.  The Sambódromo is located in the area where Samba began, the neighborhood of Estacio.  Some of the Samba Schools are over 60 years old.  Children begin attending these schools at an early age and practice every Friday and Saturday leading up to Carnaval.  A recent phenomenon is the rebirth of the street carnival.  The city dwellers and tourists don their costumes and off they go into the streets, reveling until the wee hours.

We tried hard, but we could only hold out for 3+ parades before catching a shuttle bus back to the ship.  We arrived at around 3:30 AM and fell into bed.  With the help of our good friend, Ambien, we were able to sleep until 2:30 PM.  It made for a much shorter day on Monday.  John & Judy were up at 6:30 AM to catch a tour to see the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Mountain overlooking the city.  Their tour was very much like our tour to Sugarloaf, crowds and long lines.  It also took six hours instead of the scheduled four hours.

Sail-Away was at 5 PM, on our way to our final port of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Salvador, Brazil

We traveled Wednesday night, and all day Thursday before arriving in Salvador, Brazil at about 9 AM on Friday.  For some reason, we backed up for over a mile before arriving at our berth; seemed to us that it would have been quicker to sail in and turn around, but this wasn’t our day to run the ship.  As we were nearly at our berth, we saw the reflection of the ship in a large, glass-faced building near the pier.  It was an interesting sight.

Salvador is the fourth largest city in Brazil; it was founded in 1549, and was Brazil’s capital in 1763.  The early colonists established sugar and tobacco plantations that brought great wealth to the area.  The city, with its white sand beaches and tropical vegetation also is known for its numerous churches – over 165 at last count.

We were docked close to downtown, the central market and an elevator that took passengers up to the historic upper city.  We decided with John & Judy to take the elevator to the upper city and see the market on the way back to the ship.  The upper city was a bustle of activity, as they were setting up barricades and sound stages around a number of venues which were part of the Carnival celebration in Salvador, which was to begin on Friday night.  Most of the buildings, and even statues were covered by large sheets of plywood; apparently the authorities wanted to take no chances with the large crowds expected for Carnival.  The streets of the upper city are narrow and cobblestoned, and today are home to many shops and restaurants.  We saw many women in colorful costumes; we’re not sure if that was for Carnival, or if they dress that way to depict colonial days in Salvador when a cruise ship is in town.

It was very hot and steamingly humid, even though it was not yet noon, so we found a sidewalk restaurant with umbrellas for shade and stopped for a beer.   After shopping our way back to the elevator to take us to the lower level of the city, we re-boarded the elevator and made our way back to the Mercado Modelo, or central market.  This was a large, multi-story building, just crammed with stalls selling various goods to tourists and locals alike.  We were hot and tired, so we walked through the central aisle of the market to a covered, outdoor area where we had another beer.  John and Judy stayed in the market to shop, so we found a shady street to travel the several blocks back to the ship.  We both changed into our swim suits and jumped into one of the ship’s pools to cool down.  Sufficiently cooled, we sat on the deck (in the shade) until time to clean up for cocktails and dinner. 

  

We sailed about 5 PM, and will have one more day at sea before arriving in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.   The ship will stay in Rio for two days, and we are booked on a city tour on Sunday morning, and also for the Carnaval celebration in the Sambodromo on Sunday night.  The festivities are supposed to begin around 9 PM and not conclude until about 7 AM on Monday morning.  Don’t know how long we’ll last, but we will do our very best.  At least we can sleep most or all of the second day in Rio.  We’d like to see either of the world-famous beaches in Rio, Ipanema or Copacabana, but with the crowds in the city for Carnaval, the streets are supposed to be almost impassable.  We’ll let you know how successful we are.

Fortaleza, Brazil

We docked in Fortaleza on Wednesday morning at about 6 AM (not that it made a difference to us who sleep in).  Fortaleza is the capital of the state of Cerará and with a population of over two million, is the fifth largest city in Brazil.  It is located above the hump of Brazil that is the easternmost point of the country. 

It was founded by the Dutch in 1654 who built a fortress called Shoonenbroch at the present location of the city.  The city that surrounded the fort became Fortaleza.  Ultimately the fortress was seized by the Portuguese at the beginning of their colonization of the area now known as Brazil.

Brazil is the largest country in South America, and is actually larger than the 48 contiguous United States.  The country has population of almost 200 million and has a rapidly growing economy, probably the strongest in South America.  That growth is very evident in Fortaleza with lots of high-rise buildings and new construction.  There is also evidence that poverty abounds, with areas of ramshackle buildings and what appear to be homeless people sleeping in the parks and on the streets, although we were told that the unemployment rate is around 3%.

The dock where we berthed was a busy commercial port with lots of containers being loaded and unloaded.  Stacked on the dock were dozens of large wind turbine blades and hubs; they either manufacture and ship from Fortaleza, or somewhere in the area is a large wind farm being established.  Anyway, the large blades and hubs were impressive to us.

It was necessary to take shuttle buses from the ship into town, since it was a 3-4 mile hike in hot, humid weather. Of course when we got off the ship there was a long line of passengers waiting for the shuttles.  We saw many beautiful beaches on the way to the city; they were practically deserted at 10 in the morning.  We were told that the beaches come alive at about 4 PM, after the worst heat of the day is over.  Amazingly, the shuttle bus ride terminated at a five-story central market.  The market, all indoors, was filled with small shops selling all kinds of clothing, leather goods, lace, liquor, souvenirs and other stuff.  It was obviously not focused on tourists, because at least three quarters of the shoppers were local.  There were also numerous cafes and snack shops serving cold drinks and food.

Across from the market is the Fortaleza Cathedral, a fairly new, large cathedral in a neo-Gothic style with superb stained glass windows.  We took time to visit the cathedral before returning to the market.  After exploring two floors of the market and finding an ATM to get local money (Reals – worth about $.50 each), we settled into a café and shared a couple of beers with John and Judy.  After finishing the beer and doing a little more shopping, we got back on a shuttle bus to return to the ship.  As most of you know, we drive a 36-foot motorhome around the U.S. very comfortably.  The bus drivers in Fortaleza maneuver much larger 45-foot buses through heavy traffic, narrow lanes and tight turns with seemingly no effort at all.  We truly admire their skill.

 

Back at the ship we found the same lines waiting to re-board .  The lines moved quickly though, and soon we were back in the air-conditioned comfort of our floating hotel.  We had a bite to eat, and then retreated to the shade of our stateroom balcony.  There was a breeze blowing so it was a very comfortable place to sit and read until leaving Fortaleza mid-afternoon.

We have another day at sea before docking in Salvador, Brazil on Friday.

At Sea

Here we are midway through our four days at sea.  We’ve settled into a routine; Tom gets up and goes to the café for coffee while Debbie catches some extra sleep time.  Some days we go to a dining room for breakfast, some days we wait for lunch.  No one needs three meals per day on a cruise ship!  We find a place, either outside or inside, and read for a while. There’s usually at least one lecture that looks interesting to us.  Port information, life at sea, astronomy and digital photography are just some of the topics.   Sometimes there’s sun tanning time, sometimes a cool spot in the shade is appreciated.  Temperatures are in the low 80s, and we’ve had a mixture of sun and clouds with an occasional sprinkle or two;  all in all, pleasant and mellow.  We get together with our onboard friends, John & Judy and Lu & Joe, for cocktails in the evening before dinner.  We eat at 8 PM and sometimes attend a show or a movie before wandering off to bed.

Sunday night around 7:30 PM, somewhere off the coast of Suriname, we gathered together to partake in an annual ritual; watching the Super Bowl.  It was broadcast live via satellite, and was shown on the big outdoor screen and in a large show lounge.  It was not the commercial broadcast that you all watched; we had an ESPN international feed, so we missed all of the special commercials.  Instead, we saw commercials for ESPN’s upcoming coverage of events like the Masters Golf Tournament, an International Cricket competition, rugby and soccer tournaments, and the like.  We did see the pregame singing and the half-time show.  If the 49ers had played for the whole game instead of just the second half, we believe that the outcome would have been different, but congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens.

Monday was a formal night, so we got dressed up.  We don’t bring formal clothes, just a suit for Tom and a dressy-dress for Debbie.  There are three formal nights on this cruise out of nineteen total nights, so that’s really not a burden.

We crossed the equator early this morning before we stop at three Brazilian ports; Fortaleza, Salvador and Rio de Janiero.  We’ll be in Rio overnight next Sunday so that we can participate in Carnival.  We’re really looking forward to our time there.

Barbados & Trinidad

Mid-morning on Thursday we docked in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados.  Settled by the British in 1627, Barbados finally achieved independence in 1966.  The island is the easternmost in the Caribbean, straddling the line between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.  It has a population of about 285,000.  Because of its British control for over three centuries, it is said to be “more English than England sheself”.  While tea is enjoyed every afternoon and cricket is played as the national sport, African heritage brought by sugar plantation slaves creates a unique culture.  Roadside fruit stands and fried fish stalls can be found all over the island.  They have a strange law that prohibits the wearing of camouflage clothing by civilians, as it is reserved for military personnel.  We were told that we would be returned to the ship if caught wearing camouflage.

We chose to join a shore excursion to sail on a catamaran and snorkel with sea turtles.  We visited an area near a beautiful beach where we put on our snorkel gear and swam with four large turtles.  As with the sting rays of the previous day, the turtles were calm and gentle, but perhaps a bit more wary of human touch.  They were of medium size, around two to three feet across, and according to our boat crew, probably 30 to 40 years old.  After the snorkel experience, we moored next to the beach for about an hour and many passengers swam to shore.  From there, we raised the sails and spent the next hour or so sailing with a brisk breeze before returning to shore and our ship and a 6 PM departure. 

We woke up on Friday morning in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the larger of the two island nation of Trinidad and Tobago.  The islands were discovered by Columbus on his third voyage in 1498. They remained Spanish until 1797 when they were taken under British rule.  The islands became an independent nation in the 1960s.  Trinidad and Tobago are the southern-most islands in the Caribbean, located only 7 miles from Venezuela.  The islands have a population of 1.3 million people, and the country is among the wealthiest of the Caribbean nations because of a large oil and gas industry.  Port of Spain is the country’s capital and as such has a large commercial and governmental community.  Trinidad was supposedly the birthplace of steel drums and calypso.

Instead of booking a shore excursion, we walked a short distance into the heart of the city.  On every corner stood a visitor guide, dressed in a bright red shirt, to assist us tourists find our way around the city.  After walking a few blocks, we entered a large park where a temporary stage had been set up.  The signs advertised a concert at noon every day of this week.  Since it was after 11 AM, we found a table and benches to make ourselves comfortable and ‘people watched’ until the concert began.  Very few ship visitors were in the park; it was a local event, for sure.  Once the concert began, we figured out that the music was some sort of highly amplified “Caribbean rap”.  A few minutes of that and we made tracks out of the park and down the street.  We were going to stop at a local restaurant that had been pointed out by a visitor guide, but somehow missed it.  Since we found ourselves in the vicinity of the dock, we returned to the ship for lunch and a beer.

 

 The traffic in this capital city was horrendous!  Long lines of cars and trucks were waiting at traffic signals, but when the signal changed, there was nowhere to go; gridlock!  We were supposed to leave Trinidad at 5 PM, but the ship had to have some sort of port clearance document that was sent from the government building to the port.  The courier got caught in traffic and couldn’t get to the ship on time so we were unable to get away for another hour.

We now have four days at sea before reaching our first port in Brazil.  Hooray!

St. Thomas & Antigua

After two restful sea days, we arrived in the port of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday morning.  The ship has a “shopping host” aboard whose job is to suggest places to shop on shore, and where to get the best bargains.  Since the Caribbean islands are all duty free and tax free, it is possible to get some worthwhile bargains ashore, but we suspect that the shopping host’s job is to get us to stores “recommended” by the cruise line.  The deals are good, but it seems like almost the same deal can be reached in any store in town.  In other words, the “shopping host” doesn't add much value to the experience.

We were on St. Thomas thirty years ago, on our honeymoon.  We stayed in a hotel in Charlotte Amalie for a week, and then took a week’s cruise on a 50 foot sailboat that we had chartered with good friends.  It was a great experience; one we’ll always remember.  The town has changed, though, in the years since we were last here; instead of a cruise ship or two, there are now four to six ships on any given day during the winter season.  Consequently, the shops have multiplied similarly.  There are hundreds of opportunities to buy jewelry, watches, liquor, etc. in town.

St. Thomas, along with three other islands, makes up the U.S. Virgin Islands, purchased from Denmark in 1917.  Several smaller islands make up the British Virgin Islands, which, we’re told, have a much more laid-back feel.  Before tourism took hold in the 1970’s, sugar and, to a lesser extent, coffee were the primary economic engines of the islands.  As with most Caribbean islands, pirates used the shores as their own and sailed out to plunder other vessels.  Blackbeard is said to have built a castle on a mountain top, and Sir Francis Drake utilized Megen’s Bay on the north side of St. Thomas to launch attacks on passing ships.

What does one do in a major shopping port like St. Thomas?  They shop, of course, and that’s just what we did.  With our friends, John & Judy Poremba from Santa Rosa, we went from shop to shop, looking for that special deal.  We did make some purchases, including watches for both of us.  Debbie has wanted a Movado watch for years, and we found a good deal here; almost two for one.  We made other purchases as well, but nothing significant.  We did find a local restaurant a couple of blocks off of the main street that served excellent Caribbean food.  We had conch in a lemon butter sauce that was very good.  Conch, like abalone, can be tough and chewy, but this was very tender and flavorful.  It was served with several side dishes, including fried plantains, Yum!  We wandered back to the ship in mid-afternoon since the Grand Princess was set to sail at 5 PM.

By the time we awoke the next morning we were in the port of St. Johns on the island of Antigua.  Antigua’s claim to fame is its 365 beaches, one for each day of the year.  Christopher Columbus landed in Antigua in 1493 and named the island in honor of the Church of Santa Maria de la Antigua in Seville, Spain.  The British colonized it in 1632 and established large-scale sugar cultivation.  In the 18^th Century, Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed into Antigua in 1784, and a few years later, the British established one of the most important military bases in the Caribbean at English Harbor.  The dockyard once served as the Headquarters of the British fleet in the Leeward Islands.  That headquarters has now been turned into a museum and National Park.

We decided to visit a small bay on the eastern side of the island and swim with the sting rays.  Sting Ray City can be found several places in the Caribbean; we have been to one previously in the Cayman Islands.   Once at the bay, we boarded a boat for a five minute ride to a coral reef and shallow sand bar where we got off into waist-deep water.  Moments later, here came the sting rays, drawn by the boatmen who had buckets of squid.  There were twenty-five or more sting rays, most of them about three feet across.  They were swimming slowly among the tourists, looking for a squid breakfast no doubt.  The only trick to feeding them was to hold a squid in your fist, with fingers and thumbs tucked in.  They swam over your fist and kind of sucked the squid from your hand.  Their skin surface was silky smooth and soft to the touch.  A few tourists squealed at the touch of a sting ray, but most enjoyed the encounter.  There was also a coral reef in the area and some visitors snorkeled over the reef.

 

After about an hour, we reboarded the boat and returned to the bay shore where there were fresh water showers available to rinse off the salty sea water.  They also served a rum punch that was mostly rum; they say it’s cheaper than the fruit juice they mix it with. Then we traveled back through the countryside to St. John.  We got back on the ship, changed clothes and had lunch.  We got off the ship again to explore the town.  Antigua is a beautiful island and St. John is a charming little city.  We decided we’d like to come back here.

We returned to the ship for a 5 PM sail-away.  Tomorrow we’ll be in Barbados.

Sail Away - January 26, 2013

We’re traveling again!  This time it’s a cruise aboard the Grand Princess from Fort Lauderdale to Buenos Aires; 19 days.  The highlight of the trip for us is a two day stay in Rio de Janiero during their world-famous Carnival celebration.  We will also stop at a couple of other Brazilian port cities, and four islands in the Caribbean.

We caught the Santa Rosa Airport Express on Thursday evening for the ride to SFO.  Once there, we transferred to a hotel shuttle to a hotel near the airport.  Pretty ingenious, huh?  The next morning we caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport and our Virgin America flight to Fort Lauderdale.  It was a spectacularly uneventful flight.  Once on the ground again, we took a shuttle bus through Fort Lauderdale’s evening traffic rush to our hotel for the night.  After checking in and grabbing a beer at the hotel bar, we got a dinner recommendation from the bartender for a nearby Cuban restaurant.  We last enjoyed Cuban food a number of years ago in Key West, and still remember how good it was, so we were quickly on our way.

It was a short walk, even though we got a little lost.  Once there, we sat back to enjoy a couple of what the menu called a “Giant Mojito”.  The server seemed a little surprised that we ordered one each, but whatever.  When we saw her carrying one mojito, and another server carrying the other, we figured we were in trouble!   We told her we were walking, not driving, and she seemed OK with that.  The drink was delicious, as was the food that followed.  We made it safely back to our hotel where Tom almost immediately fell asleep (or passed out?).  However we slept well and both of us were fine the next morning.

We were scheduled for a shuttle bus to the cruise terminal at 11 AM, and one showed up right on schedule, but through some sort of mix-up, there were more passengers waiting than could be accommodated in the medium size bus.  So the driver told us that they were sending a larger bus, and he left, without taking anyone!  A 30-minute wait brought another bus, and upon boarding, we figured out that this was a PARTY BUS!!  Flashing lights, thumping music, and video screens front and back gave us the first clue; the next clue was the presence of a chrome pole in the center of the bus.  If you have cruised before, you can probably figure out that this was not normal transportation for cruise passengers.  Once we were all loaded, we took off to the cruise terminal, Boom-bada-boom-bada-boom.

Ears ringing, we got off the bus to see a line of several hundred people, all waiting to board our ship.  Bummer!!  Since cruise lines board thousands of people every week, you’d think they could do it with efficiency, but no, they haven’t figured it out, yet.  About two hours later, we finally got on the ship and made it to our room.  The next step was, of course, to find a beer and some lunch.  Princess ships have a hamburger/hot dog stand on the pool deck next to a cocktail bar, so it was pretty much one-stop shopping.

We were set to sail at 4 pm, but at that time there was still a line of passengers waiting to board.  Besides that, we understand that a plane-load of passengers had yet to arrive.  We finally got underway around 6 pm after a beautiful sunset with all souls on board. 

A highlight so far is a lecturer, John Maxtone-Graham, an octogenarian who is an author and ship historian whose specialty is Atlantic Ocean Liners.  On Sunday he spoke about the early days of steamships in the Atlantic, from the 1830’s to the Titanic tragedy of 1912.  Today he told stories told to him by survivors of the Titanic sinking.  As I said, he’s an octogenarian, so he was able to interview at least three of them before they died.  He tells fascinating stories and we look forward to hearing more from him as the cruise progresses.

We have two days at sea before arriving in St. Thomas on Tuesday.  We spent our honeymoon there almost thirty years ago, so we know that the primary activity on the island is shopping.  I expect that we’ll do just that, at least for a while.  We’re on St. Thomas for the day, and then head off to Antigua on Wednesday.

We’ll have more to tell you in a day or so.

Wonderful wonderful Copenhagen

Our trip is over, and we’re back home in Windsor, California.  We’re still suffering somewhat from jet lag, but that’s getting better each day.  So here’s the last chapter in this trip’s blog.

We left Oslo, Norway mid-afternoon, and sailed down the fjord that leads to the North Sea.  Once out of the fjord, we encountered a wind that approached 65 knots and seas churned up by the wind.  For the rest of the afternoon and evening, the captain kept adjusting our course to minimize the effects of the wind and sea.  As we got closer to Copenhagen, the wind died and the sea calmed down.

We arrived in Copenhagen early in the morning; we were already docked by the time we woke up.  The departure schedule, which we had received the day before, listed our time for disembarkation as 8:45 AM, so we met our friends at a lounge/waiting area and enjoyed some coffee, juice and sweets.  When our time was called, we left the ship and reclaimed our luggage in a large tent set up on the dock.  The entire process went smoothly. 

Nyhavn

We had rented an apartment in Copenhagen, which we shared with our friends, Karl and Pam.  The others in our group were staying at the Copenhagen Marriott Hotel.  After calling to alert the apartment manager, we taxied to our apartment where we were met by a representative who showed us through the apartment.  It’s a large, bright, two bedroom unit in a building located off the street so traffic noise was non-existent.   It’s located in a neighborhood called, “Nyhavn” which means, “new harbor”, but it’s actually one of the oldest harbors in the city, dug by Swedish prisoners of war in the 17^th century.  The canal itself is lined with old ships that probably have sailed for the last time, and the streets that line the canal are filled with restaurants, bars and hotels.  It’s a vibrant, popular neighborhood with locals and tourists alike.

After unpacking and getting settled in, we set out to explore the neighborhood, get a bite to eat, and find a grocery store for a few supplies we’d need for a six-night stay.  Copenhagen’s traffic, both cars and bicycles, is very heavy, but the drivers (and bikers) are as courteous as we’ve seen in any country, obeying stop lights and pedestrian right-of-ways.  After a few wrong turns, we found the grocery store, completed our purchases and started looking for a restaurant.  There was a cold wind blowing so we did not want to eat at any of the many sidewalk cafes, so instead we found a small café about three blocks from our apartment.  We enjoyed a fairly modest lunch with a beer, and then came to the realization that Copenhagen is a very expensive city.  Our lunch for four came to $118.  Wow!  At least the tip’s included in the bill throughout Denmark.

The next day, Saturday, we were treated to a walking tour of Central Copenhagen.  Karl is retired from law enforcement, and he’s a member of the International Police Association (IPA) which provides police contacts in cities and countries around the world.  Karl had been in email contact with Rene, a retired police administrator in Copenhagen, and he and his wife, Majbritt (pronounced Mybrit) met us at our apartment to show us around.  We walked to the Amalienborg Palace where Queen Margrethe II and the royal family live.  While there, we watched the changing of the guard at noon.  From there, we strolled along the pedestrian-only shopping street to the Christianborg Palace, site of the fortress built in 1167 from which Copenhagen grew.  Fire burned the palace several times over the centuries; the present palace was built in 1907.  The stable and other buildings behind the palace date back to the 1730’s though.  Adjacent to the palace is Denmark’s Parliament, where the actual job of running the country occurs.  Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, run by a prime minister and 179 members of parliament, made up of representatives from 8 political parties or so.  The queen has to sign all laws, but they are first passed by parliament.

From there we walked a few blocks to the Rådhuset or Town Hall.  At Rene’s suggestion, we stopped at a hot dog stand in front of the town hall for lunch.  It was delicious and cheap!  We watched a human rights protest gathering in front of the town hall before strolling one more block to Tivoli Gardens, where we met our “Marriott companions”.  Together we entered Tivoli, which opened in 1843.  It consists of gardens, amusement rides, theaters, restaurants and shops, and it is the most popular seasonal theme park in the world.  It is said that Tivoli was Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disneyland.  It opens each year in mid-April and closes on December 30.  We spent all afternoon and evening at Tivoli, seeing the sights, watching a couple of gospel concerts and eating both lunch and dinner in the park.  Just before the 10 PM closing, we headed back to our apartment.

Rosenborg Castle

Sunday morning we walked a few blocks to yet another castle, Rosenborg, built in 1606-34 as a summer castle, complete with a moat.   After about 100 years, another summer castle was erected in a suburb of Copenhagen.  Since that time, Rosenborg has been used primarily as a storehouse for royal family heirlooms, including the crown jewels and thrones.  We toured the 24 upper rooms, each as it was when their respective kings lived there, and also visited the basement rooms which contain the crown jewels, including many of the current queen’s emeralds and diamonds.  

From Rosenborg, we took our travel group to Nyhavn for lunch, followed by a visit to show off our apartment.   After our fellow travelers left to head back to their hotel, we hopped on a canal tour boat to see the city from the water.  Along with many areas we had seen on our walk, we also saw the new Opera House, built across the harbor from the central area, and the “Little Mermaid” of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.   The statue was created in 1913 with funding from the Carlsberg Brewery.  She has been vandalized repeatedly, losing her head and arms on a couple of occasions.

On Monday, we took a “Hop-On, Hop-Off” bus tour of the city which took most of the day.  Debbie had spotted a Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Outlet on a brochure and wanted to visit it while on the bus tour.  When we stopped at the Copenhagen Zoo, we hopped off and headed for the Outlet.  Maps are deceiving, particularly when no scale is shown.  We walked more than a mile before we reached the store.  After deciding that most everything in the store was beyond our budget (imagine a cup and saucer for $100), Debbie bought a few small bud vases as gifts for folks back home, then we trudged back to the bus stop at the zoo (uphill this direction).  We also stopped at the Little Mermaid again, this time to see the front of the statue; she faces the land.

Memorial Wall

Around 7 PM that evening, Rene and Majbritt joined us; Majbritt took Debbie and Pam on a shopping trip, while Rene took Karl and Tom on a tour of Police Headquarters.  We visited the Central Police Station which is used as an administrative center, and saw a memorial wall which is dedicated to the many Copenhagen police personnel who were executed by the Nazis during WWII.  He also took us to a precinct station where patrol and investigative officers are located.  It was a very interesting tour. 

 Following that visit, he took us out of the central area to a large conference center and a brand new hotel with a strikingly different design.  It is 23 stories high with a penthouse bar and a spectacular view of the city!

The following day we caught a bus for a day-trip to Malmö, Sweden, about 30 KM east and just across a bridge from Copenhagen.  (This town is mentioned in the “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series of books.)  It’s an interesting city, much smaller than Copenhagen, but still, the third largest city in Sweden.  We walked along the central shopping street, visited the harbor and had a very good lunch at a Japanese restaurant in the central square.  From there, it was a little more shopping, then back on the bus to Copenhagen.  It was a short stay, but at least we can add Sweden to our list of countries visited.

On Thursday, Rene and Majbritt joined us again; this time for a trip to a small fishing village about 12 KM south of Copenhagen called Dragør.   Dragør has many well preserved historical buildings. The old part of the town is a cozy, picturesque maze of alleys with yellow-painted houses, thatched roofs, and cobblestone streets built in the traditional Danish style.  

Many of these buildings are hundreds of years old.  Dragør was a prosperous seafaring town in the latter half of the 19th century, and its charming harbor front is still in use by both pleasure and fishing boats.  The weather wasn’t particularly cooperative during our visit; wind and occasional rain and hail followed us around town.  We visited Dragør on Ascension Day, which is a holiday in Denmark, so some of the stores were closed, but many were open.  We had an excellent lunch at a local restaurant and did some souvenir shopping while there.  Following our bus ride back to our apartment, it was time to pack for home, as we were leaving the next afternoon.

On Friday we caught the Metro to the airport around 10:30 AM, in plenty of time to catch our flight at 1 PM.  We flew on a Lufthansa regional jet from Copenhagen to Munich, and then caught a non-stop Lufthansa flight to San Francisco.  We traveled across 9 time zones, arriving at SFO around 6:30 PM.  After grabbing our luggage and clearing customs, we stepped outside the terminal and there was an Airport Express bus to Santa Rosa at the curb.  We got to Santa Rosa around 9:45 and Debbie’s sister, Susie picked us up and took us home.  Brenda, our kitty sitter, had left the house in great shape with clean sheets and towels for us.  We fell into bed for a good night’s sleep, to be interrupted only by jet lag at 2:30 in the morning.  Bah!

On to Oslo

We enjoyed one last day at sea between Rotterdam and Oslo, Norway.  We love the sea days; we can sleep in a little, have a cup of coffee at leisure, then decide what activities to participate in until mealtime.

Bright and early on Friday, we approached Oslo through a long fiord before docking, just a ten minute walk from downtown.  We had chosen to take a walking tour of downtown Oslo so at the appointed time, we met our guide next to the ship.  There were  fifteen in our group, so we had no trouble keeping up with, or hearing our guide.  The tour had been advertised as "1.6 miles of walking over uneven pavement and some stair climbing", so we didn't have people with canes, walkers, etc. on the tour.

We stopped first at Oslo's City Hall with its astrological clock and the large assembly room where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year.  The other Nobel prizes, chemistry, physics, etc. are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.  From there, we walked through downtown to the palace that is the home to the Norwegian King and Queen.  Like most of the countries in Europe, Norway has a "constitutional monarchy" in which the Royals are the ceremonial heads of state, but the country is run by an elected parliament.

Leaving the palace area, we walked by the Opera House to an old, large church which was closed.  We then passed by the oldest house in Oslo, built in 1516.  Wow, that's old!  But even older is the Akershus Castle, built on a hill overlooking the harbor around 1300.  In the 1400's, Norway became a province of Denmark, and was ruled by Danish Kings.  In 1624, a disastrous fire destroyed most of the old city which was built of wood.  King Christian IV of Denmark had the city rebuilt of stone across the river from the old location.  He also strengthened Akershus Castle to guard against the Swedes.  He renamed the town Christiania after himself.  Norway regained its independence in 1905, and in 1925, the name was changed back to Oslo.

From Akershus Castle, we could hear the music of marching bands.  We crossed over the moat surrounding the castle and there, on a large parade field, at least a dozen military marching bands were gathering for a "military tattoo".  It was a marching and music competition for the bands of several countries, including a colorfully dressed unit from South Korea.  From the field, they marched downtown in a parade.  Interestingly, even in  Scandinavia, John Phillip Sousa is the favorite composer.

We had an early departure from Oslo, so from the parade field we headed back to our ship and lunch.  Tomorrow is the end of the cruise in Copenhagen, so this afternoon is the time to repack our bags for departure.

Amsterdam, Holland

Rotterdam Harbor

Our ship docked in Rotterdam, one of the busiest commercial ports in the world, serving not only the Netherlands, but most of Northern Europe.  Most rivers along the coast of the North Sea tend to spread into a delta of streams, but long ago, the Dutch learned to squeeze them into channels then deepen them for navigation with dams and levees.  Such was the construction of a dam on the Rotte River, thus Rotterdam.

We traveled by bus to Amsterdam which is technically the capital, but The Hague is the seat of the government.  Holland is very flat, since most of the land has been reclaimed from the sea.  On the way we passed a few of the old windmills.  There are approximately 700 remaining of the 10,000 that used to operate in the country, both to mill grain and to pump water.  The weather was overcast with temperatures in the upper 50’s. 

The old city of Amsterdam is made up of a series of horseshoe shaped canals facing the Amstel River, which separates the old city from Amsterdam North.  We started our visit with a canal tour that covered much of the old city, including the Ann Frank house as well as several museums, churches and bridges.  There are houseboats of all sizes, shapes and descriptions lining the canals.  Some are well decorated and obviously well kept, others are run down and look like they are about to sink.  Houseboats have been allowed for many years, but the number is capped at 2,600, so even the decrepit ones are valuable, just for the space they occupy since no more can be permitted.  Following the canal tour, we reboarded the bus for a city tour which covered the main shopping area and several parks and squares.  We finished our guided tour in front of the Central Station of Amsterdam.

After an excellent lunch consisting of split pea soup (much better than Andersen’s) and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich (yes, Tom’s stomach is much better), we set off on foot for the Red Light District.  We saw several ‘ladies in the window’ advertising their wares, but I think we caught the day shift, because there was no one even remotely attractive, in our eyes.  We did pass a number of ‘Coffee Houses’ that sell ‘soft drugs’, but the more conservative element of our group were anxious to press on. 


We wandered through the shopping area but made no significant purchases, then headed back to the Central Station to catch our bus back to the ship.  When we got there, the line stretched for at least a block and we found out that there were 17 busloads of people from the ship who were all waiting.  Before we got to the head of the line, it began to rain, so those without a raincoat or umbrella got soaked.  Tom, who was standing in line, borrowed an umbrella from our friend, Ed, while Debbie and some others from our travel group decided to wait out the storm in a pub.  They caught the last bus back to the ship and arrived on time and in good humor.  Neither of us remember much of the trip back, but instead took the opportunity to examine the insides of our eyelids for leaks.

The ship left the dock in Rotterdam at 6:30 PM, and since the ship was too long to turn around in the dock area, we backed up for over two miles to a wide spot in which to turn around and head out to sea. Thursday is our last day at sea.  On Friday, we dock in Oslo, Norway, then sail overnight to Copenhagen, Denmark where we will disembark on Saturday morning.

Dover, England

We set our clocks one hour ahead between Falmouth and Le Havre, so, revisiting England, we set our clocks back one hour.  It’s about as much a pain in the A­­ as changing money.  We started in Ireland with the Euro, then the British Pound in Cornwall, the Euro again in France, then the Pound again in Dover.  We’ll use the Euro in Holland, the Norwegian Kroner in Norway and finally the Danish Kroner in Denmark.  The Danish & Norwegian Kroner are worth about the same, 16¢ in US dollars, but they cannot be used interchangeably, similar to the Canadian and US dollars; the same but different.

Leeds Castle

Tom woke up in Dover feeling lousy; nausea and an upset stomach.  He skipped breakfast and decided at the last moment to take our scheduled tour to Leeds Castle and the town of Canterbury.   Dover is the gateway to Kent, a rich agricultural area specializing in grain and apples.  Kent is also at the shortest crossing point between England and the continent, and as such, was on the traditional invasion route for incursions from the continent.  The Romans took control of England here, beginning with Julius Caesar in 55 B.C.  After the Roman legions were gone, Germanic tribes called Jutes landed on the same beaches in 445 A.D.  Then in 597, Augustine of Canterbury landed with missionaries, seeking to spread Christianity to the Anglo-Saxon tribes.  The invasion went the other direction in 1944, when the allies chose Dover to became the headquarters for the Normandy invasion.

Leeds Castle & Moat

Leeds Castle is about 35 miles from Dover, and is about 900 years old.  It began as a Norman stronghold, then became the private property of six of England’s medieval Queens and a palace used by Henry VIII.  In the 1930’s the castle was purchased by a private owner, an Anglo-American known as Lady Baillie, who entertained high society from both London and Hollywood for the weekends.  It is furnished as it was in the 30’s, with fine art, porcelain and furniture.  It sits on about 120 acres, with lakes, gardens, a golf course and a moat which surrounds the castle itself.  The castle tour was fascinating but Tom was more interested in finding a bathroom than visiting the Queen’s bedroom.

From Leeds Castle, we took our bus back to the old town of Canterbury, located on the ancient Roman road called Watling Street.  The town has prehistoric roots, but it became truly important as the capital of Kent and Augustine’s religious hub.  A century later, a bitter dispute between Archbishop Thomas Becket and Henry II resulted in the murder of Becket by the king’s knights.  Becket was acclaimed as a martyr to religious liberty and Canterbury became a shrine to pilgrims and tourists alike.  Excursions to the town became so popular that Geoffrey Chaucer based his “Canterbury Tales” on a pilgrimage.

Canterbury Cathedral Gate

After a brief guided walk around the center of the town, we were on our own for exploration, food and drink.  Tom still didn’t trust his stomach, so we found an old pub and enjoyed a pint while relaxing.  We were to meet our guide outside the gates of the cathedral, and when we got there, we were in the company of a large number of French school children. The French election had been held the previous day, and President Sarkozy had been defeated, so a holiday celebration was going on and French schools were closed for several days.  Amidst the hubbub we found our guide and made our way back to the bus to Dover.

We got back on the ship at around 4 PM and Tom went straight to bed where he slept pretty much through the night.  The next morning, all was well and we were now in Rotterdam, Holland.  Tom was ready for a little breakfast and the day’s tour to Amsterdam.