Hoofing it in Horta

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We had a good idea the other day, to order some show tickets for when we get back and to take my Mom and a friend when we go check on the progress of the house that we are building in Las Vegas. No good idea goes unpunished. We ordered the tickets online. When we got the confirmation email, it revealed that the date had somehow been pushed forward one week, about the time we’ll be somewhere between the Azores and the Bahamas. Needless to say, the “800” number to call to fix problems like this doesn’t work where we are… and there was no other number given. E-mail you might think would work; however, when you go through Ticketmaster’s “contact us my email” widget and you dot all the “I’s” and cross all the “T’s” they claim that the email cannot be sent… they somehow believe they’ve already provided you with all of the answers that you need! We’re planning to go ashore in Horta and find an internet café and try and sort this out without using up all of the onboard internet minutes.



We grabbed a quick breakfast in the Lido. I decided to try an omelet and Sharon had scrambled eggs with assorted pan fried potatoes. You should see her “Why would anyone do that to perfectly good potatoes” look that comes over her face. And for once, our “priority tendering” invitation for Sharon’s 4-star status allowed us to jump to the head of the line and board a tender that was preparing to leave. We were among the last five to board that craft before it left nearly full. Mike, the cruise director, was at the door check people’s tender tickets. A blind couple was getting on ahead of us. It would have given Sharon’s friend Ruth a run for her money in what she calls “Bobbing for Tenders”. Ruth has decided to eschew tenders and stay onboard in tender ports. There was quite a bit of motion, and we were impressed how they managed getting on a tender that was indeed bobbing, and not just up and down; but, in and out as well. They were assisted by two crew members, one on either side, but they have to manage to find and hold footing and then balance somehow while finding a seat.



Plan A was to find a taxi and ride into the main part of town. It was a zoo outside the terminal with another smaller ship disembarking and embarking many young passengers with luggage, and we watched two taxis drive off with fares, making us next in line at the line for taxis. We saw a taxi enter the terminal and drop off a fare at the other end, and some others ran over to it while it was there, effectively jumping the line and grabbing our taxi. We weren’t sure how many taxis are in Horta, and when no others came we decided it was time for Plan B. We would hoof it into town; which, could be up to two miles away. We could see the main marina at the other end of the harbor, and the whole waterfront and boulevard that we would need to walk along, and it looked like a pleasant walk. Opposite our walk, across the water and beyond our ship was a very steep volcanic mountain, literally rising through the clouds. The picture was classic, perhaps half of the top half of the volcano was obscured by clouds, but the summit at over 7,000 feet was peeking through the tops of the clouds. We took some pictures of the volcano, the ship and the surrounding slopes of the island that we were on. We headed into town walking on these marvels stone mosaic walkways, made out of a black volcanic rock, and a whitish rock, that may be sandstone. For most of the walkway the mosaic makes simply a repeated pattern, but at some intersections where there were some triangular islands between transitioning lanes the patterns were more intricate. One showed “PAN AM” and the years of service to the islands between the 1930’s and 1940’s, and also beneath that an actual Pan Am clipper ship. My how times have changed. Another triangular island featured a mosaic of a sperm whale. This was Sharon’s favorite, with its sharp narrow triangular jagged teeth and large flat head-top. It wasn’t long before we found a small café with free WI-FI. We ordered a large chocolate croissant, a slice of Oreo pie, one Coca-Cola and on Sprite. The whole bill was just 5 Euros and 40 Cents. We took a table outside and ate there; but, unfortunately the WI-FI signal was strong enough to connect and maintain a connection there. I popped inside and tried my phone, and it worked fine. We popped back in with all of our stuff (camera and computer and food) and were lucky to get one of the six tables in the tiny café. After considerable effort we realized, we just couldn’t find any other links or ways to contact Ticketmaster. It appears that we’re stuck with the tickets and are considering gifting them to some of the people who’ve been so good about helping us with the house in Las Vegas.



We walked around town a bit, even bumped into Jim and Lucia who were doing the same thing on a side street. Lucia has an interesting story, and was actually born in Brazil. Both of them speak Portuguese, and Jim well enough that he could tell when someone he’d met in the Azores was speaking Portuguese with a Brazilian accent. It is Sunday, today, and one store that they went into the proprietor was there alone, and didn’t speak any English. Normally she has staff that can do that, but this was Sunday and their day off. Jim and Lucia were quickly enlisted to help with a couple of other American cruisers who had some questions. I reminded them of Trivia at 2 PM today; which they knew, but they had mistakenly told Stewart and Vanne that it would be at 2:30 PM (which is what Mike had said the day before).



We headed back to the ship. Sharon is starting to have issues with her choppers; so, I headed to the Dive-In and returned with burgers, an order of fries to share along with chocolate chip cookies. I also used the time to get caught up on the blog.



As we’d feared, Stewart and Vanne were no-shows at 2 PM in the Crow’s Nest. So far the token tennis questions have been far too easy… “What term in tennis describes a score of 40-to-40?” Who couldn’t guess “Deuce”? Then of course, they hit us with a British Question, right up the alley of our British teammates! “What Island in the British Channel was known as Sarnia by the Romans?” I went with Isle of Man. Mike was looking for “Guernsey”. Stewart and Valle did show up at 2:30, just as we were grading our sheets; but claimed they wouldn’t have been able to help. And we faltered on what body of water the Volgo flows into. We went with Black Sea. It is in fact the Caspian Sea (which we’ve learned from a previous question is actually a lake). “What was the name of Elvis’s jet?” Lucia thought it was the name of his daughter and Sharon remembered the name so we got that one right! Lisa-Marie. “What was Julius Caesar’s first name?” Okay, let me go out on a limb here… I’m guessing it wasn’t “Julius”. I’m just saying… We went with Augustus… sigh. If you knew Gaius, congratulations! We faltered again with the name of the Greek deity that gave Pandora her “box”. I guessed Hera angered by another of Zeus’s affairs. Well, this time it was Zeus himself. And we didn’t know what the text part of an opera is known as: “Libretto”. The bonus was a repeat of a previous Pub Trivia question about the three parts of an insect; but, it wasn’t enough.



Sharon went to Mass at 5 PM and I worked some on the blog. I got there a bit early to meet Sharon for dinner. They were just about to start the Eucharist; so, I remained hidden in the back rather than joining Sharon… I didn’t want to appear as one of those mass-goers who just pop in to “eat-and-run”. Before the priest dismissed his flock, he recalled a story of when he had visited a town such as Hora on a previous cruise. As he approached the ship a woman reached out to him and asked “Where’s your watch?” He shook his head, misunderstanding her, and said “No, I already have a watch,” and rolling up his sleeve to show it to her. She shakes her head and says, “No. Where’s your wife?” she asks speaking more clearly. He explains that he’s a priest and doesn’t have a wife. “Would you like one?” she asks. He said he was uncomfortable where this was going, and made his way back to the ship and after telling the story was teased about it for the remainder of the cruise. After the cruise he had the opportunity to have dinner with his 88 year old mother. He told her of this encounter. Without batting an eye she said, “Well you know son, you’ve taken a vow of poverty. If you do choose to take a wife, at least make sure that she is rich!”



We’d told our teammates that we’d try to make it for Pub Trivia at 7 PM. We asked for a table by ourselves, and were given a table for four (they removed two of the settings just for us). I had the 3-Mushroom bruschetta, the lobster bisque and the kale Caesar salad. The lobster bisque tasted like the specialty of the Pinnacle Grille, only with only a small smidgeon of lobster in the bowl rather than the heaping mound you get in the Pinnacle Grille. Sharon was forced to sit and watch me eat, not even wanting the chilled soup that was available. I think she’s hoping that her choppers will cooperate through dinner. I ordered the vegetable curry dish with rice and grilled naan bread. Sharon enjoyed her sliced tri-tip with roasted potatoes. I whipped out with the everyday Crème Brule, something Sharon normally does; but, she had chocolate cake with blue berries and bourbon whipped cream. Sharon didn’t even try the whipped cream; but, I did… it was pretty good.



We just made it in time for Pub Trivia; but, it had been moved from the Crow’s Nest to the Northern Lights bar by the casino. I bumped into Andy who runs Pub Trivia as he was diverting people to the bar. It was published in the daily planner, but Andy had miss-announced it the previous evening. “We Don’t Need Google” was fully represented today. Things didn’t start well: “What is the largest living carnivore on land?” We went with Bengal Tiger. Sharon should have suggested one of her favorite creatures: The Polar Bear! From that, we next had what does “Giga” stand for? Hmmm. Better not miss this one. “What is the indentation in the bottom of a wine bottle called?” We had no idea it would be “Punt”. It’s what we did with that question! And then came the golf question… you really do need an avid golfer on your team… Hmmm. Sharon’s brother Paul is an avid golfer! Sorry… just thinking ahead here. “What country has the most golf courses per capita? We thought Scotland (nice low population and all). Well, it is the Bahamas (they probably don’t count the avid tourist golfers in their per capita calculations). We did not do well! And we got the 3 point bonus question which was from our previous cruise! (How much skin is a person likely to shed in a lifetime, within three pounds). We still only got 11 points out of a possible 17. At least we beat the four female singers that we’d missed at the Show the night before.



Sharon went to try her luck at the casino. She is actually winning overall on the cruise! Evening is tough because either her favorite machines are being used or smoking becomes an issue. She prefers the daytime when there are less people. I watched the blackjack some, and may break down and play some blackjack during the upcoming sea days. We went to see the show “Unforgettable” featuring the four singers of the Zuiderdam. We thoroughly enjoyed their medleys of popular show tunes.

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