Advertisement
Published: November 18th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Ponta Delgada
near the main square I was thinking that perhaps my loyal readers might wonder what has been happening now that we are somewhere in mid-Atlantic between the Azores and North America. Well, we are rolling along quite nicely…..in spite of the fact that the forward stabilizers aren’t working. Fortunately, the ship “had” 2 sets of stabilizers and overall, the seas haven’t been that rough. The weather itself, tho, hasn’t been that great as it continues with lots of wind and temperatures that remain in the high 60s. The Europeans on board, however, find the temperature balmy, so they are the ones in the deck chairs (sometimes bundled up like mid-winter) and hot tubs. By about 10:30 AM, the jogging track is filled with people out for their morning walk….(3 times around the track is a mile)….so many that real joggers are bobbing and weaving thru the walkers.
This past Friday, the ship stopped for the day at Ponta Delgada in the Portuguese Azores islands. My contact here didn’t work out, but it turned out to be a wonderful day. After going ashore, all 6 of us (Nanette, Barbara, Mary-Ellen, Katherine, Dick and I) took the short walk into the center of the city where
we sort of separated for a bit and went either sightseeing, shopping, walking thru gardens or simply sat at an outdoor café. At 1:30 we all met at a particular bus stop because we were taking the 1:45 PM bus to a town called Furnas (which quickly became “furnace” to us!). The 1 hour and 40 minute ride cost all of about $4.50 on a very comfortable bus. The scenery alone would have been worth twice the price as we went from sea level up a bunch of hairpin turns that sometimes gave those white knuckle people something to think about. Black sand beaches, rocky islands, peaceful valleys, tropical foliage and small island towns which all seemed to have the same style church.
When we arrived at the bus shelter that serves as the Furnas bus stop, we first walked to a noted tropical garden with sulphur hot springs, but decided the walk about inside just wasn’t worth the 4 Euro ($5.00) admission. After a few souvenir shop visits, we found a restaurant where they served an island speciality…..a hot springs steam cooked dinner. We started with a bottle of local white wine, home made bread and 2 kinds
Johnny Rockets
Got a nickle for the jukebox? of local cheeses. Then, 2 platters were brought out containing our dinner. On it, if I can remember correctly, were beef, pork, chicken, chouricao sausage, blood sausage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, yucca, and 2 kinds of cabbage. It cost the equivalent of less than $18.00 each and we all rolled out of the place. The return bus ride cost the same as the trip out, but was an entirely different route….more along a mountain ridge, in the clouds, past many many dairies as the day slowly changed to dusk and the lights of the towns and cities grew brighter and brighter. Once back in Ponta Delgada, we heard the tune of Jingle Bells in the distance and sure enough, Santa Claus was arriving in Ponta Delgada (and we thought the US rushed the holiday season!!!!). Some of us had our pictures taken with Saint Nick, while others got to see the lighting up ceremony for the city’s holiday decorations in the main town square. A little bit more shopping, a stop at a wine shop (where out purchases were confiscated as we walked on board….to be sure that we only drank wine sold by the ship….and assured that our bottles would be returned on the final cruise day. There was a sailing away party at 11:59 PM, but I was well asleep by then !!!!
We’re now well into our 6 sea days before out penultimate stop in Nassau. The dining room food has been better than expected and the Windjammer buffet poorer. We did try the asian themed Jade buffet one night which was probably the worst on board. We seem to be taking lunch more and more often in the dining room which has been excellent, not to mention having the best tailor made salads (you point, they toss and dress) and waiter served entrees. Yesterday, we went up to Deck 12 for lunch in the Johnny Rockets diner. What a hoot!!! For a $3.85 cover, you got a choice of starter, a hamburger or sandwich of choice and a sinfully rich dessert. The $3.50 milk shake was said to be just like we all remember as kids. Want onion rings or French fries? They’ll bring out all you can eat. I had the hot apple pie a la mode for dessert, but the others had the chocolate Oreo cooking Sunday !!!! Just like after our Azorean feast in Furnas, we found ourselves eating very lightly for dinner 3 hours later in the dining room……hehehe. (hmmm…maybe I should double up my chloresteral medication). We haven’t tried the $20.00 extra charge Italian restaurant, nor the $25.00 steak house.
Entertainment, in my opinion, has been so so. No even medium big names and lots of vocalists. We’ve only had 2 production shows which were pretty good. The ice skating show (yeah….there’s an ice rink on board) was excellent and we’re all looking forward to another one tomorrow. A lot of the entertainment and activities are geared towards revenue production and its pretty hard to avoid someone selling something just about everywhere you go.
So you’re up to date again. I hear the siren song of the Café down in the Royal Promenade calling out my name for a sandwich, cookie and coffee.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.204s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0558s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb