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MADEIRA COUNTRY VISTA
This picture does not do justice to the majestic green valleys.We are off on another odyssey. This one is 50 days from start to finish. That is almost half of a world cruise. We start off with a 12-day crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from Miami to Lisbon. The next segment takes us to Morocco and the Canary Islands. The third portion of this cruise is from Portugal to Spain, Ireland, Wales, France and England. On the final 11 days we cruise to Belgium, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and passing through the Kiel Canal ending in Hamburg, Germany. After a night in Frankfurt we will fly back home. We are covering a lot of territory on the beautiful Seabourn Ovation. The Ovation carries 600 passengers and will be full for most of the journey. Our group is rather large at about 55 guests per segment. We know several of the staff on this ship and have some familiar faces in our group. Springtime in Europe is a great time to visit before the heat and crowds of summer. We haven’t spent much time on the Continent in the last few years, so we are eagerly looking forward to this trek around the “Old World.”
We drove across Florida to Miami
SEABOURN OVATION
Our home for the next 45 days. met up with Kevin’s high school mates for a lovely get-together. The rest of the evening we spent preparing for our embarkation the next morning. It was a beautiful sail-away from Miami as we steamed out across the Atlantic. This cruise is for sailors who love the sea as we had 10 straight days on the ocean blue. We really lucked out with the weather as it was as calm a passage as we've ever had. Flat seas with mild winds and temperatures. There was plenty to do on board between lectures, art classes, computer lessons, shows, gym, dances, internet, and pools and a ping pong table! We toured the Bridge and met up with several officers we knew from previous cruises.
After 10 days at sea we docked in Funchal, Maderia. The island is often called the Floating Garden. It is beautifully lush and famous for its renowned Madeira wine. Thomas Jefferson loved this fine wine, and was used to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Almost every mountain on the island is terraced with vineyards, sugar cane fields or bananas trees. We hosted a tour for our Distinctive Voyages group here. Instead of big tour
SUNSET ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
We saw plenty of these as we cruised 4100 miles across the Atlantic.
One green flash. buses we had seven Land Rovers with open canvas tops. They are often used on safari tours in Africa. Our first stop was at the Skywalk Overlook on a mountain cliff. At about 2000 feet it is the highest peak in Europe. The glass floor gave some folks the willies as they peered straight down at the Atlantic Ocean. Next we went to a vineyard for a wine tasting of six different varietals of excellent wine. We were glad we went there after the Skywalk! Our final stop was at a honeybee farm. Along with a tasting we learned about the vital importance of bees in the world ecosystem.
Two days later we cruised into Lisbon at daybreak and passed under Lisbon’s version of the Golden Gate Bridge. We spent the day getting ready for our next group of 64 passengers and then cruised back under the bridge and into the Atlantic heading to Morocco and more adventures.
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