After a wonderful bed in Chicago (luxury was nice after 3 nights on the train), we arrived in Minnesota ... to be greeted by snowflakes! Our reception, however, was warm - it was so great to see MaryAnn waiting for us with coats, rugs, etc - not that we needed any of them, as it's much warmer than Cape Horn!
We're now busy exploring the delights of Stillwater and Minneapolis/St Paul - the History Center yesterday, the local library today, a concert tomorrow, the gardens the next day ... and catching up not only with MaryAnn, but with her family and friends whom we've met before in Australia and on our previous visit here - we seem as though we're back on real earth after the artificial (and wonderful!) life on the ship.
One of our joys on the train was the company of several different Amish people - one couple have invited us to visit them in Lancaster County, though this will have to wait for another trip to the States, another lad hopes we'll call in at his town in Montana when we get that far.
Currently we're trying to sort out our travel plans for next week - snow, ice and major floods in northwest Minnesota are causing problems, but something will work out. We'll let you know!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Oh-Oh-Oh-Oklahoma
Oklahoma - Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain ..... and doesn't it sweep!! We left California in bright sunshine - after the smog finally lifted about 2pm - and somehow lulled our minds away from the fact that most of the USA is still wintry - it might be Spring on the calendar, but it's hardly spring-like. Still, the redbuds are in bloom, and the wheat we saw (about 10cm high) was trying to wave, and smell sweet! We've just spent the day at the National Cowboys Hall of Fame, which is excellent ... though much more formal than the The Stockmen's Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland.
To get here we travelled on Amtrak - and what a change it was from the ship! However, we've thoroughly enjoyed our trip so far - we slept well on the train, and enjoyed eating crackers (dry biscuits) and fruit instead of five-course gourmet meals - you CAN get too much good food! Tomorrow we head back to the train again, on to Chicago for a night, then to Minneapolis.
We spent our day in California at Disneyland - and it was wonderful! We went on several great rides, and met Mickey, listened to several bands, travelled through "It's a small world" twice ... turned into kids again! (ALMOST!)
We missed the Queensland elections, but are pleased to hear from Stephanie that our votes weren't needed - we've really appreciated all the friends who've kept us in touch.
To get here we travelled on Amtrak - and what a change it was from the ship! However, we've thoroughly enjoyed our trip so far - we slept well on the train, and enjoyed eating crackers (dry biscuits) and fruit instead of five-course gourmet meals - you CAN get too much good food! Tomorrow we head back to the train again, on to Chicago for a night, then to Minneapolis.
We spent our day in California at Disneyland - and it was wonderful! We went on several great rides, and met Mickey, listened to several bands, travelled through "It's a small world" twice ... turned into kids again! (ALMOST!)
We missed the Queensland elections, but are pleased to hear from Stephanie that our votes weren't needed - we've really appreciated all the friends who've kept us in touch.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
We're just about Splendored out!
No great places to report on today - it's a grey, gloomy sea day and we're spending our time packing our 'ports' ... tomorrow morning at 7.30 we leave the Carnival Splendor. We'll be leaving behind lots of new friends, some of them very special, and some wonderful staff members (who come from 56 different countries, who work at least 13 hours a day on split shifts, with never more than 7 hours break ... and who earn ... wait for it! ... US$74 a month!!!) There are lots of things we'll miss, including the superb food, but we're looking forward to being on dry land.
What are we doing next? Well, first of all we're going to see Mickey ... Mickey Mouse! We'll spend tomorrow at Disneyland, then on Friday we'll catch the Texas Eagle, on our way to Minnesota, via Oklahoma City and Chicago.
We won't be blogging as much over the next couple of weeks, as it will be impossible on the train, and our friend MaryAnn Stellmach in Stillwater Minnesota doesn't have computer access. we'll do our best, though, and after we start driving back to Los Angeles, at the beginning of April, we'll try to be a lot more regular. We hope to drive first to northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota, but our plans will depend on the weather, which has been severe in recent weeks - there has been SO much snow in the US - sometimes in places that haven't seen snow for years.
Easter will, we hope, see us in the Black Hills of Dakota for a few days (although we'll be wishing we were in Paynesville, Viv, for Rick and Jill's wedding), and then we hope to head to Montana to the Little Big Horn. After that we'll go to Salt Lake City (where we hope to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practising), then into California, so that we can visit Yosemite National Park and friends at San Louis Obispo on the coast.
We're due to leave Los Angeles on Anzac Day ... and get home on the 27th April ... how's that for a 13 hour trip!
We've really appreciated the feedback from those of you who've been reading our blog - and thank all those who've kept us in touch with the news outside of our floating home - it would be very easy to forget that there's another world out there!
We'll be in touch!
What are we doing next? Well, first of all we're going to see Mickey ... Mickey Mouse! We'll spend tomorrow at Disneyland, then on Friday we'll catch the Texas Eagle, on our way to Minnesota, via Oklahoma City and Chicago.
We won't be blogging as much over the next couple of weeks, as it will be impossible on the train, and our friend MaryAnn Stellmach in Stillwater Minnesota doesn't have computer access. we'll do our best, though, and after we start driving back to Los Angeles, at the beginning of April, we'll try to be a lot more regular. We hope to drive first to northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota, but our plans will depend on the weather, which has been severe in recent weeks - there has been SO much snow in the US - sometimes in places that haven't seen snow for years.
Easter will, we hope, see us in the Black Hills of Dakota for a few days (although we'll be wishing we were in Paynesville, Viv, for Rick and Jill's wedding), and then we hope to head to Montana to the Little Big Horn. After that we'll go to Salt Lake City (where we hope to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practising), then into California, so that we can visit Yosemite National Park and friends at San Louis Obispo on the coast.
We're due to leave Los Angeles on Anzac Day ... and get home on the 27th April ... how's that for a 13 hour trip!
We've really appreciated the feedback from those of you who've been reading our blog - and thank all those who've kept us in touch with the news outside of our floating home - it would be very easy to forget that there's another world out there!
We'll be in touch!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The results of fame ... and sin!
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was a tiny fishing village in the early 1950s, but now has more than 250 thousand inhabitants, and thousands and thousands of time-share apartments ... all because a beautiful woman fancied a particular man. The original tiny village was the site of the movie Night of the Iguana, but this was only indirectly the cause of its rise to fame (actually, we're told, the movie was awful) ... the secret of success was that Elizabeth Taylor, who wasn't in the movie, chased Richard Burton here ... and the resultant media furore led to people coming to see what it was all about, then to an airport, then to more people ... and so on!
We chose to get away from the 'plastic' Puerto Vallarta, and travelled to the countryside - dry, dusty, lots of cowboys on horses, wearing sombreros ... the cowboys, that is, not the horses! We visited a couple of little villages, with very rough cobbled streets, well-loved churches, and friendly people, who were willing to chat - as well as one CAN chat with sign language, a few Spanish or English words in common, and our well-thumbed dictionary. The village of Las Palmas had the street blocked for a local market, which was fun, and the people made us feel really at home.
On the return journey, though, the bus stopped at an up-market jewellert store, in the hope that we would be so astounded by the Mexican opals, Mexican gold, Mexican silver, that we wouldn't notice the US$500-US$2000 price tags! Unfortunately, for them, the prices we're willing to pay are more at village level ... even after we got back to the restaurant and markets near the ship, we shunned the US$20 meals and discovered a family business operating in the carpark, where we each had pork chops in a delicious sauce, tomato rice, refried beans, peppers, more hot tortillas than we could eat, and a homemade orange drink, for 20 pesos (About $2 Australian) each. And THIS meal came with entertainment - five little boys aged about 5-9, who talked to us, sang to us, even helped us up the steps after we finished eating ... THAT'S the part of Mexico that WE enjoy!
We chose to get away from the 'plastic' Puerto Vallarta, and travelled to the countryside - dry, dusty, lots of cowboys on horses, wearing sombreros ... the cowboys, that is, not the horses! We visited a couple of little villages, with very rough cobbled streets, well-loved churches, and friendly people, who were willing to chat - as well as one CAN chat with sign language, a few Spanish or English words in common, and our well-thumbed dictionary. The village of Las Palmas had the street blocked for a local market, which was fun, and the people made us feel really at home.
On the return journey, though, the bus stopped at an up-market jewellert store, in the hope that we would be so astounded by the Mexican opals, Mexican gold, Mexican silver, that we wouldn't notice the US$500-US$2000 price tags! Unfortunately, for them, the prices we're willing to pay are more at village level ... even after we got back to the restaurant and markets near the ship, we shunned the US$20 meals and discovered a family business operating in the carpark, where we each had pork chops in a delicious sauce, tomato rice, refried beans, peppers, more hot tortillas than we could eat, and a homemade orange drink, for 20 pesos (About $2 Australian) each. And THIS meal came with entertainment - five little boys aged about 5-9, who talked to us, sang to us, even helped us up the steps after we finished eating ... THAT'S the part of Mexico that WE enjoy!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Ole! Mexico!
We're back in the Northern hemisphere, and into the land of manana (pronounced man-yarna, not like the ban-annas that our American shipmates eat almost incessantly ... it's nothing to see someone carrying six to their cabin, and the greatest complaints on board - other than those about 'Goose', the cruise director - are when the ban-annas run out!). Manana means that we arise slowly, eat breakfast in a leisurely manner, lounge by the pool, talk to friends, make time for lunch, laze a bit more, play cribbage, eat dinner, go to a show - you can see what busy lives we lead!
Yesterday, however was a Shore Day ... in Acapulco. We're not quite sure what we expected from Acapulco, but what we saw was delightful, and very different from what we expected. Acapulco now has a population of 2.5 million people, and is divided basically into 3 areas - Old Acapulco, "Golden Acapulco" and "Diamond Head". Diamond Head is the newest area, for the super-super rich, those for whom Golden Acapulco is not luxurious enough. Needless to say, we chose not to visit either of these areas, but headed through Old Acapulco, then into the countryside.
First, however, we went to see the cliff divers - when in Paris, you see the Eiffel tower, here you see men jumping from high cliffs into a narrow tdal gulch ... we tried to get John to put on his togs and join in, but he wouldn't co-operate! They were striking ... oops, wrong word ... they were spectacular, but fortunately didn't strike anything!
From there we headed for Corayuca Lagoon, the site of many of Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan films, and some of the Indiana Jones spectaculars. We lazed under palm roofs, munching guacamole and chicken tostadas, admiring the lagoon, then wandered across the road to the beach - long, clean, with huge rolling breakers, where we held a private reverie for the Sunshine Coast and for all those involved in the big clean-up, as we enjoyed the lovely scene in front of us.
Our trip was meant to have lasted three and a half hours, but we left the ship at 8.30, and didn't get back until 4pm - that's manana for you! After our bus returned to the port, the guide offered us a free shuttle to the old town, and the markets, where we bought blackberries and strawberries for AU$1 a kilo ... John and I were the last to return, so sat around with the guide and the driver until all the traffic had eased, then made an individual guided tour past tacky streets, seedy bars and outdoor restaurants which we were assured that Montezuma would be proud of - because no-one ever ate there without him getting his revenge!
This was a really fun day - but it made us realise that our time on the ship is limited - only four more days until Long Beach. However, we visit Puerto Vallarta tomorrow, so there's plenty of fun ahead.
Yesterday, however was a Shore Day ... in Acapulco. We're not quite sure what we expected from Acapulco, but what we saw was delightful, and very different from what we expected. Acapulco now has a population of 2.5 million people, and is divided basically into 3 areas - Old Acapulco, "Golden Acapulco" and "Diamond Head". Diamond Head is the newest area, for the super-super rich, those for whom Golden Acapulco is not luxurious enough. Needless to say, we chose not to visit either of these areas, but headed through Old Acapulco, then into the countryside.
First, however, we went to see the cliff divers - when in Paris, you see the Eiffel tower, here you see men jumping from high cliffs into a narrow tdal gulch ... we tried to get John to put on his togs and join in, but he wouldn't co-operate! They were striking ... oops, wrong word ... they were spectacular, but fortunately didn't strike anything!
From there we headed for Corayuca Lagoon, the site of many of Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan films, and some of the Indiana Jones spectaculars. We lazed under palm roofs, munching guacamole and chicken tostadas, admiring the lagoon, then wandered across the road to the beach - long, clean, with huge rolling breakers, where we held a private reverie for the Sunshine Coast and for all those involved in the big clean-up, as we enjoyed the lovely scene in front of us.
Our trip was meant to have lasted three and a half hours, but we left the ship at 8.30, and didn't get back until 4pm - that's manana for you! After our bus returned to the port, the guide offered us a free shuttle to the old town, and the markets, where we bought blackberries and strawberries for AU$1 a kilo ... John and I were the last to return, so sat around with the guide and the driver until all the traffic had eased, then made an individual guided tour past tacky streets, seedy bars and outdoor restaurants which we were assured that Montezuma would be proud of - because no-one ever ate there without him getting his revenge!
This was a really fun day - but it made us realise that our time on the ship is limited - only four more days until Long Beach. However, we visit Puerto Vallarta tomorrow, so there's plenty of fun ahead.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Goodbye South America
We had somehow thought that Ecuador would be a let-down, as it was the end of our South American sojourn, a country we knew little about, and a lesser city - Manta - that was not a capital or a large, well-known area such as Guayaquil. Instead, we found it a delightful place, with some of the friendliest people we have met, and wonderful weather. One thing we had not considered on the west coast of the continent was that, although it rarely rains, the coasts of both Chile and Peru are shrouded in fog for at least eight months of every year - an effect of the cold Humbolt current which comes up from the Antarctic. This means that all the coastal areas we visited were grey, and although we could see the Andes as we travelled, it was through a constant light haze.
The Humbolt current flows westward away from Ecuador, because of a drift on the equator, so we were greeted by sunny days, and sunny natures. Few cruise ships visit Manta, and we were welcomed warmly - we think it's because we're a change from the huge tuna that are the usual creatures which are brought in from the sea here - we watched at least ten ships unloading frozen tuna (each larger than we are) for eight hours straight ... apparently more canned tuna comes from Manta than anywhere else in the world.
Away from the beautiful beaches we visited tiny villages and small towns, and followed the life of Panama hats (which are NEVER made in Panama, only in Ecuador!) from palm frond to our heads. We visited a family cottage on a hillside where granny shredded the palm fronds (carried for 2 hours from the jungle by mule) and boiled the soft inner parts - the outer edges were kept as thatch for the roof. Then we watched the daughter carefully weaving the hat, and a grandson ironing one into shape with a "Mrs Potts" iron.
From there we went to Montecristo, where most of the hats were sold ... you can guess at which end of the price scale from US$15 to US$5,000 a hat our purchases came! Last night we sailed across the equator again, and we're now heading for Mexico, with three days at sea.
We're relieved that Cyclone Hamish appears to be calming down - hope that everyone is surviving with dry feet! Fond wishes to all of you, wherever you are.
The Humbolt current flows westward away from Ecuador, because of a drift on the equator, so we were greeted by sunny days, and sunny natures. Few cruise ships visit Manta, and we were welcomed warmly - we think it's because we're a change from the huge tuna that are the usual creatures which are brought in from the sea here - we watched at least ten ships unloading frozen tuna (each larger than we are) for eight hours straight ... apparently more canned tuna comes from Manta than anywhere else in the world.
Away from the beautiful beaches we visited tiny villages and small towns, and followed the life of Panama hats (which are NEVER made in Panama, only in Ecuador!) from palm frond to our heads. We visited a family cottage on a hillside where granny shredded the palm fronds (carried for 2 hours from the jungle by mule) and boiled the soft inner parts - the outer edges were kept as thatch for the roof. Then we watched the daughter carefully weaving the hat, and a grandson ironing one into shape with a "Mrs Potts" iron.
From there we went to Montecristo, where most of the hats were sold ... you can guess at which end of the price scale from US$15 to US$5,000 a hat our purchases came! Last night we sailed across the equator again, and we're now heading for Mexico, with three days at sea.
We're relieved that Cyclone Hamish appears to be calming down - hope that everyone is surviving with dry feet! Fond wishes to all of you, wherever you are.
Monday, March 9, 2009
John's dream fulfilled!
About 30 years ago John started translating some of the diaries of Torres' voyage from South America to the Philippines (via Vanuatu and Torres Strait) from the original Spanish into English. The San Pedro y San Pablo, the San Pedro and the Los Tres Reyes sailed from Callao, near Lima in Peru, in December 1605. The day before the expedition left, captains Torres, Quiros (who returned to Mexico from Vanuatu) and Cermano travelled from Callao to Lima to visit the Viceroy in his palace, and two monasteries, from where the Franciscan monks who travelled with them, had come.
Yesterday we visited all of these places, spending several hours looking around these historic buildings ... and John was on Cloud Nine!
In addition, we visited the main cathedral, where we saw the casket containing the bones of Francisco Pisarro, the conqueror of the Incas ... we were almost as happy as Ketty, one of our stewards, who comes from Lima, and was able to show her parents and daughters the ship where she works ... it was a wonderful day!
Other people bought alpaca items, silverware, Indian handicraft - sorry everyone ... we're bringing home memories instead, as we ran out of time to shop.
However, we ARE thinking of everyone at home, especially with Cyclone Hamish bearing down - we hope that everyone remains safe ... and dry. We're with you in spirit, if that helps any.
We're nearly back to the Equator - the cruise is running out fast ... people have returned to normal after the events of the last few days - this is a great way to travel.
Yesterday we visited all of these places, spending several hours looking around these historic buildings ... and John was on Cloud Nine!
In addition, we visited the main cathedral, where we saw the casket containing the bones of Francisco Pisarro, the conqueror of the Incas ... we were almost as happy as Ketty, one of our stewards, who comes from Lima, and was able to show her parents and daughters the ship where she works ... it was a wonderful day!
Other people bought alpaca items, silverware, Indian handicraft - sorry everyone ... we're bringing home memories instead, as we ran out of time to shop.
However, we ARE thinking of everyone at home, especially with Cyclone Hamish bearing down - we hope that everyone remains safe ... and dry. We're with you in spirit, if that helps any.
We're nearly back to the Equator - the cruise is running out fast ... people have returned to normal after the events of the last few days - this is a great way to travel.
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