And so began our fourth trans-Atlantic voyage, as Carolyn and I dragged our bags to the curb in front of our home in Kino Bay, Sonora, Mexico, and flagged down the hourly Costa bus to Hermosillo. (Cost: 120 pesos each; about US$7.) We’d spend one night at the Hotel San Ángel and catch a plane in the morning. We each had a backpack and a rolling bag. Carolyn’s total load weighed a bit less than 50 lbs, and mine logged about 60 lbs. It was all we’d need for the next 5 months.
Our first stop was Albuquerque for two weeks visiting family and friends – and to collect my sister, Elyse. She would be joining us for the trans-Atlantic part of the trip, followed by a few weeks of exploration in northern Spain and southern France. Her travel plans were open-ended.
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Then it was off to Ft Lauderdale for a brief visit – and some great chow – with our niece Rachael and her friend Dave. On departure day, we piled all of us and our gear into Rachael’s zippy little convertible and headed for the docks to find Royal Caribbean’s ‘Navigator of the Seas.’ (All RC ships are named ‘Something-or-Other’ of the Seas.) It was May 8, and we were bound for the Old World.
The stage was set for a glorious sail-away party, as a scarlet sun eased slowly below the western horizon far behind us. But my bag went missing, and I spent the next several hours tracking it down. I didn’t find it until well after the party had ended.
Then we were stuck at the dock waiting for a Carnival ship to leave. There’s no passage room for two of these gigantic ships in the channel, so we sat until Carnival got their act together. Still not sure what the problem was, but well after dark we noticed the shore lights were drifting past. We were finally into the open ocean and so began our crossing, ’not with a bang, but with a whimper.’ Welcome to cruising.
This is a ‘Repositioning’ ship, and it costs not much more than flying to Europe. In the spring and fall, cruise lines move a couple dozen ships from winter routes in the Caribbean to summer ports in northern Europe and the Med. It’s a long passage at an inconvenient time, so rates are reduced to fill these ships. Our inside cabin, with ‘Promenade View,’ costs a bit over US$2000 for the two of us, with room, board, transportation, and entertainment in the bargain (liquor is extra). It’s a rational price for a restful passage to Europe, and the food is good. Plus, we’ll visit the Azores on the way.
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So, what’s there to do on a cruise ship crossing the ocean with about 4, 000 people aboard – besides eat and drink too much?
Well, actually, there’s a library (with fewer books in this techno-age) and card/game room, several bars and lounges, morning Trivia (our team’s doing well enough!), formal and informal dining rooms, art and shore excursion lectures, swimming pools and hot tubs, jogging track, rock climbing wall, movies, central promenade with shopping, and nightly variety shows. And, of course, there’s shuffleboard. It’s a giant floating resort hotel. On a long passage, there’s plenty to time to read that book you packed. I brought along The Inimitable Jeeves, by PG Wodehouse. It’s about time I got around to that one.
After 3 days we’re about halfway between Florida and Ponta Delgada in the Azores. According to the Captain, the ocean’s bottom at this point is about 16,000 feet below us. The ship is carving a pathway through the brine at a speed faster than I can walk, or even run. The swirling azure waters below the stern can have an entrancing effect upon those who sail the seas. As Odysseus learned to fight the siren’s call, so must we; best to stay aboard, for now.
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Azores
We docked in the Azores at Ponta Delgada on the grassy volcanic island of São Miguel under overcast skies (common in the Azores). The gleaming white Navigator of the Seas towers over the modest buildings of the port. After six days ’at sea’ in our odd floating capsule, it was good to touch land again.
There are nine major islands in the Azores group, located in the North Atlantic Ocean about 4,121 km (2,561 mi) from New York City and 1,360 km (850 mi) from continental Portugal. They extend for more than 600 km (370 mi) and are all of volcanic origin. More from Wikipedia: “Mount Pico, on the island of Pico, is the highest point in Portugal, at 2,351 m (7,713 ft). The Azores are actually some of the tallest mountains on the planet, measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, which thrust high above the surface of the Atlantic.”
The total population of the Azores is about 247,000. Almost 56% of all Azoreans live on the island of São Miguel. The per capita GDP stands at 14,900 Euros.
Our tour bus to the ‘Sete Cidades and Crater Lakes’ passes through the narrow streets of the small city, and we notice everything is so well tended. ‘Tidy’ is actually the first word that comes to mind. The roads are well-paved and well-marked, and there’s hardly a blade of grass out of place. Though there’s little traffic, ‘George,’ our safety-conscious guide, urges us to buckle our seat belts.
After a few minutes we stop at a large and lush public garden that was created about 150 years ago. It’s an ancient volcanic ravine filled with exotic plants brought on sailing ships from distant lands.
Next is a pineapple plantation under glass. The island’s annual temperatures are moderated by the surrounding sea but are still slightly lower than needed for pineapples. So they’re grown in long greenhouses in a bed of compost-rich soil. The south-facing glass is whitewashed to reduce the intense rays of the sun and avoid burning the plants.
Most of the original trees and brush were cleared from the fertile volcanic soil to create broad pasturelands. Small herds of black and white cattle give a bucolic air to the island of São Miguel.
We’ve visited other Atlantic islands, like Madeira and three of the Canary Islands group and noticed the many creative ways people grow food with limited land available. Creativity and efficiency are especially important on islands, where import costs can make eating anything other than fish a very expensive practice.
Due to overcast skies, the usual spectacular overview of the two famous green and blue lakes in the ancient volcanic crater was less dramatic than expected. That’s what happens sometimes when traveling.
More info on the Azores:
http://www.macsadventure.com/us/tour-1754/azores-island-hopping
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Lisbon
After another day ’at sea,’ we were on deck in a crisp morning breeze as our ship pulled in to the broad Rio Tejo estuary. We passed the whimsical Torre de Belém (from 1515), the Discoveries Monument (1960) honoring famous Portuguese mariners, the sprawling Manueline-style Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, and slipped under the spectacular suspension bridge to dock at the foot of the beautiful city of Lisbon.
Founded by Phoenician explorers more than 3,000 years ago, Lisbon is considered to be the oldest city in Western Europe, predating Rome, Paris, and London by centuries. The city was rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1755 and now has a population of about 550,000. Lisbon is Portugal’s largest city and has the tenth largest GDP of metropolitan areas in the European Union. Per capita income in Lisbon currently stands at US$32,434. It has the mildest winter temperatures of any European capital.
It is also one of the more spectacular port entries in the world when arriving by ship. While some great cities, like Lima, Rome, and Athens, are accessed through distant and grimy industrial ports, the cruise docks in Lisbon are right downtown, with the historic quarter of Alfama almost at the end of the gangplank. (The category of great port entries also includes San Diego, San Francisco, Acapulco, Istanbul, Venice, Kotor in Montenegro, Santorini, and New York City, among others.)
Lisbon is the 7th most-visited cruise port in Europe and has two large terminals — both right on the city front. Although port entry was very easy at the Santa Apolonia dock, there’s a tremendous amount of work currently underway building a new facility; so entry in the future may be even better. We can hope it will enhance the entry experience and they don’t hide the city behind some misbegotten modernist façade.
A few years back Carolyn and I arrived in Lisbon by train to spend several days exploring, and we could have skipped the sponsored tours this time just to roam the streets again. We’d have probably taken the wonderful old Tram 28 once again as it rattles its way over the hills and through narrow streets lined with ancient buildings. And we’d have walked countless sidewalks and squares noted for their traditional and intricate ‘Portuguese Pavement’ of small tiles and stones, a style that is also still found in former Portuguese colonies throughout the world.
But this time we opted for the ‘Sintra and Cascais’ tour to see a few things we’d missed the last time. It was a good choice. The picture-book village of Sintra, perched high on a misty mountain – its center is a Unesco World Heritage site – was especially appealing, and we wished for more time to explore its warren of streets.
These lush gardens and hillsides have long inspired romantics and poets such as Lord Byron, who gained inspiration here for his epic poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Byron later observed that, "man's greatest tragedy is that he can conceive of a perfection which he cannot attain.” Maybe he had Sintra, or perhaps an over-romanticized version of it, in mind.
As for us, we were quickly entranced by the beauty of narrow streets and colorful shop windows under a misty sky. And by small chocolate cups filled with shots of ‘Ginjinha,’ a local favorite made of Morello cherries infused with aguardente, sugar and cinnamon. Those alone might call us back for a return visit.
More about Lisbon and other parts of Portugal: http://wilkeskinsman.typepad.com/tierra_de_tortugas/2011/07/transatlantic-2011-into-portugal.html
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After a fine visit to Lisbon and Sintra, we returned to the ship for our last evening aboard the Navigator of the Seas. A hearty headwind off the Bay of Biscay provided enough wave action to rock us asleep for that one final night as we steamed northward off the Portuguese coast. The next morning our passage would end, we’d disembark in the Spanish province of Galicia at the fishing port city of Vigo, and our Continental adventure would begin. But more of that in our next blog.
—PRW