Random thoughts on the way home.
When you factor in airplanes, airports, cabs and time changes it will have taken us 29 hours to get home - Rio to New York to Toronto to Wpg with 5-6 hr layovers in both New York and Toronto - will be about as sharp as a bowling ball by the time we make it.
It took 1 hr and 15 minutes to fly from New York City to Toronto. It took 1 hr and 40 minutes by cab to get from our hotel in Rio to the Rio airport. Big city.
Went looking for Havianas (Brazil's popular beach footwear) - found a store that had them up to size 27. I have snowshoes smaller than that!
Temp when we left Rio +38*C - approx temp when we get home tonight -20*C. That's a 58 degree difference. I suspect that will get my attention as soon as I set foot outside the airport. I can feel my tan falling off in fright.
Noticed that generally Brazilians have not embraced body tattoos. Most of the ones you see are on tourists.
Brazil will host both the World Cup of Soccer and the summer Olympics in the next 4 years. They have a lot of work to do. Stunningly beautiful city and friendly energetic people but crazy traffic jams and inconsistent signage with little translation to other languages.
We have been away for 30 days and whenever we come back from major trips like this Margaret and I are always struck not only by the amazing new things we have seen and learned about but also by the people we have met. Looking back on it there is probably nothing we would have changed.
Margaret & Harry
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Shores of Brazil
Greetings,
Well, we are in Rio de Janeiro. Actually we arrived yesterday morning, but Oceania allows you to stay on board for a full day and a night in the harbour before disembarking. This is very convenient. It allowed us to get oriented in a city of 7 million. We did a tour with a small group of 8-10 people that was 8 hours - very extensive, and again very informative. The closest thing I can liken them to is if you were to go visit a friend in an unfamiliar city and that person was to show you around. The guides are knowledgeable, enthusiastic about their city/country, and the flexibility that a mini bus has allows you to get to places not seen by the big buses, whether public or private.
Our guide, Patricia, took a lot of the mystery out of the city in the way she presented it to us. We feel much more comfortable in navigating it ourselves for the next 4 days as a result of her suggestions and commentary.
We disembarked and took a cab to our hotel in the famous Ipanema Beach neighbourhood. We will hang out there until Thursday night at which point we will start the journey home to Winnipeg.
Just to back up for a moment, our previous entry put us in Buzios, the final stop before Rio. M and I really took a liking to this seaport/resort town. I had never heard of it before but this place was made famous because Bridgit Bardot came here to live when she tired of all the notoriety. I have a picture of Margaret sitting beside a small bronze statue of her on the beach below a very modest little apartment where she lived.
Buzios is a resort town for Brazilians, but it doesn't feel resorty - if that's a word. Were we to come back to Brazil we would figure out a way to spend a week here. Great mix of young and older people and different beaches suitable for surfing, swimming, fishing depending on their exposure to the sweep of the Atlantic. Hot, hot, hot! All you need to show up with here are shorts, t-shirts and Havainas - more about Havainas later.
Ciao (that works in Portugese as well)
M&H
No Land in Sight
Hi,
Seeing as there are no ports of call between Africa and South America, I thought I might tell you a bit about ship life whilst out of sight of land for four days.
I've uncovered a conspiracy on this boat - noticed it several days back, but it only dawned on me
as I was watching the coast of Africa recede over the rim of the world. Every time I hang my pants or shorts in the closet of our stateroom, the waist shrinks. In speaking with several other of the inmates on the barky, many of whom hover somewhere between 70 and 300 years of age, apparently I'm not the only one who has noticed. Margaret of course threw cold water on my theory saying it has way more to do with the way I Hoover down the food at the various restaurants on the ship. Hmm - she may have a point. Kidding aside however, the food on this ship is truly outstanding and its VERY HARD to say no - especially for those of us possessed of little will power. As a matter of fact the food for the most part is actually shamefully good for you and I live in fear of going into 'non-toxic shock'. Salvation - found a place called Waves Grill that will build you a hamburger or hot dog and fries all dressed up.
With that in mind about a week ago I started 'fast walking' around the deck. It works tolerably well but requires constant attention to fellow exercise walkers and couples just out for a stroll - not unlike those Italian drivers I mentioned in an earlier communication that view people as moving slalom poles. After a few days of this I was whining to somebody who really didn't care (read my wife) and she suggested I try the upper track. Upper track? Turns out there is another track one deck higher for exercise walking rather than just walking. Hmm - I'll give it a try, so up I go and get tuned up pretty quick. It turns out this is where the gray haired Maseratis' hang out. I got passed so many times, so fast, and by people who seemingly had no right to do so. I'm just now starting to hold my own but there is one lady about half my height and twice my girth that every time she laps me I get wind burn! Very sobering.
These tracks are good but not well suited to running because they are not oval in shape. The runners pretty much have to use the Treadmills in the very well stocked gym - machines are a wide variety of treadmills, stationary bikes, ellipticals, free weights, nautilus machines, balance balls etc. All of them designed to exact misery as penance for sins committed in the restaurants.
We got an invite to the captains private reception yesterday - drinks and food on his tab - must be coming up in the world. Learned that of the 1200 passengers on this ship (which makes it small to mid size in this business), there are 350 Canucks! About twice as many Americans and the balance made up of people from 17 different countries. A veritable United Nations of languages and races. As you might expect the Canadians are very gregarious and with the staff introductions the loudest cheers were for the Canadian staffers. Everyone introduced after him tried to claim they were Canadian. There's a fair chance if you go to Bingo a hockey game will break out.
We are on the final 'at sea' day in the Atlantic crossing and it has been very pleasant. M and I really like them - saw 2 boats in 4 days. Man it's flat - and I thought the prairies were vertically challenged. Not that I'm complaining - an ocean NOT vertically challenged could be intimidating. If you go up to the top deck the curvature of the earth will stop you in your tracks.
The other thing that stops me in my tracks is is they serve British Tea at 4:00pm every day. Not a word of a lie - you sit in comfy chairs and a guy with a white tunic and white gloves comes around with a box full of the teas of the world - and you choose - and put the tea in a china pot - and sip out of a china tea cup - tres elegant - and I'm thinking, I could get used to this. Then, and here's the kicker, another person similarly attired pushes a trolley up next to you with amazing little sandwiches and deserts - and then, ---wait for it they offer you Scottish scones with clotted cream and preserves. I'm in meltdown. Now I know clotted cream probably is the equivalent of clotted arteries, but in this setting, try to imagine how little I care. As we sit there sipping tea, eating a scone and contemplating the curvature of the earth I think to myself --- Wow, we just sailed across the Atlantic and crossed the equator to boot.
Cheers,
Margaret & Harry
Cape Verde
Greetings,
We left Cape Verde yesterday evening and are sailing due south, more or less parallel to the western coast of Africa. In the last four days we have traversed the coasts of Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania, and are now off the coast of Senegal, coming up on Guinea and Sierra Leone - man does that sound weird to write. The ships plotted course now sails obliquely away from Africa, and while still tending south, we cross the Atlantic toward Brazil. This will take 4 days with our first landfall being Salvador, Brazil.
Cape Verde was very cool. It's an island archipelago of 10 islands not unlike the Canaries in that they are volcanic and strongly affected by the Sahara desert. Unlike the Canaries the volcanoes here are less evident. I guess dormant is the word. We again hired our own guides with a small group of like minded travellers and found our way to really unique places, and in depth explanations. This included a trip to the highest point on the island, which traversed up 5000+ ft above the harbour along a cobblestone road laid down hundreds of years ago by the Portugese. Retention walls were not in their vocabulary. First gear in our little van got a real good work out on the way up and on the way down. So did my sphincter muscle - tight. But the panoramas - knock your socks off!
Temps are balmy - tomorrow projected to be 33C - oh damn, another day of t-shirts, shorts and flip flops. The seas have gone from the flat calm of the Mediterranean to 8 to 12 footers now that we are in the Atlantic - it's white capped to infinity but not in a bad way. There is a gentle roll to the barky that makes for a great sleep - like being in a hammock that sways itself.
Couple of things to note. Internet is 'tres expensive' - like .99 cents a minute. We bought 200 minutes for $120. But very frustrating in that you burn through it quickly watching the computer spin trying to connect to the Internet. As a result we try to do all composing etc off line then jump on line and fire a salvo of emails at the satellite that mails it to you. That is why it's pricy and emails/Facebook entries few and far between - pics nearly impossible. We very much appreciate those of you who have written to us but replying is tough because of the above reasons.
Secondly this ship is totally amazing. It's slightly bigger than the ones we have been on previously but not big enough to lose that feeling of intimacy. It's a floating art gallery and the number of things to do in a given day vastly exceeds our ability to do them. Just learned the ship has a desalinizing unit on board that produces all the water used on the ship from bathing to drinking. The water tastes good.
We have logged just over 3300 nautical miles since leaving Italy and have about 1900 nautical miles left before we reach our final destination of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Currently we are about half way across the Atlantic and should cross the equator sometime tonight. We have crossed the equator by air, but never before by sea or land.
Best to you all,
Margaret & Harry
We left Cape Verde yesterday evening and are sailing due south, more or less parallel to the western coast of Africa. In the last four days we have traversed the coasts of Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania, and are now off the coast of Senegal, coming up on Guinea and Sierra Leone - man does that sound weird to write. The ships plotted course now sails obliquely away from Africa, and while still tending south, we cross the Atlantic toward Brazil. This will take 4 days with our first landfall being Salvador, Brazil.
Cape Verde was very cool. It's an island archipelago of 10 islands not unlike the Canaries in that they are volcanic and strongly affected by the Sahara desert. Unlike the Canaries the volcanoes here are less evident. I guess dormant is the word. We again hired our own guides with a small group of like minded travellers and found our way to really unique places, and in depth explanations. This included a trip to the highest point on the island, which traversed up 5000+ ft above the harbour along a cobblestone road laid down hundreds of years ago by the Portugese. Retention walls were not in their vocabulary. First gear in our little van got a real good work out on the way up and on the way down. So did my sphincter muscle - tight. But the panoramas - knock your socks off!
Temps are balmy - tomorrow projected to be 33C - oh damn, another day of t-shirts, shorts and flip flops. The seas have gone from the flat calm of the Mediterranean to 8 to 12 footers now that we are in the Atlantic - it's white capped to infinity but not in a bad way. There is a gentle roll to the barky that makes for a great sleep - like being in a hammock that sways itself.
Couple of things to note. Internet is 'tres expensive' - like .99 cents a minute. We bought 200 minutes for $120. But very frustrating in that you burn through it quickly watching the computer spin trying to connect to the Internet. As a result we try to do all composing etc off line then jump on line and fire a salvo of emails at the satellite that mails it to you. That is why it's pricy and emails/Facebook entries few and far between - pics nearly impossible. We very much appreciate those of you who have written to us but replying is tough because of the above reasons.
Secondly this ship is totally amazing. It's slightly bigger than the ones we have been on previously but not big enough to lose that feeling of intimacy. It's a floating art gallery and the number of things to do in a given day vastly exceeds our ability to do them. Just learned the ship has a desalinizing unit on board that produces all the water used on the ship from bathing to drinking. The water tastes good.
We have logged just over 3300 nautical miles since leaving Italy and have about 1900 nautical miles left before we reach our final destination of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Currently we are about half way across the Atlantic and should cross the equator sometime tonight. We have crossed the equator by air, but never before by sea or land.
Best to you all,
Margaret & Harry
On the Atlantic
Greetings from the Atlantic Ocean.
Now I ask you, how are you ever going to cross the Atlantic Ocean? By plane, naw done all the time and you mostly never even see it. By sail boat or row boat---I don't think so!! Don't have that kind of cash, skill or endurance. Besides that would no doubt cause me to write my name in my shorts multiple times out of sheer fright. I think this is the way to do it and visit multiple fascinating countries and cities enroute.
Since we last wrote we have visited the beautiful city of Cartagena in Spain, which you might recall was a vassal city state of Carthage back in the days of old Hannibal the worst enemy of very early Rome. Too much to tell you about but the recently excavated Roman amphitheater was outstanding. Gibraltar, one of the Pillars of Hercules was fascinating particularly for me with my interest in the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Not much imagination was required to conjure up images of the ships of commerce and war over the centuries in this largely unchanged harbour. Loved it.
We then sailed through the Pillars of Hercules into the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the Spainish territory called the Canary Islands. These islands are further south than most people realize - about 70 miles off the cast of Morocco - close to the Western Sahara. I was here about 25 years ago on - ahem - business - more about that later.
While both islands were an absolute delight to visit and both (like the Canary archipelago) are born of volcanic activity, they are seemingly as different as night and day. Lanzarote, very arid and possessed of a volcanic landscape at every turn is a tough piece of real estate to make a living. Tenerife on the other hand is higher and it's elevation tends to capture more water leaving it more lush and cooler. These islands are not unlike ice bergs with monstrous bases created by volcanic activity right from the sea floor pyramiding up to the tiny bit showing above the surface of the Atlantic.
M and I hired local guides with incredible knowledge of their islands and the truly unique things about them. It all centres on the volcanos and how the people have learned to adapt to their always threatening presence. Wow!
If you ever manage to get here do not miss Timonfaya National Park on Lanzarote. It is a volcano Park and nothing else - a moonscape of lava, caldera with their sides blown off and an artists palate of colour in the rock. You can't hike it - it would shred a pair of good boots in the first kilometre assuming you could stay upright. The only way is by roads plowed through the lava. These roads wind throughout the park and along the lips of the dormant volcanos allowing you to peer into its gullet. Yeesh! Absolutely completely and utterly amazing. Lots more to tell you, but better still, check it out yourself.
We have left the Canary Islands and are now enroute to Cape Verde. It is a 2 day sail south along the western coast of Africa. We are presently off the coast of the African nation of Mauritania.
Best Wishes,
M&H
If I haven't bored you to tears and/or put you to sleep you might get a chuckle out of this.
RE: " --ahem - business - more about that later"
The business was sail boards and I doubt I ever made a penny in it but man could they choose places to have sales meetings - Canary Islands, Maui etc. The amusing part was that myself and another rep from the Maritimes who like me, sailed like a bag of hammers, initially had an instructor. But you see most of the beaches in the Canaries are topless - so he was challenged to keep our attention. You couldn't take it all in if your head was built on a 360 degree swivel. Quite frankly it was hopeless and he soon gave up leaving Roger and I to our near fate. We were pretty good at sailing downwind but couldn't turn to save our souls let alone sail upwind. Soon we were perilously far out and while I managed to get turned around and headed back to the beach, poor Roger was well on his way to Africa soon to become an illegal immigrant to Morocco. Not only that but he had entered the food chain! I managed to get the beach patrol to go get him in their Zodiac and I could tell by the animated discussion in the boat as they approached that Roger was getting the ears chewed off him. To shorten a long story, that put us both in the bar. Roger was an appreciator of cognac - I became one that evening.
Now I ask you, how are you ever going to cross the Atlantic Ocean? By plane, naw done all the time and you mostly never even see it. By sail boat or row boat---I don't think so!! Don't have that kind of cash, skill or endurance. Besides that would no doubt cause me to write my name in my shorts multiple times out of sheer fright. I think this is the way to do it and visit multiple fascinating countries and cities enroute.
Since we last wrote we have visited the beautiful city of Cartagena in Spain, which you might recall was a vassal city state of Carthage back in the days of old Hannibal the worst enemy of very early Rome. Too much to tell you about but the recently excavated Roman amphitheater was outstanding. Gibraltar, one of the Pillars of Hercules was fascinating particularly for me with my interest in the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Not much imagination was required to conjure up images of the ships of commerce and war over the centuries in this largely unchanged harbour. Loved it.
We then sailed through the Pillars of Hercules into the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the Spainish territory called the Canary Islands. These islands are further south than most people realize - about 70 miles off the cast of Morocco - close to the Western Sahara. I was here about 25 years ago on - ahem - business - more about that later.
While both islands were an absolute delight to visit and both (like the Canary archipelago) are born of volcanic activity, they are seemingly as different as night and day. Lanzarote, very arid and possessed of a volcanic landscape at every turn is a tough piece of real estate to make a living. Tenerife on the other hand is higher and it's elevation tends to capture more water leaving it more lush and cooler. These islands are not unlike ice bergs with monstrous bases created by volcanic activity right from the sea floor pyramiding up to the tiny bit showing above the surface of the Atlantic.
M and I hired local guides with incredible knowledge of their islands and the truly unique things about them. It all centres on the volcanos and how the people have learned to adapt to their always threatening presence. Wow!
If you ever manage to get here do not miss Timonfaya National Park on Lanzarote. It is a volcano Park and nothing else - a moonscape of lava, caldera with their sides blown off and an artists palate of colour in the rock. You can't hike it - it would shred a pair of good boots in the first kilometre assuming you could stay upright. The only way is by roads plowed through the lava. These roads wind throughout the park and along the lips of the dormant volcanos allowing you to peer into its gullet. Yeesh! Absolutely completely and utterly amazing. Lots more to tell you, but better still, check it out yourself.
We have left the Canary Islands and are now enroute to Cape Verde. It is a 2 day sail south along the western coast of Africa. We are presently off the coast of the African nation of Mauritania.
Best Wishes,
M&H
If I haven't bored you to tears and/or put you to sleep you might get a chuckle out of this.
RE: " --ahem - business - more about that later"
The business was sail boards and I doubt I ever made a penny in it but man could they choose places to have sales meetings - Canary Islands, Maui etc. The amusing part was that myself and another rep from the Maritimes who like me, sailed like a bag of hammers, initially had an instructor. But you see most of the beaches in the Canaries are topless - so he was challenged to keep our attention. You couldn't take it all in if your head was built on a 360 degree swivel. Quite frankly it was hopeless and he soon gave up leaving Roger and I to our near fate. We were pretty good at sailing downwind but couldn't turn to save our souls let alone sail upwind. Soon we were perilously far out and while I managed to get turned around and headed back to the beach, poor Roger was well on his way to Africa soon to become an illegal immigrant to Morocco. Not only that but he had entered the food chain! I managed to get the beach patrol to go get him in their Zodiac and I could tell by the animated discussion in the boat as they approached that Roger was getting the ears chewed off him. To shorten a long story, that put us both in the bar. Roger was an appreciator of cognac - I became one that evening.
On Board
After drinking, eating, drinking, walking, drinking, sleeping, drinking - well you get the idea, our way around Rome for 5 nights and 6 days, we have said a very, very reluctant arrivaderchi.
We are now on board Oceania's 2nd newest ship the Marina en route across the Atlantic to Brazil. Should be fun. We stop in Cartagena Spain, Gibraltar, sail through the Pillars of Hercules into the Atlantic and on to the Canary Islands (Lanzarote and Tenerife), Cape Verde, then 4 days across the Atlantic (out of site of land) to three stops in Brazil ( Salvadore, Buizos, and Rio de Janeiro) where we get punted off the boat. We hang out in Rio for 4 days then its back to the Peg for winter fun. Whole thing approx a month.
Right now M and I are sitting on the veranda of our stateroom sipping champagne as we sink the coast of Italy en route to Spain. Now I know why I endured all those vegetarian meals on the canoe trip last spring - it was penance for this!
A few final words about the beautiful country and city we just left. Once you get a few things straight, like understanding that Italian drivers view pedestrians as moving slalom poles, and that you need a good map and an open mind, you are set. Not sure if we would rent a vehicle or use public transportation but it wouldn't intimidate us. Secondly, Rome is called The Eternal City for very good reasons. The sense of the history and the depth of western civilization here is very real and obvious to all who wish to see it. Our kind of place.
Oh yes, regarding our audience with the Pope. He blew us off! Something to do with the band of paparazzi we had in tow. Personally I think it had more to do with Dwight's great idea of us Skyping the audience with all you guys. They said we could come back and maybe get a ride in the Popemobile then pointed vaguely off in the direction of what looked to me suspiciously like sit on top lawn mowers. Ah well, we will put it down to a language problem.
HWhen we got on board the ship I went up to introduce myself to the captain and to check to see if he had his power boat licence. Turns out he is Greek and not Italian, and he claims to know where all the rocks are between Italy and Brazil. He assured me he won't hit them and politely declined my offer to lend him my hand held GPS.
By the way - first day on the Mediterranean - it's mill pond flat.
We Are in Rome
Well, we are in Rome folks.
Survived the flight relatively unscathed, Wpg-Toronto-London (England that is) -Rome. Took the train fromRome's airport (can't think of the name), bus and shanks pony to our hotel - that was an adventure. In awake/semi awake time that's a shade under 23 hours - makes the Swamp Donkey adventure race pale by comparison. Arrived at our hotel feeling somewhat sleep deprived, but none the worse for the wear. Managed to go out and wander around the 'hood' that evening before crashing for the night.My Travel Agent/IT person - can't mention her name but her initials begin with Margaret Stimson, has found possibly the coolest hotel I have ever been in in my life. It's called the Albergo del Senato and its so homey I could spend a month here. But, what's so totally amazing is it is immediately across from the Pantheon (I could hit it with a stone-no exaggeration). This is the OLDEST FUNCTIONING BUILDING - IN THE WORLD - built AD 608!- that's in excess of 14 centuries by my math - you can feel its presence - and that ladies and gentlemen is right outside our window WOW! That same window looks down on the Piazza in front of the Pantheon. It's full of people, outside cafes, and we are currently being seranaded by a man and a woman (buskers) singing opera. Now normally I would describe that as death by music, but as it flows through our window on this beautiful Roman evening I can only describe it as, well - fabulous.Walked a ton today. Easy to get lost without a good map and staying on top of where you are. Streets are short and change names with unnerving frequency - but once you get the hang of it, very walkable. Started out with a rough plan this am but kept getting pulled off course by interesting buildings and piazzas - we went with the flow, as they say, and allowed the city to beckon us. Can't begin to list all the fascinating off the beaten path places we found. Thoroughly enjoyable - no amazing. As was the FOOD - Mamma Mia don't get me started!Rubbed shoulders with a bunch of stinky tourists and pick pockets at the Fontana de Trevi and Piazza di Spagna - gawd my nose is in the air already!
Interesting to see the Spanish Steps at night - not the tourists. Navigated home in the dark, stopped for dinner - don't get me started on the food- gelato for desert - sigh. I've noticed there are a lot of Italian restaurants in this town.
The same IT person I mentioned earlier has set up an audience with the Pope for me later this week. Should be interesting - I have some tough questions for him. Well I guess there goes the personal tour of the Sistene Chapel and access to the Vatican Archives. Signed Dan Brown
Bueno Serra,
Margaret & Harry
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