Who knew?

Judy. Y’all know I’ve not been a fan of cruises, although I did enjoy my Alaskan cruise with a dear friend—about 10 years ago. I realize, and appreciate that it’s a great form of travel for many people and bravo—I don’t care HOW you travel, just travel!  But we prefer going to a city and staying for weeks or months—just not the way you can do it on a cruise.

Still, we decided to take a repositioning cruise back to the US from Barcelona. The price was right, and the thought of two weeks to relax and read and adjust our mindsets was tempting. And I’m so glad we did!

Ted and Rhapsody of the Seas

First, some observations:

I’m very glad we got a balcony. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, and it’s so lovely to sit out, sip a glass of wine (that we brought on—it’s expensive here) and watch the rolling seas. It also gives us a quiet respite from the craziness a cruise can have.

Because when we open our doors, we’re assaulted by loud music and bright lights. No, I get it. People want things to do, and it’s fun to see zumba and other dance lessons in the Centrum (lobby) from the balcony of our floor. And there’s always something going on, which is great for those who want to stay busy, and lots of folks do, so that’s fine. And we do attend lectures and shows. There's always live music somewhere, which makes me happy, both as an artist and as a music lover. Still, I’m glad we have a balcony for quiet times.

Sunrise from our balcony

Much to my surprise, the stars are quite bright--not as much as in the desert, but I've spotted the Milky Way, and early one morning caught sight of a huge shooting star. I thought the ship's lights would dim out the skies.

Many “Diamond” cruisers (and I hope I’m not stepping on too many toes here) are interesting. First question: Where are you from? Then the discussion goes to cruises—how many they’ve taken, how many needed to obtain the next level and what they’ll get in benefits when they do. (Are we peons subsidizing this? I dunno.) Little talk about what they thought of various cities or ports, just mostly about which ships and what amenities they have. That’s fine with me—shoot, enjoy what vacation you want to! But it doesn’t leave much for us to talk about. We just have different interests. On the other hand, we've gotten some great advice from fellow cruisers. People are generally quite nice.

Food and entertainment are uneven in quality, but we seem to be doing just fine in both areas. Service in the buffet restaurant and at dinner in the main dining room, is outstanding. We consistently have the same waiter and assistant, Luis and Manas. Super guys. So is our stateroom attendant, Philip. Breakfast and lunch service in the main dining room is appalling, which is probably why there are so many people at the buffet.

The Christmas decorations, both by the ship's staff and on the doors of travelers, are a delightfully welcome addition. At some workshop, people made gingerbread houses, which are now on display as a village.

Gingerbread village

Guest Services is truly well-run. We had a question—not even a complaint—and they called three times to make sure it was resolved.

But again, for us it’s often the people.

We were able to get “My time” dining, which means you can make reservations for anytime, though we typically stick to about 5:30. It gives us time to take walks, see shows, or play cards. And it’s when Sylvie and Gilles eat at the table next to us. They’re from Montreal, Quebec, and have the best laughs! They cruise a LOT, and have great suggestions. They answer questions we have, and we all laugh most of the time. We just adore them.

Sylvie & Gilles 

Abraham is part of the men’s Bible study Ted attends, and he and his wife Virginia have invited us for drinks almost every night, though we don’t always go.

Morning walk with Theresa

I met Theresa, from Melbourne, Australia, at a handwork gathering of women. We never went back to the gathering, but we meet to walk every morning, exchange book ideas, talk about travel, and about our different cultures. Thanks to her, I keep moving! We also sometimes meet for lectures.

 

Surprise! It's Craig!

I mentioned before that Ted and I have met folks we know in every country we’ve visited this trip. So it shouldn’t surprise me at all that Craig, whom I know from the community of actors in Atlanta, is performing his Elton John show on the ship! One night I was reading the list of entertainers and saw his name—I could hardly believe it! I contacted him, and we got caught up. So that completes the circle this visit—except that when we land in Tampa, we’ll be having lunch with a woman we met in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Backstage with "Sir Elton"

So, we signed up for another in 2020. Who knew?

8 goals for retirement - revisited

Ted. My blog post on Dec 2, 2016 was written the day after I officially retired. I listed eight goals that I had established for my retirement years. Two years into my new life I thought it would be good to do a progress report. Here are my self-assessed grades:

1.     Drink more water: B

      I now drink more water than I once did. However, I have found that in most of the places we travel, beer, wine and coffee are cheaper than water. That is bad for a couple of reasons. It helps when we stay in an apartment and eat at home.

2.     Eat more healthy food: B

      This goes along with the apartment stays. It is hard to eat healthier food in restaurants but cooking our own food in an apartment ensures better choices.

3.     Exercise more: B

      Once we settle in to a place for a while I quickly establish an exercise routine. When traveling quickly from place to place, though, I find it difficult to make the time. I do walk more, though.

4.     Learn more about my electronic devices: D

      I still lean too much on my son, grandson and the Apple store.

5.     Learn more Spanish: C

      My Spanish is better than it was two years ago but it is not as good as I thought it would be.

6.     See more live music and theatre: C

      We tend to avoid paying for concerts and plays, but occasionally come across free events.

7.     Volunteer more: D

      I had hoped to volunteer for something one day per week. I have not come close to that.

8.     Listen more: B

      I have found this to be one of my great joys of travel. I love hearing the stories of those we people that we meet. However, I have to fight a tendency to spend too much time retelling the stories I have already heard.

That averages out to about a C+, so I still need improvement. Do I want to update my list? Not really. If I can get up to an A or B in all of these areas, I will be happy. The area where I will probably focus more in the next two years? Volunteer more.

Losing sight of the shore

Ted. We are finally doing it! Like the title of our blog, we are losing sight of the Spanish shore and sailing to the New World. On a 14 day journey, we will follow the route that Columbus first took over 500 years ago - including a stop in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Hopefully we will discover a few things along the way.

Although I took a cruise in 2010 with my Dad and sister, Kathy, pretty much all that I remember is that we had a great time. So, I sort of qualify as a rookie cruiser.  Two days into our trip, I have been surprised several times.

·      Checking in was a breeze. I think it we were on board less than 15 minutes after our taxi pulled up to the dock.

·      Our room (outside with a balcony) is larger, nicer and quieter than I expected.  We even have a minifridge and TV.

·      The crewmembers are very international and very friendly. When we ran into the South African ship nurse, he smiled and said, “Nothing personal, but I hope I don’t need to see you again!” I asked our steward, “Phillip, from the Philippines!” if I could borrow a wine opener. Smiling, he handed me one and said, “Just keep it.”

·      We were attracted by the low cost for a repositioning cruise but it seems like everywhere we turn now, we are tempted to spend more money. This could easily become an expensive trip if we aren’t careful.

·      The motion of the ship is not a big deal…thus far.  The Mediterranean was practically a millpond.  We are now out in the Atlantic and there is some obvious vibration and rolling (no tai chi here). At the moment, though, it’s nothing more than a nuisance.

·      The crew is fanatical about health. Hand sanitizer is everywhere and the ship is spotlessly clean.

·      There are tons of things to do. On our first day at sea, there were 71 different activities listed in the daily newsletter! However, there are also lots of quiet places.

·      We paid extra to have wifi for our laptop. I understand that it is provided via satellite but was hoping it was reasonably fast. Not so. It is varies between slow and nonexistent.

We are meeting some very interesting people from around the world so we hope to have some good stories to share in the days to come. 

Family

Judy. Yesterday, I learned that my dear cousin Pat passed away.  She lived in South Alabama, and every day, Pat cooked lunch for anywhere from 10-15 members of her own family. On Facebook, she posted photos of her precious great-granddaughter weekly. When her sister’s husband died, Pat and her husband James insisted Martha move in with them. This is a beautiful family.

My friends Anne and Bill have a vast extended family with whom they are extremely close. I can’t even keep up with all of their relatives. They, too, are a beautiful family.

As is my own. This weekend we will take a 2-week repositioning cruise to Florida to meet our own kids and grandkids for a week of love and fun. We have celebrated Thanksgiving with Daniel’s and Sarah’s families, and loved every minute of it. Ted’s family remains close, despite our vast distances.

In so many of the countries we visit, family is everything. Children tend to stay near their parents as they grow up and have their own families, unlike those of us from the US, who move away for jobs, or for warmer climates, or, like us, for adventure. On the streets, you often see three generations walking together. Dads are out in force, sometimes in groups, progressing with strollers through crowds, and it’s common to see adult children pushing their parents in a wheelchair. Restaurant dinners are sometimes a matter of three tables pushed together so that grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, can all fit around.

It’s certainly true in Poland and in Spain, which is why to be loved by Alex’s family in Spain and Robert’s in Poland is such a precious gift. These are people we’ve known for years, and they are more than special to us.

What a pleasant surprise, then, to be embraced here by José-Maria and Eva’s family!

We met José-Maria about four years ago when he was in the US staying with some mutual friends. It was Christmas, and our friends, Melissa and Lou, had made arrangements to fly to be with their son in California, so José-Maria would be alone. We invited him to celebrate Christmas with us, and we spent a few days together.

Not long afterwards, he returned to the Canary Islands, and began in earnest to develop his magazine, Que Paso Las Palmas, which morphed into a successful online fashion magazine that you can check out at www.qpmag.com.

José-Maria met us for dinner a couple of times here in Las Palmas, and two weeks ago invited us to his son Ian’s fourteenth birthday party. For some strange reason, we expected maybe a couple of relatives, just a small gathering. But when we walked into the house, we entered a home packed with family and love.

 

Eva, Ian, and Jose-Maria

Eva, Lucy and Pepe (Tio Pepe—if you like sherry, you get his joke), Maria-José and José, Elora and her boyfriend Dimas—these folks took us right in and made sure we had a real Canarian experience. A few days later, they met us, along with José-Maria, Eva, and Ian, at Parque Santa Ana for the Christmas tree lighting and concert. Later, we gathered on the north of the island in Agaete, where they introduced us to a favorite “true Canarian” bar called El Perola, took us to Puerto de las Nieves to see the beautiful beach, and then to the southern side to eat at Vaqueria, a traditional restaurant. They introduced us to papas con mojo, ropa vieja, gofio, Canarian cheese, and pork and cheese sandwiches, as well as a queso con pimento dip Eva makes, to which I could become addicted.

They taught us Canarian phrases like “Chacho, chacho, chacho!” for when things are really good or really bad. They accepted our attempts to speak Spanish and told us about their lives.

At the Christmas Concert

And a proud moment for us came when Tio Pepe told us he considers us part of the family.

As Christmas approaches, and we head back to our own family I am reminded of how precious a gift we have in each other. It doesn’t get much better than that.