From Valencia, Spain our ship steamed through the Strait of Gibraltar. This is the first time that we have done it in daytime and I tried to imagine the feeling ancient mariners must have felt when they sailed out into the vast unknown beyond the Mediterranean, leaving behind the only world they knew.
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| Gibraltar |
We were bound for the Azores and I was filled with anticipatory pleasure. We now had time for workouts in the gym and dolphin watching from our balcony (saw three!) and saw shows and listened to live music. Our ship was a sister ship to the one on which we sailed from Australia in the spring so we had some similar equipment. We loved the RipCord by I-Fly which is a skydiving type experience that is a blast. We also rode the North Star gondola 300 feet above the sea for great views of the ship and distant shores.
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| The end of another relaxing day |
Every couple of days, we would meet up with a couple that we first met in Civitavecchia named Mark and Sandy. They live in Florida but had just purchased an apartment in Italy. We shared lots of travel adventures and tips.
For this trip, Judy and I had splurged on a “junior suite. The larger room and amenities were nice but my favorite perk was access to a special dining room called the Coastal Kitchen. The food in the main dining has always been good but this small room served exquisite dishes. We had lots of lamb and veal options as well as special seafood like bronzini. Every night was special.
Storms arose in the North Atlantic as we approached the Azores so our captain made a decision to divert to the Portuguese island of Madeira. Disappointed, we vowed to make the most of a very short stop there. From the ocean, the island looked beautiful and we both thought it warranted exploration on a future trip. I had heard of the wine so we headed straight to a winery tasting room. Their wines are fortified like port and sherry and we found them to be delicious. Even better was the fact that we were able to buy a lovely old vintage bottle that we will enjoy in the coming years.
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| Sunset in Funchal, Madeira |
More sea days ensued as we proceeded westbound to our next destination - Bermuda. This island, about 900 miles east of Charleston, SC has always fascinated me. It’s not in the Caribbean, and it’s not in Europe. It turns out to be a lovely place. We took a ferry from our dock to the capital of Hamilton and then enjoyed a long bus ride through the countryside back to our ship. We found the scenery and the people to be charming and have added it to our list of places we might wish to explore at a later date.
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| Rum swizzle & fish sandwich |
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| Presbyterian church |
After 15 days we finally docked at Ft Lauderdale and made our way to the nearby home of long time friends, Bill and Anne. We always enjoy time with them and it was a final treat before heading back to Athens, Georgia and the warm hugs of grandsons.
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