Friday, May 01, 2009
Arrived in Palma de Mallorca by 7 a.m. today. IT'S RAINING!!! It's the first rain or "bad weather" we have seen since we left home. Although in Barcelona the second day we had a 5 minute shower in the afternoon while we were having beers on La Ramblas under some umbrellas. It is predicted to clear up here in the next hour and become a sunny 68 degree day. So we will just wait it out and hang out here on the ship and drink cappuccinos or something?!?!?
The rain seemed to let up so we got our $8 round trip shuttle tickets that take you from the pier to the city centre and went out to meet a shuttle. It was quite a drive about 2 miles, so there's no way we would walk that and still get all over the city. Palma, Mallorca is a picturesque town from the harbor. The Cathedral stands out over any other landmark as you approach it from the sea. The bus stopped very near the Cathedral and we walked across the street and were right in front of it. It just happens to be a holiday in Mallorca today, Workers' Day, very similar to our Labor Day. Most shops didn't open until noon or later. We did walk around the city and make our way to the ship's recommended store for pearls, Majorca. I found a classy sterling silver pendant with two large Mallorcan pearls in it. I had read about Mallorca being famous for its pearls so that was a sure stop in my shopping excursions. We snapped a number of pictures of the Cathedral and the lovely flower garden across from it and then headed back to the ship.
We were all hungry again by now so we went up to the Garden Café and had lunch. I finally found the guy making the personal pasta dishes and waited in a short line to get my made to order Alfredo pasta with mushrooms and broccoli.
After lunch Chip and I decided we need to go back into town so he could call his mom and I could call Rene' and check in to let them know we didn't get lost anywhere and will still be coming home on Saturday night. I can't believe here I sit tonight in the middle of the Mediterranean and tomorrow night I will be at home with my puppy dog.
We made our phone calls and then looked thru some shops and Chip found a tshirt for Kylie. Then we realized we had not yet had a Mallorcan beer. So we found a number of little bars and cafes which were now all open and oh, by the way, the sun came out and was shining and all the locals came out for their holiday and opened some of the stores and LOTS of restaurants and bars. So we went into this little bar and looked at their beers and the owner started talking to us about their local beer and asked us where we were from. Then he talked about how laid back it is in Mallorca and how stressed and pressured we Americans are. He said we should live there. Now Chip wants to go back….maybe someday. After talking to the owner a while we took our beers outside, which he said we could even walk down the street if we wanted. But we sat at the tables outside and he sent out some appetizers to us. We thought they were onion rings, since that's what they looked like and I bit into it. It didn't seem much like an onion and so I took another bite. Then the "onion" pulled out of the breading like it sometimes does only to see that these were actually squid rings!!! They were a little rubbery and I've stated in an earlier blog, I'm not a fan of rubbery food. It was really nice of the owner, but we didn't have much need for the squid rings. Now if Ivan and Denise had come back out with us, Ivan would have loved it!!
Alas is it our final evening on the Norwegian Jade so we began to pack our bags when we returned to the ship. That's always so sad. We are not putting our luggage out for them to take into the terminal though. With this FreeStyle cruising you can keep your luggage and just walk off the ship whenever you want instead of waiting for your luggage color tag to be called. We went to the final show which was a Magician/Comedian and it was enjoyable. I can never figure out how those tricks are done. We used some of our coupons from our booklet in the casino and I got a free pull on the "Win a Free Cruise" machine and won $30 in slot machine play. Of course that $30 didn't win me anything. So now I'm finishing this final blog and taking the computer up to the Garden Café at 10:30 p.m. in order to post it and let Chip get a late night dessert.
Two full weeks…….it actually felt like such a long time with so many ports and so much to do, I can hardly remember what I did where and when. I'll have to read my blog when I get home and enjoy it all over again!!!BTW, Ivan and Denise, it was great to meet you and hope to
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wednesday April 29
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Today's port was Cagliari, Sardinia, an Italian island. Our ship wasn't scheduled to get into port until 11 am, so we had plenty of time to sleep late FINALLY, and then have a nice breakfast in the dining room versus the Garden Café where you have people scrambling all over and then spend too much time trying to find a seat while your food gets cold. Also, I can order tomato juice in the dining room and that's not available at the café. We sat at a table at the very back of the dining room by the windows where I could look down and see all the churning of the ocean as the ship was speeding ahead towards the island. The ship had been doing quite a bit of rocking as we got further into the Mediterranean last night and this morning. A number of people were feeling ill. It just helped rock me to sleep. I think it's a pretty cool feeling.
After breakfast we looked up Cagliari on the laptop to figure out what all there is to see on the island. Since many adventures would require an expensive taxi or taking a ship excursion, we decided to just hike around the city on our own. It was a beautiful sunny & warm (70 degrees) day. We all put on shorts and had to take a shuttle from the pier to the city. The main street near the pier was Via Roma which had expensive boutiques; however, by US standards, the prices were reasonable for the items being offered. Designer shoes, handbags, men's suits, jewelry and there's a very popular store here in all these cities we have visited called Mango. It reminds me of a Banana Republic only better. One of the popular jewelry items we saw was silver filigree. I boht a pendant that is a filigree flower and Denise got a bracelet. The store owner created the pieces himself and sells each piece by weight. My piece only cost 10 Euros.
In Cagliari, the city is on a hill and much of it is surrounded by the old fortress walls. We had to walk up streets that went straight uphill and would curve around. Following the maps we were given and trying to find the names of the streets was an interesting task. We really didn't fear getting lost because as you went up into the city you could always look back towards the ocean and see the port with a beautiful view of the ship and realize that all you had to do was go back down steps or roads and eventually get there. Throughout the city are these towers they call Elefont towers or Elephant Towers. We paid 4 Euros each to climb the stairs of these towers which then put you five stories above where you are in that part of the city and the views are incredible. I had to suck up my fear of heights as these wooden steps were quite steep and short. I had to turn my foot sideways to avoid hitting my shins as we climbed. Once at the top we took pictures and within a few minutes the town clocks struck Noon and all the church bells began chiming throughout the city. From the top of this tower we could hear each church bell and from which direction it was coming. That was a great and unexpected bonus that made the trek worthwhile.
From the tower we headed across town down the roads and quaint alleys with their ancient cobblestone pavement. Sometimes it was a bit hard to walk on; I can't imagine trying to ride a bike or wear high heels on these streets. Each time a car came through you had to duck between cars or get close to the buildings. Speed limits don't really exist although most people in cars are cautious of pedestrians, but not the Vespa and motorcycle drivers. Crossing roads has been a fun challenge for most of this cruise. Mind you, I'm not complaining, I love the old world charm of the streets of Europe.
We headed for the Roman Theatre, but there was not much left of it and they had actually constructed bleachers on top of most of it in order to hold current day concerts. We headed back down the hills of the city towards the shopping district and stopped to have some sweets from the Pastry shops. We tried an orange peel and almond candy that we were told is served at special occasions like weddings. I also an another cannolli as I don't know when I'll have one that tastes quite like the ones here. Everyone else got a gelato. We walked along the coast for quite a bit trying to get past the port area so we could visit one of the nearby beaches. Unfortunately, we would have had to walk at least another mile to get past the port and we only had 1 ½ hours so we turned around and went back to the ship.
We got back early enough to put on our suits and sit by the pool. My nose got a little too red but at least there was some sun. The entertainment show was at 7:30 p.m. and it was the Flamenco Dancers from Barcelona. That was probably the best entertainment other than the comedian on the ship so far.
Today's port was Cagliari, Sardinia, an Italian island. Our ship wasn't scheduled to get into port until 11 am, so we had plenty of time to sleep late FINALLY, and then have a nice breakfast in the dining room versus the Garden Café where you have people scrambling all over and then spend too much time trying to find a seat while your food gets cold. Also, I can order tomato juice in the dining room and that's not available at the café. We sat at a table at the very back of the dining room by the windows where I could look down and see all the churning of the ocean as the ship was speeding ahead towards the island. The ship had been doing quite a bit of rocking as we got further into the Mediterranean last night and this morning. A number of people were feeling ill. It just helped rock me to sleep. I think it's a pretty cool feeling.
After breakfast we looked up Cagliari on the laptop to figure out what all there is to see on the island. Since many adventures would require an expensive taxi or taking a ship excursion, we decided to just hike around the city on our own. It was a beautiful sunny & warm (70 degrees) day. We all put on shorts and had to take a shuttle from the pier to the city. The main street near the pier was Via Roma which had expensive boutiques; however, by US standards, the prices were reasonable for the items being offered. Designer shoes, handbags, men's suits, jewelry and there's a very popular store here in all these cities we have visited called Mango. It reminds me of a Banana Republic only better. One of the popular jewelry items we saw was silver filigree. I boht a pendant that is a filigree flower and Denise got a bracelet. The store owner created the pieces himself and sells each piece by weight. My piece only cost 10 Euros.
In Cagliari, the city is on a hill and much of it is surrounded by the old fortress walls. We had to walk up streets that went straight uphill and would curve around. Following the maps we were given and trying to find the names of the streets was an interesting task. We really didn't fear getting lost because as you went up into the city you could always look back towards the ocean and see the port with a beautiful view of the ship and realize that all you had to do was go back down steps or roads and eventually get there. Throughout the city are these towers they call Elefont towers or Elephant Towers. We paid 4 Euros each to climb the stairs of these towers which then put you five stories above where you are in that part of the city and the views are incredible. I had to suck up my fear of heights as these wooden steps were quite steep and short. I had to turn my foot sideways to avoid hitting my shins as we climbed. Once at the top we took pictures and within a few minutes the town clocks struck Noon and all the church bells began chiming throughout the city. From the top of this tower we could hear each church bell and from which direction it was coming. That was a great and unexpected bonus that made the trek worthwhile.
From the tower we headed across town down the roads and quaint alleys with their ancient cobblestone pavement. Sometimes it was a bit hard to walk on; I can't imagine trying to ride a bike or wear high heels on these streets. Each time a car came through you had to duck between cars or get close to the buildings. Speed limits don't really exist although most people in cars are cautious of pedestrians, but not the Vespa and motorcycle drivers. Crossing roads has been a fun challenge for most of this cruise. Mind you, I'm not complaining, I love the old world charm of the streets of Europe.
We headed for the Roman Theatre, but there was not much left of it and they had actually constructed bleachers on top of most of it in order to hold current day concerts. We headed back down the hills of the city towards the shopping district and stopped to have some sweets from the Pastry shops. We tried an orange peel and almond candy that we were told is served at special occasions like weddings. I also an another cannolli as I don't know when I'll have one that tastes quite like the ones here. Everyone else got a gelato. We walked along the coast for quite a bit trying to get past the port area so we could visit one of the nearby beaches. Unfortunately, we would have had to walk at least another mile to get past the port and we only had 1 ½ hours so we turned around and went back to the ship.
We got back early enough to put on our suits and sit by the pool. My nose got a little too red but at least there was some sun. The entertainment show was at 7:30 p.m. and it was the Flamenco Dancers from Barcelona. That was probably the best entertainment other than the comedian on the ship so far.
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