The Peach Orchard Salient and the Bloody Wheat Field - 10/30/13

We did the volkswalk for Day 2 of the Battle of Gettysburg on a previous trip, so today we elected to do the walk for Day 3. There were two 5k walks available, and we chose the "Peach Orchard and Wheatfield Trail." My plantar fasciitis would not allow me to do both walks today.

The walk started at the Longstreet Memorial and took us past the Louisiana State Memorial, which features a fallen artilleryman beneath a female figure known as the Spirit of the Confederacy. She holds a flaming cannonball.

We continued through woods and fields past dozens upon dozens of memorials to states, brigades, battalions, corps, legions, units, battles, and individuals. A memorial to the Irish Brigade featured a Celtic cross and an Irish wolfhound.

The Peach Orchard 

On the morning of Day 2, Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles was assigned a position 3/4-mile from the Peach Orchard, near Little Round Top. That afternoon - without orders - he advanced his 10,000-man Union Third Corps, part of it taking position on the high ground around farmer John Sherfy's peach orchard. Sickles believed it was a stronger position.

At the Peach Orchard, Sickles' mile-long line formed a sharp angle, or salient. About 5:30 p.m., following a hot artillery duel, Confederate infantry led by Brig. Gen. J.B. Kershaw attacked the Peach Orchard by way of the Rose Farm, but were shredded by rapid rounds of Union canister.

About 6:00 p.m., Confederate infantry of Barksdale's and Wofford's Brigades struck the Peach Orchard from the west. With a tremendous Rebel yell, the Confederate forces drove the Union defenders back toward Cemetery Ridge. Sickles' salient was crushed.

The Wheatfield

In this 25-acre field of wheat, 19 brigades, totalling more than 20,000 men, engaged in a series of attacks and counterattacks over a period of several hours resulting in nearly 7,000 casualties.

The Lincoln Highway and Beyond

We left Gettysburg and drove west on the Lincoln Highway for about 90 minutes. The scenery was beautiful as we climbed up to 2200 feet to cross a series of mountain passes. The fall colors were slightly past their peak, but still worthy of admiration. We passed Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum and Candy Emporium so quickly that we couldn't stop and get a photo. Sorry.

Eventually we reached the Pennsylvania Turnpike and continued westward for anothe 90 minutes. After passing to the north of Pittsburgh we entered Ohio and continued our westerly course toward Wooster. During the last 30 minutes or saw we saw some classic Wayne County sights: a real pumpkin patch with hundreds of pumpkins still growing, a corn maze, and two Amish women exiting a mall parking lot in a horse-drawn buggy.

We had a delightful dinner with Scott and Lauren at the Broken Rocks Cafe.

One Hundred and Fifty Years - 10/29/13

The Battle of Gettysburg was the costliest battle of the American Civil War based on number of casualties. Spanning over three days, from July 1-3, 1863, the Battle resulted in approximately 51,112 individuals being killed, wounded, missing, or captured. Despite the fact that the South continued to fight for two more years, it was a decisive victory for the Union. The South's retreat and terrible losses were a turning point in the war. From that point on, the South had to abandon its attempt to take the war North.

We did a volkswalk covering Day 1 of the Battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg began unexpectedly. Two Confederate Brigades under the overall command of General Heth moved in to occupy the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Unbeknownst to them, the town was already occupied by two Union Calvary Brigades commanded by General John Buford. The fighting broke out around 8 a.m. as the Confederate Brigades moved in from the Northwest. They expected little resistance but were quite surprised to find the Union Brigades. Buford's men were able to hold the advancing confederates for over an hour while waiting for reinforcements. They were eventually forced to retreat but not before General Reynolds arrived to assist in the defense of McPherson's Ridge. Unfortunately, while deploying the fresh troops General Reynolds was shot and killed, leaving General Doubleday the ranking commander on the field. The battle raged over the next couple of hours with the Confederate troops attempting to flank their Union counterparts and drive them from the high ground. (If a horse has two feet off the ground, it means the rider was killed. One foot off the ground means the rider was injured.)

General Lee arrived on the scene around 2:30 p.m. and gave A.P. Hill permission to join the attack on General Meridith and his Iron Brigade. The Union troops were unable to hold their ground under this onslaught and began to retreat towards the Seminary. However, their stay at the Seminary was short-lived. The Confederates pressed the advantage and forced the Union soldiers to flee through the town of Gettysburg and to the area known as Cemetery Hill. Fortunately for the Union, the Confederacy had sustained numerous casualties in their first day victory. They had been weakened and were unable to press their advantage effectively.

Around 4:30 p.m. Major General Winfield Hancock arrived at Cemetery Hill and took overall command of the Union Army from Doubleday on the orders of General Meade. He realized he was in an excellent defensive position and continued to deploy the retreating troops of Doubleday. The remains of Meredith's Iron Brigade were sent to occupy the defensible position of Culp's Hill.

As these events were taking place, General Lee was conferring with Lieutenant James Longstreet. The two disagreed on the course the battle should take from here on out. General Longstreet urged Lee to swing around behind the Union army and cut them off from Washington. This would allow the Confederacy to choose the most advantageous location for battle. However, General Lee disagreed and believed they should press their advantage. He ordered General Ewell to "secure possession of the heights...if practicable." However, the orders were confusing to Ewell and he failed to attack the new Union stronghold before they were sufficiently prepared. Thus, day one ended with a win for the Confederacy, but a squandered opportunity.

We walked through the fields where the troops engaged with each other. Today there are numerous monuments recognizing the various units that participated in the battle. We saw the tower of the seminary used by Gen. Buford as a lookout post. We walked down Chambersburg Pike (now known as US 30 and also as the Lincoln Highway) and imagined the Confederate troops moving along this route 150 years ago. We saw a statue of Gen. Reynolds on a horse and we passed by the site of Gen. Lee's headquarters.

We then headed into the center of the town of Gettysburg. We walked all around the campus of Gettysburg College and learned that both armies swept through the campus on Day 1. One of the college's buildings became a field hospital.

Heading back into town, we saw the railroad station where President Lincoln arrived later that year to deliver "a few appropriate remarks" at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.

We saw the house where Lincoln stayed and a statue of Lincoln titled "Return Visit."

We saw monuments related to parts of the battle that occurred in town. Finally, we walked up to Seminary Ridge and back to our car, having completed our 10 kilometer walk.

One Hundred Years - 10/28/13

Today is my father's birthday. He was born exactly 100 years ago. He died on January 2, 2002.

This morning Ken and I visited my mother in a dementia facility in Maryland. She was happy to see us. She is 94. She was a little surprised to hear that today was her husband's birthday, but she was not very curious about where he is or what happened to him. At least she still knows when her birthday is.

There was a gentleman in the facility who was very surprised to hear that his wife had died some time ago. Not upset, just surprised. In fact, he didn't believe it. We went through that stage with my mother already. The first time I had to tell her my dad was dead, I thought it would be awful because I thought it would be very upsetting for her to suddenly find out that he was dead. Maybe on some level she did remember that he was dead and so it wasn't particularly upsetting to hear me say that he was dead. Dementia works in odd ways.

After visiting my mother, we drove to the cemetery in Virginia where my father is buried. It was a sunny day and it was peaceful there. I left some stones on his grave as a way of saying I had been there and I remembered him.

Afterwards, we drove to a mall and bought my mother some sweaters and some new shoes. We also bought her a new walker. Her old one is pretty scuzzy. The new one is RED and it has black and red designs on the crossbar and little pockets on the sides for your tissues or glasses or whatever.

We went back to see my mom  and brought her the new clothes. Ken set up the walker and adjusted it to the right height. I think she likes it. We left her at dinner time and she still seemed quite happy and did not fuss at all that we were leaving.

Ships, Planes, and Automobiles - 10/27/13

Today we disembarked in Ft. Lauderdale.  According to Princess, the 75-minute delay in disembarkation was due to understaffing by Immigration and Customs. Whatever. It was enough of a delay to make us a little nervous about getting to the airport in time for our flight.

When we got off the ship we had to retrieve our checked bags and then proceed through Immigration and Customs. The bags were supposed to be color-coded to make it "easy" to find your bags. It still took over 20 minutes to find our bags because one was not in the proper area. The clock kept on ticking.

Then we got in a long line to go through Immigration and Customs and then we got in another long line to get a taxi. The clock kept on ticking. 

We would be ok if the lines at the ticket counter and security weren't too bad. They weren't too bad, but they made us show our boarding passes at the x-ray machine and people were getting their passports out, too, so Ken got his driver's license out. They didn't need it so he took off his shoes and  emptied out his pockets and took off his belt and sent it all his stuff through the x-ray. Then he reversed the process but forgot about the driver's license. Then he realized that he didn't have his driver's license, so he went back to the x-ray machine and looked inside it and on the floor under it and various other places and couldn't find it. Then he came back to me in a state of panic and I said, "When did you last see it?" When he went through the x-ray. "Where did you put it when you went through the x-ray?" In his shoe. Oh! So he takes off his shoe, and there it is in his shoe. Crisis averted, but clock still ticking.

If we had only known what awaited us at the gate(s). We went to Gate F4 to board our flight. The PA system didn't work, but someone eventually told us to go to F6. There were other people at F6 taking up all the seats. After about 10 minutes they told those people to go to F4, without the benefit of a PA system. After some more waiting, the gate agent told us (without PA) that there was a "paperwork" problem, but nothing to worry about. Then the pilot came out and told us the same thing.  After the flight was over an hour late we were allowed to board the plane. Before everybody had a chance to board, we were told that the plane had been removed from service and we had to get off. Then we were told to go to Gate F5. Finally we boarded another plane and we took off a mere 2 and 1/2 hours late. Thank you, Jet Blue.

Upon arriving at DCA we retrieved our bags and tried to figure out how to get to the rental cars. You would think that someone who has done orienteering for years would be able to figure out the airport map. You would be wrong. You would think that the sign that says "Walkway to Rental Cars" would actually point to a walkway to rental cars. You would be wrong. Somehow, we got there, and after a little bit of elevator combat we arrived at the Emerald Aisle. Thanks to a helpful employee named Kwame, we got the car we wanted and were able to transition from airport schlimazels into members of the elite HOV corps.

Our drive to Bethesda was uneventful, and it was nice to see Bobi and Titan again. We basically did nothing all day, but we were exhausted.

Lines I stood in today:

1. To get into the dining room for breakfast

2. To get an elevator back to our cabin

3. To get an elevator down to the designated area to wait for disembarkation

4. To get out of the waiting area

5. To get off the ship

6. To go through Immigration and Customs

7. To get a taxi

8. To check in with the airline

9. To go through security

10. To go to the ladies' room

11. To board the plane at Gate F4

12. To buy a snack

13. To board the plane at Gate F6

14. To get off the plane

15. To board the plane at Gate F5

16. To get off the plane

17. To go to the ladies' room

A Week of Sun Days - 10/26/13

Today is our 7th consecutive sea day. We will make landfall early tomorrow morning.

The crossing has been fabulous, if a little surreal. Since we left Madeira the water has been more like Lake Placid than like the North Atlantic ocean. It has been sunny and warm every day.

It's too early to say what today will bring, but since we left Madeira we have only seen:

• one other ship
• no airplanes except for one mysterious light in the night sky that may have been an airplane
• no lights (except for the one mysterious light in the sky that may have been an airplane)
• one school of dolphins
• one patch of seaweed
• two groups of flying fish
• no birds (until last night)
• one piece of plastic trash
• no barges
• 1001 moods of the ocean

This morning the ocean appears different. I wouldn't call it angry, but it is calling attention to itself in a way that it hasn't up to this point. It is no longer indulgent.

There are lots of gulls around the ship this morning. We can't see any land, but it's got to be near.

Full disclosure: Most of the time we have only looked from our balcony. We haven't gone up to the highest decks and we haven't tried to see what can be seen from the starboard side.  From the bridge, which is on deck 14, the visibility to the horizon is about 20 to 21 miles.  The walking/jogging track, on deck 18, is the highest you can get. Ken has been up there a number of times and hasn't seen anything.

Tonight's entertainment was Al Katz and Jennifer Fair.

Firsters and Homesteaders - 10/25/13

You have probably heard of hoarders and preppers and truthers and birthers. I would like to introduce you to two new segments of the population.

"Firsters"

I have to let the Firsters go first, whether I want to or not. Firsters are people who are obsessed with being first, to the extent that they completely forget their manners. Or maybe it's a case of you can't forget what you never had.

If you want to see a Firster, go on a tour. There is at least one on every tour. It's a cosmic rule. Often, the tour group will be standing on the dock waiting for the guide. No one knows which direction the guide will come from and in which direction the group will be sent when it is time to board the bus. This must be excruciating for a Firster. Or maybe he (it's usually a he) looks at this as an especially fun challenge. Anyway, as soon as the direction of travel becomes evident, the Firster will scurry around and obtain the position of first in line. This is a highly developed skill and is interesting to observe from an anthropological point of view. It's not so interesting if you are a member of the group and a Firster has rudely cut in front of you or pushed you aside or stepped on you.

Why is it so important to be first in line? Obviously, you will then be first on the bus and you will have the best view. Once you get the front seat, you get to keep it for the whole tour (see "Homesteaders," below). (Whatever happened to the idea that the front seats are reserved for those with mobility problems?) First on means first off, so you can be first in all the other lines on the tour and first in the line to get back on the ship.

On the walking part of the tour, the Firster is always right next to the guide. The good guides all have microphones or radios, so it is not plausible that they need to be up front in order to hear. They park themselves in the best spot to see whatever it is we are supposed to see at that point of the tour and they stay there after they have seen it and they forget to move aside to let others have a chance to see or take an unobstructed picture.

The worst thing about Firsters is not their selfishness, it is their rudeness. If they can get past you in a sneaky fashion, they will. If they can't sneak past you, they will do whatever it takes to get past you. They will push, they will shove, they will tailgate, they will get out of line and run down another staircase, they will pretend they have an important question for the guide, they will pretend they are interested in purchasing the item the guide is standing next to. I am not making any of this up. I have seen it all and it cannot be clearer that the actions of these people are deliberate and calculated.

More than once, I have been the victim of a Firster. One stepped on my foot in Capri and knocked me down. He did not try to help me and he did not apologize. He was on my tour and he was an American.  He had already cut in front of me a couple of times that day, and he was trying to cut in front of me when he knocked me down. Hooray for him - he was first in line to get on the funicular!

I usually try to keep politics out of my blogging, but I'm going to make an exception here. Firsters seem to fit the Tea Party model. You have no obligation to anybody else. You are only in it for yourself.

"Homesteaders"

Homesteaders are more benign than Firsters, but equally interesting to the shipboard anthropologist. Homesteaders can be found in any public area on the ship. They sit in the same spot for hours. They read, knit, play cards, talk, sunbathe. They bring a lot of stuff with them and spread it out and make themselves at home. They take off their shoes and put their feet up on the furniture. They spend more time in their "spot" than in their cabin. When they go, they leave trash and dirty dishes behind.

Admittedly, a homesteader has as much right to sit in his or her spot as the next person. It's a public area and it's intended that anyone can sit there. I like to go and sit in public areas myself.

Here's the difference: Non-homesteaders sit in public areas and use them for their intended purpose for an appropriate amount of time. And then they leave. Homesteaders sit in the same place all day, every day. If it's an eating area, they sit there playing cards for hours even if all the other tables are taken and people are walking around with plates of food trying to find a place to sit. If it is a quiet spot, they shuffle cards or make their dominoes clatter or talk way too loud.

When they go to eat lunch or to participate in an activity they often leave things behind to "save" their seats, even though they have been asked not to do this by the cruise staff. In fact, they usually "save" additional seats for their stuff so they don't have to put up with anyone sitting close to them.
 
Why do they do this? Here's my theory: They are cheapskates trying to game the system. Some people say they never spend any time in their rooms except to sleep and shower, so why should they pay for anything but an inside cabin? This is how you pretend to be practical when you are really just cheap. So they book inside cabins but can't stand to spend waking hours in those little caves, so they homestead in the public areas, preferably next to a window. If the weather is nice they go up to the sun deck before breakfast and put towels on deck chairs, even though there are signs everywhere saying that the reservation of deck chairs is not permitted.

People, were you absent from kindergarten on the day you were supposed to learn about sharing?

After Dinner we saw a show called "Spectacular."

The 25-Hour Day - 10/23/13

This morning the sky was gray and the water was gray. Last night we skirted the edge of Tropical Storm Lorenzo. Later the water was blue and the sky was blue. Now the water is sparkling. It is so beautiful.

It's later now and the sparkle is gone. The water is flat, but with a lot of texture.

For four days we have not seen another ship or an airplane. Ken saw 3 flying fish a few days ago. We haven't seen any other sea creatures. Now, for the first time, we can see occasional pieces of seaweed.

At dinner we sit with three other couples. All of them have been sick with the cough that is going around. After dinner, a show with comedian Al Katz. He is entertaining.

Atlantic Tuesday - 10/22/13

The sun is warm. The sky is blue. The breeze is gentle. The water is flat and goes on forever.

I went to a class about the online community, Cruise Critic. I played bridge with Peter and we did slightly better than average. I sat on our balcony and read.

In the evening we went to the Captain's Circle reception. Out of 3600 passengers, there are about 3000 members of the Captain's Circle (the program for repeat passengers). There are about 1200 Elites (passengers with more than 15 Princess cruises). This is a cruise for people who love to cruise.

After dinner we went to see a "comedy impressionist," Joey Van. The show was so awful we left after three minutes. We didn't even bother going to see the "mentalist." But, it's all good. I can't think of anywhere I would rather be.

A Lazy Day - 10/21/13

A lazy day - 10/21/13

Another day at sea. Did I mention that we love sea days? 

We woke up refreshed. Ken has fixed the problem with the pinging bed. There is a metal frame that holds the mattress and it was pushed up against the bulkhead, so every time the ship moved the bulkhead moved and that made the metal frame move which then created pinging sounds that echoed through the mattress and into the ear of anyone lying on the bed. By pulling the frame about an inch away from the wall, the chain reaction was stopped. My husband is so smart. The people who designed this ship, not so much.

The weather was wonderful. We saw no other ships or airplanes all day. We just sailed along to nowhere.

We started the morning with room service breakfast and some balcony time. I finished my book and started another one.  I called the purser's office and they answered the phone this time and I told them our TV was broken again.

After such a busy morning, it was suddenly time for the Cruise Critic lunch in the Allegro dining room. Some of the Cruise Critic people made up a song to the tune of Rockin' Robin and sang it for the group.

I played bridge after lunch with Peter from Vancouver. We did really well and finished first in our section.

We went to a show called "Sweet Soul Music." It was loud, but not unbearable. It was ok but nothing special.  It wasn't even all soul music. There was disco music, too.  Then we went to dinner and then we came back to the room and didn't watch TV but listened to our neighbors watching TV.  We kept saying to each other: "We can watch TV at home. We didn't come on a vacation to watch TV." And that is so true.

Sunday, Sunday - 10/20/13

Another sea day! We love sea days! 

Breakfast was a mistake. We had been hearing that the Belgian waffles were good, so we went to the Horizon Court to get some. They have two waffle machines for 3600 passengers. The chef makes 4 small waffles at a time and puts them in a steam table next to the pancakes. The syrups and toppings are directly in front of the pancakes and waffles, which means that after a person gets a waffle, they stand there for quite a while putting toppings on it and blocking access to the pancakes and waffles. While you are waiting in line for a chance to get a cooler and cooler waffle, a large man sneaks around from the other side and snatches the last two waffles. While you are waiting for the chef to bring the next 4 waffles from the waffle machine over to the steam table, a lady walks over to him and asks for a waffle. Then she goes over to the stem table and stands there putting toppings on it and three other people pounce on the new waffles.

We finally find a table and somebody comes up right away and serves us coffee. While we are eating and drinking coffee and talking to each other we are interrupted by another server who leans over my cold waffle disconcertingly and asks if we want anything else. We say no thank you. She says, "Orange juice?" We say no thank you. She then says, "Orange juice, coffee, anything else?" We say go away.

We love sea days! Room service breakfast tomorrow.

Sitting in the atrium, watching all the passengers go by and gathering material for my blog:

What not to wear:

Men:

White belts - where do you even buy them?

Checkered shirt with camouflage cargo shorts - did you sneak out of your cabin before your wife saw you?

Fishing vests - on the ship? what do you keep in all those pockets?

Comb Overs - do you think nobody can tell?

Don't comb it over, but DO comb it - please

Belt and suspenders - until now I thought that was just an expression

A cheap t-shirt you bought in the last port

Huge glasses

Women:

A skirt that looks like it was made out of drapery

A clear plastic purse full of used tissues

A cheap t-shirt you bought in the last port

Huge glasses

What TO wear:

A Moose's Tooth t-shirt - always appropriate

We had lunch in Alfredo's, the pizza restaurant. They have expanded their menu. You can now get pasta and antipasto, so we did. With white sangria. The service

was excellent. 

Back in the room we discovered that our TV was finally working. Hooray. 

The weather is gorgeous. We spend hours sitting on our balcony looking at the endless ocean. We see no other ships and no airplanes today. Just blue, blue water.  I skip bridge today. It's too nice on our balcony.

Eventually we go to the atrium and wander around. Then we go to dinner. Afterwards, we saw a short Motown show in the atrium. Since we sitting right in front, one of the female singers flirted with Ken and sang to him and sat on the arm of his chair. The lead singers on this ship are better than average, and they always put on an entertaining show, with or without interacting with the audience.

We love sea days!

Weather or Not - 10/19/13

Since our interactive tv still doesn't work, and since the weather line on the phone still doesn't work, I stopped off at the purser's desk to find out what the weather forecast is for today so I would know how to dress for our tour of Madeira. The young lady reached for the Princess Patter to read me the forecast. The Princess Patter is the daily newsletter which is printed the day before and delivered to your room in the evening so you will know what is happening the following day. In other words, the weather information in the Princess Patter is OLD. I said, no, I didn't want to know what the Patter says, I wanted a new weather report. Since they know that many TVs aren't working and the weather line on the phone isn't working, perhaps they had obtained a current weather forecast from the bridge? No, and they can't call the bridge now since we are approaching port. They did call our room 30 minutes later with weather information (partly cloudy and high of 77), so it isn't a lost cause.

As we approached the port of Funchal, I was startled to see a fairly large city perched on the side of a mountain with dramatic cliffs everywhere.

Funchal in the early morning hours

Madeira is part of that same Mid-Atlantic tectonic ridge that we encountered in Iceland where the North American and Eurasian plates are pulling apart. Thus, everything is volcanic and relatively new, geologically speaking (but not as new as Iceland).

Madeira is an autonomous part of Portugal with a population of 280,000. It is neat and tidy and prosperous looking. All the houses are either white or cream with dark green doors and shutters and terra cotta roofs. Every spare bit of ground is cultivated for some useful crop. Instead of lawns, most houses had yards full of banana trees and grapevines. They export a lot of bananas, most of them grown in fairly small patches.

Because it is so hilly and rugged, most of the hills are terraced to allow for extra space for planting. There are four vegetation zones. From sea level to 400 meters one finds tropical plants such as bananas, sugar cane, avocados, and flowers. the next level contains things like potatoes and sweet potatoes and grapes. The third level, which the guide called "endemic," consists of members of the laurel family. The fourth level, mostly above the tree-line, the guide called "areca."

From Funchal, the capital, we headed out over steep, narrow, winding roads with unbelievable hairpin curves, to a quaint fishing village called Camara de Lobos, named after seals in that area. 

Everything seemed well-maintained. The houses were in good condition and there wasn't much trash in evidence. It was Saturday, so the fisherman were mostly just hanging out in the central areas of the town. 

 

We continued on to the villages of Cabo Girao and Ribiera Brava and saw some pretty churches - not that old or large, but very picturesque. Then we crossed over the middle of the island on steeper, curvier roads, climbing through the different levels of vegetation and seeing more terraced farms on even steeper slopes. I don't think Portuguese has a word for "guardrail." We also saw "levadas," aqueducts still in use.

We eventually ended up on the northwest corner of the island in Porto Moniz. We had lunch there. We tried the local fish - black scabbard with banana. It was good, but maybe a little tough.

Black scabbard

Activities across the street from our restaurant

Yes, that is a tunnel at the end of the road

We had to cross the central mountain range again to get back to Funchal, but we took a different route. 

We stopped at several interesting rock formations

A Madeiran cow welcomes our bus

There were a lot of cows on the road at the higher elevations. Apparently there aren't any wild mammals or reptiles except some form of porcupine. 

Where we have been and where we are going

On the way back we passed through at least a dozen long tunnels through the mountains, and over many new bridges across steep valleys. The Madeirans have put a lot of money into their transportation infrastructure.

A popular "sport" in Madeira is racing in a wicker basket on wooden runners (like a sled has), being pulled by men wearing white clothing and straw hats. We didn't take this tour, so don't ask me where this came from.

We boldly tried out an indoor basket sled

In addition to wine and port, there is a popular local drink called "poncha." It is a fruit-flavored liqueur or punch, I think. We bought some, but I haven't tasted it yet.

Tourists from Europe come here a lot, mostly to go "trekking" in the mountains, alongside the levadas. There are lots of trails following some sort of water channels that were built for irrigation and hydroelectric power. There are also opportunities for windsurfing and such. Most of the beaches were rather rocky, but we did see a black sand beach. The weather is always moderate, but they do tend to get big storms.

Adeus, Madeira

All in all, Madeira was a delightful place with dramatic scenery. We really enjoyed our visit.

In the evening there was a "mindreader" performance on the ship. We didn't go to see him.

The Atlantic - 10/18/13

The water is noticeably rougher now that we are out on the Atlantic. Our mattress made a strange pinging noise all night. I finally fell asleep and slept late. In the morning I looked forward to a relaxing day at sea. I'd give our day only about a 60%.

Breakfast at the International Cafe was pleasant. Lunch in the Horizon Court was overwhelming. It is like a giant maze. You wander around for 10 minutes trying to see everything they have. We were in the mood for sandwiches, but we didn't see any, so we got some so-so hot food. After we ate we wandered over to the dessert area and saw people eating sandwiches and Mexican food. It turns out it was on the far side of the pastry section and we had missed it in our earlier wanderings. Lesson learned.

Our interactive TV still didn't work and we reported it again. We heard from other passengers that there had been a power surge or outage a few nights earlier, about 12:30 or 1 am, and it had blown out the server and a lot of the TVs were not working. But a lot of them were working.

I played duplicate bridge in the afternoon and Ken stood in line for 2 hours trying (unsuccessfully) to get in to see the Future Cruise Consultant. This guy didn't seem to understand that there were others waiting and spent a lot of time chatting about nothing in particular with those who had reached his desk and finished their business with him. This is typical of most of the staff on this ship. They seem very poorly trained in customer service and in how to do their jobs.

So you might ask why we were even thinking about a future cruise. I am asking myself that. In the course of 40 cruises, all with Princess, we have never considered taking another cruise line, but this cruise has really caused me to reconsider. I am going to look at this cruise as an aberration. I am going to avoid fairly new ships. I am going to avoid port-intensive itineraries. I am canceling my booking for next fall on the Regal Princess, a sister ship to the Royal and still under construction. It's not all bad, and I know for a fact that Princess can do a lot better.

We went to Shabbat services and had a chance to calm down from a hectic day of doing nothing. They had moved us to the Princess Live! venue, which worked much better than the Wedding Chapel, and someone from the ship actually showed up to make sure everything was ok. I would say that we had about 70 in attendance.

In the evening we went to see a comedian named Darrell Joyce. I thought he was very funny. More like what I have come to expect from Princess. After dinner we went to the Internet Cafe so I could talk to the internet manager, who is a pleasant, competent, and helpful person. I am still having trouble sending e-mail due to an incompatibility between GCI and the satellite system onboard, but I now have more of an idea about how to get around that problem.

While we were there was a show going on in the atrium which was quite lively, so we stayed to watch it. In the newsletter it was called "International Music Event," which didn't really do it justice. They had the band and the string quartet playing together and sounding really good. Several of the vocalists sang, and some of the ship's dancers were also there. They played a variety of music. The theme from "Zorba, the Greek" with costumed dancers was especially good. People were sitting and standing on all three levels of the atrium and everyone was enjoying it. It had more of a cabaret feeling than the shows in the theatre.

I Can See Africa from My Balcony - 10/17/13

We got to sleep late this morning! Our TV was frozen so we couldn't find out the news or weather. We eventually went down to the International Cafe for coffee and pastries. 

After a lazy morning we went to the dining room for lunch. I ordered a cheeseburger. It was not cooked enough. It was mixed with spices and I didn't like it, but I wasn't too hungry anyway. I am writing this mostly so I will remember not to order a burger on my next cruise. Sorry to bore you.

In the afternoon Ken went to a lecture on the history of cruising prior to the time of the Titanic and went for a walk on the Sports Deck. I went to play bridge. I played with a nice woman from Florida who isn't used to playing duplicate. We were doing fine until we encountered a really nasty couple who made a big fuss over nothing and couldn't let it go. Thus really rattled my partner. I'm not sure if she will come back. 

Afterwards, I went back to the room. The TV was still frozen, so we tried calling the purser's office. They wouldn't answer the phone, so I went down and stood in the dysfunctional line. The bottom line is they have some kind of a problem with the tv system and don't know if they will be able to fix it before the end of the cruise. Travel tip: do not go anywhere on a cruise ship that us less than 6 months old.

Before dinner we decided to go to the new production show called "What the World Needs Now." It was so loud I couldn't stand it, so we left after the first song. We deceived to go see the Sea Walk, a new feature on this ship. It is a curved extension with clear panels so you can walk out over the sea and look down into people's balconies and cabins. Although I don't like heights, the Sea Walk wasn't scary and I liked it. We didn't see anything "interesting" going on on any of the balconies, but one balcony was being used to dry a lot of laundry - bras, panties, shirts, and more.

Then we went to Crooners to have martinis. This is always fun because they have a lengthy menu of martinis, including a half page of different chocolate martinis. The waiter brings your martini in a little shaker and shakes it up for you at your seat. 

Tonight was formal night and it was nice to see everyone dressed up and looking so spiffy. Except the guy in the suit jacket with the t-shirt that looked like a tuxedo shirt and bow tie.

We met Helen and Bob for dinner and had a really pleasant time. Then we went back to our cabin and just vegged out and tried to stay awake until midnight when we would be sailing through the Straits of Gibraltar. All day we had been seeing an increased amount of ship traffic as we approached the Straits.

We are on the port side so we are facing Africa, but we have been much closer to Europe as we sailed out of Barcelona toward the Straits. Suddenly, a line of lights appeared where a point of land reached out from Africa. Morocco! The Straits of Gibraltar are only 8 miles wide here, so it's easy to see both shorelines, especially at night. With the one-day-away-from-full moon shining down over the stern, it was an awesome sight. 

Maybe this is the closest we will ever get to Africa. Geologically speaking, we were in Africa when we visited the Rift Valley in Israel. But politically and geographically that was NOT Africa. In Eilat we drove right up to the Egyptian border, but we didn't cross over, and if we had, I'm not sure if that piece of the Sinai would have counted as Africa either. So this time, the third time, was not the charm.

Unfortunately, the photos, taken at midnight, of distant lights did not turn out.

Sal, Gala, and Ramban - 10/16/13

We docked in beautiful Barcelona, but opted for a tour elsewhere since we have already spent time in Barcelona. We met our guide, Gemma, and boarded our bus for a 2-hour ride to Figueres. 

Figueres is unremarkable except for being the hometown of Salvador Dali and home to the Dali Museum. On the drive to Figueres, Gemma  gave us a thorough description of Dali's life. Dali hung out with other iconoclastic artists and writers of the early-to-mid-20th century, including Picasso.

Dali's passion for art developed early. He went to art school in Madrid and when he didn't do well on his finals he told the professors that they weren't ready for him yet.

Eventually surrealism became recognized as a new style of art and Dali began to receive recognition.

Dali fell in love with a married Russian woman named Gala who was 10 years older. She became his muse and is featured in many of his works. Many years later they finally got married, but their relationship was a big juicy scandal when it started.

We arrived at Figueres and got off the bus onto a street that smelled like urine. We walked a few blocks to the Dali Museum on more streets that smelled like urine.

At one point, the town fathers asked Dali if he would donate a painting to the town and he said he would donate a museum. They gave him an old theatre and he turned it into the current museum. The museum is a unique building, both inside and out. There are giant eggs on top. Hundreds of loaves of bread are attached to its red-painted walls on the outside. It has a turret on one corner, where Dali lived the last years of his life. 

The museum was very crowded, but Gemma showed us all the highlights while explaining things we would have missed otherwise. For example, there is a large painting of Gala, but if you get really far away from it and squint, or if you look at it through a camera lens, you can see the face of Abraham Lincoln. There are coin-operated mechanical sculptures, There is a weird sculpture of Mae West that you can only see in perspective by climbing a ladder. There are early holograms, crazy self-portraits, re-interpretations of famous renaissance works, and a car that it rains inside of.

Surprisingly, we did not see a lot of melted watches. But next time we are in St. Petersburg, Florida, we must try to go to the Dali Museum there. We have never gone there before because we didn't think we would like it, but now we do want to go.

Our next stop was Girona, about 30 minutes away. Girona is another one of those walled medieval towns that we keep bumping into. Upon arriving in Girona, the first order of business was lunch. We were taken to a large plaza surrounded by cafes and we picked one that offered tapas. We ordered three plates: pate, white asparagus, and chicken croquettes, with a rose wine. It was scrumptious and delightful.

Then we began our tour of the old part of Girona. Girona is known for having one of the best-preserved Jewish quarters in Spain. While the buildings are well-preserved, the Jewish population and culture of Girona was not preserved. The only remaining synagogue is now a Jewish museum and is not recognizable as a synagogue.

We were told that Kabbalah was started in Girona. Girona was also the home of the great Ramban - Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (Nachmanides). As we wandered the ancient cobbled streets and looked at walls built by the Romans we tried to imagine what the Jewish quarter might have been like during the Golden Age from about 1100 to the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.

Passing a little bakery, we stopped in to buy "xuxu."  It was kind of like a deep-fried croissant stuffed with a creamy filling. Good, but not as good as a cannoli. 

On our way back to Barcelona, we drove along the Costa Brava but really couldn't see much of the coast. Every once in a while we could see a small castle. There were vineyards and other small farms and all of a sudden we reached the urban sprawl of Barcelona and returned safely to our ship. Adios, Espana!

In the evening we saw a Flamenco show and the movie "The Heat."

If you squint you can see Abe

Uncanny, Part 2 - 10/15/13

So, upon arriving in Nice, our guide, Mirta, told us we were going to ride on a wonderful little train and we would love it as much as we loved Saint Paul de Vence. As we drove along the waterfront promenade, she pointed to "Castle Hill" and said we could either walk up (a joke) or ride the train to the top, where we would see a beautiful waterfall and a castle.

The "unforgettable" Nice Tram Tour

We arrived at the beach and were told to wait on the bus until she found out whether the little train already there was the one we would get on. (Didn't she know?) After much discussion we were advised that we should get off the bus and get on the little train. The people that were on it eventually got off and we got on. It wasn't really a train; it was a little tram cleverly disguised to look like an old-timey train with 3 dinky open-air carts behind it. We got on and they locked us in and then told us we would have to wait for another busload to arrive before we could begin the tour. We sat in this contraption for 20 minutes breathing horrible fumes from the engine while we waited for the other group to arrive. They wouldn't let us off the tram and they wouldn't turn off the engine.

I stared at the beach during this time. It was comprised of egg-sized gray rocks and didn't look the least bit nice. Surprisingly, there were people actually sitting on this rocky "beach" and even swimming. It looked even more uncomfortable than our little, narrow, hard, diesel-infused seats on the tram thing.

A picture of the Rocky Horror Beach

Bike path along the beach

After the arrival of the other group, it became apparent that we would need to use the headsets that untold numbers of previous tours had used. We know this because we got on right after the previous group got off and nobody changed out the headphones. Also, because Ken's had hairs stuck to it. Mine didn't work. I used the next one over and off we went on our adventure. 

According to the tape being broadcast on the headset, we were passing by some kind of park. There was construction going on and the park was surrounded by a 6-foot fence so all you could see was a fence and traffic (which you could also smell). 

The park

 

Some more of the park

There was a huge traffic jam, so it took us over 20 minutes to go about 4 blocks. During this time, there was nothing to see and nothing to breathe.Two motorcycles were stuck in the traffic jam right next to me and they contributed more than their fair share to the air pollution.You could also "enjoy" the tinny honky-tonk music that was coming through the headphones.

If I had to live in Nice, I think I would like to live in this house

I could understand about half of the narration. The sound quality was terrible and the abilities of the translator were questionable. Here are some of the things I may have learned about Nice:

* The Romans put salmonella all around the hill with the castle

* Nice wouldn't be Nice without its carnivores

* The first people settled in Nice 400,000 years ago

* We were near someplace else

Once we got past the construction fence, I found that when you were on a narrow street, you still couldn't see anything more than about 5 feet off the ground due to the canopy on the tram. I did see a statue of a naked man, which was maybe the highlight of the tour, and the back of a statue of somebody important with a cape.

Why did this have to be the only thing I got a good view of?

As long as we're looking at statues, what about these?

The castle hill in the background

Then we saw where the flower market was, but it wasn't there at that time. Then we went down a narrow street and almost hit some pedestrians and then we came to the castle hill.  It was, apparently, either a park or a cemetery or both. The tram drove really far over to the side of the road, so that the people on one side got scraped by the bushes.

The Jewish cemetery

Suddenly the tram stopped in the middle of the hill and we were told to get off and admire the view. There was a Jewish cemetery right there and a Catholic cemetery nearby. You could tell who the Jews on the tour were because they all rushed over to the Jewish cemetery to take pictures.

The Jewish cemetery

The Catholic cemetery

After 5 minutes, it was back onto the tram, put the dirty headsets back on, and head back down. No waterfall, no castle, no amazing view. Not impressed, not happy.

Upon our return to the spot where we boarded, there was a large group of chumps eager to take our places on the tram. Moral dilemma: should we say something to them?

 
Back on the bus, Mirta said she felt she needed to apologize to us, and I thought, "Yeah, you really do need to apologize to us." I couldn't wait to hear what she was going to say. It was not what I expected. She told us the pump (!) for the waterfall had exploded and that was why we couldn't go all the way to the top of the hill. In other words, it wasn't even a real waterfall. I never did find out if there was a castle up there. She did not apologize for anything else.

I was so happy to get back to the tender dock in Cannes after such a forgettable tour of Nice. In the evening, we had another chance to be entertained by the ventriloquist and the West End vocalist. We declined.