Alicante & Barcelona

Our cruise from Malaga to Alicante was very smooth and we pulled into the Alicante harbour just as the sun was rising after 7am. The weather was clear most of the day with a high of 15C, with a stiff wind from the east making it necessary to wear our jackets most of the day. Our excursion in Alicante started at a more convenient time than yesterday's in Malaga. I had time to work out in the fitness centre before breakfast, although I kept it to a moderate exertion level because this was the first time back since I got the cough about a week ago. We met our tour guide just after 10:30am, and boarded a bus for a 10 minute ride to downtown Alicante where we got off the bus and headed for the Museu de Fogueres, which tells and shows the story of the celebration of the Feast of Sant Joan (St. John) during the week culminating on the big day of June 24. For Catalan nationalists (people in this part of Spain), this day has become Catalan Nation Day. (Notice the similarity to Quebec's celebration of John the Baptist on the same day). There is a good description of the event and its history on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfires_of_Saint_John . Artists create fantastic figures and displays that are carried through the streets and then are burned on the 24th in big bonfires. They have started to retain the best ones, however, and these are what are on display in the museum. Our guide then walked us over to the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas where she guided us into the church. Unfortunately, she wasn't aware that there was a mass underway and Ann & I left as we did not feel it appropriate to be sightseeing during the mass. We then visited the Town Hall which dates back hundreds of years. During a 15 minute "free time", we had an opportunity to explore the Calle de l'Explanada de Espana, a beautiful pedestrial walkway parallel to the sea with 365 palm trees lining the sides. We boarded the bus once again and headed up a steep hill to the Castillo (Castle) of Santa Barbara, where we had a commanding view of the city, the coast line, and the environs behind the city. The fort was started by the Moslems in the 9th century and it has been used over the years for military purposes and, finally, by Franco as a place to imprison political prisoners. Today, it's a major tourist attraction and is being renovated to become a museum. Ann and I went our separate ways while visiting the Castle and she found an impressive art collection which was the highlight of her day. You can read more about the castle at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Santa_B%C3%A1rbara .

As the bus drove the group back to the ship, we asked our tour guide to drop us downtown at the Esplanada de Espana because we wanted to spend more time by ourselves in Alicante. After looking around for a while, we stopped at a restaurant on the Esplanada where we enjoyed a very good Spanish lunch, sharing an anchove paella and a Andalusian omlette, washed down with rose wine from Navarra.

In contrast to the excellent guide we had an Alhambra the day before, our guide in Alicante was very poor. She had a poor command of English and her voice didn't project at all, so we missed much of what she said and, when we could hear her, it was painful to listen to. (Later I spoke French with her and she admitted her French was better than her English). We discussed the day's experiences over lunch and concluded that this is the last bus tour we want to take for the foreseeable future. Our time would have been better spent on our own in Alicante. The challenge for these very short visits to ports of call is that there is almost no time to arrange something by yourself once on shore, so we depend on the MSC-arranged excursions to help us make the best of the visits to the ports. So, on balance, we have found them to be enjoyable and informative, but the one in Alicante wasn't up to scratch, unfortunately.

Our last dinner on the ship was another formal "gala" affair. Our choice of main course was baked lobster, which was very good, followed by MSC's signature "baked Alaska". Following the excellent dance and music show in the theatre afterwards, it was back to our cabin to pack our suitcases. We had to leave them in the hallway for a 2am pickup, and only keep with us that which we needed in the morning. After a night of smooth sailing to Barcelona (226 nautical miles), the ship docked this morning at 7am with a view of sunny Barcelona from our cabin balcony. We disembarked after breakfast and took a taxi to the Eurostars Grand Marina hotel located at a large marina complex about 3km from the ship. (There is a lot of ferry and shipping traffic in and out of Barcelona to the Ballearic Islands, as well as to Italy and North Africa). Luckily, the hotel was able to assign us a room as soon as we arrived about 9:30am.

Our day in Barcelona was spent walking the Rambla, a main pedestrian street, and doing a bit of shopping. Later, we walked back to the waterfront and headed east past a huge marina full of sailboats and luxury yachts, and found a restaurant for our my last dinner in Spain for a while. (Ann had eaten lunch earlier, so only wanted to sample my the excellent local wine that I ordered with my dinner, which featured baked hake prepared "in the Basque way". We wandered back along the beautiful waterfront, stopping into a Starbucks for a relaxing coffee while we watched fishing boats returning with the catches, with hundreds of noisy seagulls wheeling overhead.

The next 2 days is the boring part - getting our bodies safely back home to Ottawa. It was a challenge to find a reasonably priced, one-way flight back to North America. Last year was IcelandAir but it doesn't fly to Canada until April. In the event, I found that Aer Lingus could get us to Boston cheaply, so that's what we are doing tomorrow. We depart at 10:50am, stop in Dublin, then fly to Boston for arrival about 5:30pm. We could have continued to Ottawa, but decided to spend the night in Boston before flying on to Ottawa on Porter Airlines (our first experience with them).

We have really enjoyed this cruise, although there were some aspects in which we were disappointed. One was the fact that our dinner companions were not up to those we had last year. Of the 2 couples assigned to our table with us, one moved to their own table after a couple days and the other couple only appeared about half the time because they didn't like the early time of the first dinner sitting (5:30pm). (They went to the cafeteria instead). So, most of the time, Ann and I were by ourselves at a table for 6. We had looked forward to meeting other passengers but this happened at other times over lunch or at other venues. This is probably our last transatlantic cruise - we've been there, done it twice. We don't have any specific plans for future cruises, but if we do, it will likely be in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean.

Malaga, Granada & Alhambra

We docked in the Malaga harbour at 7am, before the sun rose, after a smooth cruise overnight. We had to be ready to depart for our excursion to Granada/Alhambra by 7:45am, which is unusually early for us cruisers! Nevertheless, we made it on time and were wisked away on a 2 hour bus ride from the Malaga port to Granada. The weather was cool with a sunny, cloudless day. It was about 11C when we left the ship and it "warmed up" to about 15C in Granada, which is at an altitude of about 1,000 meters above sea level. The route took us out of Malaga, climbing all the time up to a mountain pass, then down into a broad valley with many olive tree farms. There is a good underground supply of water and our guide told us that there are other crops grown here as well, such as wheat, barley, oats and artichokes.

Most astonishing to me was the huge Sierra Nevada mountain range behind the city that is covered with snow and rises to 3,487 meters (over 11,000 ft). We could see the shimmering snow fields where there is a large ski complex with 100km of runs! The Sierra Nevada is the highest mountain range in Spain; the melting snow contributes to the good water supply for the city of 300,000 and also adds to the tourist attraction of the area (skiing is a 30 minute drive from Granada).

The bus took us through Granada, then climbed a steep road up a mountain where the old Islamic fort of Alhambra is located. This is the best remnants of Moorish architecture left in Europe. Over 22 kings ruled from here over an 800 year period, building palaces and residences of unsurpassed beauty. Ferdinand & Isabella lead the final campaign to push the Moors out of Spain and restore Catholism to all of the Iberian peninsula. Ironically, Alhambra remains the most popular heritage tourist attraction in Spain. We were joined by a trilingual guide who took us on a 2.5 hour walking tour of Alhambra; his German & English were very good and he had a very good knowledge of the history and art of Alhambra. He told me that he had to take a 3 year course in art history and pass exams to demonstrate his fluency in 2 foreign languages to get his job. Being spring time, most of the flowers had not bloomed yet, but there were a few purple irises, daffodils, rosemary and lavender. The rose bushes had started to grown green sprouts and one magnolia tree was in full bloom. The area is very dry and with the bright sun, there were interesting, sharp shadows amongst the buildings and their decorations.

After our tour, we walked up a hill to a hotel where a buffet lunch awaited us. We sat with a couple from Memphis and compared our cruising experiences. Chris is an active cyclist and said he had observed me in the fitness centre on the ship. Interestingly, we both have acquired the cough and associated tiredness that seems to be going through the ship's passengers. (Ann has managed to avoid getting sick). To try to get over this cough as quickly as possible, we were lucky to be at sea yesterday and I did nothing but relax (and eat, of course).

We boarded our bus at 2:30pm for the 2 hour ride back to the ship. The valley we travelled along was sunny and relatively warm. We could see a few clouds along the ridge of mountains that runs parallel to the coast. After we climbed over the pass towards Malaga, and descended towards the port, we could see that the air was hazy - not the crystal clear air in the valley. As we got off the bus at the ship, I was immediately struck by how much cooler it was - probably about 12C - compared to Granada.

We concluded that today's excursion was our best one yet. The setting of Alhambra is stunning, with the snow capped Sierra Nevada range behind it, and the beauty of its buildings and gardens breathtaking.

We are now back on board and heading east for 260 miles to Alicante where we will arrive at 9am tomorrow.

Madeira

Our days cruising along on Wednesday and Thursday were comfortable and relaxing. The temperature outside is getting noticeably cooler as we move north - usually in the high 60's F (or about 20C). The evening theatre events have been excellent. There is a trio of classical musicians (piano, violin, cello) who play occasionally in the central atrium of the ship as well as accompanying 4 opera singers that boarded the ship in St. Lucia. These singers - 2 men and 2 women - have put on excellent performances, accompanied by the trio. The singers are all Italian, we think, and we guess that the musicians are possibly Hungarian. Since leaving St. Lucia a week ago, the evening theatre performances have alternated between classical music presentations, and modern singers/dancers as well as amazing gymnasts. There are 2 men (possibly Russian) who are incredibly strong and perform feats of balance and strength together. Two women gymnasts perform on 2 hanging fabric sheets: they climb up and twist the sheets around their bodies or legs, and do all sorts of impressive gymnastic moves without a safety net. There is also a group of dancers - mostly Russian again - we are classically trained but do all sorts of modern dances while wearing intricate costumes.

As I expected, the ship arrived in port on the island of Madeira 12 hours early - on Thursday evening about 6:30pm. We had an early dinner then got off the ship as soon as we could, and walked about 2 km along the long, curving quay from the ship to the road along the ocean, thence into the centre of the town of Fuchal. Madeira was the first island "discovered" by the Portuguese in 1413 and settlement began shortly afterwards. It is the top of a massive underwater mountain that rises from 10,000 feet deep, and then rises to over 3,000 feet above sea level. The island is rugged without any flat areas, so the inhabitants live in houses clinging to steep hillsides. Funchal is located in a small bay: the downtown is on a hill, then the hill rises even more steeply behind the city. It rains often on the mountain tops, and there are at least 3 small rivers that are routed through the city. (We recall seeing news video last year of a huge rainstorm in Madeira, flooding the streets and washing away cars and houses. We heard that at least 1,000 people were killed). On Thursday evening I brought my computer with us into town and found a WiFi "hotspot" in a small shopping centre, where we bought some coffee and a pastry. (As Ann says, the Portuguese pastries are fantastic, and this was no exception). I was able to connect to the internet and call my father in Ottawa over Skype and was lucky to find Ken (our son) visiting my father for a few minutes. I also updated over 20 podcasts so I would have more current programs to listen to on my iPod. We got back to the ship after 10pm expecting to have a quiet, restful sleep in port. As it turned out, for some reason we don't know, we didn't sleep well at all. I felt like I had drunk caffeine, which I can't tolerate. Maybe some of the decaf coffee I had consumed during the day hadn't been decaf. Also, deck crew decided to hose down and scrub the deck and stairs of the ship in the middle of the night. Our cabin is on the rear corner, so we could easily hear the noise.

On Friday, we left the ship for our excursion at 9:15am, heading in a bus up the steep roads to a church overlooking Funchal. We then walked to a gondola lift, that took us down the hill to the edge of town where we walked through beautiful botanical gardens. Madeira is well known as a flower and fruit growning island (as well as for its fortified Madeira wine). The bus then took us into the centre of town where we got off in front of the main market. Ann and I looked around the shops and the market for a couple hours, then found a very good restaurant to have a typical Portugues lunch of fish, veggies & potatoes, and pastry, all washed down with excellent Vinho Verde from Portugal. We had decided not to the take the bus back to the ship and, after lunch, slowly made our way along the waterfront to the ship by 4:30pm. The ship pulled away at 6pm while we were eating dinner.

Today (Saturday) was our last full day at sea. It is about 1,000km to Malaga, Spain where we are scheduled to dock at 8am on Sunday. We will be passing through the southern Strait of Gibraltor between midnight and 2am, with the coast of Morocco on our right side as we go. We don't intend to wake up and take a look. We will take our longest excursion tomorrow to Granada where we will see the Alhambra, a part of Granada built by the Moors. The bus trip will take 1:45 hours each way, with about 2.5 hours in Granada, so it will be a full day. We are really looking forward to it because the architecture is very beautiful.

Still at Sea (Written Tuesday March 15)

We slept better on Monday night - the sea was less rough and our sleep wasn't disturbed by the bouncing around that we experienced the previous night. Fortunately, I haven't felt any sea sickness, whereas Ann has felt queasy when she forgot to wear her little wrist bands (with an acupuncture pressure point on the wrist). Whenever she has worn the wrist band (which she bought last year at CVS in Florida), she has felt fine.

We had to advance our clocks another hour last night, so we are now 3 hours ahead of Ottawa time (taking into account that they jumped ahead one hour on Sunday for EDST). We will advance our clocks another hour tomorrow night. This morning, we slept in until 8am and, instead of starting our day with a continental breakfast in our cabin, we headed for the restaurant where we were seated with a German couple and a woman from Vienna. The Austrian woman spoke some English so we were able to converse a bit, while I used my broken German. Most people mistake me for a German (I guess I look like a typical one...) and, in this case, the waiter probably seated us with "other" Germans.

While working out in the fitness centre this morning, I noticed that there were a lot more women there than men. Given the general older age range of the passengers on board, the ladies were mostly my age or older, and most in impressive physical condition. All the treadmills, except one, were being used by women and more were waiting for a machine to become available.

Today's weather was not very comfortable outside - I estimate the temperature was in the high 60's F (about 20C), the sky was mostly overcast and the NE wind continued at 20 to 40 km/h. Later in the afternoon, I sat at a table on the pool deck to read a book and even wearing a jacket, I got uncomfortably cold after a while, returning to our cabin to check my email before dinner.

We met our German friends again for lunch and were seated at an empty table for six. After a while, another couple joined us and the man, with the name of "Oriel", started dominating the conversation. He and his wife own 5 condominiums in Baco Raton which the rent out for winter occupancy. Ann took the opportunity to ask a lot of general questions about renting versus owning in Florida. If we did go to Florida for a month or two in future winters, we would want to take our dog but Oriel warned us that it would be hard to find a place that would accept a dog and, those that do allow dogs, would likely not be in an acceptable condition. We still have some further thinking and research to do on this score.

Ann won today's Scrabble game, coming up with a number of good words. Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow!

We joined Brian and Mary, who live on Jersey Island, at our dinner table at 5:30pm; the other couple (Tom & Marjorie) who were also assigned to our table had asked to be moved to a table for two a couple evenings ago. They aren't "anti-social" but seem to want to arrive early and rush through their dinner so they can leave early to catch the early theatre performance at 6:45pm. The rest of us usually don't arrive on time, and are in no rush to get through dinner, so everyone is happy with this new arrangement. Brian worked as a lawyer on the Jersey Island for 12 years before retiring 2 years ago. Mary retired a couple months ago from a health services management position. She has an MBA and we shared our impressions and experiences with the health care systems in Canada and Jersey Island. (Curiously, Jersey Island does not participate in the UK National Health Scheme, chosing to have a mostly private health care system). Residents pay about 65% of the cost to a GP, and the island government funds the remainder. Mary also explained the difference between the "United Kingdom" and "Great Britain": the UK includes the 4 "nations" of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, whereas "Great Britain" includes the UK and all Crown Protectorates, which Jersey Island is one. She was hard pressed to name others, but likely the Isle of Mann is also a protectorate. In days gone by, probably some of the Caribbean Islands may have been Crown Protectorates as well. Another curious detail about Jersey is that it has no "Access to Information" legislation, no anti-discrimination laws and a secretive tax system - all of which are desireable features for those who want to park money in a "tax haven". I'm finishing a book by Edward Rutherfurd called "The Rebels of Ireland" and the Jersey situation sounds like a continuation of the state support for the privileged people of Great Britain.

The theatre presentation this evening was a "local" talent show which we enjoyed (well, most of the performances). We weren't surprised to see that Oriel appeared as a stand up comic: Ann & I winced at his off-color jokes, but many people in the audience seemed to enjoy his routine. In our opinion, the best performer was a ship crew member from Barbados who sang the song "Hallelujah" by Leornard Cohen - she got the only standing ovation.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is another quiet day at sea as we continue to make progress towards Madeira. The dress tomorrow is "formal" and we have received an invitation to join other repeat MSC "cruisers" to a cocktail reception with the Captain at 7:30pm. I doubt it will be the highlight of the day, but it will break the monotony!

At Sea

Sunbathing - the idea seems pleasant enough to me, but my skin just isn't made for it. I spent 20 minutes on each side of me on the lounge chair between 8:20am and 9am. Later in the day, the damage was apparent: red, itchy bumps on my arms and chest, and general redness on my face. I thought the sun woudn't be that strong that early in the morning, but at 18 deg N latitude, I guess I was wrong! Anyway, my skin is clearing up slowly and I'm staying out of the sun.

There isn't much to report while we are at sea. I continue to go the fitness centre each day - the view from the panoramic windows there on Deck #13 is wonderful to take in while exercising. Lots of people use the equipment, especially in the late morning and early afternoon, but I can work around that.

Last year on our cruise, we met an elderly couple from Kiel - Dorothy & Wolfgang. In a Fado restaurant in Lisbon, they were seated at our table, and I have stayed in touch with them since then. They are very pleasant and kind people: Dorothy is 73 & Wolfgang is 78 years old, and is suffering the after effects of a stroke. Ann recognized them in a crowd on the second day of our cruise and we were pleased to be re-united again. On Sunday, we met for lunch in one of the restaurants, and were able to share our experiences since we last saw each other. Dorothy & Wolfgang have been on 2 other cruises since our cruise last year. The most exotic one was on the QE 2 from New York to Capetown, South Africa, via Rio and Montevideo. The trip took 3 weeks and life on the QE2 sounds more formal than on ours: Wolfgang had to wear his tuxedo 11 times for formal dinners! They still are able to manage their 24 foot (7 meter) sailboat in Kiel and had a wonderful summer of sailing. Due to Wolfgang's impairment, Dorothy has to operate the sailboat herself, which she finds easy to do, except for docking.

Scrabble is a game to which Ann challenges me daily. We usually find as quiet a place as possible on the ship to play our game, while Ann consumes a latte. I have won 2 games of the 3 we have played, although Ann is a good player and it's probably luck in my case!

We usually have lunch in the restaurant but today I wanted to try the cafeteria for a change. There was lots of selection but it was quite crowded and noisy. We're going to meet our German friends again tomorrow (Tuesday) for lunch.

The sea state was reasonably smooth on Saturday & Sunday, but last night (Sunday night), things changed. There was a mild storm with some rain and the wind was blowing about 60km/h from the east. With our heading of about 60 degrees, there was a lot of wind on the top deck this morning. During the night, we found it quite rough, with lurches that woke us up. It felt like we were on a jet plane encountering moderate turbulence. There seemed to be 2 major wave patterns - one coming from 30 degrees to port and the other about 30 degrees to starboard. Each of these cause a certain rolling of the ship and, since our cabin is at the stern, it also goes up and down quite a bit. By 10am this morning, the sky cleared and we started pulling away from the low pressure centre causing the wind. It is now late afternoon and, although there are still lots of white caps, the wind has dropped to about 40km/h, the sun is shining, and the ship isn't bouncing around quite as much. We certainly notice that athe ship's movements are significantly more noticeable on Deck #11 where our cabin is located compared with Deck #5 where the restaurant is located (and was where our cabin was last year). If you want to avoid some of the ship's tossing, I would recommend getting a cabin as low in the ship as possible.

During the night tonight, we will be passing the mid-way mark on our way to Madeira. Hopefully we don't have any more rough seas.

That's about all the news we have. Life is relaxing and comfortable on board. We meet people from all over the world and are never bored.

St. Lucia

On Thursday evening, after our day in Antigua, we decided to dine in the l'Obelisco restaurant which is at the stern of the ship on the 13th deck. The disguishing feature about this place compared to the "normal" restaurants on this ship is that there is a charge for the dinner, the food is prepared and serviced with a higher level of service and quality, and it requires a reservation. It took an hour to get a reservation by phone (the line was busy) and when we finally got our reservation confirmed &arrived in the restaurant, we were surprised to find that we were the only people there! Later, the waiter told us that the restaurant does very little business in the Caribbean or on transatlantic cruises. Only when the ship spends the summer in the Baltic and Norwegian coast does it fill up. The waiter surmised that a contributing factor is that the sun sets "early" in the Caribbean (about 6:30pm) which then obscures anything that could be seen out the picture windows. On the other hand, when the ship is in Europe, the sun doesn't set until much later (on one cruise in June, the ship is so far north that the sun doesn't set) and the dining patrons can not only view the ocean but usually they can view features on the land because the ship often stays within sight of the coast. Our dinner was very good but the place had no atmosphere (and no people watching opportunities).

We arrived in the St. Lucia harbour on Friday morning about 8am. The island receives more rainfall than Antigua and, therefore, was more green and lush. We docked in the port of Castries, which is the capital city of the island country. Ann had decided not to go on an excursion, and walked around town for a while before lunch. I had booked a catamaran cruise that took me (and 40 others) south along the coast from Castries. The weather was sunny with a fresh wind from the north. We stopped at Marigot Bay which is a beautiful tropical bay with a swaying palm trees overlooking a small beach. This location has been featured in sevearl movies including Dr. Doolittle, Blue Lagoon, Firepower and others. I noticed one yacht flying a Canadian flag before we turned back out to sea. Later, we tied up at a beach where we stopped for an hour for a swim in the warm Caribbean water. Later, we continued down the coast to see two steep mountain peaks called The Pitons, which are the reminants of a huge volcano in 1766 which killed the inhabitants of the nearby town of Souffriere. The north wind had freshened to about 40km/h from the north while we were making our way south to The Pitons, so when we turned back, we faced a strong headwind and rough seas. Fortunately no one on board got seasick - the captain of the boat said that the sea condition was unusual. I had expected that today's boat excursion would use the sail occasionally but the captain said he couldn't sail the distance required for the excursion without using the motors at all times, which took away some of the enjoyment for me. Maybe another time I will have an opportunity to have a sailing experience in the Caribbean.

Ann was relaxing on our balcony when I returned and I headed for the fitness centre to work out while the ship departed the port of Castries. I must say that St. Lucia appears to be a beautiful place, although Ann concluded that it was too poor for her to enjoy in the future. If she returns to the Caribbean, she would like to go back to San Juan which was not as poor as Antigua and St. Lucia. For me, the poverty wasn't so bad - and the natural beauty and welcoming nature of the people of St. Lucia convinced me that I may return some day.

We went to the performance in the theatre on Thursday evening, which was billed as one of memorable melodies. As it turned out, four opera singers must have arrived along with a trio of musicians (piano, cello & violin) and they performed a number of popular pieces by Shostacovich, Mozart, Verdi and Lehar. The quality was excellent and the audience gave them a standing ovation. They will perform a few more evenings before we arrive in Madeira next Friday.

This morning, Saturday, the sun is shining and the temperature is already about 30C. The ship is holding a heading of 66 degrees for the 2, 663 nautical miles to Madeira. I enjoyed my swim at the beach yesterday so much that I got my bathing suit on my 8am and went for a swim in one of the pools on the upper deck, followed by some sunbathing before the sun gets too hot. I brought my iPod along to listen to some podcasts that I had loaded in Antigua. Ann headed for the fitness centre.

The dress for this evening's dinner is "formal" so I'll have to suit up with a tie. While at sea, we aren't rushed to visit ports and can simply relax and enjoy the wonderful features of this beautiful ship.

Puerto Rico & Antigua

On Tueday evening, we discovered that our Puerto Rico excursion departed the ship at 8am the next morning, which was much earlier than we expected. We got up early - I grabbed some breakfast in the cafeteria 2 decks above our cabin, and we were ready to go by 8am. There was about 20 of us who were trooped off the ship to a waiting minibus where Mitzi the driver and tour conductor greeted us with a grating enthusiasm. After driving through San Juan and its outskirts, we headed along some narrow roads in the forest, up a steep hill, and finally into the El Yunque Rainforest National Park. We were expecting a tropical rainforest, but what we found was a definitely a rainforest, but located in a more moderate climate than one would encounter in Central America, for instance. Our tour guide continued the drive along the park roads, steadily climbing to over 2,000 feet. We stopped occasionally to get out and admire various sites such as a waterfall, a lookout tower and for a short (20 minute) walk along a forest path. By the time we returned to the ship about 1pm, we had concluded that it was an interesting experience, but the rainforest didn't meet the expectations that we had. The tour guide's irritating style reminded us of that of a Grade 2 teacher taking her class for a half-day excursion in the park.

We headed for one of the ship's restaurants upon our return, where we were seated with 2 couples - one from Switzerland, and the other from Germany. Service was unusually slow so we had a good opportunity to chat with the couples, although only one person of each pair spoke enough English to carry on a conversation with us. (One of these days, I must improve my German so I can reciprocate). After lunch, we departed from the ship again, walking out onto the cruise dock area of the San Juan harbour. We wandered around the small streets, stopping at a few of the shops. There were numerous jewellery shops, which don't really get much attention from us. After an hour or so, we decided to split up so Ann could shop without me hanging over her shoulder, and then she could also enjoy a cup of coffee. I headed for one of the 2 old Spanish forts which were built in the period 1640 to 1790. By the end, the Spanish had completed these impressive fortifications, as well as a 40 foot thick wall lined with cannons along the coastline of the peninsula upon which old San Juan is located. I took photos while walking along one of the coastal walls, finally coming to one of the forts. (Castillos as they are called in Spanish). I decided I didn't have time to tour it, so I slowly made my way through San Juan back to the ship. I called Ken using my cellphone and found that Ottawa was getting ready for a 15cm snowfall! Winter seemed so far away from the beautiful weather in Puerto Rico.

We met our dinner companions at our table at 5:30pm. One of the couples had brought a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne to share with us all. (They are "frequent cruisers" on MSC and the champagne was complimentary to them). We chatted through dinner and finally had to be asked to leave the dining room because the staff needed to get it ready for the next sitting. Ann & I headed for the Atrium where an excellent pianist kept our attention while Ann had a latte and we watched all the people going by. (We were surprised to see a group of young people from Italy - they looked like a class of junior high school students. A transatlantic cruise would be quite an experience at that age). We skipped the show in the theatre and watched a documentary movie called "Oceans" in our cabin.

The ship moved along at a moderate speed during the night and by sunrise at 6:40am, we were within sight of the island of Antigua. I headed for the fitness centre which has a panoramic view one deck above the bridge, where I "cycled" and watched our approach to the St. John's harbor of Antigua. We didn't have to meet up for our tour until 9:45am, so Ann and I had breakfast in the cafeteria (and met a couple of women from Ontario).

We had our choice of about 10 different tours in Antigua and we decided to take one that would get us out of town to an orchard for a walking tour of the area. As we were driven for 30 minutes from the ship to our orchard destination, we could see that Antigua is still a very poor country, but proud of their independence since 1981. We discovered that the orchard is in "Christian Valley" where the former British government, helped by a donation from the Baptist Church, established a government agricultural area to experiment with the growing of fruit trees on the island. (Antigua's history has been dominated by sugar cane and cotton, which was the reason thousands of slaves were brought here in earlier centuries. Both crops continued after slavery was abolished, but finally died out once tourism was established on the island. The government thought it would be a good idea to see if other crops could be established and that was the goal of Christian Valley). We were met by a small group of workers from the agricultural "station". They showed us examples of the fruit which they are growing, then they took us for a one hour walk up the hill side along a pretty rough trail. (Four people in the tour group realized they weren't physically up to the hike, so returned to the minibus). We saw examples of various fruit trees, but the station didn't resemble, in any way, an orchard that we would find in North America. No brush had been cleared between trees, and shrub covered the hillsides as well. The staff told us of their challenges to establish new trees primarily due to the hurricanes that come through, knocking down some of the new plantings. Some of the trees or plants we saw were guava, black pineapple, golden apple (not actually an apple), mango, date palms, and bananas. (The date palms were brought to feed camels which had been imported to work on sugar plantations. The camels got hoof disease and couldn't survive, but the date palms flourished!).

Our impression of Antigua is of a newly-independent country whose economy has become dependent on tourism. We didn't see large resorts - there may be some elsewhere on the island - but the Antiguans certainly do welcome cruise ships, which can be easily accommodated in their harbour. (During our visit, there were 4 cruise ships tied up in the harbour, so the little town of St. John's was bustling with visiting shoppers and sightseers).

I'm sitting on our balcony with Ann at the moment with in the late afternoon. The ship backed in this morning, with the stern facing the town giving us an excellent view. The sun is behind us, and we are cooled by a breeze from the north. We've really enjoyed our short stay and look forward to St. Lucia tomorrow.