The Last Post

After settling down for a couple of weeks a few things blog worthy appeared.  First on the list is our welcome committee.  Sheldon and Leanna brought the grandkids over for dinner the day we arrived home - Jayden (3), Madison (10) and Kinsley (18 months).  They arrived with all the noise, excitement and enthusiasm that only kids and puppies can generate.  The best feeling grandparents can have is to know they were missed!  Here they are!

 

Next on the list is another event for the ‘best and worst’ in the last post.  We should have had one more category – Most Enchanting Evening.  At midnight on the third day of crossing the Atlantic on the Costa Victoria we sailed over the equator so the captain and his staff of slaves hosted a late night Equator party on the swimming pool deck, complete with buffet, ice carving demonstrations, Brazilian music and dancing beneath a colossal map of sparking diamonds. The glossy sea continuously rolled and smoothed itself out underneath the bow, silent and deep and mysterious as we celebrated ‘life’ above.  It was a remarkable night, a memorable experience. 

Last on the list is a sad one.  We learned on April 14th that one of our friends from the Costa Victoria passed away in March.  Tom from Florida, one half of the Tom and Tom comedy team, retired New York motorcycle policeman, died of cancer.  Even though we only knew him for a short time, losing Tom is almost unthinkable because his spirit is so entwined with our Costa Victoria memories. Rest in peace, Tom. 

Rome - the end of the line

Well the Mariner of the Seas docked at Civitavecchia (the port city for Rome) on March 27^th and the officers had the audacity and authority to order us off the ship. We didn’t have to be told twice that we weren’t wanted, so we said goodbye to our cabin and walked bravely down the gangway. Inside the terminal Selma and Louis were hysterical. All upset because they spent the night in rather miserable circumstances in a warehouse, but we didn’t feel sorry for them because not every piece of luggage gets to visit the places they have.

Tumultuous describes the scene outside the ship, total confusion with absolutely no directions whatsoever for people doing independent travel. We escaped with Thelma and Louis following at our heels, down a narrow, busy road in the dock area where thousands of containers were stacked. Lucky us, we spotted a city bus not too far away. We asked if the bus was going to the train station in Civitavecchia and the driver nodded. Not only that but it was free! WooHoo! A few minutes later we were at the station (along with five thousand others) buying tickets to Rome Central Station (Roma Termini). The ride takes about ½ hour and then it takes another ½ hour to walk through the train station – large, very large. Our Expedia.ca prebooked hotel was a two star called the Termini, on the third floor of a building where every floor is a different budget hotel. A novel concept. We asked directions at Tourist Information and she told us exactly where to go. In no time at all we were standing outside the locked door on the third floor. A sign clearly stated that to check into the Termini Hotel we had to go to the Hotel Piram, two blocks down the street, where we would be given the keys. Oh well, Piram it would be. I asked Richard if he wanted to wait there with the luggage while I went and checked in but he thought we should stick together. It’s a good thing…plans can change you know.

‘Can you believe it, we’re in Rome!’ we said in our best cartwheel voices as we approached the Piram. We were abruptly told by Selda, the nice-looking Italian agent, that check-in time for the Termini was 2pm (it was then about 11am), could we please come back later. She also mentioned that for Termini guests, breakfast would be served in the dining room of the Piram and would cost ten Euros per person per day as it was not included in the rate. Uh oh! My soft and serene voice (ha ha) said, please look at my book! I have it written right here that breakfast is included in the rate, as per Expedia.ca. Selda said she would check on it for us. We returned at 2:00 and noticed, while we were waiting for Selda, there was lots of luggage in the lobby with cruise tags the same as ours. We had beaten the RCI transfer bus to the hotel by about two hours – the beauty of independent travel (and pure $#!& house luck). Anyway, hold on to your Vespa throttle because Selda had news. She said we would not have to go to the Termini after all, we would be staying at the Piram. We nearly fainted – an upgrade from a two to a four star hotel in central Rome? Astonishing! Worth hundreds of dollars! We were so excited at the gift we forgot to ask about breakfast. The room was lovely and we found out next morning that breakfast was included. So here are the stats: we prepaid CA$148.70 for two nights at the Termini through Expedia.ca. Breakfast cost 10 Euros per person per day – worth about CA$60 had it not been included. On the Piram Hotel website in March, a double room with breakfast cost 330 Euros per night, an astonishing amount when you consider that with exchange the room retailed for CA$450 per night plus tax. About $1,000 then, for the stay! Yee Haa what a gift, what a gift. Those Italians!! Those kind, generous, well mannered, much respected Italians! We have always loved them…. And we always will.

 

Rome was just great fun! We had been there before, in 1997 but we did not stay in a central hotel and that affected the entire visit. So here is a hint: if you ever go to Rome make sure you stay within walking distance of everything because it is time and money well spent. And while you’re at it, why not choose a lovely four star hotel instead of a more budget two star? We can recommend the Hotel Piram…. Ha ha ha ha…..

We spent three days walking and exploring the sights and sounds of Rome. There’s a lot to see so don’t go without a guide book, and make sure you enjoy pasta and wine on as many occasions as possible. We found the cost of food in restaurants was actually better this time than years ago when Italy was still on the lira. One of our favourite places was the McDonald’s Restaurant on the square near the hotel. We could sit at one of their outside tables, sip delightful and affordable cappuccino and linger for an hour or so in Italian immersion. Of course there was almost nothing Italian about it – the entire roadway around the fountain in the piazza is filled with open top tour busses laden with tourists, one after another, and all the customers sitting outside at the restaurant were tourists, and of course the place is after all, an American fast food restaurant…but the cappuccinos were sort of Italian. Ho hum.

We saw more digital cameras in Rome than we saw cars. We saw more scooters than digital cameras. We saw more tour busses than scooters. Rome was busy, definitely the busiest and most touristy city of the trip. The weather was lovely, not too hot for sight seeing but warm enough to enjoy a nice lunch outside. Here’s something interesting - if you do a search on Expedia.ca for a hotel in Rome you will find they list 1,519. Expedia Paris has a few more at 1,590 but New York only lists 572 and London 914. So that is why Richard and I continually remarked at how much Rome reminded us of Paris. Every little side street we looked down in Rome presented a vision of incredible architecture, beeping horns, rushing scooters, and always two or three or four neon hotel signs off in the distance. This street, that street and that one over there, every direction you look there are little one and two star hotels with ancient elevators and tiny lobbies. The only other city we have experienced this is Paris. But I guess all those thousands of tourists have to stay somewhere, don’t they?

On our walk the first afternoon we realised just how hungry we were, so we stopped at a little bakery and bought some specialties. One of our purchases was amazing, as per the photo. The buns sold for Euro 1.50 each – about CA$2.15 and were called ‘slagliatela con rieata’ if I read the baker’s writing correctly. As you can see it was pastry that is threaded round and around somehow. So complicated we could not believe it. In fact I was chatting with an employee about them because she spoke some English, and the baker heard our conversation and magically appeared. He said proudly that those creations were made by ‘he’. Don’t know how though. Said they were filled with cheese and sweet stuff that they didn’t know the English word for.

One afternoon we rode tram car number 5 from Roma Termini to the end of the line – a good way to sightsee without too much stress or expense. Well the one hour ride each way was interesting and for most of the way, very crowded. It was an eye opener because once outside Rome central, everything that can be written upon, is. Graffiti everywhere. And the suburbs we saw did not look so affluent. In the entire time we saw no single family dwellings – everyone lives in apartments.

Before long it was time to pack up Thelma and Louis for the last time and say Arrivederci Roma. March 29^th we caught a 4pm train to the Airport and waited for our 8pm Easy Jet flight to Gatwick. We locked Thelma and Louis to one of the long benches at Gatwick airport and hung out for the night. I mean we slept – who needs a hotel!

March 30, 2011 we caught the 10:50am Thomas Cook flight to Calgary. At lift off the TV monitors in the plane read ‘distance to Calgary 7061 kms with a scheduled arrival time of 1:25pm. We were very excited to get together with the family again, especially the grandkids. But we were sad too. That’s the reality of travel.

On arrival in Calgary we collected Thelma and Louis from the carousel and walked outside to catch the city bus to the train station. Then it was the C-train to downtown. Exactly the way we started five months ago. The no taxi rule was still in effect.

About those taxis – for all the whining and complaining our taxi expenses on the entire trip, not counting the vouchers we were given in Calgary by Air Transat, ran about CA$177.00. This does not count regular transportation like subway tickets, bus tickets, bus transfers, train transfers, etc., only taxis. I tried to keep an honest count but may have missed a couple.

Best Meal

- for Richard it was a spectacular cannelloni pasta dinner with pork tenderloin cooked by Vi and Dave at Santa Marianita Beach

- for Donna it was a prepared quiche we bought at a grocery store in Benidorm that we heated ourselves, served with a fresh salad and a glass of Spanish wine.  100% wonderful on the 14^th floor balcony at sunset

Most Memorable Cup of Coffee

- for Richard it was in Quito at a little restaurant. A pot of hot milk and a jar of instant coffee, make your own at the table. Doesn’t sound that good but it was remarkably delicious.

- for Donna it was an Italian espresso we stopped to enjoy on our excited walk to the port from the train station in Savona. Thelma and Louis had to wait for us inside the coffee shop.

Most Memorable Breakfast

- for both of us it was a bag of the biggest, flakiest, crunchiest, freshest croissants to ever come out of an oven. The bag of croissants and two bottles of water cost CA$1 and we enjoyed the lot while sitting in the sunshine on the steps of an historic church in Quito

Most Memorable Beer

- same for both of us. The first beer of the trip after hours of travel. We stepped off the bus in Benidorm and joined dozens of Brits who were sitting at outdoor pubs, enjoying the sun, enjoying life

Favourite Bottle of Wine

- Richard and Donna agree this one is a tie – sunset on Santa Marianita Beach tied with the bottle of wine on the promenade of the Mariner of the Seas during a formal night fashion show

Most Unusual Person we Met

- no doubt about it, Linda from Santa Marianita Beach gets both our votes

Worst Meal

- without a doubt, the unbelievably bad pasta dinner at the Inte Hotel in Chiclayo gets both our votes

Favourite Hotel

- for Richard it was the Continental Hotel in Guayaquil – and he loved the breakfast that went with it

-for Donna it was the gorgeous Boutique Hotel Plaza Sucre in Quito – at CA$45 per night with taxes and breakfast it surely was the bargain of the trip.

-second choice for both was the Hostal el Patio in Lima, Peru

Favourite Seaside Promenade

- no doubt about it, Benidorm wins hands down

Favourite City

- we agree on this one too. Lima takes first place, but Rome is a close second

Favourite Tourist Sight

-For Richard it was all the decaying ancient ruins around Chiclayo, Peru

-For Donna it had to be Corcovado – the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro

-Another hit for both was the start of the Dakar Race in Buenos Aires

Favourite Cruise

- the jury is still undecided on that one. We are going to have to take many more cruises to answer that correctly

Mariner of the Seas–14 Nights from Sao Paulo to Rome

After a 4 ½ hour red eye flight from Lima to Sao Paulo on the 12th of March, by 9am we were stumbling around the airport looking for the free shuttle bus to the Panamby Hotel. Believe it or not, the shuttle arrived and whisked us to the airport hotel in about 20 minutes. Early check-in (9:30am) was a gift. After hours and hours of researching hotels in Sao Paulo, we found most of them to be far too expensive for our meagre budget, so we were amazed at what CA$61.00 bought for us at the Panamby. A lovely, comfy room with a luscious bed that held us captive, dead as the Lords of Sipan, until supper time. We woke, showered and headed for the dining room at 7pm Brazil time. It was a buffet, quite lovely, quite delicious but fairly pricey as it cost almost the same price as the room! Have I mentioned that Sao Paulo is ‘squeeze the breath from your wheezing lungs’ expensive? Not as bad as Paris or Tokyo but almost. In spite of the whining wallet hardship we held ourselves together like troopers because the alternative was – go home and hide in the closet where the living is cheap but very dark! Immediately after dinner we rolled like stuffed sausages back to our room and slid into the sack again. Slept like we were Sipan Lords until the next morning. Then we were refreshed and excited! Getting to the port at Santos from the Panamby Hotel at Sao Paulo airport was no small accomplishment. Internet reports said a taxi to Santos would cost at least US$100. Ha! We were excessively determined not to pay anywhere near that much. We had read there was a bus...

Cruise morning anticipation is something like hurling through space doing one-handed cartwheels. Flying high, spinning fast and landing soft – our kind of travel. We skipped breakfast and took the free shuttle to the airport to catch the 8am Translitoral Bus to Santos, the port city for Sao Paulo. We asked where we were supposed to wait for Translitoral and another bus driver pointed to the place. We were there, ladies and gentlemen! Shoulder to elbow in the confusion and chaos of the busiest airport in South America. Right on time, there it was. Translitoral, oh my little dahling, carry me ahwaay. Bus to Santos, a 1 ½ hour ride, cost less than US$1000 but - we had to then take a taxi to the pier. Total came to about CA$70.00 and we had to move our own luggage – an astonishing outlay for people as cheap as we are. We consoled ourselves that it was worth every penny because the Royal Caribbean transfers were much more expensive and blah, blah, blah and moan and groan. We are getting pretty tired of moaning about taxis – have you noticed?

Check-in at Santos port was unquestionably the largest mess of pandemonious chaos we experienced on the entire trip. And whose fault was it? Our own (mouthed in a little tiny o-shaped whisper). The cruise documents, you see, clearly stated that RCI passengers should arrive at Santos no earlier than 2pm – and we were there and revving into cartwheel mode at 10:30am. What were we thinking? There were five ships in port – so how about these numbers? Five times say, 2000 passengers disembarking is, give or take, 10,000 people – and 5 times say, 2000 new passengers taking their place is, give or take, 10,000. So if all the twains shall meet then 20,000 people with their own agenda were trying to launch their cartwheels right in our face. What a mess! Completely disregard and strike from the record anything I have written in the past about crowds and/or pushing mobs. This was the all-time thronging icing on the ship of fool’s cake. Surely to goodness we will never do that again. Truth is though, we were quite worried about missing the transfer and thought that early was better. Ha, ha, ha….a lame excuse for pitiably poor planning. In fact I’m lucky the man with the wallet didn’t fire me.

Now here’s the good news. We will ignore what happened for those crowded hours – you don’t want to hear about it anyway. About 2:30pm we were able to check-in, make our way on board and find cabin 6295. Like temporary labour pains of giving birth, everything disappeared when we met the new baby! She was gorgeous! And she was all ours for fourteen nights – from Sao Paulo to Rome. Port stops in Rio, Salvador and Tenerife were only side-benefits. Who could ask for more? Well we could have – for some reason we were not upgraded to one of the suites. Nasty and unforgivable of RCI, really...

This is what Royal Caribbean writes about the ship – ‘guests on Mariner of the Seas experience one of the most exciting cruise ships ever built. With a total length of 1,020 feet, a weight of 138,000 tons and a capacity to hold 3,114 passengers, Mariner of the Seas has something for everyone. Part of the Voyager class of cruise ships, which represents the highest public space-per-guest ratio in the cruise market, this spectacular ship was designed with enhanced staterooms, expanded dining options and state-of-the-art recreational facilities like a rock-climbing wall, ice-skating rink and basketball court.’

This is what Donna writes about the ship. The Mariner of the Seas boasts 1,202 crew members who originated in 62 countries - a lot of people when you think about it. Also interesting, there are 123 couples working side by side on the Mariner. The ship’s focal point is an architectural masterpiece - a three story interior promenade with coffee shop, wine bar, Irish Pub and plenty of shopping. At each end of the promenade, glass elevators carry guests the height of the ship, fourteen stories. Our cabin had a promenade view – a window that overlooked the action day and night, with a window seat and adjacent sofa. An inviting living room area where we enjoyed breakfast room-service on several occasions. Details of the cabin are long and fat, way too extensive for this narrative, so you will have to look at the photos and take our word for it – unless Royal Caribbean puts us on their payroll and makes us couple 124.

Remember where we boarded the ship? Sao Paulo, right? Brazil. So can you guess what nationality dominated everything on board? Of the 3,114 passengers about 75% spoke Portuguese. Let me tell you there were more Brazilians on the Mariner than we left behind in Brazil (almost). Hundreds of them and at least half were young – in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. And what fun people to watch. Brazilians love life. They have music and movement embedded in everything they do. A comedian at one of the night shows did a skit about three cultures and how differently they might approach the desert bar on the Mariner. First was a French man who picked up a plate walked back and forth along the buffet, turned up his nose, put the plate back and walked away. Next was an American. He picked up a plate and with rapid movements loaded the plate to the hilt, started to walk away and then quickly returned to pile on two more pieces. Next was a Brazilian man who picked up a plate as music started playing somewhere 100 miles away. He started dancing along the line, back and forth, the plate moving up and down as he made a couple of selections. The comedian nailed the cultural quirks bang on and brought down the house with laughter.

Most Brazilians were slim and trim, some very wealthy, many were extremely good looking and wow! you should have seen the clothes! They outdid the Italians and French on the Costa Victoria by a nautical mile. Man oh man we mature ladies have gotta get rid of our runners and get into something a little more dramatic, like five inch heels! And we gotta get busy and hem up our skirts too – there was more leg showing on the promenade on formal nights than at some famous beaches during a heat wave (maybe not Ipanema). On one of the three formal nights we skipped dinner in the dining room, ordered a bottle of wine at the wine bar and sat and sipped at a ringside table on the promenade. It was one of the most memorable and fun nights of the cruise. A fashion show with top class performers. Gorgeous Latino hunks with babes that would rival the runways in Paris or Milan. Wink, wink, fortunately for Donna, Richard failed to notice that some of the low cut evening dresses had cleavage bubbling over the top and hems that swished high above ridiculously long legs and pricey shoes. Yes they wore expensive jewellery too, and that’s another thing he failed to notice (ha ha).

These people who seem to love life so much brought plenty of kids along with them, maybe Spring break? We don’t know. English speakers were definitely a minority and it did us a world of good to see first hand that our way is not the only way and it is not necessarily the best way.

We couldn’t help but compare the two cruises – our 20 night Atlantic crossing in December on the three star Costa Victoria and our fourteen night Atlantic crossing in March on the much newer and much larger 4.5 star Mariner of the Seas. We concluded that the quality of the food in the dining room on both ships was equal, as was the dining room service. We sat at a larger table on the Victoria and all of our table mates were real characters – people who made us laugh so hard every night that we never wanted to miss a meal for fear we wouldn’t be able to catch up. Our table mates on the Mariner were all nice and very interesting but much more reserved.

Even though the ship held about 800 more people, lines at the Windjammer Buffet on the Mariner were much shorter and less confused than on the Victoria, mainly because the area was larger and there were many more work stations. But the seating for the buffet was all inside on the Mariner, albeit spread through several massive areas that were surrounded by wall to wall windows. Inside buffet seating on the Victoria was very crowded and the Italians always seemed to be grabbing everything just ahead, but the outside seating area on the back deck, sheltered from the wind, was fabulous and at breakfast every morning, the feeling and sense of place was magical as the sun and the ocean were ‘right there’.

No question about it, the Mariner wins hands down when it comes to entertainment. RCI runs top-class Vegas style shows with big name entertainers who are always good. Each production show with RCI’s own orchestra, dancers and singers (there are at least two of these types of shows on every seven night cruise) cost at least $1 million to set up. Best of the best entertainment though was the Mariner’s Show on Ice – simply spectacular with professional skaters, some of them from Alberta, and enough exotic props and costumes to whirl your mind. The show on ice was the best ice show we have ever seen – anywhere, ever!

Now let’s talk about fitness. No question, the Mariner has state of the art equipment while the Victoria has state of the arc. Low ceilings above the treadmills made the Victoria dangerous for tall people on the run, and their equipment was old. Both ships had lovely walking decks for outdoor exercise, and both ships had spectacular swimming pool decks that were super busy when the weather was right. Costa closed all their pools at a certain time every night though, but on the Mariner several pools and hot tubs remained open 24 hours.

The cabin on the Mariner was larger and had a window, but we paid for it because a promenade view cost more. In fact the cash outlay for both cruises was about the same, but of course in one way the Victoria was better value because it was six nights longer and had a more interesting itinerary with ten ports in five countries. But it was not near as classy. Another thing, in the middle of winter it is much nicer to sail from a cold place to a warm place as we did on the Victoria. Returning to Europe in March on the Mariner meant that everyone was indoors for the last few days because Mediterranean wind and clouds  made the pool deck, other than the hot tubs, off-limits. Even though the Mariner was more expensive it was still money well spent because the ship is an architectural miracle. Just wonderful to walk around and actually see how clever the architects were to design and create such an elegant, classy, massive city that actually has to float - and has a delightful interior promenade, dozens of lounges scattered on various decks, a large library, an internet room (internet cost $35.00 per hour on the Mariner), a skating rink, rock climbing wall, an inline skating track, basketball court, miniature golf course and so on. It also boasted several floors of curved staircases with glitzy lighting that offered photos opportunities galore. There was always at least one live band playing somewhere, and a DJ playing music on the promenade, and a quiet lounge with a guitar player and so on. And those Brazilians? Well they were rocking the boat with feet dancing to the music…

About shopping. The Mariner had a large duty free cosmetic store onboard – I mean big. We must have been busy somewhere else on the ship or just weren’t paying attention because we did not see this, but when the ship finally reached International Waters which is the maritime rule for duty free and casino opening (usually 50 miles from shore) the cosmetic store unlocked its doors. Within just a few hours (we heard two to be exact) the Brazilians had bought the shelves clean. Literally almost nothing left and a testament to how high prices really are in Brazil.

The twenty night sailing on the Victoria in December gave us calm seas all the way across the Atlantic. We could not believe it. The fourteen night sailing back across the Atlantic in March was the same, barely a white cap. Richard’s sea bands never saw the light of day except on the busses in Ecuador and Peru. Would we do another trans Atlantic cruise if we had the opportunity? You bet we would, they are one of the best travel values on earth.

Next report will be from Rome, get your Vespa ready!

Chiclayo and the Lord of Sipan

This is an artists conception of the Lambayeque area near Chiclayo called Sipan, showing the royal Moche temple where burial site of the Lord of Sipan was found in 1987.  It dates from about 1000 to 1300AD and predates the arrival of the Incas in that area by about 200 years.  Today the pyramids look like eroded mounds because they were literally made with sand stones (adobe).  Every El Nino year the ruins disintegrate more and more from the heavy rains.  We were thrilled to see them in such a state and realize that some day they will disappear completely - the hand of nature is eternally stronger than the frailty of human hands.

 

 

Our trip around the area was booked through Moche Tours and was informative and fun under the direction of tour guide, Juan – originally from Lima.  He now lives in Chiclayo and proudly guides people around his favourite ruins and helps them understand the history and culture of the Moche.

 

 

The tomb of the Lord of Sipan.  Some archaeologists hold it to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries in this region of the world in the last 30 years, as the main tomb was found intact and untouched by thieves.  The clothing of the warrior and ruler suggest he was approximately 1.67 m tall.  He probably died within three months of governing. His jewellery and ornaments indicate he was of the highest rank, and include pectoral, necklaces, nose rings, ear rings, helmets, falconry and bracelets.  Most were made of gold, silver, copper, gold and semi-precious stones.  In his tomb were found more than 400 jewels.

The Lord of Sipan was wearing a precious necklace with beads of gold and silver in the shape of peanuts represent the earth. The peanuts symbolized that men came from the land, and that when they die, they return back to the earth; the Moches harvested peanuts for food. The necklace has 10 kernels to the right, which are gold, signifying masculinity and the sun god, while the kernels on the left side are silver, to represent femininity and the moon god.

Below the tomb of the Lord of Sipan, two other tombs were found: that of a priest and of the Old Lord of Sipan. DNA analysis of the remains established that the priest was contemporary with the Lord of Sipan.  Artefacts in his tomb are believed to be related to religion: the cup or bowl for the sacrifices, a metal crown adorned with an owl with its wings extended, and other items for worship of the moon.

The burial site was reconstructed inside the Royal Tombs Museum of Sipan.  It's main attraction is the Lord of Sipan and his entourage, who accompanied him to the afterword. The warriors who were buried with him had amputated feet, as if to prevent their leaving the tomb. Two accompanying women were dressed in ceremonial clothes.  Dogs, llamas, and more than 80 works of ceramic pottery were also buried in the tomb.

For more information about the Lord of Sipan, take a look at this:

Link to information about the Lord of Sipan