Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Amsterdam



Thursday, August 16, 2013


The date for our much anticipated Anniversary Cruise is finally here. Bonnie and I flew to Amsterdam, arriving yesterday morning (Aug 15) to begin a cruise beginning in Amsterdam and finishing in New York 28 days later. We are traveling with our best friends, John and Marcy, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Imagine that - an 80th anniversary cruise!


The flight Atlanta-Amsterdam was effortless and smooth. Flying through the night does leave one a bit tired and disoriented but that's what it takes to get to Europe. We took a train from the airport to Amsterdam proper then a cab to the hotel. When we opened the door to the hotel we saw stairs, lots of them, heading straight up, up, up. With four pieces of luggage and being tired, this was just what the doctor ordered. These stairs led to the check in area and from there were more stairs! Fortunately they had a big brass hook attached to a cable that you could hook your bag to and with the push of a button, up it went. Pretty slick



Lots of steps! Hook for luggage was AFTER these stairs

Easy up with luggage

After getting thinrgs into the room (very tiny) we headed out to explore and have a snack. We found a charming place just a block away and sat canal side in the sunshine for a relaxing light lunch.


Our hotel in Amsterdam
Hotel on this canal

Canals everywhere

Living on a houseboat is very popular




Greg's good friend, and the bass player for The Obsessed (Greg's band),  lives in Amsterdam so we contacted him and made supper plans. Guy (pronounced Gee, said with hard G) came to the hotel and walked us to the restaurant, Momo, an Indonesian fusion kind of place, very chic and euro. We were joined by Guy's girlfriend, Alexis, who was not only beautiful but charming and bright as well.


Alexis and Guy


John and Marcy joined us and the six of had an amazing meal of sushi and other Asian delights. Tons of food and lots of flavor. Guy insisted on picking up the tab and would not be talked out of it. Delightful evening for sure.  Back at the hotel we truly crashed, having been up for close to 36 hours. Mercy!

 We awoke this morning pretty refreshed and had a simple but super breakfast provided by the hotel. We then ventured out to explore and maybe go to a museum. It started to rain so we ducked unto a local eatery and had a light snack instead.



Quick bite before going to ship



Man sized chess game

More people travel on bikes than cars




From there it was back to the hotel, load into a cab and head to the pier to get on the ship. You would think this is a crowded, difficult process but it is anything but. They take your luggage right out of the cab (you see it later in your stateroom). You go to the sign in area and you are checked in, given an ID card, and that's about it.  Next thing you know you are on the ship!  Of course we had done preregistration online before leaving Knoxville. 

We met up with John and Marcy, headed out to eat, and were interrupted by an announcement that it was time for the lifeboat drill. The purpose of this is to have a dry run at finding your assigned lifeboat position. When that was over we did grab a bite. During this time the ship got underway so we watched as we cruised right by downtown Amsterdam.


Next we headed to the spa where they were doing drawings for various spa treatments. Bonnie won one of them, a treatment for getting rid of bloat and toning up. 


We had a great dinner, browsed around the ship, then went off to our room for a very welcome bedtime.  



50th Anniversary Cruise

In August Bonnie and I celebrated our 50th Anniversary by taking a cruise.  We left home on August 14, 2013 and returned September 14.  The cruise started in Amsterdam from which we cruised the Baltic Sea, stopping in ports in Germany, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, and Denmark.  We spent a day back in Amsterdam and then continued the trip, visiting Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia.  The final port of call was New York City where the trip ended.

Needless to say, the trip was fantastic.  We were accompanied by our dear friends, John and Marcy Baucom who were celebrating their 30th Anniversary.  We jokingly refer to this trip as our 80th Anniversary Cruise!  You may remember that it was John and Marcy who visited us in Spain back in the Spring.  

Coming aboard the ship in Amsterdam were Lana and Bob Daverman, great friends of ours and the Baucoms as well.  They were aboard for the trans-Atlantic half of the cruise, having done the Baltic Sea cruise several years ago.  Together we shared and enjoyed many meals, sights and adventures.

I had planned to do a blog of this trip as I did of our Spanish adventure in April and May.  Alas, internet service aboard the ship leaves much to be desired and it was technically impossible (too slow and expensive as well) to create the blog and upload photos which is internet intensive.  I did do a daily diary, with photos, that I sent to family and friend via e-mail, so I do have a record of what we did and saw.  My hope is to gradually transfer this information and photos to this blog so that there is a permanent record of this special trip.  

So...I will get to work and see how this project unfolds.  Postings will be irregular but I will try to keep moving forward as best I can.







Thursday, May 30, 2013

Market day in Olháo, Portugal

When I went to pay for a parking slip at 8:00 am Saturday morning in Olháo, I encountered the scene you see in the first photo below.  Man, was it busy.  What was happening was market day.  Bonnie and I spent a couple of hours walking around, seeing, hearing, feeling the market experience.  What is exotic and photogenic to us is just everyday to them.  Enjoy market day in Olháo.


Always time for a café con leche




Scouts were raising money for a project

Sort of a churro type of thing



Bag of snails




A fashion 'don't'








Indoor vegetable, fruit, and meat market



Beautiful jars of honey




The fish market was loud, smelly, busy



An idea for place markers for your next dinner party?!?

So silvery! Eels??

Parts is parts...



Octopus, the region's specialty

Reminds one of the tiled roofs of Spain...


Now that is a hunk of tuna!





Snails in abundance


Grains

Not sure what they are looking at


We encountered this lady in Tavira on the Roman Bridge two days
before.  She loudly shakes a single coin in her plastic cup shouting,
"MONEY...MONEY...MONEY!"



Big orange country