Halifax

Our last port before New York is Halifax. Rexie and I have not been here since 2001 and boy has it changed. The city appears to be growing economically and we think we could spend several days there if we visited for more than one day.

There were many double-decker tour buses, which reminded us of London. Here is just one of them. They were all decorated.

We took a duck tour on Halifax's Harbor Hoppers.

Before entering the harbor, we took a tour through the city. As we climbed the hill, we saw the citadel which has always been a fort that helped keep Halifax safe. A number of guns are still on display an d we sere surprised to find out that Halifax was not taken by any enemy throughout the years.

They still have a guard on duty each day.

Next, we swung around Victoria Park. This is like Central Park in New York City. Plenty of open space, flowers, etc. right next to downtown Halifax.

After riding through the city some more, it was time to go on the water.

Halifax has a boardwalk that is 4 kilometers long, and this was our water tour.  When were here previously, the casino was new and only a few buildings were on the shoreline. Now, it is built up or currently being built.

This is the narrows at the end of the harbor where the bridges cross.

We also saw our ship from the water.

We had more pictures taken of just us than we ever have in the past. here we are on the harbor hopper. Notice that it was cold.

Well, our trip would not be complete without me finding a mailbox in Halifax. Without a doubt, it is the most amazing mailbox I have ever seen in any country. You must admit, it is something else.

We have one sea day before we land in New York. It has been an amazing trip in many ways.

I must be off!

Sea Days - six in a row

After leaving Vigo, Spain we have six sea days in a row before getting to Halifax. We have never had that many sea days in a row ever before. It is very different and challenging for the crew to keep us all entertained.

Both of us are sleeping so much. I never thought I could sleep that much, but we are.

The other day, we celebrated Mother's Day on Board. Each woman received a special dessert at dinner.

We have been going to the morning show each day where the Cruise Director, Mike Pack, talks about the ship and what is going on. We have come to really enjoy him and believe him to be a great Cruise Director. He is funny.

We are going to many of the shows and the other night we went to hear Chuck Wagner. Chuck has been in movies and many different Broadway shows. His show was awesome, but even more so for Rexie. Chuck picked her to sing "If ever I Would Leave You" from Camelot.

I was so dumbfounded that I forgot to take a picture while it was happening. Anyhow, Rexie enjoyed it tremendously.

We have also been watching some of the events occurring throughout the ship. One of the more interesting was the egg-drop event. Here, each team had a chance to drop their egg after packing it inside some protection (had one minute to wrap it) from the 5th floor to the 3rd floor. They then had five seconds to unpack it and see if the egg survived or not.

Because of the limited time allowed to pack and unpack the egg, many failed to survive. However it was amazing how many actually made it and the different forms the packing material took. Here is one with a parachute attached. It survived.

The crew are working so hard for us. We told our room steward, Frank, to not make us any more towel animals because we had seen them all before and wanted to let him do a little less work.

However, Rexie is now into elephants and her son, who is also on this cruise, bought her a elephant picture frame for Mother's Day. (see second photo). So, I asked Frank to make Rexie an elephant some day when he had a few moments. Here is what he did. It was brilliant to put it in her shoes. She loved it!

Now, both elephants have a friend until the end of the cruise.

That is all for now. Another Sea Day and then Halifax.

I must be off!

Vigo, Spain

I have to admit, we let Vigo, Spain do it's own thing today and we took it easy.

We had booked an excursion since one of our friends wanted to see mussel beds. After looking at the description closer, it indicated a lot of walking. Rexie and I said, no way! We cancelled the excursion and just went out on the dock to get her a magnet for her magnet wall.

Besides, the weather was cold and overcast. AS we exit the terminal, on the left are a number of small craft.

On the right is an indoor mall near the dock and we said that was as far as we were going.

It is amazing the different street musicians you see on the streets. This is the first accordion player we have seen, ever.

I am sure Vigo has some interesting sights, but from the ship it looked like any other old European city.

We headed back to the ship and took another nap.

I must be off!

Lisbon, Portugal

As we get off the ship in Lisbon, Portugal, we see these mini-taxis all over the place. As you can see, most are really decorated.

We have decided to take a wine tasting excursion because we have enjoyed them so much in the past in France and Italy. Of course, we have to go through the town to get to the vineyard. As you can see, the downtown area is very beautiful.

Lisbon is built on seven hills, just like Rome and Cincinnati. At one time, they had seven different elevators to take people up the hills. Now, only three are left. This one was built by a student of Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower Fame.

As we are leaving town, we see the old Roman Viaduct that was built to bring water to the town.

A little further on, we see the wall of an old Roman fort.

We soon get to the winery. While it was an interesting place, none of us liked the wine. We tasted a red, white, and a port. Supposedly, because they are grown in sandy soil they are considered the best wines in Portugal. Not to us.

The barrel room where they aged the wines was extremely interesting. The wines are ages in oak barrels, with the largest barrel holding 6,387 liters of wine.

After leaving the Colares Winery, we finally saw a vineyard. We understand that these vines are all cultivated in small vineyards and worked manually.,

This wine tasting was nothing like our previous wine tastings. It was interesting, but not great.

Next, we head to Cape Roca which is the westernmost point of Portugal and continental Europe. In old, old times this point was considered the end of the earth. It was extremely windy here.

There were hundreds of bikers out at this point. Apparently, it is a Sunday thing to ride your bike out here. 

Not sure if this was the reason, but the police presence was very impressive with some armed to the teeth.

After this, we drive back to our ship. On our way, we pass under Lisbon's Golden Gate bridge, which is very similar to our Golden Gate Bridge as it was built by the same iron works company.

I spied this sign as we neared the ship. Not sure what would make that water closet the sexiest on earth, but they are boasting that it is. None of us could even guess what gimmick they could be boasting about.

We had looked all day for a mailbox to add to my collection, but to no avail. However, as I was reviewing the photos, guess what I found. Yes, I found my mailbox and didn't even know I had taken a picture of one. All is right with the world.

Tomorrow, Vigo, Spain.
I must be off!