A new day DAWNS in the Bermuda Trianagle

'TWAS a dark and stormy night (and day too for that matter)  in the Bermuda triangle!   The rain fell hard!  But try as it may, most drops couldn't seem to reach the ground, due to the relentless, driving wind that changed it to an umbrella-defeating horizontal deluge!  Struggling to maintain an upright position against the howling barometric demons on-slaught, I was struck by the thought "was it really possible to drown while standing on (relatively) dry ground?"!  Just as my mind (And body too) was about to secome to natures version of "water-boarding", through the deluge there loomed a "huge white hulk".  No, make that the "huge white HULL" of the "DAWN", my new home away from home, for the next 6 weeks or so anyway!  

 Okay okay ,so maybe I exaggerated  a wee bit !
But it was sort of  damp, drizzly and overcast,with a stiff breeze blowing when we pulled into the port in Bermuda!

The next morning  the sun came out and  it was an absolutely  GORGEOUS  day!  Naturally since I was on call and ship-bound all day!!

The ferry boat to Hamilton backs up spins a 180 degree turn and heads for  town.

    

This is the central Atrium in the Dawn, with glass elevators, a bar and stage
for musicians.  There are cafes and restaurants lining the edges of  6 decks  including the
Internet cafe.

Looking down into the Atrium from a glass elevator

The kids have their own cafe with kid sized tables and food
serving tables!

Overall the layout of the ship is very similar to the Jade with many of the offices in the same place.  The Captain and the staff captain are very pleasant and personable.   And more importantly the staff I work  with in the medical center are all very nice and quite competent.

This Friday, Karla is coming out to spend 2 weeks on the ship with me so I may not get much blogging done!

The Bahamas.... one more time!

Not much new to blog about.  I guess when the most exciting picture I have is a seagull making a dive-bombing attach on a  guest eating breakfast outside on the aft deck….. well that about says it all!

This is our Medical outpost so to speak on Great Stirrup Cay! (GSC)  Not bad especially when you compare it with the "Hut" that they tell me used to serve the purpose ... until it blew away in a storm!  Now everyone's comment is the same when they walk in, "Hey! you've got air conditioning!"

I snorkeled out around the rock the   last time I was there.  Not much to see,   but at least  I got wet!

Some of you have ask about how the passengers get over to the private island (GSC).  The ship anchors about a mile off shore and there are a series of tenders that transport the passengers as well as the staff and the food for a thousand ( +or- ) meals from the ship to the Island and then hauls it all back at the end of the day! 

Tender along side the SKY

07:30 in the morning , the tender is loaded  with the days rations1

  The are a group of people who live on the island in dorms that NCL maintains. They lifeguard, they run the small local “Straw market”, rent the floats and do a lot of the maintenance on the island.  They are working on domesticating a school of stingrays so that patrons can get the experience of swimming with and feeding the rays,  without getting stung!  So far they haven't had much luck making good "Brits''out of them!  They  won't Q-up to be fed they just go into a feeding frenzy and the handlers get covered with "hickies" from their over-anxious charges!

Tomorrow (June 14) I sign off the ship in Nassau and fly to Boston and sign on the NCL Dawn.  And start making the Boston to Bermuda trip.  Hopefully there will be some more interesting things to blog about.     

     ‘till then Happy sailing!

Kroozing! Bahama Style

The is my new ship!  The sky is a little smaller than the  Jade, but has more personal feel. 

Actually this is the Sky .   Which used to be the “Pride of Aloha” ( hence the flowers that still adorn her sides) when she was stationed in Hawaii.  




We  do 2 cruises per week. 3 and 4 days long.
We embark Friday and go to the Great Stirrup Cay (GSC) , a privately owned island the offers beaches, snorkeling, parasailing and eco tours, for a price of course.   We have a medical hut that we hang out in and provide basic first aid to the passengers that get cut or scraped or stung by a stray jelly fish.  

Most of the day there is nothing going on and no internet so it is a bit boring to say the least.  Since we have to have a Doc on the boat at all times, GSC duty is what you get to do on your day off!  But I guess it could be worse!!!    Saturday night we head for Nassau .   We spend Sunday in Nassau  then head back to Miami that evening and arrive Monday morning. and unload the passengers, clean the ship, and get the next load of passengers loaded up and then we set sail that evening for Freeport.   
We arrive in Freeport about  0630 and spend the day there or in the nearby town of Lucaiya which has a lot more to offer in the way of shopping and dining. Which wouldn’t take much, come  to think of it, since Freeport  has nothing besides a few shops built next to the dock  that sell island print shirts, dresses and carvings.

The Atlantis hotel from our ship in the cruise ship docks

 Then we are off that night for GSC  and we spend Wednesday doing that routine again and then its overnight to Nassau.  Thursday we spend in Nassau before we head back to Miami that night, arriving Friday morning to start the process again

Miami gets some spectacular sunsets the  we get to see as we head out for the Bahamas.  Lets see how does that go; "Red sky in the morning , Sailor take warning, red at night sailors delight!"

La Alhambra Granada and the Sierra Nevada mountains!

Sitting at the base of the 11,000 foot high Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Alhambra has stood guard over the city of Granada for centuries.  Mohammad I al-Ahmar the founder of the  Nasrid dynasty, started the construction on the Alhambra in 1238.  Other Sultans lived and rule there and added their own flares to the construction of Palace/Castle/Fort/Honeymoon suite! The honeymoon hide away was chosen for that purpose by Charles the V for his bride, Isabella in the early 1500's after the Spanish had taken control  from the last of the Nasrid Dynasty Sultans in in1492.  The snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains provided year-round running water to Granada and  the Alhambra ( not to mention some decent skiing I understand!)  Architectural styles were as different as round vs square night vs day,  in vs out, or Arab vs Christian!

The Sultans built round turrets on the walls....

The Catholic monarchs made theirs square!

The Sultan built this country house primarily for the horses and the garrison
that took care of them.  Although the gardens were beautiful,  the outside of
their buildings were fairly plain!

Compare this squared off, ornately decorated interior of the palace of Charles V

Even the present day  street light reflect the cubist
tendencies of the Catholic occupants of Granada!  

Inside of Charles V palace.....SURPRISE! It's round!

The pool in front of the Sultans Palace of Lions shows the plain exterior.

The interior is incredibly ornate !

  

This 12 lion fountain, a gift to the Sultan from a prominent  Jewish family,
represents the 12 tribes of Israel.   It makes an interesting commentary on
the Arab and Jew relations of the day. 

The balcony overlooks the queens gardens

 Washington Irving is credited with saving the Alhambra!
He discovered the abandoned palace in 1829 while
serving as Ambassador to Spain.  His book, "Tales of the Alhambra"
helped to bring the historical site to the worlds attention
and in 1870 it was declared a national Monument!

 This will be the last blog for a few months.  I am flying home in the morning.  The next installments will not be until June when I go the Ship the NCL DAWN which sails between Boston and Bermuda.
Thanks for letting my share my travels with you

Madeira! the Vertical garden island

I am not sure what the mortality rate is for farmers, but I am certain if you are a banana farmer or a vintner - especially  if  you imbibing  in you wine or banana rum while working  in your fields its got to b e pretty high.  Why?....   because while the Island of Madeira has nutrient-rich soil,  it  is arranged  vertically, in terraces, rather than horizontally.  A simple slip and fall can  result in serious injury or worse......  you could break your bottle of Madeira wine!

Madeira has an impressive elevation of  6100 feet!  Not bad for an island that is
 14 x 35 mile in its  widest and longest section

The bananas are bagged on the plants  to protect
them from damage and to act as a  mini "green house"
for the cooler months of the year

Several small harbors dot the shore line

The sea cliff in the background doesn't look that steep from
this perspective...

But looking over  the edge,  it appears to be at least straight vertical!  Our guide said it is the 2nd highest  Sea cliff
in the world !
 

The most impressive sight of the day was the wall of clouds off the island the indicated the edge of a low and high pressure front.  Fortunately we were on the high side of the front, and had beautiful weather!

Barcelona; Christopher Columbus, ?founder of the DNC?

Barcelona Spain: A culturally diverse city with many
famous residents over the centuries.  In the port section of the city is a rather imposing statue of Christopher Columbus who is rumored to have not only "Discovered" the "New World" but also to have been the first documented Democrat!  As far as discovering the New World goes, I think there are some Norsemen and a some native American Indian tribes who would question his claim of "discovery".   But as for being the quintessential Democrat,  the evidence speaks for itself!!

"He left on his voyage of Discovery without a clue as to where he was going. Once there he didn’t know where he was.  When he returned, he had no idea how he had gotten there!  And he did it all on a government grant, funded by hard working  taxpayers"!

    On my last visit to Barcelona I encountered a few hundred Spaniards demonstrating against the government and its fiscal policies etc.  They were blocking the roads and making noise but were not violent as far a I saw.

The police were watching and trying to route traffic to avoid any major problems.

















The city of Barcelona is an interesting city to explore with a large variety of architectural style.

This Arch is the "Arc de Triomf"

The modern art is on the waterfront in a section of high-rise condos and offices.

There are racks of bicycles just like these all over town.  They are for the residence of Barcelona only and they can pick  one up and drop it off anywhere
in the city making cheap green transportation

Fresh fruit, vegetables and mushrooms!

 You can imagine how much food it takes to keep the  guest all fed and happy.  The supply people do a great job off-loading trash to recycle and loading food and drinks to take care of the 3500+ people for the 9 days on board!

Potatoes, unions tomatoes and Oxygen tanks