This is a long time coming. It was a busy summer.
I had a wonderful time on my trip with my Dad. The weather was great and the seams calm. Our first stop was Half Moon Cay, in the Bahamas, which is owned by Holland America. You have to be tendered into the island. The colors of the water was beautiful. Different shades of turquoise and a blue sky to match. The flowers on the island are vivid in color. Then we spent two days at sea.
Next stop was Cartagena, Columbia. It was very hot there. To go shopping in town would have cost $15.00 and $40.00 round trip by taxi. Decided I did not need to shop. There was a store in port. It was amazing to see all the containers waiting to be loaded on ships. There were huge iguanas running around. There was a tucan that I swear had been told to get ready for his closeup, cause he posed for me. Had to try the local beer.
Next on to the Canal. Now that was an amazing adventure. I have been through locks before, but these were awesome. What a system. It was 103 degrees. I was running from one end of the ship to the other taking pictures. I have a certificate that shows I "swam" in the ditch. The canal takes all day to navigate through.
We sailed to Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The port itself was not much. We took a trip to a town called Sarchi, in the mountains. They are noted for painting carts that were used to transport coffee beans down to the poret. The largest one is in the Guiness Book of Records. The wheels in particular do look like a Mariners Star. All the painting was done by hand. We saw a church totally made of metal. The orginal stone church had been destroyed in an earthquake, and when they rebuilt it, did not want ito be be destroyed again. The inside of the church was beautiful.
We stopped in Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. The people of this area greeted us as we arrived. They did native dances and played music. The costumes were very interesting. The men wore leather that had been tooled, bells on their ankles, and the headdresses were of peacock feathers. They had a shopping venue there at the port. They told us if you took a taxi ride, the drivers do not have licences, so you go at your own risk.
Huatulco, Mexico was our next stop. There was a village right at the port, so you could walk to the plaza. There was an inlet with all sorts of boats that you could take rides on along the coast. At the beach you could rent all sorts of water equipment to enjoy your day. There were lots of natives trying to sell you things. The hills surrounding the area were all brown.
Acapulco, Mexico. Now there was a big city. Everything is built on the side of the hills. Ourt tour guide show3e4d us the diamond district. The area were houses cost a minimun of $500,000.. He showed us where Oprah has her home. McDonalds is the American Embassy. Walmart superstores, even sell cars. In the port there were a lot of Nissans ready to be shipped out. We got to see the Cliff Divers. Let me tell you, the place where they dive is very small. You are up high watching them. They have to wait until the tide comes in to get more water to dive in. Also, they now are not supposed to dive head first, as there have been too many head injuries. We also visited a silver mine in the middle of town.
From there we sailed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We had to be tendered into the harbor. We walked the area around the harbor. Seals were playing in the harbor, and there were lots of pelican. I got one picture of a pelican, that I think he too had been told to pose for his closeup. There was a flea market by shore, and you could purchase just about anything. We walked towards downtown and saw a Burger King, Hard Rock Cafe, and Squids. Colorful names for restaurants. Again, we had to try the local beer.
We stopped in San Diego. The ship had a full compliment of guests, a little over 2000 passengers. At this stop we had all but 754 persons disembark. What a strange feeling that was. We not had the whole ship to ourselves. As we were leaving port we saw a submarine. There were dolphins around ther ship. This was our first gray day. You could see the sun off in the distance, but not where we were.
Two days at sea. The seas did get rougher, but I was fine. We stopped in Victora, British Columbia. The Butchart Gardens were spectacular. We only had two hours, it just was not enough time to do it justice. I called Ron while we were overlooking the Sunken Gardens to try to tell him what I was seeing. It was just beautiful. The colors of Spring were beautiful. I could no believe all the different kinds of rhodendrons there were. The tulips were like velvet in color. We were very inpressed with what we saw. The guide on our bus took us around Victora. It was a beautiful day. We drove by the Empress Hotel, where High Tea is now up to $59.00 a person.
The last stop was Seattle. I had arranged for us to take a city tour before we went to the airport. Out guide was a lot of fun. We saw there area that is Seattle Undergound. You can only go there by private tour now. We went to the Space Needle. The view was spectacular On to Pikes Market Place. I did see the gentlemen throw the fish. Because it was Mother;s Day the flowers in the market were spectacular. The Asian ladies made up bouquets to order that were wonderful. For $20.00 you could get a huge, beautiful bouquet. There was just about everything for sale. You wanted to buy all the vegetables, to take home and try. Went into the orginal Starbucks. Picked up chicken sandwichs and coleslaw for us to eat at the airport. It rained a bit but it sure did not stop us. After a delay because of weather in Chicago, we were finally able to fly home.
It was a trip of a lifetime. I had a wonderful time. I read 3 books, and was on the 4th. I did lots of applique. Finished 2 20 inch blocks and made a block I was going to enter at Prairie Stitches for a contest. I slept like a baby, and seemed to snooze every time I sat down in a lounge chair. There was plenty to see and do on this 19 day cruise.
I had a wonderful time on my trip with my Dad. The weather was great and the seams calm. Our first stop was Half Moon Cay, in the Bahamas, which is owned by Holland America. You have to be tendered into the island. The colors of the water was beautiful. Different shades of turquoise and a blue sky to match. The flowers on the island are vivid in color. Then we spent two days at sea.
Next stop was Cartagena, Columbia. It was very hot there. To go shopping in town would have cost $15.00 and $40.00 round trip by taxi. Decided I did not need to shop. There was a store in port. It was amazing to see all the containers waiting to be loaded on ships. There were huge iguanas running around. There was a tucan that I swear had been told to get ready for his closeup, cause he posed for me. Had to try the local beer.
Next on to the Canal. Now that was an amazing adventure. I have been through locks before, but these were awesome. What a system. It was 103 degrees. I was running from one end of the ship to the other taking pictures. I have a certificate that shows I "swam" in the ditch. The canal takes all day to navigate through.
We sailed to Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The port itself was not much. We took a trip to a town called Sarchi, in the mountains. They are noted for painting carts that were used to transport coffee beans down to the poret. The largest one is in the Guiness Book of Records. The wheels in particular do look like a Mariners Star. All the painting was done by hand. We saw a church totally made of metal. The orginal stone church had been destroyed in an earthquake, and when they rebuilt it, did not want ito be be destroyed again. The inside of the church was beautiful.
We stopped in Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. The people of this area greeted us as we arrived. They did native dances and played music. The costumes were very interesting. The men wore leather that had been tooled, bells on their ankles, and the headdresses were of peacock feathers. They had a shopping venue there at the port. They told us if you took a taxi ride, the drivers do not have licences, so you go at your own risk.
Huatulco, Mexico was our next stop. There was a village right at the port, so you could walk to the plaza. There was an inlet with all sorts of boats that you could take rides on along the coast. At the beach you could rent all sorts of water equipment to enjoy your day. There were lots of natives trying to sell you things. The hills surrounding the area were all brown.
Acapulco, Mexico. Now there was a big city. Everything is built on the side of the hills. Ourt tour guide show3e4d us the diamond district. The area were houses cost a minimun of $500,000.. He showed us where Oprah has her home. McDonalds is the American Embassy. Walmart superstores, even sell cars. In the port there were a lot of Nissans ready to be shipped out. We got to see the Cliff Divers. Let me tell you, the place where they dive is very small. You are up high watching them. They have to wait until the tide comes in to get more water to dive in. Also, they now are not supposed to dive head first, as there have been too many head injuries. We also visited a silver mine in the middle of town.
From there we sailed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We had to be tendered into the harbor. We walked the area around the harbor. Seals were playing in the harbor, and there were lots of pelican. I got one picture of a pelican, that I think he too had been told to pose for his closeup. There was a flea market by shore, and you could purchase just about anything. We walked towards downtown and saw a Burger King, Hard Rock Cafe, and Squids. Colorful names for restaurants. Again, we had to try the local beer.
We stopped in San Diego. The ship had a full compliment of guests, a little over 2000 passengers. At this stop we had all but 754 persons disembark. What a strange feeling that was. We not had the whole ship to ourselves. As we were leaving port we saw a submarine. There were dolphins around ther ship. This was our first gray day. You could see the sun off in the distance, but not where we were.
Two days at sea. The seas did get rougher, but I was fine. We stopped in Victora, British Columbia. The Butchart Gardens were spectacular. We only had two hours, it just was not enough time to do it justice. I called Ron while we were overlooking the Sunken Gardens to try to tell him what I was seeing. It was just beautiful. The colors of Spring were beautiful. I could no believe all the different kinds of rhodendrons there were. The tulips were like velvet in color. We were very inpressed with what we saw. The guide on our bus took us around Victora. It was a beautiful day. We drove by the Empress Hotel, where High Tea is now up to $59.00 a person.
The last stop was Seattle. I had arranged for us to take a city tour before we went to the airport. Out guide was a lot of fun. We saw there area that is Seattle Undergound. You can only go there by private tour now. We went to the Space Needle. The view was spectacular On to Pikes Market Place. I did see the gentlemen throw the fish. Because it was Mother;s Day the flowers in the market were spectacular. The Asian ladies made up bouquets to order that were wonderful. For $20.00 you could get a huge, beautiful bouquet. There was just about everything for sale. You wanted to buy all the vegetables, to take home and try. Went into the orginal Starbucks. Picked up chicken sandwichs and coleslaw for us to eat at the airport. It rained a bit but it sure did not stop us. After a delay because of weather in Chicago, we were finally able to fly home.
It was a trip of a lifetime. I had a wonderful time. I read 3 books, and was on the 4th. I did lots of applique. Finished 2 20 inch blocks and made a block I was going to enter at Prairie Stitches for a contest. I slept like a baby, and seemed to snooze every time I sat down in a lounge chair. There was plenty to see and do on this 19 day cruise.
No comments:
Post a Comment