July 30, 2005
Glorious Return to the Med
So many port days in a row ... before I had nothing to write about, now I have no time.
Yesterday was Eze (near Monte Carlo) which was a charming little hill town (and the source of all these pictures) followed by a really lovely meal at La Colombe D'Or in St Paul de Vence (another charming little hill town). I had foie gras, and truffle salad, and possibly the best lamb chops I've ever eaten anywhere in my life. I couldn't face the ship's buffet after such a glorious meal, but fortunately my friends had spent the day shopping for pate and interesting cheese, so dinner was eaten off Ikea plastic plates with much delight.
Today we're in Italy - Livorno which is the gateway for Florence, but it's too iffy to get there without a tour, so we contented ourselves with a wander through the market, where a really lovely man shaved thin slices off a haunch of prosciutto for us, using a knife (and not a meat slicer). Before we left he gave us each a sample, and well, all I can say is that you can do worse than to break your fast with a piece of hand sliced prosciutto from Livorno. We went back and bought another pound of cured meats from him in fairly short order.
Here are some pictures from Eze......
July 28, 2005
Barcelona
Short hot day in Barcelona today. We were sailing at 4:00, which given that I had to wait 40 minutes for the shuttle to go into town, didn't give me much time. Fortunately I was meeting a friend from my very first ship there, and I had plenty of time for tapas and sangria and catching up on old times. It's just enough time to regret that I didn't have more to spend there. However, Monte Carlo tomorrow, with the promise a of a meal in St Paul de Vence.
July 26, 2005
Cadiz
What a relief to return to the sun and the land of amazing food. It's remarkable how cheap a 1.50 Euro beer seems after paying $10 for the same in Norway. Spent the day eating as much tapas as I could get my hands on. Here are the best pictures from the day.
July 22, 2005
More Pictures
These are from the Vigelund Sculpture Park in Oslo. He did do things besides angry babies, but I liked these best.....
July 20, 2005
Harry Potter
While Harry Potter may be sold out all over England and the Shetland Isles (at least, in the places I've been visiting) apparently in Norway kids aren't quite so anxious to read in English, as I was able to walk into a bookstore in Stavanger today and choose from among stacks and stacks of the latest Harry Potter book.
Meanwhile, here are some long awaited pictures............
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July 17, 2005
Faroe Islands
To judge by visiting the Faroe Islands on a misty sunday, the entire place is peopled by, well, nobody except for cruise ship passengers. It's very pretty though, lots of sod roofed houses, little hills, lots of flowers. I'm sure when the people who live there are actually there, it's a very nice place. I've been very very lazy about moving the pictures off my camera and onto the computer, but I promise it will happen soon, and then I'll put up some more photos. At least now I'll always know where the Faroe Islands are when the question comes up at quiz night.
July 13, 2005
Dublin etc
Apparently I lucked into amazing weather in Dublin. Never having been there before I have nothing to compare it to, but it was a blazingly sunny day which started at the Jameson's distillery. I've had redefined for me just exactly what an Irish coffee should taste like, and it doesn't involve spray cream from a can. I'm also happy to report that Guinness does actually taste better in Dublin than it does anywhere else in the world. I did see Trinity College too, just in case anyone was thinking I didn't do anything cultural that day. Now we're en route to Iceland, which, assuming I can get ashore, should provide some interesting pictures.
July 06, 2005
Falling off the Blog Wagon
I've fallen prey to iffy sattelite and general frustration with all things email. Apparently (or so they're telling us) this far North the sattelite just isn't very reliable. Still, it's been a fun contract (another reason I'm having a hard time getting anything posted). Amsterdam two days ago, Oslo the next day and today is Copenhagen, where I'm taking shameless advantage of my brother's high speed internet connection. I know I should post some pictures, but I'm just too lazy. I've almost become too lazy to even take pictures, which is probably a sign that it's time to stop travelling soon. Perhaps as we return to the med I'll become more inspired.
Here's one from Geiranger.
