mattersofthemoment

We met Fr Bernard Colgan, OMI for lunch today. He lives in Duque de Caxias a suburb in Rio. He is from Dublin and is helping to establish a new Parish in this bustling city. He has been in Brazil for 40 years and loves it.

He says there is a lot of violence like car jackings and drug related crime. However he has never been at risk. Brazilians are religious people and there is a long history. Religion was an integrating force since the Portuguese landed here in the 14th century.

The shortage here is in skilled professionals like accountants, engineers and dentists. Despite the corruption problems, Brazil has made progress in improving incomes, sanitary standards and transportation.

We gave Bernie some Canadian maple syrup. He has never been to Canada and did not know what it was. It was great meeting him and chatting about Brazil.

We are starting our 2nd cruise now. The clientele is a little younger. We got a free upgrade to a cabin with an extended balcony. Life is good. We are so reslaxed and thankful.

See you at the next free weefee stop!

Rio de Janiero is indeed the marvelous city. We arrived in November 2014 on the Oceania Marina to stunning blue skies as we cruised past Pao de Açucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain).

Turning left just before the bridge to Niteroi, we docked at 8:45 AM. It was off the ship and onto the bus for our first day of a 2 day tour.  Eugenio (Eugene) was our tour guide. First we went to Sugar Loaf to beat the crowds. We took the two step tram up to the top. It was a marvelous 360 deg view more than a 1000 ft above Guanabara Bay. We had a clear view of Botafogo, Flamengo where Kim used to live and Copacabana Beach. As we descended we could here a military band playing.

We had lunch near the military (naval?) base at Vermelho (Red) beach as the band played on. They weighed our food in the restaurant. It was a good lunch of salads and fejoida. Continuing to the Botanical Gardens we walked around for an hour seeing brazil wood trees, orchids, bamboo plants, mango trees, some small monkeys, a scary mouthed fish and a tucan in a tree.  Getting tired after a visit to the Sambadrome, we stopped at the ultra modern Cathedral and marveled at the stained glass going up hundreds of feet to the roof above. Exhausted we got back to the ship about 5 PM.

After a good night’s sleep, it was back on the bus to Corcovado, the huge statue of Christ overlooking Rio. We took the train up the steep mountain and were rewarded with even more spectacular views than yesterday, Dozens of photos later we returned to the base for a buffet lunch in Botafogo. Dave helped himself to the cachaça in the little wooden barrel. The fejoida was to die for. Then we were dropped at Copacabana Beach. It was a State holiday and the beach was packed with families who are cariocas (people who live in Rio). We walked the beach and then shopped. Time for some caiparinhas. Taxi back to the pier at 5 PM again.

Impressions: the city is much more middle class now compared to 1978-79. We only saw a few beggars. People look very happy and celebrate life here. Family values are obviously strong. The fabulous weather, the natural beauty and the cachaça caiparinha cocktails (lime. sugar, ice) are as good as ever.  The only complaint Eugenio had about the favela residents is that they don’t pay taxes.

A note about beauty here.  Brazilians are obsessed with physical body beauty.  They want to be one of the “beautiful people” and to do that they are willing to go under the knife. Brazil has more plastic surgeons per capita than anywhere else in the world.  It is not seen as vanity to make yourself beautiful in Brazil.  Rather it is esteemed.  Read more here about this unique cultural obsession.

  
Everyone should come to Rio at least once to enjoy it. We have another night here. Tomorrow we will lunch with an Oblate who is on mission here. Ciau!

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Dos caiparinhas por favor

More Memories (Marie’s pics follow)

We had a leisurely morning after a great sleep. Marie headed off to the gym to do her thing and Dave went swimming. Following this we took in the brunch in the Grand Dining Room. There was a quartet playing many familiar love ballads (after all it is still our 30th wedding anniversary celebration).
And yes there is something on this cruise for everyone including a bingo jackpot of $2500, trivia team competition and dancing under the stars tonight.
We disembarqued in Salvador, Bahia at 2PM. After some free wifi, we walked into town to find a bank machine. We hopped the elevator from the Baixa (lower town) to the Alta (uppertown) for free (age 65).
Lot’s of people and tourists. Several squares filled with food and caiparinha stalls. There was loud live music playing. Salvadoreans dancing in the street. Big screen TV with 1000+ people watching s futebol competition. People were having a good time on Sunday PM.
We explored several old magnificant churches of colonial architecture. Gold lined chapels, crypts and paintings were amazing. We asked about Mass times. We were told there are no Masses held here any longer. These churches are museums testifying to the glorious past of Brazil’s catholicity.
We had a caiparinha in the square (cacacha (sugar cane alcohol), limes and sugar). Yum and pow! We saw hundreds of people from the blackest black, to brown and light skin. There were a few handicapped people with disformed bodies begging. We also saw a few people sleeping in the street (this can happen everywhere). There was also a significant armed police presence.
We finished the day off with a delicious steak dinner at Polo. We were seated with another couple from Ottawa by chance – go figure.
We noticed it had rained so the dancing under the stars was moved inside to dancing under the ceiling ha!
Next day Dave headed back into town. He picked up 2 black Madonna’s for Marie. Walking around he found a Mass going on in a church called Priests of the Rosario. After Mass finished, they walked to a little grotto out back praying the Rosary I think. I was given a candle to light and place. Thene we had hot lemon tea and a buttered roll. It was all so peaceful.
Having obtained some more cash, mission accomplished. One more elevator ride down for 9 cents fee!
Try to post this by free wifi and on our way now to Rio.

Pronounced ‘he-see-fee’ is a large city in NE Brazil, capital of the State of Pernambuco. It is where Lenine, pronounced ‘layneenay’ one of my favorite Brazilian music artists comes from.

Named after the surrounding coastal recifes (reefs), this busy sea port is known as the ‘Venice of Brazil’. It stradles 5 islands all connected by dozens of bridges and waterways. Unlike Venice it is a huge metropolice of over 3.5 million people.

We arrived at 8h00 and went to the cruise terminal for some free wifi. We met Marie’s spinning (peddling bike) friend Hilda and shared a cab to Olinda, a small colonial town perched on a hill overlooking Recife.

We walked around the cobble stone streets and did some shopping. Marie got some nice leather shoes and I found a ball cap made of canvas. It was so darned hot (32 deg C+). We ventured into one of the many churches and then sat in the shade to eat our lunch.

While it was not very exciting, it was great to be back in Brazil seeing the happy people and smelling the smells of food stalls everywhere. Every Brazilian we met was relaxed, kind and happy to see us despite the language barrier.

We got back to the ship and hopped in the pool which was like a hot tub. The sail away at 17h00 was great. Had some Brazilian fejoida (fayjuwada) black bean casulet for dinner along with lobsters tail, prawns, Bali lamb etc.
We are enjoying our cruise experience. There is plenty of time to reflect about deeper questions such as Faith and purpose. We are half way thru our trip and not quite half thru our cruise. Salvador do Bahia lurks ahead in the humidity

Ate logo.

People on board Marina are well travelled.  Most have been almost everywhere, some more than once.  We met one couple from Guelph, ON who have spent 306 days aboard Oceania after trying other lines previously. That’s a lot of cruising!

Passengers on this cruise come from in descending order of number:
– U.S.
– Canada
– Germany
– Brazil
– U.K.

People are friendly and talkative. You can always sit down with people you don’t know for breakfast, lunch or tea and half a chat. We met one couple we knew from a previous cruise, George and Rosie from Vancouver who are great dancers.

Last night we went for the privee dinner for 10 in a private dining room between 2 fancy specialty restaurants. We met couples from Ft. Lauderdale, Jackson MS, New Zealand and Miami. They brought us a 30 anniversary cake which we shared with the table. We were there almost to 10:30 PM – it was a great evening with probably the best service and food we have ever had,

The ship is not completely full which makes things easier. People including us are more relaxed and rested after 3 sea daze. Brazil is lurking in the mist ahead. Marvelioso!

 

 

 

We spent a day in Cape Verde on the Island of Sao Vincente off the coast of Senegal. We docked in a town called Mindelo. It had colorful if small buildings and a lazy port. Total population of all islands is 450k.

Our jeep tour guide took us into town. He did not speak English, was 24 years old and showed us a photo of his baby son named Emerson. Another English speaking tour guide explained that Cape Verde was captured by the Portuguese in the 1490s from the local Guanish people. It became a thriving centre of slave trade for hundreds of years. Slavers would drop slaves ‘captured’ in Africa here, clean them up and sell them to traders from the Americas. It was a quicker and safer way to purchase slaves then to venture up the disease infected rivers of Africa proper.   I say “captured” because often it was African tribal leaders who sold their people into slavery for trinkets.

After the slave trade was abolished in 1876, the islands suffered economic decline. Supplying ships with supplies and fuel became economical for awhile. But continuous changes in technology soon meant Cape Verde was no longer economically viable.  There was severe drought and thousands died in the early 20th century of starvation.

Our tour continued across the island to several deserted beaches a small town and up the mountain to 3500 feet. Nothing but dried out rock and sand greeted our eyes the whole way. There has been no rain here in 2 years!
Despite their poverty (45% unemployment, collapsed housing market, only 1 cruise ship stops/week), the people seem content and happy. Many would stare and smile shyly as we walked thru the town. Ranging in colour from fair to darkest skin, there is no racial discrimination here. It is not uncommon to see dark-skinned people with blond hair and blue eyes and fair skinned with jet black hair. The genetic mixture from centuries of migration is evident.
There was relatively little to purchase in town. There were no conventional stores at all. Marie was able to find a nice present for Michelle for her birthday. Dave found a surprisingly nice sport shirt.

Returning thru the town, we were happy to arrive back on board having glimpsed an old county in an old world divorced from modern day prosperity but, nevertheless prosperous in spirit.

And now 3 sea daze ahead on our way to Brazil. We will be crossing the equator soon.

 

 

Our 2nd sea day in a row, we are finally getting relaxed. There are so many activities going on and the weather is so nice, it has been hard to sit still.

Spent the day reading our books, walking the deck, going to tea time and meeting nice people.

What is unique about this ship, the Oceania Marina, is it is never crowded. You can always get an elevator or deck chair by the pool. We have never had to wait more than a minute to be seated in the main dining room which is open seating. And, you can bring wine and liquor on board without any restriction.

We are meeting lots of friendly people and waiters. The crew is international and we have met people from Canada, the U.S., India, Portugal, Brazil, Roumania etc.

The ship was built in 2011 in Italy. It is medium sized (some would say small) at 66,000 DWT. Full it holds 1250 passengers with a staff size of 793. That is only 1.56 guest to staff ratio. Oceania is a “premium” line known for it’s best in the industry food and exotic meandering itineraries.

Tomorrow we are up early for a jeep tour around Sao Vincent Island, Cape Verde off the coast of Mauritania in West Africa.

Cau!

Here we are in the beautiful Canary Islands 200 miles off the coast of Africa. Our stop is at Santa Cruz.

We started our day with the view of mountains in the background framing the beautiful tropical setting. We were running late but managed to get on our bus tour to Tiede Mountain National Park. Tiede mountain is volcano towering 12,250 ft. It erupts every 100 years or so and is due.

This park, 2nd to Yellowstone, is the most visited park in the world. It was well worth the drive. We have beautiful pictures of our hike and the scenery.

Then we descended to Puerto La Cruz town to walk and shop the beautiful seaside boardwalk. Tapas for lunch of course – shrimp, mushrooms and garlic. Needless to say after 3 full days of coach tours, we are getting a little weary.

Getting back to the ship, we relaxed on the balcony before heading for dinner. Paella, cornish hen, lobster tail, jumbo prawns followed by key lime pie and tea. Spain is truly all about siesta and fiesta. Muchos gracias.

PS The Canary Islands belong to Spain. They are not named after the birds but rather the large dogs that were found here (canaris in Greek = dog) when the islands were conquered by the Spanish in 1494.

Tangier is a medium sized city (700k people) on the NW corner of Morocco at the entrance to the Straight of Gibraltar. We went on a tour with 12 others arranged by Miriam Cole thru Cruisecritic.

Less hectic than Casablanca, it is nevertheless a busy city with a bustling marketplace. Our tour guide Abdul, was very knowledgable. We toured the outskirts first driving by the summer palace of the King. We stopped high on a hill overlooking the city and saw several beautiful but deserted beaches.

After heading back into town we did a 3 hour walking tour. In the market were hundreds of vendors selling spices e.g., safron, fruit, vegetables, fish, meats and dry goods. They speak arabic, french and some english. We stopped at a carpet store for the traditional tourist sales spiel. Next we visited an apothecary where they make their own skin lotions, perfumes and package spices. Marie bought some natural oils and skin cream that are free of preservatives etc. I bought a leather belt and some saffron.

People were friendly, many of them smiling as we passed each other. However it is a hard life here, many people are just surviving and we were constantly approached by men selling scarves, belts and other things. A gentle no and they would cease. In one area, kids would approach us selling cigarettes, chewing gum and kleenex tissue.

Abdul took us to a restaurant for a traditional Moroccan lunch. Half the group were not interested and this caused a big confusion as they had already started serving everyone bread, olives, spreads and soup. None of us were interested in a big lunch. We ended up walking out after paying 5 euro each. The owner was nice about it but obviously disappointed.

Finally we were taken back to the ship saying goodbye to Abdul who did a reasonably good job except for the captive sales pitches we had to endure.

The weather is getting warmer. We are off to the Captain’s meet and greet tonight – fancy, fancy.

Docked at Cadiz, Spain today with a big sunny sky. We set out on our bus tour to Seville, the capital of Andalusia.

But before we set out we moved to our new cabin with a balcony which we got for less than the ‘F’ inside category that we had originally booked. Awesome room upgrade!

We saw a truly beautiful city today. Host of the 1929 World Fair, there are numerous magnificent country pavilions along the seville orange tree lined streets. We visited the Spain Pavilion encompassing a huge crescent shaped building, fountain and square.

We then walked around the ancient Jewish quarter before visiting the Real Alcazar palace.. What a spectacular structure with Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious symbols and themes.

Seville is known for its oranges (seville marmalade), olive oil and cherry port. The downtown core is like a huge park. Our tour guide Pepe was very knowledgable and interesting. We walked for 4 hrs plus stopping for a ‘menu del dia’ lunch of tapas and salad.

We returned to the port of Cadiz (Columbus started 2 of his 3 new world voyages here). Went shopping and got lost in the maze of pedestrian streets. Took a bus back and found our way to the ship exhausted. We topped the day off with a delicious surf and turf supper after some red wine.

Off to bed now, heading for sunny Morocco tomorrow.

Bonne nuit, love Marie and Dave