with a combination of happy and sad moments. We met up again with Nena
and Hal for a couple of hours in the Reflections lounge which gives a
really great view from right up front and on the highest deck of the
ship. Lovely. The water was too choppy to spot any marine life, but
nevertheless, it was great. The sky was overcast and the ship had her
stabilizers out to stop too much listing, The waves were only around 6
foot high, and all of this gave a gentle lurching movement as we headed
north along the Baja coastline.
The sky was covered with clouds and it was really cold on deck, which
meant that almost every seat was filled inside. I took a quick trip out
on deck 4 which is much more sheltered than anywhere on the open decks
and watched the white water breaking and creating a huge v-shape from
the bows. The water churned in a mixture of green and blue with that
beautiful white froth rushing by... lovely. Teeth-freezing cold.
Walking around the boat, we were still seeing people I swear I have
never seen before and many people were hugging total strangers and
saying goodbye. It really was nice. We met up again with a good few
people that we had spent some time chatting to and had time to say
goodbye and exchange details. The mood on board was really good......
two weeks is a long time and I think that everyone was quite happy to
hit solid ground again despite it being a wonderful time.
The last show on board was great as usual with beautiful singing,
dancing and the costumes were just glorious! We sat with our last
margarita, crushed ice and salt, enjoying the music and the rocking of
the boat too. The waves had picked up, as had the wind, and I have to
admit that I was watching those dancers carefully to see if any of them
would stumble because of the movement of the ship. They never did.
There is lots to say for organized tours and also to break away and and
do it on your own. One repercussion of the independent tour is what
happened to 5 people in Costa Rica - they got left behind! They took a
tour that was not organized through the cruise line and they got back as
the ship was literally pushing off the jetty and they could not get on
board. Their little bus came shuddering up to the jetty, filled with
wide-eyed, horrified passengers, but the ropes had already been
tossed..... It was very sad. Another result of the independent tour
was our whale sightings in Cabo San Lucas, twice, while doing something
unplanned. So there you have it.... its all a calculated risk when on a
cruise like this.
So what was my favorite? Ok, here goes..... It started with feeling
very fortunate in the shadows of all those rich and empty houses of Ft
Lauderdale, enjoying the nightlights from the seemingly endless canals
around town......... then leaving the pier with the engines of the
Constellation humming beneath us, being at sea and watching the lights
and land of the USA disappearing into the rain.. Then the wonder of the
warm weather, the gentle motion of the boat and seeing no land at all
for two whole days.... well, apart from Cuba and Jamaica in the far
distance. Arriving and leaving at each port was pure magic and I did
not miss one.... Cartegena, Columbia - oh those narrow lanes, beautiful
colors and just being somewhere totally new.. and that sloth! that was
really special. It was great to be in Costa Rica again and I loved
being back in the rain forest and driving through the hills and smelling
that wholesome, unpolluted smell. The Panama Canal was truly amazing -
what a feat to have built all that and now the expansion. We saw the
digging of the new part of the canal, saw the dirt being moved - saw
history being created here. It was a very long, very lovely and
interesting day filled with something new every minute of the way.
Going under The Bridge of the Americas was quite a feeling - I had seen
it on Google Earth and now also in person...
Hautalco - those beautiful mountains, little villages, the wedding and
finding guavas!; Acapulco and those cliff divers was pure magic and the
dancers afterwards in their beautiful costumes; San Sebastian holds my
heart because of the color of the bouganvillas everywhere up on the high
stone walls of the narrow and steep lanes everywhere...the discovery of
the real taste of tequila and being able to take such a long drive
through the lovely Sierra Madre mountains with such a small and easy
going group. Cabo and the whales, the sand between my toes and the
freedom from organized tours and soaking up the last warm sunshine we
will have for a while - we even got tanned!
I thoroughly enjoyed each sunset, especially when we were leaving port
at the same time. I would stand for a long time up on deck, just
watching the sky lit up by the most glorious shades of orange, red and
sometimes pink too. The lights of the cities we left behind would come
blinking on as we gently slid away to the horizon. That was probably my
very best times on board. Long after everyone headed back indoors
leaving the decks totally uncluttered.... it was wonderful to stand up
there totally alone with the wind whipping my hair and that smell of the
sea watching the trail of foam behind the ship still linking us to where
we had been..... pure peace.
But then I loved so many other things too - the quiet and beauty in the
churches, the odd things at the market places, the stunning views of the
countryside, the faces of the people who lived and struggled to live in
all the places we visited, that special feeling when strangers stood and
waved us goodbye when leaving port........ and the room service that
would bring us coffee at any time of day or night! Even "Larry the
Lousy Tour Guide" makes me smile - poor man had no idea just how bad a
guide he was... maybe some day someone will tell him. But even that
trip was not a bad one - we got to see new things and learned new
experiences.
Something I noticed is that children all do the same sort of things, no
matter the culture or country they are brought up in. In some of the
very poor areas of Costa Rica, the little girls still clutched dolls and
the little boys still made their vroom vroom noises in gruff 3 year old
voices. We have seen this in a good many places, and also at the stops
we have made along this cruise. And the teens, they all try to be
different by doing the same things - baggy clothes, weird hairstyles and
'the sullen look' along with piercings in places they should not have
piercings... Its a great equalizer.
And so the last day at sea, first day of 2011, quietly slid by, filled
with packing and goodbyes, last walks and taking last looks around the
ship... At around 5am on Sunday morning I woke up feeling a difference
in the ships movement - she was quieter with more of a gliding motion,
so I quickly dressed and went outside on the balcony to be met by a
beautiful sight - San Diego waking up. Her many-colored lights
glistening in the early morning moisture, cars lit up small tubes of
space as they sped down the roads, the tall buildings stood high and
bright in the pitch dark sky and as we slid silently past one long
jetty, we were greeted by a good many sea lions honking either their
hello's or their irritation at being disturbed. It was really cold out
there and soon Frank brought me a jacket - he knows I would freeze
before missing a view like this.
And all too soon we were docking alongside our final pier. As the ship
came to rest, I looked down and knew we were home - there was a stop
sign..... in English! It was right at that moment that the cruise was
over for me and I was ready to leave. We watched for a while as those
heavy blue ropes tied us to the jetty, ensuring no escape and the
forklifts started the unloading process of all the trash and luggage.
Then it was off to get cleared through immigration. That was held in
the Celebrity Theater and no one would be let off the ship until
everyone had been through there. Oh boy. They were still searching for
two couples at 10.45am! Everyone was really cool and calm but the
irritation was growing and we found ourselves glaring at people we
thought might be the missing couples. That really was so inconsiderate
of them.
Finally the captain gave the all clear and they started letting people
off, but by now the exit lounge was crammed with people so we just sat
quietly in the casino, chatting with people as the next hours went by.
I really liked that no one got all huffy, everyone just took it as part
of the process, but everyone who had been on this sort of cruise before
said that this was not the normal way it happened. Thank goodness for
that! And so we quietly left the Constellation behind, quite happy to
be on the next leg of our adventure - and even tentatively planning the
next cruise.
We were shown where to get a taxi and headed to the hotel and then off
we went to meet one really special lady. A quick explanation of
this...... around 8 or 9 months ago I got an email from a lady that I
did not know. She had mistakenly sent it to me instead of to a friend of
hers with a very similar email address. It was around the time Tiger
Woods' problems were all coming to light... and evidently I was in a bad
mood that day because I sent her a really horrible reply! As I hit that
send button, I was already sorry...... anyway, she answered me with
absolute kindness and gentleness and since then we have been emailing
every day. What a lady Esther is! Her birthday was in November and she
turned 99 years old, still drives, still volunteers, still goes walking,
still lives independently, still golfs and the list goes on and on and on!
So when we decided to do a Panama Canal cruise I started looking for one
that ended in San Diego. I just had to meet this woman! Most of the
Panama Canal cruises end in other places and the timing had to be right
because we were also training Steven in the shop. After looking for a
good while, I found this cruise that would give us the opportunity to
meet Esther. And so after disembarking, dropping our luggage at the
hotel, we grabbed a cab and headed her way.
Esther, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you and visit with you.
That sparkle in your eye and mischievous smile tells more stories than
we had time for. You are an inspiration to me and I will always treasure
our friendship and also our meeting - thanks SO much!
Frank and I were exhausted and we got back to the hotel, ordered a
Chinese dinner in and fell asleep at around 6pm San Diego time.. This
morning turned out to be another overcast, cool, drizzly day. It
promised patches of blue sky and drops mixed in, so we decided to head
off the the Midway. This is an aircraft carrier that was built in the
1940's and since 2004 she has been here in San Diego where they have
done some amazing restorations and turned her into a museum - airplanes
up on deck and all. We spent about 2 hours wandering around her innerds
of narrow passages and steep stairways as well as her huge expanse of
deck, seeing the incredible conditions many men lived in while serving
aboard this ship. They hardly had any space at all. The equipment
was......well old fashioned. Big old black telephones, telex machines,
huge pieces of equipment that these days are housed in the size of a
microchip. It was really interesting to see this ship and fascinating
to see just how quickly technology has advanced in a relative few short
years.
The sky had cleared a bit, but the wind had picked up and it was quite
chilly. I had not dressed for cold weather so we bought a jacket there
and decided to head out and do some walking along the shoreline. Its
really a pretty place - and we wandered through Seaport Village which is
a gentle and rather attractive collection of shops with all sorts of
goodies offered along with plenty places to sit and just enjoy the view,
many pieces of artwork all around, strange gnarly trees and restaurants
all around. We walked on to the marina that holds a good many fishing
boats - these places always deliver interesting smells and screeching
seagulls - this time was no different. We bought a cup of coffee and a
huge cookie each and sat at a table, expecting a quite rest.... no such
luck! First there was one cute little bird, about the size of my palm,
perched on the very edge of the table....... but before long I counted
30 of them and they were even trying to get inside the paper bag that
had another cookie! We spent a good many minutes feeding them and had a
good few of them sitting on my hand pecking away happily. It was
sweet..... until they started pooping all over the table. We finished
our coffee, crumbled a bit more of our cookies on the table for them and
left them to it.
And then it was time to head back to the hotel again - time to print
boarding passes for our full day in the air tomorrow, repack everything
safely and rest our tired feet.
The time has come, the end of a simply wonderful three weeks. Steven,
Laura and Lisa had kept the shop humming along really well - thanks you
all, but it is time to head home where we can sit and savor these past
weeks quietly. I have not been able to sort, or even look at, most of
the near 12 000 photos we have taken but will be posting some of them
online for you all to see soon and will send out an email telling you
when they are up.
The new places we have seen have all added a bit to our souls, to our
stories and hopefully they will inspire someone to go and see some place
they would love to see.
Thanks for all your lovely emails, for encouraging these emails and for
coming along with us....... It's been another wonderful adventure! So,
till next time............
love and light
Annie
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