The Black Sea

Sleeping in has come to an abrupt end. Tours on the river boat will be mostly full days so we will be up early. The night life isn't exactly hopping, so I can't see this as a problem.

Although visiting a church seems to be a daily event for us in Europe, the Eastern Orthedox churches are a lot different from Catholic than I thought. These churches have no pews and it is impossible to find any inch of the walls unpainted with frescos. These churches have no windows so are very dark.

After visiting a church we lunch on more goulash and spend time on a Black Sea beach. It isn't too warm today, so we don't stay too long, but they say and it is obvious that this water is much less salty than the Mediteranian.

We spend a bit of time at a shopping area but all we pick up are a few snacks - more than anything to get rid of our last bit of Romanian money.

All aboard...the ship that is

Our last day in Bucharest comes as I'm just getting used to the place. We take a city tour which is interesting, but nothing to actually mention other than the beer festival (that we only hear about as we are leaving) and a visit to the Peoples' Palace.

The Peoples' Palace is the 2nd largest building in the world next to the Pentagon. It is now used as the parliament of Romania. Construction was started during the communist times and is still not finished. There are 1000 rooms of which we saw about 10. It wasn't overly beautiful or even full of history but the sheer size of it was breathtaking. A pair of curtains weighed in at a tonne and a chandelier at 4.

I realize I know very little about the Eastern Orthadox religion which most of Romanians belong to. We visit a church where a service is taking place. Appartently their services are 4 hours long and there are no pews at all and the participants stand for the services. I still have trouble getting my head around this.

We finally arrive at the boat and settle in. This boat is the nicest one we've been on.

I want to suck your bloooooood

The destination today is Transylvania, deep in Romania's Carthian mountains and Dracula's castle. From Bucharest it is a 3 hour trip, on Romanian roads. The distance is maybe only 200K but there arer various nonmotorized vehicles on the road, not to mention the gas station break to use the facilities and to refuel with water, chocolate or beer. The landscape as we near the castle which is in the province of Transylvania is absolutely georgous! Here the mountains are small with increadibly dense forest. We travel on a highway that is narrow and winding which only adds to the area's appeal as often it is as though we are snaking through a tree tunnel. Very similar to parts of BC.

The the castle (actually named Bran Castle for the area we are in - Bran) is increadibly crowded (thankfully it is a cool day) and small compared to what I expected. Surprisingly also, there are very few references to who we know as Dracula.

Once out of the mountains there is plenty of farm land - nothing remarkable about that other than the method of farming totally without machinery. We saw one plough pulled by an animal - the rest of the farmers work the land by hand.

On the way back our bus is showered with a solution to prevent bird flu. This is spray comes from something comparable to driving through a sprinkler, not much spray at all - very much like a garden sprinkler.

The money here is unusual not just because it comes in huge denominations - for example, the cost of a beer would be 6,000 lei which is equivqlent to about 2.5CAD. The bills all have a transparent part to them in the shape of a bird or an animal and the coins are very light, like money that comes in board games.

In the evening I am feeling more comfortable and with a general destination in mind we find an area with many cafes and people smoking water pipes. We order a meal that consists of a glass of wine for me and a beer for Chris of course and something that I can only describe as somewhat like a burrito. The only real resemblance is that it is stuffed and rolled. The stuffing is cheese, chicken and some veggis - very tasty. Goulash is definitely not of any interest to us as we had it for lunch and surely will get our fill over the next week. We sat next to a very lucky woman who had a bird poop right in her glass! What is it with bird poop this trip???

What time is it in California?

It takes about 5 seconds to realize how much I appreciate the Euro. For the next 10 days we will have to use 4 different currencies and Romania (we have discovered) actually has an old and new one!

The streets of Bucharest are somewhat crowded, with plenty of traffic, tons of exchange places (which we avoided), men using hankies (even though eastern Europe has heard of Kleenex) and smokers. It seems to me that there are many more smokers here than there were in western Europe (there were more tourists though.)

The recent comment about greasy burgers made us head straight for McDonald's - ummmmmm, McDonald's.

Chris thinks I'm crazy to be aprehensive of Bucharest and maybe I am, but...I'm not yet too comfortable walking here without a general destination.

We had a tour briefing tonight where our welcome drink was NOT champagne - BTW. Many questions were asked, the wildest being: 'What time is it in California?'. Why on earth would someone living in Romania know or care about the time in California?????

I absolutely love technology...I was able to use this Blackberry to register for my courses for the fall - no need for an internet cafe. Fabulous! Another note on the subject of technology, we have a TV speaker in our bathroom. I for one don't think anyone should spend that much time in the loo.

German efficiency

Since we arrived in Nice, I have had my eye on a waterfall at the top of a fortress. It is quite a climb to the fortress. Once next to the waterfall it is quite a sight. There is also a fantastic view of Nice and the coastline from here where we are able to locate many of the spots we visited. This is one of my favourite sights on the trip so far - spectacular. We met a guy at the fortress from UNB and while we were talking a woman approached us who was from Fredericton - what are the odds??

Our flight to Munich to then connect to Bucharest was late leaving so we had very little time to make the connection. We were met by an airport rep who knew we had very little time to connect. He whisked us in a van across the tarmac to an isolated passport control desk from where we were again whisked to our next plane. The whole experience was remarkable and took about 5 minutes - it was like we were spys. That's the way to move through airports! The efficiency we have encountered in the 2 times we have come into Germany in the last few years has been stunning.

Once we made it to the hotel we fell into bed as it was about 2 am.

Tomorrow is our first full day in Bucharest.

No kidding French women don't get fat...

especially ones who live in Nice. We have been walking everywhere and half of the time we are walking up hills. The problem is, is that by the time we are at the top of the hill we need a beverage. Obviously they don't have a glass of wine at every opportunity.

Today was another museum. It was the Matisse musuem. All of the museums here are pretty small. This is good with me. I could use an hour or 2 in a museum each day rather than the whole day extravaganzagas like in Paris or New York.

It was about time we found a used book store. I only brought one book from home so I was over due for an other one. I was able to get 3 trashy novels for next to nothing!

In the evening we have a great meal at an Italian place. Most restaurants offer a fixed menu which is what we had. I had ricotta ravoli which was pretty much butter soup - in a good way. The dessert was the star of the show. I had the hugest, most delicious chocolate mousse! We had one the other day that seemed to have blue cheese in it so I was skeptical, but this was amazing! I don't think French women could eat like this and not get fat.

We topped the night off by visiting both of Nice's casinos. From what we could see, pretty lame. All we could see though were machines as there was another area altogether for tables. Were weren't dressed for the tables so it was a short trip to the casino. Unfortunately, we were not big winners.

Tomorrow is our last day in Nice and the evening sees us flying to Bucharest.

Nice part quatre

It was a cloudy day on the French Riveria. A small fortified village called Eze is where the day takes us. It's about a 20 minute bus ride there which is only 1.30€. There are steps up to the top of the fortification. Along the way are shops, cafes, 2 hotels (one of which was 900€ per night!) and a church. At the top was a giant cactus garden sprinkled throughout with sculptures. The garden was where the castle used to be. Too bad it was so overcast today the view from here was of the sea and Nice in the distance.

Another pizza for lunch and then some over due laundry.

In the evening we have a drink in a cafe in a square where a guy is busking on a piano - can't say we've ever seen that before. We also find a pub serving Strongbow!

Another first today was spotting a rat. I have seen mice before, we actually saw one in a restaurant in NY, but never a rat. This rat compared to the mice was like a lion compared to a house cat. It was HUGE with a langthy tail! Good thing it was running into an alley!

Another thing I have noticed here is the enormous merangues. Each bakery's seems bigger than the last. Not a big fan of these I have not tried one but might have to just so I can take a pic of one. Oh yeah, and what they say about coffee costing more than wine is still accurate - wine (table wine) 2.00€, coffee (capuccino) 4.00€.

Euro=1.40Canadian

Nice 3 times

We are determined to get the rest of our travel plans finalized today. We have internet access in our hotel room using a keyboard and the TV. None of the charters we look into have flights to where we need to go. Having no luck with ourselves, we go to a travel agent. We had to book 3 flights. One was actually 10.00€ but after all the other charges came out at over 100.00€! It's good to have that taken care of.

We still have a day's access to the tour bus so try to use it to get up to another museum. There aren't many stops for the bus so we takes quite a bit of walking to get to a stop, which we don't actually get to before it is too late to get into the museum. By this point we have all but sprinted up the mountain Nice is built on (not really a mnt. but it feels like it in this heat) and are drenched.

A stop at the supermarket is in order

Nice 2 times

Day 2
We must have had a full day yesterday considering the time we got up. We missed church by a mile.

Nice has a doubledecker tourist bus that tours around the city with commentary. We get on and hope to get off and visit the Fine Arts Museum. The headphones which are supposed to be how you listen to the info in your language are crap...we end up playing musical chairs until we finally find jacks that work. The bus screams past the stop for the museum so we get off at the next stop which is pretty much at our hotel. We decide to walk to the museum. The museum ends up being free today and is relatively small as well as pretty much deserted which is a breath of fresh air compared to other museums we have visited..

We get ourselves a pizza as usual (we are going to try to eat at least one pizza each day) and head to another museum. By the time we reach the Chagall museum there are only 50 minutes before it closes. The museum is small so even 30 minutes is fine.

I was beat after a long hard day so a 3 hour nap was in order. When I woke up the Eurovision finale was on. The is a music competition for all of Europe we have been seeing in the European news for the past couple of days as they were worried that the winner was going to be a metal band from Finland dressed as monsters. Their song was Hard Rock Hallelujah and it was really pretty good and they actually won. As compared to the other songs theirs was really the best as far as we could see. Obviously the 36 voting countries thought so too.

Tomorrow we are still in Nice and really have to get it together for the flights we still have to book. Its good to hear people are sharing the address around.

Nice

This morning we are in Cannes and have to again use the tenders to get off of the boat. As the Cannes Film Festival is on the go right now and we are not in the 'in crowd' we head straight out of town. The trip to Nice is about half an hour by car so we decide to go by taxi.

Our hotel has a good location between the old and the new city. We first take a walk through the outdoor market, which is quite big. One stall selling olives caught my attention by smell alone. I have never seen so many olives in my life! At first glance I thought they were cherries there were so many, but they really were olives. This market is also known for its flower sellers. The prices for flowers are much lower than those at home.

A few minutes later we are at the ocean. We walk along the main, busy street along the ocean where there are many hotles, cafes and shops. The ocean is beautiful - very blue with small crashing waves. There is a wide promenade for walkers, cyclists and in-line skaters. The beach is rocky. Anyone can use the public beach space, but much of the beach is private - to use the private space will cost about 30.00 for a sun bed, and towel. We probable won't use the beach - too much else to do and see.

We find a grocery store where we pick up a few essentials including bread, salami and cheese for our dinner tonight.

Our hotel turns out to be quite nice with the best pillows in the world!

St. Tropez

In the morning we stop near a beach for some beach time. What I mean by near is that we stop about 300 meters from land and we have to use a tender to get to the beach. The tenders are small boats that shuttle people back and forth to the beach. These tenders have a hard time through the choppy Medeterranean waters and the ride is pretty rough - but fun.

The beach was relatively busy, had sand (not rocks) and very blue water. We only spend a couple hours here but long enough to be happy I used sun screen. There is a guy walking along the beach selling news papers for $7.00!

In the afternoon we tender off of St Tropez and are shuttled in again. This is definitely a place for us to visit for no longer than a day - we don't have the budget for it. As soon as we are tendered in, all we see are enormous yachts and sail boats. I've never seen anything like it - each one was bigger than the next. There was one with a platform under it from where a smaller boat could be launched from. Most of the menus we looked at were also pricier than we have seen up to now. We did manage to stop for a drink near a group of old French men playing boules - very French!

Another hot day for us in Europe. I hope everyone is still enjoying hot weather at home. It's nice to tell people who think home is unbearably cold how warm it has been these days.

Good news for those of you who never managed to let go of your mullets. They seem to be back with a vengeance. So does wearing white pants with polka dotted, striped or any visible color of underwear. I guess this may have never 'gone out'.

Tomorrow we say au revoir to the ship and bonjour to Nice.

2 times...at sea

Another uneventful yet restful and relaxing day at sea. This day is a lot hotter than the last one and we get a bit too much sun.

Just as we are getting ready for dinner the ship is on a serious tilt (that is of course the sailor's term for it!) so much so that the drains don't, and we have a bit of a flood in the bathroom. Things are sliding off of counters and standing straight is a chore (even before cocktail hour.) This is one of the charms of ocean sailing I guess. This was brought on by a bit of a wind storm. It didn't seem to be amounting to much until we came out after dinner to a bit of rain - mostly mist - very cool. This also means the night is a bit chilly. The bar we sit in after dinner is covered but outside - this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to wear the sweater I bought in New York.

Not too much else to say. Tomorrow takes us to St Tropez - the last night of this ship.

Mallorca

For once we actually have to get up early for a morning tour. We visit a monastery, where Chopin spent some time at the end of his life when he was ill . Good thing we had a guide, or we really wouldn't have learned anything.

After the tour we decide to stay in Palma (the city we are docked at.) We visit a cathedral/museum before finding a cafe for a pizza and wine for lunch. The guide told us the walk back to the ship would be around 45 minutes, but in reality it was at least an hour in the blazing heat! The walk is quite pretty with more sail boats than I have ever seen! Palma seems fair sized. Hard to say how big actually, but has lots of chain hotels and chain shops.

The is the end of Spain for us for a while. Tomorrow we are at sea and then on to France.

Sounds like Calgary is having a heat wave! Maybe it is snowing by now.

Ibiza

We had a day to explore Ibiza on our own without any tours. This is a welcome change from the daily tours we have been on each day up till now. We visit the cathedral, the old town, lots of shops where I buy a scarf, sit in a few cafes and have more than one vino blanco, no tapas yet for us...maybe manana. I am thrilled to be able to communicate - basically. This is one of the better stops for us, lots of cafes and plenty of action. A great day with great weather - high 20s probably.

Chris is hoping that what they say about birds pooping on a person as being good luck - I think he should have bought a Spanish lottery ticket!

When we were at the sherry winery a few days ago we picked up a couple of bottles of wine. We had the first today. Until today I hadn't met a wine I didn't like, that is until today. This stuff is CRAP! I have actually considered pouring the crappola out - it is bad.

We have taken care of the signature problem...we didn't realize our readers were so discerning - good to know.

Tomorrow takes us to Mallorca.

at sea

Although we have been sleeping relatively late each day, today is the latest yet - 11:30! I'm sure we're not on any kind of sleep schedule yet, so I don't think we can really say it's late.

We spend most of the day reading and getting some sun on the deck of the boat as we sail toward Ibiza. All in all pretty uneventful. We were lucky enough to see some dolphins - pretty amazing.

Tomorrow takes us to Ibiza.

Granada

We dock at Motril and the tour takes us to Granada. The weather in Motril is very foggy and misty but in Granada it is sunny and hot.

It takes about an hour to get to Granada where our group meets a guide for a tour of Alhambra which is a palace/garden/fortress. The gardens alone are amazing - I am more impressed by them than Versaille. The pathways are narrower and seem more intimate. Water streams throughout the gardens - from level to level. Apparently this is the most visited site in Spain. On our way back to the bus there are some shops where Chris gets a beer for the bus ride - ahhhhh Europe!

The bus takes us for a bit of a tour around Granada. It seems like a city we'd like to spend more time in.

I think I have mastered the art of bathtub laundry. I am happy with all of my clothes being clean, while Chris is proud of the fact that he owns a lot of underwear.

Thanks to those of you who have left comments here. It is good to know somebody is reading this. We also like hearing a bit from home.

Tomorrow we are at sea.

Chris Kowalski, P. Eng.
McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd.
direct: 218-1383
fax: 233-2744
email: cbk@mcdan.com

Morocco

I was a bit concerned after the first night at sea about the roughness of the sea. It seems like that first night was unusually rough and things have calmed down significantly.

The temperatures are cooler today at about 21 degrees - looked like rain, but none came.

Once in Morocco, we travelled inland a bit to Tetouan. Here we walk through the crowed, narrow streets with a guide and a security man. We see chickens (dead and alive), rabbits, produce and almost anything else you could imagine. There are very few women to be seen and the ones we do see are wearing traditional and western clothing - none of the women are sitting in cafes, all are walking. A carpet shop is on the itinerary - some of the group buys but we don't. Next we stop for a drink where we are entertained by belly dancers, muscians, and a guy who placed his hand on the ground and moved his whole body around his hand without moving it. Once I figured out what he was actually doing, I couldn't watch! I'm not sure how many tourists actually visit this city - we don't see any others, and many of the kids we see find us hillarious! I wonder who would be more culture shocked - us or them if we visited the other's country.

After dinner we sail through the straight of Gibraltarr. It is too bad this is in the dark, but what we do see is a bunch of lights and fog. The moon is full tonight.

Tomorrow takes us back to Spain where we visit Granada.

Chris Kowalski, P. Eng.
McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd.
direct: 218-1383
fax: 233-2744
email: cbk@mcdan.com

Spain

Today's tour takes us into Spain. We land at Cadiz (a city apparently 3000 years old), but spend little time here as the day's tour is in another town. We visit a church, a castle and a sherry factory (Tio Pepe - apparently world famous, but we've never heard of it.). It is 32 degrees - the hottest day yet.

We have a bit of time to walk into town, where we find a grocery store. We find a 6 pack of beer for less then $2.00 (CAN) and a liter of sangria for about $0.75.

There's not as much time for exploring the cities on our own as we would like, but we are having a great time.

Tomorrow we are in Africa - Morocco.

Chris Kowalski, P. Eng.
McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd.
direct: 218-1383
fax: 233-2744
email: cbk@mcdan.com

rolling seas

We woke to heavily rolling seas. Showering was quite a challenge! We were told last night 'one hand is for the ship' - no kidding. That was relatively short lived and the rest of the day was much smoother.

We discover much to our disapointment the lack of Champagne at breakfast - there's still Nutella!

In the afternoon we tour a cork factory and a few Portugese towns and the countryside.

Tomorrow we are in Spain.

Chris Kowalski, P. Eng.
McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd.
direct: 218-1383
fax: 233-2744
email: cbk@mcdan.com

Lisbon

Arrived in Lisbon after an over night flight. We were lucky enough to have the seats in front of the emergency seats which meant we would not be reclining at all for an entire 7 hour flight!

Once we landed and got in a cab things were great. Weather was great, Lisbon is a typical European city, with the outdoor cafes we love.

We decide on lunch at one of a million cafes in the main tourist area. I get 2 small fish (which is the half order) that come whole - and by whole I mean 'whole' - guts, organs and all! It was delicious once I got over the guts and organs.

We are able to board the ship at 4:00 - and are beat! I actually fall asleep for about 10 minutes on a bench before checking in. All is well as we head for dinner, see the sails set and at long last get to bed.

Until the next installment...

New York City

Just as we remember it, the city is busy, crazy and fast!

We had a fabulous meal the first night we arrived at an Italian place near Times Square. I have never seen so many staff in my entire life and so much food - holy crap! This place is near our hotel - which BTW is quite fabulous itself. It is right in Times Square and has the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in!

We saw 3 shows, a Mets' game, visited the top of Rockefeller Center for a view of the city, rode the subway, did a bit of shopping, had some great meals, ate street food, went to a museum, checked out Central Park, saw the Food Network and walked a lot.

We are currently at the Newark airport waiting for an overnight flight (my favorite!) to Lisbon where we will begin the next leg of this vacation.

Until the next installment...