Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

March 30, 2018

We had a great dance party under the stars and moon last night. The ship’s entertainment team sang and we had caipirinhas which is the national drink here.

This morning at breakfast, the bunnies appeared! And there is also a chocolate pirate surrounded by jelly beans and chocolate eggs. No, Norm isn’t eating the chocolate for breakfast!

We arrived at Ilha Grande – it was not too far from our last port – and we arrived about 7 AM.  It is an anchor port again, but this time it is only about 10 minutes to the dock instead of yesterday’s 40 minutes.  We were lucky that the schooner picked us up at the ship yesterday!

Ilha Grande is located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state,  It was first used as a leper colony and then a high security prison for some of the most dangerous prisoners in the Brazilian penal system.  It was closed in 1994.  Today about 10,000 people live here and 1900 in the largest village on the island – Vila do Abraao where we arrived by ships tender.

Now the island has beautiful beaches, a rainforest which is protected as a state park and just a few other settlements on the island. The town of Abraao has a lot of guesthouses, bars and restaurants.  No cars are allowed in this town either so all transport is by foot or boat.

We took a schooner for another snorkeling trip, the first to a spot called the Blue Lagoon.  I guess there are a lot of places named that! Here we are with a group of our friends – Tori and Bill and Shelley and James.

And here is our tour guide.

The lagoon was clear and beautiful, lots of fish, including cuttlefish which I had never seen before. And one he called viciona which looks like a mottled bat with sort of wings that spread out and also some front fins that they use to dig.  I did have my gopro but for the life of me I can’t figure out where the pictures are.  Have to get better at using it.  It is waterproof and I have an extension – I took videos but of course I can’t post those from the ship.  So you have to take my word for it!

We enjoyed delicious fresh pineapple on the boat as it was about an hour trip to get to the first spot.  Then we went to Praia de Fora beach where the snorkeling wasn’t as good but the beach was beautiful. And almost deserted. There is an old church at this spot. And here’s Norm looking out of the boat waiting for me.  I think the name of the boat describes the day perfectly.

Before returning to the ship we walked around the town and into the small church where the statues were all covered because it is Good Friday.

Here is what the telephone booths look like in Brazil.

And because there are no cars, deliveries are made by carts like these.

Nice sailboats!

Tonight is the first night of Passover and our friend Tom Holloway is leading the service.  The restaurant manager thought that perhaps 20 would sign up, but there are over 100 and we will take over the larger half of the Terrace cafe for the dinner.  Many people are going to see what a seder is – they like to experience everything – so not all will be Jewish. 

Tomorrow we will go to Buzios.  We don’t have a tour scheduled but one of the passengers from Rio said we don’t need it, the town is very accessible and walkable.

March 28, 2018

We arrived in Santos Brazil at 8 AM.  We are in a shipping port and it is the largest port in Brazil.  We headed to Sao Paolo with our guide, Pedro ( on the right in the picture). Sao Paolo is the third largest city in the world and the traffic proves it!  It is home to 17 million people.

We  had to travel over the mountains to reach the city – it was about an hour and a half drive and it was beautiful  We went through many tunnels and over very high passes. 

Once we got to the city, we learned that it was one of the first cities in Brazil to encourage immigration after the end of slavery and it is now a melting pot of cultures.  For example, it has the largest concentration of Japanese people outside of Japan. They live in a neighborhood called Liberty!  Sao Paolo was founded by the Jesuits in 1554. 

There were once 3 million native Indian tribal people, now there are less than 350,000.

Brazil has a huge homeless problem – approximately 15 million people don’t have jobs.  We saw many people living on the sidewalks and also many slums.

Paolo talked a lot about the corruption in government but is hopeful that it will change since this is an election year and the previous president was impeached.

We first visited the Ipiranga Monument, erected in commemoration of Brazil’s independence.

We had a drive around town to see the Obelisk and the legislative assembly building, the Municipal Theater and the cathedral.

We visited the Pinacoteca of the state of Sao Paolo which is a well preserved architectural building that combines marble with brick walls and houses a wonderful art collection.

This one is all made of straws!

The city has a huge number of high rise buildings and also a LOT of graffiti.  I can’t believe they get it up so high!

We had lunch at a traditional churrascaria – Brazilian barbecue.  If you have never been to one, there is a never ending parade of servers with all types of meat on spikes, they cut what you want.  And they gave us this card so we could see what cut of meat it was – just for the beef.  There were also many sausages, chicken, chicken hearts, pork, etc.  And a huge buffet of salads, hot dishes and even pasta.  Whew.

The traffic on the way back to the ship was horrible. Pedro says it is really bad until 10 AM, then again after 3 until about 6.  It took twice as long to get back, partly due to the trucks and also to the VERY thick fog as we crossed the mountains.  The bus driver definitely deserved his tip!

Dinner at Red Ginger with Alice and Tom was a delight and the show was Salvatore Hazard in a completely new show. The highlight was the “We are the world” video in which he performed every voice as we watched the video.  Standing ovation material.   Really awesome performance.

March 27, 2018

As our cruise director jokes, we are in Porto Bello, home of the mushrooms.  Not really.  Porto Bello is a quaint fishing village on the southeast coast of Brazil. The harbor is shallow so we had to anchor and take the tender in to town.  It has many beautiful beaches and the main sources of income are tourism and fishing.

We went on a tour of Blumenau which is about 62 miles from Porto Bello. This city has a population of 350,000.  On the way we passed through many towns and cities as well as lush farmlands.  Our guide told us that inflation here in Brazil is 5% but corruption is 90%. We also learned that the word for thank you is obrigado when a man says it and obrigada when a woman says it!

One of the towns is noted for over 5000 factories that make bikinis, lingerie and nightwear.  We passed a lot of shops that sell the beautifully printed garments.  Minimum wage here is $300/month and we heard how hard it is for people to live on that amount.

This building is the tallest in Brazil.

Blumenau is the place that the first German settler to Brazil, Otto Blumenau, made his home in the mid 19th century.  It is definitely a place of German influence and we enjoyed walking through the streets and visiting several sites. The buildings are half timbered and many do not have any nails used in construction.

First we visited the beer museum.  Here we saw the way they made beer in early days.  There was an impressive display of steins.  And we learned that the second largest Oktoberfest is held here at the Bavarian Biergarten Pavilion every year – 700,000 people attend.  The largest is in Munich.

The Colonial Family Museum was next.  This gave us a glimpse into the lives of the early settlers. This town is next to the Itajai-Acu river and in 1983-84 there was a devastating flood which destroyed much of the town – 80% of the town was underwater.

We had a walk through the cat cemetery (the owner of all the cats cared enough to bury them with headstones!) and the mid atlantic rain forest located right in town.  The temperature here is at least 2 degrees Celsius cooler than any other part of town!

We had lunch at Park Blumenau – it was a combination of Brazilian and German food and quite delicious.

We had some free time to wander through the German village (which is sort of like a tourist attraction and not really like an authentic German village) but it was fun to see all of the Easter decorations and lots of huge bunnies.

We saw the city hall which is a perfect square. And this pretty flower clock.

Of course, a couple of kids playing, the first had a superman cape on and the second had a spiderman shirt.  Guess superheros are big here!

We had a nice view of the skyline – mountains and high rises in the distance, and plenty of clouds.  Rain was predicted but it didn’t happen.

In our room we heard lots of commotion – and looked out to spot this group on the pirate ship.  I am sure much drinking was going on!

A good day!

March 23 and 24, 2018

Whenever the captain comes on the intercom and it is not noon – when he makes his daily update announcement, we have learned from previous cruises that it is not good news.  So when we heard his voice, we waited to hear about an inevitable port cancellation. And indeed, we wouldn’t be going to our port in Punta Del Este, Uruguay. The port officials reported that it would be too windy on Saturday and it is a shallow port that we must reach by anchoring out and taking the tenders in to shore.  So, we had an overnight in Montevideo with two days there instead of one.  The friends who have been on this ship for the segments before Buenos Aires said they couldn’t get in to that port then either. And our guide, Martha, said it happens pretty frequently. The ship then offered a tour to Punta Del Este but the bus ride would be 2 1/2 hours each way, so we decided to spend both days in Montevideo.

First, some updates.  There is an alumni group here from Penn State!  So far, no one we know but who knows.  Chambersburg readers, that is for you.

Second, I  mentioned that in Argentina, they pay for real estate in American dollars. They do not have mortgages due to the fluctuation and instability of their currency. So people pay for homes, condos and apartments in cash when they buy.  Pablo told us about his parents who were selling one condo and purchasing another. They sold the first one in the morning for $66,000 and had to carry that money around in a backpack all day until they could close on the one in the afternoon.  He said nothing like carrying your home around on your shoulders! They were very anxious all day.

Now about Uruguay.  It is a country of about 3 million people and half of them live in Montevideo. Compared to Argentina where we were constantly told to watch our valuables and not wear jewelry, Montevideo was very safe and it is a much more stable country than Argentina. They have not had the coups and dictatorships nor the instability here. It is a city of parks and a lot of colonial architecture.

Friday, March 23

We had breakfast to the sounds of a military band – not sure if it was for us, but it was nice.

Then, we went on a city tour, our guide was Martha. She covered everything from the history to the price of eggs!

We toured the Old City and the beautiful waterfront area. There are lots of monuments, the most famous one is of Jose Artigas who is the national hero.

We visited several beautiful parks and saw the European influence on the city – the buildings, fountains, sidewalk cafes and parks are really lovely.

The city used to be walled in but the walls were torn down and all that remains is this gate.  The next photo is of the theater and it is a highlight for the people here. Performances are kept to low prices (about $6 average) so that people of all income levels have the chance to experience it.

We visited the spectacular legislative palace which was designed by the Italian architect Victor Meano – he won the international contest convened for its design.  Unfortunately he died suddenly soon after and another contest convened and Varela from Uruguay and Banchini from Italy won that one. The building was finished in 1925.  There are almost 50 kinds of marble in the building, all from Uruguay.

Some other facts from Martha – trees are protetcted here and there is one tree for every three residents! You must vote or pay a large fine.  There is 8% unemployment and 9% inflation. Health care is free but if you want private care, there is a fee of about $30/month.

People love Mate tea.  They mix it like a pulp in a gourd or gourd like container and drink it through a metal straw that has a screen at the bottom. You see people with thermoses full of hot water carrying both containers around. I found it horrible, but that’s just me.

Beautiful weather, as you can see, we had some nice walks and a great dinner in Red Ginger, the Asian restaurant on board before the show – Salvatore Hasard who is a singer and multi instrumentalist.  Very enjoyable.

Saturday, March 24, 2018

We took a long walk on La Rambla which is the longest continuous sidewalk in the world.  It runs along the Rio de la Plata and continues down the entire coast of Montevideo for 13.7 miles. It has been proposed as a World Heritage site. 

The mural above is on this whole building – here is a panorama for perspective, although you cannot see the beauty.

We then visited the Mercado del Puerto and the Mercado de los Artesanos. The markets are fun and we especially enjoyed the local arts. 

Of course I made some purchases!

And here are some of the local children.

They were filming a commercial in the park.  We kept getting in the way of the extras.  They were lifting a little boy with bubbles all around.  This is as close as we could get, but it was fun to watch. All in all, a wonderful visit. 

On the way out of the harbor, we saw what looks like a boat graveyard!

On to Brazil tomorrow.  The Brazilian country has a tax of 25% on anything you buy on the ship while the ship is in Brazilian waters, which it will be until April 14.  So we won’t be buying anything. We got our wine package already.  I think the shops will be very empty.

March 21 and 22, 2018

Wednesday, March 21

We checked out of our hotel, the Emporador, and had a tour of the city with Pablo. Buenos Aires has a population of 3.5 million and it is a study in contrasts.  There is a real “other side of the tracks” here.  On one side of the railway is the wide street, Ave. 9 de Julio –in places it is a total of 22 lanes wide, a world record for the widest avenue, according to Pablo.  Here there are many beautiful hotels and most exclusive shopping center in the city.  On the other side is the slums.

Traffic in the port area is awful – it can take 30 minutes to go 5 blocks, mostly because of the trucks. There is construction to build a tunnel for the trucks but who knows how long that will take. The city has 40,000 taxis and Uber is not allowed here!

The city itself is very European.  It is the capital, the second largest metropolitan area in South America and the 20th largest city in the world.  It has the best quality of life in Latin America and is often known as the “Paris of South America”.  Education and health care are free here, although people can have private insurance and go to private schools and pay for it. And retired people get 4 of their medicines free too.

Our first stop was the cemetery where Evita Peron is entombed, Recoleta Cemetery. This cemetery is really a work of art. It is 12 acres right in the middle of the city, Rich families have beautifully carved mauseleums.  Some are falling into disrepair because of the cost of upkeep.  Families can sell them, remove the remains of their relative and can get a large amount of money – the most reported is $250,000. Here are some examples of the beautiful and the deglected.

It is really like an art museum. 

Pablo says it is impossible to talk about Argentina without talking about Evita Peron – a topic that splits families. She is apparently equally hated and loved by the Argentinians. He gave us his family’s opinion (hate side) and then grounded his comments with a well rounded history lesson. Peron’s first two wives (Evita was the second) both died of cervical cancer.  His third wife, Isabella, is still alive and living in Spain.  Here are some photos of Evita’s resting place.

Some of the other sites of the city are the opera house (one of the top 3 in the world for acoustics), the obelisk and the pink palace.  We could not get a picture of the palace because of construction – we could not get off the bus here and had to go by too quickly for pictures. The president lives outside the city and travels by helicopter to the palace.  Otherwise he would never get to work because of the traffic!

We then spent some time in La Boca on El Caminito street which is like an open air museum with brightly colored buildings, lots of street shops and artists and restaurants.  Many of the restaurants have tango dancers outside at the sidewalk tables.  It is said that the tango originated here around 1870.

Of course we had to do some fooling around pictures..

And here is the only McDonalds that is green – this was redone to honor one of the futbol (soccer) teams. Beautiful building too.

This representation of Evita is on one of the buildings in the city. She is not eating a hamburger, that is a microphone!

After our tour, we checked into our ship, the Oceania Sirena, had a good dinner and I watched the gaucho show while Norm went to sleep early.

Thursday, March 22

Today we had a trip to the Tigre Delta.  Our guide was Alicia.  We traveled through some of the lovely old neighborhoods in the suburbs of Buenos Aires and could see beautiful mansions and cobblestone streets.  We visited the San Isidro Cathedral, one of the most beautiful in Argentina and a National Historic Site.

Then we went on a river cruise in the Tigre River, which is named for the “tigres” or jaguars that once lived here. The river delta is one of the world’s largest and is laced with canals that form a network of forested islands. It is the only delta that finishes on another river instead of the ocean.  This area has many rowing clubs and each country has their own.

The cruise was interesting in that the homes that are here are a combination of weekend/vacation getaways and full time residences.  They do have electricity but no drinking water and no way to navigate except by boat.  So all services (water delivery, mail, doctor, pizza delivery, etc) are done by boat. We saw the “ice cream man” truck!

Here is the boat, some of the impressive buildings and also some of the smaller homes on the many islands.  Real estate here is all sold in American dollars because of the inflation.   Homes here range from $30,000 to $125,000.  The lower end priced places are the most inconvenient but all are on the water and it is pretty peaceful.

Back to the ship for dinner and the show, and I am sure we will meet the crew.  We already saw one of our favorite waiters from the world cruise, Spike, and there are lots of passengers we know as well.  Should be a very fun 33 days!