Here are a few more pictures from Seville and from our trip down the river as we sat having dinner in the Terrace Cafe. It was a Spanish dinner and it was simply delicious.
And a few things I didn’t write, or got wrong in my post about the festival. 5 million, not one million visitors come during the week of the fair. It can be in April or May depending on when Easter falls, since it is always after Easter. On the Friday night of the fair, about 875,000 people attend on that night alone. The 1000 casitas can be owned by families and they are so valued that they are never relinquished. Whoever owns the casita pays $100/ month all year. Some people say the festival is like a 1000 parties that you are not invited to!
I forgot to write about this unusual lock in the river near Seville. First the bridge goes up ( and there is an alternate road for the cars), then the lock opens. This was taken from the bridge cam just before we passed through.Storks nesting!Wine tastingAnd with my vegetarian plateChurros for dessert
I am writing this from a Starbucks in Seville where my posts from Casablanca and Gibraltar finally uploaded! And the one from yesterday in Seville worked too. I am a happy person today. The ride into the city center on the shuttle takes about 20 minutes. We were on the first one at 8 am. Several coffee shops were not even open yet. One man directed us to the Hard Rock hotel but we passed this Starbucks along the way.
When I went to get the popcorn last night, Norm went up to the top deck to see if he could get any pictures of the fair with all of the lights. Too many trees to see the many lights but he did get this one of the entrance.
We have already explored city on a previous visit so our only objective today was fast WiFi. We had our Starbucks treats and accomplished our objective.
The ship leaves at 2 PM today for the trip back down the river. We have a wine tasting at 1:30, I have an ICF call at 4 and we have a cocktail party at 5:30. Tonight we turn the clocks back one hour (5 hours ahead of home) and we arrive in Portomao, Portugal tomorrow.
We are lucky to be on a small ship because we can travel on the Guadalquivir river to the center of the city instead of docking in Cadiz which is about 2 hours from the city. On our way we passed fish farms and small towns.
Leslie told us about how lucky we are to be here during Feria de Abril (April Fair). It’s one of the most famous and lively festivals in the country. It usually takes place two weeks after Easter. The fairgrounds are filled with rows of casetas (tents) where people gather to eat, drink, dance, and socialize. Traditional Andalusian music, flamenco dancing, and horse parades are also highlights of the festival. The women typically wear colorful flamenco dresses, and the men dress in traditional Spanish attire. It’s a vibrant celebration of Andalusian culture and heritage. More than 1 million people attend each year.
We didn’t have a tour scheduled and were so happy that we didn’t. We walked from the ship to the fairgrounds and saw many horse carriages, gauchos and women dressed in Spanish finery. The men wore jackets and ties. And it was 88 degrees!
And one very tiny car.
We were almost overwhelmed by the more than 1000 casetas at the fair. They belong to local families, groups of friends, businesses, clubs, trade associations and political parties. Most of the casetas are private and open only to members and their guests. We stopped at the information booth where a very well informed guide gave us a map of the fair and told us where the public casetas were.
So we started on a walk around the fair. We stopped at one caseta (they all have security guards outside) and were told it was a private one. We started to walk away when a man inside invited us in. We got a drink and noticed the group of pictures featuring bullfighters.
The man who invited us in indicated that he was a former bullfighter and that his picture was on the wall. He asked me to find his picture, and I did! He posed for a picture with me near the photo.
We spent quite a while walking through the fair and admiring the horses and people. They have a large amusement area there too.
After we were pretty hot and tired , we decided to walk to the river and have dinner at a restaurant along the river that was highly recommended by the friendly guide at the fair.
We enjoyed the sights along the way.
Buildings and houses are decorated for the festivalThe oranges are a bitter type
The restaurant was Betis7. We ate on the rooftop overlooking the river. What a delicious meal! We took all of the server’s recommendations and were not disappointed. A tuna and tomato salad followed by a type of fish like a shark, marinated in oil, vinegar and spices and lightly coated with flour and fried like a tempura.
Olives, mojitos and wine were a great accompaniment. The dessert was a torrija, like a French toast with flavored whipped cream and vanilla ice cream, famous here. It is served with a glass of caramel vodka. Amazing.
All of the desserts looked pretty wonderful. We went with the traditional.
We took a taxi back to the ship and just relaxed after a fascinating, hot and tiring day. Tomorrow we will go into the city on the shuttle and try to find fast WiFi since my last two posts wouldn’t upload on the ship. Oh, and there was a movie with popcorn on the ship. It’s all about the popcorn!😃
This is our second visit to Gibraltar so we decided to walk to the cable car and go to the top of the rock on our own. We were actually the first people to get off of the ship as we knew that the line for the cable car gets quite long. (Erin and Mui, we discussed being just like you!)
The walk took about 30 minutes. Most places in town were not open yet and some would not open because it is Sunday.
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. And of course, the Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark. The Strait of Gibraltar is the narrow passage connecting the Mediterranean Sea on the east with the Atlantic Ocean on the west. It separates Northern Africa on the southern end.
We had a short wait for the cable car and went to the top of the rock. The views are wonderful. You can see Morocco here.
Here are some other pictures of the view. Our ship is the baby one!
One of the attractions at the top of the rock are what is called the Barbary Ape. They are really not apes but macaques, Europe’s only species of primate. You do need to keep a distance because they can attack if provoked. And they like to steal food so people are warned not to carry plastic bags since they think there is food in there. Of course people should also not feed them.
After walking around to see the Barbary Apes and the view, we took the cable car down to the nearby Botanical Gardens. From above it looked small and kind of unimpressive. What a surprise to see it and just wander through the beautiful paths.
We had passed the Pig and Whistle pub on our way to the cable car and thought it would be a good idea to go there for lunch. So we headed back in that direction. Here are some things we spotted along the way.
To our surprise when we reached the Pig and Whistle – it was open but they do not serve food! We had already passed the open square with many restaurants so we had lunch in the Terrace Cafe back on the ship. They did have most of the British options including fish and chips.
I had fun in the casino and playing name that tune in Martinis at 10:15 PM.
Tomorrow we sail in the river to reach Seville at about 1 PM. We have an overnight there so will have dinner at one of the riverside restaurants. We have 3 good options from the executive concierge so we will check those out.
Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city and industrial center.
When we arrived at the port, we saw that the Regent ship that has been either leading or following us had already arrived. It is another beautiful day, predicted to be hot but the breezes will probably keep it a reasonable temperature.
We chose the tour of the Hassan II Mosque and El Jadida. Our guide was Larrbe and he was very good. All of the guides we have had on this trip so far have been excellent English speakers and he was no exception.
He started out by telling us that the skeletons of the oldest known homo sapiens in the world were found here – dating back to 315,000 years ago. I really don’t know how they figure this stuff out, but never mind that!
Casablanca was ruled by the Portuguese for 267 years and there is a lot of architectural influence from that era. Casablanca means “white house” in Spanish and the city was named for a small white building near the ocean. The city’s name changed several times as both France and Spain ruled at different times in the city’s history. The city wall was built back in the 15th century.
Of course, most Americans know Casablanca from the movie of the same name. Rick’s Cafe was a prominent part of that movie – where Bogart and Bergman met. It was actually filmed in California, but you can eat in the replica that is here. Here’s lookin at ya kid.
We drove through the city to the Hassan II Mosque which is quite amazing. Non Muslims can apparently not enter unless on a tour. The compound is huge and has a school and many other buildings. It is one of the largest mosques in the world. It’s known for its stunning architecture, including the 210-meter tall minaret, making it the tallest religious structure in the world. The mosque can accommodate up to 105,000 worshippers and features intricate marble flooring, exquisite tilework, and a retractable roof. It’s also situated partially over the Atlantic Ocean, providing a breathtaking view. Completed in 1993, the mosque is a masterpiece of Moroccan craftsmanship and Islamic architecture. Larrbe told us it took 15 million hours to build and was completed in 5 years. Cedar, marble, bronze and Murano glass were used in the building. Moroccan people from the city all contributed to the building of the mosque. Rich people contributed a lot but even those with little money used boxes that were placed all around the city to contribute even a small amount.
The tower or minaret is square in shape unlike those of any other mosque we saw anywhere else in the world. Larrbe told us that the Turks never conquered Morocco and the circular ones are Turkish. These square ones are only found in Morocco.
The mosque is named after Hassan II who was the father of the current king. Here are some pictures of both the outside and inside of the main building.
This is in the room where people prepare before coming to pray. It is a huge room with many of these fountains that flow down into a circular small pool. Muslims have to clean hands, face and feet three times before they go upstairs to pray. They aren’t used anymore – now people clean in the rest rooms.This is the retractable roof that actually opens up when they want to let more air inYou never know when you need a substitute tour guide!
After our visit, we set off for the 90 minute trip to El Jadida. During the trip Larrbe entertained us with Moroccan jokes and many details about life here. Casablanca has the largest mall in Africa, miles of bike trails and is a very clean city. It is also very dry. 40% of the population of 5 million people are employed in agriculture. They have a long coastline of both Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.
When we reached El Jadida, we heard that 75 % of the world’s phosphate comes from this region and there is even a separate commission to regulate the 30 million tons that are produced each year. It is use mostly for fertilizers but also has use in medicines.
One of the things we saw along the way is the mini vans outfitted with coffee machines in the back. There were a lot of them. Very good idea!
This is horse country. We passed many stables and a race track.
We did a walk through the city. Here are some of the sights:
Some of the architecture is typically French
We had lunch at a local restaurant before heading b ack to the ship
The Regent ship tour arrived at the same time so Larrbe ended up helping with the service!
We then drove back to Casablanca and stopped at what is called United Nations Square. Not much going on there.
We didn’t take the Marrakech Express! This ship has seen better days and isn’t in service now
We missed trivia today due to the length of the tour. During our sail away I took this picture of the mosque after dark.
Broadway in Concert was the evening show with the entertainment team. And they nailed it!
This is our first time in Morocco and is one of the main reasons we decided on this itinerary. Although we have been in several ports in the area, Morocco was never one of them.
When we arrived in port, we could see that the port is a commercial one. Many buses were already there to take us on our tours.
We did need to bring our passports when we went out today and they were checked, although not stamped.
Our tour was “Highlights of Agadir” and our guide was Bader. He was a great source of information about Morocco and Agadir.
The country of Morocco means “land of Lions” and was named by the Romans. The population is 40 million. They do have a king, but he is largely a figurehead as the country is ruled by a prime minister.
The country is 65% mountains and there are three mountain ranges. We are closest to the Atlas Mountains.
They have over 300 sunny days a year and Bader says that they LOVE rain. It is a very dry country and having enough water is a problem. They are building a desalinization plant but it is very expensive. They have made a lot of progress in solar and wind energy. There are almost 13 miles of beach and they get mostly European visitors, but tourism is way down from what it was and is no longer a key driver of the economy. These days that would be farming. We saw lots of fishing boats too. Copper and phosphate are key exports. Phosphate is in demand due to its use in making fertilizer.
All houses here must be painted white! People live with their parents for all of the parents’ natural lives. Sons stay with their parents even after marriage and daughters go to the homes of their husband and his parents. There is a pretty substantial social safety net. If an individual does not have health insurance through their employment, health care is free. All education is free, even university. And widows, children and divorced women receive a subsidy from the government. There is no property tax except for those in rich villas and if a married couple buys a flat for $25,000, they get $10,000 towards it from the government. Foreigners have the same rights as Moroccans.
A terrible earthquake in 1960 destroyed 90% of the city and the only public building to survive was the cinema, which still stands.
Our first stop was the Kasbah “top hill”. The Kasbah of Agadir, also known as Agadir Oufella, is a historic site located on a hill overlooking the city of Agadir, Morocco. It was built in the 16th century by the Portuguese and later reconstructed by the Berbers. Unfortunately, it was largely destroyed in the devastating earthquake in 1960. We enjoyed the panoramic views of the city and the surrounding area from the top of the hill. Here are some of the pictures of the view.
There were some vendors with jewelry for sale and several men hoping to entice us onto a camel. We didn’t have much time and have already had plenty of camel rides in our lives!
We drove through the city center which is all rebuilt with mandatory seismic standards. Our next stop was an outside visit to the Talborjt Mosque. It was the first building that was built after the earthquake. It is a large and impressive building but was not open for visitors.
The population is Berber and Arab Muslim but there are also Christians and Jews living here. Bader says that there is no conflict among the different religions and ethnic groups.
Next we went to Coco Pilizzi Medina. Medina means old town but since there was no old town left after the earthquake, an enterprising Italian man with a Sicilian background who was from Rabat, had the idea to reconstruct one that was a replica of the original old town. His name was Coco Pilizzi. He began work on it in 1992 and it is both an open air museum and a place for artists to work and sell their wares. We found it quite fascinating and wished we had more time there.
Last on our tour was the Souk Al Had. We had a walk through with Bader but then had about an hour to spend. It is a huge place (souk means marketplace) and we have been to many in our travels. This was the least crowded and best organized of the ones we have been to. The vendors were not aggressive like we saw in Turkey. Bader told us that his wife bargains for everything, even a tomato! The people do their routine shopping here and we saw lots of different shops.
So many types of olives!Nuts, dates, candy, etc. We bought some sesame almonds and a a circular type of cinnamon cookie. Delicious.
We also bought two hand painted plates. They are wrapped for travel, so no pictures.
There are lots of cats around and the fresh orange juice vendor was doing a booming business.
On our way back to the port we got a few other pictures. This one is of the Kasbah that was our first stop.
This looked like a local market on the insideYes, they do have McDonalds!. I don’t know what the writing on the hill saysWe don’t really know what those planes are doing up there.
It was a very interesting tour with a wonderful guide and passengers who were all on time! A great introduction to Morocco and tomorrow we visit Casablanca.
Yesterday we were notified that the tour we had scheduled was canceled. So, our plan is to see this port on our own. This is the third of the Canary Islands that we visit on this trip. It is different from the rest of the Canary Islands and some say that it is different from anywhere else on the planet. We thought it resembled the big island of Hawaii near the airport – a lunar look with volcanic rock.
Because of the dry climate and little erosion, the terrain looks much like it did after major volcanic eruptions in the 18th and 19th centuries. There are 100 volcanoes on the island but none are currently active. It is located only 70 miles off the African coast making it the most easterly of the Canary Islands. The climate is sunny and like the other islands here, they get very little rain.
There was a shuttle bus from the port to the town and it was a good idea to take it because it was more of a distance than we thought and there was no way to stay out of the port traffic.
We walked past the natural lagoon and over the bridge to see the History Museum of Arrecife – the San Gabriel Castle.
We explored the outside of the castle and walked along the rocks since it wasn’t open. I spotted some sea glass on the beach there and we spent some time collecting it.
We got quite a bit! It was good that we spent some time doing that because the castle opened before we left, so we got to tour the inside and go to the top as well. The entry fee is 3 Euros but they just asked for a donation because their systems were down.
All of the information in the castle is in Spanish so we couldn’t read it, but the woman who greeted us at the entrance explained the 14 different rooms with displays so we could wind our way around and take pictures. It is a 15th century fortress that was built because this, the capital city of the island, was historically besieged by pirates.
Too much reflection on this shot, but this is a mummy
We didn’t visit the San Gines Church but saw it during our walk.
We walked through the town and saw lots of cafes and bars along the waterfront. We visited several shops but didn’t buy anything.
But this sounded good!
Here are some photos of the colorful boats here.
Painted models of the boats. I wish I had a way to bring one home!
Some of the other sights in town:
A whale skeletonThis is meant to represent Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea
We returned to the ship for the Mexican lunch and completed our day with massages. Tonight we will have the Captain’s Cocktail party and dinner at Red Ginger. And we have one hour back tonight before our first port in Morocco. We have been wanting to visit Morocco for some time and are excited to experience it.
Today was a day of embarkation for new guests for this segment of the cruise. Here is our itinerary.
It was still dark when we woke up so these are the first pictures I got.
As you can see, there was another big ship in port from Aida cruises.
We did not have a tour today so we went out to explore the city. It is very walkable from the port to the center of the city. There is a blue line on the street and sidewalk that leads you to the city so you really can’t get lost!
This is the largest and most populous of the Canary Islands with almost 50% of the population.
The island is volcanic like the other Canary Islands and also quite dry.
Approximately five million tourists visit Tenerife each year; it is the most visited island in the archipelago. It is one of the most important tourist destinations in Spain and the world, hosting one of the world’s largest carnivals, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
On the way from the port to the town, there are stone markers with famous people who are in some way connected to Tenerife or the other Canary Islands.
We set out to visit the Carnival Museum but didn’t find it right away, so I looked it up and it is temporarily closed. We went to a nice market and generally explored the city,
Moving meat in the marketLove the displays of fruit and vegetables in the marketPainted wall of a market buildingBeautiful small chapel – Ermita San TelmoCute paintings on some of the market buildingsNice butt!This kid loved wading in the water in a park near the portAltar in the Inglesia de la Conception
When we returned to the ship, we got these flowers with no card- we assume it is a gift from the ship. Very beautiful bouquet. I had a 1:30 zoom meeting so we had lunch and went to make our next spa appointments!
We also found out that our scheduled tour for tomorrow in Arrecife, our last port in the Canary Islands, so we will again go out and explore on our own. And yes, we each booked a massage in the afternoon.
My previous post just loaded after I tried for 2 days. It has been hard to get the pictures downloaded during our 2 days at sea. Finally it worked! So let’s hope this one works too.
Las Palmas is currently the capital of Gran Canaria Island. It is sort of strange that they exchange capitals every four years with Santa Cruz de Tenerife where we will be visiting tomorrow.
I slept through our sail in but got some shots in the port which is pretty industrial.
Our tour today was “The Flavors of Grand Canaria.” Our guide was Vera and she was really funny and a good guide. She is originally from Bulgaria and speaks 5 languages. Some of the information she shared with us:
The Canary Islands are made up of 9 islands – this one is right in the middle. They are volcanic islands. Even though it is cloudy with a few sprinkles today, they only get 2-3 days of rain a year. The beaches are natural sand beaches and quite beautiful. In fact, Many people vacation here for “the best climate in the world” according to the director of research on climatology at Syracuse University. Tenerife is the largest island and Gran Canaria is the second largest.
Our driver was Victor and he was also wonderful. The streets here are not conducive to buses and it was a little scary at times.
There are 14 climate zones here and the fruits and vegetables are grown higher up because the humidity is higher there. They are even growing Aribica coffee!
Most of the population (about 400,000 in Las Palmas and almost 900,000 in all of the Canary Islands) is Catholic and there are many churches.
80% of the revenue of the islands is from tourism.
The Canary Islands are Spanish but are only 93 miles off of the African coast. And they are not named for canaries, but for the dog. They are named after the Latin term “Canariae Insulae” which means “Islands of the Dogs.” It is believed that the islands were named for the large populations of seals which were mistaken for dogs or after large native dogs which are now extinct.
Our first visit today was an aloe farm. The climate is so dry that it is perfect for growing aloe which only needs a small amount of water twice a month. It does take a long time to- 10 years- for it to grow though. And they can only harvest the outermost leaf, one at a time. There are 300 types of aloe! Who knew. They do flower, and the flower bud looks like a tiny banana. They cut the flowers off because it it takes too much moisture from the plant.
Here is our guide. You can see the yellow flowers on some of these plants.
We heard about the many things that aloe is good for. We know it for sunburn but our guide explained that it is very good for the skin and serves as a base for other substances and is used instead of water. He demonstrated cutting up a leaf and let us use the gel to rub on our skin.
I did buy some products! They had a wide variety.
After this visit we went on to Finca Los Olives, an olive farm. Here we got to see the process of making olive oil and preparing olives for sale. This is a small farm and all harvesting is done by hand. Olives stay in metal barrels with only salt water for 2 years before they are ready for sale. The owner took us through the farm. He did not speak English so Vera interpreted.
We had a tasting of the olive oil (with salt added – something I have never done) with cheese, French bread and of course olives and wine. Delicious.
We were served by women wearing the traditional dress of the area.
They have a small zoo there and we saw a train carrying school children. They were excited to wave to us.
A beautiful parrot is also in residence and he was very friendly. They live an average of 16 years.
Our last stop was the Bodega San Juan, a small winery. We walked through the grounds which were just beautiful.
Pictures of the founders are all through the grounds and the winery.
They had a few animals here.
We toured the winery which was like a small museum and very interesting. The actual operation is in the lower level of the owner’s home.
And, of course, we tasted!
Tomorrow we will arrive in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It is the port where the passengers who only sailed for this trip will disembark and new passengers will arrive. Most of the people we have met are staying on for this next trip to Southampton which ends on April 22, and some, like us will be on board until May 3. Some people will stay on longer, to Rome. We don’t have a tour tomorrow but will explore on our own.
We will have 11 port days in a row now, so I will try to keep up with the blog!
After 4 days of crossing the Atlantic and three time changes moving the clock ahead 1 hour, we reached land in Cape Verde. The Atlantic crossing was relatively smooth which is not always the case. We had a nice trip and the weather was in the 70s pretty much the whole time.
We didn’t arrive in port until noon, so the trivia was moved up to 10:30. We did quite well and would have placed second but Leslie awarded first to 2 teams so we got lucky! And he gave 1 big O point to every team today.
Here are some pictures of our sail in. The archipelago consists of 10 islands and is part of Africa, just off the coast. Despite the name (GreenCape), the islands are barren and volcanic.
We have been here twice before and as I like to do – I went back and read my old blog entries to see what we did on the previous visits. I learned that it is an easy 1 mile walk to town and that on our last visit we did full day “island discovery”. So this time we decided to walk to town and visit the markets.
It seemed sort of cool when we were on our balcony but when we got off the ship it was warm so we could have worn our shorts.
If this year’s hurricane predictions are correct, we may be hearing about Cape Verde quite often this year. Western Hemisphere-bound hurricanes often have their early beginnings near the Cape Verde Islands. These hurricanes can become very intense as they cross warm Atlantic waters away from Cape Verde. The average hurricane season has about two Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the largest and most intense storms of the season because they often have plenty of warm open ocean over which to develop before encountering land. The five largest Atlantic tropical cyclones on record have been Cape Verde-type hurricanes. Most of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin are Cape Verde hurricanes.
We spotted what we assume is an old fortress on the hill as we started our walk along the seaside.
And this sculpture was worth the shot.
We passed the presidential palace. Cape Verde was settled by the Portuguese so most of the language spoken here is Portuguese. It is a representative democracy and one of the most developed and democratic countries in Africa. Over 90% of the island’s inhabitants live here in the capital of Mindelo.
We passed Torre de Belem which looks like the Belem Tower in Lisbon, but much smaller.
Another view of the fort from street level.
Dried fish for sale along the waterfront. I wonder if the dog is interested?
We saw a colorful array of boats as we walked along.
Some art on a building.
And an unusual sculpture.
You see a lot of tile art in Portugal. We only spotted this one here.
It looks like they are starting to build a new port building. There is a ferry terminal here but no real port building for cruise ships.
We love turtles and have a “save the turtles” Florida license plate on our car. This display says they are serious about turtle conservation. All the junk that can harm them is depicted on the shell.
And this one is just for fun. The sculpture is just outside the port area.
We now have 2 more sea days and 2 more time changes before we reach our first of 2 ports in the Canary Islands.
Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures 