Those of you who know us might know that we’re not city folk in general. We’ll go to a city and spend time occasionally, but we wouldn’t pick a city as vacation destination. Having said that, it isn’t a surprise that, while we were impressed with Helsinki, it wouldn’t necessarily be a destination for a vacation to Finland. Rather, we would probably fly in and spend an afternoon seeing the sights; maybe have coffee and a pastry in a coffee shop somewhere and then make our way north to Lapland to see some reindeer.
Today was a lazy day in Copenhagen, Denmark. We left the ship at around 9:00 AM and were guided by a tour guide to all the various sites of the city, including the palaces of the royals of Denmark, the Parliament building, the Old Stock Exchange, and even passed an amusement park. Continue reading →
When you read the cruise and travel blogs, it seems that a lot of folks believe that the quality of the food aboard cruise ships has declined over the past few years. Many people complain about the overall quality, but when you really drill down to the specifics, it’s not clear what they mean.
During this cruise we’ve had a lot of time to give this some thought and have made a couple of observations. And of course, we’ve formed a couple of opinions about the quality of the food that we would like to share here.
First, we should make some qualifying statements so you can better understand why we have the opinions we have about cruise ship food. Not long ago, we entered into a weight loss program. More of an overall fitness and wellness program really, but part of the philosophy in our weight loss program was that, since we were going to significantly restrict the quantity of our food intake, we would concentrate on overall food quality to help make up for the lack of volume. It’s been working for us, but we’ve made some changes to our diets as a result and certain kinds of foods are not part of our normal routine anymore. Continue reading →
Ponta Delgada is a small city of around 70,000 people located on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. Situated west of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean, this area has been continuously inhabited since at least 1444, when small fishing villages were established around the islands. In the early part of the 19th century, Ponta Delgada was of significant economic importance to Portugal and at one point was actually considered the third largest city based on economic strength and population. The farm land surrounding the city at one point had a major citrus industry, trading extensively with the United Kingdom. Continue reading →
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone from the US ask if a particular country drives on the wrong side of the road. When they say that, they are of course referring to driving on the left side rather than the right side of the road as is the rule here in the States. Often, I’ve heard them say it in the presence of someone who comes from a country that drives on the left, not realizing how that kind of question, phrased in that way, could leave another person feeling a little put out. Continue reading →
In this gallery, we’ve set aside some room for images from our 2014 Atlantic crossing aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star. Here we expect to post images from our days at sea as well as shots we’ll make as we tour through various cities from Ponta Delgado in the Azores, to Dover, England, and many stops along the Baltic Sea.
We hope to post these images as we make them, so check back often.
One of the things we’ve quickly grown accustomed to in the 21st century is the ability to communicate with just about any person, any time. We’ve also grew used to the idea that whatever information we want is at our fingertips pretty much instantly. Our cell phones have more computing power than the computers that landed the Apollo capsules on the moon, and we take that for granted. Continue reading →
For most cruises, use of the fitness center (gym), jogging and walking tracks, and wellness classes amounts to a token effort. We say this because the length of an average cruise is short enough that missing your normal daily workout during your cruise won’t have a major impact on your overall health. Continue reading →
