Traveling with the Jones

Jeff J · May 25, 2007

On a previous cruise port call to Palermo, we toured the city via the hop-on, hop-off bus, and walked through the street markets. For today’s visit, we wanted to get out of the city. We took Holland America’s “Cefalí¹ — A Seaside Town” 4.5 hour tour. First, our guide pointed out the highlights of Palermo as we drove through the city. Our bus then headed out of the city on an hour drive through the Sicilian countryside, to Cefalí¹, pronounced (CHEF A LOO) by our guide. Enroute, she gave us the history of Palermo and Sicily, which has been ruled by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Vikings, Spaniards, and many others over the years, resulting in a great mix of architecture and diversity of residents.

Cefalí¹ is a beautiful resort town hugging the sea, tucked beside an overlooking mountain with ancient ruins. Streets are narrow and buses cannot enter the town. Our tour including the cathedral, the ancient public wash area and the narrow streets. Then we had about an hour of free time to explore and shop.

We walked down to the rocks on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea and stuck on feet in the clear turquoise water. It was quite cool, but with a hot day, many where swimming and sunning on the nearby beached. Wondering around Cefalí¹, we had our first Italian gelato of this trip (tiramisu and hazelnut). Yum! We also bought a bottle of Sicilian white wine, and based on the prices, friendlessness, and beauty of the town, noted that this might be a place to stop back later in the summer.

This was a very enjoyable 3-man tour!

Back in Palermo, we came back to the ship for a late lunch and for catching up on various posts. On shore, we bought a Herald Tribune, and learned that Naples in two weeks into a massive garbage strike, that is supposed to get worse as the only dump in the area is closed for the weekend. We’ve never been to Naples and were planning to spend our Monday call there trying out various famous pizza and gelato places – but are now considering the ferry or hydrofoil to Capri.

Off now to here Frank’s commentary as we sail out of Palermo and toward Valletta, Malta. We are looking forward to another special Wine pairing dinner in the Pinnacle Grill this evening.

One ship note. Where was some discussion on the board whether hot appetizers were on the way out. At least in the Prinsendam they are offered every evening during dinner hour. The bar waiters will also circulate a tray of cold snacks late in the evening. Both a very nice touch.

Jeff J · May 24, 2007

Today we are enjoying a much-needed day at sea after seven port days in a row! For the guests who joined the cruise in Lisbon, this is their only sea day during the 12-Day cruise from Lisbon to Rome.

With all of the activities going on, it’s not possible to be bored. We attended a port lecture with Frank on Rome (and areas to visit outside of Rome). This morning was also the On Deck for the Cureâ„¢ walk to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Each participate makes a $15 donation (through a charge to your shipboard account) and receives a t-shirt and pink wristband. At 9:45 am, the 5 K(or 14 laps) walk was kicked off by the captain and hotel manager. Water stations were set up several places around the promenade deck. It appeared that at least 80 people participated, followed by a pink lemonade party. Janis followed some of the guests that were making some of the laps at a slight jog as 14 laps can make one feel like a rat on a wheel. Her legs are sore tonight!

Pinnacle Grill Chef Ani gave another cooking demonstration in the Culinary Arts Center, this time showcasing rustic French cooking. He made Alsatian Ham and Gruyere salad and Chicken Provencal, with samples of the salad for all attendees. Ani gives great cooking tips such as how to cut onions without the tears and the best way to chop fresh parsley.

We enjoyed lunch in the dining room today. The ship has served lunch in the formal dining room on most port days, but we are too busy exploring the ports to enjoy it.

Today 5 pin bowling had yet another twist – “bowling” a small “whiffle” golf ball toward five domino “pins”. Since turning in the first DAM dollars for a nice DAM sweatshirt, we haven’t participated in that many of these events but when we do they add up quickly. (some guests had nearly 200 after the first 10 days).

This afternoon, we are catching up on port posts, and enjoying watching the movie Dreamgirls in our stateroom.

Tonight is the 5th of 6 formal nights in the 22 day cruise (no formal nights in the 3 days between New York and Ft. Lauderdale.) It is also the Black & White Officers’ Ball in the Queen’s Lounge, after Sally Jones performs.

Jeff J · May 23, 2007

We have been to Barcelona previously and have always enjoyed this city. Today the ship docked at the Muelle de Adosado, which on first appeared to be an easy walking distance to Las Ramblas, but required a port shuttle bus due to the port traffic.

The bus dropped us off by the Christopher Columbus statute. We leisurely walked the distance of Las Ramblas, which was full of tourists and buskers, but enjoyable none the less.

With 16 hours in port we decided to spend the day in the country. We headed to the train station at the Playa de Catalunya and bought two tickets from the automated kiosks to Vilafranca, the heart of the Penedés wine region (tickets cost â‚¬3.10 person each way). The train station has both Metro and regional trains which can be confusing. If you want to go to Vilafranca look a red “C” symbol (Ceranias) and follow the signs. There are train employees walking about to help at the ticket kiosks, who are very helpful despite their limited English.

The trip to Vilafranca takes about one hour. From the train station, we walked a few blocks to the center of town to the tourist information office. They had volumes of information on the various wineries. We earlier had called the Torres Winery (34 93 817 75 68 www.torreswines.com) and scheduled a tour for 3:00pm. With more than an hour to kill, we decided to have lunch. In typical Spanish fashion Vilafranca completely shuts down for siesta, so we wandered the quiet streets and found a small local restaurant (Cal Bruna), which was full of the local work crowd and offered a fixed menu of the day. For the main course we just pointed to what others were having and ended up with some of the best meatballs we’ve ever had. We finished with the standard crema de catalan and coffee. (the 3-course lunch also included a bottle of wine and cost â‚¬8.90 per person). It was getting close to our tour time so we dashed back to the train station, and luckily found a cab as the winery is about a 10 minute cab ride from town. We were lucky as the cabbie joked that there are normally 25 cabs in Vilafranca but he is the only one during siesta.

We had a one hour tour of the winery by Lars Thomas, our knowledgeable guide, including a ride through the vineyards. We ended with a sampling of wines and a walk though the gift shop.

We took a cab back to the train station and ended back in Barcelona by 7:00pm. Even though it was early for dinner (at least by Barcelona standards) we headed up the Rambla Catalunya took a left at Carrer de Mallorca to our favorite Tapas restaurant Cerveceria Catalana . The food was every bit as good as we remembered. Reluctantly, we headed back to the ship.

Note: We drank Torres wines on board the Prinsendam on the transatlantic cruise, and collected the plastic bulls on the bottles. At the winery, we learned the bulls are added to the bottles destined for the US only. Normally, Holland America offers a shore excursion to Torres – but it was canceled on our cruise.

Jeff J · May 22, 2007

Mallorca is the largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands. Mallorca, Minorca and Ibiza are three of the five major islands making up this archipelago south of Spain’s southern coast, and are playgrounds for sun-loving Europeans. Palma is the largest city and the capital of the Balearic Islands.

During our previous visit to Mallorca on the Costa Magica in November of 2005, we took the Caves of Drach & the Mallorca Pearl Factory shore excursion to the northeastern side of the island. Since it was a short port visit, we missed seeing the Palma.

For this visit, we focused on Palma, first walking about 3 miles from the port to the cathedral that dominates the city and waterfront. The flat terrain follows the large harbor, with marinas packed with yachts. For those who didn’t want to walk, a shuttle was offered for $6 US each way, charged to your shipboard account.

The Cathedral de Mallorca cost â‚¬4 to visit. The interior features artwork by Antonio Gaudi. Next we wondered through the narrow streets of the Old Quarter near the cathedral. They were packed with shops and cafes, as well as many tourists.

We located the El Corte Inglés store by following the trail of shopping bags, and the signs to McDonald’s (which mentioned it was near Corte Inglés). Next, we walked the nearby residential streets, in search of a good lunch spot. We noticed a restaurant with beautiful hardwood doors and a menu of the day in Spanish. We went it and although our Spanish is limited, we noticed what the other guests were eating, and it looked good. The menu of the day included wine, water or beer, a garbanzo bean and tuna salad, followed by a meatball stew, then choice of dessert such as ice cream, tiramisu, or fresh watermelon or Catalan cream for dessert and coffee con leche. All for â‚¬7.5. We entered the restaurant at 1:45 and there were just a few tables of people; at 2 pm it was packed with the lunch crowd. The people-watching was great: business workers, families, girlfriends gossiping “;; how wonderful to have a slow-paced 1.5 – 2 lunch during the work week.

Back to Corte Inglés, we stocked up on Torres wine and sparkling water, and then took bus #1 to the port. (cost â‚¬1.20).

Back on the ship, we decided to skip our scheduled dinner and opt for the Lido dinner. While late seating dinner is at 8:15, the Lido is only open from 6 – 7:30 pm. We went up at 7:10 pm and where surprised at how many people were there. While most of the food is the same as the dining room, we found the service a somewhat confusing mix between self-serve and waiter service. If this is a true alternative, why not leave some type of food service available at least until 8:15?

The evening show, “From Broadway to Queens” was one that we enjoyed on the segment between New York and Ft. Lauderdale. Rather than we repeating, we visited with our shipboard friends Richard and Brigitte in the Explorers’ Lounge. Richard & Brigitte were thrilled with the Valldemosa & Chopin tour they took to the village of Valldemosa and the 14th Century Monastery where novelist George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin spend the winter of 1838.

Tonight is our last formal night and we’ve been invited to the captain’s table… will post how it goes!!

Traveling with the Jones

Day 21 – Palermo and Cefalí¹, Sicily (CHEF A LOO )

Day 20-at sea, about 120 nautical miles off the coast of Corsica headed to Palermo

Day 19 Barcelona Ole!

Day 18 – Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands – Tuesday, May 22, 2007