Alright, alright, I know I’m SUPER behind on my blogging, so I apologize! I’ve been so busy exploring all the ports since we made it to Europe, I’ve hardly had enough time to sleep! :D I’m going to cover the ports in chunks, one blog entry per cruise. Let’s rewind time and start at the end of the crossing!
Our first stop after the seven straight days at sea was Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Last year a group of us went to the island’s volcano. This time I assisted a guest tour to the pyramids of Guimar. There was a museum with information on how the pyramids were similar to those in other countries. They compared ancient coins, pottery, hieroglyphics, and even how the deceased were mummified. The step pyramids had a platform for sacrificial ceremonies, most likely to their sun gods. These similarities suggest contact between Mexico and Peru before written Pre-European history. The video showed how the ancient people built reed rafts to travel across the oceans. I would love to go on an archeological excavation and discover human kinds past.
On the road back to the ship, we passed a McDonald’s advertising the “Ronald McDonald Gym Club”, which I thought was pretty funny.
The next day was Lanzarote, another volcanic land in the Canary Islands. This island hardly gets rain and the locals joke the “God forgot about us”. Jessica, Yuri, Pedro and I rented a taxi for the day to take us around the island and to a few volcano highlights. Our first stop was in a little square. The scene was a quite a sight because the town was entirely white, which had an intense contrast with the desolate landscape surrounding it. We headed out of town and stopped at an enormous gorge. It was the type of view that takes your breath away; mammoth hills that dropped hundreds of feet to the land below and there we were, standing at the top. Yuri spotted a car that had crashed on the road and rolled to the depths of the canyon.
Our taxi driver took us to a beautiful view of the Mirador del Rio and La Graciosa, the island that inspired Treasure Island. We finished our tour at Jameos del Aqua. This unique attraction sits in the lava tunnels of the volcanic caverns. Inside there was an auditorium and restaurant that were hewn from rock of the north side of the island. Inside a cave, a salt-water lagoon was home to the cutest little white crabs. I later learned this particular species of crabs are blind. We ate a rushed lunch at a diner our driver highly recommended. There wasn’t anything special about my sandwich though and the menu didn’t offer much else. Lanzarote had such unusual beauty found in their volcanic terrain; I really enjoyed the scenery this island renders.
Saturday, April 16th was Jessica’s 20th birthday! I planned a surprise party that failed a bit because it’s really hard to put together a surprise party for your roommate when you are literally with her 24/7! And some people just can’t keep a secret. But we had a great time and she cried (happy tears) because her past two casts forgot her birthday. Jessica, Philip and I are the babies of the cast but we are now all OFFICIALLY adults. My next bday will be the big 2-1…that’s scary to think about! The other day I was buying some ice cream on the ship and the girl took my card (which is a LOUD yellow card because I’m underage), and asked me when I would be turning 18! Bless her.
Our last port of the crossing cruise was Cadiz, Spain. Jessica and I escorted the same tour, “Cadiz & Flamenco”. We stopped at the Cathedral, which was stylized in transition from the ornate details of the 13th century Baroque style to the 19th century neo-classical style. Afterwards, our tour guide took us to La Cava, a restaurant and bar with a Flamenco show. Jess and I enjoyed the performance whilst snacking on the complementary sangria (divine!) and the potato and cheese tart. The music was enticing; a live guitarist strumming away and a man with a deep voice singing traditional Flamenco melodies. The dancers were lively as they clapped various rhythms and stomped their feet, occasionally screaming “ESO!” which I assume translates along the lines of “That’s it!” The male dancer pulled me up to dance with him. I was pretty good at the flowing movement but when he started tap dancing really fast with a complicated combination of sounds, I couldn’t help but just laugh and attempt it, knowing full well I looked ridiculous :D We were able to walk around the city for a bit on our own after the tour, and got a few souvenirs from the bazaar. There was a man selling coins from all over the world that he had sawed out by hand. I got a Danish kroner, because the krone is in the Millenium series and I want to wear it on our tour of Sweden! I’ve learned that all the European countries that use kroner have their own type of kroner; so it’s been pretty challenging to exchange in each new place and keep them separated!
That concludes the trans-atlantic crossing from Brazil to Europe. Next…THE 11-DAY CRUISE….COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU!!!! <3
No comments:
Post a Comment