Buenos Dias

After short return stops in Casablanca and Safi, Morocco for tours for the new passengers, we are on our way to Barbados.  We did have one last port of call today, however. Today we were in the Tenerife, Spain which is one of the Canary Islands.  The Capital is Santa Cruz.

(This is a building – The Tourist Information Center – very cool!)

Here we decided again to arrange our own tour. The four of us, Lawrie, Lorainne, Tom & I, found a taxi outside the port gates with a driver, Miguel, and negotiated a rate for the day. More and more we are finding that this is the way to see an area.

Tenerife (pronounced – ten e ree fay) is a small but beautiful, volcanic island with lovely cities and a gorgeous national park near the top of the volcano.

Miguel first took us through Santa Cruz, discussing the history of the island, pointing out the sites and explaining the traditions. Santa Cruz is the capital of Tenerife and a beautiful seaport town boasting a large university and lovely resort areas.

From there we began our 9,000 foot climb up Mount Teide – the volcanic creator of the island. The climb was steep and the roads narrow. I was very glad that we were in a small taxi and not on the gigantic tour bus.

The scenery was breathtaking – not just because of the altitude. We stopped often to take pictures  and then to hike around once we reached the top.

Here there is a very arid climate with virtually no vegetation. When we arrived at these rock formations Miguel told us, “These rocks used to be called The Rock of Teide (the name of the mountain), but the government changed them to The Rocks of Garcia.” He looked a bit perplexed saying, “Nobody knows who Garcia is.”

The area resembles a moonscape and has been the set for movies such as Clash of the Titans.

Next we drove down the other side of the mountain to the resort town of Puerto de la Cruz where we stopped in the old town at a pretty and unique little shop with beautiful, ornate balconies. The inside was just as pretty with a lovely, quiet little courtyard and a shop that sold banana rum which we sampled and promptly bought.

We continued down the mountain snapping pictures along the way.

Further on into the resort area of Puerto de la Cruz we stopped for a stroll and a little shopping, then had a drink at a tiny bar overlooking the bay.

Our last Sail Away was at 18:30 (6:30 PM) so we had to head back to our port.

The day was lovely. Thank you, Miguel and Tenerife.

Charli

Today is a transition point in our journey.  The 114 passengers that were on board just for the 12 day ports of call part of the cruise left today, and so we had to say good bye to new found friends –

Joan from Canada (a charming and hilarious lady who kept us entertained through many meals), Ian (our own Geico gecko from Australia who also had a wonderful sense of humor and a unique outlook on life)

, and Jens and Christiana (a lovely German couple and our partners from Team International) among others. We’ll miss them and wish them “fair winds and following seas”.

L & L, Tom, and I spent the day touring Lisbon by taking the Hop On – Hop Off city tour buses.

They are double decker buses with passes that allow you to hop on and hop off as many times and wherever you want. We were given headsets that we plugged into outlets on the seats in front of us and tuned to our language to hear the history and explanations of the sites we were passing – a new way to tour.  It was a fun and interesting way to see the city which is very hilly and beautiful with parts of the old city blended with with the new – large modern buildings  

and lovely parks. 

After the bus tour we ended up stopping by a restaurant (mostly because we really needed a rest room) that housed the Museum of Beer. We ended up feeling obligated to tour the museum which ended up being fun and interesting and they gave free samples of the local beer – who could pass that up?

 

We arrived back at the boat in time for the embarkation of 173 new passengers… heavy sigh … a whole new group to break in.  Actually, out of the 196 passengers who are taking this trip, 144 of them are repeat Star Clipper customers and they already know the ropes. Not a bad record for Star Clipper.

Tomorrow is a sea day, YEA!!!!

Bon voyage,

Charli

Bo voyage,

Charli

Portimao is a small resort city with miles of rugged coastline and pristine beaches. We were only in port for a short time so Lawrie, Lorraine, Tom and I just walked along the shore in town. As you can see the landscape is exquisite.

A lovely day in Portimao, Portugal.

Charli

I know what I said about big tours, but this one was a must and well worth the time and money.

Seville, the capital of the Andalusia, is a beautiful city – rich in history and beautiful architecture. We spent the day touring a 14^th century palace, the cathedral, and wandering the streets with a fantastic tour guide – Herman. Herman is German and spends 5.5 months a year as a tour guide in Seville and 6 months as a nurse in Germany. He says the variety keeps him fresh. His enthusiasm was contagious.

We started out with a tour of the 14^th century palace of Peter the Cruel  which centuries later became the site of the 1927 World Expo. For the Expo each country had its own alcove and the mosaic work in each is unique, intricate and beautiful.  The grounds are peaceful and lovely and make you want to just sit and soak up the atmosphere.   

From there we went to the Cathedral of Seville built in the 15^th century and considered the third largest cathedral in the world.

We were told that you could put all of Notre Dame in this cathedral without touching the outer walls – it’s pretty huge. The treasure within those walls is immense.

The wealthiest families had their own chapels each with its own treasure trove of art.

Also housed in the cathedral is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus.

Next we wandered around the old Jewish quarter which we entered through an ancient Roman wall.

. There we came across an archeological site where they have discovered artifacts from as far back as the Stone Age. It was all very Indiana Jonesish and very cool.

After a walk through the picturesque Plaza de America

we boarded the bus to return to our floating home.

Adios Seville,

Charli