May 29, 2012 - Cadiz, Spain

May 29, 2012 - Cadiz, Spain

Last night we watched a cast show with the music of Cole Porter. The dancers are very talented. There was a tap dancing number that was outstanding. Overall the entertainment has been good. I really think the costumes are the best I have seen on any ship. We really get a close up view sitting in the front row thanks to Myrna.

We turn the clock ahead one hour tonight because Cadiz is GMT+1, tomorrow we turn the clock back one hour because Lisbon is on GMT. Makes you dizzy.

We had all been to Cadiz on our Rome to Fort Lauderdale cruise on 2009, but on that trip we took the all day tour to Seville. We decided to use the Hop On Hop Off Bus, but then Don and Myrna decided to just walk into the old city center which ended very near to where we were docked. Evelyn and I want to see more of Cadiz, including the new parts of the city.

We left the ship before 10am and while walking to the bus stop I found that I had left the camera battery in the charger so I had to go back to the ship. The cost of the Hop bus is 15 euros, when I looked on the internet to find out, it quoted the regular price as $26 and an internet special at $20 plus a $3.50 handling charge. Currently 15 euros is less then $20. My only problem is that I'm using euros I bought last year for $1.50 each. The only plus is that I already considered the money spent.

It was very foggy when we left the ship and the bus first goes around the new city, outside the old wall, where the beaches are. It was hard to see in the fog, but the beaches reminded us of Santa Monica. Very deep beach, with lots of sand. It didn't look to be good for surfing, but there maybe times of the year when it is. The weather reminded me of May gray or even June gloom. A short distance from the beach road it was clear and blue.

We then drove back to the old part of the city. It reminded us of Florence, with narrow streets and old buildings surrounding large open public squares. We pasted the central area and the drove thru a very nice residential area with a beautiful botanical garden at the edge of the bay. The gardens had palms and ever greens trimmed in shapes the were spirals and pinnacles. Reminded Evelyn of Alice in Wonderland. It ran along the coast for at least a mi,e with paths, benches and a wide selection of blooming shrubs and flowers, really very inviting. Cadiz sort of juts out with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and a Bay on the other. All of Cadiz is on the Atlantic side of Spain with the Straight of Gibraltar to the east.

We road around again to get off at the central area and also to see if the fog had cleared, it had a little. The central square was very busy, with a combination of tourist and locals. Another cruise ship is in port, the Maria - from Oceanna. We found a cafe and sat outside and had lunch. The special included: bread, olives, potatoe salad with tuna and olive oil, a plate of cold cuts served on a bed of potato chips, two beverages and paella for 18 euros. Why too much food, but we managed to eat most of it. Evelyn can't wait to get home to make the potato salad and a paella. She already purchased some saffron in the Canaries. The weather was great, the fog had lifted and we had bright sun shine and temperature in the low 70s. After lunch we walked the streets of the old city and then walked back to the ship. The on,y purchase was a magnet. Looked for Spanish olive oil but didn't see any. Spain produces more olive oil and some say better than
Italy.

We had dinner on the dinning room after drinks in the Casino Lounge. Tonight is "Dancing with the Strips" where the ship's dancers, dance with a ship's officers. The show was at 10pm and we wanted a front row seat. The Cabaret Lounge is setup more as a night club and the best seats are in the front row. Before "the dancing" there is a regular show with Gregg Scott a very tall violinist from England at 8:30pm. We finished dinner about 7:30pm and the hung out by the show room until the first show was over and then ran for our seats. Myrna also got into a fight with a lady that out weight her by 100 pounds, but everything turned out ok and we got our seats. Evelyn and I had our IPads and read until show time. After the show, which was very good, we read some more until the "dancing" show. There were four pairs and they all did a good job. There were judges who were the comedy part of the show. The junior officer Sabastiani who was are escort on the bridge tour was dancing and we supported him. He was very good doing a disco routine and won the competition with his partner Rochelle, one of the dancers. She is from Australia so it was very multi national. The whole program was very entertaining. They only stage this occasionally and it is a specialty of the cruise director David. The couples have to fine time and space for rehearsal between their regular duties. It was really fun and a lot more entertaining that the staff talent shows that are usually scheduled.

Tomorrow is Lisbon.






Sent from my iPad

Hal