Having removed the cucumber slices from my eyes having had "a bad night's sleep" (I didn't want to put our fellow passengers off their breakfast at the sight of the large bags under my eyes) we both had a good day. Gus gave 2 lectures - I did my daily yoga workout. Met another Canadian faculty member for lunch and have just finished reading a good book ahead of going off to the Faculty Lounge for a pre-dinner drink.
Well we have sailed over 3000 nautical miles with just over 300 to go until we get to Spain tomorrow. We go to the Global Studies Course every morning and certainly know more about Spain having had so many lectures/slide shows on the country now - great to get recommendations on where to eat plus we have a list of useful Spanish words. We arrive in Cadiz tomorrow having re-fuelled in Gibraltar (hope it's a clear day so that we can see the Rock and on the Moroccan side, Jebel Musa which are the original Pillars of Hercules).
A representative from the US Consulate in Madrid is coming on board to give us a talk once we have docked in Cadiz. After that we're doing a tour/orientation of the old city of Cadiz followed by a 2-day trip to Sevilla and Cordoba. So this will be the last blog for a few days.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Nassau Again
We spent the day at “Atlantis”yesterday. It’s a resort and casino located on Paradise Island in Nassau. The resort was created by South African hotel magnate Sol Kerzner and it was interesting to compare it with Sun City (just outside Johanensburg, SA)
It’s enormous – wonderful gardens full of flowering bougainvillea and oleanders. There’s also a huge aquarium which houses over 50,000 marine animals .One can walk through underwater tunnels surrounded by sharks, stingrays, moon jellies and piranhas. There are 11 swimming pools, various waterslides, dolphins, boating, a beach, casino and several restaurants. It’s an amazing place to visit but certainly not our scene – maybe we’re just a little old for all the crowds and noise! It’s a bit too much like Las Vegas to us – very glitzy!
Today we explored Nassau - visited the Queens Staircase which is a set of 65 steps carved out of the natural limestone wall. The Queens Staircase is 102 feet tall, and was named in honor of Queen Victoria. They were built to provide British troops a protected route to Fort Fincastle, and the slaves used were local peoples from the island. Fort Fincastle was built on the highest point of the island as a lookout by the British captain Lord Dunmore in 1793. The Queens Staircase and Fort Fincastle were apparently inspired by a desire to watch for encroaching marauders and pirates, however, none ever attacked and the fort is now a lighthouse that tourists can view. Very interesting. We’ve just come back to the boat and watched the remainder of the students board. (65% females and 35% males). The noise level aboard has certainly risen but we’re looking forward to meeting to them all.
We leave Nassau tonight to sail across the Atlantic to Spain. Glorious weather – temps in the upper 70;s
(A piece of interesting/useless (?) info is that the Bahamas is about the same size as Connecticut with a population of 305 655!) See what I’m learning from Semester at Sea already!
It’s enormous – wonderful gardens full of flowering bougainvillea and oleanders. There’s also a huge aquarium which houses over 50,000 marine animals .One can walk through underwater tunnels surrounded by sharks, stingrays, moon jellies and piranhas. There are 11 swimming pools, various waterslides, dolphins, boating, a beach, casino and several restaurants. It’s an amazing place to visit but certainly not our scene – maybe we’re just a little old for all the crowds and noise! It’s a bit too much like Las Vegas to us – very glitzy!
Today we explored Nassau - visited the Queens Staircase which is a set of 65 steps carved out of the natural limestone wall. The Queens Staircase is 102 feet tall, and was named in honor of Queen Victoria. They were built to provide British troops a protected route to Fort Fincastle, and the slaves used were local peoples from the island. Fort Fincastle was built on the highest point of the island as a lookout by the British captain Lord Dunmore in 1793. The Queens Staircase and Fort Fincastle were apparently inspired by a desire to watch for encroaching marauders and pirates, however, none ever attacked and the fort is now a lighthouse that tourists can view. Very interesting. We’ve just come back to the boat and watched the remainder of the students board. (65% females and 35% males). The noise level aboard has certainly risen but we’re looking forward to meeting to them all.
We leave Nassau tonight to sail across the Atlantic to Spain. Glorious weather – temps in the upper 70;s
(A piece of interesting/useless (?) info is that the Bahamas is about the same size as Connecticut with a population of 305 655!) See what I’m learning from Semester at Sea already!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
NASSAU
Just arrived in Nassau and about to go through to Paradise Island. Glorious weather. Life on board is fabulous - food is excellent - "Weight-Watchers" will definitely be receiving a new client on our return! I did manage a half-hour session at the gym yesterday having consumed a large hot breakfast followed by 2 - yes 2 - delicious chocolate croissants! We have met such interesting people from all over the world and everyone is so friendly. We're all enjoying the last day ahead of the arrival/onslaught of 650 students tomorrow. Gus starts teaching on Tuesday morning having been very thoroughly "orientated" (faculty had another 3 orientations yesterday which seem to cover everything possible eventuality) We're both still overwhelmed at the luxurious suite we have here - sitting out on our deck at night under a spectacular star-lit sky last night - luxuriating in a large tub in a beautifully equipped bathroom - sipping a cold glass of wine from our fridge - turning on the TV to bring us back to reality - having our room cleaned and replenished with fluffy white towels twice a day are just a few of things we have to put up with each day - home was never like this !!!! Have a great day.
2 commen
Monday, January 26, 2009
Update
We’ve now been at sea for just over a week and for those interested we have now covered 2561 nautical miles with 1162 nautical miles to go. We lose one hour every other night with Spain being 6 hours difference from the US and as we are travelling north it’s getting colder – we down in the 60’s now.
Gus & I are thoroughly enjoying the Global Studies Course and definitely now know more about Spain and the places we will be visiting later this week. These courses study not only the history and architecture of Spain but also useful things like “Dining in Spain” – useful phases and restaurant recommendations. We also had a “salsa” lesson the other night which was fun! When we arrive in Cadiz on Wednesday we will be doing a tour/orientation of the old city after which we’re off to Sevilla and Cordoba. We will spend one night in Cordoba.
Life on board is as hectic as you’d like it. We went to an interesting “digital photography” talk the other day. We watched a “Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble” who presented an Atlantic Ocean Wind Performance of “Anemoi” for wind, voices, computers and instruments – this was part of the Drama Group’s homework. It was held on the top deck and the wind certainly co-operated! There are Acapella Groups, several bands, language groups – in fact if there’s anything else one wants to do one can start one’s own group. I continue to go to yoga every morning – I drag myself out of bed some mornings but certainly do feel better having a half an hour session. I am also going to a Marketing for Non-Profit course which is very interesting.
We went to a cocktail party last night where we met the Captain (a delightful Englishman with a great sense of humor) . Tonight we’re going to a Cultural Pre-Port Presentation which should be interesting.
It’s almost lunchtime so I better come to a close but if anyone is worried about us I can assure you we are having the “time of our lives” – everyone is incredibly friendly, met some really fascinating people, eating a little too well and just loving every moment of our trip.
Gus & I are thoroughly enjoying the Global Studies Course and definitely now know more about Spain and the places we will be visiting later this week. These courses study not only the history and architecture of Spain but also useful things like “Dining in Spain” – useful phases and restaurant recommendations. We also had a “salsa” lesson the other night which was fun! When we arrive in Cadiz on Wednesday we will be doing a tour/orientation of the old city after which we’re off to Sevilla and Cordoba. We will spend one night in Cordoba.
Life on board is as hectic as you’d like it. We went to an interesting “digital photography” talk the other day. We watched a “Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble” who presented an Atlantic Ocean Wind Performance of “Anemoi” for wind, voices, computers and instruments – this was part of the Drama Group’s homework. It was held on the top deck and the wind certainly co-operated! There are Acapella Groups, several bands, language groups – in fact if there’s anything else one wants to do one can start one’s own group. I continue to go to yoga every morning – I drag myself out of bed some mornings but certainly do feel better having a half an hour session. I am also going to a Marketing for Non-Profit course which is very interesting.
We went to a cocktail party last night where we met the Captain (a delightful Englishman with a great sense of humor) . Tonight we’re going to a Cultural Pre-Port Presentation which should be interesting.
It’s almost lunchtime so I better come to a close but if anyone is worried about us I can assure you we are having the “time of our lives” – everyone is incredibly friendly, met some really fascinating people, eating a little too well and just loving every moment of our trip.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
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