ProseKnitic – of Words und Wolle

Now, I don’t plan the route – that was done by Costa. So if there is an explanation for why we are changing planes in Helsinki to get to Singapore that just might be the reason. Actually, I don’t think that there is a lot of logic to it: more that the cruise line probably got the best deal for block seats from FinnAir.

Since FinnAir by rep is one of the better airlines (rather than worst) I don’t see it as a problem. Of course, I would be happier if it was a Star Alliance member but I also just happen to have a British Airways Frequent Flyer card to haul out for credit.

Same way as I have a Costa Club Cruise membership card as well.

Have frequent “whatever cards” will travel?

Spring break. According to the ships officers – this is about the best Spring break cruise they have had in a while. With over 1200 of their passengers aged 21 and below -there are obviously a huge number of short and young be people on on the cruise. Being one of those old crabby people, I am more than pleased with the fact that there has been less running in the halls and idiots on the elevators in this ship than on the second Canary round on the Jade.

You noticed that I mentioned how many of the passengers are young? Well, I have also had a chance to meet one of the oldest passengers on the ship. Frank, at age 89, is spending a lot of time cruising – he says this year it will be almost 200 days between various cruises and ship lines. Having now been retired for 42 years from the Army (yes, that Army), he discussed briefly being stationed in Stuttgart at the end of WWII. One of the things he now says he looks for is sea days. Since he has achieved his goal of visiting all continents by ship (which he managed prior to becoming a widower) mostly he enjoys the traveling and cruising but doesn’t have a lot of interest in doing a lot of walking in strange cities. Personally, I hope that I am as fit as this tall, slender man when I am his age as well as have all of my brains intact. Of course, if my brains are gone I’m not going to know it now, am I?

It is just far enough from NYC that it takes us two days to get back. Gives plenty of time to talk to people, take a few pictures of the ship and otherwise not do a whole lot of anything.

Oh, yes, knitting. Can’t forget that I am doing some knitting along with reading (Charles Stross’s Fuller Memorandum). Have met a few knitters and crochets – but no one seems to have brought anything along on which to work.

Meanwhile – included are a few pictures of the ship (and, if you haven’t guessed it – we have a cabin on Deck 8). And chocolate – can’t forget that chocolate buffets seem to be terribly important to a lot of the cruisers. I took pictures and skipped eating any of it in favor of a bit more healthy a diet. (and none of the pictures were all that exciting – I will post them at some point if I can get all the people out of them!)

Salad is good, seaweed salad is even better!

Traveling again, we arrived much earlier in the morning than other people (person) in my cabin had expected. A bit of a push and we managed to get off the ship just in time for rain. Of course, in this area of the world a bit of liquid sunshine doesn’t last all that long and we were dried out within a few minutes of the sun breaking through the clouds.

There were four ships in port this morning (which leaves me to suspect that the population of tourists probably exceeds those locals by a significant amount on cruise ship days). One of those ships was Disney – complete with waterside ride on the upper deck. That and the outdoor screen running noise and lights continuously reinforces my belief that it might be a great cruise line for families with little kids (and I don’t want to try them out). Then there were the two military tenders in port (HMBahamasShips) which might just be the entirety of the local navy.

We hiked around some of the back street before receiving a warning that tourists really only were safe in the downtown area. Go figure. An amazing amount of trash, graffiti and falling down buildings only two streets behind the facade of the main street area.

There are few pictures of cultural attractions – the Art Museum is only open on Sundays between 1-4. The museum listed on the main street having to do with slavery and liberation doesn’t exist – just a building frame behind a barrier undergoing either renovation or reconstruction or perhaps replacement with yet another set of chain ship stores (they are all the same in these ports. For some reason there seems to be the thought that every tourist in the world must want jewelry. The T-shirts I understand – why not bring home t-shirts. But jewelry? I am wondering if the high end ships do the same thing? Certainly Windstar did not, nor did they have Bingo, but that is completely and totally a different rant.)

Anyway = the only museum that was open was the Pirate Museum of which we checked out the shop but not the displays themselves. (the other two ships in addition to Disney were the RCI Monarch and the Norwegian Sky).

Having to admire the audacity of cruise lines – apparently NCL owns this small flat piece of real estate off the florida coast. I have no idea how they procured it or from whom (public auction? Surviving Drug Lord Widow? Hurricane sale?) but I understand why. A day at the beach with the location owned/controlled by the cruise line. No money possibly going outside any of their profit centers. Cruise card good for snorkeling, parasailing or jet skiing.

Anyway. Tenders in – flat bottomed two tier obviously homed on the Cay means that we were tossed about in an open boat rather than one of the lifeboats locked to the outside of the ship’s deck 7/8.

It provided a nice view of the sea, white sand, the ship and people having a great time doing beach stuff for hours except for the kids who seemed to make repeated runs down the water slide.

Personally, once I found that I couldn’t get to the hammock -it was time to head back to the ship. I may be the only person on board who will return without a sunburn.

Florida is flat, at least this portion is extremely flat. Instead of being outside to watch our approach this morning I spent the time in the gym, having breakfast and knitting. I think Ms Maus is just about caught up on her sleep.

Rather than do an expensive tour to someplace in which we had no interest (Sea World, Disney World or splashing around in the ocean) we did something extremely American – we headed to the major mall in the area.

Trust me when I say that it was not really much of anything. It didn’t take all that long to determine that there was little there unique or different than anywhere else. But what we did find was a swimming suit for the college student and a bookstore for me. Both of us had run out of hard copy reading material by the end of yesterday.

Not much for photos today – you will have to settle for a progress report on the current sweater!

peplum for sweater

This is what Maus and I are doing – starting today. We left from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal around 1600 today and return next Saturday. I have books to read and a sweater to knit. Then there is sunshine and treadmills. I might even get off the ship a couple of times! What can I say? I am looking forward to spending the time with our youngest plus, well, it is a cruise.

I will be checking email a couple of times during the trip but this and tomorrows post are pre-loaded…

It wasn’t till I started handing over packages and toting up the damages that the impact of the new postal rates really hit me.

After all – what I was mailing was neither bulky nor heavy. Yarn and wool are not heavy, neither are DvDs. Since I already had the cases for the two DvDs going out (one to Florida with pictures from the Grandeur in Nov and one to Washington State with pictures from the Star from last August) they turned out to be really inexpensive, barely more than a first class letter.

I will give you a hint here – the flat rate boxes and envelopes are a bargain only if what you are mailing is heavy. Otherwise it is cheaper to purchase a $1.99 box, toss in a shawl (Texas) or close to a dozen balls of yarn (Florida) and send it on its way. You still are several dollars under the fixed price.

Then there was the small envelop going to Maryland and the package off to Calgary. At the end of the time, I have only a CD of medical records for Ms Soprano in Chicago and some goodies for a friend in NJ to mail. The catch for the first is that I have to make a copy of the records just in case the CD goes astray. In the case of the second, I really really need Ruth’s address in order to send off the package.

Of course, if I was on Facebook – I could just ask her there. But then I would have to deal with all the rest of the c**p that goes with that particular social media. I don’t want to be found by people from high school: they weren’t my friends in the mid 60s – why would they be my friends now? Since I don’t have a particularly difficult public email on either google or yahoo – if someone wants to find me they can.

Meanwhile, I will just find my knitting and see if I can get a couple of projects completed.

Somehow when I think of the five boroughs of NY I keep forgetting about Staten Island. After all, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx and Queens are all locations which make sense. Never mind that there are Islands involved – more than one as a matter of fact. What is important is that there is no “Island” in the name of the other boroughs so that you can ignore the fact that the particular portion of the city is surrounded by water and originally could only be reach by ship. Building bridges was an early access requirement for both use and investment.

After all, the principle still holds – access and perceived exclusiveness are what determine use and cost. Take, for example, some of the islands off Seattle. Small but liveable; accessible by ferry. Exclusive and expensive. Or, look at Manhattan. Mostly expensive and status.

Now take Staten Island – 8 miles wide, 17 miles long which makes it bigger than Manhattan but certainly much smaller in population. Do you suppose it is being so close to New Jersey on three sides that is the problem? Staten Island connects to the mainland with three bridges and to Brooklyn (aka another island with one) for all those who just have to drive their own car or want to go somewhere other than Manhattan via the the passenger only Staten Island ferry (which is free).
If you want to drive or otherwise travel in the traditional US fashion it is going to take longer and cost more, but I guess we all expect that.

Meanwhile – about 400,000 live in their little section of paradise. And I don’t see anything at all that looks like Pilgrims or Native Americans.

-Holly

Staten Island, NY
(and yes, Miriam was more than happy with her birthday presents)

Miriam, AKA Maus

The last (and obviously youngest) of our four was born 19 years ago today in Washington DC. Like her older siblings, she showed up at a time that was most convenient to her. In kindness to her brother, she waited till the next day. That may well be the last time in her life that she let him go first.

Maus is a youngest, sure of herself and her place in the world. She has her own sense of art, fashion and design. She adores being at Pratt in NY and spends an incredible amount of time on studies and assignments. This is all good. I will arrive late this afternoon after yet another long, Lufthansa flight (this one Frankfurt to JFK) in time to hang out with friends of hers while she takes her 1700 Art History mid-term.

My load will be considerably lightened from dropping off birthday presents and “things she forget or couldn’t fit in her suitcase” when she headed back to school after winter break. I think she gets dinner out of the dorm tonight.

I will then head to South Ferry. I will be staying with friends of George’s/ours who live on Staten Island. Since I have not been there before, perhaps I can add it to my life list of places visited (sort of like a birder’s list). Do I place it as part of NYC? In the Island list? Or perhaps as its very own country?

-Holly

Lufthansa Lounge, Terminal Z, Frankfurt Airport

The sun – a burning ball of orange fire has just risen above the sea outlining clouds in shades of rose, red and yellow. It will be a good day with quiet seas. The last full day of our cruise I think the plan is to get organized, sorted, packed and be ready to leave the ship early in the morning.

Of course, we had not counted on the air controllers strike in Frankfurt which cancelled over 140 flights yesterday with over 200 more on the chopping block today. It is one of those times when it is pretty hard to argue. Oh the one hand we all want to travel and to not have our personal lives interrupted. On the other, we all really want to fly safely. Kind of like with pilots – automated systems can and have landed planes without incident when pilots have been incapacitated. The pilots are there for when circumstances (like having to ditch a plane on a river) need judgement that is just not going to come from an automated system.

A lot of air traffic control can be handled by automated systems. Provided, and this is a large assumption with all the critical caveats – the pilots actually do what they are told and when. One pilot out of lane by a few hundred meters can wreck chaos and potentially cost lives. Take a human overseeing the system to yell, scream, cajole and warn off everyone else – especially in the case of emergency.

Yes, I want to fly cheaply. But if I have to kick in an extra Euro every flight toward that safety it would be a small price to pay for my security.

Malaga, according to the tourist spiel is the fifth largest city in Spain. Certainly I am not in the position to judge, but it sprawls up the hills from the port gleaming white in the warm sun. There is little left of the Moorish influence in the architecture. Mostly what we all think of as Spanish style architecture with light colored adobe covered walls (or cement block. Hello? This is modern times after all. I didn’t get a chance to visit the war history of the city which might give me a better handle on the current building styles of the city. Certainly it is a port town, with all the fortifications that implies but in more modern times it is also known for music (classical guitar), art (Picasso) and dance. This is also a region of wine and olives. Did I forget to mention bull fighting?

After wandering around in the heart of the pedestrian zone (nothing opens before 1000 so I am not sure why I wanted to wander off the ship so early), we hiked up to the castle/fort over looking the city. Looking both at the fortifications and at the city, it is easy to see how much is new/reconstructed.

We relaxed the rest of the day. Hard work – that sightseeing…..

Taking advantage of a down day – the Eldest likes shawls. After trying out a couple of patterns, I settled for Radical Changes. Since I know I have enough natural alpaca left on the cone brought with – I got started with the thought in mind that I can finish it on the cruise (but not get it blocked). It will go with the Cogwheel wristlets which were possible to block… And which I now realize I do not have a picture of blocked.

Found a couple of crocheters – and for fun went to a class on making paper boxes. Can you tell that I had a great day reading with a few detours into handwork?

No Spinning – you will have to settle for this

Since I really like the Lady of the Blue Forest – you get to see it again!

It is rarely I sign up for tours -about once a cruise, maybe less. But I found not that much interesting to see in Accerif last time – even given the excuse of a Sunday. Lanzarote is a volcanic island with major extensions and eruptions dating from 1730-36. It seemed sensible to see the area, especially since the tour included a camel ride.

No, we did not get a particularly friendly camel. Bernardo, in fact, sat back down on the job twice before being convinced he didn’t have a choice. Considering that the Eldest and I are not exactly the heaviest bit of baggage with which he could have been stuck – I don’t think this demonstrated much intelligence on his part. The camel handlers – on the other hand – had muzzles on them all which prevented both spitting and biting.

From there, it was just a short bus ride to the main building near the largest of the old volcanos. Although everyone keeps saying that there is no current risk of eruption, there is still magnum not that far below the surface. Down about two meters the temperature is high enough to trigger off spontaneous burning of hay tossed in for demonstration purposes.

In an area not very far along the ridge there are a series of pipes stuck vertically in the ground. If you, let us say, pour a bucket of water down one of those holes, it will take less than three second before it is returned to you in the form of boiling water and steam.

The lava flows, once started wiped out more than 25 small villages, fields, live stock and traveled from the center ridge to the ocean, extending the size of the island substantially. Driving through the fields we could see the layers of lava colored by included minerals and the area where, almost 300 years later, lichens are just starting. Lava tubes are clearly visible as are arches and caves cut in by the sea.

The last stop on the tour was a vine yard. Since the soil is dry and poor, the vines are raised on the ground. The semi-circles edged with volcanic rock retain what little moisture is in the air enabling the vines to survive. Since I can’t tell from wine – I have no clue as to whether or not the small bit provided for sampling was worth drinking.

I don’t remember this from 2007, but there are few of the ship signs have dates going back that far. We also might have just been docked at a different location. I believe the port renovations at Funchal were completed only in the last couple of years. My previous note on this location introduced you to the doors of Maderia and yesterday some of the views from on top of the mountain. Rather than moving on to Tenerife – I am staying “with” Portugal.

If you are a SciFi fan, a comment about “Ships of the Wall” will likely bring David Weber’s Honor Harrington series to mind. Space Navy, impeller wedges and ships which effectively form a wall of defense.

This is the Funchal version:

(and no – that last photo is of the Santa Maria recreation – not a ship of the wall).

We arrived early in the morning. Not taking the courtesy bus, we walked along the the harbor.  Carnival is coming soon and costumes were on display at the cable car station. I hadn’t taken it the last time – it seemed like something to do with the Eldest. I had forgotten that she doesn’t really like heights. So she looked ahead while I spoke with the Danish couple sharing our car. They are part of the bridge group. More interesting to me – he is a former Danish paratrooper and spent years on their jump competition team. Between him and his wife, they had close to 2500 jumps. Their next vacation, they were contemplating going somewhere with a lot of sun and the ability to do a number of jumps in one day (it apparently rains a lot in their part of northern Denmark just like it does in the UK and some areas of Germany).

We ran into a couple of English school teachers and Shana shared a sledge with them back down the mountain. I took the cable car back down and had a nice cup of coffee while waiting for her.

Of course, since it was Sunday – going into the needlework store we found was not an option.

The Luggage

Ok, I give in. I quit. I now fully understand why people want luggage with four wheels rather than two.

You know what I am talking about it? The two wheel vs four wheel luggage controversy. I have always loved my luggage.  I have good luggage with excellent in-line skate wheels that manage just about any surface and pulls quite smoothly. I have never been impressed with those suitcases with wheels on each of four corners skittering alongside their owner like The Luggage.

You do know The Luggage? If you don’t I suggest you start reading Terry Prachett’s Diskworld series from the beginning. Not completely sure, but The Luggage (which he based on seeing an uncoordinated suitcase driving it’s pusher completely and totally barking mad in an airport) skitters along on multiple feet. We will not even get into the fact that it might just be sentient or has been known to eat things.

Back to luggage. Two wheels move smoothly and cleanly. Four wheels are closer to the challenges of shopping carts and are more difficult on uneven surfaces. What none of this mentions is that two wheel suitcases are towed. Towing puts the weight of the suitcase on the hand, arm, shoulder and back of the victim. Not an issue with a light suitcase, but a serious issue with a 26″ case that is close to the allowable airline limit of 23 kg if the distance to be traveled is more than a block or three. Or kilometer. Or up a fairly long hill after a hike from where you couldn’t find a shuttle bus stop to a cruise terminal.

In comparison, a four wheel suitcase travels next to you, heeling at your side like a well trained dog. You can’t walk all that fast and there are issues with uneven surfaces and paving stones secondary to the wheel size. I suspect that there might be issues related to weight, but they are going to be different. You may still have to push or pull, but it would be an angular force without having to support kilos worth of stuff at the same time.

Since the Eldest has made this journey with four wheels rather than two – I probably should go and get her opinion. But that might just shatter my little bubble on this lovely sea day.

If the following looks familiar

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Thu Feb 9 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm Fri Feb 10 At Sea Sat Feb 11 At Sea Sun Feb 12 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 8:00am 5:00pm Mon Feb 13 Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands 8:00am 6:00pm Tue Feb 14 Arrecife, Canary Islands 8:00am 6:00pm Wed Feb 15 At Sea Thu Feb 16 Malaga, Spain 8:00am 7:00pm Fri Feb 17 At Sea Sat Feb 18 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

Which graphically can be presented like this -

You would be totally and complete right. I am going around the bend. More accurately, making a second loop. The only challenge to this one is coordinating with the Eldest who is joining me. We tried this a couple of years ago – an RCL cruise out of Dubai and managed to miss each other in the airport, at the check-in and back at the airport. Obviously, we finally found each other but it was not an auspicious start.

I want this year to be better. When I started to give her directions she looked at me rather strangely – no, she said, I don’t know where anything is in Barcelona – I haven’t been there before.

Oh – Ms Soprano was there twice on Model UN projects. Barcelona was the departure port in fall of 2009 when I took Maus and her roommate around the Western Med. George and I have been numerous times for business. Come to think of it – I don’t remember the Mole having been here either. But I should not getting the girls confused. I am not that old….

So wish us fair seas and good sailing. Not to worry – the captain on this ship is not Italian.

This is a sea day and when such a day falls immediately before docking I mostly do non-exciting things like look at all the yarn I brought along and shake my head. I make myself do the handwork on those knitted items I finished so that the ends are woven in, loose threads clipped.

I organize and pack while avoiding all the hype and push to spend money.

Since NCL has become serious about limiting photography during any of their performances, there is little opportunity to find things of interest in the evening. No one is swimming (at 15C out, that makes sense) and no one was in the hot tubs last night.

However, there was a chocolate buffet so without further comment, I will provide you pictures. (items for display including ice sculpture and carved veggies. These were not for eating. I actually skipped the chocolate and had a crepe with lemon instead).

Gibraltar on my own sounded like not so bad an idea. I had always intended to get there while stationed in the UK and just had not managed. The Jewish Military Group had talked about repeating a successful trip from a few years prior but it didn’t happen during my tenure. I should have known that the ticket price was going to include more than the transportation. We were gifted with a very opinionated wizened little Spanish man. Glad to have my iPod and music with which to drown him out, I managed to knit the almost two hours we spent on the road. The photos following are in the order mentioned.

Yes, I already knew that Gibraltar had changed hands a number of times. Most Americans have a familiarity with The Rock which unfortunately comes from a certain insurance company. A “piece of The Rock?” When middle and older men decide to fight about who owns what piece of groups, it is the young men’s blood that makes the soil red. (If you want – insert March of Cambreadth here – the Heather Alexander song seemed very apropos). The tip of the Iberian Peninsula, Gibraltar is the dividing line between the Med and the Atlantic. Across Straits you can see North Africa on a clear day. (and yes, I know this is the other side of the rock from what is used in the ads. If you want a picture of the other side – go see the night photo from early in the trip).

Anyway – this tour guide decided that we had to know about all the wealthy people who had moved into the area, how the locals can trouble affording decent housing and other tales of ex-Pats. Considering all of this, one of the Germans on the trip finally asked if there was much industry locally besides tourism? Well, as it turns out, tourists, ex-Pats (Brits, Scans, Germans, Dutch) and avocados form the basis of the economy. The Avocados going into various beauty products rather than being for food stuffs.

He got back on his rant and didn’t shut up again the whole away. Not being Spanish – I don’t mind that the UK won’t give the land back.

There are more workers in the surrounding area than there are residents in Gibraltar (30k) so that a large amount of the work force comes in through the border every morning and leaves every evening. It is still a British possession which explains the English in a sea of Spanish.

Escaping the bus at the Coach Terminal with slightly under 4 hours to explore I headed for the Cable car figuring a nice view from the top would be great. Tues is maintenance day. Being already part way down the peninsula, my trusty map and I decided to head toward some more of the military fortifications. Frankly, the whole place is a fort. There have been tunnels, gun emplacements and lookouts for most of the centuries. (Prior to guns – well entrenched fighting positions and look-outs were still a great idea). Most of the fortifications are still there, car parks are critical on such a small bit of land.

Turning down multiple offers of guided tours to the top, I hiked up Engineer Road to the Nature Conservatory. As I was headed up and up and up, I was more than grateful to the last seven days worth of hours spent on the treadmill’s cross country program which made hiking up the mountain at a rapid pace within do-ability.

Just past the entrance on this end at what is know as Jew’s Gate is the Pillars of Hercules Monument essentially proclaiming Gibraltar as the center of the modern world. Jew’s Gate Cemetary is just beyond on the uphill side of the road. Parts are extremely old, others a bit more recent. Similar to what I noted in many places in the UK (unlike Germany and the US) most of it is not in good repair. Of course, limestone is not exactly a sturdy long term material for gravestones, especially when exposed to pollution.

I decided not to spend the rest of my time hiking another couple of miles to St Michaels Cave. the Apes’ Den or the military sites (Siege tunnels, WWII tunes, Military Heritage Center, or various gun battery emplacements) which are all on the Upper Rock. Hiking past the MOD (Ministry of Defence) property, please note the swimming pool winking behind the barbed wire.

Trafalgar Cemetery is beautifully laid out and well tended; the graves date from the late 1700s through the 1800s and is sited just outside the 1883 gate and wall.

There is an active orthodox presence in Gibraltar in what to me sometimes feels like classic modern mode (kippah, cellphone and cigarette) as well as a busy herd of younglings. Windows, doors and signs mark a community which has been present in one form or another for centuries with the Flemish and Great Synagogues.

There are libraries, both military and civilian, there are museums and I will close with the inscription off a Naval Monument. With the length of the post and number of pictures, the fiber and knitting related materials are posted separately.

Please excuse the fact that you are seeing two posts from me today. Yes, I know that it does not make up for all those days where I didn’t post, or stuck things up quickly, late and a bit on the sloppy side. But once again I think this portion of the day has interest for not everyone on my one-and-all list.

The subject matter, of course, is knitting. Well, fiber.

After wandering (which happened after the post which comes second) around the Main Street area (note, this is not High Street nor Hauptstrasse), stopping at Marks & Spencers for some nosh and checking out the bookstores I came to Casemates Square. The square, named for the Military Barracks on the side was also once the site of public executions. Now it is a bustling sunny place filled with cafes, restaurants, benches, fountains and children playing.

Anyway – there was a sign on entering the square about Arts & Crafts on the second floor of the far, long building. Arts & Crafts? Why not? Coming up the stairs internal to the building before reaching the balcony were three panels of a school children’s quilt project. The past portion and present made sense. The future? open to anyone’s guess.

On the outer walkway in one direction were some shops and the Army Recruiting office for the local Regiment. (I did mention that Gibraltar has had a long and messy military history didn’t I?)

Turning around, in the other direction – there it was. Inside the lovely and open shop was an extensive display of local products ranging from quilting and sewing through jams, jellies and baskets. There might have been some jewelry as well, but my eyes were distracted by a table of women in the far left back.

Tues afternoons, from lunch till 1500 is a gathering of charity knitters (or those working on their own projects as well). There is an extensive collection of books to be borrowed, a wall of donated yarn for charity knitting and eight ladies working on projects ranging from sweaters and caps to afghan squares and shawls.

I spent a lovely hour just relaxing and knitting. The shop is also the local BookCrossing Zone with high shelves and several hundred books which made me, again, wish that I had a book to add to the shelf. I was going to pick up something, just to journal it and add it to the swap shelves in the ship library but suddenly noticed the passage of time.

Heading back to the Coach Terminal I was just on time (but everyone else was late….).

On the route back which again took almost two hours – I finished the Hocus Pocus and cast on the first arm for the Clockwork Cuffs. The photos were taken after I returned to my room which is why you get one of my current Rainbow jacket status.

A day at sea is a lovely way to relax, get some knitting accomplished and to people watch. Since the temperatures are not in the 20s – it is only the hardy souls out on deck. Most of them seem to head out, drop off covering garments and head immediately for the hot tubs. The process in reverse is even faster for some including a scoop and dash with the clothes toward the shelter of one enclosed space or another. (No question, IMHO that RCI has it right with their enclosed pools, usable with the sunroof closed in cold/inclement weather).

Well over half the passengers on the ship are from the US/Canada and played the walking zombie for the first couple of days. Didn’t hear a complaint about sea days from them at all. A number of other first time cruisers, not being dragged down by time zone changes had lots to say about the lack of hot weather and sunshine. Honestly, it is February. If you want to assured of hot weather, I might suggest New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. In other words, somewhere that it is summer. Canary Island are definitely not in the grip of a snow storm but still, they are in the Northern Hemisphere.

Given that I am mostly involved with audio books and knitting, it gives the brain a fair amount of time to roam. There are a lot of people here reading. Reading as in books – hard covers out of the library (700+ books) or paperback of their own. If I had known there was a paperback swap shelf I might have brought a few more books on a one way trip. What I have rarely seen is eReaders. Unlike this fall or last summer where Nooks, Kindles and iPads abounded – my count is still in single digits. Perhaps you might think that I am just missing them, but I have been wandering all over the ship, trading off sitting and relaxing places just to try out different locations and chairs. Lots of books, a few magazines and the rare reader.

For that matter, headphones and ear buds are rare outside of the fitness center.

Knitting seems to be a magnet, I have met a lot of women who do various kinds of needle crafts, but not one bought anything along on the trip. Several made the usual comments about not being able to take knitting needles/crochet hooks on airplanes. I did the usual explanation (wood, bamboo, plastic – not size 0000 steel 15″ lace needles and they ought to be fine). All the discussions were fun, it made up for the fact that I am going to have to frog the almost finished left side of my rainbow sweater back to the sleeve. Something about having cast on a few too many stitches and not wanting something will extend to my knees when finished.

I have had diner with couples from Leeds, Yorkshire, and Essex. Today I had a lovely conversation with a couple from Bremerhaven who remember when the US had troops stationed there. In fact, they were part of a network of locals who took in single soldiers for weekends and holidays. It is almost 20 years since the base closed and they are still getting cards and letters (and of course some email in this day and age).

Mostly however, the demographics are what you might expect: significant participation from us “old retired folks.”

We could blame it on the day of the week but more than likely it is the fact that this particular location is more capital, and less tourist attraction. When away from a small portion of downtown shore line, the town is not all that exciting. Swirls of trash on the street reflect the flocks of pigeons circling overhead. Buildings are slabs of cement in less than ideal repair. The occasional palm lets you know that the weather here is warm, windy with a moderate amount of rainfall. The fort on the edge of the city reminds everyone that battles were fought across the area centuries ago.

Some things feel familiar – water storage on the top of buildings, a few wooden doors here and there and a real phone booth. The Library is open on Sundays – most of the stores are not.

And progress on the knitting.

The Old Tower stands at one end of what is now a pedestrian zone in La Laguna at the Placa de la Conception. Its stones are old, the wood frames of the windows looking only a few decades old and well cared. There are 24 stone steps inside leading to the first main level. From this point, obvious new wooden construction lets you climb another 112 stairs up to the point when you literally hit your head against the glass ceiling at the top of the cupola. The bells are one level down from there and the highest section at which you have access to the outside world without benefit of glass separating you from the weather.

Since I was just here in Nov (as apposed to Nov of 2007) when I had seen some of the museums I decided to take the tram across the northern part of the island from Tenerif. From one end of the line to the other takes close to an hour starting from near the old fort at water’s edge and ending at the Pedestrian Zone at the other.

It is easy to see that we are back in Spain; the fancy patterned stone side walks with their lines, symbols and insets are gone in favor of ordinary cobblestone and pavement. The architectural highlight in this city is the door. Old wooden doors pitted but lovingly tended. Newer doors (well 100 years old is newer, right?) gleam with varnish and sealant. Also of interest are the wooden frames to upper windows.

I hope you can handle doors two days in a row. Oh, and did I mention the tribe of Scouts complete with backpacks, sleeping rolls and a weary looking couple of adults escorting them down the street. From the variety of languages heard I don’t think they are local kids.

Reading -

I am trundling through Monica Ferris’s Needlework Shop Mystery series. Not exactly in order by chronology but by alphabetical order as I picked most of them up over the last year on the various Audible Sales.

Knitting.

It takes much longer to finish a section repeat on the Shadow Jacket now that I have added the body extensions on both ends to to the sleeve sides. ~150 stitches suddenly had 220 added, which does slow me down.

The last time I was in Funchal was fall 2007 (the trip with MSC from Genoa to Buenos Aires. The friend I was traveling with and I did a number of the touristy things like take the cable car up the mountain and the sledges down as well as wander around the town looking at this and that before heading back to the ship.

Since then, I have been to/through the Canaries a couple of times but the stops have been on other islands.

This is the first of two posts on Funchal. Too many photos for one post. Two completely disparate things to talk about.

In the last several years there has been a lot of art development which leads me to the street art. Back all those same number of years ago I had a Friday tradition of posting pictures – normally doors or arches. So this is about the doors along Rua de Santa Maria. Not all the doors, mind you – just the ones which I found interesting or could get a decent shot not obscured by all the other tourists with their cameras. I have my older EOS instead of the 7D which was not particularly happy with me. I am feeling the lack of capability (narrower ISO range which decreases the quality of indoor pictures) and the not-quite-as-good lens.

If you are reading the email version of this post with thumbnails – suggest you wander to the blog as the ability to embiggen some of the photos really makes a difference.

Since Internet on the ship is not cheap – you will get words first (cut and paste is wonderful!) followed by a picture gallery without labels. In the past, I have always said that I will upload photos later – and it doesn’t always happen. This time, rather than getting around to it – you will have pictures. Guess which is what is not a bad game.

Just so things are clear – we made an unexpected stop in Gibraltar last night. Since I have the older camera with an ISO setting only down to 1600, the shutter speed was longer than I liked and the best that I got was with camera braced on the side rail

The story started earlier in the afternoon when I was sitting, minding my own business in one of the lounges. This couple who had a significant number of years on me dropped in to chairs on the other side of the coffee table. The elderly gentleman, from what I understood (my French is just about gone and they had no other languages) had not been feeling well. He got up and wandered off. A few minutes later as he was headed back, it looked like he got dizzy and hit the carpet with a resounding crash.

Guess what – I even got to fill out an accident report in exchange for promptly responding (head wounds bleed like mad) and the staff rounded up a wheel chair after finding me some clean bar towels for a pressure dressing.

Several hours later, there is a ship wide announcement that we will be making an unplanned stop in Gibraltar to off load an ill/injured passenger. Now, I don’t think the head wound was all that serious but it did need stitches. What I believe is of concern is whatever medical reason was behind his falling in the first place. It wasn’t rough seas and it was not food issues. The five main issues (cardiac, strokes, diabetes, electrolytes and medication imbalance) are much more likely as a source).

The seas were not all that smooth and it was a bit chilly. Watching as they dropped down a side panel to lock up against the medical response tender and said vessel bouncing around like a cork was more than I wanted to see. Rather than take any more pictures, I headed in.

Now – back to the ship followed by a side detour into knitting.

The Norwegian Jade…. built in 2006 has the same physical layout as the Norwegian Star (Alaska cruise last August). In contrast, it has a bit of an interesting decoration scheme. There are paintings, murals, decorations and lighting fixtures that I would expect to see in the Pacific.  Well – goes what ? This turns out to  be the ship that used to be named “Pride of Hawaii” that plied the route around the Hawaiian Islands.

My cabin is comfortable for me and would be fine for a couple. You would have to be insane to try and shoehorn four people into this space.  What I am starting to consider is that, when traveling my oneself – go for the cheapest room possible. There really is not a whole lot of point to views or lots of space when it is by far more interesting to be out and about in the ship. If I want to sit by myself and never see or talk to other people I could have stayed home.

Anyway – there is the ship and there are also the two knitting projects currently in front of me. The Hocus Pocus cowl is portable within the limits of dealing with a color work pattern so it was with me on the plane and the first day on ship prior to luggage. The large triangular shawl has the first wing done, the center section and most of the second side completed leaving me with about six rows plus the front edging. It is a lot of stitches, trust me.

so – Ship pix, the rock and night (not great but the best you will get) and two knitting pictures.

I have run away from home again. If you are reading this as an email, it means that I managed to get on-line. If you are on my blog, well – I do occasionally have enough sense to preposition posts. This time it is with the Norwegian Jade. Obviously, the loop is from Barcelona to Barcelona.

From my point of view, this trip meets all criteria

1. it is warmer there than here
2. I like Barcelona and can find things there. Still want to spend more time in the Maritime Museum
3. I am familiar with the three Canary Stops and have places to visit and hikes to take
4. there are days at sea to knit.
5. no cooking, cleaning, laundry
6. good fitness facilities

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Tues Jan  31 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm Wed Feb 1 At Sea Thu Feb 2 At Sea Fri Feb 3 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 8:00am 5:00pm Sat Feb 4 Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands 8:00am 6:00pm Sun Feb 5 Arrecife, Canary Islands 8:00am 6:00pm Mon Feb 6 At Sea Tue Feb 7 Malaga, Spain 8:00am 7:00pm Wed Feb 8 At Sea Thu Feb 9 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

-Holly at Sea again

Most of the time, I try to be coherent, but there are those days when it just doesn’t work. Like this morning.

It could be because I had little sleep on Sunday nigh, making the mistake of not heading to bed when I was tired. It passed, I had an energy spurt and all of a sudden it was after 0200 in the morning. Still with needing to drop George off at the Bahnhof for an 0615 train you may start to understand the magnitude of the problem. This was followed by a day of attempting to run errands, finishing knitting projects (you have already heard how that went) and packing.

All of a sudden, it was 2130 and I had this huge pile of projects to go in the suitcase, underwear and effectively no clothes. After I sorted things out a bit better (my plan on this trip is finishing two major projects and a lot of one-skein scarves), printed patterns, and found shoes – I need either the big suitcase, or two suitcases. That is where this frequent flyer business comes in handy. I can check two bags. The big suitcase and a smaller projects bag.

The downside? If my project bag gets lost I will be in a world of hurt without needles or yarn.

This morning I awoke to snow on the ground, ice on the steps and slightly coated objects next to the house that were car shaped. I had asked the Eldest for a ride to the train station. When I saw the snow, I decided it was stupid to have her get up and deal with all of that when she hadn’t gotten home from work till 0030. I was looking for the cab company phone number when she came up stairs, keys in hand. We made a deal, I borrowed a couple of Euro (just in case since I had 10 Euro and other wise only a large note. Large notes are not welcomed by taxi drivers, especially before 0600 in the morning), she called the cab company and went back to bed. We aren’t all that far from the train station. Given that the 0547 is the last direct train to the airport, it is my preference over later trains. Dragging suitcases through Mannheim Bahnhof to change tracks is not my idea of a good time.

Looking at the train schedule I realized – I could take the 0111 and be in Amsterdam by 0800. The only reason it takes that long is that the train has some long pauses at a couple of stations. Or, I could go to Hamburg, change trains and go to Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm (yes, there are ferries involved).

The other advantage of the early train is that the wagons are fairly empty. Lets me have two candy bars without feeling selfish when the conductor comes around. Bahn card has to be good for something!

0-H-0

Lufthansa Business Lounge, Fraport

it is dark along the A6 as I head for home. The rain helps obscure the road leaving me little doubt that the speed limit in round red lights overhead of 130 is a bit excessive. Neither the trucks nor I are going anywhere near that fast as we head in the direction of Mannheim hoping for as little problem on the journey as possible.

Certainly we don’t want the current issue of the A66 near Wiesbaden where someone is driving down the wrong side of the road. But I can see how it could happen, in the dark where there is no traffic and the road is pitch black. There are certainly no lights along the autobahn to give you an idea of direction. Nothing. Not like in Belgium or the Netherlands where the gleam of yellow energy saving lights reflect like cat’s eyes from over the road. Nor is there the orangish glare common to some of the other major roads elsewhere on the continent.

No, Germany can remain proud of its decision to not waste energy on lighting major roads which normally do not have speed limits. Those same roads, when it is dark and the fog swirls up from the fields covering the roads and obscuring that place, just a soccer field ahead of you where there was (wasn’t there?) a rather large tanker just a minute ago.

The drive was long, dark and I arrived home exhausted from a day of teaching ATLS in Landstuhl.

I have a full tank of gas and a promise that I don’t need to be there before 0900 in the morning which is good because I am more than brain fried having left home at 0530 this morning.

There is something about driving to an airport knowing that you are going home that makes me want to go just that little bit faster. Getting through the rental car drop off was not an issue, nor was catching the shuttle bus to the Terminal.

Of course, Lufthansa’s counter (they only have a couple of flights a day from Chicago – the rest are all code share operated by United) didn’t open for a couple of hours. Gave me plenty of time to knit. That scarf seemed a bit short. Since I still had another skein of yarn, it seemed most sensible to add another 30-40 cm to the length figuring I can mail it to her this coming week.

United doesn’t recognize any frequent anything card below Senator Class of other airlines, so I got to relax in a restaurant drinking a cappuccino and deciding that it is nicer to fly from SF or NYC. Paying United for the privilege of their lounge for a couple of hours just didn’t make any sense. (Does it also mean that for a price, just about anything is for sale?)

The flight – a 747 – had only ~ 80 in economy. I had noted that the plane seemed fairly empty when I did the online check in. As a result I had moved my seating from a section with a lot of people to the back of the plane claiming a row of three all to myself. At check-in, the counter person confirmed that it was likely that there was going to be no one with in several rows.

Not a problem – sleep is good.