- The beef at dinner is outragously delicious! On our previous discount cruise we went transatlantic from the other direction. The cruise ship loaded up with European food at European prices. The beef, in particular is so amazing in South America, and the ship took advantage of this. Mike has been eating it every night after vegetarian lunches (fruit mostly) and last night I tried the sirloin which was wonderful.
- At every port we are warned about safety in the city. The Brazilians warn us, the crew warns us, etc. This matches our experience of Rio from a few years ago. We can't imagine why the Olympics were granted to Rio (although the Brazilians are so proud and excited) with the dangers lurking in the cities. Many of the passengers (us included) just viewed Rio from the deck of the ship.
- Brazilian people are wonderfully outgoing and friendly. Yesterday we particpated in a wine tasting class led by the ship's sommelier, a jolly, portly Indian named Joseph. There were a dozen participants (we counted multiple times waiting to hit the class minimum size of ten) of which only one other couple were native English speakers (UK accents). As the Indian did not speak the required Portuguese to address the largely Brazilian class, he utilized the services of a wildly enthusiastic Portuguese speaking man who told us all his life story in a mixture of Portuguese and English while he was trasnlating to the single class member who denied having English skills. Occasionally one of the other Brazilian class members who jump in to help him translate, although none of the others spoke English to us. The translater was charming in his enthusiasms, gesturing with hand signals and "okay, okay cool it" to the instructor when he needed the teacher to stop talking so that he could translate. Sometimes his translation would include an English language story not covered by the teacher, but added by the translater about his experience living in the wine country in South Africa, for example. Then he would catch himslef elaborating on the instruction (in English) and remind himself that he was supposed to translate, then switch to Brazilian and speak to the lone man needing translation. In the meantime, he would have been talking so much he would miss the pouring of the next wine and have to call over a waiter for the wine, who in embarrassment for missing him would pour a double dose, making our translater more distracted and talkative. It was worth the $10 admission to the class to watch him.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Visiting Brazilian cities
This ship has about 75% Brazilian passengers and crew. We english speakers are a minority. Here are some the differences we have noticed so far:
Helvis....rock star of the ages
Sorry about that last post.... we are having technical difficulties.
Last night we were treated to a Brazilian rock star... Helvis. Check him out at www.helvis.com.br This is an entertainer that has been doing Elvis imitations for twenty years. Like the real Elvis, he has been gaining a little weight over the years and he huffs and puffs a bit as he travels up and down the stairs into the audience and back on stage. His double knit jumpsuits, complete with cut outs for the bell bottoms and a cape are not to miss. As women in the audience went up to the edge of the stage for a Helvis kiss and scarf, Mike and I sat in our seats far removed from the stage and rolled in laughter. It really was a sight to see. He has a great voice, deep and passionate, complete with a Brazilain accident. When he broke into "A Breeedge over troubled water" (I always thought that was Simon and Garfunkle not Elvis), and the words and traveling ball appeared on the side screens, Mike and I were working hard not to laugh out loud. It is an entertaining cruise!
Love, Deanne
Last night we were treated to a Brazilian rock star... Helvis. Check him out at www.helvis.com.br This is an entertainer that has been doing Elvis imitations for twenty years. Like the real Elvis, he has been gaining a little weight over the years and he huffs and puffs a bit as he travels up and down the stairs into the audience and back on stage. His double knit jumpsuits, complete with cut outs for the bell bottoms and a cape are not to miss. As women in the audience went up to the edge of the stage for a Helvis kiss and scarf, Mike and I sat in our seats far removed from the stage and rolled in laughter. It really was a sight to see. He has a great voice, deep and passionate, complete with a Brazilain accident. When he broke into "A Breeedge over troubled water" (I always thought that was Simon and Garfunkle not Elvis), and the words and traveling ball appeared on the side screens, Mike and I were working hard not to laugh out loud. It is an entertaining cruise!
Love, Deanne
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sending Word From Splendour of the Seas
As we rode on the Cruise-line provided bus from the airport to the ship docked at the Santos port two hours away we recognized another Handron best practice for future bargain vacations. Mike, who is typically wiped out from lack of sleep after overnight flights, usually requires a day or two to relax and nap prior to moving on. In the heat, he has even less energy. By staying at an airport hotel we had a no-hassle trip from the airport to our resting place, a day or two to relax, then a non hassle trip back to the airport for cruise-line provided transportation to the ship. It worked perfectly with the exception of getting bumped off the airport shuttle by the flight attendants. Now that we are rested we realize we could take them next time, acing them out for the shuttle and making them wait for the next one.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Rested, Mellow and Ready to Roll
After a day of feeling tired and loggy yesterday, we had room service last night. Room service menus are pretty much the same world over, although traditional items such as club sandwiches always have their unique country touches such as avocado here which is on virtually every sandwich offering. Hambugers are offered only one way- weel done. Yes, that is truely what the note says: hamburgers are only served weel done. Yum. Our experience with steaks was so good in South America last trip that we opted for the filets in red wine sauce (gravy is what I'd call it...sure made Mike happy as he covered his bread in both of our sauces). That and a bottle of Brazilian Merlot made for a nice meal. We watched a little television- three stations with American tv (1- movies, 2- CNN world edition, 3- sitcoms) all with Portuguese subtitles. I can't understand why they would be interested in House, but they have it running. I can't tell whether the sarcasm comes through in the subtitles. It is hard to believe one of his nasty comments can translate into a 6 word subtitle. I read while Mike watched an old science fiction movie starring Clooney (never even heard of it at home).
Lights out at 10:00 and we were asleep before the arm that turned off the light was back in the sheets. Finally, eleven hours later we got up and took showers...adjusted to the time zone and recovered from the all night flying. And mellow enough that site seeing didn't sound that intriquing. We joined the other late breakfasters and muched down on more of that wonderful fruit. Summer time in the Southern Hemishpere... wonderful. That is when we decided to sit outside in the sun for several hours (under the shade of a patio umbrella). We saw giant dragonflies and swarms of swallows eating the little bugs. Such fun. Two Americans with iPods and books sitting by the pool....how prototypical!
Tomorrow we catch the shuttle back to the airport at 9:00 to meet the cruise line bus that will take us to the port for boarding our ship. Hopefully then we will have something less mundane to write about!
Love you (Susan) and if there is anyone else out there reading...you too!
Deanne
Lights out at 10:00 and we were asleep before the arm that turned off the light was back in the sheets. Finally, eleven hours later we got up and took showers...adjusted to the time zone and recovered from the all night flying. And mellow enough that site seeing didn't sound that intriquing. We joined the other late breakfasters and muched down on more of that wonderful fruit. Summer time in the Southern Hemishpere... wonderful. That is when we decided to sit outside in the sun for several hours (under the shade of a patio umbrella). We saw giant dragonflies and swarms of swallows eating the little bugs. Such fun. Two Americans with iPods and books sitting by the pool....how prototypical!
Tomorrow we catch the shuttle back to the airport at 9:00 to meet the cruise line bus that will take us to the port for boarding our ship. Hopefully then we will have something less mundane to write about!
Love you (Susan) and if there is anyone else out there reading...you too!
Deanne
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Sleepy in Brazil
We made it successfully to Sao Paulo. We are two hours ahead of Colorado time, three ahead of the Pacific Coast, so as I start this posting it is just past noon on Thursday here. We arrived on time at 7:45 am after nine hours of flight time from Dallas. Our flight started with a decent dinner of lasagna (me) and chicken (Mike) followed by lights out for the next severn hours. If we can't get side-by-side seats on a two person aisle, we always opt for aisle seats across an aisle from each other. That's what we had for this flight. Mike had the aisle seat on the two person side, while I had the aisle on the center, five person section. Lucky for me, there was only one other person in my 5 seat section. So, I spread out over three seats, lying in a crunched up manner while Mike had to sit up all the way beside a soundly sleeping young Brazilian man. After rolling around all night like a hot dog in a fast food restaurant, I consider myself fairly well rested and not too stiff. Mike, on the other hand, had no sleep. He watched Blind Side for the second time enjoying it just as much as when we saw it in the theater, then as he was more tired he watched that stupid Vince Vaughn movie about couples on vacation. His review: Don't even bother renting it. He said he didn't sleep at all, and if that wasn't bad enough, he had to shake me to wake me up for breakfast. Talk about rubbing it in that I had a decent sleep!
Imagine the worst baggage claim crowd you have ever encountered and you will be ready for the arrivals hall in Sao Paulo. Luggage carts are free, and everyone has one or two surrounding them as they crush to the luggage delivery belt. I am not sure why, but the American Airlines luggage allowance is universal for all countries except Brazil, where you are allowed up to 70 pound bags. We were all heaving these huge bags around. When you see your bag (yeah for those yellow bands we put around ours that make them stick out) you have to crush through the people and carts to grab it, then turn around and force your way back through the crowd that has swallowed up the path you created to make your way in to the belt. No complaints though, our bags were there just as they were supposed to be.
We made a strong impression on the beautiful Brazilian Federale that examined and stamped our passports as we went through immigration control. We demonstrated that not all Americans are rude, uni-ligual tourists by showcasing our command of the Portuguese language. "Bon Dia" got us a smile and a return "Bon dia" when we walked up to the counter. After our passports were stamped and we were ready to leave, "abrigado" the Portuguese word for "thank you" got a "You're welcome" in response. As Caitie told us when she first was learning Spanish in Spain, "when they answer you in English it is a sure sign that you are butchering their language". Oh well, we tried.
Becuase we anticipated correctly that Mike (who never sleeps on planes) would be tired after the flight, we booked a room at the airport Marriott, only a shuttle ride away from the airport. Like airports the world over, the shuttles all collect passengers somewhere along the driveways in front. We made our way outside, found someone to direct us to the hotel waiting area, and settled in to wait along with the crews from the United and American flights that arrived from the US at the same time. Fifteen minutes later, along came a small shuttle bus with the Marriott logo. I flagged it down and carried the first of our two big bags(so much for packing light) out to the shuttle steps. The non-English speaking driver kindly blocked my way into the shuttle. Figuring he was going to assist with my bags and I should therefore drop the heavy bag and return for another, that's what I did. Turns out that this shuttle was "reserved for flight crews" (I was told by a bilingual Portuguese United airlines flight attendant). He assured me that the driver was calling another shuttle for us which would pick us up momentarily. It took about twenty minutes more, but finally we had a private shuttle ride to our hotel.
All Marriotts looke remarkably similar and the Sao Paulo airport property is no exception. It sits near a highway exit (yes, we can sure hear that traffic) in the airport suburb. A breakfast buffet is included in our fare, so we had lots of fresh fruit and buffet bacon and eggs. The pineapple was wonderful as was the deep orange colored papaya. Good enough that I look forward to tomorrow's breakfast. The highlight of breakfast was the recommendation (by the very same flight attendant that denied us access to the first shuttle bus) for which of the six juices to try.... coconut water which pours from the coconut when it is opened. I love anything coconut, and this water was very refreshing.
We feel fortunate that the heat spell in Brazil at Carnivale time last month that killed many people seems to have been replaced with mild fall weather. It is a bit humid here, which accounts for the gorgeous greenery and my exceptionally frizzy hair, but it isn't hot today.
If we are properly rested up tomorrow we will head out to see the city and tell you all about it. If it is a sleepless night, expect to hear about our experiences reading and washing our laundry.
Until then, ciao!
Deanne
Imagine the worst baggage claim crowd you have ever encountered and you will be ready for the arrivals hall in Sao Paulo. Luggage carts are free, and everyone has one or two surrounding them as they crush to the luggage delivery belt. I am not sure why, but the American Airlines luggage allowance is universal for all countries except Brazil, where you are allowed up to 70 pound bags. We were all heaving these huge bags around. When you see your bag (yeah for those yellow bands we put around ours that make them stick out) you have to crush through the people and carts to grab it, then turn around and force your way back through the crowd that has swallowed up the path you created to make your way in to the belt. No complaints though, our bags were there just as they were supposed to be.
We made a strong impression on the beautiful Brazilian Federale that examined and stamped our passports as we went through immigration control. We demonstrated that not all Americans are rude, uni-ligual tourists by showcasing our command of the Portuguese language. "Bon Dia" got us a smile and a return "Bon dia" when we walked up to the counter. After our passports were stamped and we were ready to leave, "abrigado" the Portuguese word for "thank you" got a "You're welcome" in response. As Caitie told us when she first was learning Spanish in Spain, "when they answer you in English it is a sure sign that you are butchering their language". Oh well, we tried.
Becuase we anticipated correctly that Mike (who never sleeps on planes) would be tired after the flight, we booked a room at the airport Marriott, only a shuttle ride away from the airport. Like airports the world over, the shuttles all collect passengers somewhere along the driveways in front. We made our way outside, found someone to direct us to the hotel waiting area, and settled in to wait along with the crews from the United and American flights that arrived from the US at the same time. Fifteen minutes later, along came a small shuttle bus with the Marriott logo. I flagged it down and carried the first of our two big bags(so much for packing light) out to the shuttle steps. The non-English speaking driver kindly blocked my way into the shuttle. Figuring he was going to assist with my bags and I should therefore drop the heavy bag and return for another, that's what I did. Turns out that this shuttle was "reserved for flight crews" (I was told by a bilingual Portuguese United airlines flight attendant). He assured me that the driver was calling another shuttle for us which would pick us up momentarily. It took about twenty minutes more, but finally we had a private shuttle ride to our hotel.
All Marriotts looke remarkably similar and the Sao Paulo airport property is no exception. It sits near a highway exit (yes, we can sure hear that traffic) in the airport suburb. A breakfast buffet is included in our fare, so we had lots of fresh fruit and buffet bacon and eggs. The pineapple was wonderful as was the deep orange colored papaya. Good enough that I look forward to tomorrow's breakfast. The highlight of breakfast was the recommendation (by the very same flight attendant that denied us access to the first shuttle bus) for which of the six juices to try.... coconut water which pours from the coconut when it is opened. I love anything coconut, and this water was very refreshing.
We feel fortunate that the heat spell in Brazil at Carnivale time last month that killed many people seems to have been replaced with mild fall weather. It is a bit humid here, which accounts for the gorgeous greenery and my exceptionally frizzy hair, but it isn't hot today.
If we are properly rested up tomorrow we will head out to see the city and tell you all about it. If it is a sleepless night, expect to hear about our experiences reading and washing our laundry.
Until then, ciao!
Deanne
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
On the Road Again!
We are sitting in the Sleep Inn in Albuquerque watching television and catching up on our computer work...an auspicious start to our trip. This is a discount trip.... a $500 cruise, frequent-flier airfare, etc. and this little $49 hotel fits the bill. Our Colorado neighbor recommended this place, because in addition to the spiffy room, free Internet and hot breakfast, we can park in their lot for the month we are gone for $2 a day. A bargain.
The most expensive aspect of today was the speeding ticket Mike received after the county sheriff going the other direction on the highway did a u-turn to chase us down. Crime: traveling at 83 mph in a 70 zone. Thankfully New Mexico doesn't charge big city rates and this infraction only set us back $65.
We left our Colorado home this morning at 10:30, after completing our packing, loading the car, sweeping the house, cleaning the frig and throwing out everything that wouldn't survive five weeks of absence, paying the final bills and all of those finalities. I maintain a checklist of things that we have to do when we move from one house to the other (forward/stop/hold mail, stop newspapers and garbage delivery, change netlfix delivery, change the phone so that it knows where we are, etc.) We got birthday cards in the mail for our daughter and daughter-in-law who share a March birthday and my mother who celebrates her birthday on Easter this year. We stopped at the post office to mail a big box of library books back to Seattle. They traveled with us to Colorado a few weeks ago and now it is time for them to return home.
Breakfast was out of the question with all the running around we were doing this morning, so on our way we stopped for lunch at our favorite Durango restaurant- Kennebek's. Mike had his usual: Beef Bourgnone and I had the soup of the day- seafood (yum!!) and a salad. A wonderful start for the trip.
Tomorrow we catch a shuttle to the airport at noon. We're on the move!
With love, Deanne
The most expensive aspect of today was the speeding ticket Mike received after the county sheriff going the other direction on the highway did a u-turn to chase us down. Crime: traveling at 83 mph in a 70 zone. Thankfully New Mexico doesn't charge big city rates and this infraction only set us back $65.
We left our Colorado home this morning at 10:30, after completing our packing, loading the car, sweeping the house, cleaning the frig and throwing out everything that wouldn't survive five weeks of absence, paying the final bills and all of those finalities. I maintain a checklist of things that we have to do when we move from one house to the other (forward/stop/hold mail, stop newspapers and garbage delivery, change netlfix delivery, change the phone so that it knows where we are, etc.) We got birthday cards in the mail for our daughter and daughter-in-law who share a March birthday and my mother who celebrates her birthday on Easter this year. We stopped at the post office to mail a big box of library books back to Seattle. They traveled with us to Colorado a few weeks ago and now it is time for them to return home.
Breakfast was out of the question with all the running around we were doing this morning, so on our way we stopped for lunch at our favorite Durango restaurant- Kennebek's. Mike had his usual: Beef Bourgnone and I had the soup of the day- seafood (yum!!) and a salad. A wonderful start for the trip.
Tomorrow we catch a shuttle to the airport at noon. We're on the move!
With love, Deanne
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
WE ARE OFF AGAIN !!!!
Has it been this long since we last communicated?? So much has occurred over the past few years I will attempt to bring you up to date in two minutes or less!! Family--Mike is in college knocking out 4.0's left and right, Dana has a great job in Bellingham and continues to amaze us with her baking abilities every holiday--Megan and Matt are buying their first home, Athena and Ricky continue to be a credit to their parents parenting--Matt graduated from Western Washington with a degree in Finance--he is now a consultant and Fantasy Football guru extraordinaire--Jonny graduated from Central Washington with a degree in Sociology, he has a small online company while he continues to search in this horrendous economy--Caitie went from NYU back to UW in Seattle because of the great international program there, she is now in Ferrara Italy majoring in Italian and Psychology.
It seems like when Caitie travels so do we!! So when she decided to go to Italy we weren't far behind! It's a great excuse to take a vacation from our vacation. But before I get into our plans let finish the update on our stateside adventures. When we returned in May of 2008 to our spotless floating home in which our tenants had kept impeccably we decided it was time to build a home on this beautiful piece of land we have in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. So after a fantastic summer on Lake Union in Seattle we plunged into the wonderful world of home building. We were blessed with the best builder you can imagine who came up with creative ideas and kept to a time line while not sacrificing quality and expertise. In May 2009, our second Dream Home was complete. We have been sharing time in Colorado and Seattle ever since. We love country living while we are here and love city living while in Seattle.
Now as I was saying when Caitie goes international so do we. She has been in Italy since 12/26/09 and on 12/27/09 we started making plans. Caitie asked if we could meet her in Switzerland on her spring break and who could refuse such a request! She has never been to Suisse and it is one of our favorite countries so of course we began an intensive search for planes, trains and more trains and ultimately boats. We are flying from Albuquerque to Dallas to Sao Paulo where we board the Splendor of the Seas for Barcelona with stops in Rio, Canary Islands, Portugal and finally Barcelona, fly to Milan, meet Caitie and take train to Lugano. Then trains all over Switzerland!!. We will go to Ferrara to see this beautiful walled city and see Caitie's fairytale apartment on a small winding cobblestone road in the city across from
the castle. After a week or so we will get out of her hair and continue our adventure through Northern Italy.
We have decided that this is the perfect life for us, two great homes, and a lot of travel... I guess that would be a perfect life for a lot of people:)We have many exceptional moments over the past few years, meeting new people, getting reacquainted with old friends from childhood and of course our many new friends. So family and friends your Gypsy couple are back at it with future plans for New Zealand
Australia, Chile, Argentina and Scandinavian countries, the UK and Ireland.
Stay Tuned!
Slainte'
Mike
It seems like when Caitie travels so do we!! So when she decided to go to Italy we weren't far behind! It's a great excuse to take a vacation from our vacation. But before I get into our plans let finish the update on our stateside adventures. When we returned in May of 2008 to our spotless floating home in which our tenants had kept impeccably we decided it was time to build a home on this beautiful piece of land we have in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. So after a fantastic summer on Lake Union in Seattle we plunged into the wonderful world of home building. We were blessed with the best builder you can imagine who came up with creative ideas and kept to a time line while not sacrificing quality and expertise. In May 2009, our second Dream Home was complete. We have been sharing time in Colorado and Seattle ever since. We love country living while we are here and love city living while in Seattle.
Now as I was saying when Caitie goes international so do we. She has been in Italy since 12/26/09 and on 12/27/09 we started making plans. Caitie asked if we could meet her in Switzerland on her spring break and who could refuse such a request! She has never been to Suisse and it is one of our favorite countries so of course we began an intensive search for planes, trains and more trains and ultimately boats. We are flying from Albuquerque to Dallas to Sao Paulo where we board the Splendor of the Seas for Barcelona with stops in Rio, Canary Islands, Portugal and finally Barcelona, fly to Milan, meet Caitie and take train to Lugano. Then trains all over Switzerland!!. We will go to Ferrara to see this beautiful walled city and see Caitie's fairytale apartment on a small winding cobblestone road in the city across from
the castle. After a week or so we will get out of her hair and continue our adventure through Northern Italy.
We have decided that this is the perfect life for us, two great homes, and a lot of travel... I guess that would be a perfect life for a lot of people:)We have many exceptional moments over the past few years, meeting new people, getting reacquainted with old friends from childhood and of course our many new friends. So family and friends your Gypsy couple are back at it with future plans for New Zealand
Australia, Chile, Argentina and Scandinavian countries, the UK and Ireland.
Stay Tuned!
Slainte'
Mike
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