cruise

A Walk Around Cádiz

Posted on December 13, 2016 by lclalor

Cádiz, founded by the Phoenicians in 1100 BC, is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain. Located on the southwestern coast in the region of Andalucia, Cádiz occupies a long narrow peninsula that juts into the Atlantic, providing plentiful sea views and beautiful beaches. Our cruise ship, the ms Rotterdam, arrived in our third port of call at Cádiz around 4:00 in the afternoon. We had reservations for a flamenco show that evening and a tour to Sevilla the following day so we didn’t have a lot of time to explore Cádiz but fortunately, the cruise port is adjacent to the city and it was just a short walk to the historic center.

View of Cádiz from our ship, ms Rotterdam

To save time later, we first checked out the location for our evening flamenco show, a wise decision because we had some difficulty finding La Cava on a narrow cobblestone street.

La Cava, where we had reservations for the flamenco show

I’ve mentioned free walking tours in previous blog posts and Cádiz would have been a good place to have a guide to lead us and tell us about the city. Just google Cádiz free walking tour and you’ll find Panchotours.com. We arrived too late for a tour so we wandered around on our own and saw many of the same sights without the interesting commentary that a guide would provide.

Near the port, we discovered the Cortes Monument erected to commemorate Spain’s first liberal constitution established here in 1812. Cádiz has a long liberal history which is still evident today.

Cortes Monument

One of many narrow streets through Cádiz

When we spied a shop featuring jamón Ibérico, arguably the finest ham in the world which is produced in this area, we knew a stop for tapas including this delicacy was necessary.

Jamón Ibérico

A break for tapas

Jamón Ibérico

Fortified with the ham, cheese, and wine, we soldiered on.

One of many small parks in Câdiz

Interesting architecture found in the narrow lanes of Cádiz

Another park

The Plaza de las Flores (Plaza of Flowers) seemed to be the center of activity.

Plaza de las Flores

Rick and Lori at Plaza de las Flores

Cádiz Cathedral

A peek inside the cathedral

I was intrigued by the banner on City Hall that read, “For a Europe of Open Doors: Borders Kill.” Obviously a liberal reference to the refugee crisis in Europe, my later research uncovered the fact that this banner was raised by an Andalucian human rights organization, APDHA.

City Hall in Cádiz

We returned to the ship for dinner then set off for the flamenco show at La Cava with no trouble finding the taverna this time. Our reserved table was close to the stage and the venue only seats 60-70 patrons so we knew we’d have a great view of the show.

La Cava

La Cava with Lori and Jim at our table on the right

Jim and I with the stage directly behind us

Flamenco is commonly believed to have originated among gypsies, or gitanos, in Andalucia although a lack of documentation older than 200 years makes the origin difficult to substantiate. I, like most foreigners, believed that flamenco was a dance but it is actually composed of 4 elements, cante (song), baile (dance), toque (playing guitar), and jaleo (cheering and clapping). The show we experienced at La Cava exhibited each of these characteristics in a stirring authentic performance. The performers began with guitar and vocalizations followed by the dancers accompanied by clapping and cheering throughout the performance.

Our performers: 3 dancers, the vocalist, and guitarist

Flamenco dancer at La Cava

Another flamenco dancer at La Cava

Third and final flamenco dancer at La Cava

Videotaping was forbidden but I found this video on YouTube recorded at La Cava that includes the vocalist and one of the dancers we saw. Enjoy!

Based on events from April 2016.

Categories: cruise, Europe, Uncategorized | Tags: Andalucia, Cádiz, Cádiz Cathedral, flamenco, jamón Ibérico, La Cava, Plaza de las Flores, Spain | Leave a comment

Adventure in Porto, Portugal

Posted on December 6, 2016 by lclalor

I was especially excited to reach our second port of call at Porto, Portugal on the ms Rotterdam. This was my first time in Portugal and I’d read much about Porto at the mouth of the Douro River. Porto was established by the Romans in the 4th century, B.C. and in fact, Portugal was named for Porto. It’s also home to a UNESCO World Heritage site which includes the Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and the Monastery of Serra do Pilar.

We were initially faced with twin challenges at Porto. First of all, we would be in port from just 7 am to 1 pm and secondly, the cruise terminal is located in Leixoes, 10 kilometers by metro to the city center. I, nevertheless, planned an ambitious itinerary, starting on high ground in this hilly city and seeing the sights as we walked down to the river. This is the plan for Porto from my itinerary:

I wanted to include the Monastery of Serra do Pilar but time simply wouldn’t allow it. As it turned out, we skipped the bookshop, too.

In addition to the challenges we knew about, we were confronted with several frustrations throughout our short stay. First, we had difficulty finding the metro stop. At 7:00 am, there were no buses or taxis lined up outside the cruise terminal and very few people on the streets. We asked someone where to catch the metro and she waved vaguely up the street. When we finally found the metro stop about 20 minutes later, the ticket machine only accepted coins, we had only paper, and the ticket office wasn’t open. We finally got change at a nearby coffee shop and, armed with our tickets, we queued up. Nervous about whether we were at the right stop, I queried others waiting there, reassured myself we were in the correct place and obtained a promise from a family that they would tell us where to get off at the Sao Bento metro stop.

Early morning empty street in Leixoes, Portugal

We finally arrived at our destination around 8:30 without further distress. Across the street from our metro stop, we found the Sao Bento train station where we viewed exquisite blue tile work depicting the important events in Portugal’s history.

Sao Bento Train Station

Tile work in Sao Bento Train Station

The cathedral was just a short walk away but it didn’t open until 9:00 so we took our time looking about.

Market we passed en route to the cathedral

Pelourinho and overlook in Cathedral Square

View of the Douro River from Cathedral Square

Originally built in the 12th century in Romanesque style, the cathedral today combines Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque styles due to numerous additions and alterations over the years.

Porto Cathedral

Interior of Porto Cathedral

Porto Cathedral Interior

Interior of Porto Cathedral

Upon leaving the cathedral, we wound our way down through narrow medieval streets, encountering spectacular views, dead ends, wrong turns, and beautiful surprises until we reached Ribeira do Porto, the Porto Riverbank.

View of Porto with Clerigos Church Tower

Scene from Porto

Narrow medieval street in Porto

Museo de Arte Sacra e Arqueologia

Palacio da Bolsa

Ribeira

Ribeira in Porto

Walking the Ribeira in Porto

Along the Ribeira in Porto

Built in the 1880’s, the double-decker Luiz I Bridge spans the Douro River between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The port wineries are located across the river and we intended to walk across the bridge to tour the Sandeman Winery. The top level of the bridge is for the metro and pedestrians but we were already at river level so rather than climbing up to the upper level, we crossed at river level where vehicle and pedestrian traffic are both allowed.

View of Luiz I Bridge

Luiz I Bridge

View from the Luiz I Bridge

We easily found Sandeman’s but it wasn’t open yet so we hung around outside and took more photos of Porto from that side of the river.

Rick, Lori, and I at Sandeman’s

Porto across the River Douro

The river seemed high and another couple told us the river cruises were transporting passengers by bus because of it. We even found marks next to Sandeman’s door to record the height of various past floods. Fortunately, we weren’t faced with flooding!

Marks to the left of the door showing the water level in previous floods

When Sandeman opened, we discovered there were no tours in English that morning so off we went to search for another winery nearby. Fortunately, up the hill, we found Offley and had another wait. We were the only customers awaiting a tour that morning so for 8 euros each we had a personal tour with a charming and knowledgeable guide.

Offley Cellars

Lori and I at Offley Cellars

Touring Offley Cellars

Our guide educates us

Port wine developed in this area to provide England with a source for wine when they were at war with France and unable to secure their wine from that country. Grapes grew well in Portugal but the long sea journey to England resulted in spoiled wine until the wine was fortified with grape brandy in the 17th century. Offley was established in 1737 in London by William Offley, a wine merchant who soon expanded his business to include port wine production in the Douro Valley. The company was subsequently brought to prominence by Joseph James Forrester when he took over 100 years later. Today Sogrape Vinhos owns the company.

Following our tour, we tasted Porto White, Porto Ruby, and Porto Tawny. We could definitely tell the wine was “fortified” but my husband, not a big wine drinker, liked it much better than regular wines. The white and ruby were younger wines but I think I most enjoyed the tawny, with a more robust and mature flavor.

Port tasting

All is well with a little port

View across the river to Porto from Offley Winery with Monastery of Serra do Pilar in upper right corner

By now, we were running short of time to get back to our cruise ship before departure time. Before our tour, we’d asked at the ticket office about calling us a taxi and she said they would do so after the tour. We waited for what seemed like a long time and when the driver finally arrived, he spoke no English. And I mean, no English. We finally communicated to him that we needed to go to the cruise port at Leixoes. Off we went bouncing along narrow cobblestoned streets only wide enough for one vehicle around blind curves with a toot of the horn for warning while I bit my lip and held on for dear life. Then we got stuck in a traffic jam with tour buses blocking the road. The police finally sorted it out and we were off again. When we arrived at Leixoes, we actually had the driver drop us farther away because we were confused and went the wrong way causing another delay.

We did make it back in time but I think we all felt stressed by the experience. Whenever things don’t go well or exactly as planned, my husband and I say, “Well, that was an adventure.” And it was.

Based on events from April 2016.

Categories: cruise, Europe, Uncategorized, UNESCO | Tags: Douro River, Luiz I Bridge, Offley, Oporto, port wine, Porto, Porto Cathedral, Portugal, Ribeira, Sandeman, Sao Bento Railway Station, Sogrape Vinhos | 2 Comments

Un Día en A Coruña, Spain

Posted on November 29, 2016 by lclalor

Admittedly, I had never heard of A Coruña, Spain prior to our visit. Located in the northwest corner of Spain on the Atlantic coast in the region of Galicia, A Coruña is noteworthy as the base from which the Spanish Armada set sail to conquer England in 1588. Even more importantly to me, however, it is the home of another UNESCO World Heritage site, the Tower of Hercules.

Morning in A Coruña, Spain

We were ready to disembark when our ship docked at 8 am. We took bus #3 to our number one sight, the Tower of Hercules, but unfortunately, found that it didn’t open until 10 am. Instead of waiting until the opening time to climb the 234 steps to the top of the tower, we contented ourselves with a tour of the grounds and the spectacular views from the base of the tower.

Jim climbing the hill to the Tower of Hercules

The only Roman lighthouse still in existence and the oldest lighthouse in the world, the Tower of Hercules was built by the Romans in the last half of the first century, AD. Originally named Farum Brigantium by the Romans, it has served continuously as a lighthouse since its construction, marking the entrance to La Coruña Harbor. The restoration in 1789 preserved the original Roman structure resulting in its designation in 2009 as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Tower of Hercules

Tower of Hercules

View from the Tower of Hercules

View from the Tower of Hercules

The tower is surrounded by a sculpture garden in a green space comprising 116 acres. The Doors of Hercules, on either side of the tower, are among the art pieces in the collection. The bronze doors, sculpted by Francisco Leiro, contain images representing the various myths and legends about the tower.

The Doors of Hercules, a bronze sculpture by Francisco Leiro

Next to the tower, the Portrait of King Carlos III, by Pablo Serrano Aguilar, struck me as incongruous until I did a little research and learned that he was the monarch who authorized the restoration of the tower. I first thought he looked like an American Revolutionary soldier who wandered into the wrong historical setting.

Portrait of King Carlos III

Legend has it the Celts, led by Breogán, founded Brigantia and built a tower on this site prior to the Romans. When his son, Ithe, spied Ireland from the top of the tower, he set sail for the island but was killed upon his arrival by locals. When his body was brought back to Brigantia, the family decided to return to Ireland to avenge his death and settled there permanently. (Per sign on-site.) The white granite sculpture, Breogán, by José Cid, commemorates this story.

Jim, Rick, and Lori next to Breogán

The mosaic, Rosa de Los Vientos, by Javier Correa, pays tribute to the seven Celtic peoples.

View of mosaic, Rosa de Los Vientos

Finally, the sculpture, Charon, by Ramón Conde, depicts the boatman who ferried the dead to Hades in Greek mythology. Hercules defeated him in a standoff when he faced the challenge to bring the three-headed dog, Cerebus, back from Hades.

Charon

There was more to see including a Muslim cemetery and we could have spent lots more time at the tower but we wanted to get to the historic quarter and the castle. We set off to walk the 2 kilometers to the old city by way of the new promenade along the water.

Promenade along the water in A Coruña

We stopped first at San Carlos Garden in the Historic Quarter where Sir John Moore is entombed. He died in the Battle of Coruña where he defeated the French. This peaceful and beautiful park is the perfect resting place for any hero.

San Carlos Garden

Then by chance, we came upon Santa Maria del Campo Collegiate Church from the 13th century and took a peek inside.

Santa Maria del Campo Collegiate Church, A Coruña

Plaza de la Harina, today called Plaza de Azcárraga, was the main square in the old city where grain was sold.

Plaza de la Harina, aka Plaza de Azcárraga

The Church of Santiago, built in the 12th century, is one of A Coruña’s oldest buildings.

Church of Santiago

Church of Santiago, A Coruña

Santiago, in Church of Santiago

Street in the old city

Gate in the old city

The Castle of San Antón was built beginning in the 14th century as a fortress to quarantine soldiers with a disease called “the fire of San Antón.” It later served as a prison for political prisoners as well as common criminals. Today it houses the Archeological and History Museum.

View of San Antón Castle

Grounds of San Antón Castle

San Antón Castle

Cistern at San Antón Castle

Borna, a replica, at San Antón Castle

Museum at San Antón Castle

Religious and funeral art at San Antón Castle

Following our visit to the Castle of San Antón, we strolled back to the modern, attractive cruise terminal. We enjoyed our first port of call in A Coruña very much with everything conveniently located near the cruise ship terminal or a short bus or tram ride away. We didn’t take the time to see the beaches, the new city of nearly 250,000, or shopping areas but we saw the historic areas that interested us most.

Our ship, the ms Rotterdam, at A Coruña cruise port

Based on events from April/May 2016.

Categories: cruise, Europe, Uncategorized, UNESCO | Tags: A Coruña, San Antón Castle, Spain, Tower of Hercules | 1 Comment

Setting Sail on the MS Rotterdam

Posted on November 22, 2016 by lclalor

The European adventure that began with Keukenhof and Bruges took us next by train to Rotterdam in the Netherlands to board our ship, the ms Rotterdam, for a 14-day cruise to Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar.

Our ship, the ms Rotterdam

My research of ground transportation in these three countries led me to the perfect itinerary on the Holland America Line. As I’ve said before, if you want an introduction to a broad area and to sample places within it, a cruise is more efficient and affordable than arranging your own transportation, lodging, and meals. Then when you find your favorite places within the itinerary, you can always return and immerse yourself for a longer period.

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Setting sail is always exciting and this trip was no exception.

Setting sail from Rotterdam

Rotterdam from the ms Rotterdam

Charming windmill in Rotterdam through a dirty window

We enjoyed scenes of Rotterdam, a city totally rebuilt following WW2, from the ship but when we reached the North Sea, the captain announced we would turn back to deliver a passenger with a medical emergency. Then a short while later, he announced a helicopter would instead evacuate the passenger. This was the first of three medical evacuations that occurred on this cruise which caused a ship staff person to tell a friend of ours that she had worked on this ship for 10 years and had seen a total of three medical evacuations in all that time. Until now, when her experience doubled within two weeks.

Rescue helicopter approaching

Following the excitement, we settled in for two days at sea which allowed us plenty of time to explore the ms Rotterdam.

Jim relaxing in our cabin

Our cabin

Our cabin

We usually cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line and this was just our second cruise on the Holland America Line. I choose cruises by a combination of itinerary and price and this one fit both criteria. Both NCL and HAL offer good service; clean, well-maintained ships; high-quality food; and good entertainment. HAL has a bit of an edge, however, with a sofa and bathtub in their standard ocean-view cabins and pay washers and dryers where passengers can do their own laundry. For a two-week cruise, that laundry option is especially important.

The ms Rotterdam, previously the Holland America Line’s flagship, is a beautiful, elegant ship with a capacity of 1400 passengers and 600 staff.

ms Rotterdam

Poolside area

Enclosed pool area with the retractable roof closed

With several sea days on this itinerary, we were able to enjoy the hot tub on the ship. None of us swam in the pool but many of the intrepid Dutch passengers seemed to enjoy it.

Lori and I ready to visit the hot tub

Jim, after the hot tub

The roof retracted on the pool deck

Art treasures on the ms Rotterdam

More original ancient art on the ms Rotterdam

ms Rotterdam

Casino on the ms Rotterdam

Entertainment in the theater

Theater on the ms Rotterdam

Rick, Lori, and I in the theater

A new offering in our cruise experience, the ms Rotterdam offered bridge lessons on our days at sea. We were “game” to try it and became regulars in class. Jeff, the instructor, was very helpful and soon became a friend and we enjoyed his company off the ship while on excursions as well.

Jim, Rick, and Lori practicing our bridge game

Our instructor, Jeff, assisting our group at bridge

View from the bow of the ms Rotterdam

We especially enjoyed the cooking demonstrations we attended with recipes provided for such dishes as Classic Spanish Paella, Saffron Shrimp and Stuffed Cherry Peppers, and Portuguese Mini Lemon-Orange Cakes.

One of several cooking demonstrations we attended

I’ll devote an entire post later to the outstanding food we enjoyed onboard but meanwhile, here are a few scenes from the main dining room.

Main Dining Room

Main Dining Room

A favorite special touch aboard the ms Rotterdam was the rug in the elevator which was changed daily. The rug announced the day of the week to us, a helpful aid on a long cruise when you have no responsibilities but enjoyment.

Day of the week rug in the elevator

After two days at sea, we felt very comfortable with our home away from home on the ms Rotterdam and ready for our first port of call, A Coruña, Spain. Come back next week to read about it.

Taken from events in April and May 2016.

Categories: cruise, Europe, Uncategorized | Tags: Holland America Line, ms Rotterdam | Leave a comment

Aloha ‘Oe, Hawaii

Posted on August 30, 2016 by lclalor

One of the challenges faced by cruise passengers is what to do with luggage while sightseeing before or after a cruise. Most airports no longer offer lockers due to security issues. If you have a hotel reserved, they’ll usually keep your bags until check-in but if not, what’s a tourist to do? We decided to rent a car to store our luggage while we toured Oahu upon our return to Honolulu. For around $50, we had wheels for the day and storage for our bags while we waited for our evening flight.

As soon as our cruise ship, the Pride of America, docked, we took a taxi from the port to the Honolulu Airport to pick up our car. Happy to have the protection of our own vehicle due to intermittent rain showers throughout the day, we headed across the lush Koolau Mountains to the Kamehameha Highway on the windward side of the island.

Koolau Mountains

The Kamehameha Highway follows the coastline with plenty of stopping points to capture the incredibly beautiful views.

Water view along Kamehameha Highway

We stopped at the ruins of the Kualoa Sugar Mill in the Kaaawa Valley of the Koolau Mountains where the scenery looked like Jurassic Park, probably because the movie was filmed in this area. The first sugar mill on Oahu, Kualoa Sugar Mill was built in the early 1860’s and abandoned in the 1870’s because there wasn’t enough rain in the area to grow sugar. Who’d have thought?

Koolau Mountains with ruins of the Kualoa Sugar Mill

Ruins of Kualoa Sugar Mill

We stopped next at the Polynesian Cultural Center but alas, it wasn’t open yet. The “cultural” part of the name attracted us but honestly, it was more of a theme park. We read some of the cultural and historical signs and left before they opened.

After meandering up the eastern coast, we finally arrived at the famous North Shore, home of the perfect wave for surfers. The Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing, a three event men’s professional competition has been held on the North Shore each year since 1983 and in 2015, the dates of the competition were November 12 through December 20. We happened to be there on November 21 toward the end of the second crown, the Van’s Cup of World Surfing, which took place on Sunset Beach. Too bad we didn’t see any action that morning.

Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach, home of Van’s World Cup of Surfing

View from Kamehameha Highway

Waimea Valley Park with a hike to the famous Waimea Falls was on our to-do list but untimely showers made the 1.5 mile hike unappealing. We walked around the botanical garden a bit and then stopped at Waimea Bay Beach in time to see blue skies briefly.

Hawaiian vegetation at Waiamea Gardens

Waimea Bay Beach

The rock at Waimea Bay Beach in the photo below provides a popular albeit dangerous attractive hazard that locals climb then jump into the water. We didn’t see anyone up there that morning so maybe the tide was too low.

Version 2

The rain returned as we drove through the North Shore town of Haleiwa. Further exploration including a shaved ice would have to wait for next time.

Haleiwa

We skipped the Dole Pineapple Plantation this trip but it’s wildly popular among families, entertaining and educating one million visitors each year. Jim and I were there in 2003 with our teenagers and enjoyed the experience. We did, however, see lots of pineapple fields and snapped a few photos. We also ate every bit of fresh pineapple offered to us while in Hawaii. Yum.

Pineapple Fields

After our drive to the North Shore, we headed to the Dole Cannery in Honolulu, once the largest pineapple cannery in the world, now a retail space containing a movie theater with 18 screens. Our friend, Rick, discovered a film festival that he was keen to check out.

The restored Dole Cannery

Rick ready to see a film at the Hawaii International Film Festival

While Rick attended a more artistic film, Lori, Jim, and I watched the last movie in the Hunger Games series, Mockingjay Part 2. Afterward, we stopped by Max’s for an outstanding Filipino dinner prior to our long foodless flight home.

Outside a Filipino restaurant, Max’s

Inside Max’s

Tasty Filipino chicken adobo

Filipino veggies

The tradition of throwing lei into the water dates back to the early 1900’s. Upon leaving Hawaii by boat, visitors threw their lei into the water to return it to Hawaii as they hoped one day, they, too, would return. Leaving by plane and not knowing whether it’s allowable to toss our lei from the Pride of America, we simply left them behind to signal our intention to return one day.

The remains of our beautiful lei

Aloha ‘oe (farewell to you), Hawaii. A hui hou (until we meet again). (🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽shaka, shaka)

Listen to Elvis sing Aloha Oe from the movie, Blue Hawaii, here.

Based on events from November 2015.

Categories: cruise, Uncategorized, USA | Tags: Dole Cannery, Haleiwa, Hawaii, Honolulu, Kamehameha Highway, Koolau Mountains, Kualoa Sugar Mill, Max's of Manila, NCL, North Shore, Oahu, Pride of America, Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay Beach, Waimea Valley Park | 4 Comments

The Na Pali Coast of Kauai

Posted on August 23, 2016 by lclalor

The iconic Na Pali Coast on the north shore of Kauai is only accessible by boat or air. Well, except for that treacherous 11-mile hiking trail that didn’t especially appeal to us. Fortunately for us, the Pride of America was scheduled to sail along the 17-mile coastline of Na Pali. We were excited to experience sublime views of the emerald-green cliffs on our last day aboard the NCL Pride of America. Unfortunately for us, the weather did not cooperate. Our first view looked like this.

Approaching the Na Pali Coast

The coastline was almost completely obscured by clouds. As we got closer, they began to dissipate a bit but our views remained misty at best.

Low clouds on the Napali Coast

The first bit of green appears before our wondering eyes

We made the best of the situation, however, and enjoyed what we could see. Actually, in retrospect, I think it was fortunate that we initially thought we’d see nothing because then we appreciated what we did see so much more.

Misty Na Pali Coast

Closer view through the mist and low clouds

Na Pali Coast

Looking up the valley along the Na Pali Coast

Another view

Na Pali means cliffs–you can see why

My favorite view of Na Pali coast

We had considered a helicopter or a catamaran tour but I’m glad we didn’t spend the money in view of the weather. The fact that our tour was included in our cruise made us feel like we got something extra. The captain of the Pride of America tried so hard to get us close enough to the shore to see the amazing lush vegetation and velvety emerald cliffs through the mist. We tell people if you haven’t experienced surreal Na Pali in the mist, you haven’t seen Na Pali. But I know I’ll go back hoping to see Na Pali on a crystal clear day.

Based on events from November 2015.

Categories: cruise, Uncategorized, USA | Tags: Kauai, Na Pali Coast, Norwegian, Pride of America | 4 Comments

More on the Garden Isle of Kauai

Posted on August 16, 2016 by lclalor

Back on the south coast of Kauai after our visit to Waimea Canyon, we stopped first at Russian Fort Elizabeth State Park where hundreds of feral chickens greeted us in the parking lot. Sights like these are the most memorable for me –they stand out because they are unusual or unique.

Parking lot at Russian Fort Elizabeth

Named for the czarina of Russia, Fort Elizabeth was one of three forts built by Russia on Kauai between 1813 and 1817. I had no idea Russia had a presence in Hawaii so this historical trivia was intriguing to me. Apparently, we were alone in our interest, however, because we were the only people there. According to the signs on-site, Russia wanted to establish a trade relationship with Hawaii to obtain food for their Alaskan settlements. That seemed odd in view of the fact that it’s only 55 miles across the Bering Strait to Russia (I’ve heard you can see Russia from your porch in Alaska) while it’s over 3000 miles from Hawaii to Alaska. Nevertheless, that was the plan. King Kamehameha wasn’t a fan, however, and expelled the Russians in 1817. Not much remains so it was a brief stop.

Remains of Russian Fort Elizabeth

We drove on to the Kauai Coffee Company, Hawaii’s largest coffee grower. Originally a sugar cane plantation, the first coffee trees were planted here in 1987 and today they have more than 4 million trees. The Visitor Center and Museum had a lot to offer, including unlimited self-serve coffee samples.

Kauai Coffee Company

While we savored amazing coffee, we watched a video about the coffee production process and viewed the historical exhibits.

Admittedly, we were there for the coffee but this visitor was mainly interested in the spilled sugar. The gold dust day gecko is not native to Hawaii but was introduced in the 1970s. Because they help keep insect populations in check, they are usually welcome guests.

Gold dust day gecko

The people at Kauai Coffee Company definitely have a sense of humor. This was the first of a number of signs that caused me to chuckle.

With coffee in hand, we wandered out to the self-guided walking tour. It was a paved trail with lots of explanatory signage along the way about growing, harvesting, and processing coffee.

Signs like this explain coffee growing and processing

Jim along the trail

Our friend, Rick, a true coffee lover, in front of coffee trees

The signs contained interesting coffee facts that I didn’t know previously. For example, did you know that longer roasting reduces the caffeine in coffee? Consequently, a medium roast has more caffeine than a dark roast. There are usually two coffee beans inside the coffee cherry but when just one forms, it’s called a peaberry. The peaberry roasts more evenly and produces a superior cup of coffee which we confirmed in our taste tests. And each coffee tree produces just one pound of roasted coffee per harvest.

More humor

Coffee cherries

Plumeria growing at the coffee estate because this is Hawaii, after all

This was a pleasant stop with lots of interesting information. We purchased some coffee to take home, returned our rental car, and headed back to the ship in time for dinner.

Based on events from November 2015.

Categories: cruise, Uncategorized, USA | Tags: Hawaii, Kauai, Kauai Coffee Company, Russian Fort Elizabeth | Leave a comment

Visiting the Garden Isle of Kauai

Posted on August 9, 2016 by lclalor

Kauai, the oldest of the Hawaiian islands, is nicknamed the garden island with good reason. Every rainy, verdant, undeveloped, dramatic landscape looks like an untamed garden. Due to its appeal, over 60 movies have been filmed here, including the Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar, and The Descendants, just to name a few.

The Pride of America docked at Nawiliwili where we rented a car. For just $50 a day, we had the freedom to explore wherever we liked on the island. Of the many choices to see and do, the top of our list was the Napali coast followed by Waimea Canyon. You can only see the Napali coast by boat or air and, fortunately for us, the Pride of America would cruise along the coast the following day. We chose to drive to Waimea Canyon, once dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific by Mark Twain.

The drive was just 31 miles but it was up a curvy 2 lane road with amazing scenery so we took our time and stopped along the way. At first, it seemed odd that the landscape appeared somewhat arid with red soil and shades of yellow and brown vegetation interspersed with patches of lush, verdant plant life. Then I remembered this was the leeward (drier) side of the island.

The drive to Waimea Canyon

View on the road to Waimea Canyon

View of the Pacific

Our friends and travel companions, Rick and Lori

Red Dirt Waterfall

Laura and Jim at the entrance to Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon

Waipoo Falls rising 800 feet above the canyon floor amazed and inspired us.

Waipoo Falls in Waimea Canyon

Overlook at Waimea Canyon

Waipoo Falls

In the parking lot at Waimea Canyon Lookout, vendors sold exotic tropical fruits and other products. We tried the dragon fruit which the sign told us tastes like pear plus kiwi. Yum!

Vendors at Waimea Canyon Lookout

Tropical fruits for sale

I wish I had tried the manapua which is a pork pastry originally introduced to Hawaii by Chinese immigrants. I noticed there was also a sweet variety with cream custard, probably to appeal to today’s sugar addicted consumer.

Manapua

The vendor where we bought our fruit

We were intrigued by the chickens we saw wandering freely all over the island including this parking lot. The protected feral chickens supposedly have no natural enemies on Kauai so they flourish in larger numbers here than on other islands. My research, however, led me to this article from the Hawaii Invasive Species Council. The mongoose was introduced in 1883 on other islands to control the rat population in the sugar cane fields. An unintended consequence occurred because the mongoose has no natural predators on the islands and it also reduced the population of island birds including feral chickens. The mongoose was never introduced on Kauai but a number of sightings and one capture have occurred. If indeed, the mongoose has gained a foothold, Kauai will need to develop a management plan. (First Live Mongoose Captured on Kauai, May 2012)

Mama and her brood

Colorful rooster

Come back to read more about our visit to Kauai. Spoiler alert: more chickens, a fort, and good coffee are coming up.

Based on events in November 2015.

References:

Press Release. (2012, May 23). First Live Mongoose Captured on Kauai, May 2012. Hawaii.gov. Retrieved from http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/news/kauaimongoosepr/

Categories: cruise, Uncategorized, USA | Tags: Hawaii, Kauai, Norwegian, Pride of America, Waimea Canyon | Leave a comment

Unscripted on the Big Island

Posted on August 2, 2016 by lclalor

After a busy week exploring Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island, we were ready for an unscripted beach day. And, because it rained most of the previous day on the windward side of the island, we looked forward to dry weather on the “Kona side” (leeward) at Kailua-Kona. Cruise ships anchor offshore at this port, so our first order of business was taking a tender from our ship to the pier.

Tender to the Kona pier

View of the Pride of America from our tender

Beach ready

After the requisite photo on the pier, we were ready to find a beach. Fortunately, historic downtown Kailua is adjacent to the pier so we didn’t have to look far. We stopped at Tourist Information and learned the Kona Trolley would take us south to the beaches for just $2 per ride.

Roadside view from the Kona Trolley

Trolley View

We got off the trolley at Kahalu’u Beach where Jim was first into the water. When he spied a large sea turtle swimming next to him, he was intent on avoiding contact after seeing the sign announcing a $35,000 fine for touching these protected creatures. An underwater camera sure would have been handy to capture the experience, however.

Kahalu’u Beach

Jim swimming with the sea turtles

While the beach was lovely, there was too much coral in the water which makes for good snorkeling but awkward wading, so we packed up and got back on the trolley to try another beach. Magic Sands Beach was perfect.

Magic Sands Beach

Magic Sands Beach

Yours truly in the water at Magic Sands Beach

The official name is La’aloa Beach, but locals nicknamed it Magic Sands because the sand washes away in the winter only to return each summer when the currents change. Fortunately for us, there was plenty of sand during our visit in November.

A sweet little dog wandered about the beach visiting various groups of sunbathers and eventually he joined us, too. We, of course, assumed he was a stray but when he turned up his nose at the granola bar we offered, we knew his owner was nearby. Sure enough, as we left, we saw him jump into a car with a local.

Lori and I made friends with this sweet dog

When we’d had enough beach time, we took the trolley back to town for a little exploration. We’d been advised to have a shave ice with azuki beans and finally located a place that sold them. Azuki (or adzuki) beans are red beans that are sweetened and used in Asian confections. Since the tradition of Hawaiian shave ice was first introduced by Japanese immigrants, it makes sense that they would use azuki beans. They were surprisingly tasty in the shave ice.

Shave Ice offerings

Ordering our shave ice

shave ice with azuki beans

At the end of a relaxing unscripted day in Kailua-Kona, we were ready to return to the Pride of America to set sail that evening for the island of Kauai. And if you’re wondering why we didn’t visit a coffee plantation, we did –on Kauai, so please come back and check it out.

Home sweet Pride of America

Based on events from November 2015.

Categories: cruise, Uncategorized, USA | Tags: azuki beans, Big Island, Hawaii, Kahala'u Beach, Kona Trolley, La'aola Beach, Magic Sands Beach, Pride of America, shave ice, tender | 3 Comments

The Legend of Akaka Falls

Posted on July 26, 2016 by lclalor

Legend has it the Hawaiian god, Akaka, lived next to a waterfall with his wife while his girlfriends, Lehua and Maile, lived nearby. When his wife returned early one day nearly catching him with one of the girlfriends, Akaka ran away and fell into the falls. (Some versions say he jumped but I find that hard to believe.) Lehua and Maile cried so hard when they heard about Akaka’s death, they turned into small waterfalls. The waterfall that Akaka fell into was named Akaka Falls and two nearby small cascading falls are called Lehua and Maile Falls.

Today, Akaka Falls State Park is a very popular and iconic attraction near Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. To reach the falls, we walked a short paved trail through stunning tropical vegetation. While the entire trail is less than half a mile, there are stairs involved so the trail is not wheelchair accessible. The park is a tropical paradise that defies description and the photos hardly capture such incredible beauty. When I say tropical, I mean it was hot, humid, misty, or rainy the entire time but thankfully, I never saw a single mosquito.

Red Firespike

Red Firespike

Ti plant

Ti plant (Hawaiian Good Luck Plant)

Lori under the aerial roots of a large Banyan tree with Jim in the background

Red Ginger

Yellow Ginger

Heliconia Mariae

The walk through this lush tropical jungle would have been quite enough to satisfy us but our first view of the Akaka Falls took the experience to another level.

First view of Akaka Falls

The falls drops 442 feet into a gorge so we knew that we had only seen the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. The full view was truly sublime.

Akaka Falls

Akaka Falls and trail

Jim and Laura on the stairs to the viewing area of Akaka Falls

Lori and Laura at Akaka Falls

Full view of Akaka Falls

If the photos don’t fully convey the beauty of the falls, click on this video to see Akaka Falls in motion.

Continuing along the trail, we also spotted the small Lehua and Maile Falls crying copious tears together.

Lehua and Maile Falls

Our visit to Akaka Falls was part of the Pride of America excursion to Volcanoes National Park. The third component of this excursion was a stop at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center. Although I’m not a huge fan of these commercial stops that all cruise lines include in their excursions, we actually appreciated this shopping opportunity to pick up some macadamia nuts to take home. Unfortunately, the factory was closed or we’d have enjoyed a look about there, too.

We spent only a day in the port of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii but felt we’d gotten a good introduction to the windward side of the island. That night the Pride of America sailed on to Kona where, the next morning, we would explore the leeward side.

Based on events from November 2015.

Categories: cruise, Uncategorized, USA | Tags: Akaka Falls, Akaka Falls State Park, Big Island, Hawaii, Hawaiian flora | 4 Comments

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The Na Pali Coast of Kauai

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Visiting the Garden Isle of Kauai

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Unscripted on the Big Island

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The Legend of Akaka Falls

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