An Atlas in My Purse: Europe #9 - Pass Me Another Gravol, Please!

As I write this chapter, the sun is coming up on the calm sea that stretches from my window to beyond the horizon. These two weeks on board Holland America's Noordam have been a fascinating experience. This is my first cruise and has provided a little of everything!

Alicante, Malaga, Cadiz and Funchal

Alicante Promenade

Our first week was spent travelling through the Mediterranean and out to Madeira Island in the Atlantic. Alicante (Spain) was the first port of call. We all trooped out of the ship and took the port bus to where the port meets the town. Like many Mediterranean cities, Alicante has a gorgeous promenade along the shoreline. We found it just delightful. Paved in a a wavy pattern of tiles and lined with mature palms trees and hedges, it is an oasis of beauty surrounded by all the typical trappings of a busy city -- wild traffic, shops, restaurants, hustle and bustle. We strolled a few blocks along the promenade and then walked a couple of streets into the city before heading back. Although we would love to have explored further, we were actually pretty tired from our three weeks of sightseeing and just didn't have the energy to do any more walking. We did come across a small museum I'd read about - the Museum of the Nativity. It was a collection of nativity sets from around the world. We found it enchanting. We ended our visit to Alicante with a gelato stop on the promenade and watched the world go by for a few minutes.

The next day, we stopped in Malaga (Spain). Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all day, so we just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the ship. That night we passed through the Straits of Gibraltar. I would love to have seen this in the daytime, but I did wake up as the ship rolled and rocked through the stronger currents of the Atlantic.

Our stop that day was in Cadiz (Spain). The rain let up for a few hours while Dad, the Kid and I headed out to explore this ancient city. The ship was docked right at the edge of the oldest part of the town, so we had only a short walk before we were surrounded by tall buildings and walking through a largely pedestrianized area. Our first goal was to visit the city market. Quite easy to find, it consists of an area of semi-enclosed buildings. Two main aisles run the length of the market and are filled with nothing but fish and seafood. We've never seen so much! There were huge piles of shrimp, octopus and squid, all kinds of fish. We even saw the head and part of the body of a huge tuna. Nothing tinned here! Most of what we saw, we couldn't identify. The other aisles of the market had fresh vegetables, meat and cheese. But, by far, the main product offered was fish and seafood.

After perusing all these food items we couldn't buy (as if the ship doesn't have enough sustenance for all), we walked a few blocks to the northern shore of Cadiz. There we strolled through a beautiful coastline park. It holds many exotic plants, representing the flora found by Spanish explorers during their world voyages. The park was pretty damp because of the rain of the last few days, but it was a beautiful walk. We followed the park almost back to the ship where we joined Mom on board for lunch.

Two days later we reached Madeira Island (Portugal) well into the Atlantic Ocean. The ship docked before we were up so we were greeted by the beautiful sight of the town of Funchal, climbing up the mountainsides. I had been looking forward to visiting the hilltop parks above Funchal, but the shipboard staff had warned us that recent weather in Madeira had fostered an increase in mosquitoes that carried the Dengue Fever virus. None of us cared to risk catching such a disease, so we stayed on board again and watched the rain and clouds close in on the town. Oh, well. We'll just have to come back for another visit.

Our sunset departure was the beginning of nearly four days of severe weather. Argh. We passed through a strong gale that just didn't quit. Our poor ship rocked and rolled, dipped and wallowed through the waves. We passed through short periods of rain, but most of the time it was just high winds and waves. During this time, we watched Hurricane Sandy on television. It was very strange to see the storm on the screen and then to look out our windows at the wild seas we were in ourselves. During a couple of these storm days, I spent most of my time just lying on my bed. Although I never became seriously seasick (a steady dose of gravol helped!), I usually felt woozy from the constant rocking.

We were so grateful to see the gales finally subside, although we continued to go through some heavy swells that the Captain said were part of the Sandy storm system. When we first boarded, I had noticed the handrails in every corridor and room. "How nice," I thought. "They really look after all the seniors on board!" Silly me. By the time rough weather hit us, we ALL needed those wonderful railings!

Life on Board the Noordam

Since this is my first cruise, I don't have much to compare it to. Mom and Dad felt this facilities and dining experience was excellent, compared to their previous very short cruise experience. We enjoyed amazing care from all the staff. Krista had a great time schmoozing with the staff and guests. She got to know all the shop staff very well!

The dining was unfailingly excellent. We took breakfast and lunch in the Pinnacle Grill. This buffet dining room filled a good part of the Lido deck. The varied food stations offered a great selection, sometimes with dishes cooked to order. We always enjoyed the gorgeous orchids sitting on each table. Every time I see an orchid now, I think about our cruise.

We enjoyed dinners in the Main Dining Room. When I had booked the cruise, our travel agent assumed we would want a table for four. "Oh, no," I said. "Dad and the Kid need people to talk to. The more the better!" So, we were assigned a table for eight. We wondered what these people would be like. We were very surprised to find that all our co-diners were Canadian! I would have enjoyed meeting people from other places, but this offered us a unique opportunity to visit with people from other parts of Canada. Carole and John were from the Niagara Peninsula. Earl and Jan were from New Brunswick. They were all delightful and we thoroughly enjoyed their company.

The dinners in the Dining Room were fabulous. Mom and I particularly enjoyed the cold fruit soups that were offered each day and the many fish dishes that were on the menu.

The Noordam docked at Cadiz.

What did we do all day? It was really very relaxing. We snoozed. We watched TV. We watched those nasty swells outside the window. We took in a few afternoon movies and evening shows. We read. We snoozed some more. We attended the daily Bible study. We shopped. We explored. Dad went to a variety of computer classes. I came to the conclusion that life on board ship is really a matter of putting in time between meals.

With all the rain we had,
we were also blessed
with many, many rainbows.

Finally, after two weeks of gravol, we entered Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We had booked a hotel for the night and weren't flying home until the next day, so we weren't under any pressure to leave the ship quickly. Once on the dock, we were really happy to find a porter who was able to help us through the handicapped service line and get us on a taxi right away. That was a huge relief.

The End of Another Great Trip

The next morning we headed home to Toronto. It's always good to get home after a long trip. Even a wonderful trip like this one. In the following days, everyone I saw mentioned how rested I looked; I think the cruise was responsible for that!

We've had a wonderful time driving through Europe and then paddling across the Atlantic. Our brief stops in Spain have encouraged me to look at visiting that beautiful country in more depth on another trip. We were able to manage every challenge that came along (mixing up airports in Milan and getting lost in Malta spring to mind). We didn't have any major health issues (Thank you, Lord!). None of our reservations proved to be unreliable or inappropriate.

We discovered that Malta is an absolutely extraordinary place and we'd love to go back. Our taste for Tuscany has only been whetted; we must go back there! Even in the rain, Switzerland is spectacular. And the Atlantic? Well, yes, it's full of water!

Until next time (no, we don't have anything planned at this point) -- thanks for reading!