Healthcare.Gov

Normally I don't write about politics, but I've been hearing a lot about the bad health care website, so I thought I would see just how bad it is. I "googled" healthcare.gov and received a number of hits for alternatives but none for that particular website. Next, I typed "healthcare.gov" in the URL line in my browser and the website popped up. I thought what's the problem. I then filled in my state, clicked enter and the following page appeared. 

I've been trying all evening to get to the website, and the same page appears. I've not tried the marketplace call center. I wonder what that is like? Is this a harbinger of what is to come? I can hear my doctor saying "I'm sorry, the system is down right now, so I cannot take care of you now. Call me back when you feel better?"

Almost Home

We spent the night in San Francisco. I took awhile to get here. We left FLL (that's Ft. Lauderdale) at 6:30 PM. There are no early United flights out of FLL. After a stop in Houston, we arrived around midnight. All the while the other DrC was coughing. He caught the ship's cold again! The hotel shuttle could not pick us up quick enough. Thank goodness it was not a cold cold night. We are in our favorite "park n fly" hotel, the El Rancho, in our favorite room. It's almost like being home. The next step is the rental car. We will get it around 11:00 and drive home. We have been gone 32 days. 

Day Six at Sea

We've had almost a week of sea days. As I've said before, sea days are for the experienced cruiser because you have to know how to entertain yourself. Beginner cruisers don't really have a clue what to do with "free" time....but "old salts" like us, don't seem to have a problem. 

For me, it's a chance to go to lectures and play trivia. The perfect six person trivia team should have an Aussie, an American, a Brit and a Canadian as well as experts in sports, movies, music, history and "general knowledge." Our team has 6 Americans and we tend to do well with history and general knowledge, but our movie and music credentials are lacking. No matter, we are having fun and that's the purpose of the game. 

The big entertainment this morning was the "egg drop" contest. Who can create a container for an egg, where the egg can survive a 2 story fall. Several folks vied for the ribbon in that "sport" and 5 folks created baskets of sorts that saved their eggs! In the end, a 12 year old boy was the winner as his egg survived the fall and it landed closest to the target. 

No one ever said sea days were intellectually stimulating -- they are supposed to be fun. 

On a more serious note, a lot of folks are reading. The electronic book is very popular. Most folks have a Kindle or iPad type device. A few folks are still reading real books, but the "argument" over the preference for one medium vs the other is moot. These folks don't really care. They all like the idea of carrying around a huge selection of books to read without taking a lot of luggage space. Amen to that!

In addition to reading, going to lectures, playing trivia and eating, I have finished a baby blanket on this cruise. It's been good!

Lake Bracciano

Yesterday we visited a lake outside of Rome called Bracciano. It's a caldera, and like many "crater" lakes, it's deep and clear blue. What a relaxing retreat from the maddening crowds of Rome! The lake has a 330+ kilometer shoreline, so it's good sized. We walked around a tiny village of Anguillara. 

It was not spectacular just quaint and pretty. We had perfect early fall weather too. 

Momma swan was swimming along the shore with her almost grown clutch of babies. Other swans were doing the "dipping ballet" 

Searching for food. I like to take pictures of a duet of swans because they are so graceful -- as I was lining up my camera for the "perfect shot" they both dunked under--another type of perfection I guess.

In case you are wondering, The lake gets it's name from Bracciano family who built the 15th century castle high on a hill. Sadly, we did not get to visit this vast relic from dukes and earls. 

At Sea

We are spending the next seven days at sea. There is no land between Madeira and Ft. Lauderdale. There is a lot of water however. The noon announcement said we were cruising along a 3300 mile "path" over 1700 feet of water. That's a lot of ocean!

The cruise director and her staff are finding ways to keep us busy. There are lectures (not nearly as good as our lectures were) and activities. I'm involved in 3 different trivia games, including one "progressive game" that is supposed to have a "big" prize for the team which accumulates the most points. Since trivia prizes are never big, we are wondering what this special treat will be! Of course there is entertainment every night from music to comedy shows to dance productions to magicians. And if that were not enough, there's always a batch of movies to watch on the big screen TV in our cabin or one of the other venues on the ship.

As usual we are eating more than we need to. The food is good and our wait staff are doing their best to keep us happy. We ask for a "little bit" and a "whole bunch" shows up. Tonight we made reservations to have a fancier dinner at the Crown Steak House. That will be tasty. 

There is a five hour difference between Madeira (our last stop) and Florida. We are falling back an hour most nights on the crossing. I have a travel clock that has pre-set time zones, but there's no setting for "somewhere in the Atlantic" (five times no less) so I have to manually adjust the clock. That's about the most difficult thing I'm doing every day. Life is good!

Fall Flowers

Fall is definitely in the air. It's just a bit cooler. The sun hits the earth at a different angle. Given that, the flowers are still blooming. I guess they will bloom until the first frost which has not happened yet. Take a look!

Venice -- Part II

We were docked in Venice for 3 days. When in Venice it's important to know that you will walk! First and foremost, there are no taxis to hail. You can hire a water taxi, but they seem to be difficult to find when you need one. Also, none are painted chrome yellow and say TAXI on their top.  You can take a gondola, but they are just for tourists and are just "rides" not a taxi per se

Once you figure out you need to walk everywhere, you need to realize this is not an easy town to navigate. The islands, canals, and bridges are somewhat confusing; there are few straight lines; and there are few signs. Unlike many European cities, the signs are not in English. Italian is necessary. This is a town where you need to go with a guide or a good map and sense of adventure. 

The view firm our cruising  loft was stunning. St. Mark's Square are the Doges Palace, without the crowds. There were even tiny gondolas in front of the Palace.

The beautiful old domes decorate one of the churches. In the old days, each island had its own church. With over a hundred islands, you can imagine all the domes. 

Then there are the bridges. The most famous is the Rialto bridge on the Grand Canal. I went under that bridge, but did not have a chance to take a picture of it. I did take pictures of bridges as we sailed out of town. There are too many to choose from. 

As you can see, Venice is huge! 

Nice

At a cafe in Nice. All is good. 

Venice

We sailed into Venice today. It's always wonderful to sail into Venice skirting places I have heard about my entire life...The Doges Palace--St. Mark's Square--the Bridge of Sighs--the Campanile--Murano--the Rialto Bridge...they are all here within a few miles of each other. It's a thrill!

As like the last time I was here, it was a gray, rainy day. No matter, when in Venice you need to explore. So some exploring was done, we took a Princess shuttle boat to the vaporetto station by the Doges Palace and bought a one hour pass. We sailed on the 4.1 line to Murano to look at some glass. It took 45 minutes to get to Murano, and by the time we got there, the glass blowing was done for the day. So I did some shopping instead (bought a beautiful glass necklace). Then back on another vaporetto (also a 4.1 line) but this time, it took a different route than before. We looked at the map and discovered we were now on the Grand Canal instead of the Giudecca canal and that we were not going anywhere near our shuttle stop. Since no one in our little group speaks Italian and there was no one to ask what to do, we stayed  on the vaporetto when we saw our big ship at the Cruiseport. We got off the vaporetto and discovered the ship was on one side of the canal and we were on the other and there was not a bridge to get across the river.

That's the thing about Venice...there are no streets, only canals, bridges and boats. There are over 100 islands, 400 bridges and lots more boats and right then we needed just one bridge or boat. After trying to get directions from locals, we learned we needed to get back on a vaporetto going the other direction and get off one stop down the line where there was a bridge and a monorail! We bought tickets for the monorail and that's how we crossed the river and made it back to our ship! We were told its important to get lost in Venice. Well, I don't think we were lost, because we could see the Royal Princess, but we did have a learning experience on how to find things. 

We discovered that the locals were pretty helpful, even when they did not speak English and we did not speak Italian. One teenage girl really tried to give us directions but she did not have enough English, but between hand language and smiles, she and I had a little conversation that pointed us in the right direction. Another woman gave use very good directions in Italian that we were able to parse through. Once on the monorail we met a fellow from New Zealand who was following a set of directions on his smartphone that were very helpful. We knew for sure, we were going the right way. We got off the monorail and walked back to the ship. We had had a good adventure. We had a good day. 

Royal Princess--A Symphony of Circles

As you know, we are cruising on the Royal Princess. She's in her inaugural or first season. She's "brand-spanking-new." Everything is shiny and clean. Every ship seems to have a theme, and Royal's theme is circles! (At least that is what it seems to me.) there are few straight lines on the ship. There are gentle curves everywhere you go. Royal is BIG, and the circles seem to make her smaller. By never traveling in a straight line, you are distracted by her size. The circles break up the space into more manageable "rooms" and this is good. 

The center piece  in the Grand Piazza is this wonderful motif, all circles and curves. These are her colors too...browns, beiges, honeys, caramels, coffees, with splashes of gold and lights to make her sparkle. There are 2 spiral staircase in the Grand Piazza. Both are killer climbs, but they are dramatic. 

The Grand Piazza is a great  place to watch folks, listen to music, eat, sip latte, or another drink. If you want to meet someone, this is the place. Two of my favorite people are here--cookie man and coffee man. 

Three stories above, this whimsical chandelier lights the night. The Grand Piazza is the place to congregate. On the second floor of this massive area are shops and Alfredo's pizzeria. The third floor has a few more shops and a bar called Crooners, where you can get "tee many martoonies." 

I'll post more about our ship as time goes on. Watch this space. 

Circle Symphony, continued

The circle theme continues in the  Concerto Dining Room on Deck 6. As you enter the room, the first thing you see us a wall of gold and silver balls. They look like ornaments, but are sturdier. They

Are set in front of a mirror and reflect a rainbow of light. Nearby is this glass 

Ceiling decoration that looks like a controlled explosion of light.  The chandelier below is far more subdued, but still has the circle theme. 

By now you are saying...of course everything is round...you are only depicting chandeliers and few chandeliers are square. That's true, but take a look at this. Granted it's a chandelier, but it is placed over a circular staircase that leads into the casino. 

I'll post more circles later.

Weather Gods

We were supposed to stop at Kusadasi this afternoon, but the weather gods had another plan. The winds were gusting to 35 mph and apparently that's too windy. There was a bit of chop to the water too. We've cruised a lot, and this is the first time we've "blown off" a "regular" port (we had blown off tender ports before).

Our next stop is Athens. While it's fun to plan a cruise, you cannot plan the weather. 

Weather Gods

We were supposed to stop at Kusadasi this afternoon, but the weather gods had another plan. The winds were gusting to 35 mph and apparently that's too windy. There was a bit of chop to the water too. We've cruised a lot, and this is the first time we've "blown off" a "regular" port (we had blown off tender ports before).

Our next stop is Athens. While it's fun to plan a cruise, you cannot plan the weather. 

Istanbul

Here are a few pictures from the Cruiseport in Istanbul. 

One of 4 mosques you can see from the Cruiseport. If we were in a Christian nation there might be four churches in the same amount of space.

We had a gray, rainy-ish day here, not conducive to pretty pictures. 

Mykonos

We are in Greece! We will be in Turkey tomorrow and then we will rerun to Greece. Today we are on a rocky, semi-barren island. Folks seem to love thus stark speck in the ocean, but I don't get it. It's not pretty (in the traditional sense) but it does have a dramatic setting in the blue, blue water of the Ionian Sea.

The tiny boxy homes crawl up the dry hillsides. Every so often a bright blue or red dome shines through the identical whiteness of the houses. 

People love it or leave it. We are the latter persuasion. Nevertheless, you have to see it to believe it. 

PS--my favorite island in this area is Santorini. Alas we won't stop there this voyage. 

 

Formal Night

This evening we had our first of 5 formal nights on the cruise. I'm always surprised as how well the pax clean up. All day long we were in grubby clothes, but tonight, we had suits and sequins. It was cool.

It was also our first sea day. That means no land in sight for more than 24 hours. We are cruising from Naples to Mykonos, which is a long run. We are traveling pretty fast too...about 21 knots per hour. For a big ship, that's just about "flat out." Royal Princess is a big ship and she's very stable on the water even though we are sailing at that fast clip. I seldom feel like we are moving but when I step on our balcony, I see we are moving, just not rocking and rolling. Maybe there is something to having more weight to feel stable. 

Driving the Amalfi Coast

Today we took a private tour along the Amalfi Coast starting at Naples. We saw lots of pretty scenery. We traveled some wiggly roads. I took some good pictures. We had a grand lunch at a neat restaurant...I think we must have scored a home run!

Naples sits at the head of a big bay not too far from Mt. Vesuvius and the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Given the fact that Mt.V. last exploded in 1935, it's a wonder that anyone lives close to the volcano, but I guess that does not bother Neapolitans as they've been living next to the volcano for 2 or 3 millennia. 

This morning the volcano was shrouded in clouds, but Mt.V. Is still mighty big! 

We drove down the coast on a narrow, bumpy road. Our driver said that signals were only suggestions in this part if Italy. According to Nicolo, a green light means "go," a yellow light means "go a little faster," and a red light means "speed." As we entered small towns along the way those revised signal rules seemed to be followed. 

We went through Tory Annunziata and Castellammare on our way to Sorrento. 

(one of the beach hotels in the Bay of Naples at Castellammare.)

(The main "drag" in Sorrento)

At Sorrento we drove thru a long tunnel, under a mountain, and meandered along the Mediterranean coast heading to Positano and Amalfi. We stopped at Conca Azzule for lunch. 

The color of the water is amazing. The coast line along the Bay of Naples is rugged, but the Med coastline is far more dramatic! Tiny houses built into the living rock at perched high above the water. I believe the people living here are part mountain goat, as there's no easy way to drive to these locations. 

But once they get to their destination, their view is stunning. 

Houses and churches and gardens are set into terraces, that creep up the hillsides. The towns are ancient. The tourists flock to these quaint towns to soak up the sunshine as well as the ambiance. We just wanted to see the natural beauty. 

We switch-backed our way Positano, thinking we had seen the narrow road before. Our driver said it had been used in a lot of movies. We could not identify a specific movie scene, but we could relate to the wonder of the setting. 

Finally we arrived in Amalfi. It was stunning but filled with lots and lots of tourists. 

I took a few pictures and then we left. Here old hotels are nestled into the rocky cliffs, while holiday goers are shopping for local ceramics or playing in the water. There was a lot of activity everywhere we looked. It was also time to leave as we needed to drive back to the ship before it left port. 

We took a wiggly route over the mountain instead of the wiggly route along the coast. 

All along the way we enjoyed beautiful blue skies, drop-dead gorgeous scenery, and balmy temps. We ended back in Napoli and went to our ship. 

I need to take a picture of all of the Royal Princess, as she's bigger than this picture shows. I'll try to

do that when we land next, in Mykonos, Greece.