Sunday, August 29, 2010

Traveling home

Woke up BCN time at 6:30AM for 10:00am flight. In Atlanta about to board plane 16 hours later.

Amazing how time goes by.

18hours and 20 minutes after my alarm clock went I am home.

I was chosen for extra security at the gate.

S for Special.  I was chosen "at random" to go through extra security at the Barcelona airport.  I along with four other white 45+ year old men were led into a back room and patted down. Our carry on luggage was re-x-rayed and everything was reexamined. 



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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Another great choice

Marques de Arienzo Crianza is made in a fresh and lively fruit-forward style showcasing deep cherry color with currant and vanilla spice flavors. An elegant layering of fruit, leather and American oak keeps the acidity in perfect balance.

Cafe con-leche bcn

Terminal A has great cafe.
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Friday, August 27, 2010

No restaurant for me

Out of no where an issue came up that was unrelated to any of my projects; so for 12hrs we troubleshot until it was realized to be an Oracle DB issue. Not a fan of DBAs.

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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Great wine - Ca'marcanda Promis 2007

Palo wine
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Palo

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This pic is from deck1 loading platform.

This is the bow of a tender along side us transferring guests to shore. I am standing next to a pallet of bottle water. I learned that the ship can only make fresh drinking water at cruising speeds. The long port days really reduce the potable water onboard. I have seen water trucks at each dock pumping water onboard. Trucked in water is to augment what the ship can make. We are at sea tomorrow so a full day to make water.



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Villefrance

One of the most beautiful ports ever. We tender, which means we have to board smaller boats to take us ashore. The mountains rise from the shoreline. There is a train which takes you south to Monaco or Nice. It is overcast now.

I had an upgrade last night until 3am and I was called at 8 that there were issues. Going to be long day.



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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Corsica




















The only port where you can walk under the bow!



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Corsica

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Corsica

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Citroen

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Citroen

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Defender pick-up

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Renault

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French cafe

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Map of You are here

My map location on 08-25-2010.

http://maps.BlackBerry.com?lat=41.92861&lon=8.74072&z=9&label=You+are+here



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Magic

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Corsica

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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

La Spezia

Staying onboard today.



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Monday, August 23, 2010

Civitavecchia

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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Kate and Tom Cruise were married in this Castle

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Caffeteria Medina

Jumped off the ship with an hour to go and ran tot he 1st cafe to get another handpressed espresso. It is the best here. Only problem is they are playing Lionel Richie music????



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Cycling onboard

Not your every day peddling view


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Sounds of Naples

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Relaxing at caffe Plebiscito

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Senior beach

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Residential Alley

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Small alley in Napoli

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Street cafe @ Piazza Trieste E Trento

Missing my family when I saw this place. We ate here in 2007.



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Galleria Umberto I

Sunday here so the streets and shops are quiet.



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Napoli

The team took a hydro to the island of Capri. I decided to pass. I need to get some exercise in at the gym so I am going to do a quick walkabout this morning around Naples and head back to ship.



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Saturday, August 21, 2010

Website that tracks cruise ships

Until the 28th of August this website can be used to track my location. 

Sample picture

Camels and Falcons were present for the docking of the DIsney Magic in Tunisia


Guests were given the opportunity for photos with Camels and Falcons as they exited the ship.  I stayed my distance, but kids would go right up and pet their noses with no issues.

Local Rugs being sold

Local Tunisian weaving a rug

Cooling off at a cafe with a fruit drink


The heat was on, while it was just in the 90s it was really different type of heat. The sun was intense. Locals Muslims wear head to toe clothing. They must be born without sweat glands.  Cab had no air conditioning. For some reason this area is known for their fruit.If you look at a Satellite image everything seems like parched desert.  Our cab driver talked us into stopping at a cafe where we wrote out postcards and ordered a Strawberry/ Banana smoothie.  I also ordered bottle water as we were advised to not drink the local water. Our drinks had an ice cube. So far we are all fine. 

We got brave and ventured down a local street outside of Medina


We got brave and ventured down a street which looked full of shops.  This was definitely where the locals shopped.The spice shops emitted strong smells that quickly seared your senses.  There was everything from electronics, home appliances, clothes and food. Very little was in English and Arabic was unreadable by any of us.  This culture has a HEAVY French influence and many people speak French.  There were times when it felt like we were in a James Bond movie with shady characters eying us and you never knew what would happen around the next vehicle we had to walk around.  I will for the record say not once did we feel unsafe or were approached by anyone that might do us harm.  Our cab driver who waited for us was very nice and did his best to accommodate us even with a heavy language barrier.

Local shopping district outside of Medina

The end of the main shopping alley in Medina

Medina market


Leather goods, metal work, Arabian clothing, trinkets and novelties were all being sold in the market in Medina. Definitely  a tourist area. 

Entering the Medina shopping area


It was a intense hot day.  The crowds were shoulder to shoulder.  The onboard staff warned us that Tunisians are very vocal and they barter for their wares.  We only had time to go down the main corridor and did not do any side alleys.  To me the only interesting items were the antiquity shops but unless you plan on decorating in an Arabian theme there is not mush use for their stuff. There were not as many rug dealers as expected but there were fabric shops with bolts of cloth.  Great experience but not sure I would do it again.  

Tunisia

The medina is found at the centre of the city of Tunis: a dense agglomeration of alleys and covered passages, full of intense scents and colours, boisterous and active trade, a surfeit of goods on offer ranging from leather to plastic, tin to the finest filigree, tourist souvenirs to the works of tiny crafts shops. --stole from wikiP

Friday, August 20, 2010

Murphy's Irish stout @ Diversions

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The Port from ship in Malta


My phone camera was on medium resolution; this was an interesting sight. It is very evident the Sea has always placed an important role in the development of the city.  Many large structures are built on the water line.  The ships in this picture are some of the largest Tug Boats I have seen. They are exceptionally long so I would guess they are Ocean going and are not used to push ships around the port. 

Flower cart

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Malta

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Malta merchant st

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Malta

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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Map of Where I Am

This is my current location at midnight on the 19th. Heading to Malta.
.Click on link, sorry it is not interactive.


http://maps.BlackBerry.com?lat=36.81935&lon=12.46436&z=11&label=Where+I+Am



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Roomservice for dinner

You will not find this kind of roomservice in the Caribbean.



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