Unfortunately Brian & I received parting gifts from the
ship that included stuffy noses, coughs and achy bodies. We have both recovered (except for a cough I
will keep all winter, most likely) & somehow managed NOT to give it to Jess
in Florida - but this is the first day I have felt like writing to catch up on
the blog and finish the trip.
We arrived in Cartagena, Columbia Tuesday about an hour early
& our gang of six met up with our tour guide as soon as we could get off
the ship.
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Boys on a bench waiting to get off ship
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| The gang depart for tour |
This was a great advantage, as
we were about an hour ahead of HAL tours and didn't have to fight the crowds. She took us to the highest point in Cartagena
where there was an old monastery and the view was amazing.
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| B & G with Cartagena view |
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| The gang pose in front of Cartagena |
From there we drove back down the hill to the
Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
& then into the
old city. We walked about 2 miles
throughout the town with its colorful buildings and great balconies – it was
very enjoyable and again, not crowded because we were ahead of the other
tours. The city reminded me of Cadiz,
Spain because of the narrow streets and intriguing sightlines.
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| B does his 2 miles through Cartagena streets - just cause you beeped you can't stop walking! |
We entered a museum (ugh! –lol!) but the
courtyard was a tropical paradise, with trees, a cat and even a parrot.
We saw the marketplace and told our guide we
wanted shopping – so we ended up at an emerald shop for our “free” drink. Susan bought emeralds but the rest of us
bailed and did a walk around the shops – more jewelry stores! LOL!
We requested to go to a souvenir market area and she took us to an
outdoor market, but there was an emerald factory next door. She must have been getting a kickback – lol! Anna found a few dresses in the market and I
bought some Columbian coffee and we returned to the ship. We drove along the coastline & by the
beach area before arriving back to the Zuiderdam.
At the port was a small menagerie of
animals including flamingos and parrots.
Also a small shop with Columbian items so I managed to do a bit of
damage to my credit card… Overall, I
enjoyed Cartagena immensely & thanks to Greg for setting up a great tour –
even if the lady talked on & on…lol!
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| Greg gets his name on the van! LOL! |
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| Boys on a bench |
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| More boys on a bench! |
We had a sea day next.
Our last Olympic event was bean bag toss or baggo. I played last so knew what my score had to
be, but choked and could not make a holer – I ended up second place in the
Olympics because Chrissy from Australia beat me by 10 points! Brian got beat out by the youngster on the
ship & ended up in fourth place overall…
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| Me with my 2nd place certificate, Joel and the rest of the winners. |
I didn’t win at poker that day, but Susan did and I ended up a winner at
blackjack so overall did ok in the casino.
B says he lost money but washed a lot of bills and has been offered
another “free” cruise already on Carnival.
My trivia team, V2FL (Vancouver to Florida) was leading
the pack of 28 teams by 2 points. We
knew we had to beat out the Barflies in order to win the whole shebang. At the last trivia event we tied with 2 other
teams, (neither of which was the Barflies) and had to answer a tie-breaker
question. We knew we had the cumulative
trivia in the bag, but it was sweet success to guess the closest number and WIN
the last trivia activity! We won another
bottle of champagne and really nice suitcases.
We all managed to pack the suitcase and I took the champagne for Jess.
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Eric, Lois, Rich, Dave the Cruise Director, Erica, Greg & Me - the Winning Team!
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The last formal night the gang of 6 got together one last
time and enjoyed dinner together. We had
an odd thing happen at dinner: the
waiter told us only one lobster per person, but after he had taken our
orders. He was reluctant to tell us this
and had no explanation… As only 3 of us
had ordered 2 lobsters & the others had ordered none, we just told him to
bring us lobster for everybody! We
solved our own problem, but this was the first time we have ever been denied
food…
We found out later that 2nd
seating folks had as many lobsters as they wanted…strange… That night was the Black & White Ball – a
chance to meet and dance with the ship’s officers for fun and prizes. I danced with the Event Manager and won a
free drink, a cookbook (which I gave to Susan) and a day pass to the spa –
which Brian enjoyed. It was a great
party & Greg, Anna, Susan & I danced most of the evening until midnight
or so… Brian & Dusty were party
poopers – lol!
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| Greg & Anna are dancing fools |
It took us awhile to go through customs in Florida and
get our rental car but we were finally on the road to Winter Park about
1pm. I slept most of the way & we
arrived at our hotel about 5pm. Jess had
a class but got out early so we went to dinner at Perkins, basically a Denny’s. Food was ok and we enjoyed catching up with
Jess. Saturday he did school work and
then we joined him for a movie – The Mazerunner. I liked it but Brian said I could not choose
a movie again right away…lol! So Jess
chose the movie for the next day – The Book of Life. The animation was well done and I have a
better understanding of The Day of the Dead celebration, but Jess does not get
to choose a movie either! LOL! That evening Brian returned to the hotel and
I went with Jess to a LAN party – a viewing of League of Legends video game
world cup! It was interesting and I
enjoyed meeting Jess’ friends AND I won the best door prize: a $10 Legends gift
card, which I gave to Jess… Remember, it
is not the prize that matters, it is the winning that counts!! LOL!
Monday Brian drove to Hardee county, zip tripping along
the way. He met up with about 6 Georgers
for a mini-gathering lunch – it was a long day for him, but he enjoyed it. He says he still doesn’t have a hit in
Hardee! Lol!
I went to Jess’ and we went to Wal-Mart so he could
grocery shop on my dime – ha! When we
returned to his place I played Mom and did 3 loads of laundry for him (as he
had not done his wash for 6 weeks) and cooked him a casserole… I know – I’m a sucker, but when you love your
kid…
Tuesday we returned to Jess’s – I did more laundry, lol!
Brian and Jess made ginger snap cookies.
By this time we were both feeling better and I was hungry as I had not
eaten the last couple of days. Jess
wanted to go out for Italian to a new restaurant he wanted to try – they had
early bird dining until 630pm. I had
been pretty good on the ship dietwise, but when they brought a freshly made
loaf of French bread to the table, I ate it and enjoyed it as did J &
B. The dinner special included soup or
salad, drinks and pasta. It was all
pretty good and Jess packed up enough leftovers for 2 more meals AND he got
another loaf of bread. The very cute
waitress described how to heat it but Dad suggested Jess go back in and tell
her he needed better directions and could she come to his place & help him heat it… LOL!
It was an enjoyable visit with Jess & he shouldn’t
bitch too much about us invading his space: he got free meals, 2 movies, groceries, clean
clothes and 4 dozen cookies out of the deal and NO flu – yeah! We got undivided attention, hugs and kisses –
I think it was a fair trade.
I have unpacked all the suitcases and put them away. I still have my own laundry to finish up and
pick up the tuxedo from the dry cleaners so it is ready for the next trip. We have no plans YET for another cruise but a
small trip to Vegas is planned for February & back to Winter Park in May for Jess’s graduation. I hope you have
enjoyed our trip virtually as much as we enjoyed it in reality. Safe travels and long journeys, GB
