I think the photos will speak for themselves!!!! Suffice it to say there are no more slimy polliwogs aboard the Sojourn! Everyone has bowed down to Neptune and “kissed the fish”! It starts out well enough, but oh what comes later!

I am posting a series of photos from Bill’s camera that I had not previously uploaded. His photos are date stamped so if you are curious and industrious you can search through previous blogs and figure out where the photos were taken. Enjoy!

We’ve had a lovely, if super hot, day in Recife.

It really is a tale of two cities. There is a large, very modern business area ( with some high end residential towers) and the quaint colonial town of Olinda – just six miles from downtown. There are 22 churches in Recife with most of them being several hundred years old.

We toured Olinda first, once we got by the 5,000 participants bike race! Quite a traffic jam!
Olinda is a very picturesque old colonial town, with lots of beautiful old churches and colonial architecture buildings all painted in their pink, purple, green hues– a veritable collage of colors! It was so hot, I must confess we limited our walking and did more viewing in the air conditioned van! Our guide was very nice, but his English skills were not quite as good as some of our other guides so there was a little less talking and minimum historical facts presented. Still, all in all, a fun tour with some great photo stops!

Sugar cane and tourism seem to be the biggest industries. However, I’m not sure we got the whole story. The modern part of Recife is in a building boom — it is slightly similar to all the building boom we saw in Dubai and most are very modern high rises ! What has caused this “boom” I’m not sure. Our guide did tell us there was another MAJOR commercial shipping port outside of town (not where we are docked) that employs 300,000 people. Maybe that explains it, but I’m not totally convinced.

We drove by the beach and was it PACKED! It’s a Sunday afternoon and there is only one beach and that’s where everyone goes! However, few people are in the water — and none outside the nearby reef because they have a shark problem. Several people have been attacked and it has pretty much shut down all of the surfers because it is so dangerous.

I am posting photos of Olinda ( the colonial, Unesco World Heritage Site) and of the city of Recife.. There are some photos of Carnival costumes and of an old prison that has been converted to a market.

We saw several hundred men in red jumpsuits cleaning up parts of the city.. The guide tells us it’s because the Mayor is running for re-election and so he is trying to clean up the city to win votes!

Tomorrow we have a half day in Natal. I will try and post from there.

Since I left off my last post with a promise of information on Vitoria , I will start there.

I have VERY little to say about Vitoria because we ended up not getting off the ship. The ship’s tours had not sounded too exciting so we did not sign up for any of them. We thought we’d be able to get off and just walk around on our own. However, where we docked was a huge very commercial area– not a charming seaside town you could stroll through. It was very hot (90′) and although it never did rain, it looked like it was going to do so at any minute. There didn’t look to be anything nice to walk to and we didn’t want to do a taxi. So, we spent a relaxing day on board.

Our next stop was Salvador in the state of Bahia. It was a great city– an upper and lower city with lots of colorful “colonial” buildings. We had an absolutely wonderful guide named Gabriela. She had the perfect amount of information and history without being boring. We saw the most famous churches and cathedrals —(photos below). We went to the best ice cream store in the city (lunch) and walked the beautiful beaches.

We drove to the historical upper city and then got out and walked down to the bottom. The churches were gorgeous — in particular the Franciscan church.. We drove by the new 75,000 seat soccer stadium which will be open next month. They are hosting the Federation Cup in June.

The beaches are lovely. It is quite amazing though, to see lovely residential buildings and right next door are “slums”. Actually, they call them “invasions”.. They are land owned by the government that poor people have “invaded” and built homes on. The government doesn’t want to displace them because they have no place to relocate the families. Thus, the “invasions” are everywhere– including right next door to say, the private Yacht Club” —- ( a source of great annoyance were told!)

After we came back to the ship, there was a local Brazilian dance troop that came aboard to do a show. They were a lot of fun to watch.

Salvador has a high percentage of black people due to the huge slave trade here for the sugar cane and coffee plantations. They were freed in a revolution in the 1880’s but there is a STRONG African influence in the city…One of the photos below will be of the very elaborate interior of the Franciscan church. It was the only church that allowed black people inside. They had to enter through a separate door in the back and they were under a balcony where the wealthy could not see them. That area was very plain with none of the elaborate decoration that the rest of the church has. It seems America was not the only country that had these issues.

The last photo will be of “Pedro”— we discovered him in our suite last night. His wife, Rosalinda, was next door on Duffy’s bed! We were assured in a note that they were vegetarians!

We got a bit of an earlier start today and ended up with a new guide —super nice young man named Ricardo. He lived for a year in The US, splitting time between Aspen and San Diego. He really filled us in on a lot of history as we drove through the streets on our way to Sugar Loaf and the Beaches.

Last night we had a magnificent light show followed by a deluge!! We wondered why there was no line for the Sugar Loaf Tram when we pulled up. Turns out the storm last night did damage which they were working to repair so the Tram was closed. At first we were really bummed. …..But then we got lucky! They opened the tram to the first hill on the way to the top of Sugar Loaf so we got our tickets and got on board! Halfway up is a beautiful view, bit it still wasn’t the top of the famed Sugar Loaf! But then we got lucky again! Just as we were about to give up and go down, they opened the next section which would take us to the top of Sugar Loaf! Hurrah!!!

We made it to the top and the views are spectacular. It’s like looking down on a giant map where you see the whole (or most of it) of Rio and its beautiful and famous beaches! As a bonus, because of the closures there were very few people at the top. We did have one small hiccup. Our guide had turned in the vouchers for our tickets to the top of Sugar Loaf and didn’t realize they only gave him tickets for the first half of the tram, BUT NOT a ticket to the top! When he discovered what had happened he went to get them to give him the other half ticket but they wanted another voucher which he didn’t have. It was resolved with my credit card for another round trip to the top ticket. The young man will turn the receipt into his company and they will refund me the money… So it was only a slight delay.

I managed to do a little souvenir shopping for important friends and family and then we were off to drive by the famous beaches of Ipanema and Copocobana! Even on a Monday with school already back in session for the winter season, the beaches were lined with umbrellas and beach goers in the morning… Later in the afternoon, the confetti colored umbrellas were 6 lines deep on the same beaches. We saw a few surfers and several hang gliders. The hang gliders have the perfect mountain to jump from and a beautiful, wide and unoccupied section of beach to land on!

We are safely back aboard our “home” and set to sail at 7:30 pm. We are the only ship left in port! Tomorrows stop is Armacao Dos Buzios! ( I know… I’ve never heard of it either!). I will fill you in tomorrow night on the sights and sounds of Buzios!!!

PS. There are a few photos of a Carnival show the ship had last night with a local dance company!

PPS. The old yellow cable car photo is the same cable car my parents went to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain about 60 years ago!

Hello from Montevideo !! What an absolutely gorgeous day!!! We sailed last night from Buenos Aires, and although we sailed 3 hours late (fuel barge showed up 3 hours late) it was no big deal since it is such a short distance across the Platte River to Montevideo. In fact, ferry boats make the crossing in an hour so it sort of boggles the mind as to how we could sail slowly enough to not arrive until 7:00am this morning!

We had our driver and guide meet us at 10:00 am this morning for a half day tour of the city. Since we were here only a year ago, our guide did a good job of showing us a few new things and refreshing our memories for facts we’d forgotten! This afternoon the ship had a local Tango dance company come aboard for a show. I went to the show and Bill went to tea! (Scones are hard to resist, but he did go to the gym right after tea!). Duffy didn’t answer her door so I thought maybe she was snoozing and went on to the show myself! Little did I know that she came down all on her own and was sitting in the back. She didn’t see me. The upshot was that we both enjoyed the show and Bill loved his scones and working out!! A happy day for all of us!! We’re at sea the next two days so probably not much news until after our first day in Rio!! Back with everyone then!

Well, here we are lazily and fully adjusted to “island life and time”! What a way to go! After a short boat ride from Union Island (accessed by a very small plane from Barbados), we have comfortably settled into our home for the week — in Sea Feather Villa. Some of the photos I’m posting are views out our back door where the ocean is literally ten steps away from the porch. Our side of the small island is very windy(good because it keeps you cool and it blows away any biting bugs!). The other side (short walk or golf cart ride) is much calmer waters and probably the better place to swim and snorkel. But for sheer beauty and reading a book, you can’t beat our back porch. Our fridge is filled with beer, wine, water and sodas– all the staples!!!

We ventured over on the courtesy boat to Union Island to see about shopping. Hmmm. While interesting to look around, it is not a shopping place. But it was fun to see the few craft shops they had.

Pat and Nelson are biking and hiking everywhere. So far, no iguanas have scared her!!! It’s a fairly small island, so you can’t really get lost!! The food is plentiful and free — along with alcoholic beverages. The local beer, Hairoun, is quite good I’m told! Staff is very friendly and very helpful. The island does seem to lose electricity during the night. Though they haven’t said, I think they shut the generator off for a few hours! We do have direct tv in the bedrooms in the villa. Well, we’re all off to lunch and to swim on the other side. More later in the week if there’s anything to report !!!

Well, my Christmas surprise worked great! No one had any idea we were coming to the Rose Bowl Parade and football game until they were presented their rose ( had large name tags made that invited them to attend the 2013 Parade and football game in Pasadena) attached to the roses! And, so here we are in sunny (but not warm) Pasadena having an awesome time.

Yesterday was an early reveille with breakfast at 5:30 am! Then we were off to an amazing day of viewing! First stop was to see the Tournament of Roses antique parade cars which will be carrying officials. By the way, this years parade theme is: “Oh The Places You’ll Go” from the Dr. Seuss book! What a perfect motto for our family!!! We are having such fun going places — and the things we’ve seen– and the friends we’ve made!!!

We were lucky enough to go behind the scenes of two different float builders. Let me tell you, you have a whole different view and appreciation of the parade after doing this viewing!! It just isn’t like seeing it on tv. There are thousands of volunteers who work around the clock in very cold conditions to get their floats ready for judging. There’re giant meat grinders used to grind different colored seeds and spices to achieve just the right colors. The only rule is that all material that goes on the float must have been living at some point.

I purchased several water vials and wrote friends names on them. They will hold a rose on the Cal Poly float –Tuxedo Air. It’s theme is from the movie Madagascar — teaching penguins to fly! It’s a cute float!! Look for it. It is toward the end of the parade. It will be after The City of Hope float- the Journey to Cure. For those of you who know folks in South Dakota, the Sioux Falls Lincoln Patriot marching band will be right after the City of Los Angeles float. ( we have friends whose daughter is marching in that band!)

We also viewed the Fiesta float maker area. They are making several floats. It’s an amazing production! We even met the “hero” dog who will be on a float dedicated to military service dogs. .This dog went on 200 missions in Afghanistan and never lost a soldier. Then he lost his front leg to an Explosive device and so has been retired. He’s a beautiful dog.

After all that, we were off to Band Fest! It was a sample of 6 bands that will be in the parade. We were lucky enough to even see our friends from South Dakota since their daughters band was performing at our session. One of the bands had 400 students and did an amazing job. They were from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. They had to raise over $400,000 to attend. The last band to perform was the Marine Corp Band! Well, what can I say except that they were spectacular! Not a dry eye in the house!!

After our KickOff luncheon with the football teams, I think we’re going to the movies– Parental Guidance. We have to be at breakfast at 5:00am tomorrow so no late night watching the New Years Clock. More information and photos later!! Off to football lunch!! Happy New Year everyone!

Wow! You think your speeding down the track so fast — and then, you’re going even faster!!! When you go around the turns you are pulling 5 G’s! It is quite intense! I rode the 2nd position which is the easiest. Bill was next in the third seat with a wonderfully nice Aussie gentleman riding shotgun— the most intense seat of all!!!

This is the actual Olympic track. They are still using it for training! Last week they had trials for World Cup with teams in from all over the world doing time trials. It lasts ( for us amateurs) about 50 seconds and you hit speeds of 80 mph! They give you instructions to hunch your shoulders ( do a turtle with your neck and shoulders) so you don’t “bobble head”! Once the sled starts you can’t move the G’s are too intense. You brace yourself with your forearms against the side of the sled while holding on to a cable for dear life! It’s a lot of fun, but you need to follow instructions, sit up super straight ( so its not so hard on your spine) and do the “turtle” with your neck and shoulders. You may be a little sore afterwards, but you can say you did the Olympic Bobsled run and that’s a feat!! We continue to get a lot of snow today– probably about 6″ at our hotel! The Christmas lights in this resort town are some kind of spectacular!!