Madeira Portugal and days at sea

Monday, April 18 – at sea

Day of rest. HAL Chorale practice and we were informed that we perform on Wednesday! Read, cleaned up the room to get ready to pack and worked.
Phantom of the Opera singer, Dale Kristien – fabulous voice; she sang with Michael Crawford for five years(!!!) in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

Tuesday, April 19 – our last port! Funchal Madeira Portugal

Madeira is an island belonging to Portugal – a 2+ hour flight from the mainland. Lovely steep cliffs, high green mountains, nice beaches and quaint villages and a comfortable size city for walking. Great port of call.

We were up early to see the most beautiful moon shining on the water on one side of the ship and on the other we had the sun rising over the mountains of Madeira. Gorgeous view. Blossomed in to a lovely morning with sunshine and 70 degrees, we hired a taxi for a tour of the western part of the island and the main city of Funchal. He was quite a character – every other word was “Momma” and “I tell you the truth” and he had the funniest characteristics, we could not tell if it was a show or if it was his true character. Anyway, he made the ride enjoyable and we had many smiles as we tried to hide our shaking bodies due to the laughter from his mannerisms!

We started out in the village of Monte, about 4 miles from Funchal, high in the hills. There was a beautiful small church at the top with a gorgeous golden baroque interior and the smell of “old age” and feeling of warmth. Charles I, of the Hapsburg Empire, is buried here. We then sat in the sled of wicker with two long runners on either side (two of us) and two men pushed and steered and pulled us down the streets of Monte for over 1.5 miles! It was quite fun but I was concerned about the gutters! There were about a foot deep on either side of the one way/one lane road but we never hit the edge – came close a few times but they know how to steer and judge the speed of the sleds. And then we came to an intersection; we were glad to see the cars had a STOP sign but what if they forgot to stop and we were whizzing past….?

Of course, they take your photo as you are zooming down and have it ready at the bottom – quite a good photo with our hair standing on end! And also big smiles!

We ventured to the 2nd highest sheer cliff in the world – to Cabo do Girao – and viewed the magnificent coastline. Many items for sale by Peruvians, which I have never understand – different continent and different language…

Next to the fishing village where Winston Churchill painted and saw the dried cod by the colorful fishing boats. There were hoards of German tourists (and others) and we heard that all the trips to Egypt had been canceled due to political unrest so Madeira was one of the destinations which won out when clients re-booked. Again there was a precious chapel with a wooden ceiling which had been painted over with the most beautiful scenes. We walked around Funchal, the largest city and through the supermarket, past the cafes and small shops and through the two story market with beautiful flowers and fresh fruits and souvenirs. Delicious Madeira wine was available for sample and sale.

Lovely port call and by the time we headed back to the ship, the clouds were rolling in over the mountains, which is typical in this region. We had special invites for the spa and spent a few hours there in the sauna and on the hot beds and Jacuzzi as we left our very last port of call. How sad.

Almost immediately we hit rough seas and people were jostling around and getting the green apples and crackers to settle their stomachs. Max Dolcelli was the comedian.

Wednesday, April 20 – at sea

Rock and rolling all night; quite rough; seas at about 16 feet. The bumps around the elevator shafts make you want to take the steps! By dinner time it had calmed down considerably, but many people were in their rooms for most of the day. Great guest speaker: Robert Lilwall. He will show us in four lectures about his three-year (!!) journey via bike from Siberia to London. He covered over 30,000 miles – “Cycling Home from Siberia” was published in 2011 in the USA. Haircut, guest talent show and HAL Chorale performed our medley of Rogers and Hammerstein. Suffice it to say our last rehearsals were just “OK” and nothing spectacular but when we got on stage and sang that medley, it was as if we were professionals. I was so touched that I cried and couldn’t even sing the last songs! It was an incredible sound coming from the Chorale and it was just like my band director from high school, Mr. Rehberg; everyone wanted to do their best for him and it showed. Bruce, the cruise director/director, was touched and he even had tears in his eyes.

Had a nice dinner in the Italian restaurant, Canaletto, with four others and then the Piano Bar, with Diane Fast playing her port songs. She has written words describing each port experience to songs. Tonight she sang 14 port songs and they are incredible. She returns to the ship by 3PM, writes the words for an hour and then performs them that night. Then the English singer, Kimika, performed, we were some friends and I worked. No internet connection as we are between the European and US internet connections. Weather is clearing up and the ship is sailing smoothly.

Thursday, April 21 – at sea

Attended the TV taping of “Good Morning Amsterdam” and I won a document holder! Mariner luncheon at 11:00 and we were given a Holland America tile. Walked, went to both shows of “The Scintas” brothers from Las Vegas – a real Las Vegas-style show with piano, impersonations, Dino, Frank, Elvis, Neil Diamond, Tom Jones, jokes…And the Piano bar pianist, Diane Fast, played her second night of port songs – fantastic! Packed one suitcase. Fed Ex is onboard to assist people in shipping and wrapping. The race is on.
The sea is beautiful. Expansive, blue, rolling. It is incredible to look out and see just water and more water. I love these days at sea.