June 29, 2015- Depot-Ventes, Walk Through the Bois de Boulogne, Notre Dame, Ile Saint-Louis

A Cold Induced Sleep-in Again, We Have Breakfast at Home, We Visit some Depot-Ventes in Search of a Unique French Souvenir, A Gross Take on a New York Bakery, Going Natural in the Bois de Boulogne, The Walk Becomes a Really, Really Long Walk, We Fail to See Sainte-Chapelle, We Visit Notre Dame Cathedral, We Explore Ile Saint-Louis, We Return Home to Have Bill's Well Cooked Eggs Again for Dinner, We Sleep Like the Dead After We Have Traversed Much of Paris in One Day

April was forced to sleep a little longer this morning again due to her awful summer cold. There is truly no cold like a summer cold. We ate breakfast at home feeling lucky every day for the baguette, croissants, and the pain of chocolat that we would share. April contemplated what it would be like to live without this again when we returned home, but Bill reminded her to just stay in the present moment and enjoy the vacation.

We started out by taking the metro to the 1st arrondissement to look at a couple of Depot-Ventes, but they wanted thousands of dollars for used clothes and handbags, so we left and walked into the neighbouring area, where we failed to find a second Depot-Vente that was listed online.

We stopped for lunch at a truly gross French take on a New York bakery. We didn't exactly know this was the theme of the restaurant, being lured in by hunger, a lack of other restaurants around, and the offer of burger and fries. It all sounded good to us until we discovered that the burgers were on bagels and had weird things like guacamole with cream cheese dripping out of them. It was like when you order something foreign in Canada or the U.S. and the restaurateur has never been to that place and just imagines what their food might taste like based on pictures they've seen and stuff they've heard about it. But seriously, guacamole with cream cheese? No!

We cut our losses and took a metro to the Bois de Boulogne. We walked through the vast park, ate our watermelon quarter, that we had picked up at a fruit stand on the way there, like wild animals on a park bench, became lost more than once, failed to find the one public restroom on the map, used the bushes like true Canadians, walked more, stumbled onto the one public restroom, ran into a weird collection of vans and people in a hidden corner who looked like they were up to something tawdry, hastened away from them, wandered more, and eventually came out the other end by the river, overlooking La Defense. The modern high rises in the business district of La Defense are in sharp contrast to the old low buildings of the core of Paris and it was neat to look across the river at them.

We stopped by a cafe and had a cool drink and then caught the metro to Ile de la Cite where Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle churches are. We wanted to see both. Sainte-Chapelle closed while we were waiting in line, so we joined the lineup for Notre Dame (the Paris Museum Pass does not get you priority in either of these venues and you have to wait with everyone else). We did get into Notre Dame and marvelled at the stained glass windows and beautiful soaring ceilings. We also enjoyed the gargoyles on the outside of the church. Why don't we add gargoyles to our buildings nowadays? Everything around our neighbourhood in Victoria is so boring. It would certainly be more interesting with a gargoyle or two (neighbours don't count). We were too exhausted from our very very hot and dusty walk through the Bois de Boulogne to walk up to the bell tower of Notre Dame to take in the view of Paris.

Instead of old fashioned stair climber cardio, we walked across the bridge to the neighbouring Ile Saint-Louis. We tried a pastille at a candy shop that had been around longer than Canada, walked the island one end to the other (not impressive, it's very small unlike the island we live on at home), and then ordered an ice cream at a local shop (Ile Saint-Louis is sworn by many to have the best ice cream in Paris). It was very good ice cream, but it was impossible to say if it was better than other ice cream we had tasted in Paris and we were too tired to debate the issue.

We took the metro home. Despite having taken the metro four times today, we walked 20.06 km and were absolutely exhausted when we reached home, so we had eggs at home for dinner and peaches from Spain (even Bill admits that they were very delicious, but won't say they were better than Okanagan peaches). By some strange magic, Bill managed to cook the eggs again, there were no raw parts and they weren't cooked to hell either. Maybe some people just don't possess the spell necessary to cook eggs . . .

Beautiful wildflowers in the Bois de Boulogne

A ravenous animal in the distance devours a watermelon

La Defense, business district

Notre Dame

A Costa cruise customer captured for eternity on the side of Notre Dame

Bill leads the way

Ile Saint-Louis is pretty much the most prestigious place to live in Paris

June 21, 2015- Valencia, Spain

Costa Food Poisoning, a Day Spent Partially in Bed for April, a Tour of the Ship's Kitchen for Bill, Exploring Valencia, Spain on Foot, A Bizarre Attempt at an Apology by Costa, Another Boring, Mediocre Room Service Dinner

April had a very bad sleep last night. Her intestinal issues were getting worse and worse, so we determined that it was indeed severe food poisoning (based on previous experience). This is not surprising given the pink chicken incident the day before and how off her fish at dinner had tasted a few days earlier. We determined that she had to have contracted the food borne bacterial infection on the Costa Magica because whenever we were off the boat, Bill and April ate the exact same meals, however, when they were onboard the Costa Magica, they often chose different meals with different sorts of proteins and ingredients and Bill was not experiencing any symptoms at all and clearly was in perfect health as April had been prior to boarding the Costa Magica. She began a course of Ciprofloxacin antibiotics which she fortunately had brought with her just in case. She had trouble regulating her temperature due to her fever. It was an absolutely miserable experience to have on a long awaited vacation.

We were to both go on a tour of the galleys today. This tour was for Costa Gold members, but our English hostess onboard, Nuria, thought we might be interested in learning more about the ship (we think this was like a consolation prize for all of the problems that we had on the cruise). Unfortunately, April was just too ill to go. She couldn’t even eat any breakfast that we ordered in, except for a small orange juice. Out of academic interest, Bill did go.

He thought the tour was interesting, but mildly disappointing. The tour was only of the kitchen for the main restaurants and it did not include a tour of the store rooms. Bill was really looking forward to seeing the storage room to see if he could find the can of Chef Boyardee ravioli that he was fed two nights ago on Sicilian night. However Nuria did indicate that she would check with the executive chef to find out if he could provide the name of the brand.

The kitchen itself was set up like a large industrial kitchen with many different stations. Things seemed to be in order, although it was said it would be impossible to have more fresh food onboard because everything had to be frozen. Strange, because we stopped at a port every day or two where fresh supplies could have been easily procured.

Also of interest, was that Costa is trying to bring back haute Italian cuisine. Each night of the cruise features a menu that highlights a different part of Italy. Although this is odd to us, given that we have been visiting some ports that could have highlighted amazing fare (think couscous for Morocco, or some sort of amazing fish dish for Portugal or Cadiz, or an orange dessert for Valencia), this seems to be the strategy that Costa is acting on. It must be that their market research and focus groups have indicated that when Italians travel abroad, they want to have meals that make them think of home. Given the large number of Italians onboard (it appears to be at least 80%, if not 90%) this would suggest that Costa is trying to sell to their base. This is in stark contrast to the way in which we travel, where we want to have a taste of food from our destinations (as suggested above). All of that said, Bill figures that the little old Italian ladies at the Columbo Hall in Kamloops would be shocked at what was being served here on this Costa cruise.

Bill had a good chat with Nuria after the tour and he felt that she really understands what good customer service is and the need for a ship, a crew, and a kitchen too keep fresh with new ideas.

Bill returned to the cabin where April was still sleeping soundly. We rested until lunch time.

We arrived in port at 2:00 PM and we disembarked the ship. At the cruise ship terminal there was a tourist information booth. There were two lines, 10 feet apart, indicating a “line up” area. This resulting in a large mass of people elbowing each other to get to the counter. We decided a map would be worth the hassle and waded into the chaos and bedlam.

You would have though there was a run on the banks and this was branch office as it resembled a scene from October of 1929. There was tapping of little fingers on our neck, arms, and hands. People’s heads were at arm level where they breathed heavily on our arms. Italians who budged in front of us yelled at us in Italian as we jockeyed for position now behind them. People were reaching over other people to grab maps before their turn, and shouting at agents in various languages even when they were several places behind the person being served at the counter. It was shocking to us and the Australian who was beside us in the throng. Bill employed good body position that he learned while taking Eskrima to stay planted and eventually made it to the front of the line, much to the chagrin of the Italians around us who were still trying to elbow and edge in and shouting over us at the agent.

After obtaining a map, and determining the best way to get downtown, we ventured forth into Valencia. We decided to walk into town to get a good sense for the city and its lay out since the city buses were too packed with the people we had just experienced at such close quarters in that "line up."

We took refuge from the heat and humidity in a cool bar where April switched back to Spanish and ordered a couple of Coca Colas and some ice cream. The bar served olives and salted peanuts, tapas style.

Valencia drained and diverted its main river some time ago and in place of its old river bed is a lovely park. We strolled through it, obtaining free WI-FI and sending a few emails outside the music hall. We then wandered into town and got lost exploring its streets. It is a modern and clean city and it felt abandoned as it was a Sunday and many stores were closed.

April fared extremely well given how awful she was feeling. The sleep-in and of course mostly the antibiotics helped  and she has stated to pick-up (so it was indeed severe food poisoning causing her intestinal agony as we had suspected). We took things easy, looked around some tourist shops, found a cool drink and more free WI-FI at McDonald’s, and then boarded a city bus back to the ship.

We found in our room an attempt by Guest Services to make us feel happier about the many failings of our Costa experience including the disappearance of our excursion to Monaco. We were provided with the line-up of Costa toiletries (very heavily perfumed and unusable to us),flimsy slippers, bathrobes (although when April called before our departure, we were told there were no bathrobes available onboard the ship), a fruit bowl, seafood canapés, and a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine. As we don’t drink, and the canapés were sitting out for 5 hours without ice or refrigeration (we glimpsed them when we picked up Bill's wallet from the room prior to disembarking in Valencia), it was off putting, especially since April has been suffering from food poisoning and tepid seafood isn’t exactly FoodSafe. Bill went up and returned the sketchy canapés and the booze to Guest Services. While the effort is appreciated, it is perplexing why they have only begun to try and make amends to us 8 days into an 11 night cruise. It’s too little, too late.

As April has been feeling ill, we opted not to go to the dining room this evening for another mediocre meal that takes two hours, ordered room service (as usual the chicken Cesar salad, tuna sandwich for April, beef sandwich for Bill, and fruit salad for dessert since the "cake of the day" was still dried out sponge cake with no icing or cream or anything as it had been every day since the beginning of the cruise), and chose to get to bed early.

11.02 km walked today.

There are oranges in the trees all over the place in Valencia.

Bill found PwC in Valencia.

Seriously, why can't we put dragons on buildings in Canada?

This is our room on the Costa Magica.

Bathroom in our room.

Seafood canapes that have been sitting out for 5 hours...that's FoodSafe. Thanks Costa Magica!

June 20, 2015- At Sea Again

At Sea Day, Time +1 hour,  Lisbon to Valencia, Breakfast in room,  Lie on deck in sun (and wind), Lunch at buffet with a pink chick thigh, Lie in sun and wind, Pass through Strait of Gibraltar at approximately 1:00 PM, Sauna and steam room, Nap,  Meet with Guest Services Manage,  Write blog, Dinner at 9:30 PM

Time moved ahead by one hour early in the morning. Today started with a sleep in. Breakfast was delivered to the room at 9:30 AM. We went up to the pool to get deck chairs only to find that there were earlier birds than us who had reserved all the seats around the pool and in the decks closest to the pool (against cruise policy again). We were again relegated to the upper and windy decks. This was just as well, because it was very loud near the pool. They were having loud dance classes, quiz games, and causing tons of racket. It was truly annoying to try and relax in the sun with the constant din around us. It wasn’t just the music. It was the fact that some fellow on a microphone kept yelling over the music the whole time in Italian.

We left stuff on our chairs to reserve them, against cruise ship policy, but since no one was enforcing this rule on others, we did it anyway, and went for lunch at the buffet. The food was lackluster and generally gross as usual. Bill tried to send pink, undercooked chicken back, but the bus boy/waiter, was too afraid to “insult the chef” and refused to. A supervisor did come to visit, but he said “that’s the way we cook the chicken here” and walked off without us being able to give any response. Thanks again, Costa Cruises! We ate virtually nothing and left, although our appetite was erased by the experience.

April walked back to the pool to see an enthusiastic dance session taking place to "Gangham Style" and tried to relax in the sun, while Bill reported the events of lunch to the kind English hostess, Nuria. We tried to relax in the sun, but it was very cold and windy so we went to the spa/gym, to sit in the separate steam rooms/saunas for men and women. Sitting and looking out of the window of the sauna while passing through the strait of Gibraltar was probably the coolest experience of the day.

We returned to the room, had a nap, and received a note that the guest services manager was ready to meet with us regarding our checkered experience with this Costa Crociere Cruise. We had a shower and went to the buffet for a salad with lettuce and bitter cucumbers and a couple of mini sandwiches.

We met with the guest services manager and it was a huge disappointment. She suggested that we buy a private tour of Monaco or rent a car and drive there themselves. Costa just doesn’t get it. She offered us 20% off other tours we might want to take out of Savona to Italian towns…what a slap in the face. Finally she offered us an upgrade to a suite for the remaining four days of the cruise. We declined this bizarre offer. Why would we want slightly more room for a few days and have to remove everything from our room that is organized and unpacked? When we said this would not do, she said that they had no power on the ship to refund us, or do anything else, other than send a complaint form to the head office. We must fill it out in front of her and cannot do it electronically as it uses carbon paper. She said that she would get back to us about how much a private tour of Monaco would cost.

It is formal night tonight even though when April called Costa before we left, it was supposed to be the last night before the cruise ended (June 22nd)…. More misinformation and disorganization. We supposed it made sense though, because most of the ship's occupants will be disembarking in Savona soon. We are not looking forward to another previously frozen dinner.

Formal night was an interesting and confusing cultural experience. The menu was different from previous evenings, with fewer selections, and was found rolled up on our plates, tied with a pretty ribbon. Unfortunately, the food quality was once again lackluster, although Bill’s roast beef was acceptable for most fundraising dinners—in reflection that’s pretty sad for a highlight, but with this cruise, fundraising dinner fare would be deemed luxury.

Right before dessert arrived, there was a blaring blast on the loudspeaker of a loud voice in Italian. It rapidly switched into the various different languages on board so quickly, one couldn’t discern what was going on… then even louder…we’re talking mega-decibels here… the “pizza pie” song erupted on the speakers. Suddenly and without warning all of the dining room started swinging their napkins in a circular motion above their heads like a helicopter never destined to take flight  in a spectacle that resembled a playoff game at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Waiters danced in with a kind of tiramisu cake with Cool-Whip with white sugar as an icing on top. Everyone cheered and stood up, and dessert was served. If you like recently thawed M&M Meats cakes, you would have been very satisfied. Thankfully for her, April had ordered some ice cream well in advance from our two kind waiters who made sure she did not have to suffer.

April's gastro-intestinal issues will not abate. She is feeling awful. We are getting worried.

2.62 km walked today.

Gorgeous decor in the buffet restaurant (Bellagio Restaurant) with green dismembered arms holding the lights.

Pink chicken for lunch. "That's the way we cook it." as the supervisor walked away without any time for rebuttal. The same supervisor who the busboy did not even want to tell because it would "insult the chef" if he knew he was serving raw chicken.

Too far to swim to shore. Damn.

April "enjoys" another dinner as the Smerelda Restaurant on the Costa Magica.

These were odd stains on the ceiling above our place in the restaurant

At least the chicken was cooked at dinner...too bad it was so dry it was like eating yarn.

We survived another day on the Costa Magica!

June 19, 2015- Lisbon, Portugal

Arrive in Lisbon at 9:00 AM, Explore Lisbon by Foot. Explore Lisbon by Tram, Explore Lisbon by Tuk-tuk, Looking in a few stores, Sample local food, Return to cruise ship for 6 pm departure, Dinner at dining room at 9:15 PM

The time when backwards by one hour early this morning. We had room service for breakfast and left the ship at 10:00 AM to see Lisbon. We had difficulty finding the tourist information office, so we stopped at a cafe. April took her slender Portuguese out and ordered a custard croissant and a custard tart, which is a local specialty. Eventually, a friendly police officer pointed us the in the right direction. We obtained a map at tourist information and on the suggestion of the woman there, we bought a day pass for the metro so we could ride the old fashioned street car tram to tour some of the seven hills that Lisbon is built upon.

First we walked up one hill looking for the #28 Tram stop, and then stopped for lunch at a little restaurant/gift shop. The mozzarella sandwich we shared and the tuna and sardine salad weren’t that great, but at least we had protein from the fish and beans (something that is severely lacking on the carb heavy Costa).

We caught the tram down the hill, ventured up other hills all the way to the end of the line where we had a cool drink and then proceeded to the other end of the line on the other end of the city, where we had a cool drink and Magnum ice cream bars. Instead of waiting and standing all the way back to the harbour on the busy tram packed with tourists, we opted for a tuk-tuk ride back to the main square in the harbour. The friendly chap gave us a little tour of Lisbon. It was a fun experience.

We then had an ice cream and a custard tart at a café that had Wi-Fi and April posted her week’s worth of haiku. We looked around in some of the stores and found that most things were from China or the rest of Europe.

In the evening before dinner, we turned on the TV and saw that there was a movie about Grace Kelly playing. Way to add insult into injury, Costa Cruises. That extra salt in our wounds was especially painful after the cancellation of our Monaco excursion by Costa.

Dinner was at 9:15 PM.  As we walked out into our hallway, we smelled cigarette smoke again very strongly. It was clear that people were smoking in their cabins even though this was forbidden (except for on private balconies and on certain designated public ones). It is not a surprise though because even the safety announcement during the abandon ship drill advised people to do things to minimize the risk of fire like not smoking in bed. Why would you be doing that if you're not allowed to smoke in your cabin?

April was feeling really unwell again.

9.95 km walked today.

There's gorgeous architecture all over Lisbon, looking up, down, and side to side.

There's narrow winding streets leading up the seven hills that Lisbon is built on.

Trams are a great way to explore Lisbon.

Lisbon showed grandeur and decay.

Gorgeous tiles all over certain buildings in Lisbon reminded us of Morocco.

The hillsides are packed with buildings and very colourful.

Raspberry Magnum Ice Cream Bar. Don't have those in Canada . . .

There was a giant rooster in one of the squares in Lisbon.

We loved this street leading towards the harbour with its tiled buildings, pillared building, and plain buildings. Such a mix of styles.

We love all the lions in Europe. We should put lions on buildings in Canada more.

The main square by the harbour is filled with beautiful buildings and that arch.