Cruise Pictures

183 pictures of the trip. Mostly Tulum and some dancing in the Royal Fireworks lounge on board the NCL Majesty.

COZUMEL & TULUM
Downtown Cozumel is a maze of streets in and about the old Mayan ruins and is built over sink-hole topography, hence the many crooked streets. The huge Banyan tree is in the midst of one such plaza.


The thirty-minute rest stop so timed tourists can refresh and buy trinkets found us looking at a jewelry factory making silver and hard-stone jewelry. What was not mentioned (?), was the out-of-use loom behind the factory, fully threaded for weaving a plaid blanket and shut down somewhere in progress. The sale of synthetic blankets in the shop from sources in Asia suggested the labor cost of weaving in Mexico may be too high. Not a good sign for craft and artisan workers there.














Cliff side ruins over look the Caribbean (known as the Cozumel Riviera), offering a strategic view of incoming ships. Tulum was an important seaport for the Mayans, a mid-point between Honduras and Veracruz. The temples are built in line with the sun’s position on the vernal, autumnal equinoxes and the winter solstice, making the Mayan knowledge of astronomy at least equal to the builders of either Stonehenge in England or the Pyramids in Egypt. The heat of the afternoon sun made dipping in the Gulf a very tempting choice but I needed a drink of cold water more than a dip.


KEY WEST
Walking Duval Street almost its entirety we saw the honky-tonk bars, the college kids on a fling, many shops selling all kinds of trinkets (who buys this stuff?), and drinks of every kind and flavor. My favorite place to eat dinner is located in the historic LaConcha Hotel (now Crowne Plaza hotel: www.laconchakeywest.com/history),Jack’s Seafood. I could repeat the recipe for their terrific Caribbean Shrimp Cobb Salad but I did that here earlier. The LaConcha was built in 1926 and is a landmark building on the national historic register. The Key West landmark has been mentioned in writings by both guests Hemingway and Tennessee Williams and has attracted several US Presidents as guests. Whether the history or the food appeals the most to me would be hard to say.

HEMINGWAY HOUSE
What quilter could pass up the grid patterning of decorative floor tiles? What was the original source? Could be Mexico or Cuba, both have a ceramic tradition of painted tiles. The motifs? Who knows? Pauline, the third of Hemingway’s wives redecorated and fashioned the house to entertain her publishing and celebrity friends. The walk leads from the back door of the house, out to the studio, the pool and off to the garden side gate. The cats wander the area in and about the many "cat" houses placed throughout the garden.


DANCING ON THE MAJESTY
iPods can travel with a sound dock, making it possible to have music almost anywhere you go. A fully loaded iPod with dance music and playlists for ballroom dancing was the perfect solution for this trip. Morning practice sessions were in the Royal Fireworks lounge on Deck 5, afternoon sessions in the disco, Frame 52, on Deck 7. Royal Fireworks had live music for dancing in the early evening hours, the disco played from ten until closing (not for us), if one can stay awake that late.


So ends the "dance at sea" cruise for January 2008. Next up is the start of Ballroom Dance Winter term on January 23. And I need to prepare for the "Really Simple Blogging" course for the Spring term. As the teacher, I really do need to get organized.
Stay tuned....bb

Latitude 19° 30N, Longitude 80° 30W.

To sailors and pilots who know the Caribbean, that location can only be one place. Grand Cayman Islands or better yet, destination: Georgetown.

We just returned this day from Charleston ending our winter cruise. Our third time on the Charleston-Western Caribbean cruise and the first time that the ship made it to all three ports. We got to go shopping in Georgetown, visit the Mayan Tulum Ruins in Cancun and (finally), made it to Hemingway's house in Key West. Yes, the cats are there and they do have six toes. Why is a longer story than can be told here.

I can confirm that Margaritaville, Georgetown is still there and still open despite the nearby church protesting their license renewal. As for the Mayan ruins let me say I am awfully glad we took the excursion and awfully glad I do not have to do that again (!). Long bus trip, hot day, rugged terrain but our guide, Humberto, was a wonder. He was full of information about the Mayan-Toltec languages, calendar, astronomy and mathematics developed by the culture spanning a time from about 3000 BC to 1500 AD, when the Spaniards arrived. Only heat and tiredness kept me from leaping on to the pristine beach and demanding a coco-loco-rum drink but there was still the return trip to the ship. Back on board I enjoyed a much needed shower and once cool headed to the bar for an Espresso Martini. After that nothing much mattered.

The on board dancing was wonderful, not only did we dance at our appointed practice times but for the first time the cruise director had professional teachers offering 4classes during the week so everybody got to dance. The best part was seeing the increased dance participation since the first trip. This time we had crowded dance floors and far better live music. The popularity of Dancing With the Stars has made a difference.

The search now is for background about The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber, a Hemingway short story set in Africa. Dear Hubby begins a course on Great American Novels this Wednesday and is now reading Melville’s Moby Dick. I am trying to persuade him that even though Hemingway is not on his reading list (a major omission in my opinion), I think he should read some EH’s short stories. For some reason DH does not seem to be that interested in either the course or the literature.

My search has just found that 1936 was the publication date for “Macomber,” a story about a manipulative wife named Margot, who was (my guess) based on wife #3. Martha was the wife who traveled with him to Africa and Cuba (divorced in 1940). If the character “Margot”is not “Martha,” then she is a compilation of wives 2 and 3, both of whom he took poetic license to punish in literature. You many remember seeing the 1947 film The Macomber Affair, starring Gregory Peck and Joan Bennett. I do not remember if the movie had the same ending as the story, a final cut if ever there was one.

Pictures? Sure, I took lots, mostly of Tulum. Will post some after I rest and my eyes can focus. Right now I need dinner and sleep...bb