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Cruising to Barcelona
Our cruise left the Houston Cruise Port Terminal on April 16. It was the last cruise from this port, which is going to be converted to a container terminal. Our ship was the Norwegian Cruise Lines “Jade”, which was repositioning to Europe. A seperate blog post details our extensive dining experience.
We made a quick stop in Miami to pick up more passengers. Our first real port of call was St. Thomas, VI where we got off for a walk before 6 days at sea. A ride up the cable car gave some good views of the surroundings, and our ship.
We joined with the cruisecritics.com crew and had a great time. There were over 100 of us, from around the world. We even celebrated joint birthdays with Romola and Jennifer. Special thanks to Viet for including us!
Our next stop was Funchal, Madeira where we had a nice excursion. Our first stop was at the market, with the usual collection of plants, veggies, meat and seafood. Always interesting to see what’s local! Then, a short stop to taste the local Madeira wine. We even took a ride on their famous toboggan!
Then on to Barcelona. I managed to get a picture of the Rock of Gibraltar, even though it was late and I only had my small camera. Then on to Barcelona, where I’m sure new adventures await us.
Serial in St Thomas
Not all people that live here are poor
Or ship on the left
Or new friends Dan and Veronica
Cliffs at Funchal
Fishing village colors
In the fish market
Flower merchant in traditional clothes
In the Madeira winery
Living on the side of a hill
Hang on!
Vietnam and his new wife, who had a birthday
Jennifer's birthday on the same day as romola
Gibraltar at dusk
Madeira, Portugal
Madeira is a Portugese territory, discovered in 1419 by Henry the Navigator. It is located some 700 miles south west of Lisbon, and is a popular tourist destination. It is best known for Madeira wine, but also exports bananas to the mainland. One thing you notice right away, everything is on a hill side… very little flat land in Madeira. The farmers still use old hand methods since tractors will not work well on the steep slopes.
Our cruise ship docked in Funchal, the main city of Madeira. We had a very interesting tour that included the Cliffs of Madeira (2nd highest in the world), the banana farms, a Madeira wine tasting, and a visit to downtown Funchal.
Early morning arrival
Some fine looking ships in the harbor
A fishing village
Drying sharks
Some colorful local boats
A local, contemplating fishing (?)
Everything is on a hill side
Looking down from the cliff top
The Cliffs of Madeira
Must be hard to find a place for a soccer field
Inside the Madeira winery
An artist shot of the wine tasting
What we really did at the wine tasting
Local flowers
I think this was Henry the Navigator
A local church
Downtown Funchal — lots of taxis
A downtown fountain
Funchal Harbor
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