Friday, 16 April 2010


It’s 6 pm and we are just pulling away from the pier in Ibiza. Although there are still a couple of hours until sunset, the sky ahead of us is starting to turn pink behind the fluffy clouds stretched across the blue sky. We are sailing northward, running parallel to the east coast of the island, getting wonderful close-up views of the rugged cliffs that line the shore, interrupted by small coves and beaches, and the one or two small towns that harbor most of the island’s infamous nightlife.

Ports and Tenders

The original itinerary for the cruise called for tender use in three ports. But, in fact, we are only tendering in one (Portimão), and I described that in an earlier entry. The plus of docking rather than tendering is avoiding uncomfortable, crowded, choppy rides across the harbors. The negative is that the new, larger docks are usually farther away from the center of each city. So it’s either a shuttle bus (for which they charge $5.00 each way), a taxi, or a very long walk.

But no matter how I get ashore and back on the ship, I am still 24 hours behind on the blog.

Thursday Morning: Almería and Andalusia

There’s a light drizzle this morning as the tour bus leaves for Cabo de Gata National Park and Lighthouse and another “white” village, Nijar. The drive through the countryside to Cabo de Gata shows off a stark landscape of hills and seashore (a favorite location for filming westerns), and the rain tapers off as we drive up the curving road that hugs to the shore and leads to the lighthouse.

A visit to the first white village, Obidos (in Portugal) was breathtaking; a visit to the second, Vejer de la Frontera, was beautiful; but by the time I get to villages numbers three, four, and five, they are beginning to look the same. I can probably mix up my photographs and no one, including me, would ever know the difference. But Nijar is a lovely place to wander and browse the small craft shops and bakeries. When we return to Almería, I spend a couple of hors walking through the older parts of the city. There isn’t very much of interest, however. Almería serves mainly as a gateway to Granada, but since I’ve been there twice, I forgo the nine-hour excursion.

Thursday Afternoon: Sailing from Almería

The highlight of the day, actually, is the fantastic 180º turn the ship makes in order to leave this very narrow port. As we pivot to the starboard side, a tanker docked at the pier opposite us seems to be barely feet away from the bow of the Eurodam, and I am sure we are going to have to back up, turn, and try again—just like getting out of a tight parallel parking spot. But the captain knows his stuff and although we come within spitting distance of the other ship, we glide by, make the turn on one try, and head out into the Mediterranean.

Thursday Dinner:

• Gravalax with sweet honey mustard
• Chilled melon bisque (not to be confused with the chilled berry soup from last night)
• Sliced pork loin with potatoes and vegetables
• Sachertorte and decaf

I try a new wine—a Malbec (Diseño Winery, Argentina 2008)—and Anthony decants it into a crystal swan decanter (not really necessary for a wine of recent vintage, but the shape of the decanter allows air to circulate through the wine very quickly, and I think Anthony enjoys the procedure).

The big news at dinner is that the lady with the sequined hat is back—although tonight the sequins are gold instead of emerald green.