October 27 - The Last Sea Day

Another cruise is nearly over.  The last few days have been calm and beautiful in terms of sailing, but very busy in terms of activity.  It’s amazing how quickly a day passes despite the fact that we’re not doing anything significant.

Our team continues to do badly at trivia.  Today is the grand finale and without a miracle, we’re doomed.  Our one chance is that we can bet everything on the last question.  If we get it right and our competitor’s bet cautiously, we can win.  I doubt that will happen.

Two nights ago we had about 20 people in our cabin for a cocktail party.  The Captain came for an hour, as did the Hotel Director and Guest Services manager.  The staff did a lovely job setting up and the best part is we don’t have to clean up anything.  Al really enjoyed talking with the Captain who is a very congenial Scotsman.  I think a good time was had by all.

On Sunday the 25^th, one of our group arranged for Sunday lunch in the dining room.  She had special ordered roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, a traditional Sunday lunch where they come from.  It was very good!  Speaking of very good, the food has been excellent on this cruise.  As a result we’ve eaten far too much.  Getting back to normal will be difficult.

Yesterday was the boat-building competition.  We had a team and the guys (I should say one really) built a boat out of plastic water bottles and various other materials available on board.  The object of the competition was to carry a 1.8 kg tin of caviar safely the length of the pool.  Ours performed beautifully, but we only got 3^rd place.  I have to admit that the top two were very creative and deserved to beat us, but we had fun.  That’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Captain Warren before the launch

 

Two of our crew from Sandy Isle in the Orkneys

The Maiden Voyage of the M/V Veragan

Sharks in the water

Now it’s nearly time for trivia so I need to wrap this up for now.  At some point I have to pack, not my favorite thing.  At least packing to go home is easier than packing to go away.  In this instance you know that everything has to go.  We’ve been sending laundry out, but we’ll still have lots of dirty clothes going home with us.

Okay, ciao for now.  I’ll report later about trivia and the rest of the day.

October 24 - More Sea Days

We’re on our 6^th sea day with another three after today.  The weather for the last few days has been quite nice with moderate seas and comfortable temperatures.  There have been a few passing showers but they are quickly over.  This morning while he was dressing Al looked out and a deluge fell for a moment and then a beautiful rainbow came out

We still haven’t seen another ship.  A couple of days ago there were some seagulls around which we all found odd since we’re so far from land.  We have seen lots of flying fish while sitting on our verandah.  As I mentioned in my last post we have a routine that mainly involves eating.  Next week there will a rude awakening!

Our trivia team continues to maintain its relative position near the bottom.  We seem to be having much more fun though than other teams and that’s what counts.  Yesterday one of our group arranged a Ladies’ Lunch in the main dining room.  The guys had to fend for themselves.  We had champagne with strawberries and a nice conversation.  Last night was one of the most fun things they do on Seabourn cruises, “Rock the Boat.”  The band and singers play  lots of older rock tunes next to the pool after dinner and  many of the passengers get up and dance the night away.  Even Al got up and danced. 

Two nights ago there was a star-gazing event up on the top deck forward.  The captain turned off most of the lights and one of the guest lecturers, a retired NASA engineer, pointed out various stars and constellations.  Out here in the middle of the ocean with no ambient light it is incredible how many stars you can see.  It would have been even better if the moon wasn’t at the half moon stage so it cast quite a bit of light.

Well, soon it will be time for trivia.  This afternoon late we’re having a cocktail party for friends and I think the Captain is coming.  It should be fun.  More later.

I forgot to mention we keep changing time, going back an hour for the last couple of nights.  I think we're now just one hour ahead of EDT.  Tonight I think we have our last change.  The 25 hour days are nice, but soon we'll be waking up at 5 in the morning.  I can't complain though.

October 21 - Sea Days

I’ve not written for the last few days because there’s not much to tell.  Once we left Funchal we started westward toward the New World.  For all that we’ve seen we may as well be the only ship on the ocean.  That’s something that has always amazed us when we do a crossing.  Despite spending a lot of time sitting on our verandah we never see another ship.  Yesterday we did see some dolphins playing around us. 

We’ve settled into our routine – eat,  check e-mail, play trivia, eat, play scrabble (we’re tied at the moment), eat, maybe see a show and sleep.  All the eating part, except for breakfast is accompanied by wine.  When we get home next week we’ll have a shocking return to reality.  Our first day after Funchal was pretty rough. Yesterday and today it has smoothed out.  We haven’t seen much sun though, which is disappointing to the pool lovers.

The service continues to be very good as is the food.  We’re  doing a little better in trivia, but we’re still far back in the pack.  Al has been co-opted into a boat-building team.  It has to carry a 2 kg can of caviar across the length of the pool.  It will be interesting to see what they come up with.  None of the guys are naval architects  and the materials have to be scrounged.

Last night we went to the Liar’s Club where four of the ship’s officers give their definitions of very obscure words and the audience has to decide who is telling the truth.  It’s always a very funny show to watch.  I now know what  chillpoop, gardyloo, and eructation mean.  I won’t ever need to use them in conversation but who knows, they may be useful in Scrabble some day.

Well, it’s nearly time for trivia.  I must go and scan the encyclopedia for a few minutes!  More later.

October 18 - Funchal, Madeira

Despite the rough seas we made it to Funchal this morning.  It was still dark  when we awoke and the sight of the lights on the island was beautiful.  Funchal is the capital of Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal located off the African coast.  There are several islands, some of which are uninhabited.  The entire archipelago has a population of around 270,000 of which half live in Funchal.  The islands were discovered in 1419 by Henry the Navigator and claimed for Portugal.  When they were discovered there were no inhabitants at all.

This island is volcanic and there is virtually no flat land, at least not on the side that we saw.  When we disembarked we were met by our driver and guide, Daniel of Daniel’s Madeira Taxis.  On my first visit here with Katie several years ago Daniel took us on a tour and he did such a good job I had to use him again.  After a ride through the old part of the city our first stop was at the top of Monte where we had a spectacular view of the whole city perched on the sides of the hills.  We followed the route that’s taken by the toboggans tourists ride in.  I had done that with Katie but we opted not to try it this time. Up on the mountain there is a large botanical garden which unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit.

One of the toboggans.  Two people sit and two men ride on the back runners steering as you careen down a 2 km route

A view of our ship and some of Funchal from the top

Next we drove inland on a very winding and narrow road which took us along Madeira’s Grand Canyon, an impressive gorge which is forested with lots of eucalyptus trees. They aren’t native to the island but were brought by the Portuguese from Asia.  Their intention was to bring a quick-growing tree to use for timber.  Unfortunately, the wood is too soft and cracks easily.  Now it’s logged and shipped to Portugal to produce paper.  Our destination was an overlook from which we could see the Nun’s Valley.  The story is that in the 16^th century a group of nuns who lived near the coast saw a fleet of pirate ships approaching.  They fled into the remote and mostly inaccessible valley for safety. When the pirates  left, the nuns returned to the coast but many of the people who had joined them there remained.  Until a road was built in the early 20^th century the only way in and out was on an arduous trail over the mountains.  Hence there were people who lived in the family their entire lives and never saw the ocean despite living only a few miles from it as the crow flies.

We stopped at an overlook that includes a hotel, shops and a trail from which you can see the small village in the valley.  The village, Curral das Freiras, is nestled among nearly vertical mountains all around.  After looking at it from above Daniel drove us through a newly built tunnel leading to the place.  Curral das Freiras is known for its many chestnut trees and this is chestnut season.  There were vendors roasting the nuts so of course we bought some nice hot ones.  They were delicious!  There was a little store selling all kinds of chestnut products including a liquor (we bought a small bottle) and chestnut breads, cakes and puddings.  I bought a very small loaf of chestnut bread to bring back to the ship to sample.

The village nestled in the Nuns' Valley

Roasting chestnuts - were they ever good!

After driving out of the valley we went to our next stop,  Cabo Girão, the second highest sea cliffs in the world with a height of nearly 1950 feet (straight down!).  There’s a nice walk leading to the cliff top and Madeira has built a glass walkway that overhangs the edge.  I couldn’t bring myself to walk across it but Al did.  The view from the top was very dramatic.  Even from the metal walkway I could look over the edge and see the waves crashing ashore nearly 2000 ft.  below.

A view from the top of the cliff

A view of Cabo Girão from further down the coast

Our final stop was the fishing village of  Cámara de Lobos.  Along the way to both the top of the cliff and to the fishing village we drove past hundreds (perhaps thousands of terraced fields planted with bananas and other crops.  Madeira major industry is tourism but second is exportation of bananas.  I’ve never seen so many.  An interesting thing about them is that there is no season for bananas.  They are harvested year round.

Some of the many terraces. Can you imagine climbing up and down to tend your crops?

Anyway, back to the village. It’s a picture postcard fishing place with a harbor full of little boats and whitewashed houses around.  One interesting historical note is that after WWII, Winston Churchill used to come to the village to paint.  A hotel and bar are named after him.  We went into the small fishermen’s chapel and said a fair weather prayer for our crossing.

Fishing boats beached in Cámaro de Lobos

The Fishermen's Chapel, small but very ornate

Finally, Daniel drove us back to Funchal.  We invited him to have lunch with us, but he had another commitment.  We asked for a recommendation of a good local place so he dropped us off at  Lareira Marisqueira Restaurant in the hotel section of Funchal.  We proceeded to have the most incredible seafood lunch.  We ordered a chef’s special of fish and lobster for two.  The platter that was served to us was the width of the table with a 2 kg. grilled lobster, eight pieces of different kinds of fish, mussels, scallops, and calamari. Accompanying that were two plates of various vegetables, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, and some other things I didn’t recognize.  It was all delicious but quite overwhelming!  Along with the food we had a very nice dry white Madeira wine.  We didn’t think they produced dry wines here, but they are working on dry whites and roses and this one was good.

There was enough food for six people and we really didn’t make a dent in it.  We felt guilty about it, but one needs to know one’s limitations.  After ending  the meal with a little taste of sweet Madeira wine that tasted almost like a brandy, the restaurant drove us back to the ship in their van.  It was a great day!

We didn’t sail until close to 7 PM.  Before we left the Captain announced that the first 24 hours of our crossing we’d probably have rough seas again but after that he anticipated a better sail.  We finished off the day with drinks and a very light dinner with our Scottish and Australian friends.  Once again the company was excellent.

I forgot to mention we saw many rainbows today.  We didn't find a pot of gold, but maybe between the weather prayers and seeing rainbows, the seas may decide to moderate.

October 16 and 17 - Gibraltar and a day at sea

Today we had a short stop in Gibraltar, short because we had to be on the ship by 1:30 PM.  We had been here before so we didn’t plan to take a tour.  The top of the Rock was shrouded in clouds which was unfortunate for people who were visiting for the first time.  The view cannot have been good.

We went into town and walked the main street looking at Gibraltar’s equivalent of a shopping street on a Caribbean island.  There are tons of electronic, jewelry, perfume, liquor, leather and linen shops.  In the main square we stopped in the Gibraltar Glass factory.  We've bought some things there in the past and did so again.  Fortunately they ship things home.  We bought a few things for gifts and then headed back to the ship.  We would have liked to have fish and chips at a place we’ve been before but it was just too early.

The name of this store might cause controversy at home.

 

Some of the streets are very narrow and we ran across this traffic jam.  There was lots of horn-blowing, shouting and gesticulating.

There is a lot of construction going on here.  There’s a  multi-billion pound project on the east side of the Rock.  Near the port a new power plant is being built so the place will not be so dependent on the Spanish for power.  I think one of the principal reasons we stopped here today was to load bunker fuel for the crossing.  Evidently Gibraltar has the cheapest fuel in the Mediterranean.

Today was one of our friend’s 75^th birthday and in his honor we had a small cocktail party in our cabin.  Seabourn organizes things very well; they sent a bartender and waiter to serve drinks and canapés.  The Hotel Manager and Guest Services Director both came.  Afterwards we went down to the dining room where a special dinner had been arranged.  We had a lovely evening with good company.

Before we  left Gibraltar the captain made an announcement that rough weather was forecast once we sailed for Madeira.  We had instructions in our cabin on things to do for safety.  The rough seas held off until most of us had gone to bed, but during the night we were doing some pretty good rocking and rolling.  When we awoke there was still a lot of movement but the captain had slowed the ship down to minimize it a little. During his noon report he told us that the wind had reached 50 knots and the seas had been up to 5 to 6 meters.  Given that, the ship rides extremely well.

It’s late afternoon and the seas have moderated a little.  Based on our position at noon and the distance we have to go to Madeira, we’re not too sure we’ll actually have a port call.  We’ll see.

Katie sent an e-mail and said they had gotten the first of the postcards we sent.  She attached a couple of pictures of young Alfred reading (or should I say tasting) his mail.

Oh, we had trivia at noon and our team is not actually last, just close to it.  We did score a few more points today than the first day, so maybe we’re on a roll (or not).    

October 15 - Málaga and Córdoba

Our port today was Málaga which afforded the opportunity to take a tour to Córdoba.  Córdoba was  the capital of al-Andalus during the Moorish occupation of most of the Iberian Peninsula.  We left before dawn for our nearly two-hour bus ride.  As we rode along we passed through vast groves of olive trees.  It’s not an exaggeration to say that we saw a bazillion (I know that’s not really a word, but you get the idea) olive trees.  Andalusia produces 85% of Spain’s olive oil and Spain is the largest producer in the world.  The fields were literally as far as the eye could see in all directions. 

We arrived in Córdoba which straddles the Guadalquivir River with a beautiful blue sky and temperature in the low 70’s.  Once again our luck held out. Our guide told us that yesterday they had heavy rain.  We met our guide Loli and set out first for the old Jewish Quarter. The streets in this old part of town are little more than alleys and there are twists and turns with no straight streets.  I wouldn’t want to get separated from the group because I could quickly become hopelessly lost.  Along the way the street would open into a little plaza or courtyard with whitewashed houses, wrought iron balconies with lots of flowerpots, and occasionally a little fountain.  It was quite charming.  We stopped in the oldest synagogue in the quarter.  It’s no longer in use because there isn’t a large enough Jewish community anymore.  Now it’s a museum. 

Córdoba from the bank of the Guadalquivir

 

Stucco walls in the Synagogue.  This is in the Moorish style also seen in the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazar in Sevilla

As we continued our walk we encountered a bronze statue of Maimonides, the  Jewish philosopher and astronomer. He was born in Córdoba in the 12^th century and lived there until the Moors passed edicts requiring Jews and Christians to convert to Islam or leave.  He eventually went to Egypt where he died but his body was taken to Tiberias in what is now Israel.  He was responsible for doing some translations of Aristotle’s works, which had not previously been translated, from Greek.

Maimonides - they say rubbing his feet brings good luck so we both did it

Our next stop was the Cathedral of Córdoba.  This is a truly incredible structure.  On the site there was originally a Christian church dedicated to St. Vincent, the patron saint of the city.  The Visigoths built that structure in the 8^th century.  There was probably a Roman temple on the site before that.  When the Moors conquered Iberia, they razed the church and over several centuries built a magnificent mosque, once one of the largest in the world.  The mosque had 1013 columns built of marble, jasper, granite and other stones and each had a different capitol and design.  The structure encompasses 22,500 sq. meters (that’s more than 200,000 sq. feet!).  After the reconquest of Córdoba and Spain, the Christians converted the mosque to a cathedral.  In the center a magnificent chapel and main altar were built.  Along the perimeter are some fifty small chapels.  Mass is said there daily and three times on Sunday.  I found it interesting that Muslims in Spain have been lobbying to be allowed to conduct Muslim prayers in the building but have been barred from doing so since it is a consecrated Roman Catholic church.  Also interesting was the fact that the Cathedral’s bell-tower was built around the mosque’s minaret which is still intact within.

Some of the beautiful and plentiful arches in the Cathedral

Some of the beautiful Moorish mosaics in the Cathedral

Main Chapel

 

The older of the two organs in the Cathedral.  This one dates from the 17th century and has been completely refurbished so it can now be played via a smartphone

One of the treasures of the Cathedral, a huge gold monstrance to carry the consecrated Hosts during a mass

If you look you can see the red brick of the original minaret behind the bells.

After our too brief visit to the Cathedral, we went to a small restaurant nearby where we had an excellent paella and some poached fish.  We were serenaded by a guitarist as we ate.  Then it was time to make the long ride back to Málaga and our ship. 

Being serenaded at lunch

We didn’t leave Málaga until 10:30 PM so that we could have a flamenco show up at the pool deck after dinner. A little group with a very good guitarist, a singer, drummer and a male and female dancer performed.  The dancers were dressed in more contemporary clothing than I had seen before.  Usually male flamenco dancers wear form-fitting suits with bolero style jackets and the women wear dresses with lots of flounces and ruffles in the skirt.  I really think I prefer the more traditional dress.  Nevertheless it was a nice touch and we enjoyed the evening.

October 14 - A Sea day at last!

Today we sailed about 12 miles off the coast of Spain on our way to Malaga.  We had calm seas and partly cloudy skies.  It was a lazy day with our only planned event being Noon Team Trivia.  Our friends joined us and we added four more members and proceeded to do very badly.  Fortunately all of us understand it’s only a game (some people take it very seriously!) and the score is kept cumulatively over all the sea days.  We agreed that we were just trying today to lull our opponents into a false sense of complacency.  Nothing else to report today.

October 13 - Barcelona

I have some serious catching up to do.  The last few days have been busy.

On Tuesday, the 13^th we docked in Barcelona right near the foot of La Rambla, the main street.  On previous occasions our ship has docked at the port so it was necessary to take a shuttle bus to La Rambla.  We were instead at the World Trade Center, very near the Columbus monument.  Tied up to our stern was a not too shabby private yacht.  Al googled it and found it’s a mere 462 feet long.  That’s nearly as long as the Odyssey.

How's that for a little yacht to putter around in?

We decided not to go ashore too early so that we would have an opportunity to have a nice lunch at a favorite tapas restaurant.  It was overcast and looked like rain and I took an umbrella along.  That must have been our lucky charm because we had no rain at all, in fact the sun came out for a little while and it was pleasantly warm.  We strolled up La Rambla along with countless other people, both locals and tourists.

La Rambla is a street like no other that I know of.  There’s a wide promenade lined with trees.  Along the way there are cafés, vendors, mimes, and artists who will do your caricature in 10 minutes.  Halfway up we came to one of my all-time favorite places. The Boqueria Market.  Of course we had to wander through it.  The place was insane!  There were tour groups and school groups and so many people that in some places you could hardly move. But the sights and sounds and smells are so worth withstanding the crowd.  Because we haven’t been getting enough to eat, we bought some Spanish almond candies and some luscious chocolates.

La Rambla

Some delicious Spanish hams waiting to be sliced

A fish vendor with some octopus.  Had I been in the market I would have known how to buy it after our expedition with the chef

Always one of my favorites - the egg vendor with everything from quail eggs to ostrich eggs

We continued our walk up to the Plaça de Catalunya and sat for a few moments watching the traffic bought vehicular and pedestrian.  Then we walked back down to the Gothic Quarter, the really old part of the city, where we found our tapas place.  We’ve eaten there every time we’ve been here so it has become tradition.  We sat at a table outside in a little square and had a marvelous lunch of several tapas ( small plates which allows you to sample several different things) and a nice Catalan Rosé wine.  It was delightful.

When we finished we walked back down to the ship; we logged in close to seven miles in the day’s trek.  Soon after we boarded, the clouds rolled in for good and the skies opened up.  It absolutely poured.  As I said, the weather gods were with us today.

Two couples we sailed with on our first Seabourn cruise boarded in Barcelona.  They were part of our winning trivia team and we had a lot of fun with them.  We met for drinks before dinner and then all went to the main dining room.  It’s always nice to meet old friends again and catch up.  

October 12 - Palamós, Spain

Well, we made it to Spain today.  This is mainly a fishing and beach town here on the Costa Brava between Barcelona and the border with France.  For the first morning in several days we didn’t have an early wake-up call because we had no tour booked. We’ve been to this area a number of times and have visited most of the nearby sights.

After breakfast we went ashore only to find it’s a holiday, the Fiesta del Pilar (Nuestra Señora del Pilar).  As a result most shops were closed and there wasn’t a great deal to see.  The town is on a broad bay with a long, wide and beautiful beach.  I’m certain in the summer it’s packed with tourists.

The beach in the distance beyond the little harbor

We did find a small Fishing Museum I had read about.  It’s not big but worth the visit to see the old fishing artifacts they have.  The centerpiece is an old gaffe-rigged wooden fishing boat.  It had no motor so it had to be rowed or sailed.  There was literally no shelter for any fishermen on board. They had to be a tough and hardy lot.

 

The old boat

A replica of the old vessel that goes out for tours

After our visit there we wandered around for a while.  We found a place to buy some stamps for our postcards from the last day or two.  We had a cappuccino at a café.  It was much too early for lunch.  Here in Spain lunch isn’t served until 1:30 or 2 PM.  We decided to head back to the ship and we’ve spent the afternoon checking e-mails, updating the blog and watching the little fishing boats working around us.  Late in the afternoon we could see two free divers (no tanks) diving along the jetty.  One had a speargun.  We watched as they eventually swam back to their boat and got out of the water but we couldn’t see that they had caught anything.  We wonder what they were after.

We found this lovely ham and sausage shop

We’ve been fortunate with our weather so far.  While it’s cool in the early morning and in the evening, the days have been very pleasant.  We have friends who passed through much of the same area just 10 days or so before us and apparently they weren’t as lucky.  They had lots of rain.  We’re hoping our luck holds out.

As I mentioned earlier, today is a holiday here.  In Spain there are so many saints’ days that are holidays that it defies the imagination.  I remember from my time living here as a teenager that there seemed to be a feast day or festival at least once a month. 

I forgot to mention that we as arrived back to the ship, there was a large group of ship’s staff next to the gangway.  A red carpet was rolled out and chefs, musicians, and a table with champagne were waiting to welcome passengers back.  This is a Seabourn tradition we’ve seen on previous cruises in at least one port.  It does make you feel special!

Welcome champagne

Welcoming committee

October 11 - Sète and Aigues Mortes

Our stop today was in the port town of Sète in the south of France in the region called Languedoc.  This port is a new city (in terms of French history).  It was created in 1666 by Louis XIV, the Sun King,  who wanted another port on the Mediterranean.  It actually is connected via a 250 + km canal to the Rhone River.  Now Sète is primarily a fishing town with lots of big boats that go out for one month per year fishing for tuna.  The catch is controlled so they can only spend a month out.

We took a half-day tour to a very interesting place called Aigues Mortes (which means dead waters).  This is a little town lying amid marshes and salt ponds.  It’s in the region called the Petit Camargue.  Aigues Mortes was founded in the 13^th century by Louis IX.  The French King used as an excuse to build a city in an area where the French kings weren’t particularly popular that he wanted to launch Crusades from there to save the Holy Land.  In reality he wanted the city there for economic reasons.  Salt was a precious commodity and he wanted to control it.

The city is enclosed within stout , original walls.  When you look at the blocks of stone forming the walls you can see that each has a mark of some kind on it.  These were the stonemasons’ marks.  They were paid by the number of stones they produced and to avoid disputes with the bosses, they etched their mark into each one.  The first piece of the city built was the Tour de Constance (Tower of Constancy or Permanence).  As I mentioned the French were not well-regarded in this region  and the king wanted to show them he was here to stay.  He constructed a 30 meter tall tower to show the Camarguens that he wouldn’t be leaving soon.

Tour de Constance

The walls with an archer's slit. Unfortunately the marks on the stones didn't come out.

Main square in Aigues Mortes

Today was a special day to be at Aigues Mortes. It was the last day of the festival when they do the running of the bulls through the streets and into a temporary bullring set up just outside the city walls.  The bullfight here doesn’t involve swords or picks as in Spanish bullfights.  Instead the participants attempt to get prizes stuck on the horns of the bulls. We left before the bulls made it to the streets of the town, which was probably a good thing.  When we left there were tons of people coming in to see the spectacle and I think we were all a little old to be dodging rampaging bulls in the narrow streets.

Temporary private seating boxes in the bullring

This painting from one of the stands shows the man trying to tap the bull. There are no weapons as in Spanish bullfights and everyone lives to fight another day.

Around the city are salt flats from which the salt had been harvested this year. We could see huge piles of salt nearby waiting to be shipped out.  There are also lots of ponds in which flocks of flamingos live.  The climate is very temperate here so they stay most of the year.  From what we could see as we drove by flamingos look like they spend most of their time with their heads in the water eating.

Mountains of salt

Flamingos, most with their heads in the water

When we returned to Sète we walked to the center of the old city.  This city is riddled with canals and one of their customs is to have jousts on boats on the canals.  The boats have two angled boards, one blue and one red, at the stern.  Young men stand on these boards with a shield and a lance and attempt to knock their opponent on another boat into the canal. The jousting season runs from June to September and people come from all over to watch the jousts.

A jousting boat with the long angled boards.  A man holding a shield and 20 foot lance stands on these trying to knock off the man on another boat

Since it’s a fishing town the restaurants specialize in seafood. We found a nice place along the main canal and had some wonderful oysters, shrimp and whelks (we’d never had those before; they’re chewy.) and some grilled fish.  It was all good and then it was time to come back to the ship.  Since it’s Sunday most things here in Sète were closed except for the restaurants.

The main canal with some of the many fishing boats

As we sat on our balcony we watched as preparations were made for a ferry to be loaded.  Our guide had told us this was the fast ferry to Morocco (36 hours).  It carries vehicles as well as people.  The cars, trucks, and vans which lined up were amazing.  Many  had huge piles of what looked like all sorts of household goods strapped to their roofs. 

This vehicle had suitcases, bicycles, shopping bags, loose clothing and furniture piled on top, some of it flapping around

Tomorrow we’ll be in a Spanish fishing village, Palamós.  We’ll see how the seafood compares.