We are almost done with our cruise, with the last stop at Great Stirrup Cay, a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Line. NCL acquired this paradise with sandy beaches, a lighthouse from 1863, calm pristine ocean waters and a wide variety of marine life in 1977.
No words – just beautiful
No words, just beautiful!
Getting sick on a cruise ship is great! I mean, getting sick sucks, but getting sick while on a cruise is – if you’re used to the American healthcare system – very direct, convenient and efficient. You take the elevator down from the 10th floor (or wherever your room is) to the 3rd floor, knock on the doctors door and they’ll take care of you. All possible tests, COVID & influenza, blood work, X-rays, etc. they have ICU beds, and treat you with whatever you need. Before they send you back up to the 10th floor (or wherever your room is) they give you all the medications you need with detailed instructions.
The next day you can stop by and pick up the paperwork, X-Ray DVD and detailed bill. And they will already have submitted their claim with your travel insurance, that might take ~15 days to process. So make sure to always have travel insurance!!!
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States. It was founded in 1521 by Spanish colonists, which makes it older than the United States! San Juan is the capital and largest city.
Ted is heading out by himself today since I’m sick of🤒. Fever, coughing, headache. The medical staff test me for Covid and influenza, run some blood work, X-Ray, and decide that it’s a bacterial infection.
So far, we visited the Dominican Republic (Puerto Plata) on the island of Hispaniola, which is shared with Haiti, the Virgin Islands (St.Thomas), which is US territory, and Antigua (St.John). Today we’ll explore the island of St. Maarten, which is a constituent of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It encompasses the southern 40% of the island, while the northern 60% constitutes the French overseas collectivity of St. Maarten.
The whole island is only 37 square miles. It’s the smallest landmass in the world to be shared by two sovereign countries. The Dutch part has casinos, duty free shopping and island culture, whereas the French part is all subdued sophistication…..
Fortunately the traffic is on the right side again, which feels comfortable and less stressful. We took a bus to go over to a beautiful beach on the French side. Our tour guide tells us about the harmonious-non-collaboration between the Dutch and the French. For example, each side has its own airport, hospital, university, etc. If you call somebody on the other side, it’s considered an international call ($0.50/min). It’s cheaper to call somebody in your homeland! We realize this immediately, when we cross the border and AT&T, our US phone company charges us another $10 and another one on the way back 🤔. The south side‘s currency is the Netherlands Dutch Florin (NAF), whereas the northern side‘s currency is the Euro. Go figure!
The story has it that, when the Dutch and the French divided the island, they met at the beach and headed in opposite direction. From the starting point to the point wherever they meet again should be half of the island. The Frenchman put rum into the Dutchman’s water, make him fall asleep on the beach. That’s why the “halves” are unequal (40/60). I remember a similar story about Siena and Florence, who wanted to find the middle point between both cities to mark the counties. They agree to send out one rider on horseback, who should start galloping first thing in the morning, with the sound of a rooster. The Florenze rider didn’t wait for the rooster, but woke him up before sunrise and started riding. The honest Siena rider did play by the rules and when they met, the countyline was established according to the incorrect meeting point.
The beach where we spend our day was beautiful, the sand white and powdery, the water turquoise. What else do you need? of course I pack a small bag of sand, which the safety officer on the ship complained about. I’m not supposed to take any sand; a small amount would be ok, but not what I took. She sends me over to another officer to figure out how much sand I have to dump, but he just waves me through. 😬 🏝️
Cruise ships are fun. They offer a nice variety of entertainment, a hypnotist show, a comedian, live music in every bar, etc. And then there are games, trivia of all kinds, competitions, couples games and more. And then there was the announcement of the Mr. sexy Leg Competition. And since Ted has great legs, and I mean GREAT LEGS, I suggested he’d participate. And because Ted is a great sport, he got up there on stage at the pool, along with 20 other guys, Timo included, to show off their legs. Each of them did a little something special, a dance or movement that would show how great their legs are. Ted, funny Ted, introduced himself and said he wants to get laid tonight. He started with a pole dance, followed by a (safe) striptease, flinging his hat off, pulling his T-Shirt off and finishing with another little pole dance. All the women were roaring and he was chosen to be Mr. Sexy Legs. Oh my, we had a good time! Timo was a runner up, but his dance moves just couldn’t compete with Ted.
Fast forward: random people on the ship approach Ted, congratulate him, buy us drinks and have a good laugh about his performance. The next day they ask if he got lucky, if he was successful, if he got what he wanted. And when you switch on the TV and check out the entertainment program, they show a video with – guess what – Ted’s pole dance and striptease! Oh my!!!
Another day at another beautiful port: St. John on the island of Antigua. But Irma left her mark in 2017, destroying infrastructure, housing, basic needs. So you see a truck with pumpkins that also serves as a primecare doctor’s checkup point, the local hospital still closed…..
We walk around the local markets, avoiding the meat and the fish buildings, because the smell is just a little too much. Market means people sitting at the side of the road selling something: plantains or coconuts, another person sells bananas and avocados, or just garlic, etc. Sometimes the market booth is a table, the bed of a pickup truck or just a piece of tarp on the ground. Very basic. We don’t have any temptations to buy any food, the hygiene police in my head is ringing all alarm bells.
And we’re not allowed to bring any food onto the ship anyway. They have a very strict policy, not only here, but on any cruise we’ve taken and any port we’ve been. No food or drink can leave the ship and no food or drink can be taken onto the ship. And still, when I got back on board today, a group of 3 young adults tried to bring a whole bag of fruit onboard, being surprised that they were not allowed to do so. Once we saw a guy who tried to bring a whole big birthday cake onboard and they didn’t allow it. But that was last year in Sicily. Different cruise, same story…..
Left it is, even the traffic! I had to have this sticker!!!
St. Thomas was interesting, despite all the devastation hurricane Irma left in 2017, 7 years ago! At least half of the restaurants and stores are closed, many under construction, everything looking improvised and hotchypotchy. We feel sorry for the local community, so we buy souvenirs, drinks, etc.
We took a gondola up to paradise point, a great lookout onto this beautiful island
The Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island. The first one mentioned is politically stable, the second one is chaos. So we decided to visit the first one, Puerto Plata, officially known as San Felipe de Puerto Plata is a trading port and the third largest city in the Dominican Republic.
It is hot and humid, 30 degrees Celsius and almost 90% humidity. We are drenching and Timo dreams of drinking coconut water out of a coconut. With a straw. But I recommend doing this not at the local market place, but at the tourist area near the port. because the market is filthy (a little girl picking lice out of her moms hair while selling fruit), smelly (all those butcher stalls wave a cloud of under refrigerated meats at us) and dirty (lots of garbage piles everywhere that makes me regret wearing open toe sandals very quickly). People here are poor, the drive mopeds, whole families and their daily shopping on one 50 ccm Honda, the little kids sandwiched between the parents. The local people are all friendly, never too pushy and the police regulates the traffic, always stopping the moped invasion when people want to cross the streets. One observation is that we did not see any beggars or even homeless people, despite being so poor. The little they have they share. The social scissors are very narrow, meaning that the difference between the poorest and the richest people is not very big. The poorest people have just the bare minimum, but it is enough to keep them off the streets.
The big church in town is basic with beautiful stained glass windows.
Puerto Plata is known for two streets. One is the pink street, which is as the name suggests, pink. The street itself, the buildings, the decorations, everything is pink!
And the other famous street is the umbrella street, which is self explanatory.
And of course there are lots of tourist. Unfortunately the Royal Caribbean Cruise ship is in port with us, that means an extra 5k people swarming the town. But I shouldn’t complain, the Royal Caribbean’s might have the same thought about us: darn, those Norwegians are everywhere!
After a few hours of floating around town, we decided to walk back to the ship and relax. Timo gets his coconut, Ted gets his nap and everybody is happy!
What is a Martini? A classic Gin Martini, like a James Bond kinda drink, is a mix between Gin and Vermouth, in the ratio 2.75:0.25. The drier you like it, the less Vermouth it has. Classically you’ll get 3 olives with it, because you should drink it in 3 sips, not ex-and-hop, but also not mingle over it for an hour. Each sip should be accompanied by one olive. It is stirred, not shaken – James Bond did have class, you know! – because stirring it doesn’t release too much water from the ice cubes that would water down the taste too much.
A Cosmopolitan is actually not a Martini🍸, because it has more than 2-3 ingredients, originally it is not drunk out of a Martini glass and it doesn’t have Gin or Vermouth in it either. Sex in the City changed this cocktail 🍹 into a Martini, by those BFFs ordering it in a Martini glass, which makes it so much more elegant to drink, because you hold on to the stem of a Martini glass 🍸 instead of the wet, frozen glass of a cocktail 🍹. Similar to beer vs wine glasses 🍺🍷.
An Apple Martini is very fruity and delicious! 3 ingredients, Vodka, Apple 🍏 Parker and lemon juice, in the ratio 2:1:1. Simple and tasty! This was my favorite so far, but little did I know…
The French Raspberry Martini was another surprise:
Vodka, Chambord, Pineapple juice. Ratio 2:1:1 If you have a drink package on the ship (which we don’t have), chambord is not included. But if you order a French Raspberry Martini, it’s included. Go figure 😵💫
We also got an Espresso Martini, which had another interesting story: a young woman walked into a bar in NYC at 2am and asked for a drink that keeps her awake for an early departure flight. The bartender whipped up something and called it an Espresso Martini. Well, by now I couldn’t remember the story really, because I was pretty much wasted. Never in my life did I have 5 drinks in ~ 30 min, never in my life did I have to memorize a story after that alcohol intake 😳 But I can tell you that an Espresso Martini has Vodka, Kahlua Liqueur and Espresso in it, same ratio as before: 2:1:1
And finally, my favorite: the Lavender Patch Martini. Invented by a Norwegian, the story went inside my brain and was immediately dissolved by alcohol. Sorry about that! But it tasted like heaven! And it is made with vodka, lavender, lemon and pineapple juice. A surprising taste, more on the herbal side, fragrant and delicious. My tastebuds were very happy!
Lavender Patch Martini:
Vodka 2.5 oz +
Lavender Syrup 0.75oz +
lemon juice 1oz +
pineapple juice 1oz
