NYDiscovery

Good Morning Sao Paulo

 It's not the biggest pool in the world, but it is on the rooftop an Elke had a nice swim this morning.

Want to see some pictures? (with sun, sea, beach and palm trees)

Elke and I don't want to give the winter depression a chance and looking at photos of beautiful places certainly helps us. If you need the sight of the sun, the sea, some beaches too, then I suggest having a look at the photos from our Caribbean cruise on Flickr. Also, I'm posting daily photos out of our library on Posterous and the current theme over there is also "beach". 

Back again!

We can still feel the ship moving, but we're firmly back on land since last Thursday. Now we have the daunting task of digging through 1,500 photos and find the 100 best ones. Also, we're planning this time to create a slide & video show. Let's see how this works - more about this here.

106.3 More Nautical Miles To Go

10:48pm, we're sitting in our stateroom, as our cabin is called, on our way back to New York. We're writing this blog entry together. One phrase each…

- There is gale force 7 and rough sea, and we're just enjoying it. 

- Well, it made us look drunk when we came back from our favorite bar, the Commodore Club.

- After 3 Martinis that is.

- Three? What did Olena say again?

- One is alright. Two is too much. And three are not enough.

- That makes me feel better! 

- Anyway, Commodore Club would be one of our favorite bars if it wouldn't move around the world all the time.

- Maybe we'll find a way to move with it? Then again, would we even like that?

- Only if we can our favorite NYC bars with us.

- This is getting complicated. 

- It's just that life at sea is great but we miss New York in a way.

- Keyword "missing" - Isn't it funny or simply interesting that we missed out on so many of the attractions the ship/this cruise had to offer?

- Which ones?

- I feel like we haven't explored ALL the places. For example, we haven't been to the "Disco" or Sir Samuels, not to mention ballroom dancing or jogging around deck 7.

- Oh, we haven't missed a single meal.

- Thanks for reminding me of that one! Our Wii Fit will remind us too!

- But it was good food!

- Your favorite dish?

- Surf and Turf. And yours?

- Hm… probably the rabbit with the radicchio risotto at Todd English.

- Oh yeah, that was good too. But better with Barley risotto as it was originally meant.

- I'm the guest and as such Queen. We're still on the Queen Mary for roughly 10 more hours…

- Then let's get some sleep and tomorrow when we're waking up we'll already have passed Verrazano Bridge. 

- And the Statue of Liberty!

Talk to you again in New York!

On The "Road" Again

We're already heading back to New York, or better yet, Brooklyn harbor!  The Caribbean is behind us and by the end of today we'll pass the Bermuda Triangle, the line drawn by Florida and Bermuda.

After that, I fear, we'll have to face reality again, meaning bad weather, cold and snow!  Sometimes I'm musing if living in a warmer climate would make me happier, and it probably would. The problem though is, there's no New York City in a warmer climate and that's where I really want to be. I cannot imagine living in a remote place. And as far as cities go, New York is mine!  Granted, I don't know all major cities yet but where else can you live happily without a car, be surrounded by  a river and the sea, find all the cultures and food our world has to offer? It's New York City, isn't it?!

While still on vacation, I am clearly looking forward to being "home" again, the place I've chosen to be my home! I spent some wonderful days on board of this gorgeous and incredibly luxurious ocean liner. I've eaten dishes I've never had before as for example snails and frog legs, and I've learned a couple of new things. I was sportive enough to hit the gym a couple of times, tried water aerobics and am scheduled for yet another Yoga class in less than 30 minutes. The South African trainer, Shaun Gunter does a fine job in motivating people.

The counter program to all these sportive activities will  be the "Martini Mixology" class I am attending this afternoon. Tonight's another Formal Evening, which means the guys will wear their posh tuxedos again and all ladies will dress up in long gowns. I am undecided yet weather to wear my black one or the blue with just one strap. Come evening, I'll know.

Now I am off to Yoga! Check out our pics that Oliver has uploaded.

-- Elke

Impressions of Grenada

If St. Maarten was picture book Caribbean, Grenada is not. Capital St. Georges is a beautiful little town, built at a hill around a bay. But once we walked around the harbor and up to the fort for some pictures of the ship, there's not much to do. Besides buying some spices and having some Carib beers at a nice bar, which this time, unfortunately, showed premier league on TV rather than playing local radio station. There's much more to see on other places of the island, but this time we weren't in the mood for an excursion and spend rather more time on board QM2.

Enjoy the pictures!

• 
• 
• 

Day 4 of our Cruise - Barbados

  We'll be visiting 5 Caribbean islands during the course of our cruise. 

Our first stop was at Maarten/St. Martin and I got taken by surprise by this island's charm because I didn't expect anything, really. The French and Dutch co-existence make this island a pretty special place and I might come here back again for a longer stay!

Our 2nd island was Barbados, the most easterly of all Caribbean islands. Oliver and I have been to Barbados in Fall 2003 and so our plan was to skip any officially organized tours but hop in a cab and drive to the place where we've stayed back then.

This idea was easier thought than realized but in the end, we managed to get to Sandy Beach in Worthing. The beach was as gorgeous and secluded as we remembered it. We rented 2 sun beds and an umbrella, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun, the sound of the Caribbean sea and the beauty of the surrounding landscape. After a drink or two at the beach bar, we headed back to the cruise pier. Took us a while to get a taxi back due to heavy traffic, but we finally did and had a pleasant chat with the cab driver who supposedly is working 24/7 to pay off the loans of the house he just bought. 

Back on our beautiful ship, we enjoyed some fun time at the sail away party with our friends, savored dinner, and later on drinks at the Queen's Grill Lounge and closed the wonderful day with a night cap at the Commodore Club.

That's what life on a cruise ship is like. There's so much to do and one must really choose from the many possibilities offered.

Our travel continues…

-- By Elke

2nd Day At Sea

While the first day at sea was still a bit rocky, by wind force 6, the second day is already as smooth as it can be. The weather is nice and warm at 23 degrees celsius, air and ocean. I don't know about the ocean yet but will test it tomorrow, when we port at our first destination in St. Maarten. 

People often ask "Isn't it terribly boring to be on a cruise ship all day long"? Hey, people, it is absolutely not! One needs to be actually careful to not schedule too much and leave room for spontaneity and pure leisure.

Take today for example. I got up and had a nice breakfast on our own, private balcony with fresh fruit, omelette, cheese, tea and V8 juice. After that, Bill, Oliver and I attended a Power Yoga class held by Shaun, which was fun and invigorating. Following this empowering work out, I took a shower and went to attended Shaun's lecture Eat More To Weigh Less (okay, I like Shaun), a very informative 60 minutes! On my way back to our cabin, I stopped at the Grill Passenger's concierge desk to  arrange a couple of land excursions.

Time for lunch, and so, Bill, Mike, Oliver and myself went to the Asian part of the Kings Court restaurant. I had "cooked" Sushi, because for health concerns, there's no raw fish offered. These many activities ask for a nap. And now I am obviously writing this blog, before I might head to yet another lecture held by the jewelry designer Onofrio D'Oro.

Tonight, all Grill Passengers are invited to a Cocktail Hour with the captain Nick Bates. It's formal attire tonight, and the gents will wear tuxedos and the ladies long evening gowns. For some this might sound stiff or unpleasant but I really love the festive atmosphere you get when all people are dressed nicely! Guys never look better than in a black tuxedo, a white shirt and a black bow tie! Hello, James Bond! Following the cocktail hour, we'll have dinner at the elegant Princess Grill.  

In between all that I'll squeeze in some time with the novel I am currently reading as well with my e-guitar which I brought with me.

Life on board the Queen Mary 2 is good. Life is fabulous in every aspect!

-- By Elke

Photos: Elke's iPhone

Leaving NYC

The Queen Mary 2 passes the Verrazano Bridge and clears it by what seems only a few feet. Crowds were cheering as if she hasn't had done for many times before.

Anyway, we settled in our incredible cabin, drank some champaign and started eating. More tomorrow.

 

Goodbye New York!

In a few hours we're heading out of the city to the Caribbean islands. We'll visit Grenada (see above) again and four other islands. We'll post pictures here and on Posterous.