Tag Archives: Spain

22 Oct 2013 Star Flyer at sea – Cadiz to Funchal.

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On board the Star Flyer.  We had a very rocky night, on our first night after leaving the European continent.  What an introduction to sea travel!  A storm was brewing to the north-west of us and we were running along its edge, with deep swells and strong winds.  We were rolling around the bed and holding on as best we could as the ship was pitching and rolling through the night.  Things not properly secured within the cabin were crashing onto the floor and rolling around, including toilet items on the bathroom sink and a bottle of champagne & bucket which had been provided to us when we first boarded.  We survived the night with nothing broken and were even ready for a hardy breakfast the next morning.  It should be mentioned that the food for all meals has been delicious and plentiful.  Many people, however, were not nearly as enthusiastic about food that morning as we were.

0930 Peter  Kissner, cruise director. Ship’s position, weather conditions, etc.
1015 Dr. Bill Cogar. The age of exploration and discovery.
1200 Lunch buffet
1500 Dr. Bob Rowland, “Introduction to marine geology & Alfred Wegener and continental drift”
1845 Peter Kissner, Maritime history, “The first sailing voyages of mankind”
1930 Dinner

21-Oct Star Flyer in Cadiz, Spain

[Edit 12-oct-14]

In the early morning of 21 Oct the Star Flyer tied up in the ancient port of Cadiz, Spain.  Cadiz, it is said, is the site of the oldest continuous settlement in Europe, featuring a natural harbor on the Atlantic coast and well positioned for the sea-trade between northern Europe and the Mediterranean and later with the new world.  Cadiz is the port from where Columbus departed for his 2nd & 4th voyages of discovery.  It also is a perfectly situated for defense and has a fortress wall surrounding its island-like old city at the tip of a peninsula.

[today we are in Cadiz and we are doing a quick catchup using the verizon hotspot which is running at 3G not 4g.]

Since we last posted, we we did an excursion to Ronda, which has a huge gulch dividing the city and a famous bull ring, and to Granada for a tour of the fabulous Alhambra. Photos to come. These tours (one day each) were out of Malaga.

we then boarded the Star Flyer, a very nice 4-masted tall ship with 180 passengers and 80 crew. About 30 pf the passengers are on a cruise and will leave when we get to the Canary Islands. The rest of us will continue on the trans-Atlantic crossing to Barbados with a full solar eclipse in mid-Atlantic. The trans-Atlantic crossing was set up by Betchart Travel for the Planetary Society (Bill Nye, the science guy, an officer), American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi (science honor society), American Chemical Society, and Cal Alumni Travel. it is an interesting collection of people. We have encountered several chemists so it is like old home week for me.

Cadiz, Spain

Cadiz, SpainCadiz, SpainCadiz, Spain

Cadiz, SpainCadiz, Spain Cadiz, Spain Cadiz, Spain Cadiz, Spain Cadiz, Spain

19 Oct Malaga Spain, excursion to Granada, board the Star Flyer

On Saturday 19-Oct we went on an excursion to the Alhambra in Granada.  When we returned we boarded the Star Flyer where we will be living for the next three weeks.

The Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, is a beautiful example of Islamic art & architecture.  The interior decorations are elaborate & intricate, with almost lace-like stone carved archways & fountains.  It also had extensive, beautifully groomed gardens. It was awesome!

Alhambra, Granada, Spain Alhambra, Granada, Spain IMG_3330 IMG_3332 IMG_3334 Alhambra, Granada, Spain Alhambra, Granada, Spain IMG_3370

17 Oct – 18 Oct Malaga Spain, excursion to Ronda

On 17 Oct we flew from Paris to Malaga, Spain. We have tours booked through our “cruise” arrangements tomorrow and Saturday and we board the ship Saturday so we seized the moment today and did a mini-tour of Malaga. Since we missed out on Picasso in Paris, we visited the Picasso Museum (he was born here) and we visited Teatro Romano (an impressive display on Roman theaters and related topics) and the Alcazaba de Malaga (a Muslim or Moor palace-fortress dating from the eleventh century).

On the 18th we took the optional excursion to Ronda, a unique location on top of cliffs with a deep ravine running through the middle of the town.

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Alcazaba de Malaga Alcazaba de Malaga Alcazaba de Malaga IMG_3284 IMG_3286 IMG_3287 IMG_3293 IMG_3295