Arctic Exploration

Svalbard, High Arctic, July 2009

Michelle and I had been on the waitlist for a voyage on the National Geographic Explorer to the arctic. The trip is titled in the Land of the Ice Bear and we were very hopeful that we would be able to take advantage of already being in Europe and one of these trips fit nicely into one of our breaks from the Panorama. Luckily for us they had an available cabin and we made the cut! July 25th we flew from Athens to Oslo, Norway and we were able to explore Oslo at least for an evening. The next day we caught the group flight from Oslo to Longyearbyen which is the main town on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. We went along with the normal group tour to explore the town and then boarded the Explorer late in the afternoon. It was great to get to see the new ship but even greater to catch up with some old friends. When we saw our cabin we were amazed. Michelle and I haven’t had that much living space in as long as we can remember. It was a lower category cabin but to us it was huge!
Our first day out found us cruising in Hornsund which is one of the southernmost fjords in the Svalbard area. Two polar bears were spotted on the beach. The first was obvious but the second wasn’t spotted till much later and it was a testament to how well they can blend in. That afternoon we landed at Gåshamna (Goose Harbour) and took a hike around the area. By the time we returned to the ship the wind and chop had picked up which made it a wet and windy Zodiac ride back to the ship. Man, that was some cold seawater on my head.
On our second day out we cruised through the ice in the fog which was a bit surreal. During the day we landed at Diskobukta on Edgeoya Island for some more exploration of the area. The landing showed signs of earlier whaling days and the number of animals that must have been taken during the active whaling of the 17th century. Late in the day a polar bear was spotted on the open ice and it was a great site. He wandered around the ship and seemed a bit curious as to what we were and where we were going.
We spent the next day wandering in the ice. It was too foggy to go ashore (can’t see the polar bears) so the ship searched in the ice for wildlife. Lots of good ice and late in the day great sightings of a polar bear mom and her cub that wandered by the ship along the ice edge.
The fourth day started with some distant views of a number of polar bears on the shore at Bjorn Sundet. There were many to be observed and counted during the early hours of the morning as well as an arctic fox that arrived on the scene. Later on the ship ‘bow’d’ up to Kapp Fanshawe and the thousands of birds that lived there. From here the ship steamed north, as far north as possible. We were headed for as close to the North Pole as we could get in the time that we had. Around midnight (It never gets dark this time of year, at all) we had a celebration of sorts as the ship reached 80 40.43 N, 15 59.15 E and we passed through a section of the Polar Ice Basin. It was pretty cool to be less than 600 nautical miles from the North Pole and be able to go back to a warm bed for the night.  This was a new record for the National Geographic Explorer.
Day 5 found us approaching Moffen Island to view some walruses hauled out on this isolated spot. Later on in the morning the ship motored into Woodfjorden, and made a landing at Kileneset. There was an old German weather reporting station there as well as a number of reindeer as we explored the beach and the surrounding tundra. In the afternoon the ship repositioned to Monaco glacier for an afternoon of Zodiac cruises and kayaking. I went for a Zodiac ride and Michelle opted for the ‘long’ massage for the afternoon.
On the last day we spent the morning out to the West of Svalbard in search of whales. Blue whales and fin whales appeared regularly with lots of good views from the ship. Eventually we ran out of time but not out of mammals in that they continued to appear as we made our way back towards land. Late in the afternoon, actually it was after dinner, we landed at Prince Karls Forland to view some walruses hauled out at a bit of a closer range. It was a good, last photo opportunity before we packed everything away in preparation to return to Greece.
We had a blast and it was great fun to catch up with Mike Greenfelder, Kendra Nelson, Ryan Wallace, Steve MacLean, Tom Ritchie, Jason Kelley and Kim Heacox. We boarded the group flight with the rest of the guests for Oslo and laid low in the hotel for the evening. Before we knew it we were back aboard the Panorama in a totally different geographic area with drastically different air and water temperatures. Just how did we get to and from the arctic in a little over a week? And was that really a polar bear, two, three or eight that I was looking down on? It’s crazy when you think about it. It was more than a 40 degree change in latitude and a 40 degree change in water temperature. The Arctic was great fun but we’d much rather swim in the Mediterranean when you get right down to it.

Spain

In the nearly two months since our last post, we’ve been on the move. A lot. We finished the first 6 weeks of our charter season, spent two days in Athens, and then headed for Madrid. Our oldest nephew Preston was scheduled to fly from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Madrid, for his weeklong holiday with us. Mark and I had a few days in Madrid before Preston arrived, so we scoped out the scene and finalized our plans for the week.

We arrived in the early evening (8 PM, practically the middle of the day to Spaniards!), on a Saturday and were amazed by the fabulous parade of people near our hotel. After a quick unpacking and freshening up, we walked the short distance to the Plaza Mayor. Street performers and musicians, young couples and families with kids, tourists and locals alike were all out in force for a madrileño summer Saturday night. Around the corner, we found the Mercado de San Miguel, a large public market, similar to the Ferry Building in San Francisco. It seemed that some people were shopping, but most were moving from stall to stall, sampling fresh oysters at one, vermouth at another. We found an overpriced restaurant nearby, and sat for a leisurely Spanish dinner, complete with a bottle of rioja and a street-side table for people watching. The next morning, I woke up early-ish (7 AM), and had the idea that I’d take my camera out to the Plaza, to watch the city waking up. I was envisioning little mom & pop groceries and fruit stalls raising their metal gates, housewives stopping by the bakery for the day’s bread... Clearly, I had no idea of Spanish life, because what I found was the city going to bed! Young men and women still dressed for the warm evening before were talking animatedly as they huddled together for warmth in the chilly morning breeze. I walked for blocks, seeing almost no one starting their day, but many going home after a long Saturday night. Can you say paradigm shift?

We visited the famous El Rastro flea market that Sunday, and made the requisite visit to the Museo Reina Sofia for a look at Picasso’s “Güernica”, and a sobering lesson in Spain’s 20th century history. We also spent a relaxing hour and a half at the Medina Mayrit “hammam” – a series of baths and steam rooms built in an underground cistern, following the Arab design of the 12th to 14th century. When Preston’s arrival date rolled around, we were at the airport nearly an hour before his arrival, and, of course, his flight was delayed. Neurotic Aunt Michelle had to wait almost two hours before Preston walked through the doors with his American Airlines escort. We hopped in a cab and headed to the small hostal recommended by family friend Cathy Bingman, checked in, dropped our bags and went in search of food. A sightseeing walk and visit to the temporary Matisse exhibit at the Thyssen-Bournemisza Museum filled that afternoon, and then we returned to the hostal to clean up for our dinner invitation. Friends of Mark’s dad (Kirk and Cathy Bingman and their children) have been living in Madrid for several years, and we were invited to their home for dinner. We learned the Madrid subway and found their place, and were then treated to unbelievable hospitality. Sangria and Sprite and great conversation flowed for the next several hours, and I was really reminded what a treat it is to be invited into a home when you’re traveling.

We left Madrid the next day, by rental car with me at the wheel. I think Preston was convinced he’d die on more than one occasion that day, but we had a beautiful drive through La Mancha (think Don Quixote) and into Andalucía. In the late afternoon we arrived in Granada, and followed the slightly confusing directions to our room rental in the old Albaicín. This time Preston was SURE he was about to die, as he got a lesson in how a married couple can argue, loudly, and still love each other. We had a late lunch under the Alhambra, a swim in our little pool and then Preston crashed. In the next few days, we wandered around Granada, finding the old silk market and the cathedral and having a trio of gypsy women read our palms and give us rosemary stems, for 5 euros each! I gave two of the stems back, and thanked them for the palm reading. On our last day in Granada, we had a guided afternoon tour of the Alhambra, the last fort in Spain to be occupied by the Moors. We spent over 2 hours walking through the grounds and buildings, in gorgeous late afternoon light, and were only disappointed that the famous lion fountain was under renovation. Check out the photos.

Then it was on to Ronda. We drove south to the coast, fought hordes of traffic along the Costa del Sol, and then turned north into the mountains. At one point, we stopped for the view, seeing Gibraltar out to the west of us. When we arrived at our fabulous little hotel (Hotel Enfrente Arte), and the front desk clerk Dimitri gave us a little tour, all Preston could say was “this is great, this is really great”. Music to this auntie’s ears. For the next few days we wandered around this beautifully scenic old town, touring the excellently preserved Roman (or Arab, depending on which sign you read) baths, walking the old city walls and shopping for a few gifts for family. One day we even drove out of town to the nearby Roman ruins. We celebrated our last night in town with a fantastic dinner at a little place called Casa Maria. A reserved table on the “terrace” proved to be in the plaza across the street, and the menu consisted of choosing red or white wine, salad or tapas, and meat, chicken or fish for the entrée. Everything was delicious, and Preston even tried some excellent Spanish wine (his verdict, “it’s an acquired taste”).

We drove back to Madrid the next day, making good enough time to turn in the rental car, check back into the hostal, show Preston the Plaza Mayor and have our photo taken in front of the Museo del Jamón (museum of ham)! We were invited to the Bingman’s for another dinner, this one in celebration of Preston’s upcoming birthday. It was a festive night, followed by a quiet goodbye the next morning. As the airline escort told Preston it was time to go, he said to us “Thanks. Thanks for a great trip”. More music to this auntie’s ears.

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

From Mexico to the Mediterranean

Greetings from Athens,

Spain, June 2009

Greece & Dalmatian Coast, 2009

We are officially slackers with regards to our blog.
Since we posted last I brought the ship south from Alameda, CA. after a good shipyard. Our Baja season on the Sea Lion went very well with better than average weather and good wildlife. The grey whales left from Magdalena Bay a bit early so we spent some time getting guests to and from San Ignacio lagoon but with good success. During our January break Michelle and I headed north to Texas and Tucson to visit with family and then retreated to Baja. During our spring vacation we made good use of the time on Cheers and journeyed north to Loreto and back to La Paz, seeing some old friends (Shawn Breeding and Heather Bansmer) and making some new ones along the way. The sailing was good, the anchorages were a tough call (where will it blow from tonight?) but all in all it was a great time.

In early May we buttoned up the boat after stripping all of the canvas for hurricane season. In the midst of this we managed to pack up our gear for a six month tour of the Mediterranean and the Dalmatian Coast. Hmm, I think that I forgot to mention this. Michelle and I were asked to come as a team to manage a sailing ship that Lindblad has chartered for the Greek Islands and the Dalmatian Coast. The name of the ship is the Panorama and Michelle worked on it for that last part of this same itinerary last year. Last year, things didn’t go so well so we were “guardedly optimistic” going into this.

It turned out that the management company for the ship had made some significant changes in equipment and personnel which made our lives much easier. We headed out from La Paz in May, kissing our boat (Cheers) goodbye and headed across the Atlantic. Upon arrival into Athens Michelle got busy preparing for the season and I head to Crete in order to board the ship early and check out the situation. Shortly thereafter we met in Athens, got everything together with the help of fellow staff members Sharon Grainger and Linnea Sjorberg and headed out on our first official voyage of the season. We started with a week in the Greek Islands and then we were off for the Dalmatian Coast. The Dalmatian Coast voyage began in Athens and included stops in Itea and Ithaka (Greece), Sirande and Durres (Albania), Kotor, Montenegro, Dubrovnik, Mljet, Korcula, Sibenik and Hvar (Croatia).For the voyage back to Greece reverse the order. We found great people in countries with diverse backgrounds, beautiful countryside and a ton of culture to absorb. After going up to Dubrovnik and back again it was good to see Greek waters on the horizon. We had a few more voyages in the Greek Islands and then we were off for a break. The Greek Islands itinerary usually includes stops on Dilos, Mykonos, Santorini, Milos, Follegandros, Polliegos, Sifnos and Kythnos. Granted we shift this around due to weather and dock availability but you get the idea. We had a mix of calm and windy weather but there was always sun and you can’t beat a daily dip in the Mediterranean. After three trips in the Greek Islands we packed everything up for a short break and headed to Spain, but that’s another entry. All in all things went very well for our first run on the Panorama.

Take a look at the link “where’s the Panorama” to check out the daily expedition reports from this season.