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Footprints for the Oceania TransAtlantic Crossing ... from Miami to Athens … with three weeks added in Turkey to visit family. Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    Hello Miami!

    19 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Welcome to Miami, Florida!

    Except for a couple of patches of turbulence en route, a smooth flight brought us to Miami on time at 4:26p … to blue skies, sunshine, warm and humid temperatures, and palm trees swaying in the breeze. If there was a storm earlier, there is no sign of it now.

    As soon as we collect our bags — the carousel has yet to start running — we’ll take the MIA Mover to the Car Rental Center to pick up the car we reserved from Thrifty.

    More later …    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    “Unhappily” Settled in Miami!

    19 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ 🌙 77 °F

    It’s 10:00p and I am dead tired. But even if I turned in now, there is no way I would get any sleep.

    You see, the noise filtering up from the restaurant/bar on the 25th floor is making an unholy din … even with the balcony door closed, the shade pulled down, and the drapes drawn. The problem is that the residence — fancy word for an apartment — overlooks the atrium, which acts like an echo chamber. Sure, there is a nice view across the atrium to the Port of Miami, but the echo-factor takes away any pleasure we might otherwise have from such a view. What makes our situation especially bad is that it’s not just the living area that overlooks the atrium, but the bedroom does as well.

    The property we rented through AirBNB sits atop the Hotel AKA Brickell … in what’s called the Brickel Arch. We have all the amenities we could ask for … a bedroom separate from the living/dining area, which pleases Mui who is usually early-to-bed; a good sized kitchen where we can self-cater some of our meals; a washer and dryer so that we can board Insignia with a suitcase full of clean clothes after three days of exploration in and around Miami; parking space … which is a boon in downtown Miami, where parking is at a premium. Even with a few “cleaning issues” we noticed, this place would have worked out nicely. IF NOT FOR THE NOISE!

    It’s a shame really, as we were hoping that we’d found a place that we could use for a longer stay when we return to Miami in December for another cruise. For that trip, I will have to go back to the drawing board … sigh!

    Sorry … I’m so frustrated that I skipped right over getting us from MIA to the Brickel Arch. So, back to earlier this evening … the walk from baggage claim to the MIA Mover was longer than I remember. But we made it without huffing and puffing too much. A short ride … and we were at the Rental Car Center.

    When we arrived at Thrifty, a sign directed us to Dollar Rental. Funny, because we had the option of booking a mid-size car from Dollar for the same price, but had opted for Thrifty! No matter, it was just across the hall and a few minutes later, we were heading down to the car park. Surprise! No mid-size cars were available. How about a free upgrade to a full-size car? Sure.

    Traffic into Miami was heavy, but we managed to find the Brickel Arch easily enough. Got our stuff up to the residence, and went right back out to the nearby Publix to shop for groceries. By the time we returned to our place, it was already 8:00p, so in lieu of the pasta bolognese Mui had planned, grilled cheese sandwiches made it onto our plates for dinner.

    And that’s a wrap!

    Now to go find my earplugs!    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    Gibraltar to Replace Morocco

    19 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ 🌙 77 °F

    I mentioned a few days ago that the latest COVID-19 entry requirements we received from Oceania showed that Morocco is closed to cruise ships.

    A little bird whispered in my ear this morning that instead of calling on Tangier, we will be going to Gibraltar. (That little bird, by the way, is actually a passenger who is on the ship right now.)

    We’ve been to Gibraltar a couple of times before. The first time I remember was in 2003. But mom tells me that I was actually in Gibraltar for the first time when I was but a wee girl. On that occasion, we were on an Italian Line ship called Cristoforo Colombo ... sailing from the US to Italy to meet my dad in Naples. From there, we switched to another vessel that took us to Turkey.

    But back to that early call on Gibraltar. Apparently, the stop was what is known as a service call to bunker fuel after the Atlantic crossing. Passengers were not allowed to disembark. However, vendors were allowed to bring their small boats up to the vessel … from where a brisk trade ensued. I don’t really recall any of that, so I’ll take mom’s word for it.

    The nice thing about visiting a port that we’re familiar with is that we know where to go, what to do. Not much research needed. In fact, if the weather is nice, we already have a plan for what to do. If not … well, we’ll deal with that then.    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    Quiet Day … In More Ways than One

    20 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    A long travel day yesterday, capped by a late night. That pretty much equated to a slow day for us in Miami today. Neither of us could really get our butts in gear until this afternoon.

    The music and sounds of conversation from the partygoers was still obnoxiously loud when I finally went to bed at midnight. The earplugs helped, but didn’t completely obscure the noise. It was around 2:00a when I finally succumbed to sleep … the noise finally dimming a bit.

    All was quiet when we rolled out of bed this morning … much later than we’re used to doing so. Breakfast, reading, writing … for me. Breakfast, cooking, a long chat with a friend … for Mui.

    Sometime during the morning, we texted with the management company responsible for renting out this residence. They said they would talk to the hotel management and security to ensure the restaurant shuts down at 11:00p as it’s supposed to. They also offered a discounted rate for a quiet unit here … for next time. Would we risk that? I doubt it. But we left the door open. Negotiations are ongoing. In the meantime, I’ve got my review written up and ready to post on AirBNB when we check out. As you might imagine, it isn’t very favorable.

    I will say that all was quiet throughout the day. It was our pleasure to make the most of the peace and quiet by enjoying lunch on our balcony … Pasta Bolognese a la Mui.

    Around 2:00p, we finally left to run some errands … a bit of shopping that I didn’t get to when we moved up our departure to Miami. I found some of what I was looking for.

    Then back home for a quiet evening … and an enjoyable meal of black bean, corn, mango, and avocado salad a la Mui. Delicious.

    Now, at just after 9:00p, there is some music and noise filtering up to us from the atrium. But at a far more manageable level. Perhaps the obnoxiously loud noise last night was a one-off … exacerbated by it being a Saturday night.

    Our shopping trip this afternoon gave us the opportunity to walk some 9,000 steps, so we got some good exercise while we were at it. We hope to walk at least as many steps tomorrow … doing some fun stuff this time … after a good night’s rest … 🤞🏻    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    O Safety Video ✔️

    21 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Anyone who has cruised knows of the requirement to attend a muster drill to learn — or, in the case of long-time cruisers, get a refresher course — about the safety procedures in the event of an emergency.

    In the times of COVID, cruise lines have had to find alternatives to the crowded in-person muster drills that usually take place on the ship just prior to sailaway. Enter remote mustering … i.e., watching a muster drill video before embarking the ship.

    We got our first email to do so yesterday. And another one this morning. We sat down to watch the video before breakfast this morning. I was expecting that there would be a link at the end to confirm that we had watched it. But there was nothing like that. I’m thinking we’ll be seeing this video again in the cabin before checking in with someone on the ship to personally attest to our compliance.

    P.S. We still had to go down to the restaurant/bar after 11:00p last night to request that they turn down the music … which the very surly bartender did so about 15 minutes later. There were only three people in the bar, so loud conversations were not an issue. All was quiet before midnight. Definitely a better night for us.    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    Wynwood Walls

    21 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    We didn’t quite get to or beat yesterday’s 9,000+ steps today, but we came close to 8,000. A fairly active day I would say.

    Longtime readers of my various writings know that I love to photograph murals. So, when I heard about the Wynwood Walls in Miami, I knew we had to check them out. The idea behind the walls was revitalize the neighborhood by the same name. It’s described as a graffiti and street art open air museum. Since its inception, the program has “seen hundreds of artists representing many countries and has covered over 80,000 square feet of walls.”

    The murals decorate the walls of houses, businesses, parking lots, and an assortment of other walls. Some have remained in great shape … others have been vandalized. Some are easy to get to … others are behind fences. There’s a “paid” section known as the Wynwood Walls Garden … and tours are also offered utilizing golf carts.

    Unsure of our timing, I had not pre-purchased tickets, so we opted to just drive around the Wynwood neighborhood to enjoy all the vibrant color that was impossible to miss … and hard to resist. Needless to say, there was a lot of “Mui, stop! I need to take a photo,” exclamations issuing forth from my side of the vehicle.    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022
    1

    Tacos in Miami Beach

    21 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    After leaving Wynwood, we struggled a bit with what to do. We wanted to get to the waterfront … have some seafood for lunch. We managed the first by going to Miami Beach, but the seafood lunch didn’t happen. The only place even close to the water — but still with no water views — was Taquiza, a taco place. The reviews were good, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. We can now enthusiastically add our “two thumbs up” for this most casual eatery.

    After our simple but delicious meal, we went for a stroll along the pedestrian way … stepping out on the beach a few times along the way. The wind was blowing strong … which didn’t seem to faze the beach goers at all. And, of course, the windsurfers were loving the conditions. But I refused to take a selfie with my hair flying every which way. After all, I figure one “bad hair” photo is more than enough for any footprint 😃😉    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    We’re NEGATIVE!

    21 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    Being negative in the COVID-19 world is a good thing!

    When we got back to the residence from Miami Beach, we stopped to get ourselves a gelato … to fortify us for the upcoming antigen test we’d be doing. Sorry, no photo of our treat … the wind was melting the gelato faster than we could eat it … no time to dally!

    Since Oceania requires a COVID-19 test 48-hours prior to embarkation, and Bermuda now accepts the same, we settled on doing the proctored Antigen test offered by e-Med. It took a few tries to work out the technical kinks, but once we got past the glitches, the testing itself was a breeze. The proctor carefully walked us through the steps from opening the box, to tickling our nasal cavities, to securing and sealing the sample … watching us via the video link all through the process.

    The 15-minute wait for the test to “cure” seemed interminable. But eventually that too passed and within minutes of the proctor visually confirming our “negative” status — as denoted by a single pink line in the control window — we had both a pdf file via email and a pass in the NAVICA app to prove to anyone who asks that we are COVID-free.

    Next step was to upload the test results and our proof of vaccination on to the Bermuda Travel Authorization site and pay the $40pp fee. Now we wait for the QR code to be sent to us … essential to embarking Insignia on Wednesday.

    Oh the stress of the wait!

    P.S. It’s now 11:30p and the music playing in the atrium bar has been turned down … with only a bit of prompting from me. In Miami, I guess an 11:00p “quiet hours start” actually means midnight!!!    Baca lagi

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  • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022

    Easy Day in Miami

    22 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ 🌙 75 °F

    Easy doesn’t mean that we sat around doing nothing today. In fact, we were the most active we’ve been since arriving in Miami … 12,250-steps active in fact.

    We started out by driving out to MIA to return the rental car to Dollar. Then, we walked over to the MIA Intermodal Center to hop on the orange line metro rail train to the Government Center Station. Here, we made our way to the “free” Metromover, which is part of the Miami public transportation system. It’s a great service. The Brickell Line brought us back to the Brickell Arch where we are staying … right across the road from the station.

    Next up, a stroll over to Truluck’s for a seafood lunch. The place isn’t on the water, but at least there was a section outdoors where we were able to enjoy a delicious al fresco lunch … despite the wind blowing strong once again. Our meal included salt & pepper calamari; a crab cake sandwich (for me); and stone crab claws and cauliflower mash (for Mui). We wrapped up by sharing a key lime pie that was so oversized that we asked the waiter to just box up half of it and bring the other half to the table.

    Thus sated, we continued our stroll into downtown Miami, circling along the waterfront near the Intercontinental Hotel to enjoy the port views where we hope to see Insignia docked tomorrow. We made it as far as Bayside Market, which was chock-a-block with people of all ages. Best to get out of the crowd and head back to the daytime peace and quiet of the apartment.

    Since we have a busy morning planned before we embark Insignia tomorrow, we used our afternoon to repack our bags … and just relax a bit. Wish I could say that we’ll get to bed early for a good night’s rest, but the music is still blaring in the restaurant … for all of seven customers! I guess the bartender is hoping the loud music will lure in some stragglers. Just one more night of gritting our teeth and bearing this very-noisy-at-night place.    Baca lagi

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