Clay Clayton

Just now, dottythecat said:

Thanks for the travelogue, Clay. We board the Sky on May 6 for the British Isles cruise. Save me some pistachio buns! I am bringing LRC and have asked our traveling companions to bring some $$.  Barb

 

 

 

Haven’t seen a pistachio bun in three months😢. Have a great cruise and the pool bar table is perfect for LCR and I think Clayfon will still be onboard when you are. 

Just now, Va Girl said:

We have been lurking on this thread following the adventures of our good friends Clay and Mike.  So enjoying the commentary and pictures!

Since we were unable to get the helicopter pilot to "drop" his Birthday card to him on the deck, I have pulled out of "Lurkdom" to wish him an early Happy Birthday.  Hoping you win LCR again on May 2nd and have your traditional gin and tonic with a twist of lime to enjoy.  Oh wait have you switched to Mojitos???

Happy Birthday and hugs for afar,

Peggy and Lowell

Birthday? You must have me confused with somebody else.  I don’t celebrate them anymore! 
 

Mojitos have become my LCR drink because our LCR bartender Clayfon makes such tasty ones!

I won the penultimate LCR on our sea day before Algadir (boy that seems forever ago!). 
 

Join us tomorrow (May 1st) for our final game and perhaps you’ll be the big winner.  All you need to do is be at the pool bar at 3:30 with 3 one dollar bills. No singles? No worries! Clay will have change. 

Another beautiful day in Portugal!  After the past six days of go-go-go while in port and because we  spent so much time in and around Porto in 2018, we decided to have an easy day today.  Sky is docked at the port of Leixões which is 45-60 minutes from Porto proper. Unfortunately, we are at the old cruise terminal which is across the Leça River and therefore while we can see the great market in Matosinhos from our balcony where we planned to have lunch, getting there involves a long walk the wrong way to mount the bridge and then up and over.  

So we decided to head the other way and explore the area on the north side of the river.  We are glad we did. Like all of this part of Portugal the beaches are beautiful with wide walkways. In this case, in addition to an old fort that is now a police station, there is a public pool built into the rocks.  

We had a nice walk and enjoyed watching surfers ride the waves. After a nice walk, we headed back to the ship stopping for lunch and walking through the pleasant town. Lots of old buildings in need of a savior, some that had found theirs, and a couple of amazing new construction.

We stopped at the end of the beach at Brasão Leca for lunch. This local chain has lots of traditional dishes and we split Porto’s heart attack on a plate - a Francesinha, Porto’s version of a Croque Madam if as Mike put it a Croque Madam was healthy!  It’s a sandwich stuffed with sausage, steak, ham, and cheese. Then covered with more cheese, broiled until melty, then topped with an egg and served in a slightly spicy tomato sauce…with fries!  So tasty!  

We ordered a bowl of vegetable soup (likely some sort of pumpkin or squash-very good) and a “Mustard & Orange” salad. We expected mustard greens with some oranges…what we got was so much better!  Juicy ripe oranges with red onions in a mustardy vinaigrette.  Unlike at the places we ate in Lisbon the last two days, here we were happy to see bread, butter (in this case smoked ham butter!), and a bowl  of olives and capers delivered to the table.  In Portugal these are usually brought when you’re greeted and you are charged for them (in this case €1,85 pp) but if you don’t want them you ask them to take away.

The restaurant also had the prettiest driftwood sink in the restroom.  

After our wonderful lunch we walked back through town and found Sky at the end of one of the many little streets.  While not as fancy as the new terminal, the old one is a great renovation of what we expect was an old port side warehouse.
 

We leave in about an hour headed to A Coruña Spain where we will be taking a day long trip to Santiago de Compostela. Speaking of which, while strolling along the beach we saw 50 or more “pilgrims” making the hike to Santiago. We were asked and took a picture of three young ladies headed there, they said they had nine more days before they hoped to arrive. We think we like our mode of transportation better😂. But if you’re interested in more info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago 

Sorry to have not posted in awhile.  The innerwebs have been very slow and CC wouldn’t even open.  Typing this from Porto (Leixões really) on cellular so hopefully will load. 
 

We had long day tours in both Casablanca and Tangiers both of which were enjoyable but tiring. Lots of walking (and other guests complaining about it🤔).  
 

Rabat was interesting but a long drive to get there but a very tasty tagine lunch, visit to a former king’s tomb as well as the walk through the casbah and Medina.

Our trip to Tetuan was equally long, the Medina even more interesting and the meal not as good but it came with a show. 

We did our own thing both days in Lisbon since we had been there for several weeks during our nomadic years.  Lots of walking but most enjoyable to be back. And we really enjoyed the destination performance of Fado onboard with a glass of port. 

Since we are docked an hour outside of Porto and also “lived” here for a bit, we are going to walk over to the beach and generally have a rest day here. Tomorrow we have a long long tour to Santiago de Compostelo so figure it will be wise to lay low today. 

Tonight, we are having a special Italian dinner in the Restaurant served “Family Style”. If it is anything like the other special dinner they did and the more recent special nights in the WC, it should be quite wonderful. 

On 4/27/2024 at 3:30 AM, BobCatter said:

Hey Sky: is it possible to walk to Rick’s Cafe from the ship?
 

As I recall, it was quite a walk from where we ported to the gate, from there probably not too far. If y’all are at the new terminal might be easier. If not  Probably better to take the shuttle to the Hyatt and walk, that isn’t too far. 
 

On 4/28/2024 at 1:10 AM, Azulann said:

Clay, I  love your description and pictures  of your  tour in Morocco above and the great meal you had. 

I have been to Tangiers twice.  Got some Argon oil and spices  including saffron last time. It was all so good. Wish I had bought  more.

 Three times Casablanca port on my previous  cruises have been cancelled, so I figure it was never meant to be ...

I am also following your pictures on X too. 

Cannot believe that your WC is now in final count down days. 😔

 

 

it is even harder to believe onboard!  

2 hours ago, Groovybusybee said:

I’ve been following both World Cruise threads since the beginning, and have thoroughly enjoyed living vicariously through you. Thanks.

 

I’m just a little curious though………as your adventure comes towards its end, what are your emotions? Are you ready for home and your own bed? What will you miss the most? Would you do it again???  Was there a point when you were home sick?

 

feel free to answer or ignore.

 

Debbie

 

 

 

 

Hopefully some other WCers will weigh in also. 
 

The last sea days before we started this stretch of final port days, I was melancholy.  Not because the cruise was coming to an end (though that was certainly the root cause), but because I realized that taking a world cruise had always been a “some day” goal.  With that goal fulfilled, what to look forward to? What to try to plan?  
 

Thankfully, we are now fully engaged with our port days so as Scarlet would have said, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” 😂

To answer your questions:

Not opposed to home and my own bed, but would be happy to stay on board 

Other than not having someone cook, wash-up, make beverages, go grocery shopping, clean our bathroom twice a day, the things we will miss the MOST are the wonderful crew.  On a “regular” cruise you get to kinda know the crew but  after four months, many have become more like friends and I will miss knowing how their lives are going. Our favorite bartender’s wife is due in June-would love to know how they are doing….will our favorite waiter and waitress end up getting married….etc. 
 

We have said we would definitely do it again!

Never homesick. (See cooking, cleaning, etc😂)

15 hours ago, Missmelisk said:

@Clay Clayton - Just a message of thanks for letting me (all of us!) follow along with you on your adventures! My mom and I (80 years young!) are in the airport awaiting our flight to Venice, where we'll board our first Viking Cruise on 4/27. I feel like I know you guys, and I'm just coming to terms with the fact that you won't actually BE on our ship with us. Enjoy your last days on your trip of a lifetime! 

Hope you have a great cruise and I haven’t raised your expectations too high.  Hope you pass along anything you discover to others. 

Our optional excursion today was called “A taste of Morocco”. It was held at the Argan museum and from what I understood, it’s a co-op mostly of women producing and selling this traditional product of the Berbers. The Argan tree only grows naturally in Morocco and is prized for its oil which is used for cooking and cosmetics.
 

When we arrived at the beautiful museum we had a bowl of chicken, potatoes, turnips, onions, carrots, garlic, preserved lemon, tomatoes, olives, and zucchini waiting on us. We first placed the chicken in the bottom of the tajine and poked slits in it. It was then sprinkled with salt, pepper, turmeric, and dry ginger. After a generous dollop of Argan oil, we layered the veggies in a teepee around it topping all with more spices, oil and the preserved lemon. The top was then placed tightly on and each was placed on a charcoal brazier. While they cooked, we made a salad and dessert.

We each made our own salad using tomatoes, cucumber, onion, peppers, parsley, Argan oil, lemon, salt & pepper. It was amazing to see how diffferent each person’s salad turned out…but all were delicious!

Dessert was a type of barley couscous steamed three times (for a few minutes each time), the last two with the addition of amlou which is a paste made of ground almonds, Argan oil, and honey.  The big bowl of couscous you see was prepared before we arrived.  We each then made our own bowl of it with a well in middle and almond stuffed dates on top. Amlou was then poured into the well. It was a delicious and very filling dessert.  I don’t think anyone finished their whole bowl!

We were served delicious mint tea as the grand finale for our meal.  We learned that the reason for the fancy pouring is to get some foam on the top of the tea! #whoknew
 

While our tajines were cooking and our salads marinating, we did a tour of the museum. There was a section dedicated to information about the tree and the climate of Morocco, a section with a Berber lady showing us the traditional way the nut was opened and then later ground to release its oil.  We also saw a more modern machine which grinds and oils them.  We then were able to taste what our guide said was a typical breakfast-bread with bowls of oil, amlou, and orange honey for dipping.  And then of course we exited through the gift shop!😂. The museum was beautiful and the people we met so friendly and warm.  

We are looking forward to Casablanca tomorrow (and a very light supper tonight😂)

Unfortunately, I can’t get the rest of the pictures to load.  If you’re interested see Instagram @ClaynMike 

Just now, deec said:

Clay,        I did not know anything about santiago calatrava's buildings and bridges.  A Google search and I am awed....now I want to go find as many as we can....maybe a driving tour throughout the USA?  Pretty sure we saw "woman's bridge"  in Buenos Aires from the bus.

Not sure where you are but if anywhere near Milwaukee-then his addition to it is where I would go. Time it so you’re there at noon (verify I have the time correct) so you can see the wings flap. 

Just now, OneSixtyToOne said:

This one in Buenos Aires? It’s right down the street from the hotel we stayed at on the Viking extension.

 

Did you get to see it open?  

Fun day day before yesterday in Tenerife-we did the included which took us over the mountains to Porta de la Cruz. Enjoyable free time there followed by a short ride to the botanical garden and time there.   

After returning to the pier, Mike and I walked to the Auditrorio for their guided tour.  Easy to reserve online and only €5 (unless you’re like me and over 65 in which case it’s only €3.50!). This was the last major building of Santiago Calatrava we hadn’t visited so happy to get to tour it in person. 

From scuttlebutt, most everyone enjoyed the port. It was interesting to be back in a port with other ships. We were joined by Sky Princess, Norwegian Star, Celebrity Ascent, and a National Geographic Expedition ship. 

Chag Pesach Sameach to all who celebrate Passover.  We joined some of the Jewish guests onboard for Seder this evening. @drjj (who apparently has been leading the Sabbath services) asked Viking if it was possible to have a Seder and other than putting together the program and leading it, the great staff and crew onboard did the rest.
 

This was Mike’s first Seder ever and my first in at least 45 years so to us it was perfection. Some of course said their Mother’s Matzo Ball soup (failed to take a picture) was better but then shouldn’t it be? 😂 All in all, an enjoyable and educational evening learning about our friends and fellow passengers.
 

Happy Passover everyone!

(and yes the two of us WILL be eating bread for the next 8 days-we just went to a dinner-we didn’t convert😂.

Linda won LCR again today-that’s five in a row!   
 

of course “Linda” was guaranteed to win today😂 even the crew was Linda!

Join us the day after Tenerife at the pool bar after the “Voices of the Sky” concert for our penultimate match. 

 

LOL-don’t think that is the case…..and the lamb chops last night weren’t a special request, but sure glad we got to have them. 

OMG, new favorite main dish onboard. The feta crusted rack o’lamb is so so good. Sorry that it’s unlikely it will be offered again before they make us leave on May 6th😢. 

Just now, Cruising Domer said:

Our experience was the opposite of Clay's -- we tendered in Svalbard / Longyearbyen and used the SeaWalk (floating dock) when in Geiranger although the original itinerary had us tendering in Geiranger.

 

In Longyearbyen, we actually were docked our first day and then were tendered for the second day.  The tender ride was short -- 10-15 minutes tops from boarding the tender to setting foot on shore.

Mike had corrected me (after I read your post)-we too tendered the 2nd day.  

Just now, Jim Avery said:

World cruises "follow Summer" more or less.  We have never needed heavy gear or boots.  Nothing more than a light jacket or maybe a sweater.  You start out in the Southern Hemisphere soon after leaving the West coast and it is their Summer.  When you cross the equator northerly it is usually well into Spring on the Northern side.  Finish nearly into our Summer.

We have worn our WC jackets once, it was chilly in Cape Town.  Other folks wore theirs between Santa Barbara and Hawaii. 

Just now, OneSixtyToOne said:

Left Center Right

A game of pure chance.

Requires no skill to play.

Google is your friend:

https://www.wikihow.com/Play-LCR

So this is the fourth day that a Linda won LCR. The other Linda won $33 today!

Join us tomorrow at 3:30 at the pool bar as long as your name isn’t Linda!

Just now, TravelerTeacherRetired said:

Where are you now? 

On the Aquavit finishing lunch😂

if you mean where is the ship, we are off the coast of Mauritania headed towards Tenerife where we are to dock day after tomorrow.

11 hours ago, shadowlover said:

We will be going on this cruise in August.  I have some logistics questions.

For the tender ports - how long did it take to tender in Geiranger and Longyearbyen and do you remember the last tender times?

Do you remember if the included tour "highlights of Longyearbyen " was close to the port?  We are hoping to do another excursion close to the time that this tour ends.

 

Hope that makes sense!

TYIA

We got lucky and were able to dock in Longyearbyen so can’t speak from experience on how long the tender would take.  But another ship was tendered while we were there and they were relatively close to shore.  I can’t imagine it would take any longer than 20 minutes from shell door to pier. Most of the tender time I’ve found is in loading and unloading. 
 

We didn’t take the included tour here as it was (as I recall) a bus ride to the center of town and access to the museum. Instead, we booked a glacier excursion with Hurtigurten’s Svalbard directly. That excursion left from the pier next to where we were docked.  If you’re leaving on any water based trip, I think they will likely leave from the same location. Later, we took the complimentary shuttle into town and wandered for a bit before walking back to the ship. It is probably less than a mile to the center of town. 
 

In Geiranger, we did tender and I think they said to allow 30 minutes for the ride to shore and it was I think less than that. Below is a picture of Saturn anchored behind a HUGE Costa ship that used the floating pier. You can see our tender leaving the pier headed back to our ship. Costa arrived after we did and boy did it change the atmosphere in the little town.  It’s one of those ports where they should really only allow one ship a day. 

LCR today at 3:30 at the pool bar. Come see if Linda will make it a four-peat!  By my calculations she has won close to a hundred bucks…seems like it’s time for someone else to win. 

5 hours ago, Pappri said:

They’re the 8th and 9th, and we’re the 5th and 6th.  My fingers and toes calculated the original 3 days apart.  Plus I have a “our bus broke down in Dakar story”

Apparently along with everything else I’ve forgotten how to do over the last four months, counting is one of them.  My bad.  Thanks for setting me straight!

Amazing breakfast selections aboard Sky this morning.  Beautiful and delicious spread of mezze. We didn’t know it was breakfast food but according to our friend Wiki it is!  #yummy.

Just now, Twitchly said:

I’ll be curious to hear what you think of Gorée. I was there many years ago and found it fascinating. It was nearly empty at the time. No idea what it’s like now.

It was not empty. Lots of tourists and seemingly an equal number of roving sellers of beads, statues, fabric, etc. 

My biggest takeaway was the contrast between the island’s colorfulness and  the atrocities committed