VERY IMPRRTANT INFORMATION

December 5, 2012I have just been informed that my free Internet time has run out.  Since it is  quite expensive in time to publish this blog , I am going to discontinue writing it while I am on the ship. Those of you who would like to follow this journey please write to me at ann.mcdonald.f12@semesteratsea.org and I will  put you on my email list which is still free.

Spain: Cadiz.Seville

September 24.2012

We arrived in Cadiz and I immediately went to the ATM to repay Alan and Kenna in Euros for the trip.  This whole trip is turning out to be much more expensive than the others I have taken because of ????? ,probably several things: the exchange rate which is very much not in our favor, inflation, ISE is charging more for its ship services like the store or meals on shore trips. Whatever it is I shall be quite broke when I get back.

I was invited by our music professor and his wife to go on their field trip to Seville for the festival flamenco concert.  Seville, an hour and a half drive from Cadiz was a very interesting city with its has wide streets, parks and imposing buildings.  Our bus let  us off at the old part of town the former red light district . We set off at a very fast pace through a  winding maze of very narrow lanes to the flamenco museum.  I was exhausted when we arrived and decided to remain on the main floor and wait for a taxi to take me to our restaurant Here we had delicious  meal of four tapas; 3 slices of Andelusian ham, gaspatcho,which was nothing like mine,a tiny helping of stew and desert.Just the right amount of food.  I also had some capachino to help stay awake for the show. I took another taxi to the theatre only to find that the show did not begin until 8.30 p.m.  This was part of the national  flamenco festival and apparently some very famous singers were to appear,although I had never heard of them,  Carman Linares, Migual Hernandez and Oasis Abierto.

I enjoyed the concert very much.  Famenco has such a strange beat, but it is exciting and mournful.t comes originally from gypsies like the   portugese Fago singers.

 We did not start for Cadiz until 10.15 and arrived back at the ship at midnight.  I was wide eyed and bushy tailed ,because of the cappuccino I presume. and did not sleep all night Unfortunately my magic air cleaner has broken and cannot be  fixed by the electrician on the ship.  I immediately caught the ship's cold.  Stay8ng out  until midnight also upset my time clock and caused my cold to get much worse.  I  confined myself to my cabin in an effort to get well before I get sicker. Cadiz, therefore is rather a washout.  I just listened to everybody's adventures such as visiting Alhambra, flamenco  evenings, exciting foods etc. with envy. We sailed for the Canary Islands on Saturday, September 29th and arrived 24 hours later.  We had one day of classes in between.