EL SALVADOR and guatemala

Saturday we were in Acajutla, El Salvador for our first visit to that country.  That brings our country count to 98 - closing in on one hundred!

We looked at 2 different excursions to give us the opportunity to see the country.  One went to the capital of San Salvador and the other so Santa Ana.  Both involved long bus rides from the port.  We opted for Santa Ana since it seemed to be more historic.  The bus ride was indeed long.  It took 2 hours to get to the central area of the city.  There was a busy square surrounded by the theater, the cathedral, and the city hall.

We were given a nice tour inside of the theater.

We then visited the cathedral.

Lastly, we walked into the courtyard of the city hall where, for some reason, they have a replica of the famous Manneken Pis statue from Brussels.

Next up was lunch which turned out to be a bit problematic.  We had informed our guide (who was quite good) that we were vegetarian (it's easier than saying pescatarian).  He sent a message to the restaurant and they came back with 4 vegetarian dishes for us to choose from.  We both picked vegetable crepes.  But, when we dug in they were loaded with chicken.  Oh well, we just ate the potatoes that came with it.  After lunch it was time for the bus ride back to the port.  Thankfully, it was a bit shorter going back.  Driving around El Salvador proved to be quite interesting.  We saw volcanoes and sugar cane.  And we could get a sense of the lives of the people.

It seems very primitive by our standards, but who am I to judge?

In the end, we were not terribly impressed with Santa Ana.  Perhaps if we ever return to El Salvador, we'll have to try San Salvador or something outside of the cities.

Today, Sunday, marks our return to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.  Last time we were here, we did a wildlife excursion.  This time we decided to not do an excursion.  Instead, we just took the local shuttle bus to the actual port terminal.  We were docked at a more remote pier while a Princess ship was docked right at the terminal.  After the 15 minute ride, we walked around the market area at the terminal until we had enough.  As you may remember, shopping is not our thing.  Let's just say that the goods for sale were the same crap, just from a different country!

Peace, blessings, la dolce far niente, and pura vida,

Linda and Larry

Tres Puntarenas

Today, Thursday, we are in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  I believe that it is the 3rd time that we've visited here.  The first time was in 2016 which was memorable for a reason that I'll explain later.  Two years ago when we were here, we took a wildlife excursion.  This time, we decided to just go for a walk along the street parallel to the beach.

It was a hot day out there but we managed to walk for about 45 minutes almost to the end of the road where the reward was our own little wildlife viewing.

It was a  bit confusing to be walking around in the 90 degree heat and to see Christmas decorations along the way.

Costa Rica's slogan is Pura Vida which captures their positive and relaxed attitude towards life.  I guess that it's the slogan of the day.  So much so that I had to buy a hat to replace the Pura Vida shirt that I bought the first time we were in Costa Rica maybe 18 years ago.

So now you may be asking yourself what made the 2016 visit so memorable.  Well, as we walked along the beach that time, there was a ship anchored off shore that was clanging repetitively - clang, clang clang. It inspired me to write a short story.  I'll include a link to that story here and hope that you can read it (and hope that you don't find it too amateurish!)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vROzybMQW9zsjJR2X755ggoAYuot2lRuI913fSSpoAJyy4PSspd3iGJyO-SdTbW4Sov9uKW2UsXDQtb/pub

As the sun sets on another day, here's wishing you Pura Vida!

Linda and Larry

                                

Cinco Panama Canal

Tuesday we transited the Panama Canal for the fifth time (plus one time we took a boat ride through part of the canal).  It is always an interesting experience.  We had breakfast outside in the Terrace Cafe as we approached the first lock.  Another Oceania ship, the Marina, was right behind us.

It was sunny most of the day, but we did hit a good rain shower mid way through.

Passing through the last locks at Miraflores, it brought back memories of our trip there with our daughter Amy and granddaughter Emma.

Leaving the canal we got a good view of the skyline of Panama City.

It was a very relaxing day.

Wednesday was another relaxing day at sea - nice weather and calm seas.  We did the Sommelier's Wine  Lunch again.  Good as always.  

One of the wines was a Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon which brought up the Italian expression "la dolce far niente" meaning "the sweetness of doing nothing".  What a great description of why we enjoy the sea days so much!

Well, maybe we didn't quite do nothing.  We went for a walk on deck around sunset.

To la dolce far niente,

Linda and Larry