Our first port of call was Key West, the tour I selected for the day was Beach Cruise Bike Trek, details below. Key West is great place to explore by bike, having a knowledgeable guide made this tour informative and fun.
KEY-012 BEACH CRUISER BIKE TREK
Casually bicycle through Florida’s most carefree, laid-back city on a beach cruiser, visiting Key West’s most colourful attractions and landmarks.
Walk the short distance from the pier to your beach cruiser and start biking through Key West. The city is entirely flat, so you can easily cruise along without much effort. You’ll see all the key sites, stopping at many of them, and always pedalling at a leisurely pace. Along the way, your guide will impart all sorts of curious facts and stories about Key West’s most infamous characters.
Visit the notorious Captain Tony’s Saloon, where Jimmy Buffet played early in his career. See Ernest Hemingway’s house, where the Pulitzer Prize-winning author penned “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Have your picture taken at Mile Marker 0, the southernmost point in the continental United States. Drop by the quirky Key West Cemetery and find the famed “I told you I was sick” epitaph.
Key West has no shortage of irreverent attractions, but there are also plenty of more traditional ones that are fascinating in their own right. You’ll pass the aquarium, Harry Truman’s Little White House, and Mel Fisher’s Maritime Heritage Museum, which is filled with booty from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon. For the ultimate taste of Key West, top off your tour with a slice of complimentary Key Lime Pie, the city’s iconic dessert.
After a fun-filled time exploring Key West in a non-traditional manner, you will return your bike and then have the choice of either enjoying some free time in the city or walking back to the ship.
Please note: This tour includes limited walking, but approximately 2.5 hours of moderate to easy biking over flat terrain. Stops are made approximately every 5-10 minutes. Participants should be in reasonably good physical condition and know how to ride a bike. The tour is not available to wheelchair guests or those with mobility concerns. Light-weight, comfortable clothing (avoid wide-legged pants or skirts); sun cap; sunglasses; sunscreen and flat, comfortable shoes are suggested. The bikes used are 26″ and the minimum height to participate is 5 ft.
Miami was the Port where I embarked the Navigator unfortunately I arrived late evening and had to be onboard by around 1pm, so I did not get a chance to explore the city, will need to return at some stage! My pics from the day are below
In 2013 I was lucky enough to be able to take a few weeks off and take a cruise from Miami to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. In order to chose which Cruise Line was right for me I did a lot of research online and decided that I would rather pay up front for everything, a smaller ship (the smaller the better) and the right itinerary. The Cruise Line I selected was Regent Seven Seas and the ship was the Seven Seas Navigator, the smallest in their fleet. With Regent they include:
All meals onboard
All drinks except premium wines and spirits
Tours, especially as I would be by myself and did not think it would be cost effective to arrange my own in each port, plus I doubt I would have had the time to have done research for each port.
As Regent is an all inclusive Cruise Line and in the Luxury Cruise Category, it was not cheap, but after hearing the costs that other people on other lines ended up paying at the end of their cruises, the difference was not that much. The single supplement with Regent is fairly high, but most lines are the same when it comes to this. One of the great things about cruises is that you only have to unpack and pack ONCE!! Also, you have the same suite every day, travel with the same people and have the same crew looking after you, so they get to know you and you can make friends, which was a lot of fun. My posts over the next few days will be of the photos I took during the cruise. BTW, if you considering transiting the Panama Canal, stop procrastinating and just do it!! It is an amazing journey and the engineering associated with the canal is incredible, especially when you consider when and how the canal was built and the fact that all of the water used is gravity fed, there are no pumps, it is all fresh water (which is good) and each time a new ship / vessels enters and exit the canal 22,200,000 imp gal of water is emptied into the ocean. Enjoy
For New Years Eve I convinced a couple of friends to join me at La Barca for dinner before heading to their place to bring in the New Year. La Barca is a great Italian restaurant where I have spent many an evening and is somewhere I would recommend to anyone visiting Singapore, finding the place is half the fun as it is hidden within the campus of an Arts School.
As it was New Years Eve we had to start off with some bubbles, thanks to Mrs El Jefe (Anna) and El Jefe (Martin) for the Pol Roger Reserve. A refreshing way to start the evening.
For our entree we started with the GLI AFFETTATI DI FATTORIA CON BURRATINA, FORMAGGI, CROSTINI
E SOTT’ OLI, Plate of Cold Cuts with Cheeses (Burrata and Pecorino) and Bruschetta with Assorted Pickles, to share and Mrs El Jefe had the LA PARMIGIANA DI MELANZANE CON MOZZARELLA, POMODORO E BASILICO (Oven-baked Eggplant with Mozzarella, Basil and Tomato Sauce), both items I would recommend.
The first red wine of the night was a bottle of 1999 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva, Rioja DOCa, from Spain provided by El Jefe, therefore it had have at least some Grenache (20%) the main grape is Tempranillo (80%). A great way to start of the reds.
For the next course we had pasta, the Boss Chef (Michele Sorrentino), provided us with two pastas, TORTELLI DI PECORINO CON FONDUTA DI PARMIGIANO GRATINATI AL TARTUFO, Fresh Homemade Pecorino-filled Tortelli with Parmesan Cream and Seasonal Truffles, and the I PICI DI PASTA DI PANE CON RAGÙ DI COSTINE DI MAIALE, Fresh Homemade Tuscan Pici with Chef’s Pork Rib Ragù. If I had to pick between the two dishes I would take both!
The Boss – Michele Sorrentino
For the main course the Boss suggested that we try the Lamb Stew that was a special for the night, we did not expect that would be enough meat so also ordered the LA BISTECCA ALLA FIORENTINA TRADIZIONALE ALLA GRIGLIA CON PATATE AL
FORNO E CANNELLINI ALLA SALVIA E PEPERONCINO, Traditional Fiorentina* Served with Roasted Potatoes, and Cannellini Beans with Sage and Fresh Chilli Premium Grain-fed Beef from Rangers Valley, Australia | Marbling Score: 4, as you can never have too much red meat.
To drink with the mains we enjoyed a bottle of 2001 Flint’s of Coonawarra Gammon’s Crossing Cabernet Sauvignon, something that I bought along for the night.
As a part of my research for this post I found out that the 2001 was Flint’s first ever wine, not a bad effort! Flint’s has been rated by James Halliday as a 4 Star Winery, but is relatively unknown, I was lucky enough to meet one of the winemakers, Damian Flint, at a wine show in Brisbane a few years ago where I obtained this wine. A part from being a quality wine, it is also value for money, and I hope it stays that way. Similar wines from the other, more recognised, wineries from the Coonwarra are usually 2 – 3 times the price.
For those of you who are not familiar with Coonawarra Cab Sav, it is usually not as “full bodied” a wine as a Barrossa Valley Shiraz, but pairs well with a medium rare steak, although a Shiraz would have been a better pairing for the Lamb Stew, still the Cab Sav was not a bad pairing.
Mrs El Jefe wanted dessert, she had her eye on the IL TIRAMISÙ TRADIZIONALE DELLA BARCA, La Barca’s Traditional Tiramisù. El Jefe and I were full, (we ended up with a doggy bag that had 3/4 of the stew and 1/3 of the steak for El Jefe to take home) but the Boss decided that we had not eaten enough so he brought out a plate of Panettone that he had imported from Italy for the holiday season, thanks Boss, glad I was walking home!
To accompany the dessert El Jefe had a surprise, a bottle of Benanti Passito di Pantelleria Costedimueggen, from the island of Pantelleria, Italy. Unfortunately I am not sure which year, but it was a great wine to finish the meal off with. Not overly sweet so paired nicely with the Panettone. According to the tasting notes provided by the Winery this wine is “excellent as dessert and meditationwine, optimal with fois gras and “erborinato” cheese.” Not sure that you are meant to drink whilst meditating, but maybe that is how the Italians meditate, sounds good to me. If you get a chance to try this wine, go for it!
Next up was a walk, thankfully needed some exercise after the feast, to Casa El Jefe for a couple of tequilas and a cigar to celebrate the New Year. The tequila was a bottle of Jose Cuervo 1800 Reserva Añejo, just what I needed to enjoy whilst waiting for the clock to strike 12!!
Whilst I did not watch the fireworks live, I think that New Years in Sydney has made it difficult for me to get excited about fireworks that do not include a Bridge or Tower, and the night was relatively tame, my age may be the deciding factor there, I had a great night thanks to Mr and Mrs El Jefe and the crew from La Barca.
“May your 2015 be more productive and profitable than your 2014”
Only 4 weeks until I depart for Tahiti to start my next cruise!
As my departure date, 12 Feb 2015, for my next cruise is rapidly approaching, it is time to post a few details about it.
This will be my third cruise on Regent and second on board the RSS Mariner, and this cruise is a little different to my previous ones as the majority of days are at sea instead of in port, we visit 6 ports and have 10 sea days. The part of the Pacific Ocean that we will be visiting is very sparsely populated with islands and atolls, therefore lots of sea days.
I enjoy sea days, but they are not for everyone as I guess some people feel that they will get bored. I doubt I will have a chance to get bored as 4 days is the longest continuous period at sea on the cruise, which is a lot shorter than my longest continuous period at sea, an extremely monotonous 54 days, not something I would recommend.
The places I am looking forward to the most on the cruise are Easter Island and the Pitcairn Islands, also looking forward to an Aqua Safari in Bora Bora and to hopefully cycle around Fakarava (just need to find a good bike when we get there).
By the time I return to Singapore I would have circumnavigated the globe, a first for me, visited 8 countries (considering French Polynesia to be 1 country), 4 continents and crossed 3 oceans, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Flying about 43,300 kms and Sailing approximately 8,700 kms for a total of around 52,000 kms . FYI, the circumference of the Earth is 40,075 kms. Can’t wait!
The Cruise:
Ship: Regent Seven Seas Mariner
Embarkation: Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Dis-Embarkation: Callao, Peru
Itinerary:
Date Port Arrival Departure
14 Feb 2015 Papeete (Tahiti), French Polynesia 23:59
15 Feb 2015 Huahine, French Polynesia 08:00 18:00
16 Feb 2015 Bora Bora, French Polynesia 08:00 16:00
17 Feb 2015 Rangiroa, French Polynesia 11:00 18:00
18 Feb 2015 Fakarava, French Polynesia 08:00 16:00
19 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
20 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
21 Feb 2015 Pitcairn Islands 08:00 16:00
22 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
23 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
24 Feb 2015 Easter Island, Chile 10:00 19:00
25 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
26 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
27 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
28 Feb 2015 Cruise The Pacific Ocean
01 Mar 2015 Lima (Callao), Peru 15:00
02 Mar 2015 Lima (Callao), Peru
My Flights:
Date Flight From To Depart Arrive
12 Feb 2015 EK432 Singapore Brisbane 15:15 +1 day 00:50
13 Feb 2015 EK434 Brisbane Auckland 08:25 14:35
13 Feb 2015 ANZ40 Auckland Papeete 18:35 00:50
03 Mar 2015 AA918 Lima Miami 00:35 06:16
03 Mar 2015 AA1437 Miami Dallas 09:20 11:42
05 Mar 2015 EK222 Dallas Dubai 11:20 +1 day 12:00
06 Mar 2015 EK352 Dubai Singapore 21:30 +1 day 08:40
If you are ever in Adelaide and looking for something to do, the Adelaide Central Market is a great place to go on a market day, it is under cover so weather is not an issue. There are organised tours, but it is not a hard place to get around and there are lots of places to stop and grab a bite or a good cup of coffee!
I was back in Adelaide recently and went to the Market with my Mother one Saturday morning, these are my photos from the our wandering around.
The majority of the produce is sourced locally from the areas around Adelaide so it is all fresh, this includes the meat, poultry and seafood
The various cheese stands have cheeses from all over the World and Australia as well as South Australia
I miss good coffee as there are not many places in Singapore where you can grab a good coffee , so I was pretty happy to find The Grind.
They even have pods that are compatible with various coffee machines, so grabbed a couple of bags, and the coffee is not bad!
One of the great things about the Adelaide Central Market is that every nationality that has settled in Adelaide probably has a representation in the Market, including Eurasia (Mongolia).
The Fire Sticks are aptly named and have a double burning effect, great for clearing the sinuses 🙂
Getting to the Market is easy, just catch a tram and get off at Queen Victoria Square, it is next door / behind the Hilton, between Grote and Gouger Streets.
