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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Nov 27, 2013 08:00 PM Thanksgiving Day in the sea
Most of the passengers on our ship are Americans so no wonder that we celebrate one of the most important days inn the US calendar. Turkey for everybody! I myself I always prefere the fish but to express my solidarity with fellow Americans today I will eat turkey too! What else? The oceanis smooth and blue. It is hot so many people stay in the only, little pool - no chance to swim - I will try after the sunset, maybe. It will be formal evening and our captain Idar (he is from Norway) will step down from the bridge to pose to the souvenir photographs. If you do not want to pay hefty 20 USD to those Paparazzi's just ask your friend to take discrest photo at the same time - this will be for free! The last accent of our Thanksgiving celebration will be Norwegian Night dancing at 10.15 pm. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Nov 26, 2013 08:00 PM Puerto Vallarta from the sea
I like this little town on the Mexican Pacific coast. Puerto Vallarta has a charm. I have been here
before - arriving by bus. Now it is new look - from the sea. With many new hotels on the coast and
hilly background it looks very nice.
The passenger ship terminal is 4 miles north from the old town, where once I was staying in
the little guesthouse. Tho avoid expensive taxi you can just go to the main road and jump on the
"Wallmart - centro" local junk bus. It cost only 6,50 pesos one way.
But I decided to walk to Old Town along the line of fancy hotels (it takes almost 1,5 hours of walk).
At "Venetian" there are beutiful travellers palms to photograph.
Then they have palm-fringed Malecon (ocean promenade with many sculptures). Guadalupe church with the crown on the tower is the main monument here... I came back to the port by bus. Just near the port there is Wallmart supermarket where they accept payments also in US cash. 1 litre bottle of Mexican rum cost just 82 pesos (less then 7 USD). I will not give you instruction how to muggle it aboard the ship (they take it into deposit, pressing you to buy their expensive drinks) - just use your invention! :) Good luck!
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Nov 25, 2013 08:00 PM Cabo San Lucas
This is the end tip of Californian Peninsula... Very tourist place, but it is worth one more visit (I have been here already twice) due to the beautiful scenery.
No pier here so they use tenders to take us ashore. Wow! Bad suprise: at the disembarkation point Mexicans search handbags looking for food, fruits etc. Fortinately there were a crown and I smuggled my lunch sandwiches - the others did not!
For the first time I decided to climb the mountain overlooking the bay for the view. An it was worth! There are private properties on the hills guarded by security but if you know some spanish and ask politely they allow you to go up.
And up there there is a great vievof the bay and white ships anchoring in the bay, yellow beaches and mountains on the northside.
Back down in the town I found inexpensiveinternet cafe (1 hour - 20 pesos) so I can send you my greetings from Mexico!
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Nov 24, 2013 08:00 PM Sailing south - to Mexico
We have lovely sun in the morning! The ocean is calm... The music plays and we are sailing south...
Full relax after those busy days in California. It is time to discover all secrets of our ship. First one is not positive: on the open decks there are installed glass screens to protect people from the wind. But they are not photographer-friendly, because the dirt on the glass you must keep your camera above them to take better picture.
In the morning we had a lecture about the ports. In fact it was a lecture about the expensive tours they offer in the ports. They do not care about independent travellers.
The society in the self-service dining room is noisy so I have to find for myself a quiter place to eat. They serve tasty strowberry icecream and awful coffee. And the fellow passengers eat, eat, eat... Today we have full day at sea. Mexican coast is visible on the east. Tomorrow we will reach our first port.
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Nov 23, 2013 08:00 PM In the labirynt of Los Angeles freeways
Where is the cheapest fuel on the coast of California? In Oxnard - 3,27 per gallon - in Los Angeles
expect to pay even 3,70! take a chance to save few dollars!
We started from Ventura already at sunrise expecting traffic jams in LA. First stage was smooth: we reached the Pacific coast before Malibu, enjoying the views of the coastline. But the coastline here is not as dramatic as between Monterey and Morro Bay. Beaches are wide and hundereds of campers stay here just on the beach. Then we passed through legendary Santa Monica and turned inland to drive Santa Monica Boulevard - it goes to Hollywood. On Sunday monrning there was little traffic on Hpllywood Blvd so it was a good chance to see again The Walk of Fame, chinese Theatre and a rows of palms... Then we entered the jungle of the LA freeways. 101 - done, 5 - done, on 710 we stayed in the traffic jam - fortunately only 20 minutes. I reached Long Beach Avis station at 11 am to return the rented car. Bus 142 took us to San Pedro passenger terminal. Our white ship was waiting there.
We enjoyed great sunset sailing out of Los Angeles port around 4.30 pm.
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Nov 22, 2013 08:00 PM Blue California by car...
I spent the night in Morro Bay - little fishing port with a great view of El Morro Rock (see the picture). Before US took the California it was Spanish possession. Spaniards built hehe as much as 21 catholic missions - they still exist and I had a chance to see some of them.
First in San Luis Obispo... Then we drove to the Pismo Beach where Monarch butterflies come in thousand to winter. After that going 5 miles off highway one we reached Guadalupe Dunes on the Pacific coast - up to 160 m high. Second Mission today was Purissima - very well reconstructed - you can see here all aspects of the mission's life, even the animals... It was already late afternoon when we reached Santa Barbara - it has also the mission beautifully located at the bottom of Santa Ines Mountains.
I am spendind the night in motel in Ventura. Tomorrow will be busy day - I have to reach Los Angeles to board the sip in the afternoon. Internet on the ship is very expensive so do not surprised that the next message I will post few days later.
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Nov 21, 2013 08:00 PM Greatest vistas of California
When I was a boy I was watching on black & white TV screen a series "The sign of Zorro". The action was in and around the town of Monterey. Today I am in Monterey. Is this the same Monterey? Some historic buildings survived - like the Mission of San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel (entry 6,50 USD).
But the nicest part of today's Monterey is Lighthouse District with old Cannery buildings, little beach ant many restaurants. 17-miles Drive goes from Monterrey's Lovers Point to nearby Carmel. there are beaches along with seals on the rocks, forest and nice views. But they charge for driving this scenic road 10 USD,
Carmel is little atmospheric town with fancy shops in the low Spanish-like buildings. After short visit in Carmel I started an epic drive on the famous Highway 1 - along the coast of the Pacific. There were many great view points. Most of them up on the high cliffs. The distance is not big but the road is very windy and challenging. At the end of the day we reached the elephant seal colony at Piedras Blancas near San Simeon. I was convinced that the only place to see eeaphant seals is Antarctica (where I saw them many times) But now I know one more place. Hard to believe! Did the smart Americans imported them? :)
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Nov 20, 2013 08:00 PM Sunny California
The sun was shining already in the morning in San Francisco. No rain! I took a walk to photograph again ornate building of San Francisco City Hall. Opera House and Philhamonic Hall are nearby...
Then I walked to the AVIS office on Post St to collect booked car. Little ford fiesta is enough for two people.
We started our car adventure with the little excursion to the Golden Gate bridge. Golden Gate is in my opinion one of the nicest bridges in the world. It has also spectacular location at the entrance from the Pacific to the bay. Once in San Francisco I am happy to see it again and again.
Then we took the highway no.1 sneaking along the coast of California heading south.
It is hard to describe all spectacular views on this route: cliffs after Pacifica, Half Moon Bay beaches, Lighthouse at Pigeon Point... Coming closer to Monterrey we enjoyed the great sunset. In Monterrey we stay at the Fireplace Inn - little motel worth to recommend. They charge only 45 USD per room and breakfast. And in the roomy room there is gas fireplace to warm you up. Very atmospheric place!
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Nov 19, 2013 08:00 PM On the hills of San Francisco
Never rains in California - says the song. But today it rains since the morning! This is my fourth visit in San Francisco. Three times I had a beautiful sun, but now...
1,5 liter bottle of Californian red wine cost just 7 USD - to improve the situation. Then you can walk up and down the hills. I took once again the unique cable car to the Fishermen Wharf - it cost hefty 6 USD. The regular bus/tram fare is 2 USD and you can make as many transfers as you want within 2 hours. I visited again Mission Dolores - the oldest church in SFO, then I passed along Philharmonic Hall, Opera House and City Hall.
How did I find SFO after 20 years (my last visit was in 1993)?
I am sorry to say that: more garbage on the streets, more homeless people and noisy black citizens sometimes blocking the sidewalks... But it is still exciting city! In the afternoon when the rain stopped I took a walk to the Chinatown - very atmospheric place. Tomorrow I plan to drive along the coast. Please keep your fingers for the good weather! :)
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Nov 18, 2013 08:00 PM From Nevada to California
We enjoyed desert landscape in the morning with Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. We are in Nevada State and our train no. 5 is already 30 minutes late. It is cloudy, but when we reached Reno at 9 am I saw also some sunshine.
At least now we have more info about the route we go: volunteer guided boarded the train to explain in the observation
car the nature and the history of the area. Our train goes up the mountain valley. Then again up and up until we will see again the snow around the track. 7000 feet above the sea level. Then through the tunnel and slowly down...
Welcome to California! But where is the sun?
It took us few hours to come down to the valleys where orange trees grow. It was almost dark when we reached the end station Emeryville - the rails do not go to San Francisco but they take passengers by bus through the Bay Bridge. Soon I started to climb steep streets looking for my hostel on Bush Street. The bed in "Encore" is hard, but after 3 nights on the train it is like a paradise!
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