Ponta Delgarda

Ok so I'm 3 rum punches and a pint of strongbow in so this will need editing tomorrow...

We docked at Ponta Delgardo and eventually after a late start we wandered into town ... its a much more commercial place than where we were yesterday. Lots more high rise and hotels but still quite pretty with a number of nice squares and lots of cafes amongst the tourist shops.  There are number of very fancy churches but me being me, and Dr Fred being himself, we went to the farmers market held in a cavernous underground car park instead... good use of space really... cool spacious and lots of pineapples...

I love the pavements (and some roads) patterned with different shapes made from stones... simple but very decorative. 

We went to the art gallery but typically it was closed to rehang the next exhibition... There was alot of activity happening in the main square as they were getting ready to celebrate some kind of local festival... it looked very colourful and its a shame we were'nt a couple of days later.  The souvenir shops are full of usual portuguese stuff... roosters and sardines adorning everything but here there was an immense amount of religious artefacts and some stunning local window displays which had obviously taken massive effort.

We took a wander around an old fort... we hit a dead end round the back in a less than salubrious part of town... more honest probably then the tourist hot spots - although to be fair, the town on the whole, looked liked it could do with some tlc or at least a coat of paint. 

The streets are all quite narrow and not made for todays traffic - mostly one way systems to accomodate parked cars... but there are some lovely buildings and some interesting quirky bits especially off the main drag.

We must have covered quite a large area of 'back streets' before finally ending up back in the main square for a coffee and wifi connection.

Once back at the boat Dr Fred did some presentation work and I sat out on deck in the glorious sunshine painting turtles... the wind had dropped and finally it felt like summer was here!!!!

When the ship leaves port early there is often a 'sail away' party... this one was slightly disappointing as the band played in the leisure centre bit (think municipal swimming baths with village hall tea room..not unpleasant but not particulary pleasant either...) instead of out on deck- but this saved us the indignity of dancing to bad ABBA cover versions while still allowing free access to the rum punch - which had a bigger punch to it than I realised as we were knocking them back like pop!! 

We had to have our evening meal early to soak up some of the alcohol.. and in the spirit of soaking up more cruise essence we watched the evening entertainment magican... clever and funny.

I have got sunburnt on the bits I missed the sun cream on but it is soooooo nice to feel the heat so its worth it... I'll be a little more thorough next time.

After the Magican we stood out on the promenade deck watching the sun go down over a stunningly beautiful island we cruised passed.  It would been quite romantic but for the other 500 passengers doing the same thing - we were the last to go inside but that was mainly because I was trying to capture the really pretty patterns the glitter path made with the waves....

The following was action packed .... Dr Fred gave another (well received) lecture about possibilities of other life forms.. and then he hosted a specialist lunch which I was invited to - very different dining experience to the View cafe... all white linen and sparkly glasses (and sparkly wine), smily waiter service... rather than tan polyester and ikea water glasses and bored . Very pleasant indeed.  We had the afternoon off to sleep off the fizz and then time to explore the night sky.

The stargazing nights start very late  - they have to be as it stays light so long... it makes the evening very long, more bad ABBA covers and theres nothing much to other than eat (again).. Fortunately for this session by 10.30, the wind had dropped and it was a very balmy and calm - with clear skies to start with - after such a clear blue sky day and a stunning sunset it was a tad disappointing that 40 minutes into the late night session heavy thick cloud rolled in and was there to stay.
Guests are very good natured about this and just take the opportunity to chat with Dr Fred and myself over coffee instead.

Its friendly, chatty, busy and once over obviously necessitates a visit to the supper club and then a quick glass of red to finish the night off...