World cruise 48

April 28

Sorry I don't seem to have any photos to share as we cross the Atlantic. I suppose I could take a picture of our room strewn about with piles of stuff and suitcases, but that's rather depressing and unattractive.

The good news is that, for today, we have sunshine and pretty calm seas. So I guess I'll try to get some packing done today since the Captain is predicting rain tomorrow.

We had a lovely dinner last night at Canaletto (the Italian restaurant on board) with friends Judith and Carol. The food there is fantastic, but far too large portions. The chef had made lasagna specially for us (yum), but I could only eat half of my portion.

Then this afternoon we went to a lovely brunch for people who are returning passengers, i.e. members of Holland America's "Mariner Society." There was a lot of talk about the plate they gave us which had the correct date for this cruise but showed the itinerary for last year's cruise. No big deal as far as I am concerned, but a lot of people are quite upset. When we got back to our cabin, there was a letter apologizing for the incorrect plate and saying that the Royal Goedewaggen factory in the Netherlands will make new, corrected plates and ship them to everybody's home address within the month. Amazing what some people will get all worked up about!

April 29

Gack, I hate packing to go home! Every semi-flat surface is covered over in suitcases and piles of stuff! And it's a good thing that they gave us another suitcase as we're each going to need it! It has definitely interrupted the routine for sea days that we've had for a whole third of a year! Pfui!

So this is the end of our World Cruise blog. Unless, of course, Margaret chooses to write up some of her later adventures, in which case I will add them hhere at the end of my tale. Hope you've enjoyed our trip. Bye.

World cruise 47

April 26

Yesterday evening Margaret got seriously into packing. Oh my. It's a good thing that one of our "ship gifts" was another duffle bag with wheels at one end.

"Ship gifts" is sort of a misnomer since I am completely certain that I paid for them as part of my fare. Some are useful and some not so much. There is the aforementioned duffle bag, a nice satchel/tote, a bluetooth speaker, a travel journal, a passport case, a set of 3 Seattle Chocolates bars at Easter, a combo solar flashlight and phone recharger, a fancy umbrella, a big ceramic travel mug, a china plate, a luggage scale, a lovely Tiffany pewter box and a Steiff bear in its own little dufflebag backpack. I think that's it. Of course it's fun to occasionally find a present on your bed when you get back from dinner. And of course they do this gifting thing on their Grand Voyages to encourage people to come back again on the long, expensive cruises. It's a Holland America Grand Voyage thing. It's okay. I'll take 'em.

Another Holland America thing is flowers. Real flowers in amazing arrangements in almost every public space. Plus we've had a little vase of live flowers in our room that changes at least once a week. I talked about the flowers and the florists back in post number 43. I do not remember seeing this kind of floral display, much less the complete artistry of it, on any other cruise line. Hmmm ... nor do I know if they do it on all or just some of their ships/cruises.

Today was rather bouncy again. We've altered course somewhat to the south to try to avoid another depression moving eastward across the Atlantic. At his mid-day report, the Captain referred to the ocean swells as "confused" in direction. I would certainly agree with him.

Tonight was the last formal night. Now we can begin to think about packing in earnest.

April 27

Still rocky although a little bit better. The Captain is predicting a good deal calmer by late tonight. It's not too terrible except when you try to stand up and walk somewhere. I'd show you a photo of the scenery, but it would just be all grey.

I'm finally just about finished with the last afghan for Project Linus. This activity on board has been shepherded by a volunteer. Malvina's a delightful lady from Canada who kept track of all the donated yarn and completed blankets (well over 100 so far). Unfortunately she was called home several weeks ago as her daughter was dying of brain cancer. We all miss her and are grateful to Jean who stepped into her duties to complete the project.

That's another reality of a long cruise ... injuries, sickness and death ... among either the passengers, the crew or their families. The 1,200 to 1,500 people on board are very much like a village. Things happen, good or bad. News gets passed around. Others step up to help in various ways. More news gets passed, as does pure gossip.

I admit that I am a little more ready to get off the ship and be home than on other, shorter cruises. I miss my friends at home and my own bed, chair, routine, etc. I know, however, that as soon as I'm home, I will be missing the ship, the new friends, the other people, the ship's routine, etc.

World cruise 46

April 22

The ship was practicing for "Dancing with the Stars" all night. Toward morning she shifted into some mix of salsa and paso doble with a bunch of wicked can-can kick steps thrown in for (good/bad) measure. It was a definite relief to get inside the breakwater and docked at Porta Delgada.

Right after we got tied up, the Regal Princess arrived. As big as she is, she had to turn around out in the rough water then back into her dock space. I swear she slid along not 3 feet from the dock. These ships with the rotating azipod motors and side thrusters can put themselves almost anywhere in almost any direction without a tugboat's help.

I was not feeling up to a bus tour winding up twisty roads to a village in a volcanic crater in the rain, so opted to skip that one today. Of course, right after all the tours left, I was feeling fine and the sun was out. For the rest of the day, the weather cycled between cloudy and sunny, but always with a strong, chilly wind so I don't feel too bad about skipping my last bus tour of the trip.

It's a pretty port. Friends who have been here before as recently as 1.5 years ago say that the port area has been completely redone.

It appears to have a massive public swimming area with fresh water pools not filled yet and a sectioned off ocean swimming area plus a bunch of shops, little cafes, etc. We watched a number of people come down these steps and swim around for a while. Either they are extremely hardy souls, or there might be a hot spring or even a magma chamber below the area to warm the water. We did learn that the ocean water temperature was around 59F ... Brrrr!

There were certainly plenty of waves breaking on up the shore ... and this was at low tide.

Margaret went on a tour of parks, hot springs and a tea plantation. Want to bet whether she came back with more tea? No bet ... she did.

Usually when a ship is just ready to cast off and sail away, it blows a blast or two on its nice deep-throated steam whistle. When the Regal Princess sailed this afternoon, she played the theme from "Love Boat." I don't know if she has multiple tuned steam whistles like a calliope, or just a recording played through huge amps and speakers. At any rate it was the silliest thing I've heard in ages!

April 23

Margaret went off on a 4x4 excursion "off the beaten track" this morning while I had a quiet morning on board.

The afternoon was quiet also until we sailed. As soon as we got outside the breakwater we started to bounce every whichaway. This certainly confirms the Captain's decision to skip Horta and stay in Porta Delgada even though we never got more than one or two short rain showers while there.

I was literally bouncing off the walls just trying to cross the cabin. For the safety of myself and any others on whom I might land, I decided that I had no business getting out and about for dinner. So it was room service dinner for me.

Fortunately, I have virtually no tendency toward motion sickness. All that moving around just makes me sleepy.

April 24

Well, yesterday the Captain said things ought to get smoother by late morning today. It's 11:00 a.m., and we're still bouncing alomg, although I guess it's some better than before. Anyway, I'm still in our cabin. I figure I'm sparing everyone the sight of me trying to get up off the floor. Margaret has been out for breakfast and has gone to a lecture, but even she is hanging onto the handrails out there.

Sure enough, things did get better in the afternoon. We've still got a bit of rock 'n' roll, but not nearly as much. So we went to the Indonesian Crew Show this afternoon. It is always a packed house and an enthusiastic audience, but this year the show was even better than usual. We had gotten there early enough to get seats in the first row of the balcony ... A good spot to see the action, but only a few photos came out. The girl in the first photo is Ani, one of our favorite people at the Lido.

Now that we're actually out in the Atlantic headed home, everybody is talking about packing. Thank heavens for free FedEx shipping! FedEx agents came aboard in Ponta Delgada and brought lots of pre-printed labels for both of us (although everything is going to my place so the name doesn't matter too much). It's also a good thing that the ship gave us each a rolling duffle bag and that my suitcases unzip for extra space. Not that I bought much myself, you understand, but someone did have a good time in the shops so I may have to consolidate my stuff and lend her a suitcase.

April 25

It was a fairly smooth day, but grey and rainy. We went to a fancy lunch in the Pinnacle Grill. The theme was "Show and Tail" meaning bring your favorite party animal and tell where you got it. Several versions of elephants and camels showed up, and one woman brought a photo of her kissing a penguin at Ski Dubai. I brought Snavely, my Thai lizard (I guess he's a paperweight as he seems to be filled with sand.)

Right after that we went early to get good seats for the Filipino Crew Show. It was also much fancier in its production values than I've seen in the past, but still had many of the same elements as usual.

By late afternoon the wind had picked up, so things were a tad rocky again, at least back here in the aft end of the ship.

World cruise 45

April 19

Cadiz, Spain is an interesting and very clean city. Its streets, beaches and public areas are constantly being cleaned. In the past 20 years numerous civic projects have been undertaken to improve the lives of the citizens and restore the sites reelating to the city's history. Our guide, Carmen, detailed all of this and attributed it to the Mayor they've had for those 20 years ... a woman. Anyway, it's a lovely city to be constantly lost in, especially the old town area with its narrow, twisting streets and traffic circles of every shape and design ... sometimes even including round.

Margaret's and my tour was only a half day "panoramic" one which designation pretty much means just riding around with a very few stops. But we went all around the city viewing fortifications, beaches, parks, statues and historic buildings.

Then the tour went to the nearby town of Jerez de la Frontera widely known as the sherry capital of the world. In fact, the town's Moorish name, Sheris, gave the drink its name. Again we drove around this town which still shows some Moorish influence. Then we stopped at one of the wineries that makes several well-known brands of sherry including Harvey's Bristol Creme. We toured the place and learned how sherry is produced.

Then there was a tasting session in a wonderful courtyard (now enclosed with a glass roof) that was originally a part of a convent built on that site in the 12th or 13th century . One wall was covered in various colors of bougainvillea that are constantly in bloom.

Others tasted liquids from a variety of bottles. (You can ask Margaret about the raisin wine.) There was a store where other unopened bottles could be purchased. I passed on both activities and went outside to enjoy the winery's lovely gardens.

After lunch on the ship, Margaret went walkabout in town, exploring some of the little streets and squares (which were often not at all square) of the old town that we had seen in the morning. An example is this two-toned cathedral which we only had a glimpse of in the morning, but which Margaret got this photo of in the afternoon. It's two-toned because the original builders ran out of money and could no longer afford the darker stone. They had to switch to limestone which is softer and presents problems for today's restoration efforts.

It was, overall, a very pleasant tour of a very pleasant place on a beautiful day. Of the places I've seen in Spain (admittedly only a few and those around the edges), I think Cadiz would be the one I would enjoy visiting for more than just a day.

April 20

At sea en route to the Azores. We are out in the Atlantic and feeling some of the swells of a big ocean. We're also headed into some less than wonderful weather. For today it was only partly cloudy, but the swells were getting up pretty good by dinnertime.

April 21

Still at sea with mostly sunny skies, a brisk wind and significant swells coming at us from the low pressure depression ahead of us. So we have one last itinerary change ... or at least I hope it's the last.

Our last stop before striking out across the Atlantic was supposed to be Horta, Portugal in the Azores. The approaching bad weather makes getting passengers ashore safely from anchorage using tenders at Horta nigh impossible. So. We are still headed for Porte Delgada, Portugal in the Azores which we should reach tomorrow morning a few hours after the weather reaches us. There we will dock and remain for a whole extra day before setting off again. Thus we hope to wait out the worst of the weather at dock. I think we must now be dealing with Plan L or M ... at any rate well beyond dealing with Plan B.

World cruise 44

April 16

A day at sea -- for real. Nothing unusual. I began another baby blanket using Project Linus yarn. This one is a shade of pink so hot you could cook on it. I've named it "Penny Pimk" as it's one of her favorite colors.

In the evening we went to see a Beatles tribute band perform. They were excellent and got the majority of the audience up and dancing in the aisles. Margaret had never seen anything Beatles-related before, but said she enjoyed it and had heard some of the melodies before. The first time she had seen anything like a popular music band perform was a couple of weeks ago when we saw an ABBA tribute band called ABBAFab here on board. She enjoyed that one also, although none of it was familiar.

April 17

We are just a short walk for most people, but a forever distance for me from Cartagena, Spain. It is a lovely city with a beautiful harbor as shown here.

Holland America's Eurodam is docked nose to nose with us adding a couple thousand more tourists to our own batch. Margaret went on a walking tour of the downtown area including more ruins and the castle up on the hill, but she can tell you about that.

This evening we went to hear an excellent flautist named Nestor Torres. Although certainly classically trained, he is very much into the Latin styles. I do not, however, understand why a flute should be electronically amplified, and nor why it needs reverb. It was, as with most musical acts here, painfully loud. I understand that the geriatric set mostly needs loud or at least can tolerate it, but I have a difficult time with it. Thus I seldom go to these things, but I thought a flautist would be do-able. Wrong again. Next time it's back to the balcony where I can duck out if necessary.

April 18

Well, Malaga, Spain was again inaccessible for me. When I was here in 2013, I didn't book a tour. The Royal Princess was docked so far out on the pier complex that you had to change shuttle buses just to get downtown, so I couldn't usefully make that trip. This time I had an "easy" tour booked, but once I headed for the tour buses, it turned out to be almost half a mile to walk with a third of it down a slope just to get near the bus parking lot. About 2/3 of the way there, already dragging and slowing down, I turned a corner, saw an unknown distance ahead with no sign of a bus, and just gave up and went back to the ship.

This kind of thing happens a lot. In most ports, the gangway location and the entrance to the terminal building plus the distance to the building's exit are set up to make passengers (and crew, but they're mostly young and healthy) walk as far as possible. Sometimes, if you're on a tour, the buses might board a little closer to the gangway, but then they probably bring you back to the far side of everywhere to make you walk past and sometimes through the terminal's duty free shops. Oh, and if there's no terminal building, there's a looong pier with vendors' booths at the shore end.

End of rant ... unless I think of something else. Now to hike back to the Front Desk to turn in an official rant form.

Later in the afternoon after she got back from her tour to the village of Mijas, Margaret pushed me in Leviathan (the rented wheelchair) down to the shops in the terminal. There a certain amount of fun but relatively inexpensive shopping got committed. We also greeted and were greeted by a number of both crew and passengers sitting in the terminal's free wifi zone. Back on board, we celebrated the lovely day by having a fancy drink out on Lido deck by the pool. (Thank you again, Jill, for the fine weather we've been having.)

World cruise 43

April 14

Today we are at Naples. Margaret has gone to tour Sorrento and Pompeii. As for me, the same as the last time I was here. The only tours that I was interested in were ones that I cannot physically do. So it's an "in port sea day" for me.

I went out on the back deck to look at and photograph Mt. Vesuvius across the bay. It was totally obscured by haze. I could sort of guess at part of its outline, but only because I've seen it before from this same location.

After lunch I went a little bit ashore, but just to the shops in the passenger terminal building. Naples is not a particularly safe city to roam around in by yourself. There are cases on previous stops here where even crew members have been violently attacked and robbed in daylight not to mention those passengers and crew who have been pickpocketed.

I've been meaning to tell you about the flowers on the ship. In a word, they are spectacular. There are pots of orchids on every dining table in the Lido buffet and in every restroom that I've been in. There are low bowls of mixed cut flowers on every table in the dining room and special themed flowers on formal nights. Whenever you are in a public space (other than hallways), you are never more than a very few yards away from an exquisite large to huge arrangement, and these are changing all the time. All of this is the work of a husband and wife team of florists -- a young Dutch couple named Eddie and Calista. They recently received a feather in their cap big enough to make a whole headdress. The CEO of the Holland America Group, while visiting the ship last week, decreed that all the florists on HAL ships should follow Eddie and Calista's lead in the style of arrangements. Several months ago we had them at our table for dinner. We were all impressed with their intelligence and poise as well as their creative talents. I'll put some photos of their work here. The non-floral parts of their arrangements are as creative and beautiful as the flowers. In the last photo, the Round, light-colored thing is a coolie hat.

April 15

"Render unto Ceasar..." And on this rendering day most of the people on the ship have gone to Rome which is about a 1.5 hour bus ride from the ship which is docked at Civitavecchia (say that 3 times fast).

Margaret and I had signed up for an 8 hour tour to some Etruscan ruins, Tarquinia and Tuscania. A week or so ago, after talking to someone who had done that tour before, I decided that was too much walking over seriously uneven ground, so I cancelled my ticket. That left her to tackle yet more ruins on her own while I do another "in port sea day." This time we are way out at the end of nowhere, so there's not even a terminal building anywhere near by and not much to look at but a strip of concrete out our side, and out the other side, some storage tanks. Blah.

Yesterday at diner Penny asked Margaret if she was getting"ruined" out yet. I think that might work as a short description of this trip. Certainly by the time we get home Margaret will have seen a lot of the so-called important ruins and similar sights around the world. Of course we had to miss the stops in Egypt. There are also some others like Angor Wat, Agra, Machu Picchu, Easter Island, and the Great Wall, but you can't see everything in one trip around.

World cruise 42

April 12 (Greek Orthodox Easter)

Today we stopped at Katakolon, Greece. Both of us took a tour called "Magna Grecia Farm Visit." It was a tour out into the countryside to visit a family-run business. It is named as it is because the husband was Greek and the wife was Italian. The husband is gone now, but the wife and her 2 sons have expanded the original olive groves and vinyards into a thriving tourist business for up to maybe 5 busloads at a time that retains the feeling of a non-commercial family farm. We were told that they also do educational tours for city school children.

We had an excellent tour guide named Helen, who was as close to a stand-up comedienne as I've ever heard on a tour. She kept us entertained both directions with tour guide information, but told with a great sense of humor and comedic timing.

When we arrived, we were greeted personally by members of the family and given a glass of their vinyard's white wine (or ouzo) and a miniature pie thing like an hors d'oeuvres.

Next was a brief tour of the farm and olive grove where one of the trees is 300-350 years old. By the way, all the photos of this tour are from Margaret 's camera.

Then we were ushered into the building for what was described as a "heavy snack" in the tour description but was really a full lunch. There was bread with their own olive oil, bruschetta with tomatoes from their gardens, regular feta cheese and a spiced version of feta, a piece of sausage flavored with orange (really good), olives of course, black-eyed peas, baklava, strawberries, their own red wine or mineral water, and a liqueur of honey and cinnamon. I've probably missed something, but here's a photo Margaret took of the table before we got at the food.

Thr room was interesting although evidently built to feed lots of people. There were interesting rafters and a chandelier decorated with flatware.

About the time most were finished eating, several family members began dancing, and pretty soon half the tourists were up and winding through the tables. The paper napkins got tossed on the floor by one of the family in handfuls like confetti when the young boy was doing some showy dance moves.

There were a number of the local products that could be bought. There was also an area where local students at a nearby vocational school and artisans could display their wares ranging from several styles of jewelry to ceramics and sculpture. Again, while out to make money, the whole operation had a very non-commercial air to it.

April 13

Messina, Sicily. I took an "easy" tour out to Mt. Etna that went about 2,000 feet up to a lava flow from (I think) 1928. Margaret took the "advanced" tour that went higher to a more recent flow.

Sicily was not on our original itinerary, but I'm glad to have had the chance to visit. I've been through the Straits of Messina several times, but never stopped before. Oh, our tour guide said that the name Sicily comes from 2 Greek words for figs and olives. Very appropriate. Here is a photo of the harbor with the coast of Italy across the strait in the background.

Our tour basically consisted of a nice bus ride along the coast and through several rather vertical villages. There was a brief stop at a spot where, if there had been no clouds, we might have had a view of the mountain. Here's a view of it that I got later from the bus.

After passing Catania and Taormina and going through an interminable number of tunnels, we went through several very vertical villages whose names I did not get. (while our guide's English was heavily accented but understandable, when she said something in Italian or the Sicilian dialect, it was not clear at all). They were interesting both going up and coming back down.

We did go up a winding road mostly lined with walls made of lava rock. (Yes, that's a healthy stand of prickly pear cactus which grows wild here.) At about 2,000 feet up, we stopped at the shrine at the end of the 1928 flow. The only other thing there was a guy selling local honey for which the area is noted. I resisted.

Our last stop was at a restaurant for refreshments. The logistics of the place with respect to a busload of rather less than agile senior citizens were not very good. Otherwise it was a nice place with a friendly cat who knew she was not allowed inside and who would eat cake if offered it out on the patio.

Lastly, another pleasant bus ride back to Messina with views of villages on top of the very steep hills. This medieval castle even has an elevator of sorts.

World cruise 41

April 10 & 11

Piraeus, Greece which has been the port for Athens for about 7,000 years. By now they sort of merge together as one large urban area of about 5 million people leaving Greece's other 6.5 million people to live outside of Athens.

At the beginning I should mention that April 12 this year is the Greek Orthodox Easter, so we were in Athens on their Good Friday and Holy Saturday. At least 95% of Greeks are Greek Orthodox and strongly religious. There were church bells ringing off and on the whole time we were there. I was rather surprised that there were not more stores closed both days. However, with the ongoing countrywide financial crisis, I suppose they must do whatever they can to earn their living.

April 10 was our last private tour and was just as successful as the others. This time the company was TourGreece, and I recommend them if you are going to be in Greece. Their website is www.tourgreece.gr. Our team of Ifi and Mike were excellent. Mike would pull over, turn on the blinkers, and open the door for Margaret to hop out at every photo opportunity. Ifi was great at the history whys and wherefores of everything. She is working on her PhD in neolithic pottery through the new Museum of the Acropolis.

First we swung by most of the usual sights. Here we have the Olympic Stadium from 1896 when the Olympic Games were restarted. Next is the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. There were lots of others from Heinrich Schliemann's home (now the Numismatic Museum) to the National Library, but these are probably the most famous ones.

Next there were the Parliament Building and one of its famous guards called Evzones. They must be at least 6'1" tall, and obviously must have good legs.

Then we started going where no tour bus could ever go. First we went up Lycabettus Hill and stopped to view a brand new archaeological dig, just 6 months underway, of the School of Aristotle. It doesn't look like a whole lot yet, but how exciting!

At the top of this tall hill near the Saint George Chapel, all of Athens was spread out before us. It was breathtaking! There's the Acropolis with the Parthenon next to where the Agora was. Over there around the other side of the hill, in the distance are mountains with (highly unusual) snow on them.

Next we drove through the narrow streets of the old town or Plaka. Since the Acropolis wasn't open until noon, we stopped at a very interesting coffee shop whose name or maybe motto is (at least that's what was on a front window) "Books are people's best friends." There we had huge glass mugs of tea while Ifi gave us a crash course about the Acropolis, the Parthenon and other ruins, and showed us maps and diagrams.

On to the Acropolis. I knew I could never make it up to the top, but wanted to see what I could from a decent spot where I could wait while Margaret and Ifi went up. Mike really came through! He simply drove past the barricade and took us right up to the ticket gate! A short walk and I had a nice spot in the sun (not too chilly except for occasional wind gusts) and a fantastic view of the hill and almost all the areas on top.

I sat and finished a crocheted angel which I gave to Ifi. I also had a great spot for people watching. I was sitting right next to the stairway that went up the piece of ruin believed to be the Law Courts. Every child that came by with their parent(s) wanted to dash up those steps, and most broke away and did so. I heard mothers yelling at their children in at least 6 or 7 languages while I was there. They were hollering with good reasons: there were no handrails or guardrails on the whole thing; the marble steps and paving stones were slippery with age; and there was enough wind blowing to unbalance an adult much less a child. Margaret says that the person just right of center in the turquoise colored coat in this photo is me, but you have to know where to look.

Ship's sightseeing tours are expensive. Private tours are more expensive, but they adapt to what you want to see or do, can get you to places the buses can't go, are more comfortable than buses, and in some cases and places they are absolutely worth it.

April 11

Today I went on a ship's tour to the Corinth Canal. Margaret didn't take a tour but just went walkabout here in Piraeus.

The Corinth Canal cuts across an isthmus between the Agean and Ionian Seas. It was first conceived in ancient times, but they didn't have the technology to do it. Instead, they built a wooden road with grooves greased with animal fat and dragged boats across. The first serious attempt at a canal was planned by Roman Emperor Nero, but was ended by his death a year later. The present canal was built between 1881 and 1893. The canal is 4 miles long, 70 feet wide and 26 feet deep. In the middle portion its sloping rock sides are 170 feet high.

After a pleasant hour and 20 minutes' ride along the coast from Piraeus to the canal, our bus and a herd (or horde?) of other buses stopped at what can only be termed a convenience store. The place had souvenirs, packaged food items, drinks, one poor guy running the cash register and lots of toilets. Very convenient. I hope the store took in enough money to cover the water bill.

You could also walk a block or two out onto one of the bridges across the canal for the view from the top. I didn't and chose instead to just wait near our bus. I was told later that my purple slacks and turquoise jacket exactly matched the colors of the large graffiti on the wall behind me. There were lots of graffiti everywhere in Greece. Both of our tour guides in Athens attributed it to the 60% unemployment rate among young people ("officially" 35% overall).

Back on the bus for a 5 minute trip to the dock at the east end of the canal where the excursion boat waited to take us through. Here is a photo I snapped of the canal as we crossed the bridge.

I told you the basics up above, so here are several shots as we went through, turned around and came back. Pretty impressive for 19th century technology.

Interestingly, at each end of the canal there was a road that evidently crossed the canal, but none of us could see any evidence of a bridge between the large concrete abutments. However, as we moved away back along the canal from the west end, the mystery was solved as the bridge rose up out of the water! We got a slightly better look at the one at the east end of the canal which was made of a heavy metal grid to allow the water through. We never did find out any details of how it works. Here you can see the black and yellow sides of the span at the west end after it was up and its shadow on the water.