We welcomed December with our second Christmas celebration of the year - the CDMS Christmas brunch at the Cow Café - and it even snowed! Duncan is "The City of Totems". For a change of pace, we did one of our daily walks around Duncan's downtown, checking out the totems, the Christmas décor, and the art. We once again ventured down the hill for the Cowichan Bay Christmas tree "Light-Up" at the Maritime Centre. We were still hiking Cobble Hill well into December. In a very short time span, we managed to enjoy quick visits with Auntie Janet, Michelle, and Karyn before flying out of YVR. We then flew to Dubai to enjoy an eleven night cruise aboard the MSC Lirica to Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. During our return to Canada, we both became ill. I developed a nasty cough which lasted for the rest of the year. We returned to the Lower Mainland on the 23rd, in time to spend Christmas Eve with relatives on Lisa's side of our family. We then had Christmas dinner in my parents' new condo. On Boxing Day, we surprised my dad with an open house 75th birthday party with many of his friends. We returned home on the 27th, but unfortunately my congestion and cough continued to plague me. I was finally up to joining Lisa on a walk on the 30th. We continue to read and watch movies, even while on planes and ships! I made this collage recap of our 2019 using one photo from each month.
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Dubai welcomed us back in spectacular fashion, with one of the most magical sunrises I have witnessed. Having seen most of what we'd planned to already, this time we took a different shuttle to Mercato just to get to a different neighbourhood. After enjoying some time at the beach and discovering yet another wonderful coastal walking path, we headed back to the ship for lunch since we had already decided to skip dinner in order to see the Dubai Fountain show in the evening. Dubai's wealth is evident by the array of luxury cars on display. This time around, we spent more time exploring the Dubai Mall itself, as it is home to an impressive aquarium, ice rink, and fountains. In the evening, the mall was a beehive of activity! The Dubai Fountain show failed to live up to the enormous hype. It lasted all of three minutes and seeing it meant fighting through crowds of people. I much prefer the one at the Bellagio in Vegas. On the way back to the ship we got a decent look at Dubai Garden Glow.
Just like in Abu Dhabi, the main road along the water is Corniche, and it is accompanied by seaside promenades and biking paths. After admiring the Dubai-esque modern skyline, we walked to the Suuk Waqif. Everything is so clean and nice that it almost feels like a Disney Epcot version of a souk. Even the public washrooms were impressive. While wandering, we stumbled upon the falcon sales and the stables. After seeing the souk, we returned to the shoreline and walked until we wanted to return to the ship to eat again. We stayed in port overnight so that we had a second day to enjoy Doha. Lisa and I decided that if we skipped the souk and kept walking along the promenade, we could make it all the way downtown and then back. Doha held the World Handball Championship and is preparing to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Doha's skyline was beautiful as we prepared to sail away.
Manama, Bahrain didn't seem to have much of touristic appeal to offer. We took a free shuttle to a department store "mall" and walked around the neighbourhood, taking in the local bakery, beauty and hair salons, housing complexes, mosques, and a very creepy Santa Claus. We spent time reading our books and listening to music on the ship.
Previous to finding this 11 night cruise of the Persian Gulf, we weren't familiar with MSC. When I compared pricing, this itinerary featuring 7 ports of call was cheaper than 7 night cruises with only 4 of the same stops. We sailed on the MSC Lirica, an older ship that has been refurbished and is small by today's standards. MSC is an Italian line that is marketed primarily to Europeans. We were relieved to discover that English was the primary language spoken aboard, but all announcements were made in 7 different languages! On our particular sailing, Russians were the largest group of passengers, followed by Italians, and then Germans. There were also representatives from Spain, Portugal, France, and the USA. Apparently we were two of just 40 Canadians on the MSC Lirica. We felt that the cruise offered good value and that the ship had most amenities. We were thrilled with the itinerary and impressed with five of the seven ports of call. Food was in abundance and available 20 hours per day! We were satisfied with the quality of the meals served in the main dining room. Sorbet and ice-cream were our standing orders, but we also sampled several other desserts. (Pictured: cheesecake, pavlova, and Black Forest) There were three "elegant" nights and two theme nights (but we weren't told about the themes in advance so only crew and repeat passengers were dressed accordingly). The entertainment aboard the MSC Lirica was disappointing, especially the theatre shows. The theatre itself is poorly designed with bad sightlines and a small stage. The featured singers performed in heavily accented English, and didn't seem to know the English words they were singing. The choreography was basic. The performances lacked a storyline and were repetitive (ie. the same magic trick was performed on at least 3 nights, and the same fellow juggled the same way each night). One of the nice things about cruising is that it gives one the opportunity to spend time with fellow travelers. We were happy to have several breakfasts and lunches with Arthur and Phyllis from the Bay Area - an impressively accomplished couple with wonderful stories to tell. It was also great to have swapped travel tales with Susan and Gary from outside of Atlanta - these two know how to put together a vacation! Finally, I appreciated visiting over drinks with a family from Manchester on two of the theme nights. Additionally, crew member Trevor Lucky from South Africa was fun to chat with.
Khasab had lowered our expectations of Oman and the port area didn't seem to have much to offer. We decided to just walk to the Muttrah Souk. Reaching and exploring the souk took less time than we'd anticipated and the seaside promenade was lovely, so we decided to push on towards Old Muscat. We promised each other that we'd simply turn back if and when we'd had enough. We passed an amusement park, monuments, beaches, and mosques before reaching the gate to Old Muscat. We made it the six kilometres to Al Alam Palace. We saw Mirani Fort, the old city wall, Jalali Fort, and at least five mosques before walking all the way back to the ship. Muscat was a wonderful port of call and we had a great day exploring. Having walked at least 13 kilometres, we felt less guilty when ordering double desserts at both lunch and dinner.
Much of Oman is barren and rocky; it offered a stark contrast to the opulence of the United Arab Emirates. Lisa and I made the 12 minute walk from the ship into the town of Khasab. We explored several alleyways and passages, discovering two forts, several small mosques, friendly locals, and many goats. Khasab holds little of touristic value, but was an interesting stop for some insight into Omani life. The two largest buildings were an old fort, and a newer LuLu "HyperMarket". On our walk back to the ship we encountered several more passengers who frequently asked us if we knew how to find the town... we'd inform them, "This is it!"
Much of Sir Bani Yas Island is now protected as a nature reserve and a variety of animals have been brought here from around the world. "Safari" excursions are available, but we elected to simply relax on the coastal portion of the island operated by MSC until after the beach barbeque lunch. That night was the first of three "elegant" nights.
After breakfast aboard the ship, we once again took advantage of a free mall shuttle, this time to get us closer to Abu Dhabi's main road, Corniche. From the mall, we walked to the coast and followed the lovely seaside promenade along beaches and parks, all the way to the Founder's Memorial and the Presidential Palace. After having walked 12 kilometres in 27 degree sunshine, we took a taxi back to the ship. Our cab driver was impressed by the length of our walk, but confused by us mentioning the heat, as he explained that this is the cool winter weather and that in the summer months one cannot go outside for even two minutes in the shade without being 100% wet with sweat due to the 56 - 62 degree days. Despite the wintry conditions, we were happy to be spoiled with lots of good food once back aboard.
After breakfast, we enjoyed the warm weather outside while we waited for the free shuttle to the Dubai Mall in the heart of the city's downtown. At 10:30 am, the mall next to the famous Burj Khalifa was nearly deserted. We walked through long connecting corridors from the mall to a metro station, where we purchased day passes and boarded the metro to the Dubai Marina. This was a beautiful area to stroll along the water's edge admiring beautiful boats and commenting on the city's cleanliness. We made our way to the Observatory Bar on the 52nd floor of the Marriott building to view the famous Palm Island and the ongoing expansion and construction of new wealthy residential areas. Next we took the metro to the First Gulf Bank stop and walked through an affluent community of international schools, foreign embassies, and private homes, to the world's only "7 star" hotel, the Burj Al Arab Hotel. We visited the nearby Umm Suqeim Beach where people were surfing. The walk to the coast was longer than we'd anticipated (about 48 minutes), so we hopped in a cab for a quick ride back to the metro station. We then continued by metro to Al Fahidi to explore the historical district and walked to and through the Old Souk and along the creek. We had chosen to skip lunch in order to sightsee, so we especially appreciated our first dinner in the ship's main dining restaurant. Afterwards we attended the mandatory safety drill before I indulged in a couple of glasses of "welcome champagne". I met a friendly family from Manchester at the "sail-away" who kindly used their unlimited drink package to order me a beer at the "Arabian Night Party".
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