December 17th - Wednesday
Day 3 – Ensenada, Baja California:
Day 3 – Ensenada, Baja California:
We docked on the port around 8AM, the day was very wet with rain, steady down pour from the time we had late breakfast at the Lido Deck. All through the morning, the announcement from the bridge announced all kinds of drills and procedures for the personnel, the alrms were constantly going. The ship captain referred to the rain as “Liquid Sunshine”, it poured and kept pouring, luckily right on the pier is a shopping, although the prices are inflated from the downtown shopping area.
Sandy & I went down to the Courtesy Desk and inquired about the available tours, we booked the city tour which included the Santo Tomas Winery wine tasting tour, the Civic Center and downtown Primera Avenida (1st Avenue) shopping center.
The rain was light when we reached the winery, there were 2 other tour buses with the wine tasting, the host explained the history of the winery, 2nd oldest in Mexico with locally grown grapes, we sampled the white wine and red wine, others tasted the Sangria and Chardonnay. Being a wine illiterate person as I am, I thought the best tasting was the red wine, more sweeter in taste and not to harsh.
When we finished wine tasting, we hurried back into the tour bus, still pouring rain and traveled next to the Ensenada Civic Center, here the square is normally lined with several vendors, but due to the rain, all the vendors are indoors and not as many retailers.
Our guide, named Esther explained the history of the Civic Center being a 6 block hotel resort named Riviera Pacifico del Ensenada, a gaming and tourist seaside resort, later demolished and only the main entrance to the hotel remains and now being used for banquets and celebrations. We also sampled the beer, Tecate and Tequila.
After our trip to the Civic Center, our tour proceeded to Avenida Primera or First Avenue, consist of 4 blocks of shopping stores, restaurants, bars and tattoo parlors. We basically went for the small knick knacks that we can carry, we did not purchase heavy items. I would like to caution shoppers in Ensenada that the vendors will not tell you, for items they sell you and will not be able to take onboard the ship.
Here’s a few of these items:
1) Leather Whip or Latigo,
2) Hard Drug paraphernalia’s (vials, pipes, etc.),
3) Knives or any sharp objects made of metal or wood,
4) Wooden Sling shots, this is considered a weapon,
5) Firearms’ to name a few.
If ever in-doubt, any form of souvenir used or can be used as a weapon will be confiscated as you check in the port security. If you buy these items, the port officers will not reimburse or mail these items to you, so be forewarned.
We boarded the ship back around 5PM, we ate (again) for a light snack before dinner. Sandy & I retired to take a short nap, later on we met with Sarah and Long at the Dining room around 8:30PM, after consuming our meals, we headed down to the Casino Boulevard to hear Long sing again with the Filipino Band. The ship sailed at 9:30PM, Dorothy & Igal stayed with us to hear the dancing and singing with Long which lasted till about midnight.
This Evening we spent the entire night with Dorothy and Igal at the Lido Deck after the dancing just talking and having them listen to our life story. To some this may sound really dull, but it turned out to be a riot, Dorothy had a laughed that would infect even the dullest person, Sandy told our birthing story which most our friends find hilariously funny. We turned in around 2:30 AM.
Sandy & I went down to the Courtesy Desk and inquired about the available tours, we booked the city tour which included the Santo Tomas Winery wine tasting tour, the Civic Center and downtown Primera Avenida (1st Avenue) shopping center.
The rain was light when we reached the winery, there were 2 other tour buses with the wine tasting, the host explained the history of the winery, 2nd oldest in Mexico with locally grown grapes, we sampled the white wine and red wine, others tasted the Sangria and Chardonnay. Being a wine illiterate person as I am, I thought the best tasting was the red wine, more sweeter in taste and not to harsh.
When we finished wine tasting, we hurried back into the tour bus, still pouring rain and traveled next to the Ensenada Civic Center, here the square is normally lined with several vendors, but due to the rain, all the vendors are indoors and not as many retailers.
Our guide, named Esther explained the history of the Civic Center being a 6 block hotel resort named Riviera Pacifico del Ensenada, a gaming and tourist seaside resort, later demolished and only the main entrance to the hotel remains and now being used for banquets and celebrations. We also sampled the beer, Tecate and Tequila.
After our trip to the Civic Center, our tour proceeded to Avenida Primera or First Avenue, consist of 4 blocks of shopping stores, restaurants, bars and tattoo parlors. We basically went for the small knick knacks that we can carry, we did not purchase heavy items. I would like to caution shoppers in Ensenada that the vendors will not tell you, for items they sell you and will not be able to take onboard the ship.
Here’s a few of these items:
1) Leather Whip or Latigo,
2) Hard Drug paraphernalia’s (vials, pipes, etc.),
3) Knives or any sharp objects made of metal or wood,
4) Wooden Sling shots, this is considered a weapon,
5) Firearms’ to name a few.
If ever in-doubt, any form of souvenir used or can be used as a weapon will be confiscated as you check in the port security. If you buy these items, the port officers will not reimburse or mail these items to you, so be forewarned.
We boarded the ship back around 5PM, we ate (again) for a light snack before dinner. Sandy & I retired to take a short nap, later on we met with Sarah and Long at the Dining room around 8:30PM, after consuming our meals, we headed down to the Casino Boulevard to hear Long sing again with the Filipino Band. The ship sailed at 9:30PM, Dorothy & Igal stayed with us to hear the dancing and singing with Long which lasted till about midnight.
This Evening we spent the entire night with Dorothy and Igal at the Lido Deck after the dancing just talking and having them listen to our life story. To some this may sound really dull, but it turned out to be a riot, Dorothy had a laughed that would infect even the dullest person, Sandy told our birthing story which most our friends find hilariously funny. We turned in around 2:30 AM.
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