I’m always a big fan of entertainment on a cruise.  This one is kind of sad.  Last night the only show was a vocalist.  There is already a ton of music on board in various bars and salons and this was also the only choice in the theater.  It’s disappointing.  Tonight they had a Deal or No Deal game show that was cancelled because not enough people bought tickets.  We walked through the Casino twice tonight and it was pretty empty. I think people are just sitting at bars drinking and listening to music, which may be why there is no entertainment.  However, we went to the comedian tonight and it was packed.  I don’t understand this entertainment line up. 

The food is also still pretty disappointing.  The only thing I really enjoy is my custom made omelet for breakfast.  We had to grab something at the buffet when we returned from our excursion because they did not allow time to eat lunch on the tour.  The pickings were slim.  I remember when NCL had a pasta station during every lunch so I always had a good choice.  I guess that is now replaced by La Cucina being open, but they only offer pizza.  We ate in the dining room for the second time and it was ok.  

Let me tell you about more exciting news and that would be our excursion today.  We decided to take the Alpujarras Mountain tour.  It consisted of driving from Motril into the mountains for an hour and a half up to a white washed town.  We stopped briefly at a reservoir to take pictures and then continued up a super windy road in which the bus had to stop if another vehicle was coming in order to get around the corner!  Luckily my motion sickness did nto come into play.  I think it was because I made sure to only look out the window and do nothing else.  The tour guide was also excellent.  She talked for almost the entire drive up and back and talked a lot about history, but also included a lot of Spanish culture, which I appreciated. 

The town of Pampeneira was beautiful.  It was very small and quiet, besides all the tourists that were walking around.  We walked up to the main square and looked inside the church, which was one of the few that managed to survive intact after various wars.  It was built in the 16th century and still had the original altar inside on a side wall.  I don’t generally take pictures of the inside of churches because, to be honest, they all look very similar to me. 

We walked up a steep street that had a gouge cut out of the middle for water to flow down.  It was pretty neat.  It reminded me of Pompeii, but on a smaller scale. They do it for the water to flow down from the mountain as well as divert rain water.  They only use it to water plants.  At the top of the hill the guide talked about the area in which the women gathered to wash clothes.  We took a tour around the town and got some beautiful pictures.  

We checked out the chocolate shop and were given a sample chocolate that had goat cheese in it.  You don’t taste it at first and then at the end it’s like you ate a piece of goat cheese.  Very interesting.  It’s not something I would want to purchase, but it was cool to taste it.  We browsed the few shops and since the area is known for its cotton rugs, we bought two small ones for 12 euro.  We also found a bread shop and bought a roll and a pastry for less than 2 euro.  

The trip down the mountain was much quicker and we stopped in the town of Landronja.  We walked the length of the town and it was pretty quiet since it was lunch and siesta time.  There were fountains that each had a different Federico Garcia Lorca poem on it.  We looked around a shop that sold different types of honey and bought a jar to bring home.  We also got some chocolate with honey in it.  It’s very tasty.  

On the drive back we passed by the wind towers, which are so much bigger than you imagine, and she told us that Spain still needs help from France with power and they do not get tax breaks or incentives to have solar power, which that area of Spain has sun in abundance, so it’s a shame they don’t harness it for power.  

Our bus arrived back at the ship around 2:30.  It seemed like a very quick tour, but we left at 9:30.  We did not explore Motril at all. I thought it was a worthwhile excursion. I love seeing small towns like these.