At Sea
Snow-covered peaks of the Cordillera Cantabrica mountains floated in the sky beyond the near shoreline as the Endeavour sailed eastward in the Bay of Biscay along the top of the Iberian Peninsula. Our day at sea after important religious, architectural and oenological visits the past days bloomed into a glorious one with smooth seas, light airs and crisp clear blue skies overhead.
A throng of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, fell in around the ship, riding our bow and surfing our wake, bringing people out on deck from their indoor leisurely endeavors. This was good practice, for soon the ship slowed and turned as the watch officers spotted more members of the dolphin tribe. We enjoyed great looks at a tight group of two-dozen North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas. These ‘blackfish’ are considered to have high social structure among Earth’s animal kind. It was fitting to encounter whales in these waters as we made our way to the land of the original whalers, the Basques.
Our resident historian David Barnes engaged us in a slide-illustrated tour of the rich cultural history of Spain, including intriguing discussion of bulls, Moors, Catholicism, geography, tapas, Goya and more.
Later in the day our very special guest Robert MacNeil, of the “MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour”, enthralled us with tales of his years in broadcast journalism. The audience sat rapt listening to his exciting firsthand experiences at the Cuban missile crisis, JFK’s assassination and other groundbreaking events. We learned that he helped charter PBS’ “News Hour” based on a respect for complexity of issues, to increase viewer’s attention span, to be fair and balanced, and to not show off the interviewer. We gained a new appreciation for this perspective as we listened intently to Robert’s gripping experiences.
After an early dinner the ship entered a narrow cut in the cliffs that opened into a wider protected bay at the small picturesque Basque port of Pasajes. This medieval town runs along the waterfront at the base of a steep mountain and has been an important whaling and shipbuilding center. We enjoyed walks in another era along the stoneblock streets, admiring the eternal fire of pub socialization, Basque food fare and a local nationalist spirit embodied in posters pasted on the town’s housefronts.
And thus we spent a day at sea, with an evening ashore, on this tour of western Europe -- a day of whales and dolphins, fine weather, long views, stimulating presentations, good camaraderie, an introduction to Basque culture and a chance to catch up from our week’s experiences at important cultural destinations in Spain and Portugal.
Snow-covered peaks of the Cordillera Cantabrica mountains floated in the sky beyond the near shoreline as the Endeavour sailed eastward in the Bay of Biscay along the top of the Iberian Peninsula. Our day at sea after important religious, architectural and oenological visits the past days bloomed into a glorious one with smooth seas, light airs and crisp clear blue skies overhead.
A throng of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, fell in around the ship, riding our bow and surfing our wake, bringing people out on deck from their indoor leisurely endeavors. This was good practice, for soon the ship slowed and turned as the watch officers spotted more members of the dolphin tribe. We enjoyed great looks at a tight group of two-dozen North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas. These ‘blackfish’ are considered to have high social structure among Earth’s animal kind. It was fitting to encounter whales in these waters as we made our way to the land of the original whalers, the Basques.
Our resident historian David Barnes engaged us in a slide-illustrated tour of the rich cultural history of Spain, including intriguing discussion of bulls, Moors, Catholicism, geography, tapas, Goya and more.
Later in the day our very special guest Robert MacNeil, of the “MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour”, enthralled us with tales of his years in broadcast journalism. The audience sat rapt listening to his exciting firsthand experiences at the Cuban missile crisis, JFK’s assassination and other groundbreaking events. We learned that he helped charter PBS’ “News Hour” based on a respect for complexity of issues, to increase viewer’s attention span, to be fair and balanced, and to not show off the interviewer. We gained a new appreciation for this perspective as we listened intently to Robert’s gripping experiences.
After an early dinner the ship entered a narrow cut in the cliffs that opened into a wider protected bay at the small picturesque Basque port of Pasajes. This medieval town runs along the waterfront at the base of a steep mountain and has been an important whaling and shipbuilding center. We enjoyed walks in another era along the stoneblock streets, admiring the eternal fire of pub socialization, Basque food fare and a local nationalist spirit embodied in posters pasted on the town’s housefronts.
And thus we spent a day at sea, with an evening ashore, on this tour of western Europe -- a day of whales and dolphins, fine weather, long views, stimulating presentations, good camaraderie, an introduction to Basque culture and a chance to catch up from our week’s experiences at important cultural destinations in Spain and Portugal.
