Woke up at ~3:27 feeling blerf, combination probably of too much champagne (sparkling wine) and also thinking maybe I was starting to feel like I had a sore throat.
Got up while still dark (we'd already arrived in Tampa) and got photos of Tampa and also the ship sign by night (which I still hadn't managed to do).
Carnival Pride sign lit up
Carnival Pride docked at Tampa Bay Port
We also ran around taking photos of the Sushi restaurant that I also still hadn't done.
We had breakfast in the dining room, but even though we were in there before 7:00 it took probably thirty five minutes to get our food. In fact another table which arrived after us had their food and left before we got our food. Completely hopeless. So of course I'm getting stressed that we're not going to get our food and eat in time for us to pack up our room about be out by 8:00. Which meant I struggled to get through it. At least that was my reasoning for my lack of appetite. More on that later.
So it was a rushed job to finish packing and get out of the room. #grunt
Went up to Lido to chill for a bit before we disembarked a bit after 8:30.
So customs/immigration was super easy. They literally just looked at our passports to make sure we were us. So the experience we had in Brooklyn four years ago was actually standard.
Once off the ship we walked next door to the Florida Aquarium. They're used to cruise ship passengers and will hold your bag for the day with an aquarium ticket. Winning! It's fairly expensive (nearly $40) and fairly small (compared to somewhere like Osaka or even Sydney) but not bad.
The Florida Aquarium (photo taken in the afternoon)
Opossum outside the Florida Aquarium
Fish and anemones
Turtle
Fish and ray display
Stingray and fish
Fish
Fish
Blubber jellies
Hayley watching a diver in the fish and shark tank
Shark
White's seahorse
Lionfish
Fish
Fish
Mono fish
Waterbird
Burmese python
Pelican
Pelican closeup
Bird.. egret?
Panther cameleon
Tomato frog
Gecko
Spider tortoises
Ruddy duck
Lobster
Spanish hogfish
High-hat
Roseate spoonbill
After we'd been there a while we took one of the free Tampa trams up to Ebor City to have a look around. We stopped for lunch in a pub. I thought I'd get something light (a caesar salad) which was in fact pretty light (just lettuce, croutons, dressing and some powdered cheese) but I couldn't eat it all. I was hungry to start with but my stomach said no. David may have helped finish it.
We had a bit of a wander around. The market wasn't marketing, but I did marvel at the chickens that roam free in Tampa (and in fact are protected). Very cool.
Centennial Park
Please do not feed the city protected chickens
Free roaming protected chickens
Tampa free tram
9/11 Fallen Heroes Memorial
9/11 Fallen Heroes Memorial
Met up with Hayley again and we took a tram down to the channel to have a look.
Inside a Tampa free tram
Centennial Park from the tram
Tampa streetscape
Garrison Channel
Garrison Channel
Turkey vulture
Then another tram back to the aquarium to pick up our bags.
Manhole cover
And then a tram up to near Union Station.
Union Station
Model trains in Union Station
Inside Union Station
Only to find our train was delayed. Of course. Because Amtrak. Or rather, because America is dumb and the rail infrastructure is privatised which means the rails are owned by CSX (in this part of Florida) which is a freight company which prioritises freight over passenger trains. Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.
So we went to Publix to pick up some supplies.
And waited for the train.
And waited.
The train was an hour late leaving.
And then we had to sit waiting for a freight train for at least half an hour at one point.
Sigh.
Tampa buildings from the train to Orlando
Once the restaurant car opened David went and got some dinner. He got some mac and cheese which looked pretty good, so I went and got some too. But even though I was starving I only made it half way through before my stomach said no. So saved the rest, figured I could eat it during the week.
Did I mention I was starting to feel sick? Yeah definitely feeling sick. Sigh. Covid with gut involvement? Certainly possible.
Once we got to Kissimmee.. Actually, scratch that, even before we left Tampa, Hayley said, I'm not doing buses across Orlando, I'll pay for a Lyft. And I was all kinds of YES. And because we were like two hours late arriving in Orlando this was epic appreciated. But it was still a super late night.
Our hotel room is ok, but my bed is super soft (David's is a bit better), pillows are too thick (although can be squished around and down) and the room maxes down at 68 which is totally not cool enough for us. Doh. And a few other dumb things like nowhere to hang a hand towel by the basin and the only place to hang towels in the bathroom is right behind the toilet so they drape over it.
And did I mention I was feeling sick? And super tired. hrmmmmm!
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