15th September, 2018

A more sedate start to our visit to Halifax, the capital city of Nova Scotia, based on a wonderful 16-mile long natural harbour. The city was founded in 1749 and named after the Second Earl of Halifax, the then president to the Board of Trade. It rapidly became the Atlantic headquarters for the Canadian Royal Navy and Army. Queen Victoria’s father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (after whole Prince Edward Island is named) was very energetic here between 1794 and 1800 and the town was much enlarged with the citadel and a Martello Tower built to defend it. Halifax has never been attacked, but there was one disaster in 1917 when a French munitions ship, the Mont Blanc rammed a Belgian ship, the Imo in the harbour. It caught fire and drew many onlookers to see the sinking ships. Unfortunately it then exploded with a force that has been claimed to be the largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb. Some 2,000 people were killed and 9,000 injured and a large chunk of the town flattened. Some bits of metal were found about two miles away.

Once again we were greeted by the friendly natives and, armed with a map and a suggested route round the city we set off into the warm sunshine. The whole cruise terminal was one big craft centre, so it took a little while to get going, but we walked on, admiring some of the older buildings and stopping at the Old Burying Ground (closed 1849).

It was then through the main shopping street where we managed to find a shoe shop with Chris Benn’s sizes.

Next on to the very attractive Public Gardens, a good example of Victorian municipal gardens.

Getting a bit warm by now, but, undaunted we made our way to the Citadel, an invigorating walk up,the hill. It is in a star-shape with low, solid walls, plenty of cannons and many locals wandering around in 18th and 19th century clothes and uniforms reenacting the old days. All very good with a comprehensive Canadian army museum, so comprehensive I did not have enough time to view it all.

Val proved to be a big fan of one of the guards!!

Finally we trekked down the hill again, past Province House, the oldest legislative building in North America, I believe (or is it Canada?) and on to the waterfront which has benn developed with shops, bars, restaurants and other amusements in old buildings. The water looked fabulous in the autumnal sunshine.

Eventually, after a longish walk, we made it back to the ship. I had one more stop though and that was the Centre for Immigration, where a very nice lady and her computer looked up my grandfather, William Wade Denbigh, who, if we have got the facts right, arrived in Canada, via Portland, Maine in 1912. She could not have been more helpful and it was a pity I didn’t have more time to explore my grandmother’s arrival and, possibly, my mother’s departure for England in 1943.

All in all, very impressed with Halifax and again, sad we didn’t have more time to explore further afield – but that is the nature of cruising.

14th September, 2018

We arrived fairly early in the morning in St John, NB and moored alongside the quay. Val and I did not have anything particular booked so we made our way down the gangplank to the terminal (no lengthy queues here) to be greeted by delightful immigration staff and volunteers who assisted us in what to do and how to do it. What a contrast to NY. Even the weather was fantastic with the sun shining and all lovely and warm. So off we set into town, a short walk away.

First up we walked around the Trinity Royal Preservation Area, some 20 blocks of old buildings and wonderfully quiet streets, another marked contrast to New York. New Brunswick was effectively captured by the British in 1758 during the Seven Years War and though the fort was destroyed in 1775 by the American Revolutionary forces, it was rebuilt and in 1783, about 3,000 Loyalists settled from the USA. Today Greater St John is about 128,000 and very British/Scottish. There was a terrible fire in 1877 when much of the city was destroyed so much of what is there now is Victorian.

We did visit one house, known as Loyalist House, which is a wooden clapboard building built in about 1817 and a delight to visit as I hope the photos show. Oddly, I forgot to take a picture of the outside…

We then dropped into the very cheerful covered market, had a coffee and caught up with the wifi. We also strolled around the Loyalist Graveyard and the local park with its unusual two-tiered bandstand. The whole city has a very nice community feel to it. Even the pigeons looked lovely!

It was time now for some lunch. I am still sticking to my 5:2 diet, so it was Val’s treat to have a whole lobster to herself. And it was delicious she tells me! A very happy bunny!

Not much else to report other than I managed to get my glasses fixed (an arm had fallen off) and we had to be back on board by 3.30 prior to setting sail for our next destination, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Very impressed with St John, though. Sadly we did not have time to see the Reversing Falls, where the very strong and rapid tide forces the St John River to flow back up stream. It is the main claim to the city, but time, as ever, was against us. Maybe next time.

Val did get tempted by some vintage fur coats at the kiosks in he terminal, but managed to resist. As you can see from the photos, it was a lovely sunny day with a very pleasant sail away past another cruise liner. Still time for a game of table tennis!

12th September, 2018

Our last day in New York and the weather still looked a bit iffy, but it held out ok and while still overcast and drear, it didn’t actually rain.

The day did not get off to the best of starts as we tried to board the bus for the Downtown Tour, this time really near the pier at which we were docked. This seemed excellent as it meant we did not have to walk all the way to Times Square. Unfortunately, whilst we had our VIP lanyards, which had been all we had needed for all the other times we had boarded the bus, this time the guy seeing us on insisted we show our tickets, which were, annoyingly, on the table in our cabin. No amount of pleading and arguing seemed to move him, so it was off back to the ship for me and back again. And then they showed us onto the wrong bus! Luckily they spotted the error and we transferred to the correct one and then sat there for 30 minutes. We were not very happy bunnies, despite what this photo of Val would imply!

Well, eventually we were off, again visiting Times Square and then on down Broadway heading south. We passed the Empire State and Flatiron Buildings (the former being built in an astounding 410 days) and lots of examples of the cast-iron architecture that is typical of NY. Effectively they were made off-site and flat-packed and built. The one with the clock was the first commercial building in the world to have a lift and people would queue around the block to have a go on it.

Our first stop was Chinatown and Little Italy, where we found a Chinese restaurant and Val was able to stock up on some Asian grub. We didn’t feel the Chinatown in NY was as impressive as in San Francisco and lacked a bit of charm. Little Italy is just across Canal Street and it was odd to walk from one culture to another in a few steps. Little Italy has been shrinking over the years and we only walked along one street, but you certainly got a feeling that Al Pacino was going to come out in a large overcoat, sharp suit and hat and give you a hug and a couple of kisses – and possibly an offer you can’t refuse!

We then walked on down Broadway past the Woolworths Building (above) to our next destination, which was the 9/11 memorial. The first thing we saw was the Oculus, a building designed by an architect from Valencia in Spain and very reminiscent of the modern development in that city. From a certain angle, it looks a bit like a bird.

The main building on the site is the One World Trade Centre, the tallest building there, but nothing has been built on the actual sites of the twin Trade Towers that were destroyed on that fateful day in 2001. Instead there are two square holes with water pouring in and another hole in the middle. All around the edge are the names of those killed. Every now and then you see a flower sticking out from the names and those are put there on the birthday of the person concerned.

It is truly moving and Val was particularly affected as she did not know that this was what the Memorial consisted of. We would have liked to have visited the museum, but the queue was very long, so we went instead to the 9/11 Tribute Museum, a bit down the road, which was also very emotional and brought back the memories of what the city and the world went through.

A few more sights to see from our bus including the Wall Street Bull and the Chrysler Building in the distance.

We also passed the UN Building and the now infamous Trump Tower and some pretty typical NY streets….

We were both pretty knackered now, so it was back on the bus and back to Times Square. We would have like to have seen St Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Station and Macy’s, but we had run out of energy, so it was one final cab ride and a collapse in our cabin. New York had been fun, but like all big cities, we needed more time. So we shall have to come back!

The next day, 13/9, was a sea day and we caught up with our table tennis, gym and reading and prepared for our first stop in Canada, St John, New Brunswick.

11th September, 2018

As you may have gathered, this was 9/11, the 17th anniversary of the attack in 2001, so not really the day to head downtown as various dignitaries and a great deal of security were descending on the Memorial, so instead we climbed aboard the Uptown Tour. Interesting photo of Val, looking a bit like Barbara Streisand in ‘What’s Up, Doc?’

Times Square is located at roughly 45th Street (streets run east-west across Manhattan and Avenues north-south) and we headed North up 8th Avenue along the west side of Central Park. The latter is huge and runs some 2.5 miles long with 5th Avenue running down the east side. Lots of very expensive apartment blocks run its length including the famous Dakota Building outside of which John Lennon was killed in 1980. Apparently Yoko Ono still lives there.

We were taken as far as Harlem which is now becoming quite trendy apparently. We past the famed Apollo Theatre, which still has Amateur Night, where many stars of the future were first discovered including Jimmy Hendrix and James Brown and where Buddy Holly played, which it seems was a bit of a surprise at the time as they didn’t know he was white when he was booked!

We then headed down 5th Avenue and hopped off at our first stop, the Guggenheim Museum of Art. This is a truly amazing building, designed by Frank Lloyd-Wright with a central atrium and a slowly ascending walkway going around it a bit like a white orange peel assuming you are able to peel an orange like that. I am not sure you will relate to that analogy, so here are some photos!

The main exhibition which ran along the edge of the walkway, was of works by Giacometti, who seemed to specialise in tall thin statues, a sample of which can be seen in the photos. There were a few other galleries, one of some works by Impressionists and Cubists et al and some more experimental stuff by some Chinese artists in an exhibit called ‘One Hand Clapping’, the most notable aspect of which, in my opinion, was the title.

It was then off again on the bus, but not far, as our next stop was more culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is a combination of the V&A, the British Museum and the National Gallery and is really good. There was far too many rooms here to see in one visit and we plumped for Asian art, with some stunning exhibits of Indian, Chinese and Japanese art. We started with some sculpture…

Then some Japanese works…..

We also had a look into the main exhibit which was rather incongruously based on fashion and the Catholic Church, but which looked rather exciting, but unfortunately we had limited time (and energy) and we had one more port of call a bit further down 5th Avenue at the Frick Collection. Rodin’s Burghers of Calais were also spotted…

The Frick is the collection of art in the original home (mansion) of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) who was a very rich magnate of the 19th and 20th centuries who decided to collect and display only the very best in his home. It only takes about 30 minutes to go round, depending on how long you like to dwell, but you can see a whole room of Gainsboroughs, Constables, Reynolds and other British artists, with Rembrandt, Vermeer, Titian, Turner, Ingres, Goya, Watteau, Frag, Holbein, Manet, Renoir and many others also displayed. And all in a lovely interior. Sadly no photos allowed other than the central courtyard.

It was time to ‘hop’ back on the bus and make our way back to Times Square passing the typical high rise architecture of New York.

We were now exhausted, so we hailed a cab and collapsed back at the ship. At least it stopped raining!

10th September, 2018

We are just waiting as we dock at Pier 88 (I think), in the Hudson River alongside Manhattan prior to starting our 2 night stay in New York. Unfortunately the weather is distinctly dreary with low cloud and drizzle, so the journey in under the Narrows Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline was less spectacular than hoped, though a few photos were taken and I hope they give you a feel for our grand entrance. This included an armed escort on both sides of the ship.

We have booked a 48 hour hop-on-hop-off bus tour, so we are hoping the weather improves. At least I can confirm that my new waterproof jacket lives up to its claims.

We docked at Pier 88 on the west side of Manhattan on the Hudson River at just after midday and eagerly set off down the ramp to the infamous US Immigration. The system requires that every passenger must pass through immigration and no one can board again until everyone has been through. We queued patiently for an hour and then set off in a light drizzle for Times Square, which was about a 25 minute walk away. We picked up our tickets for the Night Tour and then had a walk around the Square. The shops and eateries are a bit similar to Piccadilly Circus with lots of souvenir shops and fast food restaurants. We only wanted a snack, so popped into Applebee’s for a couple of sides and then queued up for our bus tour.

The weather, sadly, had not improved so it was on with the ponchos and off we went, heading south down 8th Avenue, past the Flatiron Building and on across Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn then back up Broadway until we arrived back at Times Square. The rain was, by now, coming down pretty heavily and Val had to retreat downstairs, but your correspondent stuck it out gamely. A few pics to prove it.

Ok, I am typing this on the balcony of my cabin as I can just pick up the port wifi! But only just! So publishing now, while I can. More when able.

3rd to 9th September, 2018
Well, here we are again, all at sea on the P&O cruise liner, Arcadia, having left Southampton on our way to New York and the Canadian Atlantic or Maritime Provinces. We have a 30 day round trip ahead of us ending up back in Southampton on 3rd October.

This is our second P&O cruise and the difference is noticeable as this ship is just under 3 times the size of the Adonia, the last P&O vessel we were on and we keep getting caught out in thinking we are already where we want to get to on the ship only to find we have half a ship to go. To give you some scale, she is about 80,000 tons and has just over 2,000 guests, so not huge by some cruise standards, but a bit bigger than we have been used to. I would add that there are ships out there that come in 3 times the size of this!

Our cabin, or stateroom as it is sometimes rather optimistically called is fine, with a balcony and is the usual well-designed conglomeration of cupboards and drawers, so everything is stowed away shipshape and Bristol fashion. Everything works well and we are well settled in for our trip.

There is lots to do each day and Val has so much to choose from she has had to make a schedule to ensure she makes it from shuffleboard to quoits to table tennis to a fitness class. I have been enjoying the table tennis and going to the gym and the chance just to sit down and do basically not very much. This is all crammed in between eating, though we are trying to be good here. Val has an early morning snack so she can take her pills and I make my way down to the dining room for a served breakfast (as against going to the self-service restaurant), which is all very civilised with porridge, orange juice, a cooked breakfast and some toast and coffee. I suspect some of you are thinking ‘so that is being good, is it John?’, but I do forego lunch.

The dinners are remarkable with a wide menu available and the chance to try something later in the cruise if you don’t choose it first time. There is a choice of starters, soup, a salad, main courses, dessert, cheese and biscuits and coffee, so you can see now why a trip to the gym is needed. That said, they do not overload your plate and we do not always have every course.

Of course, one of the most important moments in a cruise is who else is sat at your table as these will be your dining companions for the duration. We are on a table of six and the other two couples are pleasant and the conversation has flowed well so far. I have written before about the strange inability the British have of actually asking you any questions about you. For example, at breakfast this morning, I was sat next to two gentlemen and I can tell quite a bit about where they live, the jobs they had, how much of a pension one of them has, the fact that his wife has claustrophobia and won’t travel on the Tube, where their son lives and where they went on holiday this year. They on the other hand never once asked me where I lived, what I used to do for a living or whether I have been on a cruise before. It is bizarre. Idon’t understand why they don’t ask me back. I am going to continue to experiment at breakfast (you sit with different people each day) to see how long before someone actually asks me a personal question.

We usually go to whatever entertainment is available in the Palladium theatre after dinner and saw an excellent band yesterday who covered many great rock and roll tracks which went down well. I should add that I have it on good authority that the average age of guests on board is 78, so Val and I are feeling very young. I hate to think how many hip and knee replacements there have been! Sadly the level of the obesity crisis is high among the guests and a great incentive to us to keep to our fitness regime. I would put the percentage at at least 50% obese and another 30% overweight. What has happened to us? Where is our self-control?

We have had two Black Tie evenings where everyone gets dressed up. All very easy for the men, though I think the ladies enjoy the opportunity to put on their best frocks. I have stuck to my 5:2 diet, which seems to be holding out, much helped by a daily visit to the gym, so there is an outside chance I will come back thinner than when I left, which I suspect doesn’t happen often on a cruise!

Ok, as ever, I am posting this many days later, so more on the ship, passengers, table tennis triumphs and eating, fasting and exercising soon. Next stop – New York!

Tuesday, 24^th October, 2017

Land, land!!

Yes, we had finally made it to something solid, good old terra firma, in the shape of Bermuda. All very exciting as this is our first time in the Caribbean (though some might dispute that Bermuda IS in the Caribbean). We glided into our berth in Hamilton with a glorious sunrise – and yes, there are photos, of course. Well, it makes a change from sunsets!

The sun was shining and we set off down the gangplank into the capital, armed with a map and some background information. We walked about Hamilton and made our way to the bus terminal for a bus to the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the town of St. George. Bermuda is shaped a bit like a large prawn, made up of a number of islands connected by bridges and St. George is in the top eastern end. The islands are divided up into parishes with very British names such as Southampton, Pembroke, Warwick and Devonshire. It is very well-maintained but not cheap! St. George was an absolute delight and we really did feel as though we were stepping back in time. There is a nice pedestrianised area first going down to King’s Square with the town hall complete with a town crier.

You are never far from the sea and there is a fabulous light coming off the water. The roofs on the buildings are a bit different with a sort of stone affair, which is best described by the photos below. Many of the houses date back to the 17^th Century and are lovingly looked after with lots of information about their origins.

We wandered about the town a bit and then waited for our bus to our next destination. Still time for a few more snaps….

We climbed on board the bus and made our way to the Crystal Caves of Bermuda only to discover that most of it was under water due to the high tides, which was a shame in some respects, though at the prices they were asking for admission was also something of a relief (they make the Tower of London seem cheap!). However, a part of the Fantasy Cave was open and we accompanied our guide through the attractive gardens to the entrance.

The inside is very atmospheric with lots of stalactites and stalagmites and even a small lake and a boat that was very reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera.

We caught the bus back to Hamilton and Val made her way back on board the ship, while I walked around the town, taking in the sights and eventually finding a café to take advantage of the internet and to catch up a bit on the USA blog!

We then steamed out of the port in the evening, passing some impressive and no doubt expensive homes.

Ok, that’s that. Rather more photos this time, which I hope you have enjoyed. Next stop, Port Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Centre.

Tuesday, 17^th to Monday, 23^rd October, 2017

Ok, here we go again. You must have thought Val and had been lost overboard or marooned on some tropical island with no internet and just a stack of records for company, but panic not, it has been a simple case of enjoying our time too much for me to find time to write up this magnus opus that is aka the blog. Indeed, as you will have noticed, I have only just caught up with the USA road trip, so there is a good chance you will get this by Christmas.

Well, we left you last at our port of call in Bilbao. We set off from there for our next destination, Bermuda, by going straight along the north coast of Spain heading due west. I thought it would be fairly sheltered, but I was very wrong and we encountered our first real bit of ‘weather’. It seems I am quite a good sailor (one never quite knows until it happens), but Val sadly confirmed her status as a landlubber and started to feel the effects of the pitching ship. At least they do have stabilisers on these ships these days which help to prevent the ship rolling, but they cannot help with the front and back ends. Val did try some acupuncture but that did not help and eventually she tried some seasick pills (well, anti-seasick pills, more accurately), which definitely did help and happily did not seem to interfere with the myriad Parkinson’s pills she also takes.

The Captain set a course to avoid the worst of the weather, which was the tail ends of various hurricanes and that helped, though it did make the journey somewhat longer. This meant we had a fairly unprecedented 8 sea days, which many veterans of trans-Atlantic crossings on board felt was too long. I am not sure what they thought the Captain could do about it and Val and I thoroughly enjoyed them, even when the going got rough (the rough get going?). Whilst the view did not change a great deal….

There is plenty to do even on such a small ship. So let me give you an overview of life on board. I have mentioned our cabin, which has a balcony and is air-conditioned and whilst necessarily a bit cramped, is comfortable and works well. If you are keen, you can get to the gym at 0700 and exercise or, like us, you can sleep in a bit later and make your way to breakfast either in the dining room where you are served by waiters or you can go to the self-service restaurant and do it yourself. We tended to opt for the former as it just felt a bit bit more civilised. The form is that you are seated at the first available table and then other passengers join you as they come in, which means you do end up chatting to more people, which is good (provided you are up to it at that time of the day!). Most talk is of the voyage, cruising in general, the next port of call and where one lives. Most of our shipmates are serial cruisers and many have been to the Caribbean before, so are useful sources of information. Val and I eat a hearty breakfast, which for me consists of orange juice, porridge, omelette, bacon and sausage plus toast, washed down by a number of cups of coffee. In case you are thinking this is a lot, John, are you sure you should be eating that much, let me add that we skip lunch and go to the gym and there is always the eternal table tennis. Swimming is not going to work off the pounds as you can tell from the photo below!

There are a number of things to do on a sea day from lectures on dolphins or trans-Atlantic airplane flights through reading, bridge, whist, line dancing, quizzes, craft making, a choir, classical concerts to the many physical pursuits such at TT, deck quoits, shuffleboard or walking round the track on deck. And, of course there is the spa (VERY, VERY overpriced) or a class at the gym. Alternatively you can exercise at your own pace in the gym. As most of you will be aware, Val is superb in the latter, but I too have now got into the swing of it and am usually found on a bike doing a good 20 to 30 kilometres. The good thing is that I can both listen to my music and read my book whilst pedalling my way to fitness. They even have sudoku games you can do on the machine.

Val and I usually take part in the table tennis competition every day at 1600 where we and our fellow players became a very happy, though quite competitive band of brothers and sisters. It is outside, but quite sheltered though it was certainly challenging when the ship was going up and down and a storm was blowing, but we carried on regardless. It made for a good excuse when you hit a bad shot.

Of course, if you want to take it somewhat easier, you can always lounge by the pool soaking up the sun (yes, we have had some sun!), reading your book/iPad/Kindle, though Val and I have never really been sun-worshippers – let’s face it, Val does not really need it and I generally just turn red. There are plenty of people broiling themselves – I can see them from where I am typing this, in the shade. I hate to think what the skin cancer bill will be, but I think it may be a race for many between that and the heart disease and diabetes. Not a pretty sight, sadly, for probably the majority on board and a sad indictment of modern life. Their choice I suppose…..

They do have an excellent library on board, very well stocked and quiet and comfortable and much frequented by those on board. There are also shops selling a range of goods and endless food and drink. No wifi though unless you are feeling well-heeled enough to pay for it. Most seem to wait for a port and find a free connection.

Evenings are split into two sittings in the restaurant with ours being the first, at 6.30pm. As I think I mentioned in the first post of this blog, we are on a table of eight which means there is plenty of varied conversation, albeit in a strong (to us) Scottish accent for the first three weeks. I get the feeling that Brits are slow to warm up, but we did become a very happy table, with lots of banter, jokes and chat – for which my thanks to our fellow-diners should they ever read this. I feel we have done much to improve Anglo-Scottish relations! I would add that the food is first class with a lot of choice and thankfully sensible proportions. Dress is either smart casual or black tie (on specific evenings), so all very civilised. This is a photo, first of the dining room without diners and then of the help-yourself buffet.

After dinner, we would repair to the theatre (the Curzon Lounge) for the evening’s entertainment. This varies from the on-board artistes (the Adonia Theatre Company) to one-night performers who join the ship at various points on the voyage. Of the latter we have had comedians (some excellent, some a little less so), a ventriloquist (good ventriloquism, less so on the comedy), two magicians (both excellent and very funny), a number of singers from the Opera Boys to tribute acts to Tom Jones and Adele and even the current lead singer of the Hollies (yes, they are still performing, though obviously not with the full original line up) to a classical guitarist.

The ship’s entertainers are certainly versatile and extremely keen and put a great deal of enthusiastic professionalism into their performances, which range from song and dance routines to a couple of plays. Ok, the singing could be a bit better, but they carry you along with their dedication and joi de vivre as well as a suitably picked repertoire suited to a passenger company whose average age must be at least the upper sixties.

And finally we would retire to the Crow’s Nest for a quiz/game show (worth a bottle of wine if you win….oooohhhh!) and/or more music and dancing. I even had a go at some karaoke without emptying the room.

Some nights we have repaired to the bar, where there is also music and we have had some entertaining games of Crazy Whist.

So that gives you some idea of the trials and tribulations we have been struggling with. It has, for the most part been warm and sunny, though with a few days where it has been a bit grey. And for those of you wondering how we have survived with one suitcase each, there is a launderette on board in which I have become an expert and have even been able to impart advice to fellow passengers. One lady asked me if I had been in the military as I scrupulously ironed a shirt! I can’t say I have seen many other men in there!

Ok, time to post this (I am actually back in Blighty!) and to set to on the next thrilling instalment – the beautiful island of Bermuda, our first brush with the Caribbean (though technically not actually in it). Back soon.

No sooner has one blog ended than the next one begins. This one is a little different in that we are on a cruise. However, it is not that different as I am way behind in putting e-pen to e-paper and Val and I have already sailed across the Atlantic, been to Florida and are now on our way to St. Kitts – or are we? For this has been a rather unusual voyage in many ways….
Let me explain.

First of all, we were meant to be sailing for 65 days round South America from 3rd January, 2018, but surprise, surprise, Caroline (our youngest for the uninitiated) and her partner Nick (you remember, in the other blogs) are only expecting their first child and more significantly for us, our first grandchild on or about 20th January. So there was no way we were going to miss that, so a change was needed. We managed to swap our cruise for two cruises, the one we are on and another one next year.

So that was the first change, but more was to come. Remember Hurricane Irma? Well it seemed to have booked much the same itinerary as our cruise so even before arriving at Southampton we were already rescheduled with Dominica, Tortola and the British and US Virgin Islands suffering too much for us even to be able to dock.

Anyway, we did make it to Southampton and boarded the P and O cruise liner, Adonia. And so our story begins….

Saturday, 14th October, 2017

The ship is very nice, being the smallest in the P&O fleet with 710 passengers (almost exclusively British) and about 350 crew. This means that it maybe does not have quite as much in the way of facilities as some of the bigger ship, but not surprisingly it is a bit more intimate and you do start to get to recognise many of the other guests and staff. It is also easier to find your way about though there is still the odd occasion when you head aft instead of forward. Note my expanding nautical terminology!

More on our daily life soon. First, we came on board very smoothly (nod and thanks to Chris for the lift to Southampton) and were delighted to discover that we had been upgraded to a cabin with a balcony, which was a nice surprise. The cabins are cleverly designed and there is a surprisingly large amount of storage and whilst I do have to step out of the bathroom to dry my hair, we have settled in well.

We went on deck for the sail-away with flags and music and made our way out slowly through the Southampton Roads and past the Isle of Wight and on our way to the Atlantic and our voyage to the Caribbean.

Now, I mentioned that this trip has had its ups and downs and we discovered almost immediately that there was to be a change in itinerary due to the weather and that our visit to Horta in the Azores had had to be cancelled and that instead we would call in to Bilbao in northern Spain. This was a shame, but such is the nature of cruising and I for one was keen to see Bilbao. We made our way through the Bay of Biscay, thankfully relatively calm considering it is a notorious body of water that always seems to feature heavily in all the nautical tales I have read.

Before we reached Bilbao, we settled in to our onboard routine. If you have read the blog before you will know that a table tennis table is an absolute necessity to any of our holidays and we were pleased to find two on board. We soon found other enthusiasts and have become keen participants in the daily doubles competition. An alternative is to lounge by the pool…….

Another significant moment in a cruise is the moment you discover who your dinner companions are for the next few weeks. You have a choice of going to the cafeteria/buffet or the sit-down more formal dinner in the dining room. We opted for the latter, first sitting of two and arrived in our smart casual clothes (the required dress code) at our table of 8 and met the first couple, who hailed from Scotland. A few minutes later, we met the next couple, also from…….Scotland. The fourth couple weren’t there on the first evening, but did appear on the second and, yes, you guessed it, they too were from Scotland. You can almost feel evolution at work as our ears become attuned to the accents, some of which are pretty strong, but we are coping well and have become a very happy band of dining brothers and sisters.

Monday, 16th October, 2017

More on life on board in due course, but first our day in Bilbao.

We docked and made our way ashore with our first stop the Guggenheim gallery. Unfortunately, the cruise being what it is, this was Monday, so it was, of course shut! Still, it is very impressive from the outside and we walked round it snapping away, including the large floral dog out the front.

The city itself is very attractive with some fine old buildings most with a solar or mirador (is that the right word?) and some nice pedestrian only streets and a nice looking river.

The cathedral was also worth a visit with some lovely cloisters.

And the Piazza Nueva was also very attractive with some great eateries where we sampled some tapas-like delicacies.

And the theatre and even the railway station were impressive.

All in all a very pleasant visit. I can recommend it.

Right, to confuse you yet further, I am now typing this in a restaurant in Grenada (as in Grenayda) in the Caribbean on Sunday, 6th November. CORRECTION, I am now typing this in St Kitts on our second visit and it is 10th November! That is how far I am behind with the blog, but I will try to catch up soon, promise. Anyway, I will publish this now to get the ball rolling.

Sunday, 13th August, 2017

Another earlyish start winding our way through the hills and trees that make up the Sequoia National Park, our target being, you guessed it, the sequoias, the largest living things on the planet. The trees may not be the tallest (that distinction falls to the Giant Redwoods, found elsewhere in California), but the largest ones are not far off and are incredibly big. The two largest are named Generals Grant and Sherman and you would need 30 people holding hands to hug one of them. There is no way I could do them justice with the camera, they are that big. They are also ridiculously venerable, being some 2,000 years old. You can certainly feel small and very much aware that you are just a tiny cog in the overall plan. All very humbling.

We went for a walk first round a glade with some ‘young’ trees, positive saplings. Nick still needed to get into a suitable position to try to capture the full majesty..

Then it was on to the second biggest, General Sherman.

There are lots of opportunities for tree hugging….

I hope the photo of Val standing next to one of the trees (and not even the biggest, which are fenced off) as in the photo below will give you at least a sense of the scale of the trees.

Finally we came to the big daddy of them all, General Grant.

This was the last natural destination of our road trip and was a fitting end to the fantastic sights we had had the privilege to see from Glacier Park, the Craters of the Moon, the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone to the canyons, Bryce, Antelope and Grand and Death Valley.

Next stop was the now infamous Oakland, San Francisco and a bit of a mad dash to drop the car off at the airport without being charged for an extra day! We found our AirBnB, which lived up to the whacky line of accommodation we were becoming accustomed to, being a sort of loft studio, though actually one part of a converted one-storey garage complex. Nick and I dropped off Val and Caroline and then headed to the airport to drop off our trusty vehicle that had done such a good job of driving us a total of about 4,000 miles across just a smallish part of the US of A (bar one tyre problem). We got there in time and managed to find our way back to the Airbnb.

The neighbourhood was certainly interesting. We were definitely conspicuously white, but everyone seemed friendly enough and the rumours we had heard about it being the second worst murder capital in the USA thankfully passed us by. We were tired enough to order pizzas delivered to the studio, not least because our ‘hood’ was not exactly abounding with chic cafes and restaurants!
A great day with more excitement tomorrow.

Monday, 14th August, 2017

Our last full day, so we had to ‘do’ San Francisco at something of a rush. We made our way on the metro equivalent to the port buildings where we had a quick breakfast and then joined the hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city. It was appreciably cooler here, especially after the soaring temperatures we had been used to up to now, but we were keen and made our way to the top, open deck so as better to see the sights.

We did get off for a walk through Chinatown and, yes, we did find a restaurant that was serving dim sum! Val was very happy!

We rejoined the tour and nearly froze as we crossed a very foggy Golden Gate Bridge and back again.

We ended up in the piers area, which are very touristy, but worth a visit. I like doing the idea of an Alcatraz Giftshop!

We still had one more appointment for the day and that was a baseball game at the Coliseum, the home of the Oakland Athletics. Nick and Caro went dressed in style, buying the shirt and hat of the team and even Val got the cap. As newbies to the game, we were welcomed in true American style and even received a badge and certificate. The game itself was largely fun, though the stadium was rather sparsely populated and the game was not exactly exciting with the home side losing, but it was certainly an experience.

We made our way back safely to our base for our last night on American soil.

Tuesday, 16th August, 2017

Not much to report here. We met up with Chris and Shivonne at the airport and boarded our Norwegian flight home. It had been a fabulous, if rather long trip, full of memories and lots of laughs, captured to some extent by this blog, which I hope you have enjoyed.

Next stop, the Caribbean!