Westward we keep going

Day 52 - 22 July - Lisbon
Certainly a lot colder over here but at least it is sunny.  I noticed that the locals had all flocked to the beaches as we sailed in at around 11.00, so we must be wimps. Our tour of Sintra & Cascais doesn't leave until 1.45, so after coffee we have retreated to our balcony in the sun.  The only downside is that we have now turned around in the river and are facing downstream, with town (& sun) on our starboard side.

A pleasant trip out of Lisbon and up the "mountains" /hill to Sintra, which was once again a small old village.  We had an hour of free time, so after walking up and down the narrow streets, we stopped at the Cafe Paris, Central Palace Hotel for coffee and the local pastry (Pastel Nats) for the princely sum of €13.40.  It probably was the most expensive place in town, but was very enjoyable.  Yes, the pastries are moreish. 

We then drove down to the coast and after a traffic holdup of about 15 minutes, we reached Cascais, which is a modern town popular with beachgoers.  The beaches all the way along the coast and particularly here are very small yet crowded.  Everyone seems quite happy wading & standing - there is absolutely no swimming as we know it 😁😁.

Crazy paving throughout town

Our guide was touting the best ice cream in Portugal, so of course we had to queue up for quite a while to get into the shop.  OK, it was OK, but at €2.90 for a little tub, it was no bargain.  I'd actually been looking for a bar, but they did not seem to be about.  We had over an hour in town and really that was quite enough.  Looked at real estate window and thought that they were about the same as at home €800,000-3,500,000.

Back along the coast to Lisbon and as I've commented previously, the beaches all the way along were crowded - remember that this is a Sunday and of course it is also mid summer.   We'd have to agree that the weather is greatly improved from this morning.  While there are many expensive homes and facilities, equally there were a lot of derelict buildings and heaps of graffiti, particularly noticeable even in prime coastal areas.  So it seems that while new areas are being developed there is little desire to reinvigorate older areas - not sure why.

Got back to the port on time at 6.45 and through port security, who for the first time wanted our watches and my belt-yet I still got wand-scanned once again for the first time.  The good news was that Lisbon is like Barcelona, so a duty free shop was right there after security and we availed ourselves of a couple of bottles of local vintage and sure enough, no Sea Princess scanning,   

I have just noticed some sand on our balcony again - thanks to our transit through the Gibraltar Strait yesterday.  I am confident that there will be *No More* sand for the rest of this trip.   I forgot to mention a week or so ago that our coughs etc. have all gone. I am sure that a lot if it was due to air pollution, although some passengers are less charitable and suggest that there will be a reoccurance when some 500 new passengers get on in Southampton in a couple of days!

A complete aside, we had a phone call yesterday afternoon from Room Service enquiring whether we wanted a mini-bar delivered or coffee cards for the next sector.  Clearly they've taken some notice of the complaints regarding room service delivery and in any event it is far more efficient for them to deliver only what is required.  I'll wait until the 26th to see if it has worked.

Day 53 - 23 July - at sea
Ah, today is "Hump Day".  Yes, we have reached the halfway point of our cruise and although we are heading north across the Bay of Biscay, it is all downhill from here.  A lot colder although the sea is calm, in fact so calm that just after lunch we ran into a large patch of sea fog.  The ship's foghorn was blaring away for over an hour and then the fog slowly cleared, although it remained misty/cloudy.  Today we had to go through UK Immigration,  which only took about 10 minutes, so we all set when we arrive on Wednesday. 

The final formal evening of this sector and while we entertained Marilyn & Ray for our usual drinks & canapes, we also attended the Farewell party in the Atrium.  This was for the passengers disembarking in Southampton, but more importantly to farewell our Commodore, who both disembarks and retires when we reach Southampton.    We got to chat with him as he made his way through the crowd and enjoyed his (liquid) hospitality. 

Day 54 - 24 July  - at sea 
Much brighter day today as we exited the Bay if Biscay and have now entered the English Channel.  Very, very smooth seas but even at 3.00pm it is only 18° - a big drop over the last week.  As usual the ship's focus is on the end of the sector tomorrow, which is one of the little things that bugs a number of us.  The fact that the  majority are doing a full 106 day full cruise does not seem important to Princess, but as some wise person pointed out, if they did then perhaps we wouldn't get our reoccurring sector benefits.   Hmmmm,  that is worth thinking about. 

Day 55 - 25 July  - Southampton 
What a surprise - a brilliant clear day and it was warm.  In fact later in the day it reached 30°.  We were meeting Vivian's (3rd/4th?) cousins for a "Day in the country".  We had planned to meet outside the terminal at 10.30, but at 10.00 I suggested we get off the ship- which took about 10 minutes anyway.  Just as we were exiting the terminal, there was Angela coming towards us asking every couple "are you Viv & Murray?  We hadn't seen her for 8 years and then she was auburn, not blonde!

So off we go with Angela, her sister Caroline & their Mum and Dad, Pearl & Bill in Angela's Land Rover, with poor Caroline in the jump seat in the boot.  The plan is to visit Stonehenge and Salisbury via the New Forest.  The coutryside is so typically beautiful English and heightened as it was harvest & haymaking time.  Traffic was pretty diabolical as there was a country show on, so after a few by-passes, we reached Stonehenge, which was also crowded.  

After some in-house discussion we established that you can still view Stonehenge from the road (or should I say "a" road).  Yes we could, but the powers that be have lined the road with "No stopping" signs and closed off any places where one could park.  Not to be deterred, we went on a couple of miles to the next roundabout and came back - this time there was an extensive queue of traffic (what a shame), so we could only crawl past 😀😁😂.  Saw it all.  Not that we felt guilty, but then called into the Information Centre/Cafe and had a coffee, which was overpriced and underwhelming.  

Onwards to Salisbury and the cathedral, which has the largest spire, where we had a walk around.  The town (sorry, more a city) looked picturesque and is Pearl, Bill & Angela's local town, although they live some 10  miles away in a quaint town of Sixpenny Handley - Pearl & Bill live at one end and Angela and family live at the other.   We later called into that town to drop off Caroline who lives up in Watford and who came down specially to meet us.

Back to the trip - we drove into the New Forest and had a pub lunch at the Fighting Cocks at 3.20!  The New Forest is of course famous for the roaming wild animals - horses, donkeys, cattle, pigs etc.  Anyway where we were was the domain of a number of horses & donkeys and their young.   The country is in the  midst if a drought and it was sad to see these animals grazing on dirt.  

Just as we were about to leave, a number of horses decided to cross the road to the car park and were obviously looking for food.  Although we took obligatory photographs we didn't take any notice of them as we got back into the vehicle.  The windows were down because of the heat and next  minute I had this horse's head on my lap, sniffing at the carry bag I was holding.  Very friendly (too friendly) for wild horses. 

A reasonably good trip back to Southampton, but patches of severe congestion, which shows how countryfied we have become.  Back just after 7.00, when the compulsory safety presentation was to be held.  Fortunately they had a hiccup with the recorded presentation, which meant we could slip in and be counted before it started (which saved us having to go to a later one at 9.30).  

Pleased to see that the coffee cards have been processed, but not so pleased that we only get 250 minutes each of internet as this sector is just 20 days (1 short of the full entitlement of 500 minutes).  Ah well, you win some, you loose some.  Our new captain is Captain Christopher Lye, an Englishman who retains command through until November.

Barcelona & beyond

Day 49 - 19 July - Barcelona 
A very early start, with room service at 6.30 and straight down to the gangway. Well the best laid plans can sometimes go wrong - and today is one of those.  Here we were sitting in the lounge waiting for the ship's clearance, but this did not come and time went by.  By 7.45 we were contemplating that we'd done our dough on our pre-paid excursion and that we wouldn't be going anywhere. 

7.50 and the announcement is made, so we are off like a couple of greyhounds.  First off the ship, down the skybridge, through the terminal and to the taxi rank in 2 minutes flat.  Despite Hutch's "advice", it only took 10 minutes and €25 to reach Explore Catalunya, which is beside the Music theatre of Barcelona (pretty well the middle of town).  We found the place easily as there were over a hundred people milling around.  The company organises over a dozen different excursions  per day! 

Check-in was a breeze and we are a group of 14 in a new 19 seater mini-van.  Our guide had been to NZ and cycled Auckland to Queenstown 10 years ago.  Our group comprised two Canadians, a couple from Egypt and the rest were American.  The scenery once we were out of the city reminded me very much of English countryside, particularly as hay-making was in full swing.  About an hour out of Barcelona we had our first stop at the historic town of Vic where once again there was a new part and an old part.  Of course we visited the old part.

A couple of historic (yes very old) churches, one dating back to the early Romans and the other a more modern one which had been partially destroyed a number of times, more recently during the Spanish revolution.  It is still a great building and even now some of the pillars remain smoke & fire damaged.  Talking of revolutions, the further north we go in Catalonia, the greater the separatist movement.   Vic and other towns are covered in the independence flag and yellow ribbons to commemorate the elected officials jailed or in exile.  Our guide was clearly a pro-Catalonia independence advocate.

The good thing about this trip is that we have plenty of time to do our own thing (not too much though), so we found a great cafe on the far side of the village square and had coffee and magnificent ham & cheese brioche for just under €10.  The locals have maintained the original village square and the Saturday market is apparently a highlight.  The square itself is clay/sand based and imagine our surprise as we sat drinking coffee when a water truck arrives and roars around & around the square spraying water over the ground (& any cars silly enough to be there).

After Vic it was onwards to the Pyrenees for another hour and we climbed some 3,000 feet to Queralbs, a town of just a few hundred.  This was then end of the road, so we caught the cog railway up to Nuria, which is a ski resort at 7,500 ft.  Apparently it is just an easy 3 hour hike up the the summit to reach France.  No, we didn't do that, but we were high enough to feel the chill in the air (there was still a little snow in the valley up a bit).  The pass we travelled alongside has been used as an escape route from France to Spain by many over the years, including Jewish refugees and Allied pilots during WW2.

Looking towards Pyrenees 

That's France below the cloud

Note the snow upper left

Down the valley

The resort 

Downwards

The walking path

There was also a gondola to go up a little higher and this afforded spectacular views over the valley we'd travelled up.  When we were in Vic,  our guide was keen for us to buy food for lunch as food at Nuria was "very expensive".  As mentioned, Nuria is a ski resort, with only the hotel for food of any sort and as we are currently in the off season, the cafe was not open.  Ah ha, but the bar was and we were able to get a fresh sandwich and a couple of beers for less than we'd paid for in Vic- although the sandwich was not quite the same quality, but nice.

After lunch our 2 hour visit to Nuria was over and it was time for our downward journey.  Only 2 trains go down - at 3.30 & 5.30. The latter is far too late for our group, so 3.30 it is.  Forgot to mention that although it is the off season and the service is generally for local hotel workers, there was another large group going up when we did and some passengers had to stand.  So going home it looked like the same issue may arise, but no, our guide had organised for an additional  train, so we basically had a whole train to ourselves.

Back down in Queralbs, we walked from the train station up to the little town, which comprises traditional buildings dating back to the 15th century.  It really felt like an historic town that hadn't changed (apart from the TV areials & garages!) and I tried to imagine what it would be like in the middle of winter.  Our guide was able to get hold of the key to the little chapel and we viewed inside - unfortunately "strangers" tagged along too and the guide had a bit of a problem in ushering them out so he could lock up.

Last train going back up!

Back down to the station car park and into our van for the 2 hour trip back to Barcelona.   By the time we got to the outskirts of town the traffic was really becoming congested, but use of the bus lane helped and we were dropped off back in the centre of Barcelona just after 7.00.  Fortunately the drop-off was right beside the taxi rank, so we hopped in straight away, and off through the gridlocked traffic.  But it was only 15 minutes back to the ship and this time the fare was just €10.60.  Open seating for dinner and so we had a "quickie" meal and back to the cabin well before 9.30 and S L E E P.  It has been a great (albeit long) day.

Port in the evening sun

Day 50 - 20 July - Barcelona 
Late up, late to breakfast, do nothing all morning, sailaway at 2.00pm.  That pretty well sums up the day 😁.  We were flying our NZ flag this morning (to compete with the 2 Australian flags in adjacent cabins).  It seems that we 3 are the only patriotic ones - we went to Machu Picchu in 2015 with the Darwin couple 2 doors down.  Although we did not participate, I understand that there was almost a riot at the duty free in the terminal because security screening was done at the entrance to the terminal building and nothing on the ship.  Apparently they even ran out of beer at one stage!

Day 51 - 21 July  - at sea 
Nothing of note to comment on apart from passing through the Gibraltar Strait around 4.00pm.  Unfortunately it was a similar experience to the last time with the views hindered by mist or sea fog and the usual dust from the Moroccan side.  There were certainly lots of ships about and the sea has turned a bit bumpy and it is quite cold.   Ah well, that was the end of the Mediterran and we are now in the Atlantic, so who knows what weather we will experience here over the next few weeks?

Gibraltar as we sail past

Farewell to Italy

Day 46 - 16 July - Messina (Sicily)
Our port of Messina does not have any of the usual historic buildings that we've become used to over the last couple of weeks.  Firstly, mother nature pretty well destroyed the town with earthquake & tsunami in 1908 and after rebuilding, it was devastated by Allied bombing in WW2.

We are doing the Princess trip to the ancient city of Taormina and then on to Mt Etna.  This is a full day trip, starting at 8.00, so yes, room service breakfast.   Hazy sort of morning as of course we are getting closer to Africa 😀.  Seriously, it looks like a great day  just a pity about the hazy conditions.

There are just 25 of us on our 48 seater bus, so plenty of room to spread out.  It was around 45 minute drive along the coast (well actually above the coast through numerous tunnels & viducts) to Taormina, which while described as a coastal resort town is actually about 700m above sea level.  We did however see many costal resorts below on the beaches.  Taormina has been a resort town since the Greeks were here in 300 BC.  They built the famous theatre at that time, but later in 100 AD the Romans modified it and the theatre is still in use today. 

Theatre

My Etna in the background

The coffee

The theatre is at the far end of town, which is predominantly vehicle-free.  As noted earlier, the haze restricted photos of the coastal area and to a great extent, Mt Etna in the distance.  On our way back to the bus (quite a journey and getting hotter by the hour) we stopped for a lovely Iced Coffee - it was delicious *and* expensive at €9 each.  Hey, we are on holiday. 

It was then an almost 2 hour drive up the slopes of Mt Etna, including some very winding areas (but we are now used to that).  Although the peak of the mountain is over 10,000ft, we just went up 6,500ft to the end of the normal road.  Here there are numerous volcanic craters to explore or at least walk around.  The scoria is very slippery, so we took it carefully.  What I  hadn't  realised is that there are dozens of craters, lava flows etc. all over the mountain area - not just one big cone.  The map also showed the more recent eruptions etc. including quite a number in 2017.  Oops.

We had a set lunch, which truely was traditional with bruscetta, pasta & then pignolata for desert - all washed down with copious quantity of the local red.  A restful journey all the way back to the ship ensued.  Surprisingly our driver had been a professional singer in a previous life, so he entertained us with his magnificent singing as we roared around at 100kmph in and out of numerous winding tunnels.  Very good.

Thankfully it was a little cooler up the mountain-just 29° but as we came back down towards the coast it went up to 34° at least.   The volcanic soils encourage the growth of various vegetables, but mainly grapes, olives and lemon trees.  There are also apparently groves of Chamomile trees, but I am not sure what they look like.  Oleanders are their preferred roadside and motorway central garden trees and they do a good job at hiding the rubbish.

Back on board before 4.30 and slipped our mooring right on time at 6.00pm.   We were joined in port by Club Med 2, which is a cruise/sailing ship.  Looks impressive and would be interested to know how often they actually set their sails.   Just after 9.00pm we sailed past Stromboli Island - home to an active volcano.  It was a lovely moon-lit night, but no fireworks, just flashes (which looked like torchlights) from the crater.

Day 47 - 17 July  - Salerno
Oh dear, we woke to rain (quite heavy) as we pulled into port, but thankfully it didn't last and we were still able to have breakfast on the balcony. We had a boat trip to Amalfi, as although we'd done the Amalfi Coast by bus 5 years ago, we thought that it would be fun to see the area from the sea.

Well our expected 1 hour leisurely cruise along the coast became a 30 minute extreme sea experience.   Yes, it was *very* rough and we had people sick as well.  However Amalfi itself is a lovely Italian town (like so many others) and we enjoyed a €4 coffee and stroll through town before it was time to get back to our little cruiser.  This time we were able to get prime seats upstairs, so had great views of the coastline. Although it was a bit rock n roll, it was not as bad as our outward trip.

It was just a half day excursion, so we were back by 12.30 and up to HC Cafe where we grabbed a ham roll and a cool drink which we bought back to our balcony and watched the world go by.  Interestingly, this port is also a major transport hub, but with smaller ships and just the trailers being transported.   We watched 6 (including a converted car-carrier) unload/load while we were in port.  I have no idea what is coming or going - but there is a lot of it!!

Sailaway from Salerno

Day 48 - 18 July - at sea 
Nice to have a relaxing sea day as we sail across the Mediterranean.   Just after breakfast we sailed between Corsica & Sardinia, pretty well the last bit of land until we reach Spain tomorrow.  As the afternoon progresses the weather is getter warmer and the sea smoother.  Fingers crossed for our arrival on time tomorrow as we have a pre-booked trip to the Pyrenees and have to be in central Barcelona by 8.30. 

Venice and backj

Day 42 - 12 July - Venice
We are not due in until 1.00, but bridge is at 9.00, so skipped the morning cuppa.  Although it looked a little more overcast, it pretty well burned off by mid morning.  Temperature still 27-30°.  We must have made good time or the Commodore was calling in favours, as we sailed past St Marks well before 11.30 and were all tied up just after midday.  Although there was plenty of time for lunch, we decided to have a quick room service on our balcony.

We have no plans for the afternoon and have left it to others to rush around in the heat of the day.  Princess "offered" a water shuttle service from the port to St Marks at AUD25 per person, per day.  Our plans when we do go ashore involve the port side of Venice and if need be we'll purchase a Vaporetto ticket for a fraction of the cost. The point is that the shuttle just goes to one place, anything else will still require passengers to buy other transport.

We had an early dinner (open sitting) and then went upstairs to  Deck 12 where there was a performance by the Venetian Chamber Orchestra.  Well, by the time we got there all the "plush" seats were filled and so were most of the upper deckchairs.  We eventually got a seat, but not a great view of the performance - which was great.  No, I mean the performance was great, not that we didn't have a decent view!

Day 43 - 13 July  - Venice 
Today is a *big* day, although after the massive thunderstorm overnight I had some doubts.  Dawned a beautiful day and up just after 6.00, as I had ordered room service for 7.00.  Out of the shower just after 6.30, and suddenly we had neighbours - Rhapsody of the Seas was pulling in adjacent, so pulled the net curtains hastely.   Just as we were leaving the ship, a MSC ship docked behind us.  Interestingly, both ships were gone well before 4.00, so a short stay for their passengers.

We had an early breakfast and were off the ship  before 8.00.  Hiked over to the People Mover, where for €1.50 each we got to Plazzale Roma, the end of vehicle access from the mainland, not far from the St Lucia train station.  From here a quick walk over the Grand Canal to the area we are very familiar with, having stayed there during our 2013 Med. cruise.

Nothing was open as it was still well before 9.00, so we headed through all the back streets and alleys, almost to St Marks!  I won't go into the few blind alleys we ended up in, but between Google Maps and some excellent signs on the buildings re reached our destination - Teatro La Fenice (Operatic theatre which has been burned down twice, most recently in 1996).  Just €7 for seniors to do a tour and the theatre was very impressive.  

On our "extended" trek we met Margit & Jim not once, but twice- so had a coffee together before going our seperate ways.  Given the 10s of thousands in Venice, and the back streets we were on, it was a minor miracle. So Friday is rubbish day in Venice - not only were the rubbish boats busy in the canals but the collectors and their carts were  busy  throughout the narrow alleys.  Probably shouldn't comment, but the male collectors were almost outnumbered by females.

After our theatre visit we headed back towards St Lucia, with no major issues but frustrated that there are no pathways all the way alongside the Canal, so on numerous occasions we found ourselves at the waters edge and no where to go.  I can most definitely say that we have seen "a lot" of Venice.  Vivian just had to go shopping at our favourite Murano Glass shop, to replace a necklace we apparently "donated " to China Southern airways last year.

Back over the Grand Canal and on our final leg back home.  Called into one of those expensive canalside restuarants and had a pizza & a beer.  The all up cost was €45, made up of pizza €14, sitting down fee €4, gratuity €5 & beers €22.  So how could we spend that amount on beer? - just a little misunderstanding saw me with a 1 litre handle.   OK, it was hot etc.  but really a bit over the top.  Having said that I was not surprised at the prices, given the location etc.  A great pizza by the way.  Back on-board before 3.00.

Day 44 - 14 July - Ancona
Yet another glorious day on the Adriatic.  After yesterday's marathon, we have quiet day planned, keeping to the town.  We got off the ship just after 9.00 and walked about 1 km, mainly through the port area to one (of many of course) of the earlier churches - Santa Maria delle Piazza.   Interestingly, the current 11th century church is built over the remains of a 6th century one- which we viewed downstairs.   

As we were entering the downstairs area, a couple said "it's Murray & Vivian isn't it?"  A couple from Australia were on for most of the World Cruise 2015.  More amazing is that our paths had not crossed until now.  Of course we then came across them 2 other times while wandering the town.  The first was outside a coffee shop, where we then stopped & chatted - coffee was only €1.30 here.  We headed up to the usual Saturday market, which looked like it was closing at midday.  This was our cue  to keep walking back to the ship.  Lunch was a filled roll from the HC cafe followed by a relaxing afternoon. 

Ancona is obviously a *very* busy ferry port across the Adriatic and particulrly to  Greece, with at least 4 large ferries coming and going.   Not only many hundreds of cars, boats & campervans with families heading away for the holiday period, but more the number of trucks heading to/from all over Europe (particularly Austria & Germany).  Certainly these large ferries (almost our size)  provide a cheaper and more direct operation for goods than by land. I imagine that a trip to Greece would be at least 1, if not 2 nights at sea.  We also noticed a Fincantieri ship building yard here, currently building a new smaller Viking ship.  Oh yes, it is the same company which built our ship 20 years ago - but not here!

Day 45 - 15 July - at sea 
No bridge today & no breakfast, as there is brunch later, so we slept in.  Made do with a couple of rolls and a cuppa before brunch around midday.  To top off the day, it is formal night once again.  Still good to recharge the batteries before another big day ashore tomorrow.