SOUTHHAMPTON, ENGLAND APRIL 22, 2008
Again we were awakened by an awareness of the changes in the behavior of the ship. We docked and nearby was the new ship, the Queen Victoria. The weather was gray which kind’ve fit everyone’s mood. Mine wasn’t in good shape because I had asked Ed if he wanted me to buy another piece of luggage in LeHavre and he told me everything was under control. As it turns out, in addition to our backpacks and roll aboards, both of us were laden with Princess Cruises handled bags full of the “stuff” that couldn’t be packed in our already numerous pieces of luggage.
On the way to Heathrow airport, we were treated to lambs, probably just at the weaning stage, on the roadsides with the moms. It was sweet and everyone was clicking away for photos. Our driver was what you’d expect from an old British guy. He had a pleasant demeanor but was clear that if we didn’t follow his directions, it was only going to delay things further. The traffic along the freeway was bad enough and we were all glad he was doing the driving.
We all lumber off at Heathrow. The driver had asked those folks with luggage in the bottom of the bus (that was us) to get off first and for those folks with luggage in the trailer behind, to wait on the bus until all the luggage was out and away from under the bus. Very few followed this admonition. I’ll spare you the speculation about the nationality or ethnicity of most of them.
We gathered in the open space in front of Heathrow along with another couple who we originally met on the Holland America South American trip last year. They also had a luggage problem. So here we are in this large concrete area in front of the entrance to the terminal at Heathrow. Folks are coming outside to eat their lunch (I confess, it reminded me of cows chewing their cuds and watching you from their field). So we begin to sort out our “stuff”. The other couple is doing the same. This takes a while you understand because the weight has to be distributed very carefully. The men are getting testy, so we women move slightly to the side and start chatting.
I’ll spare you the blow by blow account. Eventually, everything is stuffed somewhere. The seams of the luggage are bulging precariously but so far, so good. We say good bye and head into the Virgin atlantic counter. As soon as we pass inside, to our left, we see a gorgeous “repacking” area complete with waist high stainless steel tables; right next to them are scales for you to weigh your luggage. So now we ALL know, right?
It takes us a while to find the right qeueu to line up in but with some help from a lady dressed in red with a purple scarf around her neck (don’t you just LOVE it? Red hat colors!) we wind up in the right place. The woman at the counter is ever so patient as we share some of our tales of woe. Since I need to have a seat that protects my arm from battering and where I can get help from my left, we asked for seat changes. Along the way, the decision is made to upgrade to what they call Premium-elite. More like business class. This helps a little with the baggage weight problem and there were a few other “niceties” that go along with it: a little more leg and seat room, wine, personal TV screen, ability to personalize the music that you listen to, ability to choose from several different movie choices. Well you just know Ed was in 7th heaven with all this technology.
As it turned out, our seats were in the center section. No one came to occupy the 3rd seat, so we were able to “spread out” a little. We both had restrooms right at our elbows and the bulkhead at our backs (so not much reclining) but we’re in better shape than we expected so we’re not complaining. Ed gets himself settled: pillow, blanket, head phones on, music selected, TV channels all identified…you get the picture.
The flight wasn’t bad; I can’t honestly recall if I slept or not even though Ed gave me one of his Ambien (our MD said this was OK btw). We arrived in LA and gathered our moving van full of luggage. Ed called and eventually Mike and Neal met us at the flyaway terminal in Van Nuys and we were back home to a dusty, but otherwise well preserved house, thanks to our neighbors and Pat’s oversight. Speaking of which, we had our mail diverted to Pat’s office and so he had the boxes lined up against the wall in the dining room waiting for us. Three and a half months of mail is a lot for anybody, but we have a full mail box every day.
We discovered very quickly that our hot water heater was leaking and had otherwise died while we were gone. Both of the batteries were dead on our cars. My car perked up right away with the recharge. Ed’s car was more of a challenge: first: find out where the battery is! (In the trunk fyi) and then it took over 24 hrs to recharge. But they are both working fine now.
Then the refrigerator wasn’t making ice cubes and the frozen stuff was mushy. I’ll spare you the blow by blow but it involves 3 (or was it 4?) different trips by the repair man. We have almost an entirely new refrigerator now. We had a warranty on the part for the ice cubes so we paid for that visit except for the trip charge and labor. However, that charge was only $5 different from the charge 2 yrs ago to replace the ice maker so something smelled funny there. Ed was ready for them to charge us again, but mercifully it never came up. But since the rest wasn’t repaired properly, we didn’t pay anymore
We don’t think anything more has operating problems but we’re not tempting the gods by whispering that.
As I write this, it is May 12th. We are closer to having everything put away but the magazines and journals fill at least 3 boxes. I’m trying to finish the ones where you don’t have to think and hit the professional journals and Vanity Faire later. Speaking of journals, the ones for which I do manuscript reviews kept track of our return and I’ve already reviewed and sent a recommendation in to the editor for one. I attended the Cinco de Mayo celebration with the red hats, many of whom followed the blog, and that was fun. The memorial for my friend Ellen who died while I was gone, was a beautiful, funny, and touching remembrance of her. Devon’s Bar Mitzvah was a very fun event and we reconnected with family as one does with such family events. Ed joined his brother and some family at the Jewish Home for the World’s largest Mother’s Day celebration. I was home nursing a cold.
People ask if it’s strange to be back home after being away so long. No. Were we anxious to come back home. No. Were we tired of the ship? Speaking only for myself: NO (even though it is a floating Petri dish for respiratory bugs). What was the highlight of the trip? Not any one thing. We saw and enjoyed such a diverse set of experiences and all were terrific. Obviously, the overlands to the Galapagos, Angkor Wat, and Egypt were especially memorable.
Do we have our next trip planned? Kind’ve but nothing definite yet as it involves another couple and an area we’ve never seen. If we do it, we’re only talking a few weeks though.
We are off tomorrow to a medical conference we attend each year; that’s 5 days. Then we get ready for Lisa and the grandkids from Norway who will be here from June 22 to about July 15th. After that, I have jury duty! (How come Ed never gets a summons for jury duty!!@!
And so our lives, pretty much, are back to normal.
LE HAVRE, FRANCE April 21, 2008
Ed had an early rise as he was going to visit the Normandy beaches which are a few hours away by bus. The ship had a free shuttle into the town of LeHavre, so I went into town for a few hours. This was a Monday and most of the stores were closed! No one warned us about this. It isn’t a formal holiday or anything; it just seems that many French shops stay closed on Monday. There was a relatively new shopping mall near the bus drop off point, so I wandered through it’s 3 stories checking out the latest French fashions and comparing the cost in euros with USD (you don’t want to know). I also managed to get one of my beloved pan du chocolate with a diet Coke in a bottle. It wasn’t a smooth ordering process but we all had a good sense of humor about it all.
Then I walked around this little town which is really quite (excuse the trite expression) charming. It has an odd mixture of very old, typically French buildings alongside quite new ones. The old city is on the hill and can be reached from the center of town via a funicular. I never managed to get there.
The town hall is a lovely, modern building visible from almost everywhere in town. But the public spaces around it, festooned with myriad colors and types of flowers and greenery, was wonderful simply to walk through. Several spaces with fountains and other expressions of art via water were creative and fun to stand and observe. There are statutes here and there: some of local dignitaries but many of animals. And speaking of animals, one fellow was amused by the fact that I took a lot of shots of this sea gull who was such a funny thing to watch. The local bus line runs right through this site and the bus stop is in the middle. This means that the riders get to enjoy this lovely space while riding the busses.
As I was getting back onto the shuttle bus, the new Captain from Rome, in civvies, got off with his wife. In response to my question about who was minding the ship, he replied: “my brother”.
There were some shops nearby the ship that had trinkets but not many people decided to go check them out so I didn’t either. Perhaps we are all vegged out on souvenirs or packing was looming ahead. I put out some of the luggage which was ready to be delivered to the holding area.
Ed enjoyed his Normandy trip and described how moving it was to see these sights we had only heard about. We went to supper but few folks were in the dining room. Ed spent the remainder of the evening packing; at one point I went down to hear the harpist who was the entertainment for the evening, merely to give him more room and improve his mood. I wouldn’t be in a good mood either!

APRIL 20, 2008 – ON THE VERY ROUGH SEAS.

This will probably be my last blog until after we get home. We go to LeHavre, France tomorrow where Ed has scheduled a tour of the WWII battle sites and I’ll just walk around the town and enjoy not having any agenda. Today is packing day so my job is to lay things out and get the hell out of Ed’s way. We don’t have to put our luggage out until before dinner tomorrow, but we are in port from 7 am to 7 p so that’s not a lot of fudge time. And we have to vacate our cabin by 7 am on Tuesday. Our plane doesn’t leave until mid afternoon but we have to take the transfer bus at 7:45 am from the ship.
PASSPORT CHECK: We all had to personally appear before the single UK immigration official with our passports, which we are allowed to keep this time. It turns out it was his first trip to Ireland and he was only there for 4 hours! The line went slowly and wound down the staircases.
DISEMBARCATION TALK: This was basically a review of the things you need to know to get where you’re supposed to be on the last day. We all have to vacate our cabins by 7 am (except for those transferring to the Queen Mary 2 for the trans-Atlantic cruise to New York) so that the cabin staff can get the cabins ready for the next cruise. JJ did this and it was a nice “goodbye” talk; all of the departments were represented at the end and it was a nice time to thank them for their hard work.
The next presentation was an interesting topic but we saw the speaker before and didn’t want to endure it again.
PURSER’S DESK: We had a number of tasks to do here: get Euros and Pounds; check our bill; get a report on the bracelet I lost on board (I still hope it may show up as we pack but I think the chances are slim); and get more of the colored luggage tags for our disembarkation.
We have received our Elite cards which entitle one to preferential disembarkation and other goodies but it doesn’t apply until after this cruise. Then free laundry! Yippee!
TRIVIA: The immigration process was still taking up the Pacfic Lounge; we all figured it out pretty quickly and showed up at the Casino Bar. We three who showed up, joined with another group where only 3 of their members showed up. We dubbed ourselves “The Misfits”. There were only 15 questions this time; the staff is getting fatigued with all this. We only missed one question: What was the name of Elvis Presley’s first back up band. We knew it did gospel but nothing else so we put down gospel. It was the “Jordanaires”. But WE WON! Easily….for luggage tags. One more trivia game this afternoon.
LUNCH: Today is the Sunday brunch and it was delicious and far too much food as usual. We sat with some folks we’d never met before; that’s unusual after 100+ days. Had some conversation about various things including earthquakes (I think one fellow must be in construction or architecture).
PACKING: Ed takes the brunt of this; he’d just undo it and repack if I did it anyway. So I’ve devoted my spare time this morning to writing notes and exchanging contact info with a few other folks on this cruise, getting flash cards ready to give to folks with the photos we’ve taken of them (I hope there’s enough time to get them back), and preparing “You Made A Difference” cards for the staff. This goes into their personnel files and we don’t do nearly enough of this.
Probably the one most valuable thing we brought along for this part of the trip is the luggage scale. $25 from Magellan. You heard it here.
The Captain altered our course yesterday to make for a smoother ride and it worked. This afternoon we turned into the English Channel and despite expecting rougher weather, it hasn’t been any worse, but not any better.
This afternoon the following are scheduled:
ON LANGUAGE: AN ACTOR CELEBRATES THE GLORY OF THE SPOKEN WORD: This presentation by Rita Moreno was actually quite interesting and made us look at the peculiarities of our language. It was also an appreciation of the language. During this presentation, she sang songs to us and read poems and other writings, to illustrate the points being made.
ONE OUTFIT, 12 DIFFERENT LOOKS: This was clever and went beyond what I would have thought. But I thought it was pushing it to get people to believe that you could get by with one solid black tank top and slacks with nondescript, low heeled shoes and changes in accessories. After the third day, no one would believe you were washing it out every night. Nor was there a guarantee that it would be dry overnight. But it was a nice try and if I could remember and be patient, I could probably do this.
TRIVIA: There were only 4 of us and several other groups had the same dilemma although the winning group had a full complement of members present for this last trivia. Prizes were passport cases.
CAPTAIN’S FAREWELL PARTY (it’s Formal night – double ugh). We visited with several other couples. One lady was complaining about the Seder last night. She didn’t like the seating arrangements as a starter. I kind’ve nodded nicely and smiled a lot. #1 I think complaining for some people is their national pastime, and #2 we had heard from some of the staff about the difficulties they encountered in trying to make this a good Seder. They did their best even though it wasn’t all what we’d have in our homes.
DINNER (of course): Everyone present and in their finery. Baked Alaska for dessert: Frankie said it was 1845 Calories and I don’t think he was far off. Lobster is always served for formal nights. Bonnie is glad she’s going home because she needs to seriously address her expanding figure.
ENTERTAINMENT: The “kids” have another extravaganza for us: Ports of Call. It was phenomenal! It had selections of various ports such as Barcelona, Rio, London, you get the idea. The songs and dancing were superb. JJ, the fantastic cruise director, came out in an outback Aussie outfit and did Waltzing Mathilda. Such fun.
UCLA vs. USC Department: We have been sharing photos and such with Mr. USC and his wife. When we gave them our contact information, I finished with “Go Bruins!” Now he wants us to go to the annual cross town rivalry at the Rose Bowl together this year. Uh Oh. What have we started. It

TOMORROW: Ed takes a tour of the WWII battle sites and I walk around Le Havre, France.
TUESDAY: Is disembarkation day. 1 ½ hour bus ride to Heathrow; lots of down time in between all else.

I’m doing this because I don’t know if I’ll be able to upload another blog.

APRIL 19, 2008 – COBH (Pronounced “Cove”), IRELAND

My cold was miserable during the night but the pharmacy I have helped. Ed and I both woke up around 3 am and couldn’t go back to sleep so we talked about the kids and such. Eventually we both dozed off after clearing the sinuses and such. We had turned on the heat last night but it’s still chilly in the room. Ed thinks the demand for heat is so great the ship can’t cope. I don’t mind a cold room to sleep in but if the ears and nose have icicles, I have trouble sleeping.
The weather was horrendous. We were thrown all over the bed and the wind near the patio door was ferocious. Further, it leaks around the seals and so the drapes flutter with cold air all night long. That part isn’t so bad.
OFFICIAL WELCOME TO IRELAND: Cead Mile Failte ( a hundred thousand welcomes ) to Ireland: We got our first official and authentic welcome to Ireland via email from Father Sean who is from Cork! It was a good start to the day.
We can tell by the motion of the ship that we were coming into quieter waters. Cork has the largest natural harbor in the Northern Hemisphere, or so they say. The little tugs kept us kissing the pier until the lines were secure. We have a broken up CNN; still no BBC – and no newspapers in the library.
We called Lisa and spoke with Adrian and Lisa. Anniken is doing well after nose surgery; we don’t have the details as the phone connection was breaking up.
I uploaded what blog I had prepared and a few emails before we left.
CRONIN TRANSPORT: Our busses were from a company named Cronin, so we knew we were in good hands. We had a woman about our age as tour guide and she was a delight. The weather was blustery and combined with the wind and +/- 50 F temp, it was pretty cold. We both layered and we looked like we had never endured cold weather before. In a way, that’s not far from the truth considering that less than a week ago we were in Egypt.
CHARLES FORT: This was a photo op for a 17th century fortification (it seems there are lots of them in Ireland).
KINSALE: This is an historic old fishing village. We had an hour here and we bought a 6 pack of cokes, did some window shopping (there are no bargains anywhere given the Euro ratio to the USD), and had a hot drink in a pub along with several other non-shoppers on the busses (there were 4 bus loads of folks on this tour called “Best of Ireland”).
Along the way we saw parts of Cork and the River Lee; we saw many hedgerows in the countryside and the flowers are all blooming in spite of the inclement weather so we were lucky. We passed several castles along the way and a few “follies”. The latter are miniature castles erected on property where one might go to listen to music, read, write, paint, whatever. Seems a fitting name. Some are quite cute.
LUNCH: We were served beer or soft drinks, hearty heavy Irish bread, a bowl of Irish (lamb) stew which was quite good and a creamy confection for dessert. While all this was going on, we were entertained by an Irish group called the Irish Weavers. Phyllis said they appear on QVC every St. Patrick’s Day. They had many original songs, many sing alongs, and lots of audience participation whether by singing or by clapping. Many of the songs were played on old Irish instruments, and sometimes in Irish styles which are dying out, such as whistling a song; the latter was quite beautiful.
Irish dancers were a part of the entertainment too. Three Irish lasses and a fellow, all of whom were very good and had gorgeous costumes on. This whole experience was totally Irish and absolutely delightful.
Well, this experience put us all in a great mood for our next stop.
BLARNEY CASTLE AND THE BLARNEY STONE: Yep, we did it and we have photos to prove it. Better watch out for us now. While I had recently learned that you have to hang upside down in order to kiss the stone, no one said how many stairs you have to climb to get there. This stone is at the very top of a very tall castle. The steps are old stones that wind around a central core. They are tall, tiny, and steep. There is a rope in some areas to help you keep your balance. Other times a metal bar is available. There wasn’t a problem going up. There were so many of us doing this that the line just crept along. So it took a long long time to get to the top but the good news is that you didn’t get tired and you visited with everyone else and took photos out the gun holes and other aperatures. We also took a lot of photos of each other, that is, other couples at various heights along the way. I would have said you wouldn’t be able to do this if you were grossly overweight but there was one among us who fits that description and he squeezed his way through God Bless him.
So finally you arrive. There is an Irish fellow there who helps you (there’s a tip box there). You sit on a plastic sheet, scoot forward, drop down and then kiss the stone. If you’re not able to pull yourself back up, this fellow helps you. While all of this is going on, they have a camera that takes photos of you which you will then pay 10 Euro for as you exit the castle. If you want to have a photo taken with your own camera, it must be done from the right hand side which is where the “helper” is so it’s almost impossible for anyone to get a shot of you.
Local rumor has it that the locals urinate on it as a trick on the tourists. As a result, supposedly, the “helper” cleans the rock periodically. Some things it’s better left to faith.
So then you wind you way through the castle which is really a ruin with signs here and there telling you what the various rooms were originally used for. The kitchen is the most amusing. It’s on one of the high floors and believe me when I tell you that it would be nigh onto impossible to haul everything up to that level to make any kind of a meal. Perhaps they had pulleys and such but still, having the kitchen at that level is very odd.
So then we went to look around the Blarney Woolen Mills store. As I said, no bargains here and nothing to tempt us. We stopped to have a coke and then got on the bus for the return to our ship again going through the countryside. All 4 busses showed up just as 5:30 p was bonging; the tour staff from the ship, along with the security staff were blue with the cold and wind.
There was a folkloric show this afternoon but we missed it as our tour got back just in the nick of time. Fortunately, you never have to worry if you’re on a ship sponsored tour as they’ll wait for you as we had to do earlier this week.
SEDER: We have a female rabbi on board and so there was a Seder. I’ll relate some of the back story to you in person if you’d like the gossip, but basically it was a very nice experience albeit longer than I’d care for but isn’t that always the case? We saw with a non-Jewish couple who were guests of other passengers. There were about 50 people for this, many of not most of whom were guests.
ENTERTAINMENT: “Diva of the high C’s”. Ed went; I didn’t. I’m sick and I couldn’t deal with a screamer today. I organized some stuff, downloaded photos, and recharged the cameras.
OH NO! We have to give that hour back that we got earlier. Darn. This is rough at this point.

APRIL 18, 2008 – ON VERY ROUGH SEAS: continuation of truncated blog.

BOOK CLUB: I went to this where John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was discussed. Almost all of us had read this in school but one appreciates it much more in the re reading as an adult. There were 3 of us from Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma and we recounted our experiences of the dust storms when we were children. You couldn’t see the fences around your house no matter how close; you didn’t set the table until ready to eat because the dishes would be full of dirt. And so on.
While there I looked around and the missing Economist was there. I explained to Amber why I was taking it. I’ll assume whomever purloined it did so innocently.
I missed “Dressing for your Body Shape/Accessories” but if I was really going to follow that, I would buy a book and get serious about it. I would have found it interesting though.
TRIVIA: We didn’t win and other than that, since I’m writing this blog a day later, I don’t recall specifics except that the composition of our team varies depending on who is available. We joined with 3 of the “4 nations” group, and in honor of our colleagues “Nice People” we dubbed ourselves the “Nice Dweebs”.
DINNER: Just Twyla Dave and us. Usual discussions and we shared how much fun we had with each other and how lucky we felt in getting such compatible dinner mates.
ENTERTAINMENT: It was Norm Crosby and I would have enjoyed seeing him but I felt lousy we stayed in, finished up some stuff, Ed did his Sudoku and I did my solitaire on my Treo.

APRIL 18, 2008 – ON ROUGH SEAS

Woke up after 8 but I had been awake for a long time in the night. Throat is still not fun and my arm is hurting somewhat as well. Ed seems to be OK and has passed all his pharmacy along to me. I feel guilty, but I’m taking the elevator to the higher floors while I am not well. The oxygen deprivation just kills me.
ROUGH SEAS: The seas are really rough though the ship handles them well. You must hold onto the wall or rails when walking about; in the room we crab crawl around it. There are barf bags taped to all the trash cans and you see folks looking very peaked everywhere including much of the staff. For whatever reasons, Ed and I have cast iron guts; this rocking and rolling doesn’t bother us a bit. It is very cold and windy outside. All the doors and stairways to open decks are taped off with “X” of yellow tape so that the dummies who ignore rules will not be able to go out. I think they were right when they said we’d have 12 foot swells; it’s at least that or more. We see them touching the 5th deck where the dining room is and the bow much really be swinging a lot; most of the crew live in the forward part of the ship.
Did you know that by tradition, the Captain’s cabin is always on the starboard side of a ship? Has to do with the old ships. Why don’t they ask that at trivia?
At lunch Gwen said we may not be able to land for Cork, Ireland because there’s a very bad front in this area. It is North Atlantic territory. It would be a shame if we had to miss that stop but we’ve been exceptionally lucky with our ports on this cruise.
CULINARY DEMONSTRATION: This was a real challenge with the pitching sea. Renzo, the Maitre d’ was the MC and made cherries jubilee after the chef finished his appetizer and main dish. The pastry chef is sea sick and couldn’t do his own demonstration. There was a lot of teasing and jokes which we all enjoyed. And somehow the salt shaker seems to work just fine for the regular chef.
TRIVIA: We had a full team this morning but boy the questions were awfully tough. Patrick, one of the dancers, did the questions today. We were all flummoxed when he said for the last 2 questions we had to name the two #1 hits of the group WHAM in (I’ve forgotten the exact date). Well our youngest participant is well over 50 and we just threw up our hands in despair. Many groups, including ours, have a rule that you never leave anything empty. So I was thinking of George Michael, who I think was actually with the group WHO, and I like his song “Faith” so we put that down for #19 and Bill, our scribe today, put down Hope & Glory for #20. We were no threat to the winners today who won after a tie breaker. The prizes today were Princess tote bags. That group has scads of them and Ed got one from Brian for me. Yippee! I finally have my very own, brand new, never used, princess tote bag. Those of you who know me will appreciate how much I needed another tote bag.
INTERNET: I’ve had some trouble getting on the net but eventually connected to take down emails and reorder prescriptions (to be mailed to the house) and MD appts for follow up when we get back. Lisa caught us up to date on her family. Anniken is recuperating from nose surgery and Adrian is back home after some time away for some studies. Amy wrote and said we’d really appreciate her when we got home. This was in response to my entry in the blog about the bang trim costing me $15.
LUNCH: Ed and Jay, from another trivia group, had gone to lunch and I joined them there. Ed had ordered a muffelata (sp) as had Jay but they had it put on Chibata bread instead of the focaccia bread originally listed. They were very small but Ed shared with me. I had a good hot, nourishing soup, and a salad with fresh fruit for dessert. Their soups are consistently good on this ship.
THE LIVELY ARTS: This is being done by Rita Moreno and I knew Ed would want to go to that. So I’m spending the time catching up on the blog.
PACIFIC PRINCESS BOOK CLUB: This is the last meeting and I feel obligated to support Amber’s hard work on this endeavor, so I went to this instead of the competing presentation: DRESSING FOR YOUR BODY SHAPE/ACCESSORIES. I’ll have to watch it on the TV.

4/19/08 8 AM in Cobh Ireland. Will finish this blog later. Tomorrow LeHavre France, then a day at sea, then Southhampton. Probably last blog during day at sea.

TRIVIA:
DINNER:
ENTERTAINMENT:

APRIL 17, 2008—AWASH AT SEA

I woke up with a painful sore throat. I had an inkling of it yesterday but had hoped it would go away. In one of our recent ports, a man coughed right on me and I was hoping I would escape this. The weather and the ship’s air and heating condition doesn’t help any of this. It is somewhat better when we are in humid climates.
LAUNDRY (perhaps the not quite last entry): Ed took all the laundry down a little before 8. I got dressed and took a plate down to the laundry room to give him a break. He told me to go back to the room, which I did. Now for today’s entry into the soon to be published book about Laundry room events on the seas: Ed was checking something in one of the machines and had left his Economist issue on the seat of a chair in the room while he did this. Now that issue probably cost us around $8 in Egypt or Greece and neither of us are finished with it. Some guy came along and just took it!
The other inexplicable event involves a sign on one of the machines that said it was out of order. A woman came in, removed the sign, and proceeded to do her laundry! Now THAT’S chutzpah!
HORATIO NELSON: This was Capt. Irving’s last presentation and it was extremely interesting for many reasons. Nelson was a colorful figure in many ways, and had some scandal in his life as well. He died of war wounds in his 40s, a glorious end to a very brave man.
TRIVIA: I don’t recall much about this game except that we didn’t win and I recall, we weren’t any threat to the group that did win.
LUNCH: Since I didn’t write this at the time, I don’t recall this part.
COLOURS FOR YOU: The Majarini and I wore red hat attire and the speaker declared our category as “dramatic.” This was interesting and a lot cheaper than the thousands of dollars some women pay to have their colors done. I’m probably a Spring or more likely a summer, but I also violate all the rules from what I can recall. The speaker is a lovely British lady, not pretentious as you might expect. If I paid as much attention to my looks, I’d make all of you proud of me.
TRIVIA: We didn’t win, nor come close as I recall. We had been moved to the Casino Lounge as there was a meet up scheduled for later in the Pacific Lounge. And Champagne was the prize from Gisela.
GET TOGETHER FOR OVERLAND GROUPS: Those of us who went on the Taj and the Egypt overlands got together with the tour desk staff for drinks and snacks—all free so you know lots of folks showed up. Ed and I sat with a lady and her husband who is so pleasant and down to earth. We’ve seen her around but this was the first opportunity to really visit with her.
DINNER: Everyone except Hank and Erna were present. We talked about almost everything including today’s trivia questions and grandkids. Folks are getting lonesome for home and family.
ENTERTAINMENT: We didn’t go. I didn’t feel up to it and Ed wasn’t interested in a singer/impressionist/pianist (this was a surprise), but instead he watched a Rita Moreno movie on TV.
PHOTO CONTEST: This is the last competition and the category is Creative or Artistic. As usual there are some fantastic ones entered. Ed’s is a Nile scene I put on the blog; mine is a photo from the Galapagos of a lava rock that just looks like rock until you look closely. Then you begin to see all the lizards laying around on it. Their camoflage is perfect. It reminds me of an Escher drawing. I put it in only because it was an interesting shot especially for those who didn’t go to the Galapagos.
But I already know which one will get my vote: a fat little bird looking at the camera and he looks like he has his lower lip jutted out. Ilana says she thinks he’s a French bird. It reminds me of the mad blue bird photo that is often seen in catalogs. Voting begins day after tomorrow.

APRIL 16, 2008 – LISBON, PORTUGAL

Lisbon sits at the mouth of a river and the ship traveled up the river and under the double decker bridge to get to the pier. Along the way we had many views of the Christ the King statue on a hill on the opposite bank of the river.
This is Princess’ inaugural cruise to Lisbon so we were met with tug boats spraying water into the air and competing with their horns. It was so cute; you know how I love tug boats.
LISBON BY TRAM AND COACH: We had several photo stops from the bus for places such as the Belem Tower, a Morrish style of fortress on the water side to protect the area during medieval times. It has also served as a prison. The monument to the Discoveries is a modern monument on the banks of the Tagus river and commemorates Portugal’s seamen. It is shaped like the prow of a caravel, a very swift boat with sails that can be repositioned. We also stopped at the Alto do Parque Belvedere which offers a wonderful view of the city and includes a really ugly sculpture that looks like concrete rubble and doesn’t work properly. The citizens of Lisbon are not happy about it.
TRAM ADVENTURE: Then we all boarded the old tram which is a cross between the cable cars of San Francisco and the streetcars in New Orleans. We had such a ball on this ride. The tram makes a leisurely circuit across the 7 hills of Lisbon. Along the way we passed the Parliament Bldg, the Cathedral: a lovely 12th century church in the heart of the Alfama District, and Black Horse Square. We also had different views of the Christ the King monument on a hill over looking the city, much like the Corcovada in Rio. The 25th of April double decker bridge dominates the sea view. We stopped at a huge monastery with an extraordinary ancient church.
Our hostess was a Portugese girl who spoke unaccented English and who served us port wine and the local pastry, pasties de Nata de Belem, along the way. And you could have as much wine as you wished. The wine glasses were very small, holding only about 2-3 ounces at most, but she would refill it as much as you wished. I stopped after 4 refills and it was r e a l l y good port wine. Along the way our tour guide told us about the various areas and sites we were seeing, including a description of the history of port wine and how it’s made. I don’t think you could have this experience on this tram without special arrangements. We had to wait in some places for other trams to pass or trucks as the streets are too narrow. In two instances, we had to honk for someone to move their car off the tracks.
We were returned to the ship about 2 pm and we took the shuttle back to the Plaza of Commerce with USC Bill and Diana. The tour guide had recommended a restaurant near this place and we walked around until we located it, but they weren’t serving lunch anymore. They recommended one next door where we sat down to a scrumptious lunch that included two huge platters of various seafood, salads, a delicious bottle of wine, water, great cheese samples, etc. I had port with salad and French fries. I won’t tell you how much it all cost; I almost fainted when I heard. We had to hurry back to be sure we made the last shuttle bus back to the ship.
While waiting for the bus, we saw a few of the staff from the ship. They found Lisbon very disinteresting. Too bad as we loved it and can’t wait to come back.
The weather was chilly with breezes here and there. A few sprinkles marked our day but nothing that dampen our fun. It was dark and overcast as we sailed away.
DINNER: Well this was rather anticlimactic after our lunch but we joined our table for dessert, which we didn’t have due to a lack of time. Only Twyla and Dave were there. We had seen Hank on our tour and they had seen Erna sometime today as she did a different tour than Hank.
ENTERTAINMENT: This will be a violinist and pianist we missed when they appeared the first time. We heard they were terrific so we’ll go to see them this evening.
SEAT BELT ALERT: After telling us that we were waiting for an ambulance to come for one of the passengers (no I have no details but the head waiter suggested lurking around the laundry room for details) after which we’d set sail, the Captain also told us that the next two days will be very bumpy and rocky going. Mauritzio said we’d have 12 foot seas. We’ve veterans, we can do this. He also requested that passengers not go out on the promenade deck; deck 9 is OK as it is enclosed from the wind except for the top.
Tomorrow’s forecast is overcast with heavy rain. We are, after all, getting close to England and Ireland, with temps in the 50s and winds of 25-30 knots.
TWO DAYS AT SEA for us now, lots of packing and oh yes, the l a u n d r y. Then we’ll be in Cork and we have booked a “best of Ireland” tour. And yes, we’ll be at the Blarney Stone, not that either of us needs the help of the Blarney stone to enhance our conversation.
CNN: We have it this afternoon but who knows when it will unexpectedly disappear and the note “poor quality signal” on a black screen will greet us.
ANOTHER LAUNDRY ROOM STORY: Twyla was telling me that a woman told her a story from another ship. A man had some laundry going and a woman took his clothing out of the washer and put her own in to wash. They had a set to over this and the man took her clothes and pitched them over the side of the ship. The woman called security who arrested him and he was thrown off the boat (I presume at the next port). When last seen, the woman was buying new clothes (Ok, I wasn’t told this but don’t you think it’s a logical conclusion?)

APRIL 15, 2008 – GIBRALTAR

Are your income taxes paid?
We awoke to the sound of the bow thrusters putting the ship into position near the pier. It was before 7 am and it was pitch black outside. The weather was cool, windy, chilly, and overcast most of the day. Rain was a possibility so we carried our umbrellas.
WALKING TOUR OF THE ROCK: A shuttle bus took us to the cable car for the ride to the top station located on the site of a WWII gun placement, for view of Africa, Spain, and the Mediterranean. At some point, we saw all of them. The strait isn’t very wide and one can appreciate the importance of this small outlet into the Atlantic. There is a wonderful pier here, a huge bay, and room for many ships. For centuries there has been a ship repair facility here.
Gibraltar is actually an island! They have filled in the land between here and Spain over the centuries and on this isthmus is a world class airport. Gibraltar is a British protectorate of 6 square miles. They are expanding via much reclaimed land from the sea and building numerous apartment complexes. There are many incentives for elders and young people to take up these apartments.
ST. MICHAEL’S CAVE: There are over 200 caves around here and this one has a huge amphitheatre in it where concerts, weddings, and such are held.
BARBARY APES: These tailless monkeys are actually macques, not apes. They are originally from the Barbary Coast of Africa and now have several packs here which are protected (long political story here). They have their own vet, a hospital just for them in the botanical garden, and two feeding stations. They are very pampered. Still we were constantly warned not to have food, or plastic bags – which they associate with food, on our persons. They are known for their aggressiveness but though we were among many of them most of the day, no one was attacked or jumped on. There is a $1K USD fine for feeding them though we heard about some idiot woman who brought bananas to feed them. We saw a couple of babies along the way.
FLORA: Our guide pointed out a wide variety of flowers and other greenery that grow wild on this limestone rock. Some we knew but there was plenty that was totally new.
UPPER GALLERIES: Tunnels were dug through these rocks over the centuries to assure it’s security. Because of the location of Gibraltar and it’s importance to transit from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic, it is always on high alert with armed personnel and placements all over here. The 5 terrorists of 9/11 all spent time in the area of Spain directly adjacent to Gibraltar so they are very aware of the potential for terrorist activities here.
We walked up and down through tunnels that had served as hospitals and military barracks. Gen. Eisenhower lived in one for some time during WWII. A banquet was held in his honor in one of the large rooms created in these tunnels. Hitler wanted Italy to join with him to take over Gibraltar and secure this area for the Nazis. Italy was passive aggressive about this and Gibraltar was never taken.
We certainly got our work out today. I lost track of the stairs up and down as the guide would tell us how many as we got to each location.
GIBRALTAR ITSELF: There’s actually a lot to see and do here. We didn’t get to the downtown area but many other passengers did and all raved about it, so it looks like this is a definite “return to” place.
The ship left this area at 1 pm so this was a short day on shore.
LUNCH: USC and his wife, Bill and Lea, Gwen, Ed and I had a wonderful discussion about Gibraltar sites.
THE OCEAN: It’s amazing but as soon as you pass into the Atlantic, even though we continue to “coast hug” our way to Lisbon, you immediately know you’re in a great ocean. The character of the ocean changes. I still find that remarkable.
BEHIND THE CAMERA: This was actually painful to watch and we understand the speaker is to be the final judge of the photo contest. I’ll spare you the name of this well known cinematographer (he worked with Rita Moreno on one project and she was in the audience to draw him out). He had slides of photos of a movie (of 40 yrs ago) that he worked on to describe to us what he does. We weren’t very clear even then and Rita tried to draw him out with her questions. He was forgetful, looked at the floor most of the time, and his much-younger wife as clearly the sotto voce from the side of the stage. I had to leave for an appt. to get my bangs cut (I simply couldn’t stand it anymore!), and when I returned he was just winding up. It was a sad thing to see and I can’t believe Princess knew this when they scheduled him.
EVENTS LEADING TO THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN COOK: This was a continuation of a previous series of talks. The content is very well done and illustrated with slides. However, we are all almost sleeping through it not because we aren’t interested, but because they turn down the house lights very low and the speaker then reads from his script in an excellent and very precise, but soporific voice. Capt. Cook was actually very bright and contributed a lot to naval knowledge. Just as it was getting to the meat of the talk, I had to go for trivia.
YOU MUST READ THIS ENTRY ABOUT TRIVIA: Ok Jason did come to help us out but we were still only 5 members, one short. The questions weren’t all that easy. In one case there was a question about which actor did some dance in a movie I never heard of. Jason right away knew it was Christopher Walken so we put that down. Then Gisela, the staff member reading out the questions today, asked if folks wanted her to do it as a multiple choice. I just about came out of my chair. The tradition is, if even one group objects, it won’t be converted to a multiple choice. I think our group was the only one who got that answer correct. There were several questions that none of us knew the answer to so that equalized the groups in some ways.
So, our paper was corrected and we got 11, but so did the group (The Nice People) whose paper we graded. So we knew we had at least tied with them but we didn’t know the other groups’ scores. So Gisela begins the count down: All of the groups present had the same score: 11! It was either 5 or 6 groups this afternoon, we don’t know which. So then there was a tie breaker question: How many pounds of yak hair was used in the Broadway show CATS from 199? To some other date. I gave some number that had no meaning as did 2 others, but Ed said 3000 and Jason said 2000, so we decided to split the difference and put down 2500. Gisela took all the guesses and her reactions were funny but unreadable. It seems that one group had 300 something, another some other number equally as small and so on, but we had 2,500 and the group next to us had 2,700. So she tantalized us and finally gave the correct answer of 2,486 pounds so we won! This was a fun cliff hanger for all of us. The prizes this time were 2 bottles of champagne and luggage straps (we’ve not gotten these so far). There was an extra since we were only 5 and there are 6 prizes, so we sent the extra with Sid to Elizabeth and she now has to come one afternoon to help us out. And by the way, one other group only had 5 members this afternoon too.
Eventually we all decided to have the head waiter switch us 2 bottles of champagne already chilled; and these bottles were to be shared among all of us trivia players in our group and their respective tables. So we all had champagne at our table this evening.
CAPTAIN’S COCKTAIL PARTY: We got to officially meet the new captain who is personable enough. We visited with some other folks and then 4 names were drawn from the invitations for a bottle of champagne. Then we went to supper.
DINNER: It’s a miracle: we all showed up. The champagne was fun and led to several rounds of toasts where we all shared how much we had enjoyed each other. Dave has asked Ed to give his version of the OJ trial so that was part of the table discussion. Lea talked a little about the novel she’s writing which is now up to 200 pages. We discussed jewelry and stones purchased on this journey. And Ed talked about some of his cases.
CNN: Now and then we get this but often not a very good signal. Still no BBC.
YULANA: This was a quick change artist and all I can say is, she was amazing.
THREE TENORS AND A DIVA: We had seen this group on the Prinsendam last year. One of the tenors is new to the group. We are all gravitating toward the one named Thadd from Philadelphia. He is remarkable. So many people were singing along and smiling and they received several standing ovations. And the auditorium was almost totally full.
ONE HOUR BACK: For reasons no one can explain, Lisbon is one hour back from Gibraltar. However, we have to give it back later on.
LISBON TOMORROW, then 2 sea days.

APRIL 14, 2008 – GIBRALTOR TOMORROW

I had my alarm on silent so I didn’t hear the alarm at 8:30 am; The good news is that we were more rested and we got up by 8:55 am and made it to the first event.
AN INTERVIEW WITH AWARD WINNING ACTRESS RITA MORENO: She is a tiny petite woman who does not look her age of 76. She has been married many years to a Jewish physician who accompanies her on this voyage. It was interesting hearing her anecdotes, but some of them were not too flattering to other celebrities and I didn’t think those stories reflected well on her. She gives a very animated and interesting interview. She will be appearing in her show on board sometime soon.
TRIVIA: Sandy and Berk joined us and we enjoyed their presence and contributions. It wasn’t an easy quiz and we didn’t “place” this morning. Many of the groups have new compositions of members; one still has the same 6 that it started with in Ft. Lauderdale. The winners got to choose their prizes today.
LUNCH: We sat with Mr. and Mrs. USC Trojan. That’s my nickname for them anyway. We talked about the overland tour in Egypt for the most part and the experiences were almost all the same. They went to a perfume or essence oil factory and it was interesting to hear their reactions to the samples. It sounds like you’d become a believer in aromatherapy after that visit. They also told us about a 2010 around the world cruise being planned by Princess. There are only notes on paper, no detailed brochures. But they are looking at ports not included on this world cruise. And it will be 107 days that time.
LIBRARY: I dropped off some books at the library and got today’s cross word puzzle. These recent puzzles do not have a key so it’s hard to know if you’re on the right track. We’re all laughing about that these days. I still have The Grapes of Wrath to read but I can’t even get through the introduction. I can’t really concentrate on it.
FRANKIE’S INTERNATIONAL WHITE ELEPHANT AUCTION SALE EXTRAVAGANZA (THE SEQUEL): Frankie had his first white elephant sale while we were on the overland and he did this follow up by special request. There were a lot of items folks were looking to get rid of. And there was the odd bidding competition. The funniest for for a bottle of lemoncello which went for 3 times what you can buy it for. Go figure. I sold 3 things to lighten our suitcases. One lady actually sold a suitcase and it didn’t take long to be snapped up. I’ve been wanting (for no sensible reason) one of the Princess Cruises zip bags and had been hoping I’d win it at trivia one day. There was one for $5 on the table and Ed asked me why I didn’t buy it. I told him I was still hoping to win it at trivia. Later he spoke directly with a man who was selling a passport case and a bag (still in it’s plastic) for $5 so he got that. A good deal all around.
This event took over 2 hrs and folks were still bargaining as I left.
TRIVIA: We only had 5 this time. Elizabeth came in time to join us or we would have been short 2 players. We came in --- OK by this time you’ve figured it out: #2 like Hertz but we also try harder. After all, we were working under a handicap today.
OPERA SINGER: In Civitaveccia there was a performance by an opera singer from Rome which we missed because our tour was so long. We have it on the TV right now and while it’s not as good as hearing it in person, it is clear that he is spectacular. And he’s singing “Ave Maria” as I type. Need I say more?
FUTURE PLOT: My red hat majarini approached me to do something mischievous when the fashion lady talks next time: we’re going to wear what red and purple we have with us! She’s discussing colors. I’ll let you know how it goes.
SHAGGY DOG: I went directly to the salon and asked them if they had a rate solely for trimming bangs and such. They do: $15. So I made an appt to get my bangs trimmed tomorrow as I’m really going nuts with this hair always in my field of vision.
DINNER: All except Hank and Erna were present. We talked about Barcelona and pick pockets. It seems that some folks from the ship were the victims of pick pockets, particularly along Las Ramblas. That’s not surprising given the crush of people there. We talked about a wide ranging group of topics; the usual we’ve plowed over before.
ENTERTAINMENT: Tonight’s offering: #1 “Hilarious comedy and amazing magic” and #2 “world class tennis speed juggling”. I can hardly contain my heart palpitations. Fortunately, Ed was of a like mind and we didn’t go. It was a very domestic evening in the cabin. No TV: and still no CNN or BBC news. Can you believe it? We see a smattering of papers folks have managed to scrounge on shore during the tours but still not much around.

APRIL 13, 2008 – BARCELONA, CONT…

BARCELONA GOTHIC QUARTER AND CITY DRIVE: This was the name of the 4 hour tour we took. Everything was new to us even though we saw and did many things here when we spent a few days in 1992. The Barri Gothic, the city’s medieval quarter, is really old and it’s generous to say that it has narrow streets. We saw a lot of places where the Kings had lived. There were also many government buildings and all of this gave our guide the opportunity to fill us in on a lot of history. We saw much of the Olympic sites on Montjuic (Mountain of the Jews); the one for the swimming has a superb view of the city behind the divers; very clever of the architect. We saw the cable car we had taken last time.
We had to wait a long time to get in to see the Cathedral of Barcelona as it was Sunday and we weren’t allowed in until all services were done. It is 600 yrs. Old with many side chapels and LOTS of gold everywhere. It is a magnificent edifice and I highly recommend anyone see it when in the city.
We also walked through the old Jewish quarter where people still reside. The streets are barely wide enough for two people to pass by. Along these walks, we would turn a corner and see a musician in a nook playing. The first was a flamenco guitarist and he was terrific. The music reverberated in this tall space and you could hear it until you turned the next corner and found a cellist playing while a baby (and a crowd) sat transfixed. Again the walls served to magnify the music. But one that still resonates with me is the violinist who started playing Ave Maria as we walked on. It was as good as I’ve ever heard and the acoustics were fantastic. We sent others to hear it as we met them along the way.
DINNER: We got back just in time to wash our hands and make it to the dining room. Hank and Erna were there and immediately started laughing telling us of their reaction to the peanut butter ice cream we had sent to their cabin the other night when they didn’t come to dinner. We all had a good laugh and they clearly enjoyed the thought as much as the actual dish. Dave and Twyla had been on the same tour with them, which was shorter than ours, but they wanted to attend the early showing of the folklorico show.
FOLKLORIC SHOW: “Los Muleros’ Flamenco Dancers and Musicians.’ This flamenco spectacular was the best I have ever seen bar none! We went to see the tail end of it after dinner, and then got on the front row for the second performance. We both took a lot of photos. There was a singer, a guitarist, and a drummer but I couldn’t begin to tell you what kind of a drum; it looked like an empty olive oil can but boy what a sound. The dancers were 4 young women (you’d have to be young to do what they did) and a young man. All the women were trying to determine if he had any underwear on during his performances as he had skin tight, stretchy clothing on. Elizabeth voted for a thong; I’m still not sure and I certainly looked hard enough trying to determine it.
Flamenco dancing is all about attitude and these dancers, everyone of them, had plenty of it and more. If you needed to see machismo in the flesh, this young man was that and more. The costumes were marvelous with all the flare they add to a performance. The director of this troupe is an older woman who came out and did a tune solely on the castanets which was unbelievable. And she clearly loves performing. The only problem was that this didn’t last longer. I was exhausted just watching them after the first dance!
I can’t recount all the awards etc. this group has garnered and the cruise director told us that he was besieged with specifications about everything imaginable in getting this performance set up. Of course, we don’t know all about that but we’d all agree it was well worth it.