Robbins Ramblings

Day Fifteen–At Sea .

2011-05-26T22:19:00.001+01:00

Although the ship has now left the Mediterranean and the journey home has commenced, there is still plenty to occupy everyone. This morning after the quiz [no,we didn’t win!!] there was a presentation in the theatre about the audition and rehearsal process of the Headliner’s shows. It was most interesting to realise that the whole cast are chosen together and not as individuals.

The main event after lunch was the children’s fancy dress competition, where the competitiveness of the parents really came to the fore. Mothers ,and indeed some fathers, were locked away for most of the morning sticking, sewing and generally creating outfits for their youngsters. Poppy and her Dad made a simple outfit, but it was primarily made by Poppy herself.

She enjoyed posing in her Princess Poppy outfit……

and joining in the parade before being interviewed by a hot dog.

She didn’t win, being beaten by a mother, I mean child, who had spent all day creating a “Package Holiday” costume, but she really enjoyed taking part. Joey on the other hand decided not to compete looking rather suspiciously at one of the judges.

Later on I bumped into Ted Robbins and we had a chat about our common family name. He gave me some information about his grandfather who was well known in Welsh football and this may allow us to investigate any family links. Sylvia reckons there may be some family resemblances in that we are both ‘slightly’ overweight, but I think she was just being rude.

In the evening the wind began to pick up and the “sick-bags” appeared on the staircases, a clear sign that we are about to enter stormy weather. This was further confirmed by an announcement that the cabaret show tonight featuring the Motown Foursome “The Tops” had been cancelled due to the Four Tops being reduced to two because of sickness. We, in the meantime, had a fabulous evening meal and watched the ship navigate the ever rising waves from the Planet Bar at the back of the ship. Victoria, rather surprisingly, enjoying every minute.

Tomorrow is the last day which means packing the cases before making the journey back to Wales on Saturday. This will be the last posting of the blog as my credit has virtually run out. I hope you have all enjoyed reading it and look forward to the next occasion when the Robbins’ Ramble again.

Day Fourteen–Malaga.

2011-05-25T23:00:00.001+01:00

The best thing about cruising is opening the curtains each day to a different sight, it’s like your hotel room moving in the night. This morning the sea was calm and yesterday’s winds had disappeared leaving the sun to gently highlight the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. A brilliant start to the day giving a perfect opportunity for some topping up of the sun tan.

The medical emergency from the other day meant our arrival into Malaga was delayed until noon, and we had some great views of the city as we slowly made our way to the berth.

Sylvia and I had a walk ashore looking at the shops…

…taking in a park…

…before making our way to the bull-ring…

where we had the obligatory silly picture.

The sail away parties as we depart each port of call are very much a tradition on a P&O cruise with the biggest and best party saved for the final sail away. Today was that day!!! It’s a very British affair with lots of flag waving and patriotic songs from all four corners of the British Isles. Needless to say we all joined in, Poppy sitting on Grancher’s lap flying her flag and singing.

Meanwhile Joey sat by his Dad taking in all the sights.

The choice of songs for the various regions needs a mention. While England gets “Jerusalem” and “Rule Britannia” and Scotland gets “Scotland the Brave” and “Flower of Scotland”, poor old Wales gets Tom Jones with “Delilah” alongside “Land of my Fathers”. A great party atmosphere and I’m sure all the singing was appreciated by our Spanish hosts.

Having had such a British send off we decided tonight to eat in the buffet which featured “The Best of British Fare”, which would allow us to see Gibraltar.

The entertainer tonight was actor, comedian and TV warm up artist, Ted Robbins talking about his life in show business. Oliver and I went to see him and were thoroughly entertained. He was funny without being crude and the time just flew by. A great evening and now for the journey home.

Day Thirteen–At Sea

2011-05-24T22:12:00.001+01:00

After the poor weather yesterday it was pleasing to wake up once again to sunshine coming through the balcony doors. The wind however was still quite blustery although it was easy to find a spot that was protected from the worse. The kitchen staff were busily setting up the tables for the on-deck barbeque so it was anticipated that the crew were aware of an improvement in the weather.

We have had quite a success in the quizzes over the last few days, but as always a winning streak must come to an end. Today was that day!! The quiz was a TV comics quiz, usual format recognise the star from the photograph and then answer a supplementary question. We only failed on three questions,unable to recognise one guy completely [I still can’t remember who he is!!], getting the wrong name for Mrs Merton’s son and forgetting Ralf Little’s name. Unfortunately that was enough to lose by ONE POINT, so no prize today.

We all decided to eat at the BBQ and after collecting the children, settled down to enjoy our burgers, chicken and hot dogs.

Joseph loved sitting on the sunbeds and playing with his Daddy.

While Poppy met up with Ruby, her friend from Kid’s Club. You would have thought that they had been separated for months rather than the ten minutes that had been apart!!

The entertainment tonight were a Tamla-Motown soul tribute band called “The Tops” who were excellent. They played a number of classics including “Mustang Sally”, “Land of a Thousand Dances”, finishing with the Four Tops’ “Reach Out I’ll be There”. They not only sang well but also performed all the moves expected of this type of band.

Wonderful company tonight again in the main dining room, altogether yet another successful day. Tomorrow the last port of call – Malaga.

Day Twelve–An Eventful Day at Sea.

2011-05-23T21:34:00.001+01:00

It started just the same as every other day, the early morning sun breaking through the open curtain. As usual I got up around 7.00 and opened the balcony doors to let the fresh air into the cabin. The weather didn’t look very promising with both the sky and the sea having a rather dull grey colour. I went back to bed to watch the early news on the TV and it was then that the first strange event of the day occurred. A small sparrow-like bird suddenly flew from the bathroom area and perched itself on the back of a chair momentarily before flying out of the balcony door. Sylvia and I both just looked at each other with a sense of disbelief as we had not seen the bird fly in at all, although we assume that it did. Perhaps it was an omen.

The weather lived up to it’s early promise with the grey skies slowly growing darker and the rainfall more persistent. The lounges inside the ship slowly filled as fellow passengers realised that there would be no sun bathing today. Luckily there were enough vacant seats in Brodie’s for the TV show quiz as we went for our hat-trick of wins. Half way through the quiz was interrupted by a message from the Captain: a medical emergency had forced a detour from our route to Sicilian waters and this would delay our arrival in Malaga. After the quiz [Yes we did win it.] the ship stopped for around an hour to allow the medical teams to get the patient safety ashore. Our course was altered, and we proceeded through the Straits of Messina in order to reduce our travelling time.

Afternoon tea today featured the famous chocoholics spread, with many cakes , pastries and a centrepiece of a chocolate fountain. We were unable to obtain a picture of Oliver’s plate as he made it to the buffet way before the rest of us, but this should give you an idea of the goods on offer.

We took Joey with us and he had a look of anticipation on his face when he started….

…but by the time he had finished it was difficult to see any of his face!!!!!

The yellow on his face was a pirate face painting as he had just come from a pirate’s party in Kid’s Club.

Tonight was formal night another opportunity for all of us to dress up in our finery, with Poppy choosing a beautiful white number…

…while Victoria and Oliver stuck closely to the “Black & White” theme as they glided down the Atrium stairs.

Dinner followed where we were joined at our table by two sisters from Yorkshire and their husbands. A very enjoyable, eventful day at sea.

Day Eleven–Dubrovnik.

2011-05-22T22:31:00.001+01:00

Once again the sun burst through the window as we arrived in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. Sylvia and I had visited here last year and so had agreed to look after the children while Oliver and Victoria walked the city walls.

After an early breakfast we made our way to the shuttle buses for the short trip to the old town. The main street was crowded with visitors from both our ship and another moored in the harbour where we were last year. We walked with Poppy and Joseph looking in the shops and taking in the sights…………

……. until we found a shaded spot where a guitarist was playing. We all really enjoyed this.

Oliver and Victoria thought the walk around the walls was excellent giving some wonderful views across the roofs of the Old City. It takes about an hour to complete but the many steps make it impossible for the children. We met up for a drink together at a small street cafe.

Where Poppy thought that her apple juice resembled wine.

Once the children were reunited with their parents Sylvia and I wandered around encountering this folk dancing group on our travels.

I thought that they need some expert guidance so decided to join in, picking the most attractive partner available.

The dancing lesson over we continued into the harbour experiencing the superb views across the bay.

Despite being ravaged by war in the 1990s Dubrovnik still has all the charm of a medieval city and well deserves it’s place as a UNESCO World Heritage site. If you’ve never visited this beautiful city put it on your list for a visit in the near future, you will not regret it!

One of the unique features of a P&O cruise is the themed buffets held each evening. Tonight,once again, was Oliver’s favourite, the Indian Buffet. Deciding not to have any dessert he made up for the loss of a final course by having three plateful of mains. I’m sure he will tell you all about it on his blog. Needless to say we all enjoyed it.

While Oliver looked after the children and digested his Indian, the rest of us were entertained by a Motown tribute performed by the singers from the theatre company. A polished performance although the harmonies were a little off in places.

No-one answered yesterday’s question, so I’ll give you the answer, “Death in Venice” was written by Thomas Mann.

The journey home has now commenced and hopefully we will have some more good weather over the coming sea days to make sure the tan is well and truly established before we arrive back.

Day Ten–Venice and the Doge’s Palace.

2011-05-21T21:55:00.001+01:00

When we heard that the ship was repositioning last night we had assumed that we would have little or no view when we opened our curtains this morning. Imagine our surprise when we were greeted by this “Turner-esque” view of the city.

Sylvia was so impressed with this view that later on she sat on the balcony and painted it.

According to the literature we were moored four bridges away from St. Marks Square, although I’m sure I counted six, it was only a short walk away. We were surprised that on reaching the Doge’s Palace that there were no queues, and therefore decided to venture in. I’m so glad that we did as the art and the sculptures it contains are magnificent.

We were only allowed to take photos on the outside in this large courtyard, where I stood transfixed by the splendour that surrounded me.

Although I did manage a sneak shot of this elaborate ceiling of the Golden Staircase leading to the state rooms.

Contrast that opulence with the view from the Bridge of Sighs as you passed into the prison area.

After walking around the palace for a couple of hours we emerged into the hustle and bustle of a Saturday morning in St. Marks Square, with the various orchestras playing their tunes outside the street side cafes.

Even though it was so busy there were still empty gondolas slowly making their way down the canals eagerly looking for potential customers.

Another very enjoyable and very hot day in Venice, as we made our way back to the ship ready for a 4 O'clock sail away.

Today’s question,

“Who wrote the novella ‘Death in Venice’ on which the 1971 Dirk Bogarde film was based ?”

Answers as usual tomorrow from Dubrovnik.

Day Nine–Arrival at Venice

2011-05-20T20:45:00.001+01:00

As reported last night the late departure from Korcula delayed our arrival by some two hours. If this unfortunate event had not occurred this would have been the view greeting us this morning.

Through the night a thick fog had descended in the area meaning little of the scenery could be viewed. Fortunately by the time we arrived at Venice the sun had burned away the fog giving these splendid views.

They say that the views of Venice from a cruise ship are second to none, and I have to say that I fully agree with that statement. There must have been 3,000 cameras all pointing at St. Mark’s Square as we sailed by, and they will all have a similar photo to this.

In fact I’ve still got several hundred from last year!!!

Today we had agreed to stay on the ship in the morning to allow Oliver & Victoria to have their gondola ride, the romance of it would have been spoiled with Poppy and Joey. The arrangements however were further complicated due to Poppy being sick in the night and having to attend the doctor’s surgery. A throat infection was diagnosed as the cause and after a prescription of anti-biotic, she started to buck up. Joey on the other hand didn’t need anything to pep him up, being full of beans . For the next two hours while Poppy gently recovered in her cabin, either Sylvia or I were pulled along the corridors, up and down in the lifts and back again. We were relieved when at almost exactly 1 o’clock he asked to be put in his cot and went straight to sleep.

In the afternoon it was our turn to venture forth and we decided rather than catching the water-bus that we would walk. The weather today had been exceptional with clear blue skies and very bright sun, so we were pleased that by the time we had decided to go out it had cooled a little. The walk from the ship takes you to the far end of the Grand Canal which is the busy backbone of Venice, alongside all the tourist craft can be found commercial boats delivering products to the shops that litter the banks.

This end of Venice is less crowded but still gives the opportunity for the standard holiday snaps.

We were able to explore the small streets that were quiet and relatively tourist free.

But still come across gondoliers resting after a busy day plying their trade.

And we were able to still enjoy an ice-cream….

and a drink in a canal side bar.

But when you are in Venice, no matter where you are all roads really do lead to St. Marks Square.

The boat is going to re-positioned around midnight to a new mooring just down the road from the Doge’s palace, so tomorrow it will be easier to get off. More on Venice then.

The answer to yesterday’s question, the currency in Croatia is the KUNA, the current exchange rate being around 8 to the £. Another Venice based question tomorrow.

Day Eight–Charming Korcula.

2011-05-20T07:06:00.001+01:00

Those who have been following this blog over the last twelve months will remember how disappointed we were at not to being able to visit Korcula last year due to high winds. The announcement last night that the on-deck tropical party would be held indoors gave us cause for concern that the same would happen this year. What a splendid surprise then to be greeted by this sight through the balcony window at five o’clock this morning.

The ship manoeuvred into position and the lifeboats were launched in preparation for the tendering operation ashore, giving views of the dramatic Dalmatian coastline.

After the usual scramble to get on the tenders we made our way ashore giving a chance for some nice photographs of the ship,

and the town.

The town of Korcula itself is compact with small steep street radiating from a central square.

It resembles a Disney film set with many buildings having small turrets or towers.

The small lanes all leading to a circular walled walk giving superb views across the bay to the Croatian coast beyond.

Korcula is famed as being the birthplace of Marco Polo, a claim shared by many towns in this area, and his name and face can be seen in many locations around the town.

A beautiful little town that really lives up to it’s title of “Charming Korcula”, and well worth the 12 month wait.

We were due to leave Korcula at 5 O’clock and the sail away party started as usual on-time interrupted as normal with the announcements regarding the odd missing passengers. The party finished at 6, but the ship was still in the same place, as it was at 7 and 8 o’clock. Apparently there was a problem with the doors which the crew had been unable to shut properly after the tendering operation. Finally a very apologetic captain announced at 9-15 that the problem had been resolved and we were on our way, the delay now meaning we would not be in Venice until 9.45 am tomorrow.

Oliver and I went to see the comic Rudi West [No I’ve never heard of him either!!] in the show lounge and he lived up to his first name, very few of the jokes capable of being printed in a family blog such as this. The only reason I mention it is the late night has caused this posting to be once again delayed until now [Sorry Diarra!!].

A quick quiz question to end today.

“Although the Euro is widely accepted in Croatia, what is the official unit of currency?”

Answer as usual next post, from Venice.

Day Seven–Corfu

2011-05-18T20:49:00.001+01:00

Firstly an apology to Diarra for posting the last two days in the morning rather than the preceding night. I didn’t realise that the publication was so eagerly awaited. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

During the night the sea became quite rough for a spell and Victoria tells us that there was a severe thunderstorm with some terrific lightning. I didn’t see any but I did feel the boat rock a bit.

Oliver became a little concerned first thing as the toilet in his cabin wouldn’t flush, which meant Poppy coming into our cabin to go to the loo. The situation then seemingly became worse as our toilet refused to flush as well, Oliver now thinking that he had blocked the entire ship’s sanitary system. Thankfully we were informed by the steward that it was a temporary fault which was cleared in minutes much to Oliver’s [and everyone else’s] relief.

The entry into Corfu is spectacular with the mountains of Southern Greece on one side as we approach the island on the other. Today was a little overcast so the pictures don’t really do the view justice.

We split up first thing with Victoria and family catching one of the early shuttle buses into town, where they walked to the top of the old fort.

Joey made it about halfway up but Poppy did get to the top,

by which time another shower had started.

Meanwhile Sylvia and I decided to take our time for a stroll around town looking at the shops, the anoraks that we had bought last year coming into their own.

Corfu is a lovely little town with narrow steep streets so typical of the Mediterranean but after about an hour there is very little to do. We did however discover a little gem of a museum, “The Banknote Museum of the Ionian bank”, which provided a potted history of modern Greece through it’s paper currency. Highlights included , the first notes issued when the Greek islands were a British protectorate [in shillings and pounds], moving through the first Greek currency [Colonata] to Drachmas. Most interesting was the 100,000,000,000 drachma note from the end of the war which apparently was just enough to buy a loaf of bread, and we think inflation is bad now!!!

We then returned to the ship for lunch to find that Victoria and the children were also back leaving Oliver to search for the museum and any unique Greek energy drinks. After eating Victoria and I returned to town for another look around the shops. The weather had picked up a little by this time but was still not brilliant.

We even saw what we thought at first was Marmaduke!!!

One of the best things about the Freedom Dining option we have chosen is the ability to choose a different eating place each night, tonight it was the turn of the Italian. Unlike the other speciality restaurants there is no cover charge here although one or two of the dishes attract a premium, such as the prawns chosen by Sylvia and Victoria for their starter….

and for my steak cooked at the table on a lava stone.

A lovely meal set against a backdrop of the Albanian coast.

If you are wondering about the shirts, it is tropical night although you wouldn’t know it by the weather.

The answer to yesterday’s question was Penfold voiced by Terry Scott, another question tomorrow from Korcula.

Day Six–A Day of Action.

2011-05-18T06:54:00.001+01:00

The whole ship seemed a little sleepy this morning. Whether the cause was the lost hour last night or the effect of five days of cruise food I’m not sure, but it was evident as we arrived at the TV quiz where only two other teams had assembled. Thankfully a few others arrived to enable the quiz to commence. Following the same format as yesterday a series of photos were shown identifying TV programmes, today’s subject “Children’s TV”. With our combined knowledge of old and new programmes most of the questions were answered with ease, failing only to identify “Chorlton and the Wheelies”. The prize being once again a pen and key-ring set, if it carries on at this rate we won’t need to look for Christmas presents!!!

Here’s a question to test your knowledge [give everyone else a chance Naomi!!].

What was the name of Danger mouse's assistant and who provided the voice of the character ?

Answers as usual tomorrow.

After a short time taking in the sun…

followed by a game of table tennis…..

and a leisurely lunch, the children retired to their room to take it easy. Poppy choosing to continue her scrapbook….

…while Joseph just chilled.

Sylvia has been wanting to visit the gym ever since we boarded the ship to try out the running machines. So, with the children off to the Kid’s Club, this afternoon seemed a good opportunity for us all to have a go. After a few minutes tuition from Victoria and Oliver , we both ran a mile..or rather walked a mile.

Mind you I now realise why Oliver is so keen to visit the gym every afternoon, as one of the long-legged dancers was busily doing stretches on the floor just behind the machines. And apparently she’s there every afternoon!!

The show tonight was called “New York Rhythms” a mix of songs from The Four Seasons, Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow and Billy Joel. Once again we all attended.

The children however must have had a busy day because they both “did an Uncle Colin”, falling asleep at the start only waking to join in the applause at the end. Altogether another great day, tomorrow Corfu.

Day Five–The First Prize.

2011-05-17T09:34:00.001+01:00

A fairly quiet day today, the weather first thing being slightly over-cast and VERY windy. This meant that everyone stayed beneath deck filling all the lounges and bars. We decided to enter the first quiz proper as a complete family with a TV quiz on offer.Victoria and Oliver were a little late arriving at the venue after dropping the kids off at the Kid’s Club which left Sylvia and I to tackle the first four questions on our own. We were both a little dismayed to learn that the quiz would focus on “Daytime TV”. Now we may not do much when we are at home but the television rarely goes on much before the “Six O’clock News”, except if Joey wants to watch “Beebies”. So we failed to recognise “Flog It!”, a Channel 5 house styling programme and couldn’t remember the name of Trinny & Susanne’s TV show.

Luckily help was at hand with the arrival of Oliver and more importantly Victoria, who managed to correctly answered virtually all the remaining questions correctly [missing out on Judge Judy’s full name!!]. Yes, this the same Victoria who swears that she never watches television during the day being far too busy running around after Joseph!! It did however give us the first prize of a P&O Cruise………

…key-ring and pen set.

By this time the sun had come out and it was getting quite warm although the wind was still blowing well. Sylvia and I found a sheltered spot on deck and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon in preparation for tonight’s formal dinner. I was woken from my sleep by two tigers who had just returned from the Kid’s Club [Joey grabbing a grape on the way].

Victoria and Oliver joined us for dinner in the main restaurant and once again we met another couple from Wales. This time they were from Cwmbran and had just married off their daughter [another Victoria incidentally] so I think you can guess how much of the dinner conversation went.

The clocks moved on again tonight by an hour so everyone on board is beginning to look a little tired. A last day at sea tomorrow before a hectic five port days [Corfu, Korcula, two days in Venice and then Dubrovnik].

Day Four–Cadiz and the Indian Buffet.

2011-05-15T22:31:00.001+01:00

As the ship was due to arrive in Cadiz at 8.00 this morning we decided to breakfast in our room, a large tray of fruit, cold meats, cheeses and pastries being delivered at 7.00. We sat on the balcony and watched as the ship was manoeuvred into it’s mooring with the assistance of an assortment of Spanish dockhands. A Holland America ship was docked across the harbour but surprisingly with two cruise ships in town, Cadiz was quiet, few of the shops were open and the locals had yet to surface on this bright Sunday morning.

The cathedral ,above, is the focus of the town with numerous narrow lanes radiating from this centre . As you walk down these streets various smaller squares come into view with several churches. Although we visited the town separately from the Shinglers it wasn’t very long before we came across them in the square.

As with many Mediterranean towns the gardens and the various flowers around the town were superb, the pictures not really doing them justice.

Although it was only a fleeting visit [we had to be back on the ship by 1.00], Cadiz appeared a really pleasant city, although it would be difficult to find enough to occupy a full day. One major criticism though was the amount of dog mess there was on the streets which meant you had to look at your feet rather than the sights!! I’ve nothing against dogs or their owners, but please clean up after them.

After setting sail just after one o’clock, we passed through the Straits of Gibraltar late afternoon. Our side of the ship was facing South which gave very clear views of the North African coast.

During this passage the wind picked up causing the sea to swell which gave a little rough end to what had been a hot and sunny day. In fact after lying on the deck earlier I now have those pink legs I referred to yesterday.

This evening was 60’s Night with a show in the theatre entitled “My Generation”, a mixture of music from The Beatles, Kinks and other such artists. Poppy and Joseph joined us in the theatre and were both very well behaved. Poppy loved the dancing and singing while Joseph sat open-mouthed throughout the performance.

After leaving the children in the Kid’s Club to watch a film we moved on to the buffet, for the famous P&O Indian spread. Oliver was salivating as we climbed the last flight of stairs and he wasn’t disappointed by the selection. Samosas, Bhajis, Kormas, Tandoori, Vindaloo.. you name it, it was there. After several platefuls each of main courses we moved onto the sweets……

To be fair Ollie didn’t eat all of these but he did have NINE dough balls. A great way to end the day, we’ll all sleep well tonight, although I may need the Alka-Seltzer!!!

Well Done Naomi, UTC does indeed stand for Universal Time Co-ordinated.

Day Three–The Sun Comes Out.

2011-05-14T21:41:00.001+01:00

One of the biggest benefits about cruising on a large ship is that there is usually something for everyone to do, even if your tastes are different. This morning we sampled the various items on offer on the Azura, the children went to the Kid’s Club where they made play dough, Oliver went to the gym, Sylvia and Victoria went to an art class and I went to a talk by Ollie Smith & Atul Kochhar in the theatre. After fireworks and flashing lights the pair rose from beneath the stage together with a rock and a sheep, a spectacular entrance being something of a tradition for these two!!

The show featured anecdotes about their careers especially their TV appearances, and was very entertaining. The art classes however didn’t live up to their promise and the girls left before they began using their time to explore some other areas of the ship.

When the sun comes out the whole dynamic of a cruise changes. Over the last few days the overcast skies and cool temperatures has meant that all the inside seating has been occupied while at the same time the outside is empty. The sun completely reverses this balance, and today the sun came out. I’m not sure what the temperature was but by the late afternoon many of the passengers had reached that nice shade of pink that only a British holidaymaker can achieve.

Tonight was the first formal night of the cruise which means we all changed into our finery, Oliver and Victoria had booked their meal in Sindhu, so Sylvia and I had an early meal in order to pick the children up from the Kid’s Club. Tonight our table included a Cornishman who had an accidental audience with the Pope on his last visit to Rome even though [in his words] he was C of E. You never know who you will met next with Freedom Dining!!

The table tennis today resulted in a 4-0 win for me but due to the sunshine we didn’t enter any quizzes, but here’s a good question.

Last night we put the clocks forward by an hour and according to the ship’s log we are now UTC+2. What does UTC stand for ?

Answer tomorrow when hopefully we are celebrating the UK’s victory in Eurovision!!!!

Day Two–Joey’s Birthday

2011-05-13T22:33:00.001+01:00

Firstly an apology, due to circumstances beyond my control [an issue with the “Blogger” server I think] there was a delay in posting yesterday’s episode. I believe that normal service has now been resumed so away we go.

Some may have had concerns about being aboard on Friday the Thirteenth but the day started as any other with breakfast in the buffet followed by a quick game of table-tennis. It was the first match this cruise and the score at the end was a very respectable one –all, so all to play for!!

Aboard the Azura for the first days of the cruise are celebrity chef Atul Kochhar of “Saturday Kitchen” fame and also wine expert Ollie Smith. Together this morning they presented a live cookery demonstration in the theatre conjuring up a superb smelling [we didn’t get a chance to taste it] crab salad and lamb Rogan josh.

Some great tips about Indian cooking especially on how to cook onions, which Atul reckons is the key to good curries. They are both signing books tomorrow so there will probably be some new additions to my cookery shelf.

Poppy and Joey spent most of the day in the children’s club which gave Victoria and Oliver a chance to use the gym and also to join us in a couple of quizzes. A brave second place was gained in the Music Quiz [must try harder!!!!] while we scored a credible 19/25 in the progressive quiz [let down by the true or false round].

The children spent the afternoon welcoming two more celebrities on-board, Noddy and Mister Bump, although Joseph had fallen to sleep in the arms of one of the Reef Rangers before the end. He was back awake in time for children’s high tea where the kid’s club presented him with a cake and a large card to compliment the one received from the Captain this morning.

Joey really enjoyed his cake………..

…….While Poppy tucked into her sausage and pizza.

Tonight was the first show presentation in the theatre a celebration of choreography entitled “Destination Dance”. Sylvia , Victoria and I attended while Ollie bathed a very tired Joseph and Poppy returned to the kid’s club for a viewing of “Shrek”. The dance show was very enjoyable and the singers seem much stronger than on the previous trip, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

On returning to our room a small towel elephant reminded us that the clocks go forward an hour tonight.

South Hamster and Sail Away.

2011-05-13T18:12:00.001+01:00

We travelled down to Southampton, or as Poppy says “South Hamster” on Wednesday afternoon ready for boarding this morning. A pleasant night was had at the Premier Inn and it was difficult to judge which of the children were more excited….Victoria or Oliver!!!

Although we had a boarding time of 3.00pm experience has taught us that it’s best to arrive when the boarding starts at noon. This we achieved with no difficulties and we were on the ship a little after 1.00. We headed straight for the 15th floor… The Buffet. Poppy and Joseph enjoyed their lunch with Joey particularly relishing this profiterole.

After lunch we found the children’s club and registered both Poppy and Joey. There are 28 children from 2-4 on the cruise and Poppy immediately found a little girl her age to play with. Meanwhile Joey, who for the first five minutes didn’t want to leave his mummy, struck a bond with George [female] one of the Reef Rangers and wouldn’t leave her alone for the next hour or so. I think they will enjoy the trip!!

This gave the adults a chance to explore the ship in pairs, Ollie booking a meal at Sindhu for Saturday night and then having a look at the gym, whilst Sylvia and Tor had a guided tour of the spa facility.

Coming back on the “Azura” was certainly like meeting an old friend and very quickly I remembered where all the facilities were. Although a year older the ship still retains it’s nearly new finish and has been well looked after. On arrival in our room we were greeted by the following welcome package.

A perfect way to start the cruise.

This evening we ate in shifts with Sylvia and I utilising the main dining room while the kids were bathed, and then I sat with the children while Ollie and Tor went to the buffet.

Our table at dinner had a very Welsh flavour with six out of the eight occupants either coming or living in Wales. Most impressively one gentleman came from Neath and was Katherine Jenkins’ second cousin.

Tomorrow is a sea day but more importantly Joey’s second birthday, a full report will be posted tomorrow night.

It’s That Time Again!!

2011-05-10T13:00:00.001+01:00

A new entry on the blog can only mean one thing…..we’re off on holiday again. Yes, on Thursday we board the P&O cruise ship “Azura” for another trip around the Med.

It’s a very similar itinerary to last year’s holiday calling at Cadiz, Corfu, Korcula, Venice, Dubrovnik and Malaga before returning to Southampton. The major difference is that we will be over-nighting in Venice giving a lot more time to visit the sights. Hopefully this time we will have the opportunity to visit Korcula which, due to bad weather, was inaccessible on the last trip.

Oh, I forgot to mention that this time we will be joined by Victoria,Oliver, Poppy and Joseph [My daughter/son-in-law and two grandchildren]. That’s going make the cruise a whole different experience as we have never cruised with children before. Joey will celebrate his 2nd birthday on board on Friday [Yes the 13th!!!] and both he and Poppy are really looking forward to it. Poppy has been informing all her friends and teachers that she is not going on holiday but “on a cruise”.

So this trip there will probably be more of this………………

than this…………………………

Much to Sylvia’s disappointment!!!

I’ll try to update the blog on a regular basis - dependant on the internet connection.

Au Revoir Normandy – Home Again.

2010-07-25T19:51:00.001+01:00

After two weeks of fine weather, scrumptious food and great company, we left our gites in Normandy yesterday morning and finally arrived home here in Wales at just after 1.00 am this morning. After such a great holiday it’s difficult to look back and pick out the highlights because there were so many – but I’ll have a go.

Normandy was a brilliant location to visit with a variety of attractions to suit everybody’s taste from ancient monuments…..

to modern history,

from picturesque chateaux……

to resplendent cathedrals,

from beautiful coastlines……

to rolling countryside,

and a selection of foods to suit all palettes.

We spent a fortnight travelling down the long, straight and mainly empty French roads,

visiting castles, lovely small towns, museums and [much to my delight] cheese factories, but we could have spent much longer as there was so much more to see. Normandy we will return!!

The gites in which we stayed, Domaine de la Hamberie, formed a perfect base for our adventures, being located only 5 km from Falaise. This was a charming little town which had all the facilities that we would want plus a couple of incredible museums and of course William the Conqueror's castle.

The gites themselves not only provided plenty of room and all mod cons for 17 guests from around the world but also had the added bonus of the play barn. Here many a happy hour was spent by the children…..

…of all ages!!!!

An added bonus was the ability of all of us to share a table each evening and recount our adventures of the day or merely pass the time away with memories of previous happy holidays.

A great location for a great holiday, have a look at their website which gives full details.[www. hamberie.com].

There is one thing that changes a good holiday into a great holiday and that is the company that you are with, this was a GREAT holiday.

Thank-you all for travelling from all over the world but most of all thank-you Lorna and Patrick.

Now where next?????????????????????????????

Normandy – Day 13 – The Sun Returns.

2010-07-23T08:10:00.001+01:00

After the rather damp start to yesterday, we were pleased to awake to another glorious sunny morning. The boys [and Naomi] had decided to spice up their holiday with a visit to the near-by “Le Parc Acro”, a tree-top adventure playground with rope climbing, abseiling and other such activities. You can read about their adventures on Oliver’s blog [www.olivershingler.co.uk]but if you want a quieter time stick with me.

Victoria decided that as she had not driven in France this holiday this would be a good opportunity, so while Sylvia and Helena had a quiet day around the cottages, I went into Falaise with Victoria and the children. First stop was lunch at “Le Gars de Falaise”, a lovely little restaurant set on the square in the centre of the town.

I had the plat de jour, an interesting dish that looked like haggis and chips but I don’t think was[I missed the name given to it by the waiter – any suggestions?].

We sat outside on tables surrounded by what seemed like predominantly British voices, with the wind picking up slightly. This resulted in several glasses being blown over and smashing on the floor much to the amusement of Poppy and Joseph.

After lunch we took the short walk across town to the intriguingly titled “Museum of Window Actors”, a celebration of the animated models that graced the shop windows of the Parisian stores leading up to Christmas between 1920 and the early 50’s. After a short introductory film we were led into a small but very well presented mock-up of the streets of Paris and over 300 automated models doing their thing. From seafarers feeling a little sea-sick…….

to Aladdin and his magic lamp.

The children were absolutely fascinated even though they had just spent three days in Disney and Joey couldn’t wait to get up close and personal.

Poppy loved this depiction of a dance marathon with a large lady spinning around a much thinner man.

She also suggested that this model resembled our next door neighbour “Uncle Roger”, I’ll find out what he thinks when we get home.

Another great visit and it made a change visiting a museum and not being reminded about wars.

Oh, and by the way , Victoria’s driving was superb before anyone comments!!

Only one more day left before the journey home.

Normandy – Day 12 – A Rainy Day.

2010-07-22T07:42:00.001+01:00

The poor weather that we had been expecting on Thursday arrived a day early with heavy and persistent rain lasting all morning. The facilities in the “play barn” really come into their own when the weather’s like this , with Diarra, Helena, Sylvia and I taking the opportunity to improve our table-tennis skills.

The other activity that wet weather is good for is visiting museums and Sylvia and I took the short trip into Falaise to visit the “Musee Aout 1944”, a rather uncared for place that had many relics which told the day by day story of the Battle of Falaise Gap. Taking place between 12-21 August 1944,this was the final and probably most decisive battles in Normandy which resulted in the destruction of the majority of German forces and equipment west of the Seine. In fact two days later Paris was liberated. The number of troops killed in this area was staggering and with over 85% of the town itself being destroyed it really brings home the reality of war. Although not a good looking museum it is well worth a visit for the way it is laid out and the thoughts that it evokes.

The rain had stopped as we left the museum so we decided on a drive to the small town of Livarot to visit the cheese making dairy known as “Le Village Fromager”. Unlike the visit to Camembert this was a real dairy making real cheese and apart from the commentary being completely in French was a very worthwhile excursion.

The late afternoon had now turned quite warm indeed warm enough for some to partake in acrobatics in the pool.

The return of the children from Disneyland brought a noisy end to what had started as a very quiet day, as Joey waved “night-night” from the bathroom window.

Normandy – Day 11 – Bayeux & The Beaches part 2

2010-07-21T07:25:00.001+01:00

After the gastronomic delights of the night before Sylvia and I woke up later than normal and as the rest of the party had decided on a day in Paris we had the cottages to ourselves. The skies were a little overcast but it was still warm as we got ourselves ready for our day out. First on the agenda was a trip to Bayeux to view the famous tapestry.

The short trip up the dual carriage way to Caen brought home once again how quiet French roads are. With the traffic flowing freely we were able to cruise along at 65 mph with little bother.Parking in Bayeux however was a different matter as we drove through the narrow streets of the town looking for poorly signposted car parks.

The tapestry is one of the most popular attractions in Normandy and therefore the queues that we experienced were to be expected. The tapestry measures around 230 feet long and you guided along the various scenes by a personal audio commentary. Unfortunately no photos are allowed in the room but here is one courtesy of UNESCO.

This was the first time that I had viewed this impressive piece of needlework and it was well worth the wait. The tapestry used to be housed in the cathedral which was the next port of call.

A beautiful predominantly 13th century building has many English connections including a fresco of Thomas Becket’s murder…….

……………. and a memorial to the dead in both World Wars a theme I return to later.

The town itself is absolutely delightful with beautiful buildings…..

…a floral watermill……………………………….

……but I couldn’t work out what these were! [Any Ideas?]

After a spot of lunch in the car, not much was required after last night’s feast, we made our way to the coast and the D-Day beaches.

Having just seen a depiction of a battle fought nearly a thousand years ago it was quite sobering to be on a battle field that was almost in my lifetime. Certainly as a child the 2nd World War was a large part of many people’s lives and without the deaths of hundreds of young men on this and similar beaches, how different would that childhood have been?

Many relics of the conflict are still very apparent such as these bunkers.

The fallen being remembered by these monuments

It is difficult to believe that over 1500 American soldiers died on one day in June 1944 on this beautiful beach.

Normandy – Day 10 – Suisse Normande & A Gourmet Meal.

2010-07-20T08:27:00.001+01:00

With Rosalind,Naomi, Matt and Josh deciding on a day at the seaside the oldies [Lorna,Patrick,Sylvia and I] decided that a leisurely drive in the countryside would be more fitting. The area we choose was the picturesque Suisse Normande , the most rugged of landscapes in Normandy.

The road from Falaise gave a different view of the castle which led to the first photo opportunity of the day.

Leaving Falaise and the castle behind us we climbed winding roads to reach the viewing spot of Les Roches D’Oetre.

This high rock overlooking the valley was very reminiscent of Yat Rock near my home town of Ross-on-Wye.

It gave the chance for Sylvia to pose for some pictures.

The journey continued to the little town of Pont-D’Ouilly a pretty little place that is well known for sporting activities.

Here after a visit to the baker’s shop ……………………………………

………..we picnicked by the river watching the kayakers doing their stuff.

The final stop on the tour was Clecy, the capital of the region.

We returned to the cottages to ready ourselves for tonight’s treat, a gourmet meal in one of the best restaurants in Falaise, La Fine Fourchette.

The meal was delicious, well presented and the service exceptional. After a champagne cocktail[not for Matt & I as we were driving] and a pre-starter of mussels in a pea puree[tasted a lot better than it sounds] the starters arrived. Rather than describe all the dishes here are some photographic memories of the evening.

Joshua showing no ill effects after finishing his ‘escargot’ starter.

Matt looking expectant as Naomi finishes her oysters.

The palette cleanser of apple sorbet and calvados served prior to the main meals, absolutely delicious [Not like our other experience with calvados!]

Naomi’s lamb main course, chosen as lamb is so expensive in Nebraska.

Sylvia’s fish and noodle dish [foreground] and Lorna’s duck.

Josh’s “Floating Islands” dessert.

My rice pudding, with Matt in the background now worried that the large dessert may negate the ‘oyster’ effect.

After a final drink of local fruit in alcohol [again the designated drivers missing out], it was time to end a most enjoyable evening.

If ever you are in Falaise, I can thoroughly recommend La Fine Fourchette.

Normandy – Day 9 – Churches on Sunday.

2010-07-19T07:55:00.002+01:00

It was an early start today for some of the housemates as today was the day that Victoria & Oliver and Briony & Thai and their families were departing for Disneyland Paris. Poppy has been looking forward to this more than anything else and can’t wait to see the dollies [It’s a Small World], the pirates and to shoot Buzz Light-hero. Oliver has planned every meal in each fast food outlet down to the precise minute of the day and Joey just smiles and says “yea”. I’m sure that they will have a really good three days.

As it was Sunday it was the day to visit some churches with the first stop the pretty market town of St.-Pierre-Sur-Dives.

The 11th century market hall [shown here behind Sylvia] was completely destroyed in the war but was faithfully reconstructed using the same techniques with not one nail being used in the entire building. On Mondays the market is famous for selling live chickens,ducks and turkeys , a good reason for visiting on a Sunday!

The picturesque town hall sits on a flower lined square backing onto the Benedictine Abbey that was the principle reason for the visit. Unfortunately a service was in progress when we arrived so we were not able to view inside. We may come back another day as it’s not too far from the cottages.

The next stop was to be one of the main centres of the region Lisieux, a town where thousands of pilgrims flock each year. The Basilica sits high on a hill overlooking the town and is quite magnificent.

We parked the car in the town and walked up the hill towards the church passing shops selling medals and candles . The basilica is very modern only being consecrated in the 1950s but the artwork inside is absolutely beautiful.

The basilica is dedicated to the life and works of St. Therese who lived in town for almost all her short life becoming one of the most important saints within the catholic church. After leaving the basilica we followed the walking trial around the town which took us past another church…….

…….eventually ending up at the cathedral,

The others had decided to visit a chateau in the morning and as it was now approaching lunch time we thought that it would be a good time to follow suit. The short trip from Lisieux took us down some narrow lanes before arriving at the chateau St-German-De-Livet, which was closed for lunch!!

The grounds were open however and this gave us the opportunity to take some lovely photos of the outside of the so-called “floating chateau”. We therefore decided that no internal viewing could surpass these views and moved onto our next destination. Two French women who sat outside and informed us that the site was closed were most perplexed when we drove off without partaking in the organised trip.

After a fairly long drive up and down some steep roads we arrived at our final destination of the day the cheese making town of Pont-L’Eveque. The architecture in the town is made up of the typical timber framed buildings many of which have survived the war.

The principal reason for visiting this town was to sample the local made cheese but as was the story for most of our day, no where was open to buy any. A short walk through a flea market followed by a croque monsieur for lunch completed the visit, and of course there was another church.

A photo on the bridge to prove our visit and then a leisurely drive back to the cottages.

Once again the weather had been splendid so on our return we had a small swim and prepared for the evening meal, a much smaller affair tonight as we were missing seven of the party. After dinner Patrick attempted to teach us how to play Mah-Jong using a set handed down to him by his Grand-Father. I think we managed it in the end. The evening was completed by a geeky post on Oliver’s facebook page confirming that they arrived safely at Disney.

Normandy – Day 8 – Market & Barbeque

2010-07-18T08:04:00.001+01:00

Today started with yet another culinary treat, this time courtesy of Matt and Naomi. For their breakfast treat they had chosen the very PC named ‘One Eyed Suzie's’, which consist of bread toasted on the griddle with an egg fried in a hole in the centre.

This was then topped with grated cheese and served accompanied by bacon.

Absolutely delicious and the second one tasted even better than the first!!!!

Markets are still very much a tradition in France with every town having a specific day for their event, Saturday being Falaise’s turn. Tonight we had decided to have a barbeque and our task was to source some kebabs, so the market seemed the obvious starting point.

In addition to the usual fruit and vegetables the market included clothes stalls and even local artisans such as this chair repairer.

Inside the market hall was a farmer’s market featuring local produce such as this superb selection of cheeses.

As we approached a meat seller we were summoned by the butcher who obviously realised that we were tourists. After ascertaining that we were from Wales, he kept repeating “Abertawe,Abertawe.” [The Welsh name for Swansea]. It transpired that he regularly attended the annual French market here and loved the city. His sales technique certainly worked on us as we purchased a large quantity of meat for tonight’s feast.

In order to work up an appetite for the meal tonight we decided to have a walk around the village of Fresne itself. The village is quite delightful with beautiful cottages adorned with flowers.

The walk also took us along the edges of wheat, barley and corn fields where I took this lovely picture of Poppy.

The walk was around a couple of miles and on our return it was time for the men to light the barbeque. In addition to the meat we had purchased the meal consisted of burgers, some ribs, and chicken legs coated in Diarra’s speciality barbeque sauce.

The girls had prepared salads and Helena had made some Rice and Peas, a typical West Indian dish.

Sitting in the garden eating delicious barbequed food under a wonderful French sky was a perfect way to end the first week of our French break.

Normandy – Day 7 - “Food Glorious Food”

2010-07-17T08:15:00.001+01:00

One of the great advantages of holidaying with such a well travelled bunch of people is the diverse cuisine that they bring to the vacation. Today was to be a day to enjoy the cooking skills of Diarra and Thai for breakfast and dinner respectively.

Diarra’s dish was Salt Fish and Bake. Salted cod which had been brought from home was soaked to remove most of the salt was stewed with onions, garlic, peppers and shallots to produce a very tasty mix.

To this was added hard boiled eggs to make the dish complete.

Alongside the stew was served a fried bread roll again made from first principles by Diarra. Firstly the dough was mixed and kneaded.

After allowing it to rise for about an hour, it was made into small balls.

These were then fried off in a pan of vegetable fat to make a doughnut type bread – absolutely delicious!

The final dish both looked and tasted terrific.

The breads were great both with the salt fish and with jam or marmalade – a real success.

After such a hearty breakfast, no lunch was necessary so Sylvia and I accompanied by Helena and Diarra decided on a visit to a cheese museum at Camembert.

After the customary photo stop at the village sign we had a walk around the exhibition which included the history of the cheese, a brief guide to the manufacturing process and a display of cheese labels. [By the way what do you call a collector of cheese labels? – answer below]

After a walk around a taste of the cheese was called for because as the famous French gastronome Brillat-Savarin once said “ A meal without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye”. We sampled both the pasteurised and raw milk versions, the latter being very much stronger than the first.

We returned to the cottages to find preparation for Thai’s evening meal already in progress. Tonight's supper was to be Ginger & Shallot Crabs served with noodles.

The crabs above provided the sauce while the meat came from the crab legs being washed here by Thai.

These were stir fried with a combination of shallots, ginger and onion again a wonderful combination. Unfortunately noodles were not obtainable in any of the three supermarkets visited by Thai and Briony so were replaced by spaghetti, but this did not detract from the superb flavours.

And judging from the piles of shells at the end it was enjoyed by all.

These were just from Naomi!!!! A great day for food lovers in France.

A collector of cheese labels is a TYROSEMIOPHILE, did anyone get it.

Normandy – Day 6 - “It’s a long way to Mont St. Michel”.

2010-07-16T07:42:00.001+01:00

The day started with more promise than yesterday with no rain but still a very strong wind. The forecast for the remainder of the day seemed good so two parties set out, the majority heading north to visit the beaches while Sylvia and I decided to go South West to visit France’s second most popular tourist attraction, Mont-St.-Michel.[See previous blog entry – A Normandy Quiz]

There appears to be no direct route from our cottages to the Atlantic coast, the choice being either to head North to Caan and then back down or a tortuous route heading in basically the correct direction. We choose the latter.

We only made one slight mistake in our navigation but as this entailed the first proper “u-turn” of the holiday we can forgive ourselves. The countryside was beautiful and we had plenty of time to enjoy it as we encountered a series of slow moving vehicles. Sitting on the wrong side of the car when driving makes overtaking on these roads almost impossible so we had to be patient.

Mont-St-Michel rises magnificently from the sea and can be seen from miles away, the first views are certainly impressive. It had taken a journey of around three hours to get here.

The area leading to the island is very commercialised with many restaurants and fast food establishments and the traffic got very busy as we approached. We parked about 3/4 miles away from the entrance alongside several hundred other cars, and made our way to the Abbey.

On the way we swopped cameras with another couple to take the standard photographs. The sun was shining but the wind, coming off the sea gave a chill to the air.

Inside the place resembled a Disney attraction and it was difficult to believe that this was over a thousand years old. The narrow streets leading up the winding steps to the Abbey were crowded spoiling slightly the experience. Even getting across to the shops was difficult as one has to push through a moving line of people, which made getting something to eat an almost impossible task! We therefore decided to make our way back and find somewhere on the return journey, after a last photo opportunity in the sunshine.

Mont-St-Michel is a wonderful place to view from the outside but far too busy to really appreciate the inside.

We took the quick route back stopping at a service area to get a snack which we both thoroughly enjoyed.

Talking of enjoying food, the two youngest members of our party seem to love the evening meals, competing as to who will make the biggest mess.

Round One to Joey I think!!!!!!

Normandy –Day 5. D-day beaches part 1.

2010-07-15T07:30:00.001+01:00

The day started with an overcast sky and spots of rain that progressively got heavier, so once again the play barn with all it’s facilities came to the rescue. Sylvia and I took on Helena and Naomi at table tennis doubles, we won both matches but the way the girls have progressed that will not be a foregone conclusion for long. With the extra bats that we had purchased yesterday both tennis tables were being utilised together with the table football machine while the toddlers and Poppy played with the multitude of other toys available. What a great asset to have for a rainy day!

Today is July 14th, Bastille Day, and so the main shops all close at lunchtime as it is a national holiday. Sylvia and I decided to go for a drive and to stop for some bread and cider on the way, the rest opted for a quiet day at home walking and playing. We would eat out while Victoria was going to cook pasta for the remainder of the Robbins’ house.

We headed north to visit some of the D-Day museums, the first stop being the Pegasus Bridge.

The Pegasus Bridge was the site of the first landings on D-Day by the glider corps of the British army and was a vital crossing point of the canal system. The museum acts both as an historic record of these events and as a memorial to the thousand lives that were lost in the ensuing battle. In addition to containing large memorabilia from the time such as this jeep………….

and half track……………………………………………………

the museum also contained many moving personal remembrances including letters written by soldiers to their loved ones at home.

The original bridge had to be pulled down in the early 90s but is preserved within the museum and this is me walking on it.

Across the canal sits the first building liberated by allied troops which is now a cafe, we had a look at eating here but decided on the much cleaner newer establishment over the road.

After a light snack of Croque Monsieur [Sylvia] and Croque Madame and chips [Me] we returned to the car to continue our journey along the coast. We passed Sword and Juno beaches but as the traffic was now getting busy with bank holiday visitors to the shore we decided to return home and save the remainder for future days. As we drove down the suburban roads a camel followed by a zebra came into view both tethered by the roadside, the circus was in town.

At the close of the day we could hear fireworks being let off in the distance in celebration of France’s national day.

Normandy – Day Four – Argentan.

2010-07-14T07:23:00.001+01:00

After several days of glorious sunshine , it was almost inevitable that we would have rain today. I think that it had been raining in the night as the bench I sit and compile the blog on needed a wipe clean and as I sat putting yesterday’s words of wisdom together a few fresh spots of rain hit my screen. This turned to a rather heavy shower. This was not a total disaster as everyone made their way to the play barn to take part in a number of games including table-tennis and fuss ball. A brilliant facility at the cottages.

The rain lasted an hour or so and made everything fresh, including the flowers that Tyson was smelling.

The Robbinses decided to go South to find something to eat while the Hewitts re-visited Falaise. After a drive through some country roads via Trun we arrived at Argentan the birthplace of Eleanor of Aquitaine. We quickly found car parking spaces albeit next to a mad Frenchman who was telling us that his car seat was too low as he had a bad back. I know, it didn’t make any sense to us either.

We walked through a small market where Diarra bought sunglasses and Poppy a Noddy [or Oui-Oui as he is known locally] ball and bat. Eating establishments were a little sparse, the first one we entered had a dirty floor so we finally settled for a pizza. It was actually a really good choice as they were very welcoming to the children, in fact Joseph kept winking at the waitress. They start early in the Shingler family!!

After a detour to the hyper market to pick up even more cakes for tonight's meal we made our way back to the cottages. This time Sylvia’s navigation took us through smaller villages and narrower lanes getting a good impression of the local scenery.

The late afternoon meant the customary swimming session for most of the housemates and Poppy decided to give it a go with her Auntie Helena.

Meanwhile Joseph decided on the much more leisurely pursuit of wheelbarrow riding.

This area of Normandy is famous for apples and the drinks made from the fruit are a speciality. I grew up in Herefordshire, England’s greatest cider making area and due to an experience in my teens [for another time] I haven't tried the drink for many years. The cider here though is less strong, only 2%, and is therefore a very pleasant and refreshing drink. The same can not be said for the other apple based product , Calvados. This is a very strong spirit which we sampled for the first time today. It tasted in my opinion like a cross between paint stripper and meths but with none of the finesse. I won’t be sampling that again.

Normandy – Day Three – Falaise.

2010-07-13T07:36:00.003+01:00

Falaise is the nearest town of any size, situated about 5 kilometres away from the cottages. Although much of the ancient town was destroyed during World War Two the castle and some of the town’s walls are still in place. Falaise has a special place in British history as it was here that William the First [The Conqueror] was born in 1027.

Sylvia and I decided to explore this historical town on our own and after parking near the information centre made the short walk to the castle. There are extensive building work going on around the monument but the tower and some of the battlements are still in evidence.

It was good to get a French perspective on the historical events leading to the Battle of Hastings as these were depicted on various AV presentations through the visit.

The castle gave superb views across the town although we were not brave [or fit enough] to take the large number of steps to the top of the tower. This view being taken from the battlements.

After walking around the town and castle, it was time for lunch. We found a small restaurant on one of the town’s squares which appeared to be very popular with the locals. It offered the following ‘menu du jour’.

Although we could understand most of the menu the initial starter eluded our language skills.The waitress also had a problem with the translation so she disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two large shelled creatures on a plate. That’ll be two chefs salads then please!!!

[Google has since provided me with the translation – they were in fact WHELKS!]

The lunch was magnificent. The salad was a combination of cheese, olives, tomatoes and greens liberally dressed with olive oil. We both chose the duck for main which literally fell off the bone. This was accompanied by a huge plate of ‘frites’. For dessert Sylvia had a beautiful Crème Brule while I had a very rich and creamy Chocolate Mousse. A great lunch.

After a short walk along the old town wall followed by a visit to the supermarket to stock up with cakes and pastries for tea, we returned to the cottage to await the arrival of Helena and Diarra. Here I relaxed planning future journeys…………..

and Sylvia patrolled the grounds taking more photographs.

After the arrival of Helena and Diarra and the introductions that followed we all decided to go for a swim. As Rosalind was one of the few who didn’t partake I asked her to take a few photos on my camera. The following are just a mere sample of the 85 pics she took!!!

Everyone in the pool [no-one looking at camera]

Tyson splashing his mum.

Joey joining in the fun.

Poppy and her Dad and caterpillar.

Matt demonstrating his diving technique.

Another great day!

Normandy – Day Two

2010-07-12T07:10:00.001+01:00

A lazy French Sunday.

The sun shining through the window and the dawn chorus started this morning in France. After the rigours of travelling from the various corners of the world a quiet day was called for. France on a Sunday is much like Britain twenty years ago with the majority of shops closed and the day seems to be treated very much as a family occasion. So when in France do as the French do.

Firstly a walk to the local village to the only shop that is open, the boulangerie, to collect the breakfast requirements of bread, croissants etc. The village is situated around about a mile from the property, a lovely walk down a long lane bordered by fields of wheat on one side and barley on the other. The edges of the fields scattered with poppies and other such flowers giving a very French feel to the walk.

After breakfast, apart from a visit to the one supermarket in Felaise open on a Sunday, the day was spent lazing on the lawn or utilising the facilities of our holiday home.

“La Hamberie”, where we are staying is a 17th Century Normandy farmhouse that comprises now of five gites that form three sides of a rectangle around a central lawn. The four side is occupied by out-buildings that include the massive play barn. We are staying in two of the gites, ‘La Demeurre’ [the home of the Hewitts and associates for the next fortnight – shown below]……….

……….and ‘Le Foumil’ the Robbins residence for the duration here.

Virtually all the bedrooms in both houses have en-suite facilities and they are well equipped for all one’s everyday needs. Inside the play barn are two table-tennis tables, a table football machine together with numerous toys for children of all ages. Even if the weather turns nasty there will still be plenty to do. The extensive ground of the complex boasts a field for playing football and badminton plus an outside play area with swings and slides. The centre of attention today though was the swimming pool where nearly everyone had a swim [ I was one of the few abstainers]

Josh demonstrated his diving techniques while Oliver need a little assistance from Poppy’s armbands.

As the day got warmer all most people wanted to do was to sit on the green and soak up the sun, while Sylvia sketched in the background.

When the holiday was booked I had a clear plan of what I would be doing this evening, this involved finding a local French hostelry with TV access and watching the World Cup being returned to it’s rightful home, England. However due to a rather pathetic performance by our national team two Sundays ago that was no longer a consideration. Despite the fact that an English team were taking part in the final, I felt that an English referee and two assistants were not a reason to venture out into the French hinterland after dusk. We attempted therefore to watch the match on the laptop but due to “copyright issues” this became very difficult to achieve. After much sterling work by Oliver we watched the match albeit with a French commentary [ who said that geeks can’t be useful].

Our efforts of finding the match were not matched by the 22 players on the pitch in what turned out to be a very boring final. An indication of the boredom level can be demonstrated by our discovery of the “25 facts about carrots” website, where we learnt that orange carrots were invented by the Dutch, that carrots were the third most popular vegetable in the UK [sprouts being the LEAST favourite] and that the longest carrot ever grown was 17feet long. If we get bored tomorrow we may visit the “20 facts about celery” or “15 facts about eggplants” sites. Watch out for these facts in future quizzes.

Tomorrow we will intend to discover some of the local area while we await the arrival of Helena and Diarra the final members of the party.

Nous sommes arrivés en France.

2010-07-10T21:08:00.001+01:00

or “We have arrived in France”.

The holiday has begun after various members of the party travel from across the globe to meet in La Hamberie. We left Wales yesterday morning and spent the night in an hotel in Portsmouth. The hotel itself, a Premier Holiday Inn, was fine but the temperature was almost unbearable. There being no air conditioning we had to sleep with the window open and it was a very busy road outside. Sylvia and I didn’t do too badly for sleep but I think that the Shinglers with four in a room suffered a little.

A bright start was needed to catch the ferry and we meet outside at Seven for the short journey to the ferry port.Oliver, relying on his “Tom-Tom” immediately took a wrong turn and arrived about 5 minutes after us at the terminal. So much for new technology!!

The ferry journey was a great way to start the holiday with Poppy disappearing after a few minutes into a soft play area and effectively staying there for the whole 6 hour journey. She did make a couple of excursions out, firstly to get her face painted -

- and then to meet “ Pierre Le Bear”

Joey joined her in the play area but also spent time on deck with his parents - [Oliver’s the one with the phone in his hand!!!!!]

but did get a chance to meet the bear.

My journey almost when without incident except that I mistimed sitting on a seat and landed on the metal separating arm. It brought tears to my eyes and bruised more than my ego, but it did bring amusement to the rest of the family. Here is the offending arm……

It’s been a while since I’ve driven on French roads but after a few apprehensive minutes it was like I had never been away. The route to the gite was plain and simple and very well described by the owners. When we arrived all the nieces and their families were already there, just waiting on Paddy. Rooms were quickly sorted and after a small expedition to the supermarket it was time to eat.

Just like the holidays of old, the first meal consisted of cooked chicken, salad, French bread, followed by tarts of various descriptions. Of course wine and local cider completed the feast.

After a quick game of table tennis the various families retired to their cottages to rest after a long day of travelling. More about the place tomorrow.

A Normandy Quiz.

2010-07-07T10:21:00.001+01:00

Thanks for all your comments on the last blog post, it really shows how much you remember about previous French holidays., but how much do you know about the place we are about to visit, Normandy. There’s only one way to find out…………QUIZ!!!!!

1. The author of the classic French novel, “Madame Bovary”, was born in Normandy in 1821. What was his name?

2. How would you prepare “Moules a la Normandie”?

3. How many leopards appear on the traditional flag of Normandy?

4. In which Normandy town would you find this place of worship? 5. What are the two departments that make up Upper Normandy [Haute-Normandie]?

6. Normandy is famous for it’s cheeses, can you name three types that originate in this area?

7. Which famous artist painted a series of studies of Rouen cathedral?

8.What were the code-names of the beaches used in the D-Day landings?

9. Which place in Normandy is France’s second most popular tourist attraction, being beaten only by the Eifel Tower in Paris?

10. Name these famous Normans -

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d] Especially for our American readers.

There will be a prize of a bottle of wine for the best entry, only for those going to France unfortunately.

Don’t forget that if you like quizzes there are hundreds on my web-site that can be found at http://www.kensquiz.co.uk/.

Bon Voyage

Memories of France

2010-07-05T20:06:00.001+01:00

or it’s like déjà vu all over again!

As this year’s holiday approaches Sylvia and I have been looking back at the family albums and remembering previous French holidays. Here are a few photos and some of my memories of the various places.So feel free to chip in with yours.

Jaulgonne, July 1995

This was the first time that the combined families holidayed together in two adjacent cottages by the river. Here are the girls pictured outside the cottages.

Visits to the champagne factory in Epernay ensured many happy evenings drinking and eating late into the night [for the adults of course]. The youngsters being more pre-occupied with visits to the park, to “play” with the local French boys. Here they are returning from one such trip.

I also remember the visits to the WW1 battlefields many of which were close-by, but this was balanced by a visit to Euro-Disney, as it was known back then. The girls really enjoyed this as you can see from this snap.

A really nice holiday, so much so that 12 months later we were to return.

Chamboise, Burgundy August 1996.

A little more of a remote location near Autun, near two slag-heaps that became known as “the Madonna with the big boobies”. This coupled with Naomi’s impersonation of René's Mother-in-law gave this house a real “’ello,’ello” feeling. Again food and drink played a large part of the holiday where Ellie had her first taste of Chardonnay, because Alanis Morissette had sung about it! Here we are enjoying a family meal. The television in the corner provided us with the first viewing of The Spice Girls who were to top the charts with “Wannabe” - The birth of girl power!!! A visit to the local Roman amphitheatre gave the girls a chance to perform in their own right. This picture was taken there.

Guyan – Vennes July 1997.

The third holiday in the sequence came twelve months later, this time in the French Alps near the border with Switzerland. So close in fact that regular excursions were made over the border to the town of Neuchatel.

Later in the holiday The Robbinses decided to take a trip to Italy, and as Briony had decided to study Italian at university she came too. Finding Milan was easy, parking the car was fine, a hotel was located swiftly but to move the car the 200 metres from car park to hotel took hours. I kept driving past the same places but not getting any closer. The girls enjoyed the visit and looked very sophisticated at dinner that night.The same could not be said for the way they looked on our return, sharing a lolly that we had bought in the St. Bernard’s Pass.

Other highlights included the village parade, the cycle race and the summer luge – a great holiday.

What do you remember???????????

Normandy Invasion 2010

2010-07-02T21:45:00.001+01:00

It was back in July 1997 that the Robbinses and the Hewitts last made a combined expedition to France. On that occasion the lucky town was Guyan-Vennes near the Swiss border, now thirteen years later it’s time for France once again to be on it’s guard. The 2010 invasion of Normandy is about to begin.

This time the families will be reinforced by husbands, partners, children and various other hangers-on to form a total of (at the last count) seventeen. The troops will arrive in three main waves, the South-East Asian contingent [Vietnam & S. Korea] will be joined by the USA and form an Eastern flank. The Irish having made a short journey through the Chunnel will approach from the North-East while the 2 units of Welsh will move in from the North. The English medical corps will follow on two days later to ensure that any casualties are well cared for.

The centre of attention will be the small hamlet of Fresne la Mere, just outside Falaise, in the Calvados area of Normandy. Here, for the following two weeks, will be the home for this intrepid band of travellers,apart from a few days at Disneyland Paris for some of the youngsters.

Sylvia has started her lists, Rosalind is on the way and Briony is so excited “she could pull her face off”, so it must be getting close. Hopefully there will be much to write about and lots of FOOD to describe, so watch this space.

Azura Cruise - The Review

2010-05-27T17:24:00.005+01:00

I promised a final entry on this holiday to give an overall view of the cruise, unfortunately I never got around to it yesterday, so here it is a day late!!

This cruise was the first that we had been on to the Med, the first time with P&O and obviously the first time on the Azura, so I will deal with each in turn.

THE ITINERARY

One of the main reasons that Sylvia and I choose this particular cruise was the itinerary, which looked good on paper and was even better in real life. Every single stop fully lived up to expectations, with plenty to do at each location. So much so that a return visit would not be a waste.

The highlight was undoubtedly Venice. People had described to me how good the sail-in to this city was likely to be but the words hardly do it justice. A quite magnificent day!!! My only slight disappointment was the lack of time available to explore the cathedral and museums, but in honesty a longer holiday is probably needed for this. Many cruise companies seem to over-night in Venice giving the best part of two days to experience the city and this would be a great way of improving this particular cruise.

Dubrovnik was small but enjoyable and a future trip would probably necessitate an organised excursion out of the town. The same applies to Corfu but both these towns were well worth the visit.

A slight disappointment at missing Korcula but these things can't be helped. The miss being made worse by the fellow cruisers telling us how good the visit was the last time they had been here!!!

Overall though a great choice of stops something for everyone.

THE COMPANY - P&O

The prices in P&O's brochures always seem slightly higher than comparative cruises from other lines but having now tried them, they do offer real value for money. Once on-board the ship P&O did not rip us off with drink prices, did not charge a service charge on drinks, did not charge for any shore transfers [except the water taxi in Venice] and were not forever pushing excursions or other services. In other words you knew at the start what your holiday would cost.

I cannot fault the organisation in boarding and leaving the ship. Although the embarkation process seemed slow, it only took around 45-60 minutes and most of that delay was caused by passengers not adhering to the times they had been given!!

Leaving the ship yesterday was superb. We were due to leave the ship at 10.00, but by 10.15 we had left the ship, picked up our baggage, cleared customs, found and loaded the car and were heading up the M27 away from Southampton. We were back home in Wales by just after 1.00 after having a comfort stop on the way. Well done P&O!!!!!

THE SHIP

Prior to travelling we had both had some misgivings about cruising on such a large ship, but after spending around a day getting our bearings we found the whole experience very enjoyable. The larger ship has the benefits of scale that you don't get on a smaller vessel but most of the time did not give the impression of being too crowded.

We were told that with this ship P&O are aiming at a target market of around 45 years old, the evidence on this trip was they missed it by about 25 years, with many of the passengers certainly in their 80's if not older. Although in fairness there were very few children on board [around 21 aged 0-17 years] for this trip but I gather that there were 600 due to board yesterday. That'll bring the average age down!!!!!

The room that we had, a standard balcony on B deck, was perfectly adequate for our needs although it did overlook the balconies below. No good if you wanted to participate in some topless sunbathing. The facilities in the room included a fridge , a safe , tea & coffee making facilities and a great hanging space for our clothes. Excellent!

The food was excellent and the choice first class. In our opinion the main restaurant was the poorest of the offerings with the service a little slapdash, although in fairness this may have been due to our lateness in attending. The speciality restaurants offered a great selection but some of the passengers questioned whether the space was utilised effectively. I'm sure that the bean-counters from P&O will be closely monitoring that situation!!

Two downsides for me. Although overall the entertainment was first class the Playhouse theatre was too small!! Apart from the early show it was almost impossible to get a seat unless you queued for around an hour before the performance, with the queues causing chaos through the casino and the bar at the front of the ship. They really do need to sort this out quickly!!

Second moan - the Internet. The whole ship is wi-fi accessible which is brilliant but with prices starting at around 30p per minute for what, for most of the time, is a really slow connection this is exorbitant. Although not wi-fi enabled both our previous cruises offered better access at much better prices. They should review this.

In summary the ship, the company and the itinerary were first class and it was a great holiday. Would we do it again??? Probably, we've already studied the brochures several times but will wait until later in the year before making a commitment.

Thanks once again for listening and I look forward to blogging again from France in July. See you all then!!

Day Sixteen – The Final Post.

2010-05-25T20:02:00.001+01:00

The last day of any holiday is always a strange day, half sadness at leaving behind new made friends and a lovely ship balanced with a desire to be back at home.Sixteen days is just about long enough not too short but not long enough to get too home-sick. Cases have to be packed and left outside the cabin. There always seems far more to pack than we bought with us, and of course, the cases are not the only thing to put on weight.The diet starts tomorrow!!!!! Not everyone will have gained weight as there are two places on the ship where you can lose pounds. There is on-board a fully equipped gym with a number of running and cycling machines including ones that it looks as if you can do mountain biking on. In addition there is space for aerobics, weights and it is fully staffed for advice and personal training.

I would like to say that I have spent a lot of time in here but in truth I’ve only just found out where it is. Next cruise I’ll take full advantage of the facility…HONEST! So, Rosemary , you do not need to put on too much weight on a cruise as long as you are sensible [I reckon I’ve put on around 10 pounds] Sylvia reckons that if they provided scales in each cabin then they would save a fortune in food when people realised how much weight they had added. The other place that you can lose pounds is the CASINO.

Not as big as the casinos on the American ships and doesn’t seem to get used as much, it basically consists of slot machines, roulette table and a couple of card tables for Blackjack and Poker. I used it on a couple of occasions but had no wins to speak of.The other place that I haven't mention is The Planet Bar shown above, this is located at the back of the ship and features a large video wall showing HD photos of a different continent each day. Its very popular and the pictures are superb.

And finally, despite an appearance by Noddy, The Village People won the progressive quiz,a terrific performance by all the team for the last nine sea days. And the prize………………………………………..

A BOTTLE OF WINE!!!!! Back home tomorrow when I will post my post-cruise review. Thanks for listening.

Day Fifteen – At Sea

2010-05-24T22:48:00.001+01:00

Once again a lovely day, we woke early to see Queen Victoria following us up to Southampton. I’m not sure where she has been but apparently we are sailing “in tandem” all the way home.

It seems strange to get up early, reserve a sun-bed and then fall asleep in the sun, but that is exactly what we did today. After breakfast we walked over the sun-decks and found two seats in a good position with no towel covering. We lay here for all of the morning and I must admit as my eyes closed every now and then to falling asleep. Tonight was the last formal night of the cruise and we had booked a table at XVII, but were thinking of cancelling as we have eaten far too much rich food. I overheard a couple next to us discussing booking the restaurant but they had been told it was full, I was able to go to the desk with the man and pass over our reservation. It was at this stage they informed me that it was their wedding anniversary. Perhaps that was supposed to happen!!

The quiz was on at lunchtime and we did well gaining five bonus points for knowing that Nick Cave fronted The Bad Seeds, and thus winning today by six clear points. I think we are back in the lead now!!! We did lose out on another five points by not knowing ‘Who had a number 58 hit in 1986 with the Annie Lennox song “No More I Love You”'?’ Luckily no-one else knew either!!

We went to the early theatre show, a production number entitled ‘New York Rhythms’. I enjoyed it although Sylvia thought it was weak,a couple of technical hitches didn't help the situation. We ate in the main dining room with two other couples one from County Durham and one from Nottingham. The Nottingham man, Colin, had worked briefly for the Co-op dairy and knew my first boss, Bob Bracegirdle. Another instance of a small world. A nice touch at the end of the meal, we were all presented with a set of menus from the voyage in a presentation folder.

The Queen Victoria was still there as the day drew to a close, tomorrow I will give my summary of the holiday.

Day Fourteen – Gibraltar and Homeward Bound.

2010-05-23T21:53:00.001+01:00

Since leaving Venice on Wednesday afternoon, we have had three days at sea, and for many cabin-fever takes hold. This coupled with our arrival in Gibraltar at 10.30am, a time that even on this ship most people are up, lead to massive queues leaving the ship when we docked. This was the first time on this trip that we had experienced queuing to leave the ship even when being tendered and it certainly brings out the worse in people.

Sylvia and I waited patiently in line and as we slowly progressed down the stairs to the exit, a lift arrived with the occupants going ahead of us in the queue. The fact that several of these passengers were in wheelchairs and at least one was blind did nothing to prevent a certain section of the assembled crowd venting their anger at this situation. In fact there was only a minor delay in getting off the ship but this will not prevent “official” complaints being made. Life is far too short for such aggravations after all we are on holiday!!!! Think of Gibraltar and probably two things spring to mind, The Rock and The Apes, and no visit would be complete without seeing both. Therefore we made our way from the ship, along the main street to the base of the cable car, a walk of around two miles. Despite the ranting of the local taxi drivers trying to convince us that the wait would be several hours[in order to sell their taxi trips],within 20 minutes we were in the car travelling to the top of the rock.

The apes were every where and did appear to pose for photographs like the one above. I will resist the temptation to tell you that Sylvia is on the left!! We were warned that they could be dangerous and one did jump on a fellow tourist looking for food as we exited the cable car. I must admit I didn’t enjoy the experience but then I’m not really that keen on animals generally.

We slowly walked back to the ship in the ever hotter afternoon sunshine, it had turned out to be yet another glorious day, looking at the duty free stores as we went. We had been joined in the harbour by Queen Victoria, the ship not the monarch and this was the view from our balcony on our return.

In many people’s opinion cruising is analogous to Butlins onboard ship and although I would disagree with that description most of the time, tonight’s sail away probably fitted quite well. After handing out union flags to the assembled passengers, the entertainment team treated us to a series of patriotic songs from the Home Countries [although they did get confused between the Republic and Northern Ireland] as the ship left the harbour. The passengers on the Queen Victoria must have wondered what was happening………actually it was GREAT FUN!!!!!!!

Tonight we decided to try out The Glass House, Olly Smith’s on-board wine bar. To drink I tried out The French Classics wine flight.

This consisted of a glass each of Chateau Latour a Pomerol 2004,Dezat Sancerre 2008 and Bourgogne Blanc Les Setilles, Olivier Leflaive 2008, accompanied by tasting notes to fully enjoy the experience. to eat we choose the 3 small dishes for £4.95 option. Sylvia choose [from left to right], Tempura King Prawns, Salmon Fishcakes & Hummus. While I went for Rillette of Ham, Chorizo Sausage and Bean Cassoulet and Portobello Mushroom with Waldorf Salad.

For sweets we went for Rice Pudding Tart [Sylvia] and Banoffe Cheesecake [me].

With a cup of coffee finishing yet another superb meal it was a perfect ending to a lovely day. Well worth the small extra supplements.

I mentioned in an earlier post the Enomatic serving system that preserves the integrity of the bottle of wine even after opening utilising inert gases. Shown below for all the geek followers is a photo of said device.Two more days and then we’re home, I’ll try over the remaining time to talk about areas of the ship that I have not yet mentioned and sum up our overall views of the ship.

Day Thirteen – A wonderful Day at Sea.

2010-05-23T07:18:00.001+01:00

You either love or hate sea-days,but when the sun shines early in the morning, then it’s usually the former. Today was one of those days. We woke early and went for breakfast just after 7.00. Even at this time of the morning towels and books had been placed on sun-beds reserving them for absent sun bathers. After eating we found two beds in a good position, resisting the temptation of mixing up the reading matter left in the sun, and lay in the early morning sunshine.

It was hot even at this hour and it got hotter. We managed about two hours relaxing before giving up our prime spots. Still many beds were still only occupied by towels.

We attempted a couple of games of shuffle board, but with the bright sunshine reflecting off the deck it was difficult. Well that’s my excuse for once again being defeated by Sylvia!! On the sports front we also played table-tennis in the afternoon, this time being invited to play doubles. As neither of us had played anything but singles this was a new experience. We split up and played a couple of very enjoyable games , a much better work-out than our normal games. We will probably attempt this again.

The sea days begin to have some routine to them, with two Tate lectures[Pop Art in the morning followed by Surrealism in the afternoon] and the daily quiz [ second again but still in with a shout]. Yesterday’s question correctly answered by Victoria and Rosemary as BJORK.

Now for some food!!!! Every night at the buffet there is a different speciality menu and tonight’s was Indian. We wanted to go to the early show [ a vocalist doing Michael Buble and Josh Grogan style songs] and didn’t fancy having a set meal too late. So the buffet was the choice. The menu included starters of Mulligatawny Soup, Valoo Chatt, Lamb & Vegetable Samosas and Onion Bhaji [pictured above] together with a selection of salads etc.

For mains there was a choice of Butter Chicken Masala, Beef Biriyani , Prawn Bhuna, Lamb Rogan Josh, Pork Vindaloo, Vegetarian Tandoori Gobi, Sabzi Korma and Cabbage Foogath. All served with a selection of rice, chapattis and naans. As with all buffets you could have as little or much as you wanted returning for fresh plates.

The food is very authentic as the vast majority of the kitchen staff are Indian in origin, although the meals tend to be on the mild side. Talking to one of the waiting staff he explained that the crew would eat the same food except that there would be one chilli in the passenger’s dishes but SEVEN in the crews. PHEW!!!!

The sweets were divine very sweet and tasty. There was a selection from Gajar Ka Halwa [Sweet milk and carrot cake – above] , Phirni [Rice pudding] and Gulab Jamun [milk dumpling in sugar syrup]. In addition there was a selection of Asian fruit platters and pastries and tropical fruit salads. There’s plenty to choose from there Oliver!!

I’m always amazed at what a small world it is when you are travelling, meeting people that have some connection with you. Yesterday I met a couple who have lived in Ross[my home town] for over thirty years , the husband of which was given a lift to work on a regular basis by my brother Ernie. Tonight meeting up with our Irish friends for a late night coffee, we chatted about friend’s and family. Lawrence and Elizabeth were surprised that you used to be Rector of Dunmanway , Patrick, as they knew a previous incumbent. Indeed they once visited the Rectory and were surprised at the presence of tennis courts.[I can’t remember his name but I will find out]. Tomorrow Gibraltar.

Day Twelve – At Sea [Passing Sicily]

2010-05-21T20:59:00.001+01:00

After the double disappointment of yesterday, both missing Korcula and the poor weather, it was a pleasure to wake up this morning with land in view. The ship was about to pass through the Straits of Messina, between the toe of Italy and the Island of Sicily. We went on deck to try to get some good photos of both sides of the straits but there was a very strong wind, so we returned to our cabin where we had good views of the island.

The captain explained over the public address system that he had tried to get us into Gibraltar early as compensation for missing the last stop, but the limiting factor was getting a pilot to take us through these waters. Having said that we should arrive some two to two and a half hours earlier than originally scheduled on Sunday morning. As the morning passed the sun came out and so did the sunbathers, filling the sun beds that were out of the wind quite quickly. As with all ships the perennial problem of people saving sun beds with their towels is an issue here on Azura. I’m not sure what you can do about it without causing trouble.

We skirted the island all day but were not fortunate enough to see Mount Etna as the mountains were covered in low lying cloud. A splendid sight though. As the day progressed small islands all formed by volcanic action appeared on the starboard side of the ship, like those pictured here.

Apart from passing islands Sylvia and I had quite a busy day with two Tate lectures to attend, both expertly presented by Linda Bolton. The subject of both lectures were paintings of Venice, the first concentrating on Turner, while the later one on others such as Sergeant, Whistler and Monet. The overall standard of the Tate presentations are excellent with today’s speaker, the best of the bunch.

In addition to table tennis other games on board include shuffleboard which we had a go at today. With the sunshine beating down on our backs we attempted a few games. Sylvia likes this game as she beat me fair and square, although she did finally wake the man at the back with her shouting.

Of course, it was another sea day so it was another quiz. We did well today and are up there with a shout if we continue at this level. One question that I should have got but didn’t was Who released an album entitled POST ? , answer as usual tomorrow. I thought you may be interested in the rest of the team, they are from left to right :Lawrence, Elizabeth, Eileen and Derek.

Tonight was formal night, with a black and white theme, an opportunity for me to wear my white dinner jacket. No photos as we had some done by the ship’s photographers, we’ll have to wait to see what they are like.

Day Eleven [Part Two] – At Sea.

2010-05-20T20:57:00.001+01:00

As I explained in my earlier post we did not stop in Korcula due to high winds, it was disappointing as the place looked lovely as I hope you will see from the few photos we took from the ship. Although very windy this morning the skies were clear and it looked set to be a nice day at sea. The entertainments team who were probably looking forward to a morning off, rapidly put together a programme to keep occupied 3000 disgruntled passengers. These included another Tate lecture [The Eastern Influence on Art] another lecture from the Red Arrows man and a series of deck games for lunchtime.

As lunchtime approached so the skies got greyer and it started to rain, for the first time on this cruise almost all the passengers were in the ship off the decks. It was very busy everywhere you went. A few moans and groans were heard as we passed tables in the dining room but you can’t do anything about the weather. I did overhear someone threatening to sue P&O for missing the port this morning…SAD!!!

As it was a sea day now, the quiz was back on. At the start the quizmaster announced the three leading positions with our team [naturally called “The Village People”] in second place two points behind The Seasiders , who appeared not to be present today. A chance to establish a lead! Unfortunately not, they had arrived late and, getting the same number of points as us, maintained their lead. We sat with our Irish colleagues for about an hour chatting about our respective families and careers and then stayed to play Killer Darts once again. No luck this time.Tonight’s show was “Blame It On the Boogie”, a mix of 70s tunes from Disco through The Carpenters to Tommy. Once again a high energy performance well received by the audience. Of particular note was the acrobatic female dancer who performed amazingly. Now for two more days at sea before Gibraltar on Sunday.

The pictures are just some images of Croatia as we passed by this morning.

Day Eleven [Part one] – Korcula or Not.

2010-05-20T15:24:00.001+01:00

We woke early and after showering and packing the bags for our trip today, we went for breakfast. We had booked on a “Vines and Wines” excursion that would take us wine tasting in addition to having lunch in a Croatian farmhouse. When the Captain comes on the tannoy at 7.30 in the morning you know that it’s important, when he starts the announcement with “I’m Sorry”, you know it won’t be good news. The winds on deck were apparently in excess of 50mph meaning that the tender operation could not be attempted, he even said that he would have difficulty stopping the ship with these winds. Therefore we would not be making the arranged stop at Korcula [pronounced Kor-Chew-La apparently] and would therefore make our onward way to Gibraltar. Sylvia had promised to ring her Dad from this stop , so can you tell him Lorna – thanks. More Later………………..

Day Ten - Venice

2010-05-19T22:40:00.001+01:00

They say that Venice offers the most spectacular views of any cruise ship sail-in, so we, in line with about half the ship’s passengers rose at 6.30 am to view the scene. Our cabin is on the port side of the ship while all the views especially that of St. Mark’s Square were starboard side, so in order to view a trip to Deck 15 was called for.The sun was just rising on what was to prove a quite magnificent day , we saved our space against the railing. The beautiful sky-line of Venice soon came into view backed by the just visible snow-capped Dolomite mountains.

After a quick breakfast we left the ship to catch the first shuttle of the day that would take us to St. Mark’s Square. It was just before 9.00 when we arrived and the square was comparatively empty which enabled us plenty of photo opportunities.We passed the Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs, unfortunately covered in advertising hoardings in order to raise monies for renovation work, and walked into the square.

The queues were already forming for the Cathedral, while we deciding that this would be an outside day with no museum or church visit, followed the signs to the Rialto Bridge.

Along the way we passed shops selling a combination of cheap souvenirs and stylish Italian ware, stopping every now and then to take photos. As we crossed a small bridge, Fabio,the most handsome gondolier in the whole of Venice[Sylvia’s words not mine!!], approached. He enquired whether we wanted a gondola ride, how could we refuse??

The cost was 80 Euro, but where else can you experience this? He punted [not sure if that’s the correct term] us down narrow canals, describing the history and architecture as we went, onto the main arterial route of Venice, the Grand Canal.

Here we felt like celebrities. As it was early and few gondolas were on the canal the tourists all aimed their cameras at us, just like paparazzi. We passed the Post Office, Marco Polo’s house and one of Casanova's dwellings before the ride finally came to a halt. Short but sweet, it was a great experience.

The day had turned into a real scorcher and the narrow street and squares were beginning to fill up. We were the only cruise ship in today, I dread to think what it’s like when there are several, especially in the extreme heat of the summer.

The architecture in the city is stunning and as we turned every corner a new picture postcard appeared in front of us. Thank goodness for digital photography, over a hundred photos taken this morning so far.[Lorna, tell your Dad that I will go through each one with him as I know how much he enjoys them!!!]

As recommended by Helena we sat in Saint Mark’s Square for a coffee and watched the ever increasing crowds pass. In the background music from the small orchestras assembled outside every cafe played, as one finished the next one started.

I could write reams on the history and sights of this city but I will not bore you [presuming it’s not too late]. My advice is simple, if you have not visited Venice do so at your earliest opportunity and if you’ve been here before, return soon.

We went back to the ship for lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing on the sundeck in the glorious Venetian sunshine. As sail-away approached a local gondolier band joined the ship to serenade us as we continued to soak up the rays.

As the sip sailed out of Venice we were treated to the same wonderful views that we had had 12 hours earlier, only this time on our side of the ship. We sat on our balcony waving at the passing boats and taking even more photographs of the picturesque scene.

In the theatre tonight was Cheryl Baker, ex-Bucks Fizz and TV personality, talking about her life. I went to the first show, Sylvia deciding that this one was not for her. It was sparsely attended but quite entertaining. Tomorrow the Croatian island of Korcula, and a trip that starts at 8.30, so Good Night.

Day Nine - Dubrovnik

2010-05-18T21:55:00.001+01:00

Throughout this journey the clocks have been changing regularly, going forward an hour on two occasions and last night going back one, meaning we are now only one hour in front of UK time. We were therefore awake early and standing on the balcony we soon spotted the Dalmatian coast approaching.

Today was another first for the cruise as we were to be tendered ashore and we wondered how well this could be completed. With the ship securely anchored in the bay of Dubrovnik, we made our way to the lounge to pick up our tender ticket. We barely had time to sit down before our number was called and we were on our way to the shore. The most efficient tender operation I have seen.

Again we had not booked any excursions as we wanted to explore the spectacular old town, in particular the one and a quarter mile walk around the city walls.

The walk although steep in places with many steps offers spectacular views over the town, the harbour and the sea beyond.

Leaving the ship early was a good move as it was very quiet on the walls allowing plenty of opportunities for photographs. It later appeared much busier as the coaches of tourists arrived.

Many of the rooftops of the old town have been replaced as a result of the civil war of the early 1990s, but as this is an UNESCO World Heritage site, the restoration has been carried out with great authenticity.

The complete walk took a little over an hour and although the sky had stayed overcast it was warming up. We decided to stop and have a drink. We watched the hundreds of other tourists in their groups, their leaders holding numbers aloft, hurriedly walking down the street to the next important sight.

We looked at several churches and a monastery that had been badly damaged in the recent war, still showing the holes in the wall where missiles had hit.Inside was a museum housing one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe.

We returned to the ship after the customary visits to the souvenir shops and sat on deck watching a film about Amelia Earhart. Ironically as the film reached it’s climax with Amelia’s plane disappearing into the Pacific, a small plane flew over the ship to many cheers from the assembled audience! After tea I persuaded Sylvia to attend the Tate quiz with me and we won two lovely books on Tate Modern and Tate Britain. Incidentally the score was the highest that the Tate people had known for one of their quizzes, perhaps we have turned the corner in our quiz journey!!

Entertainment tonight was very soul and Motown based, with firstly Jimmy James playing at the theatre closely followed by the singers from the ship’s company performing Motown hits. Jimmy James was superb, effortless in his style and he made it look so easy. It was worth waiting for the show after his flight delay. If we had seen the ship’s singers prior to seeing Jimmy James we would have thought that the show was good, but afterwards it paled in comparison. Yes, it was professional, beautifully lit and the costumes were great, but the singing was not quite there. But perhaps I am being too critical, a really enjoyable show never the less. An early night now as Venice tomorrow.

Day Eight - Corfu

2010-05-17T20:09:00.001+01:00

The third stop of our cruise was to be the picturesque Greek island of Kerkira or as it is known to thousands of British tourists each year ,Corfu.[See www.kensquiz.co.uk quiz number 12,question1]. The island is the northernmost of the Ionian group situated off the West coast of Greece, with the Adriatic to the North, and the Ionian to the south. As the early morning sunshine burst through our balcony window, the sight of Corfu Town came into view. Sylvia stood and sketched as the view swiftly passed by as the ship moved towards it’s berth.

We had not booked an excursion here preferring to explore the town on our own. Disappointedly we had read the previous evening in the port guide that most of the places of interest were closed on Mondays and that couple with a weather forecast that predicted rain did not bode well for the day ahead. I am pleased to say that both assumptions were proven incorrect as we disembarked the shuttle bus to find the old fort open.This is an UNESCO heritage site build by the Venetians during the 6th century, it is now largely derelict but gives fantastic views over the harbour and the town itself.

Corfu has a varied history being ruled at some stage by Rome, Byzantine, Venice, France, Russia and after the Napoleonic wars Britain before being finally returned to Greece by Gladstone.

The French legacy left the superb Liston building pictured above built at the beginning of the 19th Century in imitation of the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. It is said that only a select group of families could promenade along this walkway , the list being kept in the building. Meanwhile the British left a cricket pitch, one of few in Greece. Do you think England would have won the 20/20 on this?

We spent a leisurely morning strolling through, and at odd-times getting lost, in the narrow alleyways that pretend to be streets. On our way looking at shop windows and picking up souvenirs as we went.We stopped in several churches and the town’s cathedral, admiring the frescos and the ornate painting inside.Unfortunately no photographs were allowed. We continued our wanderings occasionally stumbling on a small square like this one which had a venetian well and a beautiful cerise climbing plant.

On returning to the ship, Sylvia colour washed the sketch she had made earlier and I retired to the sun deck. The rain that had threatened for much of the day had held off and the sun shone. The ship departed at 5.00 and it was at this stage that we learned that not everyone had been so lucky with the weather. Our next door neighbours informing us that their excursion had experienced a downpour and rain for much of the day. What is it they say about the sun and the righteous??

The Icelandic volcanic ash cloud had it’s first effect on the cruise by causing the cancellation of tonight's headline act Jimmy James [from The Vagabonds] who was stranded in London. We decided to eat tonight in the Italian restaurant for the first time and the meal was marvellous. Sylvia started with King Prawns in Garlic and me with Antipasto, for mains Sylvia, Gorgonzola and Asparagus tart , while it was Tuna Steak for me. We followed that with Lemon Tart [Sylvia] and Chocolino [Me], a rich chocolate mousse type cake thing. Unfortunately no photos as I left my camera in the room. As we enjoyed our meal we passed the rugged coast line of Albania, shown above, as Azura steamed on to the next port of Dubrovnik.

Day Seven - Katakolon

2010-05-16T21:33:00.001+01:00

Katakolon is just a small port on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsular in Greece, today it was the second stop of our cruise. The port was developed in the 19th century to serve the local currant trade but nowadays it’s importance is it’s proximity to the ancient site of Olympia, the home of the Olympic games. We had booked an excursion to the site which would leave soon after the ship had docked and so, in order to avoid the queues in the restaurant, opted for a room-service breakfast. This we ate on the balcony as we neared the coast.

The excursion was very well organised, with at least 15 coaches leaving for visits to the site, as soon as one was filled it left. We due to start at 9.30 but by 9.15 we were on our way along the small Greek roads to the village of Olympia. On the way the guise explained the history of the site so that when we arrived we already had some background information.

The weather was perfect for sightseeing with the temperature in the low 20s and a slight breeze coming off the mountain blowing the odd dark cloud. The site is very open with little shade so this time of the year is good for a visit,it must be exhausting in the middle of summer.

The history of the games dates back to around 776 BC and the site was a sacred place in the Greek world. As today the games took place every four years with athletes travelling from all over the Greek world to take part, men only as no women were allowed! In addition to housing the gymnasium, the stadium and the hippodrome where the various sports took place, the site also contains numerous temples to the Gods.

It is at the temple of the Mother of Gods,Rhea, or The Metroon, where still today the Olympic flame is lit. Utilising a mirror to reflect the sunlight onto a torch held by a statuesque Greek girl. The Temple is shown below, the statuesque Greek girl is not!

The stadium, which apparently could hold between thirty and forty thousand spectators was entered via a long tunnel, the arch of which can still be seen today.

Inside on the track, the original marble starting blocks are still present. We are told that a false start was punished by a public flogging. The blocks give an opportunity for tourists to pose for silly photographs!!!!

Next to the archaeological site is a large museum containing artefacts found during the excavation of the site. These range from small pots to large statues such as the one below of Nike, which coincidentally was the same brand of footwear I was wearing!!

We were back aboard for around 1.30 which allowed time for lunch and a return to the village of Katakolon for some shopping. The ship looked magnificent against a lovely blue sky.

Tonight it was another production show in the theatre entitled “Curtain Up”, featuring songs from well-loved West End musicals such as West Side Story, Guys & Dolls, Miss Saigon and several of “The Lords”. You would have loved it Victoria and Helena it was first class. Apparently it was the premiere of the show tonight and although there was a slight gremlin at the start it didn’t spoil the show. Tomorrow Corfu!!!

Day Six – At Sea Again!

2010-05-15T19:42:00.001+01:00

After yesterday’s disappointing weather it was a pleasure to wake up this morning in glorious sunshine, the clocks went forward again last night so now we are 2 hours ahead of the UK. Following last night’s meal we were both still rather full so a light breakfast was the order of the day. We decided to get a little early morning sun along with many other passengers.

At lunchtime we joined up with our Irish chums for the quiz – A DISASTER!!! only 13 points and our lead is now almost certainly lost. We’ll get to know the position on the next sea day which is next Friday. However we changed our team name [from Village People to 5 Tubes and a Smartie] for a game of “Scattergories” , for which we were victorious! A P&O photo frame is on the way to Margam. We decided to continue this winning streak with a game of Killer Darts – the streak then ended!

Having talked a lot about the food on board the Azura, I thought it was time to discuss drinks. P&O have to my mind a very grown up attitude to alcohol as you allowed to bring your own onboard if you wish. A practice that has not been tolerated on other ships we have been on. If you do not bring you own the drinks prices on board are very reasonable as I will illustrate later. There are a number of different bars throughout the ship the one above is “The Malabar”, made out as an oasis. While “Brodies” below is a traditional British pub, with pool, darts and it even showed the FA Cup Final today.

As “Azura” is a British ship it has a good selection of the beers and spirits you would find at home, including draught lager [£2.95 a pint], Boddingtons [£2.70 a pint] and Ciders [Magners £3.95 & Strongbow £2.50 per 440ml]. Bottled lagers range from Fosters[330ml at £2.25] to Corona [at 2.90]. Spirit drinkers are not neglected with whiskies from £2.20 [Bells etc.] to £2.65 [for Glen Fiddich], while Gin,Vodka and Rum start from £2.10, all for a 25ml measure. Soft drinks such as Coca-Cola are £1.60 for a large glass and if you are feeling adventurous cocktail prices range from £3.45 to £4.30. With neither of us being drinkers I don’t know how these prices compare but I am lead to believe they are very competitive.

For those of you who enjoy wine this ship offers a real treat, the Glass House, a wine bar developed in conjunction with Olly Smith, the TV wine expert. There are 32 premium wines available to sample by the glass thanks to an Enomatic serving system. This state of the art system dispenses wine directly from the bottle utilising a method of inert gas preservation, each glass tasting as if the bottle has just been opened.

You can also try wines with three 125ml wine flights in a selection of red, whites or rose. They also serve food, we will probably try this before the end of the cruise. As the sun set we once again took advantage of the balcony.

And finally, Rosemary, there is a spell checker but it doesn’t work on people’s names, once a teacher always a teacher!!!

Day Five – Back at Sea.

2010-05-14T20:43:00.001+01:00

For the first time on this trip we were not awoken with sunshine breaking through the window but by the sound of rain on the balcony. The cloud stayed pretty much all day occasionally being interrupted by downpours of rain sometimes accompanied by thunder and lightening. We thought that this would be a testing day for the ship with few outside activities available how would the facilities cope. Actually not bad at all, whether people decided to stay in their cabins I’m not sure, but although a little busier the inside spaces seemed to cope quite well. There were two Tate lectures today, the first on “Victorian Narrative Paintings” we both attended and found very interesting. In the afternoon the subject matter was the pre-Raphaelites which Sylvia enjoyed although I decided to sit [rather lie on the bed] that one out.

Sylvia is continuing to enjoy her sketching on the balcony, today it was the fresia that had been left in the cabin. Tonight was another formal night so we took our time scrubbing up into our best togs for the visit to XVII.

Sylvia went for a tiered chiffon look with her pearls, while I chose the traditional tuxedo with purple waistcoat and matching bow-tie.

XVII is the second speciality restaurant on-board and it says that it will take you on a gastronomic journey to the heart of fine dining. I hope to now take you with me on that same journey! After being seated at our table and choosing our meals we were treated to a pre-starter of lemon prawn on a bed of blended pea. Small but delicious and shown below.

For starters Sylvia choose Seared Diver Scallops with green pea risotto and cauliflower latte. The scallops melted in one’s mouth.

While I went for Terrine of duck with Agen prunes, Oxford sauce and homemade oatcakes. Again a delicious way to start a meal.

For my main course I decided on the whole Dover sole a la Meuniere with baby vegetables, but being a little of a coward the waiter de-boned it for me prior to serving. I didn’t want to mess up my dinner jacket!!!

Sylvia was also in a fishy mood choosing fillet of line-caught Cornish sea bass with lobster tail and sauce vierge. Beautifully presented and tasted as good. To accompany the meal I choose a light muscadet.

Next it was the turn of the desserts but not before being served a light pre-dessert of a clotted cream panna cotta with a strawberry filled chocolate tube, or something like that!

For dessert Sylvia went for that old classic crepe suzette flambé with Devonshire ice cream. This was cooked at the table with the waitress explaining all the ingredients as she cooked. The picture does not really do it justice.

I went for [wait for this Oliver]…..expresso popping candy dark chocolate mousse with baileys white chocolate soup, a real chocolate feast. So much so I couldn’t eat the chocolates served with the coffee [which incidentally were delivered to our room later in the evening!].

A wonderful evening with terrific food, in fact we have re-booked for later in the cruise, well worth the £20 per head supplement . Not such good news on the quiz front only achieving 16 out of 20 and may have lost our lead. I can’t remember the questions we got wrong but one was about Emmerdale, must revise before tomorrow. Don’t forget that if you want quizzes visit www.kensquiz.co.uk for all the best quizzes. I trust that all these photos will post correctly!!!!!!

Day Four – Malaga

2010-05-14T06:46:00.001+01:00

I awoke this morning at around 6.00 am to see the lights of the Spanish coast passing by our window indicating that we had travelled through the straits of Gibraltar and were now in the Mediterranean. Malaga is just a short way up this coast and this was to be our first stop.

Over breakfast we watched the ship manoeuvre into her moorings , this task being finally completed at 8.30. At this stage the Captain announced we were safely moored and passengers could now proceed ashore. We had not booked any organised tours at this destination as we wanted to explore the town by ourselves. The ship had docked about a mile from the town centre but free shuttle buses had been laid on to avoid the walk through an industrial area. We took one of these buses just around 9.00 after first phoning Victoria to wish Joseph a happy first birthday.

We walked towards the old part of town, avoiding the tout attempting to sell rides in the pony traps, towards the cathedral. The only other time that we have been in Malaga was when we visited Torremolinos when the girls were small, and then that was only briefly.I had no idea that it was such an historically significant town with a Roman amphitheatre and even some Phoenician buildings mixed with the modern office blocks.

The principal place that we wanted to visit was the Picasso museum, the artist being born in Malaga in 1881. Following the lecture that we attended yesterday on-board we were both looking forward to having a fresh look at his work. He was the most prolific of artists with in excess of 30,000 pieces known to be in existence and a goods representation was held at this museum. Picasso himself once said “At eight I could draw like Rafael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like a child”, and you could see the progression from old master to child-like painter in this museum. The lecture and especially the museum visit has really opened my eyes to how good an artist Picasso really was.

After the museum we walked through the winding streets to visit a few souvenir shops and then made our way back through a beautiful park to the shuttle bus. It was lunch-time and we were not going to buy food ashore when it’s free on board.After lunch and the now customary game of table tennis Sylvia returned to the cabin inspired to unpack her water colours to sketch the Costa Del Sol coastline. Meanwhile I retired to a sun lounger to contemplate the day.

As our ship left Malaga we were surprised to see after such a fine day, snow on the distant hills[you can just about see on the above photograph]. The answer to yesterday’s quiz question was Liam Neesom. No question today as there was no quiz but two sea days ahead prior to Greece.

Day Three – At Sea.

2010-05-12T22:17:00.001+01:00

The weather today was again fine, although there were a few more clouds in the sky and the wind was a little brisker. Never the less many people were taking advantage of the sun rays before our first stop in Malaga tomorrow.

I thought that as both the comments I have received concerned the eating facilities on board, I would concentrate tonight's entry on food. They say that when you cruise if you do not put on at least a pound for every day of the voyage , then you haven’t been enjoying yourself. On this ship it’s probably a pound and a half!!

Lets start with breakfast. As with all meals you have the choice of a self-service buffet or waiter service, for breakfast Sylvia and I usually choose the first option. The choice is everything you would expect from a first class hotel including cereals, continental meats & cheeses, pastries and of course the full English. The eggs can be scrambled, fried boiled or poached, indeed if none of these options appeal an omelette will be made especially for you. Today both Sylvia and I had scrambled eggs, mushrooms and devilled lamb kidneys, following cereal, fruit and then toast. Just a light snack then!!!

Throughout the day pizzas, burgers, hot dogs, wraps etc. are available from various parts of the ship all at no extra cost, although you do have to pay for ice-cream. The buffet [shown above] is open 24 hours a day changing the breakfast menu to an ever-changing lunch selection, then to afternoon tea [sandwiches, scones and cakes- a selection shown in the picture below] and then a nightly speciality dinner menu. This will change from such as a “Best of British”, Mediterranean, Indian, Country & Western etc. , in other words something for everyone.

When booking the cruise we had to choose between “Club” or “Freedom Dining”, the former is the traditional method where you get allocated a table and sitting at the start of the cruise. You stay on the same table for each dinner, a great way of getting to know your fellow diners, always presuming that you want to!! On “Freedom Dining”, the option we have chosen you can pick the time and indeed the restaurant in which you want to eat on a nightly basis. The restaurant serves the same six- course meal as the Club dining all served “silver Service” style. For example tonight’s menu included cod, beef, pork and even venison [cue dead deer joke!!!!!!]. In addition to the buffet and the traditional dining rooms this ship has two specialist restaurants, Siddhu [Indian] and XVII [a la carte]. To dine in these venues involves a small supplement, we ate in Siddhu yesterday and have booked XVII for Friday. [ A full report will follow then.]

Tonight was the first production show in the theatre entitled “Destination Dance”. I have to attend these shows, you understand to check out the quality of the dancers…..I mean dancing. The cast was made up of twelve singers and dancers and the production was superb. I’ve noticed that the audio-visual equipment on this ship is really state of the art and this show used it to full effect. Strobes, pyrotechnics and giant video screens accompanied the casts through dances depicting a journey across the world featuring Spanish, French[can-can], Country & Western, African and Irish dances. Great entertainment.

We won the quiz again, it returns on the next sea day which is Friday. Yesterday’s answers were Lord (Jeffrey) Archer wrote “The Fourth Estate” and The Chemical Brothers recorded the album. Only one question tonight, Who provided the voice of Asland in the recent film of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”? – Answer tomorrow.

Day Two – At Sea.

2010-05-11T21:46:00.001+01:00

Firstly an apology regarding the lack of pictures on yesterday’s entry. Due to the cost of internet connection on board, I am using Live Writer to compose the blog off-line. For some reason the formatting, which looks fine on the computer, changes when posted. It doesn’t seem to like too many pictures!!! From now on I will only put a couple of photos on per post , I am sure that we will post the most interesting ones on Facebook on our return.

I also forgot to mention that we went to our first show last night, unintentionally! We went to the theatre to see the introduction of the Entertainment team, arriving late we sat in the front row. We were surprised to find that this introduction was immediately followed by ‘the act’, comic-magician Martin Daniels [son of Paul]. We narrowly escaped a visit to the stage, a fate that was to fall to the man sat next to me. Having said all that it was a very entertaining show.

Now to today….firstly the sun was shining!! This is where having a balcony really comes into it’s own as after a leisurely breakfast we were able to sit soaking up the morning sun. We also found the table-tennis, the short tennis court and the deck quoits. We gave them all a go , being more successful at some more than others.

This cruise is one of P&O’s speciality cruises called a Tate cruise and on-board are several experts from the gallery. Today was the first of a series of lectures on great painters, today’s being on Turner. It was a very well presented talk from a gallery guide who obviously enjoyed his job and had a genuine enthusiasm for the subject. We both look forward to future presentations.

Tonight was the first formal night of the cruise and we had booked into Siddhu, the on-board Indian restaurant. This however is not just ordinary Indian as it is run by Atul Kochhur, the ‘Master of Spices’, the first Indian chef to gain a Michelin star. The food was superb, delicately spiced but very tasty. You’ll get an idea of the meal from the photo of our sweets.

Oh and by the way, Sylvia and I together with some new found friends from Carrickfergus, won the lunchtime quiz. Unlike previous trips this is a progressive quiz meaning that the scores are added daily through the cruise. We will try to continue where we started!!! Two questions we got wrong were Who wrote the novel “The Fourth Estate” ? and Who released the award winning album “Surrender” in 1997? – Any Guesses???? ………………Answers tomorrow.

Boarding the Azura.

2010-05-10T23:29:00.004+01:00

After months of anticipation today was the day that we would turn those pictures of Azura into reality. We left home at 10.00 am for a very uneventful journey to Southampton. The roads were quiet, there were few road works and no traffic hold-ups, until we got about a mile from the docks. It was here that we got the first impression of how big the ship was and therefore how many passengers would be boarding at the same time as us. Having dropped the car off and relieved ourselves of our luggage we joined the queues for registration. Like at the deli counter in Tesco every one was given a coloured card with a letter on it, ours was Green ‘M’. It was only when the announcement called Red ‘P’ did we realise that we could be in for a long wait. Actually it wasn’t that long and the seats were comfortable and the time passed quickly as we were in conversation with a couple from Sydney, Australia [and we thought we had travelled a long way!!].

In all I guess we spent around an hour waiting but after having had our photos taken, for the identity cards used on board, and the credit card authorised for the on-board spend, we were ready to board the ship.

The first impressions of “Azura” were how big it was and how new it felt. All around the ship was that smell of freshly laid carpet and everywhere was so clean. First stop was the buffet to sample some lunch and pass some time while our stateroom [that’s the posh name for cabin] was prepared. There was a good selection of food available but I will give more details as we get into the cruise.

For this cruise we have a balcony cabin around mid-ship, unfortunately unlike in Australia we were not up-graded so had to be satisfied with what we paid for!. The room itself is well furnished, double bed, desk and walk in wardrobe. A great plus is the tea and coffee making facilities which means that I don’t have to make any late night visits to the buffet for Sylvia’s last cup of tea of the day. The balcony is small with two chairs a footstool and table, but perfectly okay for our needs. While Sylvia unpacked I took advantage of a few minutes on the balcony and Sylvia later joined me.

After the usual lifejacket drill the ship departed Southampton and we had a good walk around trying to get our bearings. We found the specialist Indian restaurant “Sindhu”, and booked for tomorrow night.[A full report to follow the meal]. Here are some photos of our first wander.

The clocks go forward tonight which, until Sylvia corrected me a few moments ago , I thought meant an extra hour in bed tomorrow. So as it’s now 12.15 I better finish. More to follow tomorrow.

On Your [Saint] Marks, Get Set……………….

2010-05-08T09:47:00.002+01:00

Welcome back to Robbins Ramblings, we’re off on holiday again! On Monday we’ll be boarding P&O’s brand new ship “Azura” leaving Southampton for a 16 night cruise around the Mediterranean.

The cruise takes in Malaga, Katakolon (in Greece for ancient Olympia), Corfu, Dubrovnik, Venice, Korcula (Croatia) and lastly Gibraltar before returning to Southampton.

It’s the first time we’ve sailed with P&O and with the ship being so new [only it’s third voyage] it should be very exciting. We’ll try to give you a full run-down on the ship and all it’s facilities together with a view of the places that we visit. If you have any questions as we go on our journey please ask and we’ll do our best to answer them.

I’ve changed the format of the blog, let me know what you think, and you may notice the odd advert on the site. The occassional click on these may contribute to our next holiday!!!

Right, where did I put the passports?????

The Last Day

2009-03-07T14:06:00.000Z

Today is the last day in Hong Kong and in fact the last day of the holiday. Sylvia is ready to be home, a month is a long time to away. After having a little lie-in this morning we decided to have breakfast in the hotel. Although this was a little pricey it was a good buffet that meant we didn't need to eat until we got to the airport. After having a quick walk around the block to look at the harbour and shops we returned to pack. As always we had much more to take back than we had brought but it all got in somehow. We had arranged a late check-out which meant we could stay in the room until 4.00pm but as the car was due at 8.30 this gave us plenty of time to kill.

We spent the early afternoon exploring the pool area, today being the only day when the weather had been good enough. We would have enjoyed these facilities if it had remained dry during our stay. We then returned to the room and watched TV and waited until our baggage was picked up. After spending around an hour in a coffee shop, we sat in the lobby of the hotel watching the comings and goings on a busy Saturday evening. The car arrived early and we were at the airport by 8.45, sat in the lounge eating sandwiches and drinking tea.

I have enjoyed writing about the holiday and I hope that you have all enjoyed reading the entries, even if they were a little boring at times. Thanks to all those who made comments and registered as followers,by the way who is Tigi-S? Now where shall we go for our next holiday????

Day Thirty-One – Victoria Peak

2009-03-06T09:39:00.001Z

Firstly an apology regarding the layout of yesterday’s entry. I am using “Live Writer” in order that I can compose off-line and only go onto the internet to publish. When I reviewed the page it seemed okay but when it was posted the format changed, it’s something to do with the photos I think!! Having now spent several days in HK without leaving Kowloon we thought it was time to visit HK island. The day had started off promisingly weather-wise so as we walked to catch the Star ferry we thought we had made a good decision. The ferries leave about every 10 minutes and the short journey across the harbour takes about the same time. We walked from the quayside towards the Peak Tram terminus along the covered walkway that leads you through different office blocks,shops and skyscrapers. Without making too many wrong turns we reached the end only to find it had started raining.

The peak tram has been in operation since 1888 and takes you up around 400m to the viewing point. The best views of the city’s skyline and the harbour are reckoned to seen from this vantage point, but not today!!! The following photo shows the view we had.We spent a while looking at the shops and having a cup of coffee, but the situation didn’t improve. In fact the rain just got heavier, so we decided to go back down the tram way. By the time we reached the bottom the rain was torrential and we took refuge in the Royal Bank of Scotland building where a helpful lady advised us on the best way back to the ferry. This entailed a short walk outside in the rain before returning to the covered walkway, where, after asking directions a couple of times we found ourselves back at the ferry terminal.

Today for lunch we decided to eat at a restaurant in the shopping centre next to the hotel. We had the set lunch menu with Sylvia choosing soup(of unknown variety),beef and vegetable rice, while I had chicken,mushroom and noodles with a mixed meat congee. This was like a thick porridge with some vegetables and actually tasted quite nice but afterwards I had to check on the internet to find out what it was. When we came back to the room the rain and the mist had cleared and Victoria Peak was clearly visible!!! I’m not going back up there now though.

Last day tomorrow I’ll try to post from the airport if there’s time.

Day Thirty – A Foggy Kowloon

2009-03-05T11:10:00.001Z

Every evening at 8.00pm the harbour front hosts “A Symphony of Lights”, a spectacular light and sound show covering more than 40 buildings on both sides of the harbour. The best views can be had from the Avenue of Stars just outside the hotel and it was from here that we watched it last night. The photos probably don’t do it justice but it is a sight definitely worth seeing. The show lasts for around 20 minutes and the whole of the harbour front was packed even though the night was foggy and damp. Hopefully before we leave we will have the chance to see the display in the clear.

When we woke up this morning the weather forecast said it would be a foggy morning with the chance of heavy rain. I can tell you that this was pretty accurate. At first we couldn’t see the opposite side of the bay and therefore decided that once again it would be pointless trying to go to Peak as there would be no view. Instead we chose to go to the Hong Kong Museum of History located about half a mile away on Chatham Road, where there is a permanent exhibition telling the story of HK from prehistoric times to the present day. It was a great decision as apart from the hoards of school children we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Admission was a very reasonable 10HK$ (equivalent to less than a pound) and unlike most museums they were perfectly happy for photos to be taken. One of the most interesting exhibits described the opium wars and the Cession of HK to Britain which was a part of history I had never come across before. Sylvia enjoyed the “Folk Culture” section which outlined the colourful customs of the four main ethnic groups through the ages. We also stopped here for lunch Sylvia having a Portuguese Chicken and rice dish and me a duck and prawn(with chips), the total cost including a soup starter and drinks was less than £7 for both. Excellent value and very tasty!!

We started to walk back to the hotel stopping in shops as the mood took us and buying a few souvenirs. It was while in one of the shops that the heavens opened and I mean opened. A couple who came in from the rain described how they saw the storm coming up the road with people running in front of it. On our return to the room we sat and watched the lightning over the harbour after which the sky cleared a little giving us the best view yet of Hong Kong island.

Day Twenty-nine – A Damp Hong Kong

2009-03-04T11:32:00.001Z

We awoke this morning to see a cruise ship,”Rotterdam”, sailing past the window. It seems we can’t get away from the nautical theme this holiday. Unfortunately the weather today was pretty poor with fog and drizzle for most of the day, this meant that we really couldn’t do much sight seeing, so spent the day exploring the area around the hotel.

The Intercontinental is brilliantly located on Kowloon overlooking the harbour and Hong Kong island and most of the sights are within walking distance. Along the harbour front is the Avenue of the Stars,HK’s answer to the Hollywood walk of Fame, consisting of handprints of many famous Chinese actors. Like the literary walk in Sydney I didn’t know many of the artists excepting , of course , Bruce Lee. (No mention of Hong Kong Phooey though!). These two adjoining plaques amused us.

Shopping is what HK does best and within easy reach of the hotel are several malls including Harbour City , the largest one in Hong Kong. These include all the top-end stores that you would expect alongside some local variants. In addition Kowloon boasts several markets selling designer bags, watches and clothing which if you’re lucky may be genuine.In fact something for everyone and we spent the day looking at most of them. The only downside are the touts on each street corner trying to entice you to tailors or fake watch shops.

Just to show that we do read the comments that you post, firstly for Oliver ,here is the TV and sound system (i-pod not included).

And secondly to Rosemary, the hotel room is fantastic especially the marble bathroom and the marvellous view, but unless you are prepared to spend the children’s inheritance it is better to eat and drink elsewhere.(for example breakfast £28 +10% service charge and that’s not all you can eat!!!!!) Make sure that you stipulate a harbour view room on a high floor if possible, you will be disappointed if you don’t. Tonight we are off to Starbucks to post the blog(20 minutes free wi-fi versus £15 in the hotel!).

Day Twenty-eight – On to Hong Kong

2009-03-03T13:54:00.001Z

As always when we are travelling we were up early this morning and as we had packed the previous night,we checked out of the hotel by 8.00. The taxi to the airport was quicker than we had anticipated , so much so that when we arrived we were too early to check in. Having waited for about half an hour we checked in and cleared immigration before going to the Qantas business lounge. The facilities here didn’t match the BA lounge in Heathrow with only cereal, toast and a few bakery items on the breakfast menu. If you were a drinker there was a good choice even at this time in the morning. The one good thing was the free internet facility which allowed us not only to check our e—mails but also to chat to Helena in her bed at Victoria’s house.

The boarding of the flight went smoothly and after a slight delay due to some luggage problems we were on our way to Hong Kong. I had a little dilemma when it came to the entertainment on offer as virtually all the nominated Oscar films were available. After choosing to start my film-fest with “The Wrestler” I settled down on my seat. Only about 20mins into the film and there was an announcement that some people were unable to receive the films and the system would need re-booting, an hour later the system came back on. I decided to have a change of pace so watched “Four Holidays” (and before anyone says it ,no it wasn’t Oscar nominated), at the end of which the movie system packed in completely. A number of passengers including me complained and eventually they put on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” onto the system. As the film was beginning to reach its climax the pilot announced we were on the approach to Hong Kong and the entertainment was turned off.A very poor effort Qantas, although the $50 duty free voucher came in handy. The quality and quantity of food on the flight was also poor in my opinion, BA is much superior no matter what Michael Winner says!!!

The arrival at Hong Kong went very smoothly taking only 30 minutes from touch down to getting into our car, and 25 minutes later we were entering our hotel. Sylvia asked on the way into town which side they drive on here. Judging by our driver it doesn’t matter as he changed lanes continually overtaking and undertaking where necessary. The first impressions of the hotel is that it looks superb with spectacular views over the harbour(The pictures don’t really do justice to it) There is a 37inch Sharp LCD TV together with a BOSE sound system including CD/DVD player and I-pod connector. No TV in the bath though!!!! Watched the light spectacular on Hong Kong island which takes place every night at 8.00pm, I will try to get some photos tomorrow

Day Twenty–Seven – The Last Day in Sydney

2009-03-02T09:26:00.001Z

It was just a lazy day today as we didn’t want to venture too far,so we redid some walks that we had done before and a couple of new ones. After breakfast we strolled up the hill at the back of the hotel to the Old Observatory, part of the Powerhouse museum. Although we didn’t go into the building itself the bandstand gave views over both Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. Like several of the days we have been in Sydney the early morning weather didn't look too good but as always it just got better as the morning went on.Coming down from the Observatory we walked along the quay to the Opera House, where for the first time we walked along the lower concourse. All along the quayside are brass plaques set into the pavement commemorating great authors who have an Australian association. Many of these I have heard of like Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer and Clive James, but many I haven't, also some of the authors such as D H Lawrence seem to have a rather slim linkage to this country.

Everywhere one walks in this area you get a view of the bridge and I don’t know if it’s the most photographed structure in the world but it must be in the top ten.(Editors note:- Actually checking on internet it’s probably not- The Eiffel Tower is number 1 apparently!!!) It is an impressive structure from whichever way you look at it but it seems to have been built just like a giant Meccano set. Just look at the size of these nuts.

Around the Rocks area there are a number of sculptures to celebrate the history of the area, one of the most striking of which is adjacent to our hotel. This shows the three groups of earliest residents of the area , families, soldiers and convicts.

Around the corner there is a more modern contribution to the Art in the community project.

Sydney has been a great place to visit with the highlight of the trip being the visit to the Blue Mountains, however the general buzz around circular quay and the Rocks has been brilliant. Overall we couldn’t have wished for a better place to stay. In the eight days that we have spent here we have seen most everything that was on our list so next time it will have to be Melbourne or Perth.

Next stop Hong Kong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day Twenty-Six – An early morning swim & a good walk.

2009-03-01T09:55:00.001Z

Before you get too excited we didn’t swim but watched hundreds of others doing so as today was the day for the annual Sydney Harbour swim. After hearing on the television this morning of the third shark attack in the area within the last three weeks there was an air of great anticipation in the crowd. After a short celebrity race of 800m , the main event consisted of 1km and 2km races. The 1km race being won by a nineteen year girl who announced that she was going to get a drink and then swim the 2km event, some people do show off. Fortunately there was no sign of any sharks and the swim passed off peacefully.

The race was held from the steps of the Opera House just inside the Botanical Gardens. These gardens occupy around 74 acres in the heart of the city and are home to a magnificent collection of plants,shrubs and trees from Australia and overseas. We decided to walk across the path to the area known as Woolloomooloo and took the following photos on the route.

The reason for the walk through the park was to visit one of Sydney’s most famous eateries, Harry’s Cafe de Wheels, a mobile snack van that has been part of the city’s life since 1945. Here I had a bacon & egg roll and Sylvia had a hot dog and we joined the list of the rich and famous who had ate here. These include Elton John,Brigitte Bardot and even Colonel Sanders (probably testing out the opposition) and of course…Rolf Harris. From Harrys it was a short walk to the art gallery of New South Wales, where we had a stroll around the 20th Century Australian exhibition. It was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning but I wasn’t overly impressed by the collection.

The walk continued across the area known as “The Domain”,into Hyde Park to look at St. Mary’s Cathedral. We were unsure as we approached whether this was an Anglican or a Roman Catholic church, but the statue outside of Pope John Paul gave the game away. We didn’t go in as there was a mass in progress but sat outside and admired the spires which were finished in 2000.

Over the precinct from the cathedral stands the Australian Museum that in addition to being the nation’s premier showcase of natural history, contains a brilliant exhibition of “Indigenous Australians”. This contains many artefacts of the Aboriginal people and explained many of their beliefs and faith known as “The Dreaming”. We also had a presentation of native songs and dances including a performance on the didgeridoo, which was quite remarkable even though I kept thinking he was going to burst into “Sun Arise”.

Across the road and back into Hyde Park we passed the Anzac Memorial, built to commemorate the Australians who were killed in the wars,before entering a food and drink fair. Here people were sampling wines from all over Australia and food from across the World.As it was now getting quite warm we decided to walk further into town to eat inside. After eating we walked back to the hotel passing several street entertainers on the quay. Of particular note was a female contortionist who attracted a large crowd with her amazing athletics.

It was reported in a Sydney paper earlier this week that one of the few areas that the economy was improving was cruising and today was referred to as “Super Sunday” in Sydney as there were no less than 4 cruise ships in port. At the overseas passenger terminal was “Crystal Serenity”, at Darling Harbour “Pacific Dawn”, and out in the bay “Celebrity Millennium” and “Aurora”. It was no wonder that Sydney has been buzzing all weekend and with another ship due in the morning it will make eight since “Rhapsody” left on Tuesday night.

Day Twenty-Five - “Seven miles from Sydney….

2009-02-28T10:19:00.001Z

…….and a thousand miles from care”, is a saying referring to the 7 mile ferry journey from circular quay to Manly, the trip that most Sydney residents would suggest as the single excursion one should do while in the city. Having tried out Bondi, we decided today to travel to Manly to compare the two famous beaches of the area. The ferry ride takes about half an hour crossing directly over the mouth of the harbour where the water was particularly choppy. From the wharf at Manly it’s a short walk down a pedestrianised street to the beach, where the waves of the Pacific lap onto the sand. The beach didn’t appear to be very big but the tree lined esplanade gave it a much more up-market look than Bondi. There were many surfers and body boarders and along the top of the beach were laid out around 6 beach volleyball courts.

After a pleasant walk along the beach and back we decided to have a drink and muffin at a street side cafe before ambling through a small market. After purchasing a few presents and some shorts for me , we returned to Sydney for the afternoon. Overall I would have to agree that Manly is a much better beach than Bondi.

The afternoon was spent walking around “The Rocks” district where our hotel is located. This is probably the oldest part of modern day Sydney although few of the original structures survive today. The focal point of the area on a weekend is The Rocks market, which consists of over a hundred stalls selling mostly hand made crafts, closing off the top of George Street. It was an interesting walk through the stalls which built up an appetite for tea which was had at “Pancakes in the Rocks”. Sylvia having pizza while I had a Mexican crepe with chips, excellent.

After tea we had a lovely walk along the back of the Rocks on the road that comes off the bridge. This gave us some different views of the bridge and the opera house.

Day Twenty-Four – Bondi to Bronte and Beyond

2009-02-27T09:41:00.001Z

Of all the beaches in the Sydney area, the one that comes to mind most readily is Bondi beach. Most of the Australians that we spoke to on the cruise suggested that we avoid it , but we felt that we couldn’t come this far without visiting it for a short while. We decided to catch the local bus and after meandering our way through the city centre traffic found ourselves on the Pacific coast.The bus got really crowded as we got closer to the beach,filling up with young people ready to spend time at the coast. The beach itself was a little disappointing and was no bigger than Porthcawl town beach and the surf was not as good as Rest Bay.

We had decided to complete the walk to Bronte, this is around 2km long and follows the coastal path. After first walking across to look at the Bondi Pavilion, we climbed the steps that took us past the Bondi baths and the Bondi Icebergs clubhouse. This is a swimming club where prospective members must swim every Sunday, regardless of weather,50 weeks of the year for four years before being allowed to join. We withdrew our application!

The walk took us along the cliff edge and as we turned each corner another bay came into view. The most difficult part of the walk was avoiding the joggers, in their determined efforts to stay fit they forget that walkers have an equal right on these paths. Thankfully not all the people were quite so rude especially the man who kindly took the picture of both of us.

At the end of the walk we had a nice cool drink in a street side cafe and waited for a bus back to the city. The weather this morning was excellent for walking, with a slightly overcast sky and a gentle breeze from the sea, but warm sun on your back.

The bus took a different route back to Sydney and we ended up at the main railway station, a short hop away from Paddy’s Market. This is a large indoor market selling both food and clothes that operates from Thursday to Sunday each week. I had seen this mentioned in the guide books and wanted to see it, but was rather glad that I had not made a special trip as it was no different to any other market. We then made our way to Darling Harbour where we caught a ferry back to Circular Quay.

After a refreshing cup of tea and a biscuit back at the hotel, we decided on another walk, this time across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Now before anyone gets too excited this walk involves walking along a path next to the roadway, and certainly does not involve climbing up the arch!! I would recommend this walk to anyone visiting Sydney, the views that you get across the harbour and city are truly magnificent.

After walking back across the bridge we felt that we needed a good meal so called into “The Rocks Cafe” about two blocks down from the hotel. Here Sylvia had a lovely seafood stir-fry and I was tempted to try kangaroo loin, it was scrumptious. We followed the mains with some lovely sweets and for all you foodies all the dishes are pictured below.

And the sweets……..Yesterday’s visit to the Blue Mountains prompted PJ to send me a picture of the Three Sisters. This was not that of the rock formation but of a sculpture that I had decided not to publish in case it offended my more sensitive viewers, however today I have had second thoughts and here they are.

Day Twenty-Three – Another Day, Another Koala

2009-02-26T10:29:00.001Z

Although we had been advised by several Sydney residents on the cruise to make our own way to the Blue Mountains,we decided to book a tour. After having such an enjoyable day I am glad we did, as I don’t think we would have seen half of what we did. The driver/guide, Terry,was very informative although at times he was full of his own self importance, claiming to have met Peter Sellers, Anthony Hopkins and Beyonce among others. Having said that he knew the area very well and told a good story.

The day started by boarding the bus outside the hotel, with the first stop at the Featherdale Wildlife Park, where we got the chance to get up close to many native Australian animals. Sylvia with a snake and me a much cuddlier koala.(Sylvia says I’m a wimp but I don’t care) Although not as good as the zoo visit yesterday, we could walk close to the animals and they were all Australian. We even saw some happy kangaroos for Poppy. After leaving the wildlife park we almost immediately started the climb up the mountain. The road still takes the route of the original explorers who found their way through the mountains. In fact the road would take you all the way to Perth if you carried on for about 7 days.

The first stop in the Blue Mountains was at the Wentworth Falls viewing platform , where views could be had over the whole valley. Apparently this is the second biggest natural gorge in the world after the Grand Canyon. As part of this stop we were invited to take a pre-lunch stroll to a lower viewing platform down 275 steps, and of course, back up again. After going down about half way Sylvia and I decided to return to the top, which judging by the gasping of the rest of the group, was the correct decision.

After a buffet lunch we arrived at Scenic World, the site of the magnificent Three Sisters rock formation. We took a railway ride down to the valley floor and then took a scenic walk among old mines and through the forest. The idea was to complete a 30 minute circular walk and then return up the hill via a cable car. Unfortunately when we reached the cable car station we discovered it had broken down and therefore returned on the railway.This was no ordinary railway ride as it is the Worlds steepest funicular railway with a gradient of 1 in 1.28 (128%) – quite spectacular.

Another short coach journey took us to Echo Point for even better views of the Three Sisters, after which we were driven to the picturesque town of Leura. Here the highlight was the candy store, which had jars of old fashioned sweets from the UK,USA and Australia. There was something for everyone here and after a small purchase of Sherbet Lemons and Pineapples we returned to the coach for the journey back to Sydney.

As we travelled Terry told us some aboriginal tales including the story of how the Three Sisters had been formed. The last port of call was the site of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, which enabled Terry to tell a few more tales of his involvement in the games. We saw the stadium, the cauldron that contained the flame and the swimming pool. This was the pool that Adam Whitehead fell into to be disqualified from the 100 metres breaststroke, after getting me up at 3.00 in the morning to watch!!!!!

From the Olympic site we were ferried on the river to Sydney. After a first stop at Darling Harbour we were asked by the boats captain whether we would like to see Queen Mary 2 which had arrived in town in the morning. As it was a universal yes from everyone involved we made a short detour to the military base to see the liner. The Queen Mary is too big to fit in the passenger terminal but unlike the Rhapsody, it is allowed to berth in the military dockyard(I think it’s something to do with the fact that all Cunard captains are Royal Navy officers). Compared to all the cruise ships I have seen the Queens all look magnificent and this one was no different.

All in all the day was brilliant and so much better than if we had done it on our own. Although I have been putting a few pictures on the blog everyday they are but a fraction of the ones that we have taken. I know that Sylvia’s dad is looking forward to viewing all of them as he remarked to Helena. So ,Lorna when you speak to him next you can tell him we are up to 650 now so should top the thousand easily by the time we get home!!!

Day Twenty-Two – “We’ve been to the zoo,zoo,zoo.”

2009-02-25T10:24:00.001Z

This holiday has very much had a nautical flavour,with first the river boats in Bangkok,followed by the cruise. Today the theme continued with the ferry boats in Sydney harbour. The first ferry ride took us from Circular Quay across the bay to Taronga Zoo, where after a cable car ride to the top ,we met this giant koala.

The zoo is set out on a hill over looking Sydney Bay with an impressive display of native Australian animals, including kangaroos, koala and the deadly Tasmanian Devil. I actually thought that this was a made up animal in the cartoons, but it apparently is the largest carnivorous marsupial. Here is a picture of some kangaroos for Poppy. We were able to walk into their enclosure and some people were actually stroking them but they didn’t respond when I did my Skippy noise.

The koalas didn’t do very much just lying around after eating too many eucalyptus leaves, people used to think that they were drunk because of this. The zoo has a breeding programme to preserve the native animals and interestingly the resident stud koala is named Ken. We spent most of the morning at the zoo and then took the ferry back to the quay. As we had purchased day tickets that enabled us to travel on the buses and ferries all day, we immediately jumped on another ferry that took us to Darling Harbour. The journey took us under the Harbour bridge past the Luna Park amusements to the National Maritime Museum. Although we didn’t go in, many of the exhibits including “The Endeavour”, a battleship and a submarine were all located outside. Also in this area of Sydney is the aquarium and another native animal reserve. After walking around for an hour or so we caught another ferry back to Circular Quay. The Rhapsody has been replaced at the overseas passenger terminal by Royal Princess, which is visiting Sydney as part of a World cruise. We met a couple at breakfast this morning who are sailing on her to Japan and Hong Kong. Apparently Queen Mary is arriving soon.

We ate at a Bavarian restaurant in The Rocks this evening, Sylvia having fish and chips while I had belly pork. It makes a change to have only one meal a day!! The weather has been good all day. Although a storm had been predicted it never came. PJ tells me that it’s 22 degrees in Pittsburgh and I’m sure that’s in Fahrenheit. I’m glad to say that it was 26 degrees here(and yes that’s centigrade).

Day Twenty-One – Back in Sydney

2009-02-24T09:25:00.001Z

We arrived back in Sydney harbour at around 6.30 this morning. It was dark as we sailed in so we couldn’t get any good pictures. Later on as the sun rose the view from our balcony was amazing as can be seen from the photo. We had an early breakfast but after eating so much over the last two weeks , just had cereal and coffee. The number of photographs that everyone on board took of the bridge and the opera house was staggering, and it makes you wonder how we all managed before digital media. A kind fellow traveller took this picture of both of us just prior to leaving the ship. The process of disembarkation is quite involved,the previous night our cases are packed and left outside our room. All passengers are given colour coded tags dependent on the time you are due to leave the ship. The process worked very well with our call coming at exactly the predicted time. We were straight off the ship, picked up our cases and walked to our hotel, all in a 15 minute time span. Unfortunately unlike last time our room was not ready, but we were able to store our baggage before exploring Sydney.

We decided that as we had about 2 hours before our room would be ready, that we would walk across to the botanical gardens. From here one gets the iconic view of both the opera house and the bridge from the point known as Mrs Macquarie's Chair. It also gave us our first taste of Australian wildlife with exotic looking birds running on the grass and singing from the trees. The one sight that Sylvia was looking forward to seeing (but not me), was the Flying Fox bats. We weren’t sure where these would be ,but suddenly came across them (and some were not sleeping!!!).

On our return to the hotel,the room was ready. Unlike last time we were in the newer part of the hotel, where the rooms were better although the views not so good. As we are here for a week we needed to unpack everything, so while Sylvia organised the wardrobes, I caught up with the washing in the launderette. Later in the afternoon we walked into the city to look at where the main shops were located. Sydney is a very busy city and as it was lunch time the streets were filled with city types rushing around. After 2.00 the pace slowed and we were able to stop and have a snack to eat. Rhapsody was due to leave the quay at 6.30 and we ,along with hundreds of people, decided to see her off. Unfortunately the sky had begun to cloud over as she pulled out by the opera house.

Tomorrow if it stays fine we will probably visit the zoo or if not we will continue exploring the city.

Day Twenty – Last Day at Sea

2009-02-23T10:08:00.001Z

It was another beautiful day today and the sun shone brightly onto our balcony all morning.As it is the last day on the ship everything has to packed and the cases left outside before we go to bed tonight, so this afternoon was spent packing.

As the cruise part of our holiday is almost over ,I thought that this would be a good time to give my overall impressions of the ship and the cruise. Firstly let me say that the itinerary was first class and as I said yesterday New Zealand is certainly a great place to visit. The ship is full of brass and wood, and I think that when it was new that it would have looked magnificent. However it is now looking tired in places with carpets being worn,especially around the pool area.

After 14 days aboard the food tends to get a little repetitive, but there is plenty of it, at any time ,night or day. In comparison with other cruises we have been on, the general quality of the food was definitely poorer, with no lobster or crab claws or gateaux being offered. Talking to other guests who are a lot more travelled than us, this may be a sign of the economic times rather than a reflection on this cruise line. Having said that the presentation of the main meals was poor, with little variation especially when it came to vegetables.

The theatre on board was a delight to sit in and resembled an old fashioned variety theatre. Unfortunately the presentations did not match up to the facilities, with the shows in the main being of poor quality. The “Piano Man” show last night was a perfect example of this, with the technical facilities being far more professional than previous versions of the show we have seen. But unfortunately the performances on the stage lacked spirit with the dancers particularly looking tired and limp. Apart from the night I saw a magician, I would not have paid for any of the other entertainment.

The people on board were superb, with our waiting staff and the room steward both being first class. I mentioned Benny last night, here are the waiting staff, Colin, Darwin and Johnston. Overall cruising still represents great value for money but I believe that the present economic situation is certainly having an impact, with a definite scaling back on some of the offering. We have enjoyed it but probably not as much as we had hoped.

The last dinner tonight was an opportunity to exchange e-mails and addresses with our fellow diners. It’s been a pleasure to dine with our new found friends and we will keep in contact.

And Benny’s final animal is

a small bird. Tomorrow back to Sydney.

Day Nineteen – At Sea

2009-02-22T10:09:00.001Z

Today is the first of two sea days returning into Sydney. Although there’s a swell on the sea the weather is sunny but a little windy. I thought that these quiet days will give a chance to reflect on the trip so far, with today my thoughts on New Zealand.

Rugged mountains, rolling hills ,terrific beaches, a great culture and modern big cities probably sums up what we have seen. The scenery on both islands was stunningly beautiful , from the fjords, plains and mountains in the South to the islands and volcanoes in the North. The people were some of the friendliest that I have meet in my travels with everyone being polite and helpful wherever we went. They are proud of their culture both ancient and modern,with a fervour about rugby almost as much as the Welsh. I would recommend it as a holiday destination as there is something for everyone here. It is difficult to pick out one highlight as all the places were great to visit. The weather in Auckland meant that we did not see that city at it’s best but meeting up with Sally & Barry more than made up for it.

Cruising only ever gives a snapshot of a place as the ship is usually in harbour for about 10-12 hours at a time, but from what we have seen on this trip we would certainly come back. Next time we would travel by road to see more of the interior and probably stay for longer. I just need my lottery numbers to come up!!

It’s been quiet on board with only trivia and table tennis taking up our time (apart from eating of course). We won both trivia games in the day but didn’t take part in the evening because we wanted to give some other teams a chance!!! We have formed a team with our dinner table and the combination of British and American brains seems to work. Unfortunately both sets of prizes were photo albums so we gave the second set away.

Tonight was the last formal dinner of the trip, the highlight once again being Larry’s tales. The guy has lead a rich life with my favourite story tonight being about President Carter( to whom he is distantly related). Larry was waiting to take a photo of the then President and decided to ask the secret service agent, “Where’s the best place to get a shot at the President?” How he failed to get arrested I don’t know. Going to dinner has been a pleasure ever since we got the table sorted. After writing this we are off to the theatre to once again see “The Piano Man”. We have seen it three times previously on Princess, so it will be good to compare. And finally ………

…….my favourite mammal, a bat. This is the guy responsible for all the animals featured in this trip. His name is Benny and he comes from the Philippines. Thank you Benny for all your efforts. Tomorrow I will give my review of the ship.

Day Eighteen – The Bay of Islands

2009-02-21T07:50:00.001Z

Today we arrived at the beautiful Bay of Islands, one of New Zealand’s most popular holiday resorts. It is made up of around 150 separate islands and a handful of secluded coastal towns. The rain that we had in Auckland had been left behind which was fortunate as today we were tendered to the port. After the long tour in Rotorua, we had cancelled the organised tour we had booked here and had decided to go ashore and look around by ourselves. We were so pleased we had chosen this option. After a leisurely breakfast we took a tender at about 9.00, the journey to shore taking around 15 mins. It was already getting very warm with the sun shining brightly on the sea. We came ashore at the Waitangi Wharf, where shuttle buses were available to the nearby town of Paihia. We were attracted by a short walk in the opposite direction to the Waitangi treaty house (where we had originally planned to visit on the organised trip). This took about five minutes, and on entering we were treated once again to a superb Maori show. Here I got a chance to perform a Haka with the warriors!! Unfortunately the photos taken inside this dark building didn’t turn out too well.

In 1840 43 Maori chiefs signed The Treaty of Waitangi, a document that has been described as the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand. The treaty was signed at the site of the flagpoles shown in the photograph and the grounds have now become a museum celebrating the event. In addition to the colonial home of the British Residency, the grounds also contain a Maori meeting house and a war canoe. A worthwhile trip at a fraction of the cost when compared to the ship’s excursion.

Following a drink at the cafe we then walked to the local town to look at the shops. There was not much here and the place was full of tourists!!!!!! We therefore took the tender back to the ship to enjoy a quiet afternoon on board.

At dinner tonight we had a good discussion about growing up without electricity and using outside toilets. Larry then told us the tale of his brother winning a real Guernsey cow in a raffle. Yes it was first prize, and it kept the family in milk for 15 years.And finally………….

…….a swan on a nest.