Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 10, our final day, and our third and final Sea Day as we head for Southampton. Not much to read today, as it’s more of a summary of this year’s adventure with the Northants Nutters.

Northants Nutters – Previous Tour Dates

Nutters 2019 – Our first Warner experience
Warner Weekend 2019 – Littlecote House Hotel
(March 2019)

Nutters 2020 – Our second visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2020 – Holme Lacy House
(March 2020)

Nutters 2021 – Our third visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2021 – Gunton Hall
(August 2021)

Nutters 2022 – Our fourth visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2022 – Alvaston Hall
(January 2022)

Nutters 2022 – …and then we went abroad…
we flew to Cyprus!!
Northants Nutters abroad
(November 2022)

Nutters 2023 – …and then to sea!
Northants Nutters at Sea
(August 2023)

Nutters 2024 – Missed a Post on this trip?
Day 1 – Setting Sail
Day 2 – Sea Day I
Day 3 – Santander, Spain
Day 4 – Sea Day II
Day 5 – Vigo, Spain
Day 6 – Lisbon, Portugal
Day 7 – Lisbon, Portugal
Day 8 – Leixoes, Portugal
Day 9 – La Coruna, Spain

8.25am: A later start for us today, and a quick look out of our window revealed that it’s a very grey day! Cold and misty too! Yuk! We skipped breakfast and began packing!

The Final Quiz

12.15pm: This was our final contribution to the various Quizzes around Ventura that we’ve been part of. It looked like a good turnout, but contributions soon evaporated once we got going and the audience realised there was going to be a need to DRAW!

With no sign of our original team captain, Jasmine nor her replacement during the previous round (her Mum). So, our latest appointment – Eamon – took charge of our half of the room.

Sharon was in charge of the opposing team and nominated Sally as their illustrator.

Round 3 – today’s final round – took the form of Pictionary based around famous films. With each team nominating someone to illustrate those films on the card. It was a tough one! . Our very own Nicki was a natural and did us proud, but the opposition’s nomination – Sally – was also pretty good, both armed with just a pen and a dry-wipe board… and their imagination!!

Our half were in the lead from the start and continued to hold off the opposition, in spite of their determination to win! In the end, the best team won… even though our Quiz-Master initially, was unable to add up, and announced Sharon’s side as the victors! . At this late stage, it was clearly not the ‘taking part’ – we really wanted to win!! After some noisy protestation from our side, numbers were checked and justice prevailed as we walked away the winners overall. To the victors, the spoils! – a(nother) bottle of wine from the Ventura’s cellars!

The Final Meal

6.32pm: Our final meal again, didn’t disappoint, although speaking personally, the pressure of a three-courser each night for 10 days, is beginning to take its toll – I’ll be pleased to get back to basics!

The Final Show

8.30pm: ‘Centre Stage’ was the final performance tonight of ‘Headliners’ (the on-ship entertainment team). Tonight’s show promised ‘music from the big Musicals’ – and it certainly lived up to the hype. With lighting, special effects, choreography and vocals all top notch, it was a bit of a surprise when about five-minutes from the end, everything stopped – music, dancing and the curtain came down! Literally!!! A pre-recorded message was played encouraging us to ‘stay put’ (which the majority of the audience obeyed). This was followed by the Entertainments Manager appearing on-stage looking a bit flustered and announcing that they weren’t able to complete the performance due to an incident with a passenger (not the performers!). It was all very strange, and we never did get to find out specifically what happened.

The Final Drink

9.35pm: We decided to end this trip with a visit to the rather chilled-out Metropolis Bar on Deck 18. This had become our ‘go-to’ venue when seeking a quieter location in which to reflect on the day – or tonight, where we looked back on the whole Cruise. We all agreed that it had been a great trip and we began to think about how we might top this one NEXT time.

For us two, who’ve experienced Ventura before and more widely, P&O Cruises, this Cruise has left a big smile on our faces. The food has been better than expected; the Ports also impressed (especially La Coruna). The staff were as polite and professional as ever, and the entertainment, punched well above its weight (well, apart from the comedian!). All-in-all, a great time, where being able to spend it with a group of friends too, added an extra something.

10.35pm: Time to retire for the night. Some of us are using the ‘Express Checkout’ tomorrow morning, allowing us to get off between 7 and 8am (providing you can carry your own luggage) whilst others are taking the slightly later option.

Thanks again for all the reads of this daily blog – 402 views and counting!

Our Photo Reel is
HERE

Farewell Northants Nutters – until the next time!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 8th July (Day 10) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

7.25am: Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 9 – our penultimate day – and we’ve just docked in La Coruna, northern Spain. Thanks for all the reads this holiday – over 350 so far!

We weren’t expecting to be here, but P&O tweaked the schedule a few days back because of the predicted weather conditions in Guernsey (our original final stop). As a result of the reshuffle of destinations, it’s now a formal night again tonight (our second one, since we boarded).

The last time the two of us were in La Coruna was almost 20 years ago (9 September, 2004) aboard another cruise ship – the Wind Surf.

Back then, miles away from home, we ran into a work colleague who happened to be on a Cruise too! They were aboard Queen Mary 2 that had moored next door. What a coincidence! .

Missed a Post?

Day 1 – Setting Sail
Day 2 – Sea Day
Day 3 – Santander, Spain
Day 4 – Sea Day
Day 5 – Vigo, Spain
Day 6 – Lisbon, Portugal
Day 7 – Lisbon, Portugal
Day 8 – Leixoes, Portugal

Twenty years later, the Cruise Terminal area feels very different – it looks a lot larger than how we remember it back in 2004 (but maybe I’ve shrunk!) .

10.45am: All Nutters present and correct outside Costa! Ready? We’re off ashore!!

Again, the Ventura has been able to dock close to the town, so no faffing about in lifeboats, and as the weather isn’t super-hot, as our first activity we plan to take a wander into town and look around.

Around the Cruise Terminal

11.25am: This was already turning into a much warmer day that the forecast suggested – and that suited us perfectly! . Ann and I could now clearly see that the Terminal had benefited from a massive makeover since we were here in 2004 (and it looked all for the better for it, too!)

Castelo De San Antón

11.34am: Up ahead, we could see a Castle. Again, Ann and I didn’t recall it from last time, but there it was, and now open to the public. At a paltry 2.06€ for admission (cheaper for OAPs – just 1.03€!), we thought we’d take a look around. Geoff & Rhonda sat this one out as the rest of us Nutters headed for the ticket booth, not really knowing what to expect.

“At the end of the 16th century, Felipe II had San Anton Castle built on a small rocky island as a fortress for defending La Coruna Port.
As a result of many restoration projects, it took on its current appearance at the end of the 18th century.
It was also a prison until the middle of the 20th century. Since 1968 it has housed the Municipal Archaeological and History Museum”.

First impressions? It looked good! Spread across two levels, there was a fair bit to see. The ground floor consisted mainly of remains discovered during various archaeological and restoration projects, whilst the upper floor boasted some unrivalled views across the Port (more of that later).

For us, as interesting as the ground floor was, ‘up top’ had the wow factor! That was once we got up the staircase! . There seemed to be just a single (spiral) staircase to access the second floor, and we had to judge if people were already on their way down – as there wasn’t room for ‘two-way traffic’.

We got there eventually though! And it was most certainly worth the wait for the stunning vistas!

Wow!

It’s that time again!

11.45am: Ahh! 11.45 and it’s almost ‘beer o’clock’. We linked-up with Geoff & Rhonda and headed in the direction of the old town. Being a Sunday, we weren’t sure what would be open, but after about half a mile of walking, the path split into two, and we could see two Bars in the distance – one on each side. We chose the one on the right – San Francisco – for no reason at all and were soon seated and being served!

12.25pm: This was perfect! Out in the sunshine, sipping a cool beer and chatting with friends!

Wandering in Coruna

1.15pm: Suitably rehydrated, we decided to explore more of the old town. Geoff & Rhonda decided to go shopping and then head back to the Ventura followed shortly afterwards by Richard & Nicki, leaving the remaining half of the Nutters – Paul & Sue and Ann and me to see where the quiet streets took us. It certainly felt very/strangely relaxing just wandering about with no idea where the route would take us.

Well, we weren’t expecting that! Nestled amongst the narrow streets and houses was… a Convent – specifically: Convento de Santa Bárbara. We weren’t thinking of joining up, but it WAS open, and so we took a look inside. Originally built in the fifteenth century and expanded and improved in the eighteenth, the Poor Clare Mothers live here in a cloistered regime. Clearly a tough life in that the daily life consists of both work and prayer and a life of penance and contemplation. Their rules state that the Sisters shall fast at all times except on the Feast of the Nativity. Not strict enough? Their constitution explains that meat may not be used, even at Christmas. Bah, Humbug! doesn’t even begin to describe the conditions! Given their enthusiasm for fasting, and how much we, the Nutters have got through in the past 9 days, I don’t think we were prime recruits anyway!

A little further on, through a small space between two houses, we could see an impressive structure. This required further investigation and as we headed through the gap…

1.27pm: …we arrived in Pita Square. As every Spaniard probably knows, the Square is named after Maria Pita, a local heroine who played a pivotal role in defending the city against English invaders during May 1589.

Legend has it that after the Brits had seized control of most of the lower part of Coruna and after her husband was fatally wounded, Maria Pita snatched a spear from the English captain and killed him. The Captain was allegedly the brother of Admiral Francis Drake.

An impressive story that matched how impressed we four were with the look and feel of this Plaza. This is a beautiful Square lined on three sides with plenty of Bars, Restaurants and small shops. On the fourth side, facing away from the statue of Maria Pita was the equally impressive Coruna City Hall.

Heading through the gap to the left of City Hall revealed the Church of St George. It’s a Roman Catholic Church, constructed in 1906 in the Baroque style.

1.45pm: We left Paul & Sue to carry on exploring beautiful Coruna whilst we headed back to Ventura. On the walk back, we both agreed that this had not been the ‘La Coruna’ we remember – for all the right reasons! . The Cruise Terminal had been modernised, there seemed to be more places to eat and drink. It had been great fun wandering around the old town – and the better-than-expected-weather helped. We’re pretty sure that there is even more to explore here, and it’s therefore another destination we’d love to come back to in the future.

Back on the Ventura

2.05pm: Back in the room – time for a small nibble and a short siesta!

Nutters and Nibbles

5.30pm: It was around to Paul & Sue’s tonight (hosted by Richard & Nicki) as we prepared to say goodbye to La Coruna. Pre-dinner drinks and nibbles were the order of the day, where speaking personally, a special thanks to Richard & Nicki for helping me to rediscover ‘Mojitos’ – and their version of this classic cocktail using Spiced Rum. (Standing is so over-rated!)

Bay Tree Restaurant

6.40pm: It was back to the Bay Tree Restaurant tonight for our evening meal. Again, it didn’t disappoint, with even more Courses than usual! . Our Waiters: Agnelo and Jarold have really looked after us!

Evening Entertainment

8.30pm: After the meal we headed to Arena – the Ship’s Theatre – to see The Vinylettes, featuring the Greatest Hits of Soul and Motown. Supported by the Ship’s resident seven-piece orchestra, they were a tight trio and belted out over 20 hits without a break! Brilliant! The Northants Nutters even got a mention by the Group!

Late Night Quiz

10.30pm: Here we are for the late-night Quiz. We’ve done well during this Cruise and hopefully tonight, we’ll maintain the tradition! . By 11.30, it was all over, and we’d accrued a total score of 10, making us joint third. We’ve got a final Quiz tomorrow in the Exchange Bar, so that’s another opportunity to shine! (or not!)

11.55pm: It’s our final day on board tomorrow. Nighty-night!

Camera Reel so far
HERE

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 7th July (Day 9) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Day 8 – Saturday, 6th July

7.32am: Morning all! We’re with the Northants Nutters group aboard the good ship Ventura! It’s Day 8 and we’re just about to dock in Leixoes in Portugal.

Missed a Post?
Day 1 – Setting Sail (eventually!)
Day 2 – Sea Day 1
Day 3 – Santander, Spain
Day 4 – Sea Day 2
Day 5 – Vigo, Spain
Day 6 – Lisbon, Portugal
Day 7 – Lisbon, Portugal

Hold the front page! .
Just as we went to bed last night, we noticed that according to the daily newspaper, Guernsey is OFF due to predicted poor weather. Instead, we’re now heading for La Coruna on Day 9 and where Day 10 becomes our third, and final, Sea Day. It’s not ideal, but you can’t beat Mother Nature, especially at sea! . I can imagine the turmoil behind the scenes here as they re-arranged the on-board entertainment – and everything else – to fit around the new schedule!

The remaining days look like this…

8.32am: OK, back to the here and now. It’s a slightly cooler one forecast for today, and it’s also an earlier start for us as the Walking Tour begins sharp at 9am. Whoever said Cruising was about long lie-ins, needs to err, go on a Cruise! . After a quick breakfast in the Buffet, we prepared to disembark.

Apart from the Walking Tour, our only other plans are to meet up with the rest of the Nutters for the England v Switzerland soccer match later at 5pm. I’ve put aside an extra dose of BP tablets for that one!

About Oporto

I didn’t know much about Porto before the holiday – now I’m showing off…
The names Oporto and Porto are interchangeable – the former is the Brit version.
It’s Portugal’s second-largest city
Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame) designed the Maria Pia Bridge
It’s famous for Port production
It has a famous bookshop where J. K. Rowling spent a lot of time
The Metro can take you to the beach (Matosinhos)

Walkies (2)

8.42am: This is our second organised Tour in as many days, as we joined the coach for P&O’s ‘Oporto on Foot’. It was clearly a popular choice and our transport filled up really quickly. We were hoping to run into Richard & Nicki, but with so many people on this one, they were on a separate coach. The half-hour (ish) coach journey would get us to the starting point in the City and pick us up after the walk finished around 1pm. After yesterday’s ‘moist one’, we were thankful of the earlier start and the slightly cooler temperatures here! .

9.22am: George introduced himself as our Tour Guide for today and also to Marsha who was our driver. After our almost traffic-free drive to the City, we left Marsha in charge of the Coach, and we all assembled, awaiting George’s commentary.

Architecturally speaking, there’s a lot to see here, and just like our Guide, Christina, yesterday, George knew all there was to know about this City and freely shared his knowledge.

Like everywhere else we’ve visited here in Portugal, the buildings were all very colourful and often highly decorated. Again, tiles feature heavily on many buildings and in the absence of those, there was always plenty of colour. I don’t think anyone could accuse the towns and cities we’ve seen so far of being drab! Even JK Rowling spent a lot of time here writing her Harry Potter novels (we saw the queue for it!!)

And if bright colours don’t do it for you, then the intricacy of much of the architecture is definitely worth a closer look!

10.00am: For a mix of the two, the local Railway Station – Sao Bento (St Benedict), that opened in 1916 is worth a look. With its mix of tiled artwork and vibrant coloured ceiling, it’ll definitely bring out the best in your photos!

10.31pm: A timely pit-stop at Jeronymo located inside the Station was spot on – George had timed in perfectly! If you are following in our footsteps, here are few points about Porto to note:

• Some of the pavements are cobbled – take care!
• Currently, the city is having major underground work done to extend the Metro. The small issue of the River Douor under the streets being diverted meant that there is a fair degree of disruption on the surface affecting the usual walking routes
• It’s a busy city and the mix of tourists and locals plus other visitors made the sidewalks very busy at times
• That was a yukky coffee!

10.55am: Talking of the Metro, this is a relatively recent innovation for Porto (the first lines opened in 2002) that makes it easy to get INTO and OUT OF the City. George had mentioned that for many locals, it had become prohibitively expensive to live in Porto – and the Metro made it easy for them to live elsewhere and travel in. Like some parts of the UK’s equivalent, outside of the City, the system runs ABOVE ground. Inside Porto’s Metro station, it was scrupulously clean, spacious and where the very clear mapping looked like it was easy to get around. Note that it’s a cashless system and uses a ‘charge-card’ system.

Since we arrived, we’ve learned that you are never too far from a Church or Cathedral, and the theme continues here in Porto.

If you’re bored with the religious aspects, instead, there are always the spectacular views across the City! Any Port in a Storm, ehh? Geddit???

11.10am: …or the tiny back-streets revealing more of the more everyday scenes of Porto.

11.30am: For us, the most memorable part was when our Walk reached the water’s edge – The Douro River. At this point, George gave us 45 minutes of free time to simply wander about and soak up the scenery (there was a lot to soak up!)

12.01pm: Being Saturday and with the weather now even warmer, it certainly brought out the crowds. Finding a free table for a quick coffee was a real challenge, but we found one, nearer to the iron bridge

Yes, this was certainly a popular destination today, and we’re glad we arrived just before it seemed to explode with visitors!

12.15pm: Our coachload of intrepid wanderers returned to the pickup point and George was waiting for us. We took the short walk to the coach pickup point and were soon heading back to Ventura. It had been a great morning and all felt we’d got an even greater feel for Porto, thanks to George’s expansive knowledge. In thirty minutes, we’d be back on board…

12.31pm: …or would we? Clearly, to make us Brits feel more at home, the Tourist Board had laid on a good ol’ fashioned mega traffic-jam! It added around 15 minutes to the journey, making it about an hour before we got to the Cruise Terminal. There, the queue of cars was replaced by a queue of people! It seemed that trying to get around 200 passengers through just two security gates without any congestion was only ever going to be wishful thinking.

12.59pm: The slightly cooler temperature and less humidity certainly helped our endurance today. We didn’t cover quite as much distance as yesterday in Lisbon – but we both felt we’d seen a lot of Porto, feeling that this was another destination we’ll be returning to before too long.

1.10pm: Back in the room! Just time to enjoy a local delicacy (again!) of Pasteis De Nata (aka Custard Tarts) – cheers for treating us Richard & Nicki.

3.00pm: Feet up before the match!

C’mon England!

4.30pm: Have I got everything?

• A beer (in case we score!)
• Another beer (in case we don’t!)
• My Blood Pressure tablets

Yes, I’m ready!!

5.00pm: Someone on the planning side of things onboard Ventura was sufficiently optimistic to show the match in THREE locations around the ship. The Nutters settled for the Havana Lounge where Richard & Nicki had helpfully bagged an area that would accommodate us all with a good view of quite a few screens.

7.30pm: As expected, it was a stressful watch – into Extra Time and then finally, the dreaded penalties!!! But we got there in the end! Phew!

We ended the evening in the Buffet over a much lighter meal than we’ve got used to on previous nights. In my case, a real ‘dog’s dinner’ of Lamb, Chicken and Pizza.

Hardly ‘gourmet’, but it hit the mark!

Tomorrow…

A super-lazy day. We’re meeting at Costas for 10.45 and then taking the walk into La Caruna for a look around. We haven’t been there for around 20 years (9 September, 2004) and it’ll be interesting to see how much we recall and how much has changed.

9.30pm: A super-early one! Night all! . See you tomorrow!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 6th July (Day 8) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 7, and we’re on our second (and final) day in Lisbon. We set sail later for Leixões in Portugal at around 5.30pm tonight.

Missed a Post?

Day 1 – Setting Sail (eventually!)
Day 2 – Sea Day 1
Day 3 – Santander, Spain
Day 4 – Sea Day 2
Day 5 – Vigo, Spain
Day 6 – Lisbon, Portugal

Day 7 – Friday, 5th July

6.45am: Morning all! Weather-wise, it’s ‘more of the same’ today – Sun, Sun and more Sun, with the hottest part of the day being the middle of the afternoon. It may be just a few degrees cooler than Thursday, but as we were to discover, there was a much more humid day waiting for us.

After last night’s banquet, we skipped breakfast – even I couldn’t stare at a sausage this morning!

Today’s itinerary was a super-relaxed one! Having spent most of my life slagging-off Cruise Excursions for their lack of value and general over-pricing, today we’re going on one! It’s a P&O’s organised walk called (imaginatively!) ‘Lisbon on Foot’ (how do they think of these names? ). It’s just us two – a Nutter-free day – until we all meet tonight at Paul and Sue’s to experience the Ventura sail under the famous 25th April Bridge as we head for our next stop – Leixões.

Walkies!

10.01am: On first glance at the above, I thought the name of our Guide was Pastel, but Pastel turned out to be a tart (of the traditional variety) – note to self: read the small print, Palmer! .

It was a popular tour with around 20 in the group. ‘Christina’ introduced herself as our Tour Guide. She was a local and therefore knew an awful lot about her home city. She was also very mindful of the increasing temperature and directed us into the shade at every opportunity, It might only have been 10am (ish), but it was already a few degrees north of the promised 23°C, according to the temperature on a nearby building!

The general direction of travel was UP and Christina pointed us to our final destination. From where we were standing it looked like a bit of a slog (especially given the increasing temperatures), but Christina had a cunning plan to get us some of the best views across Lisbon, without having to supply us with rope and oxygen! That plan was to ‘meander’ upwards, zig-zagging our way to the top.

10.15am: It didn’t take us long to appreciate that this Tour was the perfect complement to yesterday’s ‘race around the city by bus’. Some of the sites that we’d seen from a distance on the top deck, came more sharply into focus – quite literally!

It’s certainly a colourful City. Whereas other destinations might reach for the grey and darker hues to decorate their buildings, Lisbon is different and needs no excuse for slapping bright colours on things. Pinks, greens, blues, and yellows are a popular choice. Even the bougainvilleas seemed brighter than back home!

We learned that when the rebuilding of the Lisbon commenced (post-earthquake) it was agreed that wherever possible they’d try and mimic the older designs – and there’s plenty of evidence that this has been implemented in the sense that in many areas, it’s an ‘old’ new (or is that ‘new’ old?) city

10.45am: These were interesting. Tiles play a big part in external facias out here, but this was far more specific. The first: ‘The Battle for Lisbon’ and above: ‘Views of Lisbon’. Both are quite large (15 foot plus) and in really good condition.

The location – Miradoure de Santa Luzia – is also considered to be one of the best viewpoints in Lisbon – and from here, we got a clear view of Ventura.

11.15am: As we continued our zig-zagging, Christina took us to another superb viewing platform, next to the Zambeze Rooftop Bar.

Having now reached the highest point of our walk – Portas do Sol Viewpoint – it was time for descent! And not a moment too soon. It was now even hotter and although the frequent shady stops had helped, we were all thinking: How long before the promised stop for a drink and the legendary tart?

If yesterday’s Bus fiasco confirmed that the ROADS can get very congested in this capital city, then it was pretty similar as a pedestrian. If you’re not a fan of crowds, then best stay away during the Summer – there were people everywhere! . Clearly a popular destination especially in and around the Square.

11.35am: Descent before dissent as we were now officially ‘downtown’ and negotiating the crowds, hopefully getting even closer to our promised cuppa!

…whilst admiring the views from nearby Rossio Square.

11.50am: Yes, it all felt a very vibrant City, but we were all now in need of serious sustenance!

The restaurant, Cozinha da Estação was within easy reach and at last, we settled down a cold drink and the main event – a Pasel De Nata all round! For those who haven’t tried them, they’re like a custard tart with an optional sprinkling of cinnamon.

Yummy! It certainly got our tastebuds going, but they’re not to everyone’s taste, as the rest of our table demonstrated.

12.15pm: Next stop? The Railway Station. Christina explained its significance during WWII, where because of Portugal’s neutrality, it became a VERY popular destination for displaced citizens across Europe attempting to get to the USA.

12.35pm: We were now on the final lap of the Tour. Above is the Santa Justa Lift. The hills of Lisbon have always presented a problem for travel between the higher and lower streets and this technical marvel (for its age) solves the problem. Opened in 1901 by King Carlos there’s more information HERE.

12.55pm: Our final stop (and for me, the most visually impressive) was the Rua Augusta Arch. Built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake, it is constructed completely from stone. There is a lot of detail contained in the arch itself and a comprehensive interpretation is HERE.

Wow! It had been a very interesting Tour. Christina certainly knew her stuff – and didn’t mind sharing it! I think in the end, as good as it was, the humidity got the better of me, and I was pleased to be heading back the Ventura. My legs were also telling me, they felt like they’d been given a serious workout this morning!

They had! . Time for ‘feet up’ before joining the rest of the Nutters later for our ‘sail away’ under the 24th April Bridge.

Sail Away

5.55pm: We’re all round at Paul & Sue’s ready for departing Lisbon and heading for Leixões.

The Bay Tree Restaurant

6.35pm: Here we are again! Time for our evening meal with our fellow Nutters!

Great food and service again!

Evening Entertainment

8.30pm: Entitled ‘Paradise Rock’, it was billed as a ‘timeless tale of love and loss’. I enjoyed the familiar rock anthems and the singing and music together with the lighting and stage effects was flawless, but it somehow didn’t come together for me – and I’m not sure why! . OK, the dialogue was a bit cheesy in places, but the acting was good. Out of everything I’ve seen on-board so far, this felt like the weakest offering. Having said that, they were all toe-tapping tunes and it was a pretty full house. Maybe it’s just me!!

Tomorrow

It’s an early start tomorrow for us – we have to be off the Ship by about 8.45am! Ouch!! . We’ve got another morning walking tour, this time it’s around the streets of Aporto town. Catch you all tomorrow!

10.15pm: Nighty-night! See you Saturday, bright and early!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 5th July (Day 7) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Here we are aboard P&O’s Ventura, part of the Northants Nutters ‘on tour’ group aka Geoff & Rhonda, Paul & Sue, Richard & Nicki and us two! It’s now Day 6 of our 10-dayer where we’ve arrived in Lisbon, Portugal – and we’ve got a sleepover as we’re here for TWO days.

Missed a Post?

Day 1 – Setting Sail

Day 2 – Sea Day 1

Day 3 – Santander, Spain

Day 4 – Sea Day 2

Day 5 – Vigo, Spain

It looks like a great day ahead weather-wise! We’ve got plans for city tour and later tonight, we’re off to a highly-rated restaurant in the city – Alfama Cellar (more about them later).

10.45am: We, ‘Nutters 6’, met up at Costa onboard and discussed rough timings and then headed for midships and the gorgeous weather that Lisbon had on offer. Geoff & Rhonda left the Ship earlier as they’re elsewhere on an amphibious vehicle adventure! .

Hello Lisbon!

Neither of us recall much about our last visit to Lisbon (turns out it was 12th September, 2004) – it was the final day of our Windstar Cruise before disembarking and flying back to Heathrow – and I don’t think we explored the city at all.

By coincidence, today is also Liberty Day – a public holiday here in Portugal, so we’re expecting the capital city to be busy.

What are we doing in Lisbon? For us six, we followed the tried and tested (and somewhat comforting) ‘Red Bus Sightseeing Tour‘ option – what better way to get a feel for this (and any other) big city? At the time of writing there are a number of options – The RED or the BLUE Route. Online there’s talk of the PURPLE Route too as well as a GREEN one – signs of confusion yet to come? Read on! .

So, our most important decision of the day? Do we take the Red or the Blue? Or both? I’ve ignored the ‘Purple’ option as the online feedback wasn’t particularly good, and information about the Green route was sparse. Tickets started at around £23 and that (according to their website) gave us access to both routes within 12 months – or, as the staff, today, suggested: “today and tomorrow only”

Great value!

In the end, we chose the Red Route with thoughts that we might take the Blue Route afterwards. Each is around 80-90 minutes long, so we’d easily have time for both. In the end though, it didn’t matter, but I’ll leave that explanation for later!

11.02am: It all began so well: plenty of staff on hand to advise and provide free maps, a sparkly clean bus with comfy seats, an open air section upstairs with some shade up the front if needed and finally, proper, professionally produced commentary in a variety of languages – sounded and felt perfect!

11.10am: So far, so good. We’re on the official Sightseeing Bus and heading for the Red Route. As expected, the Bus was super-busy, but we got our choice of seats upstairs. After a short delay getting through the initial traffic jams, we hit the ‘sights’.

Lisbon is certainly a pretty city, where the brightly coloured buildings complemented by externally tiled affairs made it all very easy on the eye. It’s a real mix of buildings – in age, style and construction. Portugal’s capital also seems to sport more statues-per-square-metre than anywhere we’ve ever visited.

And amongst all the old architecture is many NEW buildings too – mostly a mix of commercial HQs and Hotels.

Stately looking constructions as well as large and more modern interpretations all seemed to get along very well – and for the shopaholics, there’s a broad mix on offer to cater for purses and wallets of every size – from small supermarkets and soft-drug suppliers () to super-shiny bling establishments for the super-rich.

There seems to plenty of open green spaces here too, close to the hustle and bustle of the shopping scene.

In spite of the major earthquake in 1755, where a resulting devastating fire pretty much destroyed everything and killed in excess of 40000 people plus a French occupation and then a tsunami; Lisbon has managed to completely rebuild itself. To our eyes, this city has bounced back… and some! . But unlike Vigo, yesterday, the traffic was manic – it’s a typical capital city, I guess! Full marks to our driver then, who managed to manoeuvre our bus around/in/out of some very tight spaces, avoiding important obstacles like other cars, the plethora of tuk-tuks (really!) and the all-important pedestrians!!

So far so good? Err…

Tick-tock! The Tour should have lasted no longer than 90 minutes but the traffic had been heavy and we put the overrun down to nothing more than congestion. Poor innocent fools! I think we were about 85 minutes in when we all came to the same conclusion – something wasn’t quite right. After 90 minutes, rather a penalty shoot-out, we played an equally stressful round of ‘Spot the Cruise Terminal’ (that was nowhere to be seen – in fact, we couldn’t even see the sea!). I should have taken more notice of the recorded commentary that I first heard earlier… about an hour ago… that was now replaying the same information. Surely that WASN’T a good sign?

It seems we weren’t the only ones who were more than slightly confused as to what was going on. Various discussions with fellow travellers revealed a confused state of affairs including the weirdest one of all, according to another couple from the Ventura – we would have to change buses!

That couldn’t possibly be right, could it? COULD IT???

It was correct! . By now, the Bus had parked in an area we’d seen before – Stop 1, Marques de Pombal – only this time, the company representative urged us all to get off and switch to the Bus parked next door.

If this journey had a theme tune, it would have been ‘Hotel California’. If it were a geometric shape – a triangle. Forget Bermuda, this was The Lisbon Triangle, where we seemed to have completely disappeared from the official listed route. Consulting the freely supplied map didn’t help much, as there was nothing there to suggest that a change of Bus was required. It was all very strange! .

Eventually, seated in our new transport, we took off at speed. A quick glance at the official map showed us that we were now on the Blue Route and heading in the right direction! Phew! It’s perhaps slightly ironic that (according to Encyclopedia Britannica) Lisbon was once considered: “a remote outpost on what was thought to be the farthest edge of the known world!” I know the feeling!

2.15pm: Three hours later, we arrived back at the Cruise Terminal – double the original estimated time! We still don’t know where it all went wrong, but, on a positive note, mile-for-mile, we certainly got our money’s worth today! . It could only have been funnier if our Driver was a descendant of Portugal’s “Henry the Navigator“.

That was an adventure! And like all adventures, a degree of unpredictability can keep you sharp. We must be some of the sharpest Nutters around!

Lisbon revisited?

Providing it’s not by Bus!!! Seriously though: We really liked Lisbon and feel a return visit is on the cards, where we can spend longer just looking around. The fantastic weather obviously helped, but it ticked a lot of boxes for us two…

• Plenty of old buildings
• A mix of architectural styles
• Plenty of green open spaces
• Old shops and new ones too!
• Museums & Art Galleries

2.30pm: We’re all ‘bussed-out’! Some of us found a Bar whilst others headed back to the Ventura to put their feet up. Holidays can be SO stressful!

7.15pm: We met at Costa before heading ashore to find a Taxi for our evening meal.

Evening Meal – “Alfama Cellar”

As we’re on an overnighter here in Lisbon, we thought it would be good to see the local area at night. We’d booked a table at nearby Alfama Cellar, a short walk away.

7.35pm: It wasn’t the largest of restaurants, but they were big on hospitality, where our hosts took time to answer all our questions to help us make our decisions about what to eat. Language wasn’t an issue and it’s the first eatery where the ‘wine list’ was literally the wines on display around the restaurant. . They were happy to let us try any that we thought we’d like.

Gosh! It was warm inside though. Even with the AC doing its best! I think we all lost half-a-stone before we’d even ordered (which was probably a good thing, given what was to come!)

Again, what the restaurant lacked in size, it was big elsewhere – TASTE. We all enjoyed our respective choices, and I’ll be the first to admit that even though I’m a serious chocoholic, I needed help with my Dessert. The photograph above doesn’t really do it justice, but tonight, size WAS everything, and fortunately, some of my fellow Nutters helped me out! . Thanks Nutters!

9.36pm: Wow! What a fantastic experience – especially for our tastebuds! The Restaurant had a very cosy feel about it and we were all made to feel very welcome. The bill was wallet-friendly too, working out at around £76 per couple – that included 3 bottles of wine, 5 beers, 6 bottles of water, 3 Starters, 8 Mains and 3 Desserts.

9.44pm: It was good to be outside, even though it was still very warm at around 30°C!. As we took the slow wander back to Ventura, I was wondering how the Election had panned-out at home… and then 2 seconds later, I’d forgotten all about it – they’ll be time enough for that later and ‘holiday mode’ had rightly kicked back in! Most important of all – what a beautiful evening to be out with a group of Nutters!!

10.30pm: Back on board, we all did our own thing. Whilst some returned to Quiz Night, a few of us headed for the Havana Lounge to enjoy Dean Richardson as Freddie Mercury.

Obviously, no filming allowed, so here’s ‘Freddie’ performing on P&O Azura around a year ago. For me, he didn’t look like Freddie Mercury or particularly sound like him, nor have his idol’s mannerisms, but what did shine through was his showmanship. And that carried the evening with 101% audience participation and support, I’d say he had us right where he wanted us! And with three shows under his belt tonight he was clearly very, VERY popular. It’s worth mentioning the musicians too – Pulse – who demonstrated their ability to mimic Queen’s back catalogue with immense precision! A good show and a perfect end to the evening.

Tomorrow

Friday is our second and final day in Lisbon. Ann and I have a walking tour booked tomorrow that’ll take most of the morning!

11.35pm: What a couple of lightweights – an early night! Nighty night! See you all tomorrow!

Meanwhile, back in reality-land!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 4th July (Day 6) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Morning everyone! . Thanks for all the reads so far! Here we are with our fellow Northants Nutters, halfway through our 10-day adventure aboard P&O’s Ventura. It’s Day 5, and we’re moored in the Port of Vigo, on the north-east coast of Spain until mid-afternoon.

Missed a Post?

Day 1 – Setting Sail (eventually!)

Day 2 – Sea Day 1

Day 3 – Santander, Spain

Day 4 – Sea Day 2

Vigo?

Vigo is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ria de Vigo, the southernmost of the Rías Baixas. It is the capital of the comarca of Vigo. The municipality, with an area of 109.06 km² (42.11 sq mi) and (in 2022) a population of 292,374 is the most populous municipality in Galicia. The area of the municipality includes the Cíes Islands, part of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park. Once famous for its fishing industry, it is now better known for the Stellantis car factory that provides around 6000 local jobs.

Weather or not…

Actually, in spite of the above forecast, during the 8am tannoy announcement from the Bridge, they reminded us that it MIGHT hit 29°C later today and to make sure we were suitably protected. I took Ann!

9.30am: We all met at the now familiar on-board Costa before leaving the Ventura to take advantage of the good weather.

Just as previously at the Port in Santander, getting to the town in Vigo was super-simple. The Ventura had moored right next to the Cruise Terminal that was in turn in the centre of town. So, it was a just a short walk and we were where we need to be.

Vigotarians!

Thanks to some research by Rhonda, we made plans to head for the local Shopping Centre area to enjoy a 90-minute tour of the town via the Tourist Bus – and at just €7.50 each, it was great value. There’s no ‘red bus sightseeing tour’ here, so this was the next best thing! Cheers, Rhonda!

As the marketing material described it:-

“From open air, upper floor of the Vigo’s tourist bus you can discover some of the city’s most emblematic areas. Thanks to the commentary system, available in several languages, you’ll learn that Policarpo Sanz Street and García Barbón Street host most of Vigo’s museums and also who these personages were. The sightseeing tour stops at the best viewpoint over the Vigo estuary; you’ll discover the authentic city, its neighbourhoods like Coia, and it will also take you to the beautiful beaches of Vigo“.

More details HERE and even more HERE.

We’re on the Bus!

9.57am: It was certainly a popular choice! When we eventually found the bus-stop (as the photo shows, right opposite the Hotel Bahia de Vigo) it began to fill up quickly. There was no pre-booking facility, so it was a case of paying the driver as we boarded. By the time the Bus arrived at just before 10am, the queue was just beginning to outgrow the bus-shelter.

Given the gorgeous weather (the best since we began the Cruise) it was no surprise that the TOP deck was going to be popular. Luckily, The Nutters, were one of the first to board and by the time the Bus left at just before 10.20, the top-deck was full!

Unlike the Road-Train from earlier in the Cruise, the commentary via the headphones was perfectly audible AND we could control the volume – LUXURY! . We were soon on our way. We were last here PRE-blog days, so we’ve no idea exactly when it was (but we think at least 20 years!). As we began to soak up the view of the town, we remembered NOTHING of our previous visit – not a thing! Maybe that’s not unusual for ME, but for Ann not to recall anything must be a first!

The first thing we noticed – or rather, felt – was how hilly everywhere was here. So-much-so It reminded us of San Francisco!

It was also a busy town, but on the day we were here, not TOO busy. During the whole of the trip, we hardly got caught in any congestion at all and that made it an even more enjoyable experience as we cruised around the town without issue, but with a perfect view. I say ‘issue’ but there was that small matter of losing a passenger or two!

As we departed the castle walls after the first stop, one of our fellow travellers realised her husband was missing! Yes, really! . The Bus came to an immediate halt and after a few minutes, our left-behind traveller and his friend re-boarded – much to the merriment of the rest of us – and the embarrassment of a certain few!

With everyone back on board, we continued on our journey (keeping a very careful eye on our recently reunited passengers). I would say that Vigo doesn’t have a lot to see in terms of old buildings or shiny shops (if that’s your thing) but it was all very pleasant if you prefer just wandering around where it offers quite a few Bars and a large Park. But as previously mentioned, it is quite hilly. There’s an ‘old part’ to Vigo, but Ann and I have that on the list for next time!

There is quite a variety of fancy architecture and sculptures, and they’re worth a closer examination if you’re not whizzing by them at 50kph.

If you’re a beach-bunny though, the best is yet to come!

Vigo is very proud of its beaches. It offers close on 40. and has the highest number of ‘blue flags’ in Spain. You can read more about them HERE and the few that we saw looked absolutely gorgeous!!

11.57am: At just before midday, the Bus brought us back to pretty-much where we started. We all agreed that our next stop ought to be somewhere for a drink. A short walk later and closer to the water, we discovered Real Club Náutico – Vigo

12.15pm: We settled down in the corner where the semi-covered area offered some protection from the blazing Sun, and we were soon slurping our beers and coffees and reflecting on the bus tour. We all considered it to be exceptionally good value, given the distance covered and the (small) amount we paid. A ‘must do’ if you’re here! But if you’re following in our footsteps, note the following:-

• First Bus is 10am
• Next Bus is 12 noon, then 4.30, the 6.30pm
• Pay on-board – they take cash or card
• This is not your normal ‘hop-on-hop-off’. If you hop-off, you’ll wait about two hours for the next Bus
• There are only THREE stops where you can get off – Monte O Castro: 10 minutes/Pazo Quiñones de León: 5 minutes/Samil Beach: 6 minutes

Everything else you need to know is HERE.

12.55pm: Ann and I headed back to the Ventura, whilst the others explored more of Vigo at ground level.

12.50pm: With the weather being so good, it had been a very enjoyable experience getting a feel for Vigo.

Back on board, we grabbed a quick bite in the Buffet. Ann then found a spot on deck to soak up some rays, whilst I carried on catching up with my reading.

Sail Away

3.30pm: We’re on deck as we sail out of Vigo heading for Lisbon, 230 nautical miles away.

Nutters, Natters and Nibbles!

5.35pm: This was a real collaborative effort! Paul & Sue provided the balcony, Richard & Nicki, the nibbles, whilst Ann & I brought the fizz.

To Bay Tree Restaurant

Next stop? More food and drink!

6.40pm: If it’s 6.30 (ish) it must mean it’s time for first sitting – and our regular trip to Ventura’s Bay Tree Restaurant. Last night’s meal was the best so far, so let’s see if they can match it! . They did! . Most of us tried the Butter Chicken Curry which went down a treat!

Tonight’s Entertainment

8.30pm: Tonight’s treat at the Theatre was Showmaddymaddy and absolutely no prizes for guessing who they were a tribute to… . And if we thought they looked a little like Badness, who we’d seen a few nights ago, it was because it was the same six fellas! No problem with that, as Badness were fantastic!

An almost full-house again tonight, but unfortunately, the usual ‘no filming or recording of any sort’ rule applied, so here they are in concert around 10 months ago.

9.35pm: Just time to drop into the Havana Lounge to see the final 15 minutes of the Headliners Theatre Company vocalists performing ‘Hitzville USA’ – a tribute to Motown music, specifically, The Temptations and The Four Tops. Again, an excellent production and performance!

Late Night Quiz

10.30pm: We’d missed the Quiz last night, so this evening was an opportunity to make up for that! Geoff & Rhonda sat this out as they had an early start tomorrow in Lisbon, leaving Richard & Nicki, Paul & Sue, Ann and yours truly to fly the flag for the Northants Nutters. It was a great turnout and I counted upwards of 70 people taking part. We retained our alter-ego of ‘Table 16’ from the previous round and knuckled down a tough (but enjoyable) evening of stimulating our grey matter.

An hour later, it was all over, and with our QuizMaster struggling with a wayward PA system, ‘Team 3’ were announced as winners with 13/20 correct answers, whilst we weren’t too shabby with a total of 12! The winners received the statutory bottle of P&O wine. Reputations intact, we called it a night!

Tomorrow…

We arrive in Lisbon around 7am-ish. After breakfast, we’re going on one of the official sightseeing Bus Tours, whilst in the evening, we’re venturing out to a restaurant in the city.

11.45pm: The ship’s clocks went BACK an hour tonight – that was useful!!! . Nighty-night! See you tomorrow in Lisbon!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 3rd July (Day 5) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group on board P&O’s Ventura! It’s Day 4 (of 10) and it’s our second sea day. Tonight is another ‘formal’ night where most of us will be dressing up. Prepare for some ‘bling overload’ and ‘Bond Lookalikes’ later!

Missed a Post?

Day 1 – Ship Ahoy! (eventually!)

Day 2 – Sea Day 1

Day 3 – Santander, Spain

Morning everyone! We’ve a lazy one today as it’s another ‘sea day’ as we head west from Santander to the north-west coast of Spain and Vigo, famous for its fishing industry. OK, Geography lesson over and back to the story… We all did our own thing for breakfast and agreed to meet up later.

10.15am: Whilst Ann found a quiet spot on deck, I made a big dent in my reading list that has been building up for weeks.

11.55am: We all began to gather early in The Exchange Bar to ensure we got a comfy seat – or even just a seat!

12.10pm: Nutters assembled.

12.15pm: We were here for the main event: The ongoing ‘Battle of the Exchange’ Quiz! As things turned out, it wasn’t quite as well-supported today compared with the first round a few days back, but you could feel the anticipation in the air despite the reduction in numbers. Once again, youthful Jasmine was our team captain – well, for most of it! Bizarrely, she disappeared about halfway through, leaving Mum to assume command! In the opposing corner was ‘Team Lydia’ except that Lydia didn’t show and was replaced by Sharon. Boy! It was getting complicated already – and that was before they began asking the questions! . Rumours of the Quiz being renamed ‘Battle of Herding Cats’ were grossly exaggerated. . Instead, I’ve suggested we have a round in the future called ‘Team Captains from the Past’.

Let battle commence – miaow! . (Sarcasm mode disengaged!!!)

Today’s round was about music and just as before, there was the option of ‘hard’, medium’ and ‘easy’ categories available for each question as dictated by the Team captains. The obsession of choosing ‘hard’ turned out to make it all VERY challenging, where, in most cases, ‘hard’ was always about ‘guess the year’. We persisted but it did feel like were weren’t quite at our best.

Consequently, when after the final question had been asked, we felt we hadn’t done very well this time, but by the end, the numbers told a different story. When the scores from today had been added up, we learned our fate: Team Jasmine (us!) – 165 points and Team Lydia Sharon – 105 points. Cumulatively, taking into account Round 1, sadly, a reversal of fortunes for us: Team Jasmine – 415 points and Team Lydia aka Sharon – 485 points. It was therefore all to play for at the third and final Round this coming Sunday. Ooo, the pressure! . Still, it’s NOT about the winning is it? (Answers via WhatApp, please!) .

Pre-Dinner Drinks

5.45pm: In a break with the tradition of Nibbles at a Nutters, instead, most of us met at The Red Bar to watch and listen to ‘pre-dinner melodies’ with Hannah Gerendus tinkling the ivories whilst we slowly sipped away! It was a great start to the evening activities where we even managed to avoid the Ship’s photographer (not easy – it takes skill and experience!). Instead, we got our Waiter to do the honours. “Scrubbed up well” sprang to mind.

Baytree Restaurant

6.35pm: Off to ‘our’ eatery for the Cruise – The Baytree Restaurant.

Tonight’s menu had a helping hand from top Chef, Marco Pierre White

For us, the best meal so far!

Theatre – “Magic Moments”

Tonight, the Ship’s Theatre Company: Headliners presented the life and music of Burt Bacharach (yes, it’s official – we’re OLD! ) and do you know what? It was SUPERB! It was amazing to realise how many tunes, together with Hal David, that he churned out – and for so many stars too, including Cilla Black, Dionne Warwick, Tom Jones and many others. This was such a professional production. The singing, the dancing, the choreography, the set, the lighting and the support graphics – everything – all worked seamlessly to give us a memorable production, easily as good as any West End show. A comprehensive list is HERE – how many can you hum?

…and finally

9.35pm: Last stop for us was a visit to Metropolis right at the top of the Ship on Deck 18 together with Geoff & Rhonda. A classy Bar area that was already very busy, but crucially, it was a quiet space to reflect on the evening. On other vessels, this has been at the FRONT, by design – what made this different was that it’s at the BACK of Ventura!

Tomorrow…

After we land in Vigo, after Breakfast, we’re off on a Tour organised by the Tourist Board, all thanks to some research by Rhonda. At a paltry €7.50 each, it compares very favourably with the excursions offered by P&O. The Tour lasts around 90 minutes and at the moment, the weather looks perfect for it.

10.35pm: After role-playing ‘Party Animals’ until almost midnight last night, this mind and body wasn’t built of strong enough stuff to manage another one within 24 hours . We chilled-out in the room briefly, before crashing-out! Yep! ‘Lightweights’ – that’s us! See you in the morning!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 2nd July (Day 4) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Morning all! It’s Monday, and here we are, aboard P&O’s Ventura, as part of the Northants Nutters group. It’s Day 3 and we’re here in Santander, Spain. .

The clocks went forward an hour last night, so at least one of us is a little bleary-eyed this morning!

Missed a Post?

Day 1 – Saturday 29th – Ship Ahoy!

Day 2 – Sunday 30th – Sea Day 1

Day 3 – Monday, 1st

7.15am: Yes, it all looked a little overcast and dull when we first peered through the window this morning!

9.10am: Our first stop today was the Buffet for breakfast. It was busy, but manageable. The food was piping hot and there were plenty of staff on hand to serve us.

10.25am: We had all agreed to meet up at the Costa on the ship to get our bearings and plan out our day. We knew of the Road Train – the Magdalena Train Experience – that took us to the Castle, but on our way out of breakfast, we also noticed a red sightseeing double-decker bus parking opposite the Ventura in the town. A quick message to them via their website confirmed they WEREN’T operating today (so obviously, the driver was lost or just getting ahead! ).

10.43am: It was simplicity itself to get into the town – we just walked off the ship straight into the Terminal. A few minutes later we were on the streets of Santander. As we disembarked, what amazed us was how many of our fellow travellers were rejoining the ship! We thought we were pretty quick off the mark, but some had already had breakfast and been into the town. The other thing that surprised us was the WEATHER! Our fellow travellers were soaked, and we could see as we headed for the gangplank – umbrellas were up!

There were no taxis immediately outside the Terminal – which was a little surprising – but we were advised to take the short walk in the direction of the main railway station. It only took a few minutes and there were plenty of taxis, as promised. The eight of us spread ourselves evenly across two vehicles, and we were soon on our way. The journey took around 15 minutes and cost us a total of (just) €6 per taxi! In our book, it was GREAT value.

11.15am: The Road-Train had arrived, and after a few bungled attempts by the staff to scan our tickets, we were all aboard – then things got noisy!

Really noisy!

REALLY, really noisy!

For reasons best known to the driver, the volume of the guided audio tour being piped through the carriage speakers was dialled up to 12 29, the sound was heavily distorted and in Spanish only! No problem, we thought, a quick word with the driver should put things right…

Sort of!

The solution? We were each handed headphones which we could plug into the consoles in front of us. So far, so normal! The good news? The headphones worked a treat, and we located the English Channel. The bad news? The Driver wouldn’t/couldn’t/didn’t turn off the Spanish commentary through the main speakers, so we couldn’t hear the English commentary anyway!

The next solution was even simpler (in theory, anyway!) – ask the driver to turn the volume down on the Spanish version. No such luck as we were told, in very broken English, that the volume couldn’t be adjusted! . So, our short ride was ruined because we literally couldn’t hear ourselves think. For once, it was an advantage if you wore a hearing aid, as turning the volume down, solved the problem – Well done Paul, the Nutter! It was all very disappointing, but we did have a laugh about it afterwards (for all of about three seconds!).

The views from the train weren’t particularly ‘amazing’ but I’ve captured a few above, just for the record.

11.40am: Twenty-five minutes later, we were back where we started – and temporarily totally deaf!

On the cultural front, the local area boasts a mini-aquatic-zoo housed in their Parque Marino de la Magdalena. Featuring penguins and sea-lions (minus the penguins), it’s worth a look around to pass the time.

It was all free, and the Park itself offered some stunning views out to sea.

…plus other amazing views…

12.06pm: With our wander around the Zoo and the Park, our next priority was a beverage of some sort. We headed off in the direction of – err, nowhere in particular – in search of any Bar or Café.

Our wanderings took into some stunning views, both out to sea and inwardly, taking in the local architecture. The increasingly improving weather helped make this a very pleasant experience, with the temperature just perfect for walking (at a gentle 20°C).

We found our Bar! - Balneario De La Concha.

It was quite unassuming from the street level, but on heading down via the stairs, we were soon seated with stunning views of the beach and further out to sea.

With a combo of beers and coffees, we all commented on how much we were enjoying the day so far and each other’s company. Our first impressions of Santander were all very positive – clean, tidy, easy to get around plus stunning beaches. Whilst enjoying the views, Richard tested our general knowledge with a few questions from last night’s Quiz (that most of us missed!) . Happy days!

1.25pm: That was enjoyable! Time though to make our way back in the direction of the good ship, Ventura.

Rather than attempt to find a taxi, we decided to try out the local buses. A short walk back up the hill on the opposite side of the road was a bus-stop – Luis Martίnez – near the Grand Hotel Victoria. A quick inspection of the timetable revealed that pretty much ANY Bus would get us back to the Cruise Port – and all for a paltry sum of €1.30 each. Ten minutes later, we were ‘all aboard’ the bus and after a brief ‘lost in translation’ moment, the Nutters and the Bus Driver were in perfect harmony – heading for ‘home’.

Ann and I left the rest of the Nutters to explore the town whilst we took a slow walk back to the Ventura. It really was the shortest of walks, taking no longer than 10 minutes.

After a quick freshen-up, we headed for the Laguna Pool and the ‘Flamenco demonstration’. We both assumed it was flamenco dancing, but based on the first ten minutes, it was flamenco-style SINGING – you probably know the sort of sound: like a cat being strangled! . Nope! Not for us and we retreated back to e330. We probably should have stayed longer, because on re-reading the in-cabin newspaper, it was a mixture of both.

Fizz and Nibbles!

5.30pm: It’s a Northants Nutters tradition that each couple take it in turn to host a pre-dinner ‘Fizz and Nibbles’ event. Tonight, it was Paul & Sue in c435. Well, that was a good start to the evening! Cheers, you two!

The Restaurant

6.35pm: It’s only Day 3 and we seem to have spent most of our time, eating, drinking and laughing! Tough life, ehh?!?!

Tonight’s Entertainment

The headline act tonight was ‘Badness’ a UK-based tribute act to Madness, Bad Manners and Ska.

8.30pm: Word had got around! Pretty much a full house tonight!

The Band didn’t disappoint! We may not all have been fans of the originals, but no-one could fault these guys for their professionalism, energy and musicianship. We two, enjoyed everything about them, and it was amazing how many tunes we knew word-for-word. One Step Beyond!!!!

More Music…

In complete contrast, we wandered along to The Tamarind Club for some old-style ‘big band’ music from the 40s courtesy of The Ventura Orchestra.

Sail Away!

10.05pm: Just time to head out on deck to see the Ventura up-anchor and sail out of Santander. Next stop, Vigo.

Late Night Quiz

10.29pm: What’s this? It’s almost 10.30, and we’re both still up!!! . Party Animals, us!!!! So, here we are at the late-night quiz. I estimated there must have been near to 70 people ready to test their little grey cells where this felt like a serious quiz for serious quizzers! Because there were eight of us (and the rules suggested a maximum of 6 per team) we formed two. With Richard, Geoff, Rhonda, Ann and yours truly in one team, and Sue, Nicki and Paul in the other, we were almost ready to go. But not before the others recruited some extra youth and wisdom onto their side by way of persuading some random guests to join them. Desperate measures or good strategic thinking? You decide!

It was a tough one, with 20 questions covering a wide range of topics. It helped our daily step-count too requiring us to write down the answer and then walk to the front of the room and hand over our guess calculated response Some groups did much better than others, where for me the ‘daftest’ answer of the evening was to the question: “When was the Battle of Britain?” – answer? “1066”.

I blame the Government!

11.40pm: With the final question posed and the ‘scores on the doors’ totalled up, both of our teams did well. We didn’t win, but we were in the top 3. The Northants Nutters are back on form!

Tomorrow…

It’s the second of our (three) sea days. Our next stop is Vigo in Spain on Wednesday.

11.56pm: It’s been a long one! Sleep well!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 1st July (Day 3) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Morning all! Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 2 – Sunday – and a sea day aboard the good ship, Ventura. Our next stop? Santander, tomorrow. Today, for many, the highlight of the day will be the televised soccer match between England and Slovakia (more about that later!) – or should that read lowlight?

7.05am: We both slept well (a good sign for our first night on board!)

8.57am: Being a Sunday, I thought it would be quiet in the Restaurant at this time. Err, no! It was packed, and with a promised ’45 minute wait’ for a table for two, we joined a larger table with a view out to sea. A shame then that it was grey and raining!

After breakfast, we took a gentle stroll on deck. Fortunately, the rain had ceased, but it was blowing a gale. Ann managed to find a sheltered spot to soak up a few rays, whilst I found a sheltered spot for the morning aerobics class. No, I’d not had an epiphany, I was casually observing the daily class near the Atrium, whilst catching up with my reading!

As I sat soaking up my pages, the Atrium became busier and busier – in fact, I’d go as far as to say, based on the sheer number of people around generally, this is the busiest Cruise I’ve ever been on. Even if the Ventura WASN’T full (it probably was!), it certainly felt it! Hardly a spare seat anywhere inside!

Quiz time!

12.15pm: One thing, we, the Nutters have a great track record in – is Quizzes. So, with the might of the WHOLE Northants Nutters complement combining their brain cells, we felt lucky today! Picture the scene: The Exchange Bar, packed wall-to-wall, with just about enough seats to go around. The whole Bar was split into two teams – ‘Jasmine’ and ‘Lydia’ teams were formed and named after the Team Captains, where today was just the first round of three! Each team – probably with about 50 people in each – was asked a question and if they got it correct (after consulting their half of the Bar) points were awarded. If wrong, the question was offered to the other side. To make it more interesting (read ‘confusing’) before the questions were asked, the opposing team could choose whether the question was going to be ‘hard, ‘medium’ or ‘easy’. Do try and keep up!

Strangely, on every occasion, the ‘hard’ category was chosen! And those questions certainly lived up to their name!!! . “What famous nursery rhyme did Edison use during his experiments?”, “What’s the currency of Brazil?” and “Which Shakespearean play is The Lion King based on?” – just 3 of the 20… and the others were similarly challenging. . At this point, most of our half of the Bar had given up and returned to their drinks!

It was a tough one. In the end, our ‘team’ were runners-up (that’s the ‘polite version’ of course, as there were only TWO teams) so it wasn’t not a great result. Scores at the end of Round 1: Lydia – 380, Jasmine – 250. Round 2 is on Tuesday.

After the Quiz, we revised our plans for tonight and decided that we WOULDN’T dress up. Instead, we’re going to watch the football in its entirety and then head for the Buffet for a quick bite, followed by the Comedian, Jason Stampe and then the Theatre to see ‘On the Horizon’.

Most of us decided to grab a quick lunch, but it seemed the rest of the ship had the same idea, and the queues put a few of us off the idea. We therefore all went our separate ways, agreeing to meet up for the Bingo at 4.15pm.

Lunch

Geoff, Rhonda, Ann and I stuck within and queued, heading for a quick bite in the Saffron restaurant. We politely stood in-line for around 15 minutes. We were then given a pager, and after another 15 minutes, we were being shown to our table. We’re only on day 2 and I don’t recall EVER having to queue so much, and so often, on any other cruise we’ve been on – and it was beginning to become irritating.

1.40pm: We finally got a table in a very busy restaurant. The food may have been plain and simple, but given the wait-time, it went down a treat!

2.30pm: Time for a quick ‘feet up’ before heading for the Bingo.

The Bingo

Off to the Havana Lounge! We arrived early – and good job too, as it was already busy, but we located the rest of the Nutters and were soon settling down with dabbers in hand!

4.15pm: Going to the Bingo this afternoon was more strategic than financial! Nicki’s suggestion was that we should be part of the Bingo because it was in the same room as the football match that began straight after. Being there already, meant we wouldn’t have to fight for a seat! Genius! . There was also the added incentive of this being ‘Bigga Bingo’ with its ‘Mega Jackpot’ offering prizes to match, where the top prize was a whopping £5000. For some of us Nutters, it wasn’t our natural habitat, but it was impossible not to get caught up with the enthusiasm of many of the others there. Well, we weren’t there for the money, were we? Honest!!! – which was just as well really, as we didn’t win a bean. Oh well, at least we’ve got prime seats for the soccer!

The Football

5.00pm: It’s no secret that England’s performance this time in the Euros has been lack-lustre. Mind you, as a non-expert in these things, so has everyone other team! The England super-fans, showing incredibly short memories have the Coach, Gareth Southgate, once the hero of English Soccer Coaches, now portrayed as the Devil Incarnate, even though England sit at the top of their Group. Curious! . Anyway, as a somewhat part-time fan of the national game, we kept our space and were in prime position for the Nutters to see it on the big screen. Now all we needed was a win!

What a nail-biting match! . I don’t think anyone could have predicted who would score first, plus how the final score would play out! It was one of the most stressful soccer matches I’ve ever seen in my life (and I used to support Crystal Palace, back in the 70s). The second half, even more so – and extra time, almost unwatchable for this part-time punter! . England got there in the end, but was it skill or luck or fate? Maybe it doesn’t matter! . The Havana Lounge erupted as the final whistle blew, where some extra excitement was seen next to us where an over-enthusiastic fan, in his excitement, catapulted his pint all over the group in front (who were all dressed up in their finery!). Good job we won, ehh?!

Buffet Time

8.05pm: After a quick refresh back in our rooms, we all met up in the Buffet on Deck 15 for a nibble and an opportunity to calm our nerves after the soccer. The food here has been better than we remember from the Buffet and tonight was no exception. My Pork Curry and Ann’s Italian Meatballs was delicious, and there was a good range of Desserts and Cheese too! I’ve unkindly referred to the Buffet onboard cruise ships as ‘the troughery’ – but this was very different. Yummy!

Jason Stampe – Comedian

9.15pm: By the time we arrived back in the Havana Lounge, word had obviously got around and the place was, once again, pretty much at capacity. We grabbed the last table in the corner, where we unfortunately couldn’t see the stage. However, they had TV monitors positioned around the perimeter, giving us the perfect view of tonight’s comedian: Jason Stampe. None of us had heard of Jason, but the capacity crowd gave us hope that we were in for a good time.

Err, we WEREN’T!

Jason came across as a bit of a ‘cor blimey geezer’ type of guy as he reflected on parenthood and getting married (amongst many other domestic-based topics). Although his material was vaguely amusing, he certainly wasn’t laugh out loud (or, based on the audience reaction, laugh out at ANY volume!) . He just didn’t click with the majority of the audience, although there was occasionally, some polite laughter. Luckily, he was only on for around 30 minutes, but it felt longer! A real shame, as I’m sure in the past, he’s delivered to more appreciative audiences than us tonight.

Phew! What days! I think the soccer match exhausted most of us. Whilst Paul & Sue flew the flag for the Nutters, the rest of us decided to skip the late-night quiz and the Theatre and head for bed.

10.25pm: That’s it from us today. Tomorrow we dock in Santander, where the weather forecast suggests a whopping 19 degrees with light showers. See you then! Night-night!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 30th June (Day 2) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Welcome to Day 1. Here we are, aka The Northants Nutters group – and we’re all at sea!.

In fact, we’re building up quite a travel record together…

Northants Nutters® Tour Dates

Our first Warner experience
Warner Weekend 2019 – Littlecote House Hotel
(March 2019)

Our second visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2020 – Holme Lacy House
(March 2020)

Our third visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2021 – Gunton Hall
(August 2021)

Our fourth visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2022 – Alvaston Hall
(January 2022)

…and then we went abroad…
we flew to Cyprus!!
Northants Nutters abroad
(November 2022)

…and then we were all at sea!
Northants Nutters at Sea
(August 2023)

Last year, in August, we decided to try cruising as a group for the very first time. We enjoyed it (and each other’s company) so much, that we agreed we’d do it all again! So, with the bookings made, here we all are aboard the good ship Ventura for a 10-day affair taking in Spain, Portugal… and Guernsey!

Unlike our last Cruise together where our cabins were all pretty close to each other, this time we’re all over the Ship! We’re on Deck 8 – Cabin e330 – with a partial view of a lifeboat. whilst half of the Nutters are a few decks above! Ah well, it’ll help with my daily step-count!

A few days before we left, P&O sent out an email informing us to all arrive TWO HOURS LATER than planned. All very mysterious, but it turned out to be ‘more of the same’ (from a few months back) where back then, Ventura required a ‘deep clean’ after a nasty outbreak of Norovirus! Oooo err! as they say! And no doubt, the full facts about this latest incident will emerge once we’re on board! . In fact, we didn’t have to wait that long as the ‘mystery’ was revealed, making the BBC News HERE.

It wasn’t quite what ‘unique cruise’ conjured up, but it was too late to turn back now!

Elsewhere, just to make things even more challenging, no-one had told our ‘meeters and greeters’ who were taking care of our car about the suggested later arrival – and they were closing at 3pm! We had been told not to get there until the revised time of 2.45pm (but that was a bit close for comfort in my book) so we ignored the official advice (like many others, as it would turn out) and left with plenty of time to spare.

9.30am: We’re off! It was a good journey overall, but we hit pockets of congestion along the route. All things considered, though, pretty uneventful – that made for a good start!

But things were about to change!

2.35pm: When we arrived to drop the car off, the car-park was absolutely manic, and all the staff we spoke to, appeared VERY stressed! . However, despite the volume of cars and people, we were soon ‘meeted’ and ‘greeted’ with ‘EVie’ taken care of in double-quick time.

At last, we were on our way to the Departure Terminal! Without doubt, this was the busiest we’d seen the Mayflower Terminal in many, many years, and it all looked a little disorganised and chaotic, with queues for dropping off luggage and more queues waiting outside for the doors to open (literally). Clearly, like us, a lot of people had ignored the ‘arrive two hours later’ email and all turned up around the same time.

2.45pm: After a few WhatsApps, we worked out that we were the first pair of Nutters to arrive with Paul & Sue closely behind, then Rich & Nicki and finally, Geoff & Rhonda. Queues, queues and more queues still seemed to be the order of the day – and whilst we waited, it brought out the best (and worst! Yes, ‘gobby Scots woman’, we’re looking at you!) of human nature whilst we all enjoyed ‘the outdoors’ a little earlier (and longer) than planned!

From dropping-off the car and getting on board took us just under an hour, but others weren’t so lucky. It wasn’t the greatest of starts to the break – but queueing is a national sport for us Brits, isn’t it?

3.40pm: With all the challenges now behind us, we were finally – officially – onboard. Whilst we waited for our fellow Nutters to join us, we headed for the Buffet for a quick nibble. Next stop? – our home for the next ten days – Cabin E330.

Jessica introduced herself as our Cabin Steward and explained the essentials – at last, after the fiasco of waiting to board, some order and calm had finally arrived!

By the time we were ALL on board, it was gone 5. We all agreed to meet up for our first evening meal, at 6.30pm, in the Baytree Restaurant.

6.30pm: It’s all go! Here we are in the Baytree Restaurant as we (eventually) set sail down the Solent out of Southampton, with a day at sea ahead of us before our first stop in Santander, Spain. The tannoy reminders for two guests (and then three) who clearly hadn’t checked-in properly (or had gone AWOL) – err, HOW? – became a constant reminder that even simple things can sometimes go wrong. I’m not sure whether they found them, but after about 30 minutes, the announcements fell silent, leaving us to enjoy our meal and head for sunnier climes.

The service was a tad slow (as it often is on ‘first night’) but we enjoyed our food, our serving staff were all smiles and politeness whilst, of course, it was good to all be together with our fellow Nutters after the initial chaos.

9.48pm: We ended our evening in the Bar (The Glass House) – one of eleven Bars onboard – where over cocktails and other beverages, we planned tomorrow’s activities. There’s the England match showing onboard tomorrow and for some of us, that’s a must-see, for others – a must avoid! Ventura feels busy, but there are plenty of staff too! Since we were last here in 2013, the Ventura has had at least one makeover, and looks all the better for it.

Ahh, a calm and relaxing end to the day (and after today’s shenanigans, just how it should be). Tomorrow, we have a day at sea, heading for Santander!

See you Sunday!

10.22pm: A late for us these days! Nighty-night!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 29th June (Day 1) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Monday 14th August

Morning all!

Whoosh! That’s passed very quickly! It’s our final day (Day 5) where, for the past five days, the Northants Nutters® have been ‘all at sea’ courtesy of P&O and the good ship, Aurora!

We’ve taken in Hamburg and Zeebrugge along the way and the weather has, overall, been very kind to us.

7.14am: After an overnight sail, we’re now docked in Zeebrugge.

The Journey so far…

Day 1 – Departing Southampton
Day 2 – All at Sea
Day 3 – Liking Lübeck (and Hamburg!)
Day 4 – Sedate Sunday

Our plan today is to travel to the town of Bruges using the train rather than use one of P&O’s excursion packages. For a start, it would be cheaper; second, we could fit around our own timings. But first, we had to get from the Zeebrugge Docks to the nearest railway station – Blankenberge. Why so challenging? The Dock Authorities don’t allow members of the public to wander around the Dock area, so the first leg was to jump on board the free shuttle-bus – so far, so cheap! .

Next, we boarded the 9.53 for the very short 11-minute journey from Blankenberge to Bruges. Best of all, it was also super cheap today! Why? Luckily for us, today was ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ and so the total ticket price for the eight of us was a very wallet-friendly 28 Euros… and that was for a RETURN ticket! That worked out to be around £3.03 each, there and back!! . Fantastic value, especially as P&O charged £40 per person just to get you to Bruges (and £71 if you wanted the guided tour on top). We were quids in already! . Word to the wise though – the trains are only one per hour, there and the same back, so watch your timings!

Bruges!

The city of Bruges (pop. c117000) is often referred to as the ‘Venice of the North‘ because of its canal system – and the canals were on our list!

We really couldn’t have picked a better day for it weather-wise – it was glorious, even warmer at 10am than the forecast suggested. After exiting the Station, We took the 25-minute walk towards the centre of town, having already planned to take a boat trip around the canal system FIRST simply to beat the hoards of fellow passengers that were to follow later.

It proved to be a smart move, as we only queued for around 15 minutes AND we had the luxury of being able to sit down undercover, keeping us cool for most of the waiting period. There are quite a few companies operating boat tours, and we picked this one simply because it was the first we saw.

9.45am: All aboard! Tickets were a reasonable 12 Euros each, and we were soon on our way.

The commentary was in English and considering it wasn’t our skipper’s first language, he made it humorous and educational.

It really was the perfect day for our river trip!!

We all agreed that it had been a great experience, and where the stunning architecture will be a lasting memory. The whole trip lasted just under half-an-hour and was worth every cent!

10.35am: Our next stop (briefly!) was a quick look around the market stalls near to where we picked up the boat. Everything – and anything – you didn’t think you needed was on offer! (well, nearly!). From car-horns to kettles, fudge to fridge magnets, there was something for everyone (or, no-one!)

10.40am: Next, the short walk to the Market Square. It was already beginning to get busy, and this was before 11am! Time for some light refreshments, but first we needed to find space for 8 of us, preferably outside, but with some shade.

The Brasserie De Vier Winden suited our requirements perfectly, and we were soon looking through their extensive menu, including a comprehensive wine list (of course!)

…and as the saying goes: “When in Rome…”, it would have been rude, whilst in Belgium, NOT to try the Waffles.

So we did! In a word… ‘Yummy’… in two words: ‘Yummy, Yummy!’.

11.45am: As we got closer to midday, it was now busier and hotter, so we decided to make the most of our short stay – by splitting up (not permanently!) . We agreed to meet up again in two hours after doing our own thing. That would then give us just enough time to walk back to the Station and catch the 14.55. Ann and I decided to spend that time just wandering around the immediate area and admiring the local architecture.

Unfortunately, we missed the opportunity of looking around the famous cathedral – Sint-Salvatorskathedraal, having arrived at 12.55 – and where it was closing at 1pm for an hour! . There was so much to see here, and the small sample of photos above don’t really do this beautiful town justice.

2.05pm: We all met up near the Burger King where we unanimously felt that Bruges is one of those places that deserves a return visit – and I’m sure we’ll be doing that before too long. We were ‘on the clock’ and sadly, it was time for the walk back to the Station. What could possibly go wrong? . Ooops! Let’s say we took the scenic route, but we still arrived back at Bruges Station with around 10 minutes to spare. Phew!

4.02pm: We were back in our room just after 4pm. We all felt a little tired, but the timings had worked out well, and we’d all had a great day. So, just time for a cuppa and a short snooze before the evening events.

Pre-Dinner Drinkies

6.00pm: For the final time this break, it was time for our daily pre-dinner drinkies. Paul and Sue hosted tonight. We were spoilt again – crisps too!

Our Final Evening Meal

6.55pm: It was a return to the Medina Restaurant tonight. The service was a little sluggish, but generally, the food went down well all around. What slowed things down was the reintroduction of that old P&O tradition of thanking the Chefs and Waiters for all their hard work during our Cruise. It was well deserved of course, but we’d arrived earlier than usual, in order to get to the evening entertainment a little earlier.

Tonight’s Entertainment

8.30pm: Tonight, it was a return visit by Josh Adams. He sang more tonight, although finding the funny bones in ALL of the Nutters was still a step too far. For us two, we felt that his performance was much more polished than previously and he certainly had a lot more of the audience ‘with him’ judging by the volume of laughter. Ironically, I still think his singing voice was his stronger talent.

9.25pm: After the entertainment, we headed for a final ‘shandy’ in the Crow’s Nest.

The (Final) Syndicate Quiz

10.30pm: This is turning into a really popular event – it was pretty much full by the time we arrived! Ignoring the rules and forming a team of EIGHT (they suggest a maximum of SIX) just shows how edgy we can get as the Nutters! . It didn’t help us much though, and we finished quite a way down the board! It wasn’t our strongest performance tonight, but still, it’s only a game, ehh?*

*No, it’s not!

On a happier note, Ann and I learned that in our absence LAST NIGHT, the Northants Nutters® actually won the Syndicate Quiz! So, it’s probably best to finish on a high!

That’s it for this holiday!
This is the Northants Nutters® signing off for this, their first sea-born adventure!
Next stop? Home!!

Thanks for all your comments.
For just the Photo-Reel and none of my chat
CLICK HERE

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 5 appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Sunday 13th August

What you may have missed…
Thursday 10th: Day 1 – Leaving Southampton
Friday 11th: Day 2 – All at Sea
Saturday 12th: Day 3 – Loving Lübeck (and Hamburg!)

Phew! A busy one yesterday, where, as a result, ONE of us, is feeling a bit tender this morning! (clue: it’s NOT Ann).

It’s now Day 4 and The Northants Nutters are still ‘all at sea’ courtesy of P&O on the good ship Aurora! It’s a five-nighter, taking in Hamburg and Zeebrugge.

Up anchor was just after 5.30am this morning, and we’re now sailing along the Elbe heading for our next stop – Zeebrugge.

After last night’s credible performance by the Nutters at the Syndicate Quiz, we were looking forward to a new challenge in the shape of another of the Aurora’s Jukebox Hero Quizzes later this afternoon. OK, we didn’t win last night, but we were up there in the top three, thanks to our combined ‘Nutty’ talents.

Until then, we’re all doing our own thing at our own pace – just how it should be! It is Sunday after all!

Lazy Breakfast

9.26am: A quick hour-or-so writing before Ann and I headed for the Horizon Restaurant aka ‘the Buffet’ aka ‘The Troughery’. The latter description is probably a little unkind, but maybe it’s our timing, because it’s always a bit of a stampede whenever we go there. Still, at least you can get pretty much anything you want to eat! As expected then, even for a sedate Sunday morning, it was pretty busy, and where a vacant table for two, took some finding.

We found one! And whilst we tucked into our first meal of the day, we enjoyed some very pleasant shoreside scenes as we sailed along the Elbe (but I’d left my camera phone in our room, so no pics!!!). Doh!

Good to see the ‘Body Sculpting Boot Camp’ is still available!!

Lazy Lunch

Well, that’s a first! The Horizon Restaurant WASN’T heaving with starving souls eager to pile on a few more kilos!!! . Time for a lazy lunch including some ‘brain food’ prior to our next event. (Steak & Mushroom Pie IS brain food isn’t it?)

The Afternoon Quiz – ‘Jukebox Hero’

2.00pm: Here we go! .

Perhaps not quite as busy as our first visit, earlier in the Cruise, but it still attracted quite a few. Boy! It was tough! They also brought in a new rule about ‘maximum 6’ for team sizes, so Richard & Nicki were forced to sit this one out. Twenty questions later, in spite of the difficulty, there were three teams who gained top marks (in the 30s). The quiz-master decided to put it to the vote as to whether the high scorers should be subject to a tie-breaker or instead, perform a dance-off to determine the ultimate winner. Whether it was the (non-winning) audience getting their revenge or a genuine preference, the vote went in favour of the latter and the three teams quickly nominated their ‘lucky team member’ who’d represent them.

The dance moves began! Based on the energy on display and his sheer agility, there was clearly only one winner (by some margin!) as judged by the loud cheers from the audience. Kevin was duly declared the victor (In an inspiration for ‘Dad Dancers’ everywhere, he was the oldest of the three by some margin!) .

Then, after a quick pint and a natter with Richard & Nicki, it was back to the room for me and a short siesta.

Our turn to host…

6.15pm: All round to ours tonight for pre-dinner drinkies, where we polished off a bottle of champers and a zero-alcohol Cava – Freixenet. Nicki provided the nibbles, setting us up perfectly for the evening ahead!

Freestyle Dining

7.05pm: Our second night of dining ‘freestyle’ – turn up at any time! The service was great but the food, for some of us, didn’t quite hit the mark tonight.

Entertainment

Tonight, we headed for Carmen’s and the Headliner’s Theatre Company presentation of ‘Up All Night’. The title sounded like a Carry-on film (ooo err Matron!), so we weren’t sure what to expect! ‘Headliners’ are the in-house performers and singers and we’d seen them earlier on the Cruise (where some of us had been very underwhelmed). Tonight’s production, I’m happy to say, was SUPERB! Excellent choreography, a coherent storyline (lurvvvvv! ) and recognisable tunes (by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Black-eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Lewis Capaldi and others). It was all delivered ‘in the round’ where the performance felt as a whole, much more ‘together’ both visually and aurally than their first appearance.

Additionally, they used a hologram and the rear of the performance of an Irish Band, complete with fiddle, piano and flute, that perfectly fitted around the actors’ movements and songs. In fact, many of us did a ‘double-take’ attempting to work out if they were real or not! It was so well co-ordinated and something that I’ve never seen before, anywhere in the world. A great innovation that added an extra dimension to it all! Alas, photography was expressly forbidden in any shape or form, so I didn’t snap anything for fear of getting thrown overboard! . All-in-all, a very enjoyable performance!!!

9.46pm: Our final stop for the evening was Busker Agustin Kafka in the Champion’s Bar. This was another talent we’d not heard of, but the clue was in the name – he IS a busker and often found performing in central London. His speciality was acoustic covers of well-known pop songs. We were only there for a few of them, but for me, his rendition of Careless Whisper was amazing! . In 2017, at the age of 21, he left his home town in Argentina and moved to the UK to pursue his music career. Plenty more information about his meteoric rise online here.

10.15pm: Time for us two to call it a night! As has become customary, we left the remaining Nutters to ‘keep the flag flying’. An early start tomorrow!

Tomorrow…

Tomorrow, after we dock in Zeebrugge, we’re heading for Brugge. Because of the train connections, we’re leaving the Ship as soon as we can, around 9am, in order to connect with the local trains (1 an hour!!!).Sleep well!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 4 appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Saturday 12th August

Guten Morgen!

It’s Day 3! The Northants Nutters are ‘all at sea’ courtesy of P&O and the good ship Aurora! Yes, we’re in Germany – Hamburg Docks to be precise.

It’s part of our five-nighter, taking in Hamburg and Zeebrugge and we’re here overnight – but only briefly, setting sail at 5.30am tomorrow morning. The last time we were in this fine city, we were on dry land, in holiday mode staying in (obviously!) a Holiday Inn (October 2014).

What you may have missed

Day 1 – Thursday, 10th August
Setting Sail from Southampton

Day 2 – Friday, 11th August
All at Sea

Guten Tag, Hamburg!

7.03am: We docked just after 7am, as planned, but looking at the sky, I don’t think we’re going to enjoy as much Sun as yesterday!

8.10am: That’s early (even for us) for breakfast!

8.30am: BONG! That was the sound of the penny dropping, as after the morning announcement, we realised that because of the way the itinerary had been presented to us on paper, we THOUGHT we had two full days in Hamburg. Actually, the Aurora was sailing at 5.30am tomorrow. As the realisation slowly sunk in, it became clear that we would need to compress two days of plans into just one. Time for a hastily convened Northants Nutters® briefing after breakfast then!

9.30am: Briefing completed! We decided to do as much as we could, allowing for the less-than-exciting weather forecast.

Heading for Lübeck

As a group, we decided as our first stop, to take a trip to Lübeck using the local trains (last time we visited here was in October 2014) and then grab the red bus sight-seeing tour around the city of Hamburg.

Not surprisingly, the journey was hassle-free, where we also had the luxury of air-conditioned carriages. Just 50 minutes later we were exiting the station at Lübeck. Cost of the journey (including the return ticket)? Just under €10 each! A bargain!

11.35am: By now, the rain was falling as predicted. It was only a light shower, but we quickened our pace and headed for the town’s famous Gate – Holstentor that marks off the western boundary of the old centre of this Hanseatic city. Built in 1464, the Brick Gothic construction is one of the relics of Lübeck’s medieval city fortifications and one of two remaining city gates. A beautiful construction! More information HERE.

Time to look for somewhere under cover… and a beer! Just a few minutes walk from the Gate was Restaurant Am Holstentor

Our timing was perfect! There was a covered area opposite (to keep us dry) and after Ann had the opportunity to practise her German, we were soon enjoying our chosen drinks, watching passers-by attempting to get out of the rain.

Next stop? Off to the famous Marzipan shop in Lubeck – J G Niederegger. Founded in 1806, it’s THE shop to visit if you like marzipan. I think there was something for everyone inside from fruit made from this yellow treat to mega-presentation boxes that would last most people about a month (but maybe just a few days for us two!!). Yes, pretty much everything in the shop (apart from its bricks) featured marzipan! There was also a coffee shop to wash it all down. An experience not to be missed (even if you don’t like the stuff) just to see the imaginative merchandise on display.

Maybe not surprisingly, it was heaving, and we took the opportunity to get a few presents sorted! Next, we planned to visit the nearby Town Hall, but it was only just after 1pm and the next tour was a 3pm! Instead, we followed Geoff, to track down a ‘C&A’ store (now sadly missing from the UK retail scene).

…and he bagged a few bargains too!

1.25pm: A little further on foot and we discovered one of the many Churches in Hamburg – St Mary’s (officially ‘St Marien Zu Lübeck’). Originally conceived around 1200AD, it took 80 years to complete. Its style is Gothic with its ginormous basilica and twin towers soaring 126 feet towards the heavens. Heavily damaged in 1942, after an air-raid, it was reconstructed where previously hidden paintings were rediscovered and other content lost to the raid was replaced with (and complemented by) a range of more modern works. Nowadays, the Church, in addition to its religious duties, pays host to regular evening music concerts. Just 4 Euros each to get in and look around. It was all pretty impressive, especially the basilica.

…and just outside… a little devil…

…and a bronze statue! . Locally, legend has it that the Devil helped build the original Church having been told that it was to be a new Wine Bar! The bronze statue sits on the stone that the Devil hurled at the Church in anger when he found out he couldn’t get his favourite tipple there!

3.25pm: By now, it looked like the Devil had been at the weather! it was raining quite hard, and time to cut short our wanderings and look for something to eat. We headed back to the railway station and Hamburg. It was a slower journey and we arrived in just under an hour. Surprise, surprise, it was (still) raining!

It was now chucking it down and if we found somewhere close to where we were, that would be just perfect! The Station had plenty of choice, but we couldn’t see anywhere that actually had seats (clearly designed for those in a hurry to catch their train). Fortune smiled on us, and just opposite, across the road, was what we’d been looking for – in the shape of Restaurant Nagel Bierstube.

The menu featured a variety of German traditional plates at reasonable prices – and where it all tasted delicious. The service was super friendly too! A great find and just what we needed!!!

Good grief, it STOPPED raining! We’d always planned to use the hop-on/off buses here to get a feel for the city and it was good that we had a short dry spell. There are a few operators in the city and we chose Stadtrundfahrt for no particular reason! They offer some variations on a theme, but we opted for the ‘classic’ covering 15 points around the City. However, online, the operators were warning of massive disruptions today due to large demonstrations around the city. We decided to ignore the advice and jump on anyway! We could see some of the marches getting ready in the side streets, but the local Police seemed to have it all under control.

The tickets were good value at just 18.50 Euros each and the bus wasn’t too busy, giving us the pick of the seats upstairs. The driver had thoughtfully re-covered top-deck, just in case the weather changed (it did!).

Well, it certainly gave us a good feel for the size and scale of the city. For me, it was much (much) larger than I remember and although the rain didn’t show off Hamburg in its best light, it was worth doing, if just to experience the wide variety of architecture and hear the history of how Hamburg came to be.

6.03pm: Back in the room! Phew! It had been a full-on day – but worth it! The weather could have been kinder, but it didn’t stop us having a good time.

The Restaurant

Best news of the day was possibly being ‘upgraded’ to ‘open dining’ meaning we could pick when we ate.

7.05pm: We enjoyed a great meal in our new ‘home’ – the Medina Restaurant. To be honest, I also enjoyed just the sitting down, as it felt like it had been a full-on day (it had!!). On reflection, we’d done well and had managed to squeeze in pretty much everything we planned for two days, into today.

The Entertainment

8.30pm: Step forward, Josh Adams, a cheeky observational comedian from Wigan whose ‘speciality’ was ‘the menopause’. For me, he made me giggle rather ‘laugh out loud’ although his lines hit the spot on every occasion. Maybe the menopause part went on a bit too long, but judging by the audience reaction, he did a great job tonight!

After the show, it was round to Richard & Nicki’s for our statutory pre-dinner drinks (that were now ‘post-dinner’ due to us not getting back until later than planned). Nibbles too! And Richard does mix a mean G&T! Just what we needed for the next event… The Syndicate Quiz!

The Quiz

The Quiz was well-supported. To give it all a bit more ‘theatre’, answers were written on a piece of paper and then delivered to our QuizMaster, where he compared the submissions. Actually, we did pretty well, although our fellow Nutters commented it had been a tad easier than the previous night. Daftest answer by another team to the question: “What is the smallest bird”?

…“a Ladybird”

11.45pm: As usual, we were first to head for bed with our ‘personal best’ for this holiday… at just after 11.30! . Our friends partied on, flying the flag for the Northants Nutters®

Tomorrow…

As it’s a sea day, no formal plans, but we do have to fuel our Quiz addiction in the afternoon for another of P&O’s Jukebox hero challenges!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 3 appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Friday 11th August

Good morning all! It’s Day 2! The Northants Nutters are ‘all at sea’ courtesy of P&O and the good ship Aurora! We’re enjoying a five-nighter, taking in Hamburg and Zeebrugge.

Missed yesterday’s Post? – Day 1 click HERE

Breakfast!

There’s a lot of choice here for HOW you take your breakfast on the Ship and we prefer it quiet and civilised with table service rather than the somewhat ‘rough and tumble’ of the Buffet. So, at just after 8.30, we headed for the Medina Restaurant and a table for two. Our timing was spot-on, as 30 minutes later, there was sizeable queue of guests attempting to do the same as us.

The service was excellent and so was the breakfast itself, but it was here that I had my first BHaB moment of the Cruise! BHaB? I get it that I’m not the leading example of cutting-edge fashion, but really… wearing Baseball Hats at Breakfast (as displayed by a group of ageing Japanese guests) was enough to put me off my Muesli!! Really???? . Just call me Victor Meldrew!!! But I guess on a more positive note, at least our fellow travellers weren’t covered in tats!

All at Sea

Apart from the headwear experience, Breakfast had given us a great start to the day. As it’s a ‘Sea Day’ (before we dock in Hamburg tomorrow) it can mean one of two things… complete boredom, or, if it’s P&O, an endless list of things to keep us occupied. . Luckily, it was the latter!

And if all that sounds a bit too energetic (‘Body Sculpting Boot Camp’ at 8am anyone??? Damn! I left my boots in the car back at Southampton! ), there are always more leisurely pursuits – and that sounded more like us! With the Sun putting in an early (and very persistent) appearance, Ann soaked up some rays on deck…

…whilst I took the opportunity to snap a few internal shots of the Aurora.

By my reckoning, the Aurora is at least 20 years old – but you’d never know it! (Ed: Launched in January 2000 – more detail here). As the oldest vessel in their fleet, it received a refit in 2019 and as a result, it looks really good, inside and out. Everything has a light and airy feel about it, feeling even more so as the Ship wasn’t completely full (my guess was may be running at ⅔rds of its capacity).

Early days I know, but the whole experience so far, has felt very ‘together’ and more luxurious than we imagined it would be.

With my photos session completed, it was back on deck to join Ann for a spot of sunbathing. Boy! It was HOT! … and where were we? The English Channel, northwest of Belgium… but it felt almost tropical!

We, the Nutters, had all agreed to do our own thing this morning, spreading our cheery goodwill and our unique sense of humour amongst as many of the ship’s passengers as possible! Cue cries of ‘man overboard’ on numerous occasions! . Time then, to catch up with our friends for the big event and where we unleashed our collective talents on…

The Afternoon Quiz!

2.15pm: Other cruise guests beware! The Northants Nutters® have a proven track record of excelling at quizzes, and we were ready to take on the competition. The quiz was music-related, entitled ‘Jukebox Hero’. The competition was tough, and the location was packed with latecomers scrambling for chairs as the area more used to accommodating around 50 people was now bursting with over 100! OK, eyes down, here we go… Twenty brief musical intros, where we were required to name the song title and the singer(s).

It certainly got us scratching our heads and we weren’t the only ones! It was tough, especially towards the end. By the end, we felt that we did ‘well’ rather than ‘brilliantly’ – confounded by the last two/three questions. As things would turn out, most teams struggled with those final few too! We swapped our sheets with the table next door, and the answers were read out. A pity then, that the table that marked ours, had completely screwed up our marking! . A quick recount brought us up there with many of the best performers, scoring a very reasonable 25 out of a possible 40 (where the winner scored ‘just’ 31.

3.15pm: Just time to nip back to the cabin for our obligatory afternoon siesta before heading off to Geoff & Rhonda’s for pre-dinner drinkies!

…and then it was onto the Restaurant for Dinner. It was ‘Celebration Night’ where they encouraged us to dump the flip-flops and t-shirts (AND baseball hats!) for something more elegant! . We do scrub up well! Amazing how a brillo-pad and dodgy eyesight can all help to make us look good!

Great food again tonight! An extra Course too!

Entertainment

8.30pm: After the meal, it was off to the Curzon Theatre for tonight’s entertainment. As expected, it was tricky to find a row of seats for eight, but we almost managed it. Tonight’s talent was The Headliner’s Theatre Company (the Aurora’s in-house talent) presenting ‘On the Horizon’ and billed as ‘an eclectic mix of song and dance’.

Well, they were certainly energetic! But it was all a bit manic for me. The men’s voices harmonised well, especially during the James Bond and the Take That numbers (top marks for their rendition of ‘Rule the World’). Elesewhere, I wasn’t sure about the lead female singers though! ‘Shouty, shouty’ with the ability to pierce armour plating at 100 paces! Ouch! - and where they all seemed to be competing with each other for volume. The choreography was well done though with 20 or more twenty-somethings cavorting their way across the stage in pretty much every direction. No Voltarol needed for this lot! . Bottom line? Hhhmm! A very energetic performance throughout, but (for me, anyway) a noisy cacophony of talent where the dancing worked, but a lot of the singing didn’t! Clearly, the rest of the audience saw and heard it differently with enthusiastic whooping and whistling after every number!

I’m getting old!

Next stop was Carmen’s to see Pulse (a male and female vocal singing duo). Clearly, they were enjoying themselves, but for reasons that weren’t clear, they were late on and weren’t even expecting to perform tonight. A shame really that the sound mix was clearly err, NOT clear, as it was therefore a bit of a struggle to hear the vocals. We eventually abandoned Pulse, in favour of somewhere quieter.

We wandered about a bit… and then a bit more! We eventually settled in Raffles, by comparison, a quiet and calming location, where we grabbed a nightcap (note to self: Cruises are often about trying new things, but don’t ever order an Iced Latte again! Clearly, it’s ‘Beelzebub’s Beverage’!!!!)

9.35pm: Time for us two to hit the sack, leaving the rest of the Nutters to move on to the Syndicate Quiz in the Horizon Restaurant.

In summary then, apart from the slightly underwhelming entertainment, it had been a great day! The weather had been on our side and there was plenty to keep us occupied. The service and the food quality was (again) very much to our liking, and the Quiz gave our grey matter a bit of a workout.

Nighty-night

Tomorrow…

We dock in Germany, first thing tomorrow for two days. We plan to skip the queues (and the prices!) for the organised excursion, preferring to do our own ting and head for Lübeck on the train. See you then!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 2 appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Thursday 10th August

Good morning Landlubbers! It’s Day 1 and the Northants Nutters (aka Paul & Sue, Geoff & Rhonda and us two) are heading for the wet stuff, courtesy of P&O and the good ship Aurora! Our friends, Richard and Nicki have also booked the same Cruise and were later sworn-in as ‘Honorary Nutters®’!

It’s a short one – a five-nighter – taking in Hamburg and Zeebrugge.

This is our first ‘Nutters’ trip together at sea, although we’ve enjoyed quite a few over the years, on dry land – and even abroad!

Northants Nutters® Tour Dates

Our first Warner experience
Warner Weekend 2019 – Littlecote House Hotel
(March 2019)

Our second visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2020 – Holme Lacy House
(March 2020)

Our third visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2021 – Gunton Hall
(August 2021)

Our fourth visit to Warner’s
Warner Weekend 2022 – Alvaston Hall
(January 2022)

…and then we went further afield…
to Cyprus!!
Northants Nutters abroad
(November 2022)

We’re off!

First, we had to get to Southampton. We’d been advised that boarding was around 2pm and so, working backwards, we allowed three hours for the drive to the Port; a 45-minute charge for EVie (plus some time to refuel US!) and finally, a little wriggle-room. Factoring all that in, we left just before 9.30am.

Ironically, as we headed OUT of the UK, we were about to leave behind one of the hottest days of the year so far!

Our first stop was Moto Chieveley Services, for those three essentials for the modern traveller – a nibble, a wee and a top-up charge for EVie. The latter wasn’t strictly necessary, but it would save us from needing to stop on the return trip. We had to queue when we arrived (which is becoming a regular thing these days for EVs) but we were in and out in under an hour, including helping out a first-timer attempting to charge his ID5.

Ahoy Southampton!

All Aboard

We certainly will be!

It was a short walk from Portside Meet and Greet and we were spot on with our timing, arriving at exactly 1.45pm. David, our neighbour had recommended them for their competitive pricing for parking – and they didn’t disappoint! They even offer a service where they’ll charge your EV for you whilst you’re away (at the time of writing it’s a flat fee of £20). Embarkation was a breeze. We were processed and through Security in record time and soon on board familiarising ourselves with the ship’s layout.

We’d already got together back in June to plan the finer details for this trip, so we were literally ready to sail by the time we arrived. As I mentioned earlier, our good friends, Richard & Nicki had separately booked the very same Cruise and became honorary ‘Nutters®’ for this outing! . Conveniently, we’re all on the same deck, meaning less time searching for each other …and more time eating, drinking and enjoying everyone’s company! Yes, I know – it’s a tough life! .

After a quick rendezvous in the Horizon Buffet on Deck 12 and an attempt to get the table rejigged for 8 (fail!), we headed for our Staterooms. Our cases were waiting and so, it was time to unpack.

Inside ‘C145’

We haven’t sailed with P&O for a good few years, and things have changed quite a bit! And all for the better! . It’s a fairly compact stateroom, but has everything we need – including a sofa and (unusually) a bath – plus a balcony! Sunnil is our cabin steward and he gave us the obligatory briefing to prepare us for departure. There was no formal Fire Drill at our Muster Station, simply a brief visit and a video to watch in our Stateroom.

We are Sailing!

We met up in the Crystal Bar for 5pm to take in the views as the Aurora sailed down the Solent.

Next stop? The Alexandria Restaurant for literally our first taste, in a while, of P&O food.

We were allocated first sitting (6.30pm) but weren’t able to get a table for the eight of us, in spite of trying (on two separate occasions). No matter, as Nicki and Richard, our two honorary Northants Nutters® were on the Table next door.

Table service was great, and the food went down a treat.

Plenty to see and do tonight!

Entertainment

After the meal, we headed off to the Curzon Theatre for tonight’s entertainment. This came in the shape of The 4Tunes.

As their names suggests, there were four of them (but they did demonstrate they had much more than four tunes in their repertoire!) They tackled classics such as Bohemian Rhapsody (very good!), Sir Duke (very, very frightening!) as well as Send Them Home from Les Mis (superb!) and many others. All-in-all a varied performance with some songs landing better than others during their hour’s performance. I’m not sure the between-song banter added much (a bit corny!) , but that’s entertainment – apparently! .

Not a bad start to the Cruise (and infinitely better than our previous Cruise on the Regatta back in April where the entertainment was VERY disappointing. It was then off to The Crow’s Nest Bar for a nightcap, or five. At just after 10pm, we wimped-out and left our fellow Nutters to enjoy more of the facilities.

Tomorrow…

We’re all doing our own thing tomorrow, but we are coming together at 2.15 for the Afternoon Quiz.

It’s also a sea-day tomorrow! Plenty of time then, to get to know the Ship, and check out the facilities. See you then! .

10.15pm: Clocks go forward by an hour tonight! Nighty-night!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 1 appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Morning Reader, this is probably the final Blog of the holiday as we fly home Thursday.

Today, we’re on a full-day Tour today entitled: Nakhl & Hot Springs.

We’re covering :-

• Nakhl town
• Thowarah Hot Springs
• Nakhl Fort
• Photo opportunity at the Grand Mosque

Muscat is the capital city of (the Sultanate of) Oman and the seat of Government. It’s just ‘round the corner’ from Dubai, but unknown to some, is a country in its own right. Its wealth comes from petroleum exports, port management and fishing. Compared to our previous port, Cochin in India, where all the locals there appear to worship Trashma, the Hindu goddess of litter, this place is incredibly clean and well ordered. It’s as though someone Dysons the entire country every morning and is a bit OCD about it. You cannot help but be impressed from the moment you arrive, by the well watered plants, precision cut grass verges and manicured roundabouts.

Skip the next two paragraphs if you know your ‘Oman history’…

During the last 40 years, the ruling and highly respected  Sultan has ordered changes that have transformed the country almost beyond recognition – and in a good way! There has also been an explosion in road-building and tourism-related industries. As our Guide, Abdullah told us:- “Oman’s development has been split into two phases – pre-1970 and post-1970”.

The new Sultan is the son of the previous Sultan, and in a bloodless coup, replaced him in 1970, in order to move the country forward. So, in the years following, that’s when the massive changes have taken place. In less than 50 years, Oman has changed from a third-world country to one boasting, schools, universities, almost completely free state education, nearly zero crime-rate, free healthcare, and a great record of rights for women.

All Aboard…

The result? is that the country now looks very, very, different to when we first came here just 10 years ago – and even back in 2013, when we last stayed, the road network has improved yet again. There are now more western influences in terms of retail outlets (Big Mac anyone?) but it’s all been done very tastefully and they don’t dominate the shopping spaces. As a result, Oman still has a cosy feel to it – and maybe unusually for its geographical location, very safe. It’s another country that’s scrupulously clean and where everyone smiles! Yes, there is a genuine hospitable attitude from all the locals we met today, and you are made to feel very welcome.

For me, it’s perhaps what Dubai may have looked like if high-rises and skyscrapers had been banned – and as a result, it all looks very natural and unspoilt. In Oman, the height of all buildings is strictly controlled, and even the satellite dishes have to be coloured to blend in.

The weather today is typical for this area – a sweltering 35 degrees – they’re just coming into their Summer. Unlike previous Tours, though, this one was just plain hot – with nowhere near the humidity. So today we knew that we could look forward to hot crispy underpants instead of India’s uber-damp attire.

Our first stop was Nakhl Fort. Constructed in the 6th century, but looking very good for its age, this was a super-solid construction. Clearly, no expense had been spared in making the walls as thick as possible, and as we sat down in one of the once oft-used ‘village meeting rooms’, we felt very safe and secure from everything outside – including the weather! Sooo cool!

The Meeting Room

After our briefing, it was back outside to wander round the various remains of the Fort. There was plenty to see, and the view from the top (as you’d expect) was amazing.


Solid as a Rock!

Back to the Coach and onto our next stop – Thowarah Hot Springs.

Abdullah explained that these were less’ Spring’ like and more water running down from the mountains. On closer examination, we noticed that the water was crystal-clear and there were hundreds of tiny fish swimming about. It was part of the ‘canal system’ out here (yes, really!) that is used for irrigation.

Fish Supper Slipper
The fish served a purpose (and I don’t mean lunch), as Abdullah encouraged us to remove our shoes and socks and experience the fish nibbling at our dead skin – all for free – and at a water-temperature approaching 35 degrees! The temptation was too much for the many of the super-oldies in the party, but as wonderful as it sounded, this turned into a safety nightmare! The sight of a mass of wrinklies attempting en-masse to remove their shoes and socks and then safely wade into the water turned out to be an accident waiting to happen – and we didn’t have to wait long before one of our party went a*** over elbow attempting an elegant entry into the soothing waters.

Bizarrely, in a momentary regression to his teenage years, the first thing he checked after re-composing himself was the state of his mobile-phone – temporarily forgetting any bruising of his ego and his ruined clothing!

As our party (some limping) headed back to the Coach, next stop was far less dangerous! Lunch!

Lunch and Free WiFi

After our slightly disappointing affair during the Cochin Tour, we weren’t sure what to expect for our Cunard ‘Lunch’ this time around. As things turned out, it was a massive improvement! No cheese biscuits and slices of cake, instead, a full salad course buffet-style followed by a hot course, followed by some super-yummy desserts – and plenty of free soft drinks, tea and coffee. I was too busy eating, to get any photographs, but it was very good indeed!

It couldn’t get any better… but then it did! FREE WiFi. Cue (again!) oldies turning into teenagers, abandoning their conversation skills and diving into their phones/tablets – and in one case a laptop (no, not me!, I was still tackling the Chocolate Mousse!!)

We had a bit of time to wander around the resort, but even though it was quite stuffy where we had lunch, it was even hotter outside, so we found an area between the two with a gentle breeze and waited for our Coach to return.

With our food and technology needs satisfied, it was back on-board where Abdullah took some time to explain how to tie a turban, Oman-ey style. As a result, I think I’ll stick to bow-ties!!

Next on our itinerary was The Grande Mosque – and it certainly lived up to its title. Even though we’d seen it before last time we were here, we were still blown away by how much of an impact it has when your first see it

NOT the Leaning Tower, more like a leaning Photographer


The Grand Mosque

After about 30 minutes looking round the outside (it was closed, by the time we got there), it was back on the Coach. We were doing well for time so Abdullah suggested an extra stop – The Sultan’s Palace – about 20 minutes away, but in the direction of our Ship.

The Sultan’s Palace

This was another stunning property, immaculate in every sense! Unfortunately, as members of the public, we weren’t allowed in, but it still had the ‘Wow’ factor.

Fifteen minutes later, we were parking opposite the Ship and saying goodbye to Abdullah. We’ve seen quite a few Tour Guides on this Cruise, and he had definitely been the best. He got the balance right between talking and keeping quiet, and gave us just enough information to help us make sense of the sights we were visiting. It helped too, that he had a really good command of English (English is taught in schools out here from the age of 6) and a very good sense of humour.

Tomorrow, it’s our final day on the Cruise as we head for Dubai.

So, here we are at the end of my Blogs for this holiday. Thanks for reading them! It seems that just over 50 of you have been looking at them on a daily basis, peaking at just under an incredible 100 for some of our trips. So, a big thanks from me, and the kind words you’ve said about them. There’s a small chance that there will be an extra blog tomorrow evening as we’ve just heard about a truly unique photo opportunity taking place in Dubai tomorrow afternoon.!If the technology allows it, I’ll post something before we fly back.

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Cruise Day 12 (17th April): Muscat (Oman) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Dear Reader, it’s another two days at sea for us, this time heading for Muscat in Oman. The clocks went back half-an-hour last night, so, as the end of our holiday approaches, we’re getting closer to UK time.

And it’s been another busy period as over the past two days, we’ve crammed in…

Sunday

Margaret Gilmore’s live Q & A session – ‘Fighting Modern Terrorism’. Brilliant!

Paul Garthwaite playing his 22 string guitar (yes, 22 strings! – a mix of mandolin, lute, harp and classical guitar). A unique sound!

A visit to the Ship’s Planetarium for The Asteroid Show. Amazing!

Radio 4 Podcast: The Media Show – Murdoch vs Facebook & Google. An interesting debate!

The former American Ambassador, Chase Untermeyer’s second of three presentations – The Moslem World, Past & Present. Too hurried!

The Cocktail Party for ‘Gold Members’ and other seasoned-cruisers who boarded at Singapore/Hong-Kong. Amazingly, they announced that one couple were celebrating their 16th (16th!!!!) consecutive (consecutive!!!!) World Cruise. The event was all a bit OTT for us, so we went to the Bar!

Another tough day! Oh, the pressure!

Monday

Three laps around the deck is a mile – we did six laps!!

10am: A simulated Pirate Attack was initiated. In short, whilst the Crew fought off a potential threat from Captain Pugwash using fire-hoses and some very advanced technology, we were all told to head for our Staterooms and await further instructions. An hour later, we were given the ‘all clear’. All exercised with calmness and precision!

Ship’s Theatre next, where we listened to Colonel Steve Francis RM (QM2’s Royal Naval Liaison Officer) on the regional piracy threat and the measures in place to keep us safe on-board. Fascinating stuff!

Another three laps around the deck!

More Radio 4 Podcasts: The Feedback Show and More or Less: Behind the Stats

Back to Illuminations to hear Former American Ambassador, Chase Untermeyer’s last of his three presentations – Sacred Sands. A fascinating insight into recent Arabic history

Our last activity of the day was the Masked Ball in the Queen’s Room

The clocks go back another hour tonight. We’re now just three hours behind the UK.

It’s tough, and I know you feel sorry for how busy we’ve been!

Back to a more detailed Blog tomorrow, after we’ve been to Muscat!

Nighty-night!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Cruise Day 10 & 11 (15th and 16th April): Heading for Muscat (Oman) appeared first on Steve's Blog.



A lazy start for our Tours so far – a relatively lethargic 9.30 today!

Here we go then – our first visit to India in the shape of a six-hour combined Coach & Boat tour entitled: The Best of Cochin. Cochin is in the Indian state of Kerala, located on the west coast of India. These days, it’s often called ‘Kochi’.

Our trip includes:-

• Fort Cochin
• Indo-Portuguese museum
• Jew Town
• St Francis Church
• The Old Dutch Palace

The (no) Jersey Boys

We assembled in the Theatre and were soon heading for our Tour Bus for the day – almost half-an-hour ahead of schedule! A group of local musicians welcomed us all dock-side, as the gazillions of Coaches swallowed up not only guests from our Ship, but our next-door neighbour Celebrity Constellation (that seems to be following us on this Cruise!).

And contrary to previous advice, our transport DID have suspension, and more importantly, it DID have air-conditioning. Sabu introduced himself (he reminded it’s the same name as in ‘The Jungle Book’) as our Guide for the six-hour Tour, and we were soon on the road to our first stop. I use the word ’road’ in a very general sense, as the condition is, as you might expect, pretty poor out here.

A quick word here also about drivers in India. In short, suicidal! They might drive on the same side of the road as us in the UK, but our brief visit demonstrated that the left-hand-side is only the start point! If there’s any congestion, they simply swap to the other side of the road, and worry at the last minute if there happens to be any oncoming traffic. The Tuk-Tuks seem to follow a set of road-laws all to themselves, where they’ll ‘find’ any possible gap in the traffic and make it their own. They overtake on blind-bends, undertake at every opportunity, and regularly provide the ‘meat in the sandwich’ when their are two vehicles opposite each other. It makes the Malaysians (and we thought they were scary) look like a Sunday drive with Aunt Mildred!

A typical kamikaze Tuk-tuk

Back to the tour: Weather was as-per-normal – hot! (28C at 8.45am) but luckily, last night’s storm here took some of the ‘punch’ out of the humidity – at least initially!

Poor Sabu got off to an unfortunate start, as despite his best intentions (and a bit of makeshift electrical repairs by our Driver) his microphone wasn’t working. Sabu therefore spent the rest of the Tour competing with the over-active AC unit and the general engine noise!

In just 10 minutes, we were back off the Coach and queuing for our Boat. Cunard’s legendary pursuit of passenger safety took a bit of a back-seat as our Lifejacket ‘training’ lasted all of 10 seconds – and finished with the advice that if we needed one, we should ask!


Sabu in full-flow
A very tranquil 75-minute boat-trip followed, and with a regular, welcoming breeze wafting across the Boat, this was in stark contrast to what we were all expecting – our anti-perspirants were happy NOT doing any work! This was a quiet and relaxing experience, interrupted only by the occasional wave from a fishing-boat owner and passing passenger boats boasting: ‘hello-we’re-having-a-party-on-board-and-we’re-going-to-make-a-lot-of-noise-about-it’. A lot of people may be poor out here, but from what we’ve seen already, they appear to enjoy life.

Whilst enjoying our Boat-trip, we learned from Sabu that India is changing, especially in this local area, where foreign investment has allowed significant building of hotels and office-space – although it all looked somehow strange, nestled up against much older buildings.

Next stop, just over an hour later, meant saying goodbye to our breezy-boat, and ‘hello’ to the streets of Cochin. By now, the humidity was building – and we were all feeling it. It was clear that we had arrived in Cochin during their 365 day-long ‘Festival of Litter’ – I kid you not, the amount of rubbish just lying on the streets was disturbing. Clearly there is a cultural problem and logistical issue with what you do with everyday waste, everything from building materials, plastic bottles, old shoes, bald tyres, old tree branches and half-completed motor-bikes etc.  – and it was something that for the rest of the day became very noticeable as we wandered round. The day before we arrived, the city had been hit by a mini-cyclone storm, and in addition to the litter problem, there were loads of trees down, with branches in roads and mess from falling debris. The locals seem to have worked out a great strategy for dealing with the mess – just drive over it… or around it… or take it home! It was a sort of minefield of ‘tree’ roundabouts that no-one seemed too worried about clearing up.

Our first official stop was The Dutch Palace – and it looked as if the whole of India was here too!

By now, the humidity was just impossible (and it was only 11am!), and it was no surprise that once inside, the most popular exhibits tended to be the ones nearest the electric fans! Regretfully, there was a massive restriction on what visitors were allowed to photograph, but whilst most of the many ancient wall painted frescos were off-limits, the teak ceilings were enjoying a lot of popularity with the camera and smartphone fraternity.

 
Teak Ceilings

Some of the ancient frescos were on the ‘OK list’ though…

Ancient Frescos

As beautiful as it all was, there was no doubt, that even though it was hot and humid outside, it was hottER and MORE humid inside – and we couldn’t wait to get out! A shame, as there was plenty to see here.

Next stop was the short walk into Jew-town – and the Synagogue (unfortunately closed when we got there at midday). It was also our first introduction to the local Merchants doing what they do best – attempting to sell us their wares. If you’re uncomfortable with this, then come prepared! Either buy some of their exquisite tat, or exercise your assertiveness skills at the earliest opportunity – they tend to (mostly) take the hint – they can be very persistent and collectively possess a physic-like ability to let each other know who the ‘soft-targets’ are. I know it’s all part of the culture here in India, but today, it was just bordering on getting annoying – someone needs to tell the guys selling ‘lucky elephants’ that clearly, they’re not bringing their distributors much, err, luck! (yes, one grumpy over-heated tourist today!)

The Synagogue in Jew Town

In their efforts to encourage us poor saps potential customers, most of the local shop-keepers had learned a new phrase: ‘hassle-free’ – a bit of a giggle the first time we heard it: ‘You shop my store – totally hassle-free Sir’,  but by the time we’d run the gauntlet of another 20-or-so Traders, it was all getting a bit much.

Hassle-free Shopping!

Our First Museum

After a quick trip back the Coach, we were soon on our way, competing with the rest of the Coaches all heading to the same place – The Indo-Portuguese Museum. We arrived just after 12.30, and by some miracle seemed to have beaten all the other Coaches! Given that there is almost 92 Rupees to the pound, the entry fee of just 5 Rupees was a steal – pity then that the ‘no photographs inside’ rule applied here too! Although there wasn’t much to see here, just Catholic bits-and-pieces from when the Portuguese were in town, it was good to look round – especially outside, where evidence of its former glory – as the Bishop’s Place – became obvious.

The ex-Bishop’s Palace

Our next stop was the St Francis Church, the oldest Christian Church in India (1650ish?)

..and for us, was probably the highlight of the day. It was in great condition and contained the tomb of Vasco Da Gama, the great Portuguese explorer (although his earthly remains had been moved to Lisbon some years later) We were reminded to remove our shoes (which tends to be a tradition out here for ANY Church) and surprisingly, photographs WERE allowed! Instead of the aroma of incense however, we had fragrant wafts of sweaty feet…




Note the large punkers (fans)

Yes, that was impressive and we still seemed to be slightly ahead of the other Coach parties.

It was back to our Coach, where we met up with our retail-stalkers local merchants once again, where silk scarves, coloured beaded necklaces and ballpoint pens had now become today’s BOGOFs’. We took sanctuary in our Coach whilst we looked on as the other Coaches and their parties ‘walked in our shoes’ (without the shoes!)

Then it was a quick walk along the Beach to marvel at the Chinese Fishing-nets in action… except the fisherman were all away having lunch!

…before our promised lunch stop at a local private hotel…

It was probably the poshest place we’d seen all day. A warm welcome was offered as we arrived and we were sown inside to where biscuits, cake, chilled water and Pepsi were freely available. As an extra bonus, we were all introduced to the 90-year-old owner of the establishment, who took a bow, and was introduced personally to us all!

Amazingly, we were slightly ahead of schedule (and still ahead of the other Coaches) so Sabu added in a couple of extra stops:-

• A visit to a group of women doing laundry by the sea
• A short stop at a local Department Store

In truth, by then, most of our Group (including us) were so exhausted from the heat & humidity that we stayed on-board in the comfort of the Coach’s air-conditioning! We’re not sure what happened to the Fort Cochin part of the Tour, but we were past caring at this stage! By the time we finished, the temperature was up to a sock-moistening 34C! Just too hot and humid for these two Brits!

Then it was back to where we started (although our Driver took an interesting wrong turn and arrived at the wrong entrance to the Port). He quickly remedied his error by conducting an impossible three-point-turn in a road that was only wide-enough for a skate-board and then accelerating off in pursuit of another Coach (who DID know the way).

We arrived back on-board, pleased to be back in air-conditioned comfort – and headed straight for King’s Court for a top-up nibble!

There we reflected on our first taste of India! In no particular order:-

Lovely people; lots of smiley, cheerful faces; plenty of tourist tat to fill your homes; smelly streets; appalling local driving; over-assertive street-traders; greater allowance for photographs needed; amazingly skilled coach-drivers; more free wi-fi in public spaces and perhaps smaller tour groups.

Would we come back? Oh yes!

We’re at sea again tomorrow for two days heading for Muscat (Oman). See you in the Bar!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Cruise Day 9 (14th April): Cochin (India) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Another day at sea today…

Things to do/see…

• Go to Part 3 (the final part) of Margaret Gilmore’s very interesting trilogy of presentations about tackling modern terrorism
• Queue on-board to have our Indian Visas stamped. From the ‘off’ it was total chaos with queues as far as the eye could see – all descending on the makeshift area in the Britannia Restaurant. We abandoned our allocated slot and came back in the afternoon, where we only queued for 30 minutes – as a result, it hasn’t presented Cunard in their best light, but in an effort to ‘calm the natives’, the Hotel manager took to the tannoy and used irony to make us feel better! He reminded us that it was us Brits that it was the Brits who taught the Indians about administration! Oh, how we laughed!
  
• Maybe go and see Star Wars – The Last Jedi in 3D at the Ship’s Cinema
• Paint!
• Listen to the Android Central Podcast (No. 373): What’s coming in Android P
• Finish the day at the Ship’s Theatre and see The Opera Boys. Apparently, these two tenors are worth more than four fivers (not sure that works in print!) Arf-arf!
  

Looking ahead to tomorrow, We’re docking in India for one day, where we’ve then got a six-hour Tour: The Best of Kochin

First, the good news: It’s a late start for our Tour – a relatively ‘lazy’ 9.30. Now the bad news: we’ve been reminded that none of the Coaches nor Boats have air-conditioning and are generally prone to breaking-down. Even the best Coaches have very poor (if any) suspension!

I don’t think I’ll bother to ask for the wi-fi password!

See you on the other side!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Cruise Day 8 (13th April): At Sea appeared first on Steve's Blog.

We’ve not been to Sri Lanka before and so this was going to be a real treat. We’re going ashore at Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city, leading (and very modern-looking) Port and commercial capital – home to some 750 000 locals. A hosted half-day walking tour is probably a good introduction to this country, just 15 minutes from where QM2 anchored.

We’re heading for Old Colombo, visiting the Pettah District, including Khan Clock Tower, Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque and the Old Dutch Hospital complex – it’s a busy one, with lots to see!
 
The weather forecast suggests it’s going to be super-hot and super-sticky, so it was probably a good job we chose the morning walk! There’s one planned for 2.30 this afternoon – we don’t envy their sweat-glands!!

Again, it was an early start – we had breakfast by the unholy time of 6.30am and had to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready for our Tour badges by 7.15am

As usual, we met at The Golden Lion Pub – and in an exciting change to previous events, we WEREN’T on Tour 8, instead Tour 6 – Oooh, the variety! It was a popular Tour (the Pub was packed), but in typical Cunard efficiency, we were soon heading for our Coach.

Sri (now that’s a name that’s going to be easy to remember) introduced himself as our Guide for the morning, and we were quickly on our way. As a bonus, we all had personal receivers and headphones so that we could hear Sri even if he was a distance away. As we were to find out later, this part of Colombo is a busy, buzzing town – and as such, the headphones turned out to be essential!

First stop was…

The Town Hall

Now preserved solely for the benefit of tourism, it gave us an early indication of how things used to be back in 1853 during the formative years of Ceylon. After a thorough look round, we headed outside and into the ‘Ye Olde Petty Court’ area – again, now just preserved for us Tourists.

“Here comes the Judge…”

The next stop was the main Fruit & Veg Wholesale Market, which supplies every corner of the island – and it was just how you’d imagine it to be – thriving, noisy and rather smelly! With locals having been setting up for the day from 4am, our visit at 8am was definitely halfway through their dawn shift.

Heaps of activity everywhere, either by merchandising their enormous mangoes (cheapest to the left, as per JS standards), chopping off the leafy bits of cauliflowers with evil-looking machetes, or lighting battalions of incense sticks to dull the aroma of the piles of air dried pongy fish. Diminutive skinny porters carrying impossible loads on their backs but had probably never heard (not cared) about RSI! This was a full-frontal assault on all your senses – in a good way! You name it, they had it! – somewhere! We even had the obligatory mangy-dog weeing on the piles of rubbish…

The Fruit & Veg Market

‘Kid Creole’

Time to stop for a drink – but not what we were expecting! No Diet Cokes here, we were going ‘totally authentic’ as Sri arranged for us to try a coconut each – more specifically, its ‘milk’. Bit of an acquired taste, but given the temperature and the humidity, we acquired it pretty quickly!

Ten-minutes later, we were all refreshed, but the temperature was still rising! We headed next to a couple of religiously significant buildings.

The Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque

The Mosque had an Indian design influence and its contrasting brickwork made it stand out a mile. On Fridays, it can hold 16,000 Moslem worshippers at the main prayers, so it’s a pretty enormous complex.

The Hindu Temple

Literally, just down the road, was the Hindu Temple – just as striking visually, but this was far more ornate. On a cooler day, we might have stopped to count the number of figures and animals, but our anti-perspirants were about to surrender! We were now in moist-undergarments territory…

The Grand Oriental Hotel

Next on our itinerary was a visit to what turned out to be a location with a very sad story – The Grand Oriental Hotel. In its day, this had been the ‘go-to’ accommodation in the town, posh enough for the Hotel Manager to vet all bookings to ensure that those two French oiks: Les Riff and Les Raff did not get past its doors. However, like many other older buildings in this busy place, it had seen better days. And, although it was still open to guests, it was clearly struggling with its dated interior, lack of air-conditioning, and most importantly, the crucial need for nothing less than a major makeover.

In fact, the building interior looked as if it had been frozen in time (about 1963!) – so did the fully uniformed Doorman, who saluted me on the way out! Ah, bless!

Ann reported that it was the only Ladies’ Loo she’s been in, where the hot-air hand dryer was cooler than the temperature in the loo itself!

We were shown upstairs to the breakfast room, where we cooled-down and made the most of the free wi-fi and drinks on offer. Ann captured some good shots towards where the QM2 had docked.
 
 
With our whistles-whetted once more, we dropped in next door to a local St Peter’s Church, which was originally built by the Dutch. Lovely and cool inside so we all lingered, some out of religious conviction, but most for the cool air and the shade…


St Peter’s Church

Sri next took us to a series of significant buildings…

The Clock Tower with a built-in Lighthouse!

Whiteaways Building

Lloyd’s Building

What we were starting to learn about Colombo in general though, was even sadder – it seems to have been commercially abused for most of its existence. First the Portuguese in 1505, who plundered it, and then by the 1660s, the Dutch, who filled the place with canals Then along came us Brits in 1796! In recent years – the 80s – it even suffered at the hands of terrorism (I’d forgotten this part!) between the Tamils and the Sinhalas.

In short, a lorry packed full of explosives was driven by a suicide bomber into the town’s major Bank. Over 500 deaths and more than 1,000 injured, the impact on the city’s businesses was devastating. Dozens closed, and with the new tighter security cordon, those situated in the Old Fort area, simply dried up or gave up and moved out. The city became a ghost-town with no reason for anyone to go there. Happily, with tourism and businesses returning, it’s pulled itself up, but it’s been scarred for life.

     
We then trotted off to the ‘Harrods’ of Colombo, called ‘Cargills’, built in 1864 and complete with original features and a duty-free bargain booze department. More like a Sainsbury back in the 60s, this even had pneumatic tubes and customer’s cash transactions or for moving paperwork around the building.

The Steuart Hotel

In complete contrast to The Grand Oriental earlier, this was a classy and modern hotel. Founded by proud Scot, George Steuart  (spell-checker be damned), it was everything a modern hotel should look like built on the site of Sri Lanka’s oldest business meeting house.  We could see ourselves staying here next time round!

Our final stop was at the Old Dutch Hospital Complex. Now converted to fashionable cafés and eateries, as the name suggests, it was once run by the Dutch (in the 17th century) and was BUPA in style! It provided three hot-meals a day with slaves on hand to help you get well. Probably the daily doses of opium and curry also helped!

Taking advantage of the location, we took refuge from the heat in the Colombo Fort Café for about 30 minutes before we all headed back to the Coach.

And that’s where our Tour ended! It’s probably been the best one so far for us this holiday – even though the heat, and especially the humidity, slowed us all down quite a bit. Sri, our Guide, was superb in every sense, and he made the half-day event something really special.

In a way though, a lot of what we’d seen today was based around the former Ceylon in its hey-day – and would it still be there next time, as this town develops and re-invents itself? Although there are plenty of NEW developments going up here, the past has, in terms of its buildings, been sadly neglected, and it would be easy to imagine that in the quest for modernisation, much of its ‘back-story’ is lost, becoming simply a day’s work for a bull-dozer!
 

Back on board, it was Lunch at The Royal Lion, before a quick siesta and Dinner back at the now very familiar Britannia Restaurant.

We’re at sea again tomorrow before docking at Cochin on Saturday. From a Visa point of view, getting into India has been a nightmare with even the mighty Cunard being forced to backtrack on earlier instructions given to all Passengers.

Up the Empire!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

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