BLOG #2:  FROM TILBURY TO LE HAVRE

Our first stop was in Tilbury, United Kingdom.  This is the closest port to London and most people from the ship booked tours into that famous city.  As we didn’t feel like a long drive on a bus, we simply took the shuttle into Tilbury itself, so that we could shop for toiletries, etc.

Tilbury is the port closest to London and has been around since Roman times.  I don’t know what it was like two centuries ago but now Tilbury is a very depressed and depressing town with most of the buildings in the main area boarded up.  The only thing open Tuesday morning was a rather seedy convenience store and an even seedier pharmacy.  Apparently, this port town fell on hard times after container shipping replaced freight handlers and stevedores.  Returning to the ship for an afternoon nap was definitely the highlight.

On Wednesday (Sept. 29) we docked in Zeebrugge, Belgium.  We took a 20-minute taxi ride into the centre of the city of Bruges (a UNESCO World Heritage city) and, on the advice of the taxi driver, took a city tour on a mini bus with clear glass sides and a clear glass roof.

The contrast from Tilbury could not have been greater.  Bruges is an incredibly beautiful city with wonderful architecture.  I wished we had had more time to explore, but we had to return to the ship so Betty could make her appointment with a hair dresser at the ship’s spa.  Fortunately, this service is free to passengers who frequently sail on Oceania.

Betty got a call Wednesday night from the airport in Amsterdam.  Our luggage showed up on Wednesday, and now the logistics of getting it from the airport to a constantly moving ship has to be solved.  It is possible that we may get the luggage in Cobh, Ireland on Monday Oct 3.  Nonetheless, I wonder if getting our clothes next week will be all that much of a benefit.  With the quality of the food and wine on the ship we may no longer fit into any of them.

The dinner menu in the Main Dining Room changes daily.  Each morning the menu is available on TV and then one decides whether to eat there in the evening or score a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants (where the menus do not change).  Another little change in technology from our last cruise is that one no longer needs an identification card to board or leave the ship.  Security is handled by a facial recognition device, which I suspect is also reading one’s temperature.

Modern architecture is not something that I usually find particularly pleasing, yet when we docked at Le Havre Friday we took a shuttle to the city center to The Volcan Cultural Center. This area was designed by the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer as the focal point of the city.  Featured are two buildings, the theatre and the library, which are supposed to represent volcanos.  To me they seemed more like derelict nuclear plants.  Perhaps I have finally found some buildings that are even more ugly than Antigonish’s Credit Union.

We continue to enjoy life aboard.  Last evening we opted to skip the musical performance in the theatre and instead, sipped pre-dinner wine while enjoying the string quartet.  This was followed by dawdling over a 3-hour meal, shared with two American couples, in the Grand Dining Room.  Tonight, we get our first meal of the trip in Toscano’s, the Italian restaurant.  I have already decided to follow lobster risotto with a plate of veal picada. 

 

 

FIRST TRAVELBLOG FOR THE FALL OF 2022

The start of any extended trip can be stressful, with a myriad of last-minute preparations, airports to navigate, and a thousand and one little aggravations.  Nonetheless, things usually improve and the rewards of visiting new places keep us awaiting our next venture.

The start of this trip was no different.  As most of you know a robot gave Betty her second new knee in late July and we wondered if she would be ready to travel in September.  However, her surgeon gave approval, provided she flew business class (didn’t budget for that). 

The plan was to leave Halifax on Sunday, Sept. 25 and fly to Amsterdam as the first stop of a 43-day adventure.  That almost didn’t happen as Hurricane Fiona hit Nova Scotia on Friday night.  The eye of the storm passed directly over Antigonish, leading to the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded in Canada.  The winds peaked at 179 kph.  Lots of damage in Eastern Nova Scotia, but we escaped with minor damage to our yard and garden. 

So right on schedule we left Antigonish with downed trees and power lines and no expectation of having the lights on anytime soon (power did return to our house on Monday night).  After an uneventful flight to the world’s worst airport (Toronto) we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour as Toronto didn’t have enough ground crew to gate planes.  We almost missed our flight and were the last persons to board.  Our luggage, however, didn’t make it and we don’t know how we are going to manage without very many clothes or toiletries.

We stayed overnight in Amsterdam where it is very wet and cold.  In the evening we ventured out in the rain and walked to a “hole-in-the-wall” Italian restaurant where we had the comfort of great pastas washed down with copious but thin house wine.  Apparently, tipping is not common here.  I added a small tip (small enough to anger a Canadian waiter) to our bill.  Our server than asked us to stay and she then brought us two free glasses of limencello.  None of the other diners received this wonderful drink.

We made it to the ship Tuesday morning and it was a great feeling “to be home”.  The first thing was a lunch in the buffet.  Betty’s cane was immediately spotted and a server came to accompany her and carry her food.  The server remembered her from our last cruise on this ship (2019) and apologized that she couldn’t remember Betty’s name.

After lunch I made a dinner reservation at “Jacques”, the wonderful French restaurant.  Betty is hesitant to accompany because she is embarrassed that she will have to wear the same clothes that we she has been wearing for the past 3 days.   Assuming our luggage doesn’t miraculously arrive we may have a look for new clothes in the onboard shop.  We were told when we checked in that we had a special 25% discount because we arrived with no luggage.  For now the ship is providing toiletries.

Because this is our free cruise we don’t get the normal complementary wines.  Thus, I pre-ordered 14 bottles of wine for the next 14 nights.  I did this to get a discount.  Now I have the interesting challenge of matching my food order to the wine, rather than matching the wine to what I am eating.

Our washroom seems to be well equipped and the picture below suggests we won’t run out of toilet paper anytime soon.

                                             FROM QUARANTINE

Although our life is less than exciting I am doing a blog anyway.  Perhaps I should call it the "blog from boredom."

We discovered that our quarantine hotel is brand new and opened the day we came.  As far as I can tell the only guests are isolating.   The room is very nice but one feature causes me to wonder if the Portuguese are perhaps a bit quirky.  Along side the bed is a window that can be opened allowing a full view into the shower and the toilet beyond.  Thus one can lie in bed and watch one's partner shower, or fulfill other needs.

The food from room service is good but definitely Portuguese.  Seafood predominates.  I haven't seen a wine list and the wines they send are always from the Douro.

From the balcony we can chat with our neighbours on either side.  One neighbour is a retired cop from London who travels the world on cruiseships giving lectures on police work.  He said his best lecture was from his time in Colombia chasing Escobar.

This morning two rapid tests appeared outside our door.  We both tested negative but I don't know what that means as I assume we must test negative on a test that can be validated.  I am now wondering if perhaps I had a false positive as I can't imagine how I could have Covid and not pass it along to Betty.

                                                    PORTO

We started our last full day (Palm Sunday) on the Viking Hemming with our daily Covid spit.  After breakfast I, but not Betty, joined a 3.5 hour walking tour of the old city of Porto.  This is a lovely city, and both of us were looking forward to our four days on our own to explore.  Note the blue tiles on the inside of the railway station.

When we went to the restaurant for dinner, we were surprised by how empty it was.  Covid had struck the boat and over half the passengers had either tested positive or shared a bed with someone who had.  We thought we might have been lucky but later that night a knock on the door dashed out hopes.  Although Betty's results were negative, mine were positive.

In the morning (Monday) we were put in a van and transported to a hotel somewhere on the Douro River.  My interpretation of Portuguese law is that we will be locked in our room for at least 7 days.  We have no real idea of when we shall return to Canada.  Betty will miss her pre-surgery appointments and perhaps miss the surgery itself.

Viking Cruises is putting us up in a very nice hotel and paying the bill, including room service for meals and wine. I expect to spend a long seven days reading chick novels that Betty had downloaded on her e-reader.

Tomorrow (April 12) Betty will be "celebrating" something ending in a zero.  I did manage to grab a bottle of Champagne (the French stuff) from the boat as we were escorted off.  I am sure Betty would appreciate reading any e-mails you might care to send her.  bs.johnson@ns.sympatico.ca

                                                                         SAILING DOWNRIVER

By Thursday morning we had reached the Spanish border, which was as far upriver as the boat was allowed.  We took an all-day tour to the Spanish city of Salamanca, home to one of the four first universities in the world.  On the way there we had a Shakespeare stop (to pee or not to pee) for fresh orange juice and coffee.  Note the hanging hams in the picture.  These came from pigs that only ate acorns.  Once in Salamanca we had refreshments and saw some traditional dancing.  This was followed by a walking tour of the city.

At the end of the tour we had a couple of hours of free time.  Betty badly needed to sit so we entered the first place we came across.  This was a tapa bar and Betty asked the waiter to bring us four tapas of his choosing.  In a flash came a calamari sandwich, a burrito, a mixed seafood sandwich and a Spanish omelet.  We washed down these delicious treats with a bottle of sparkling water and four glasses of Rioja Roble.  The bill came to 15.40 Euros ($ 21.56 Canadian).  It was only after I had tipped that I noticed a tip had already been included.

The day was long but we did make it to the boat in time for a pre-dinner drink.

On Saturday we decided to skip the included ship's tour (which appeared to have some difficult walking.)  We opted for a relatively expensive trip to the Tavora-Varosa wine region.  Here the scenery was even more beautiful that in the Douro and our tour ended with wine tasting at a very small winery.  We ate some great delicacies and one of wines was one of the best still whites we have ever had.  The particular vintage that we tried only had produced 700 bottles, and to my great surprise, the owner even agreed to sell me a bottle.  Sure hope the bubble-wrap does its thing in my suitcase.

Since tomorrow will be our last cruise day, before our 4 days on land in Porto, I shall comment a bit on the cruise.  This is our 21st cruise, but our first river cruise.  River and Ocean cruising are very different; one chooses the river for scenery and the ocean for amenities.  On an Ocean ship there is a library, a spa, an exercise room, laundromats, a theatre for evening entertainment and multiple restaurants with lots of options.  None of these exist on the river boat, and in the one restaurant there are only a few options, despite the food being well prepared and presented.

                                         DOURO RIVER

We spent most of Monday bussing from Lisbon to the pier across from Porto.  En route we stopped at the beautiful medieval city of Coimba where we did some shopping.  We visited Coimba University (the oldest in Portugal).  They have a medical school where lobotomies were first developed.  The students at Coimba still wear academic gowns to classes.  However, they have a tradition whereby upon graduation they take off their gowns and discard them in the street.  Male students also take off the rest of their clothes and hang them on the gates of the university.

At our lunch stop we were beautifully entertained by two guitarists and a fado singer.  One of the guitars was a Portuguese guitar, which I would describe as a cross between an acoustic guitar and a banjo.

After a pleasant evening meal of traditional Portuguese food we had a good night's sleep.  On Tuesday we first visited the Palais da Mateus.  Those of you who have drunk Mateus wine or have used the Mateus bottle as a candle holder would recognize the villa from the picture on the label.  However, there is no connection between the palace and the wine, except that in the 1940's an upstart winery paid a tiny sum for the use of a picture for their label.  .The palace was built in 1742 and has been lived in continuously ever since; the family now in its 15th generation.

We had a spectacularly beautiful drive up the mountain to the Sandeman Winery, which makes exclusively port wine.  In Douro the best grapes are reserved for port.  This I consider to be a terrible waste of good grapes and, in fact, I didn't drink most the the ports offered me at Sandeman's

Upon our return to the ship construction forced the bus to stop over a km from the boat.  Walking back was a great struggle for Betty and we are those going to skip Wednesday's tours to allow her knee a rest.

The Douro River is very beautiful but we took a break from the scenery to attend a cooking class, where I got tips on making Pastel da Nada.  Those of you who have eaten my pastries at recent dinners can look forward to improvements next time.

After 20 ocean cruises Betty and I are finally having our first river cruise.  River cruising is quite different than ocean cruising and perhaps in a later blog I'll give some comparisons.

                                                                LISBOA

After a long overnight from Montreal we arrived at 9:00 Saturday morning in Lisbon.  The airport is large with a particularly long hike from baggage to the exit.  Fortunately, I had convinced Betty that we must share one large suitcase and I was thus able to manage both her wheelchair and the bag.  We had been given stickers for our jackets and were spotted by a Viking rep at the exit.  We were driven to the hotel where we were met by our Cruise Director.  We were asked to attend a 1/2 instructional talk at 6:00 that evening.  We were also given materials for Covid testing.  Each morning until the end of the cruise we must provide saliva samples for PCR testing.

I spend a good part of the afternoon trying to scout a walkable dinner restaurant.  I kept being told that they were already overbooked.  Eventually I was sort of told at  large pub that if we came at 6:30 (way too early for the Portuguese) they would try to find us a table.  As we had skipped lunch we were very thirsty and hungry by 5:00 so we went to the lobby bar and ordered two glasses of a Dao and munched on olives and nuts.  The Dao was the best Portuguese wine I have ever tried.

At the instructional lecture we had two glasses of Muscatel each, a wine I usually avoid.  They were also good.  At 6:30 we skipped out of the lecture and headed to the pub.  The pub was almost empty when we arrived, but by the time we finished our meal people were lined up out into the street hoping to score a table.  Our meal started with prawns grilled in peppers and olive oil.  Betty ordered a steak and got a tasty piece of veal smothered in a cream and peppercorn sauce.  I ordered a francesinha sandwich (which my broker said I must try when I got to Portugal).  A francesinha sandwich starts with a slice of bread on which is laid a large veal steak done quite rare.  On top of the steak are an uncured and a smoked sausage both cut lengthwise; then several slices of ham.  Over this is poured about a pint of hot Port sauce before the second piece of bread is placed.  Then several melted cheeses smother the bread before the whole thing is topped with a fried egg.  The bottle of Douro wine that washed down this concoction was perfectly adequate but not quite up to the standards of the hotel Dao.

On Sunday morning we had a very tasty breakfast at the hotel before we were taken on a bus tour of the city.  Lisbon is very clean and claims to be the fourth safest city in the world.  The tour lasted for about 4 hours and gave a good overview 

On Monday morning we will be coached to Porto.  Along the way we will stop in the university town of Coimbra for a tour and lunch.  Then at 4:30 (assuming our Covid tests have been negative) we will board for our cruise up the Douro River.