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.