Smithy's Cruise Blog

Last year we were in Lisbon and it poured with rain. We had bought Hop on Hop off tickets on the ship because the adverts said the buses had ramps and were wheelchair friendly. They were not and we got our money back.

We left the ship with the intention of finding a taxi man who spoke decent English. As we walked out of  the Terminal building there he was. Smart dark suit. Excellent English. Not too pushy. And the major selling point – a brand new black Mercedes people mover!

No doubt Robert Gordon of Mercedes in Melborne will be able to tell us the model. As the driver (we failed to get his name) had been there all morning without a punter, the fee for 2 hours (which turned out to be 30 minutes less than that!) was very reasonable. It was a really great tour. He took us down some of the really narrow streets in the old town.

We were amazed by the large number of Tuk Tuks in the old town area. Our driver was very upset by them. He said they charged more than he did, paid little or no tax and yet were legitimate because the local statutes didn’t legislate for such vehicles. He said they had arrived in Lisbon because of the high level of unemployment and the fact that young people could earn a living by buying such a vehicle cheaply. They were in the main driven by youngish girls.

In the old town area you had to watch out for the trams. And if you are on a tram, you need to watch out for pickpockets and bag snatchers. As we crawled along in a traffic jam at one stage, the driver pointed out some undercover cops walking between the trams and seeking out known thieves.

From the old town we moved to the more modern areas further north and the magnificent squares leading to the Avenida da Liberdade and then further west on our way down to Belem (Bethlehem) and the Monument to the Discoveries commemorating Henry the Navigator.

As we sailed away later that day I managed to get a photo from the ship. The same with the Torre de Belem, the fortress built to guard the approach to the city by water.

It was a brilliant day. The best day we have ever had in Lisbon. It even surpassed the day I had in the city as a student in 1967 on a 14 day cruise on the Carmania (staff rates were £2 a day at the time – £28 for a fortnights cruise all found). That was in the days of Salazar’s dictatorship and Portuguese students were scared to talk to us about the regime in case they were overheard by the secret police.

Tomorrow Cadiz. Our first visit.

After a day at sea on Monday, crossing a benign Bay of Biscay, we awoke on Tuesday morning to find ourselves in the Canal Del Sur. We passed south of the island of San Martin and then followed the Ria De Vigo to our berth in Vigo.

I know that you don’t want to hear the ailments of a cantankerous old blogger, but as many have heard me say over the last 3 or 4 weeks, when I was 16  I had my lateral (or was it left?) discoid meniscus (cartilage) removed from my right knee. Too much of that game called Fives. In those days it meant two weeks in hospital – Lord Mayor Treloar in Alton – so not only did I miss a couple of weeks school, but additionally I was “looked after” by a bevy of 17/18 year old nurses. It was very hard for a young innocent boy like me.

Why am I digressing like this? Well, about 18 months ago my right knee gave way, but by the time I saw a consultant, the knee appeared to be back to normal. He said he thought it was remarkable that it had lasted 54 years! His advice was to do nothing with the knee and hope it settled down. Well it did until about 2 weeks ago. And now it is playing up, just at a time when I need to be pushing the folding wheelchair, with Mrs Smith aboard, up and down the hills of Europe’s finest ports.

We knew Vigo. It’s a big hill. But by choosing the roads that appeared to be the least steep, we were able to tack back and forth until we reached the place that we knew had the best coffee. We didn’t take Jane’s large motorised chair because of worries about kerbs and cobbles, but in fact Vigo is pretty organised and that would have been the answer.

The drivers reported for duty on time. We were ready, despite the fact that I had wasted 45 minutes earlier, trying to remember where Jane’s drugs were hidden. Prescription drugs of course. In fact I couldn’t remember packing them. So, while Jane was still asleep I had to dig deep into the cases to make sure the drugs were there. I found them in the last case. Relief.

Plenty has happened since the 175 year celebrations on Queen Elizabeth in May. On 31 May 2015 our first grandchild Ethan James Herring was born to Louise and Red. This was Ethan with his Dad on day one

And this was Ethan on his first foreign holiday with his parents in Majorca at 9 weeks.

He must be hoping that, in time, his parents will be able to afford a somewhat larger tent for future holidays.

Ethan was the main attraction at his grandfather’s 70th birthday party on Queen Elizabeth when he was only 8 weeks old. 

Granny Jane and your blogger are on the move and packing for another adventure on Queen Elizabeth. Linda is again having a holiday in Chandlers Ford and house sitting for us. We are sailing on Sunday (30 August) to the Med on two cruises back to back, the first to the Western Med and the second further east, but more of that later.

We left it to the Scots to organise the day on the Orkneys. In fact Stewart and Elizabeth Wilson

offered to sort out the day with the able assistance of their travel agent son, Jeremy, in Aberdeen. He booked a taxi that would take the four of us and the wheelchair.

Billy took us to Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar thought to have been constructed before 2000 BC. Both are part of the UNESCO Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site.

 and then on to Skara Brae with its well preserved Stone Age village and a short walk away, Skaill House.

Stone Age Village

  Skaill House

From there we drove across to Stromness. Billy lived there. Very narrow streets, and a wonderful, peaceful place, on the water’s edge.

Stromness is well worth a visit. 70 of the town’s buildings are listed buildings, nestled alongside the pretty harbour.

Our visit coincided with a folk festival, and a number of musicians, with guitars slung over their shoulders, were beginning to arrive in the town. But we had to move on.

Next was Scapa Flow and the Churchill Barricades. In both World Wars, Scapa Flow was considered to be a safe anchorage for Royal Navy warships. To the east of Scapa Flow, there were, until World War 2, four channels leading in to the naval anchorage. They were all blocked by sunken ships, and it was considered that attack from the east by sea was impossible. But in October 1939, on an exceptionally high tide, a German U-boat managed to get through and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak with the loss of more than 800 lives.

 The sunken cargo ships still there.

  HMS Royal Oak

On learning of this, Churchill ordered the construction of stone and concrete barriers between the islands and those barriers are still there today with roads over the causeways linking the islands together.

Close to one of the barriers is the Italian Chapel.

This was built by Italian prisoners of war who had been captured in the North African campaign and sent to Orkney to help with the construction on the Churchill Barriers. It was constructed from two Nissen Huts. The Chapel gradually became a place of pilgrimage for people holidaying in Orkney.

Time was running out. Billy took us to Kirkwall but there was insufficient time for us to explore the Cathedral. He was in trouble with his taxi firm for spending 4 hours with us when they considered that he should have been back to deal with other duties after 3 hours!

We had a great day in Orkney and would recommend Billy and Craigies. Agree an hourly rate beforehand. With 4 of us, less than £10 per hour each was the rate. Very good value with a commentary throughout!

I forgot to mention that early in the tour we stood on cliffs looking towards the island of Hoy and could just spot the Old Man of Hoy. You can just pick it out in the second of these photos.

Now we move on to Liverpool and the 175 year anniversary of Cunard on Monday 25 May 2015.

We had been to nearby Travemunde in the past. And we had been to Rostock before. In fact Cunard included my piece on Travemunde on the We Are Cunard site, and it is still there. It was one of the great days.

We had to walk past the Celebrity Silhouette moored astern of us and keep walking about a mile.

There was then an underpass which took us under the railway. The problem was that it was then another mile to get back into town

So a journey that would normally take 10 minutes took us 60, but so what! It was a pleasant walk through the residential part of the town. Elegant houses and lovely gardens.

Warnemunde is a seaside resort. Wonderful wide beaches and the estuary in which our ship was berthed had promenades on both sides. There were plenty of mime artists and one looked very playful.

There were multitudes of eateries and bars. We settled on a bar in the town square. Nearer the ship there were some interesting sand sculptures!

The Captain told us that there were likely to be thousands of spectators watching us leave and he was right.

Friday is a day at sea. I am taking a “Behind the Scenes” tour on the ship – something I have not done before. I will report on it shortly. Then on Saturday we are in Kirkwall which you will all know is in the Orkneys!

By the time we had returned to the ship from the Hermitage there were five other ships in the basin.

St Petersburg is clearly a very popular place for cruise ships. I can’t recall ever seeing that number in a European port at the same time (OK – P&O had all 7 of their ships in Southampton recently but that was different).

The Regal Princess

 The Costa Luminosa

 The MSC Orchestra

 The Aida Mar

 The Marco Polo

And of course to make up the half dozen, the finest ship of them all –

 The Queen Elizabeth

Wednesday was a sea day and the evenings entertainment was provided by the Spinettes. Three young ladies who sing 40s/50s/60s music. They were excellent. They had performed at the lunch launching the 175 celebrations on Queen Mary 2 in Southampton two weeks ago.

We were ashore at 10.15 am on Tuesday for the 2nd day in St Petersburg. Mira and the Mercedes driver were ready for us after we were released from the terminal by some rather sullen female immigration officers. 

 The Hermitage

The plan today was to explore more of the Hermitage. Mira decided to take us round the areas that had been renovated and reopened since we were last there. Massive beautiful rooms and galleries.

The Duke of Wellington

The throne room.

At that stage the Hermitage was not overcrowded, but as the morning wore on, it became busier.

This rather strange clock apparently told the time but I couldn’t work out how, and Mira’s explanation was lost in the translation.

 Another throne room!

We had tickets for the Gold Rooms at 11.45am. It meant moving out of the main building into the Little Hermitage. It did not have the same facilities such as lifts and we were almost immediately confronted by a long flight of steps. Although Jane dislikes being lifted in her chair there was no option and Mira was soon seeking out a “boy” to help. She found a number during the rest of our visit! Cameras were not allowed in the Gold Rooms, and although the exhibits were good they were not as impressive as I had imagined they would be.

When we left the Hermitage at about 1.30pm there was a massive queue of people waiting to get in. It must have been half a mile long. It was very cold and we felt very sorry for them. They appeared to be Russian tourists rather than foreigners, who tend to be encouraged to visit in the morning.

We then returned to the ship via an expensive souvenir shop. It had been a very successful day and if anyone wants to take a private tour in St Petersburg I can recommend Mira, a superb guide.

Some years ago, before our first visit to St Petersburg, friends from the US, Pam and Peggy Zirkle advised us to book a private guide. We did so and Mira Bogachkova was assigned to us by Insider Tours. She was brilliant. So I booked her again for this visit.

We started with the Church on Spilled Blood?

Truly amazing with gold and more gold and murals everywhere. Vast ornate floor areas and hardly a chair to be seen. The congregation stand throughout the services.

From there we travelled at speed across the city to the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral. At speed because that was the way the driver liked to travel. I couldn’t work out what the speed limits were but we were in heavy traffic and the roads were standard city roads. 40mph at most would have been the limit in London. We were being driven at 60mph or more at times.

The Peter and Paul Cathedral is to be found within the fortress.

It was time for a bite to eat. Mira took us to a small cafe. There was a problem with steps to get in and out. Mira quickly sorted that out. She found a young man and charmed him into helping me to lift Jane and her wheelchair up and down the steps.

Then it was back into the Merc and another race across to St Isaac’s Cathedral. Another vast, beautiful building.

And then it was back to the ship for an evening in port. Many went to the ballet, but there were no facilities for wheelchairs so we had to forget that option.