Category: Uncategorized

What do I know about opera? Not a lot, but I do know that Andrew Massey has written one. Whether or not he has persuaded anyone important to listen to it and consider its merits, I don’t know, but I hope that he does succeed.

He might run it past Celena who performed here on Queen Elizabeth two nights ago. She is a soprano and has a beautiful voice and is also a very pretty girl.

We came to Crete twice in our youth. The first time was in 1975. We came with another couple and stayed at the Elounda Beach Hotel. It was a 5 star Hotel and pretty up market for us in those days. I remember that there was a fairly primitive windsurfer on the beach for the use of guests. We had never seen one before. We watched two German men trying to sail it, without success. By watching them we worked out how to steer it and how to sail it and enjoyed our first windsurfing experiences.

It looked a bit like this. I remember that the mast did not fit into the board very securely and it often came out and hit your toes or your ankle. Very painful.

In later years when we holidayed with Mark Warner on sailing holidays in the Med Jane became a real expert and windsurfed with a harness with considerable skill. I stuck to Lasers, being much older than her!

Our second visit to Crete was when Louise was about 4. No Michael at that stage. It was November and we stayed in Rethymnon in the north. The weather was poor but we were told that the south coast was always sunny which proved to be correct. Something to do with the mountains. We rented a little car and drove to the beaches on the south coast around Irapetra each day.

We also took in the Minoan sites including Knossos and our favourite, Phoestos, on the south coast. It was easy to stand at the head of the valley and imagine the army marching towards you to attack the Palace.

Today was our first visit by sea. We arrived in Heraklion at 7.30am. There was a strong wind and 2 tugs were in attendance to help with the 360 degree turn in a tight dock area. The turn was executed in style.

We left the ship at about 10.00am and found that an elongated golf buggy had been converted to transport wheelchair passengers to the terminal building. From there we found a number of smart Mercedes taxis. Dimitri was the best salesman and had the best English. His tour took us around the city and then up into the hills to an unspoilt farming village. Olives, goats and sheep and not much else, but the views were spectacular.

I know many of you have been here, but this is our first visit. It is an extraordinary place.

Santorini was once a single island. It suffered two massive volcanic eruptions around 1650 BC, which created a number of smaller islands and a caldera – a volcanic crater – and it is that crater or bay where Queen Elizabeth is sitting today. She is not at anchor because the bay is too deep, and we are kept in position by the ships engines. The cliffs are very steep and form the sides of the volcanic crater. They are some 300m high and the towns and villages sit on top.

Usually, when an island has no dock, ships use their own tenders to get their people ashore, but on Santorini they operate their own shuttle boat system. Presumably it is a way of supplementing the island’s income.

Jane was not able to go ashore, so Kim stayed with her in the morning and I went ashore. I came back at lunchtime and Kim then explored the island.

To get to the top there are 3 alternatives. Cable car or donkey or a zigzag path (allegedly covered in donkey muck). Everyone appeared to take the cable car going up, but I did meet one couple on the ferry back who took the path for the journey down. They were exhausted and the wife had slipped on the dung and bruised her bottom (she said). Be warned next time you are here!

The town of Fira is pretty, with masses of narrow streets winding through it. There are a multitude of shops, bars and restaurants. The shops in the main carry the usual tourist tat, but there were some smart boutiques and expensive jewellery and watch shops. When I arrived the donkeys were passing, before starting their day, carrying fat tourists up the hilly path.

It was a shame that we couldn’t get Jane right up to the top of the Acropolis. Visiting the Parthenon had been on her bucket list since she was a child, but thankfully she was happy that we had managed to get as close as we did.

To make amends, Stavros took us to the King’s Palace just in time for the Changing of the Guard. Two guards being replaced by two more happens every hour. There were just a few tourists there when we arrived, and within seconds the two new guards and the officer in charge were marching down the pavement towards us. I have a short video which I will try to download to the blog but in the meantime here are a number of images. Their high stepping march is somewhat different to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, said Alice.

From the King’s Palace we drove to the old part of the city and spent the next 90 minutes exploring the pretty narrow streets and the shops, bars and restaurants.

We also saw the site of the first Olympic Games. Then it was back to the ship.

I missed the docking. I awoke at 5.00am to find that we had arrived and that QE was tied up at the berth. I went back to sleep.

We left the ship after breakfast hoping to find an adapted taxi. Cunard had not been able to locate one, but I had the feeling that we would be able to find one in the dock area. I was wrong. There was a long line of standard yellow taxis and a taxi master. He was big. Very big. You remember Geoff Capes? Well he was his size. He could have pulled the ship out of Piraeus Harbour had he been asked. He explained that he would be able to pick up Jane and deposit her in the front seat of a regular taxi.

We agreed a price for 4 hours and the taxi master picked up Jane and placed her carefully in the front seat. We were off to the Acropolis with Stavros the driver. He drove his battered taxi fast and well. He knew every short cut and we soon passed the new (2009) Acropolis Museum. The difficult part of the journey starts there with tourist buses, coaches, taxis and private cars all converging on the narrow streets leading to the Acropolis.

But Stavros was born and bred there and wasn’t to be defeated by a few large coaches. More side roads, more overtaking, more cutting in and cutting up and we were there. But there were hoards of people wherever we looked and massive queues. Stavros explained that they were queuing for tickets for the elevator to get up to the Parthenon. He could tell that I wasn’t the sort who would queue for 45-60 minutes in the hot sun. He disappeared and 5 minutes later he thrust three €20 tickets in my hand.

We managed to get Jane into the folding wheelchair and set off for the elevator but on arrival at the entrance we were told that the ramp was broken and that there was no way that the wheelchair could get into the elevator. Typical. So it was back to the ticket office, with me pushing in at the front of the queue to recover the €60. Again typical, Jane says.

Stavros realised we wanted some photos and drove to another carpark with a flat roofed building. A large sign on its side said WC. He pointed at it. I pointed at my camera. Some mistake here?

He led Kim and me to some steps which took us up onto the roof. There we were, with our cameras, standing on the roof of the local public loo. But he knew that this gave us a clear view of the Parthenon

‘

Part 2 of the day in Athens to follow.

Just over 21 knots is not a bad speed for Queen Elizabeth. 25 mph. That should get us to Piraeus by 6.30am on Thursday morning. The Captain wants to get us into the berth before the ferry rush hour starts. Mrs Smith won’t be up by then, but I love to watch the ship docking.

It’s been a glorious day today and the majority of guests have been out on deck. The sea is a beautiful blue and there is no other shipping to be seen in any direction.

Tomorrow Athens – if we can find suitable transport. So far no success.

Then three more ports in a row. Santorini – Crete – Olympia.

Queen Elizabeth picked up her pilot soon after 7.15am on Monday 28 May. The sky was grey over the island as we approached Palma.

Sister in law Sarah had predicted horrible (uppercase) weather in her email to me the day before and “don’t forget your swimming things” which seemed odd!

We were soon on our way in an adapted taxi, which deposited Kim, Jane and me at the Apartamentos de Mer where Sarah and David have owned their holiday apartment for 30 years.

Until 3 or 4 years ago Jane and I had a few days or a week there most years, with Sarah and David, but accessibility became a problem. But it was good to be back.

We had a great day. The weather improved. The sun came out and Katie and Sam’s children swam in the (rather chilly) pool. This is while they were plucking up courage.

David Holt has never missed his daily coffee at Cappuccinos and we were all invited to join him.

Then after a stroll round the marina, hoping to find a yacht with an owner aboard who might offer us a drink (no such luck – the Jacksons were back in the UK) we returned to the apartment. Sam is not only a computer wizard, but also a brilliant cook and we had a magnificent lunch on the balcony overlooking the massive yachts, most of which never appear to go to sea.

Sadly, by 4.00pm it was time to go. We had to be back on the ship before 5.30pm or it would sail without us. We were in a Taxi arranged by the ship, which technically means that the ship would wait, but I wasn’t prepared to put that to the test. And the traffic round the port can be difficult in the late afternoon. But all was well and we boarded in good time

I must mention the comedian who entertained us after dinner. John Martin. He was a class act and had the whole theatre in stitches for 45 minutes.

Louise in Tooting reported a strange presentation of my blog when she received an email notification of a new piece. Very large images and very small print. You may have received something similar. If you click on the blog itself there appears to be no problem.

Luckily I am seeing Sam, the blog guru, in Majorca tomorrow. I am sure he will sort it out.

Today, Sunday has been beautiful. Small ripples on the Mediterranean Sea that we entered at about 7.00am and clear blue skies. There will be a number of red bodies around the ship tonight.

We were about 55 miles away from Malaga as we passed this morning and we then turned towards Majorca. The Captain says that we will pick up our pilot at 7.00am tomorrow and should be on the berth in Palma at 8.00am. Those wanting to watch as Queen Elizabeth passes Portals Nous will need to be up early!

Plenty to report. The weather was not very special yesterday as we sailed south, but the Bay of Biscay was calm. The sun is out now as we pass Lisbon, then it’s Cap St Vincent and a left turn into the Med.

At midday the Captain said that we had covered 830 nautical miles since Southampton, which means that we are half way to our first destination – Palma de Mallorca. Or Majorca to you and me. Jane’s sister Sarah and her husband David have an apartment there in Portals Nous. They will be there on Monday as will Katie and Sam (whose wedding we went to in Italy last September after we had absconded from this ship for 4 days) and their children Zoey and Hayden. Lunch on the balcony and a glass or two of Rioja hopefully.

One of the speakers on the ship is a retired sub mariner, Commander Jeff Tall, a Captain of numerous submarines and an excellent speaker. Today’s lecture was on the Battle of the Atlantic. Illustrated with old film and plans and maps, it kept me awake throughout and taught me a great deal. My father, who spent most of WWII on the North Atlantic, on the old Queens, rarely talked about the war.

Unusually Jane was at war today! She and Kim wanted to listen to the earlier lecture by a forensic scientist. The usual places for wheelchairs were occupied, so they went to a box in the gods set aside for wheelchairs with clear signage saying so. They found that the box was occupied by an able bodied husband and wife, who refused to move. The wife told Jane that she should have got there earlier! Jane persisted and the husband took fright and eventually persuaded his wife to leave. Even Cunard has a few like them, but in the main our fellow guests are fine! Continue reading “Three days at sea”

After a number of days of preparation we made the easy journey to the Mayflower Terminal, Southampton. Gary the taxi driver, me and a multitude of cases in Gary’s 8 seater and Jane and Kim in the adapted Vauxhall driven, as usual by Ian Gordon.

On arrival at the terminal, the luggage disappeared and within minutes we were checking in. Mugshots taken, Ships ID cards issued and we were first into security. Belt removed, trousers ankled, metal knee detected and we were on board. Less the 30 minutes from taxi to cabin. Miraculous. Well done Cunard.

And a bonus for us. Captain Aseem Hashmi is the Master. He apparently joined the ship in Kiel.

As we left Southampton, the rain started to fall heavily and visibility declined. It was a shame because after we left the berth and set off down Southampton Water, we passed Queen Mary 2, also in port for the day. My photos are not as good as they might have been.