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Gibraltar

I can never get very excited about Gibraltar. It’s something to do with the Apes (actually they are monkeys and not apes). Jane loves to see them, but to me they are dirty, horrble, little scavengers that jump on your head, steal your sunglasses, cameras and mobile phones and eat your ice creams and sweets. And they bite if you annoy them! They live on the Upper Rock and they leave the area covered in their debris. Keep well clear is my advice!

Sadly it rained for most of the time we were ashore. That meant that we didn’t make it up the Rock and so Jane missed the Barbary apes! But the downside for me was that it did mean that I had to commit to more shoe shops and to the dreaded M&S. Small though, so less to see and very little Per Una. I did find Jane some very nice black ankle boots, which passed the test, as they were easy to get on. Some of her favourite shoes can be a nightmare.
Those of you that have flown planes into Gibraltar will know that the flight path can be blocked by cruise ships. It didn’t happen to us this time, but I do recall our arrival, on one occasion, being delayed until the BA flight from London had landed.

The ship has now been decorated for Christmas and looks fabulous. Immaculate Christmas trees have appeared all over the ship.

And after our departure from Gibraltar we had a day at sea and then the final port, La Coruna.
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Barcelona

 Barcelona is a magical place. Walking up La Rambla sets the scene. Although it was 1 December it was busy with plenty of tourists and many of them were Spanish.

We set off to explore the narrow, traffic free streets off La Rambla to the east. There were multitudes of neat, small shops and galleries. Jane always wants to stop at every shoe shop, but as there were so many, it was agreed that we would only look into every other one. This one was magical.

When I took out my camera, the assistant asked me to restrict my pictures to general ones, rather than close ups. I’m not sure if she thought I was going to set up in opposition!

My intention was to move slowly north so that we eventually found ourselves outside El 4 Gats – a favourite restaurant recommended by Nigel Freer some years ago.

It was a regular meeting place for Picasso and his chums. Jane was reluctant to have lunch, but I hoped to persuade her otherwise. I failed!

We then came across a Christmas market, which appeared to have only opened that morning. The usual tat, but Jane came across a stall packed with miniatures (which she loves) so we had to peer at hundreds of small Christmas baubles.

Our return to the ship was eventful. One of the shuttle buses had a lift which took a wheelchair and its rider some 8 feet up to the seating level of the coach.
At the ship, the first one out was an elderly man on a mobility scooter. His wife was bossy and he was clearly nervous about manoevering the vehicle onto the lift platform which had no guard rails round it. He would be driving out onto a platform sticking out the side of the coach and 8 foot off the ground. 
The coach driver operating the lift was standing on the ground. I could tell that the old boy was having trouble so got myself behind him to encourage him. He lined himself up and told his wife to ‘shut up’. He gripped the handle bar too tightly and in so doing pulled the accelerator and shot forward on to the lift platform and over the front of it! 
I grabbed the old boy and the back of the scooter and the bus driver pushed the front of the vehicle into the air. The old chap eventually let go of the accelerator and we pulled him back. It took us some time to coax him off!

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Livorno and Ajaccio

Livorno is the gateway to Pisa and Florence, but because of the distances involved and the fact that we had been to Pisa before, we decided to explore Livorno.

Reports about Florence indicated that it was not wheelchair friendly and that paths were narrow and cobbled. We are sorry though that we have not been there.
The “wheelchair friendly” shuttle to get us from the ship to the centre of Livono was provided by the city but was less than satisfactory. After a lengthy wait the vehicle arrived. It had a ramp but was designed to take one wheelchair. The driver crammed in many more than that, but none of them were secured in any way, and had there been any heavy braking during the journey, there would have been mayhem. In the event we survived!
Livorno was not the greatest city we have explored, but it was fun and it was a Saturday and the weather was good. We quickly found the large open air market which sold just about everything, including a multitude of fake Prada handbags being offered for sale by men from north Africa? We heard that it is illegal to buy fakes; and that buyers can be arrested and fined. So no Prada handbag for Louise or for Mike for Christmas!
The indoor market nearby was extraordinary.

A beautiful building and a multitude of butchers. There were other foods for sale but every other outlet was a butcher selling a vast array of meats. How many small butchers shops can you find in a UK town these days?

Next day we were in Ajaccio, Corsica. Deputy Captain Love announced our arrival with the standard notices and said that the mist/fog enveloping the town would lift to give us a sunny, warm day. In fact it lifted just as we departed!

The Smith family spent many happy and active holidays further south in Corsica in the late eighties and the nineties with Mark Warner. Sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing and tennis. And al fresco meals with plenty of beer and wine. They were great and we enjoyed 13 Mark Warner holidays during that time making many lifelong friends. The very first such holiday was near to Porto Vecchio on the east coast at the Hotel Ziglione.

Later we found our favourite – Club Marinca opposite Propriano on the bay of that name. A wonderful venue.

But back to Ajaccio and November 2014. We thought we had sailed into the port before but were wrong. Earlier voyages had taken us to Calvi and to Bastia – both further north. Corsica is a big Island. No 4 in size in the Med. But because its mountains are so dominant the roads are difficult and travel is slow. In the days of Mark Warner we rarely left the hotel, not only because of the transport problems, but because of the bandits and the shootings.
Propriano was allegedly a Mafioso stronghold, and at night we occasionally heard shots fired from the other side of the bay. Traffic signs were regularly riddled with bullet holes. And one year we arrived at Marinca to find that the boathouse and bar on the beach had been blown up by rebels who wanted Independence from France. The boats had been blown up too – which was good for us as it meant a brand new fleet of Lasers, windsurfs and waterski boats!
On Sunday Ajaccio was busy. The locals were out in force, and although the shops were closed the cafes in the square were open and there was a small market not far from the ship. We wandered off away from the centre and during our travels met Commodore Rind and his wife Julie. He was in civvies wearing a casual shirt and a large straw hat! 
This is him in uniform.

We moved on and found a castle with a moat. This one didn’t contain poppies but a goat and two donkeys!

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Cartagena

What an amazing place. Cartagena is far enough away from cities like Alicante to the north and Malaga to the southwest to be largely ignored by tourists (well British tourists).

It has a wonderful harbour. Hannibal made his base here in 219 BC before leaving to cross the Alps into Italy with his army. Because of its strategic position and easily defended harbour, the city flourished under the Carthaginians and under the Romans.
Later, the city came under the influence of the Moors and then became a principality of Spain. King Philip II created a major port, but a century later the English occupied the city and then in 1723 the French ruled the area. In the latter part of the 17th century Cartagena declared itself independant but that was shortlived.
During the Spanish Civil War the region did not support Franco and was one of the last cities to fall into Franco’s hands.
What is astounding about the place is that in the 1980’s, when the city authorities decided to clear the whorehouses and bordellos, they knocked down the brothels and the other buildings in the area. And underneath they found Roman remains galore.

They found a massive theatre which archeologists have been working on and restoring. It is unbelievable that something so large could have been forgotten about. They also discovered the Forum and the Roman Baths which have been restored. There are numerous fine buildings to explore and the main street has been beautifully pedestrianised.

The QV’s berth was alongside a very busy marina. Southampton could learn from the way in which the waterfront has been laid out, because the cafes, the restaurants and the sea museums overlook the marina and the cruise ships.
As we located a table in the sun Tim and Jean Whitehead arrived and joined us for a well deserved and very strong coffee.


We suggest that if you haven’t been to Cartagena you make the trip. More and more of the Roman buildings are being recovered and restored and there is plenty to see.

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The Med

“An update on Position Progress and the Weather”. That’s how the Commodore starts his midday broadcast. Today, Wednesday 26 November, he told us that we would be entering the Straits of Gibraltar at about 1600 hours. The sun was shining as we saw Morocco on our starboard side.

 

The Officer of the Watch pointed out Tangier and Tarifa (the southernmost Spanish town) and some 30 minutes later we were passing Ceuto in Morocco with the Rock of Gibraltar on the Port side.
        Ceuto

    Gibraltar


As I returned to the cabin with my camera, the Commodore made a further broadcast. He told us that a gale was buiding up in the Med to the north and that it had been decided that to avoid horrible weather for our calls to Barcelona and Toulon, our itinerary was to be rearranged:
Thursday 27th.- Cartagena, as planned
Friday 28th.     – At sea instead of Barcelona
Saturday 29th. – Livorno instead of Toulon
Sunday 30th.   – Ajaccio instead of Livorno
Monday 1st.    – Barcelona instead of Ajaccio

The net result is that we miss Toulon and have an extra day at sea. It seems that the forecast indicates that we would not have been able to berth safely at Toulon on Saturday.

Just before hearing the Commodore’s report, I bumped into David Ellis-Jones on deck 3. He told me that he and Pat (Bob Sperring’s sister) have recently moved from Bishops Waltham to Winchester – to the Barracks where Michael and Posie Yeomans live. Their cabin is on Deck 7 as is ours.
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Round Two

Round One came to an end on Sunday. I managed to get ashore by 9.00 am leaving Jane with the Sunday papers, her laptop and iPad. Mark collected me from the cruise terminal and took me home. The house was immaculate as it always is when Linda is house sitting!

I had a list of 12 things to do and find. I succeeded with 11 items despite losing the list. At the appointed hour of 10.30 am Jean and Tim Whitehead arrived. Jane and I had met them on the QV earlier this year and they had decided to join the ship again for this cruise to the Med.

Tim and Jean are to my right at the Captain’s table.
The plan was for them to leave their car at our house and for the 3 of us to travel to the ship in Mark’s taxi. The plan worked like clockwork.
Jean and Tim live in Brixham but Jean grew up in Southampton and Tim read geography at Southampton University. Jean was a teacher and Tim was Director of Tourism, first at Southampton, then Poole and finally at Torquay. He is a keen sailor and we all have plenty in common. We sit together for dinner in the Britannia restaurant. They met at Fridays – a nightclub on London Road, Southampton!

This used to be Fridays but its name has changed a number of times since then.
We are now on our way down to the Med and were 60 miles off Cape Trafalgar at noon today. We should be alongside in Cartagena, Spain at 9.00 tomorrow.
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La Coruna

We had not been to La Coruna before. It is the gateway to Santiago de Compostelo which is about 40 miles south and it is said that in the Middle Ages no shrine was more venerated than that of St James the Apostle of Compostelo.

La Coruna is known as the ‘Crystal City’ because of the glass-enclosed balconies which cover the apartment buildings which overlook the harbour.

La Coruna is a lovely city and we explored on foot. Suddenly the street would open into a vast square with stunning buildings surrounding it.

We found the Old Town too hilly for the wheelchair (well, for the pusher rather than the chair) and we turned right towards the harbour to find that the City authorities were opening up the waterfront, with enormous promenades replacing less than attractive buildings.

The large hotel facing the harbour had 4 outdoor swimming pools and large numbers of senior citizens were to be  seen performing water aerobics and swimming lengths in the bright sunshine.

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Lisbon

In the days prior to the call at Lisbon, the tour office on the ship had been selling hop on hop off bus tickets. The advertising said that the buses were wheelchair friendly. As we had not toured Lisbon for years we bought tickets.
Lisbon can be a great place –  but not when it’s raining. It was pouring when I awoke. I looked out to see that we were passing under the 25 de Abril Bridge, but the visibility was poor.

The bridge was built by the American Bridge Company who also built the San Francisco – Oakland Bridge (not the Golden Gate Bridge). I happen to know this because some years ago, after a visit to Lisbon, I saw a photo of the bridge in an online competion and was the only one to correctly identify it. The prize? A Cruise Critic cap!

In the past we have always tied up near the bridge, but this time we kept going and moored much closer to the city centre.


Very few people were venturing out, but the stupid Smiths did, with raincoats and umbrella. The driver of the wheelchair friendly shuttle bus kept us waiting for 40 minutes but we eventually arrived in the middle of Lisbon. It was still raining heavily. All we had to do now was to find the bus stop for our red bus. 
We were in a large square but eventually found the bus stop. When the red bus showed up, people emerged from the shadows and climbed aboard. When we found ourselves by the door, I asked the driver if he could get the ramp out, so that I could get Jane aboard. Despite having an area marked out for wheelchair users, there was no ramp to get them aboard!
I realise that I have become particularly cantankerous over the last year or two. Always complaining! When I complained about the lack of facilities, the driver said he would take us to his supervisor at the next stop. He helped me lift Mrs Smith and the chair on to the bus. At Stop No 1 he took me to the relevant chap who ranks at the top of the 2014 list of rude men. 
When I explained the fact that it was somewhat difficult for Jane to hop on and off without a ramp, he told me that I could find the address to which I could write on the company website. He then resumed the conversation that he had been having on his mobile. A lady employee told me that the drivers had all been complaining about the lack of ramps to their superiors, but that nothing had been done about it. That wasn’t much help to us, I explained.

So we gave up and returned to the ship to find that most people had stayed on board all day! I must get round to looking at that website and joining all those online complainers!
Pat has sent me a picture of Table 314.

Andy, Jane, Richard, Norman, Pat and Annette.
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Senior Officers Party

This week the parties have come thick and fast. The Cunard World Club party for frequent travellers and two days later the Senior Officers party. Exactly the same format for both, with the Commodore making a brief speech at the end to signal the fact that it was time to leave the free alcohol and go to dinner!

Jane was able to use the handy little table and wine glass holder that Mike of Remap had made for the wheelchair. This is Jane showing it off to Deputy Captain Simon Love.

We struck really lucky with our table companions for this voyage. Annette and Andy from a village near Sheffield are avid cruisers. They have sailed with a wide variety of cruise lines over many years. Andy has his own business dealing in gas. He was originally employed by British Oxygen, but eventually set up his own business and which is clearly very successful.

Norman and Pat live a couple of miles from us in Boyatt Wood – just the other side of the M3 from us! Norman was in the Army for many years and then worked for a Japanese bank in London, commuting daily. All four are great fun, so dinner is always a highlight. And we have Ivan looking after us in the Britannia Restaurant. He was our waiter for the second half of the world voyage.

John and Linda Moore are also aboard and we are having lunch with them in the Verandah Restaurant tomorrow.  We were on a table together on Queen Mary 2 four years ago. We were all doing the segment of the World Voyage that took us from Capetown to Rio via St Helena, then Barbados, Fort Lauderdale, New York and home. The Moores are keen golfers and members at Mill Rise.

It was Samuel Cunard’s birthday today and there was the inevitable cake!

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La Palma

This island should not be muddled with Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. “We have not been here before” I told everyone. Jane thought otherwise. But of course I know best.

As we went ashore we knew that this was one of the smallest islands in the Canaries, but that it was the steepest and boasted that it has the highest mountain.
As we meandered up the main street, Mrs Smith said she recognised some of the shops. Shoe shops look the same all over the World. And the boutiques. Some of our friends were returning to the ship because of some black clouds hovering over the mountains. They were sure they heralded rain. 

Being an authority on all things Canarian, I told them that the clouds had been hanging about all morning and that that occurred on all the Canary Islands we had visited over the years. The prevailing winds push the clouds up against the mountain, but that didn’t mean that it would rain. As it happened I got that bit right.
But further up the main street we came across a familiar looking square.

I said nothing but Mrs Smith insisted that we had been there before and said she recalled photos we had taken of the square and the buildings surrounding it. I had to protect my position and said nothing, but after turning a corner we spotted a row of coloured townhouses.

I had to admit that I was wrong. We had been to La Palma before. It must have been on tha maiden voyage of Queen Elizabeth. It must be an age thing. Mrs Smith is, of course, much younger than me.

And talking of the age thing, that good friend of mine, Michael Yeomans, celebrates his 70th birthday today. Seven of us, including his three sons, celebrated the occasion in London before the cruise. Too much red meat and Malbec at the Guildhall Hartsmoor! A great occasion.
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