Saturday, July 8, 2023, still in Napa, I’m busy selling another cruise. Business is sure good while I am away. Keeps me from drinking too much wine, I guess. Speaking of cruises, I am finally getting to sail on SilverSea in 2024, barring another disaster like COVID, which claimed my first SilverSea assignment. This one will be September 12 and it sails from Vancouver to Tokyo, so my Vancouver friends will get to put up with me again next year. There’s no easy link to it on the SilverSea website, but I do have a nice packet of info that I can email to you, if you ask. I’d be happy to tee up an extension in Tokyo, if anyone signs up. I do have a couple of nibbles, already. BTW SilverSea is having a sale until August 31 that includes a two-category upgrade, $1,000 in ship-board credit and a 15% reduced deposit. They usually take 25%. Yeah, I’m still working.
I broke my intermittent fast for lunch with Frank and Paula Schultz on the verandah of the Silverado Members’ Clubhouse, a place I fondly remember. It hasn’t changed. The view is fabulous, and the chef is better. I pigged on a very nice quesadilla and a big piece of carrot cake, and thank you very much, Schultzes. It was magic. They are here for a long summer but have moved to The Towers, for their city pied à terre. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Paula Schultz and Chris Silver get together. They are going to be BFFs for sure.
Val found some nice sole for dinner and we had it with Homaje – Viader’s tribute to the Mexicans, who make the wine industry run. It’s Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon and it’s yummy, yes, even with fish. You just cook the fish in artisanal pizza sauce, you see. Fresh raspberries from the farmer’s market and we were very happy.
Sunday, July 9, I worked all day until it was time for an extraordinary tasting dinner at Morimoto with the Brown’s – my thank you for my stay with them. We were having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures of all 7 courses, and the Browns, but here are the few I did get:
Tuna tartare and accompaniments
Mackerel and roe
Sushi
Cod none of the 365 Portugese ways
I had brought a bottle of Viader to drink with it, so I got a chardonnay to have them waive corkage and it was Jayson, by Pahlmeyer. We all know his name. It’s great. What a super evening, the food and the company vying for excellence at the highest levels. I love it here.
I was up early on Monday, the 11th for my appointment at UCSF with the surgeon who brought the ankle replacement to North America. If you’re interested, he made a short video to describe it a few years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDH_zSU7iI4 . I set the Beemer’s GPS to the address in Berkeley, but only after I had followed my nose a patch too far, because I was on the phone with Celebrity Cruises, trying to negotiate the advertised square footage of a prime concierge cabin that had turned up 18 sq.ft. short. That’s what I do. I hold the cruise lines accountable to their advertising. The jury is still out on this one, I have had to write the resolutions desk. So, not only was I not winning that one, it took me almost two hours to get to Berkeley, which was more than an hour more than it should have. Luckily. I had left in plenty of time to be a half-hour early for paperwork.
The appointment went better than clockwork. I was 20 minutes late for the paperwork, but was seen right away and filled it in, with the nursing assistant, straight into the computer. The doctors arrived five minutes later and the examination was on. Dr. Mann is pushing ninety at this point so he saw me with Dr. Daniel Thuillier, an assistant Professor at UCSF. They were both delightful, long on comprehension and explanation, but, alas, my problem can’t be solved by a star-ankle replacement. It’s in the wrong place. What I need is a Triple Arthrodesis, which is basically an ankle fusion. It would leave me with the up and down movement you need to walk, but remove forever any side to side motion. Elvon had an ankle fusion and I watched him go down every time a pebble caused him to lose his balance. I’ll stick with my excellent physio and massage therapists for as long as I can, after all. But, at least I know now.
I was having lunch at Angèle in Napa with Ritzie Cracker, so I called her to confirm arrival and got back on the road. No sooner was the car on its way, when Isaac, the Beemer’s private consultant, called to say its new starter assembly had arrived. Since I was going north on Hwy 80 and it was just another couple of exits Napa to Fairfield, I called Ritzie to say I’d be late and would buy her lunch if she drove me back to Laskers’ at Silverado, after. Deal. I took it right in. Ebony, my Lyft driver got me to Angèle for about a quarter after two, and Ritzie and I had steak tartare and fun conversation. I also had a very dark berry sorbet for dessert that was yummy. We drank Sancerre. It was crisp and refreshing. She’s living in Point Reyes these days and loving it.
After lunch we checked out Helen Lyall, Napa’s most upscale women’s clothing store. Helen is finally retiring next month. I think she’s 94. I used to get all my more formal wear there. I still bring some of it on cruises. So, we got to say goodbye and I got a nice diaphanous top to wear over a sausage (black tights and top) for formal dinners aboard – 70% off. Then Ritzie drove me “home” where Val served up a Genova lasagna. It was the vegetarian one but still wonderful. We washed it down with Biale from their cellar, yum.
Tuesday, I had lunch again – so much for intermittent fasting this week. It was well worth it. I had got the call from Isaac, that the car was ready, late yesterday afternoon, and was off by 9:30 to fetch it, with another Lyft, the driver also named Isaac. He got treated to another call to Celebrity, still fighting for those extra 18 sq.ft. in prime concierge class or willing to accept a 313 sq.ft. handicapped cabin, because my client is, after all, bringing a wheelchair with her. It didn’t work, so I really will be writing them now. I bid a fond farewell to the Beemer’s Isaac, and took off to get a bottle of wine for lunch, as it had to be white. Val had suggested Beverages and More, corner of Trancas and Jefferson. When I got to the appropriate fork in the road, the tine to twenty nine was jammed with traffic, so I decided to take the Soscol way in, after all, figuring I could swing over at Imola. At that thought, the light went on and I knew I should be paying Steven Goldberg, at Cellar Collections, a visit. He was there. I got a hug and taken straight to the white wine cellar, where Harvey & Harriet was waiting for me. Stephen was very enthusiastic about this wine from Paso Robles by Eric Jensen. Harvey & Harriet are Eric’s parents, and the wine is a 60% chardonnay blend. This is what they have been doing so well in France, but hardly anybody blends whites here. It’s light, fresh and delicious and only $24 a bottle. I bought three and he sent me the tasting notes. Email me if you want them and I’ll forward Stephen’s email.
Lunch was Carol Berg’s outstanding seafood salad in Freddie Faraone’s wonderful rebuilt house with some of the best views at Silverado. Here we are:
Left to right, Arlene Phelan, Pati Simon, Melinda Hubbard, Mariann Sheldon, Carol Berg, Freddie Faraone, Deborah Robertson and Leona Biddle doing what we do best, eating and drinking. It was great to see everyone again. Huge thanks to Freddie, Carol and Arlene, who provided the yummy peach pie for dessert.
What’s next? More work and another dinner, of course. I got a request from Claude Lacasse in Montreal for a picture of this one, so I remembered to have it taken. Here I am at Scala’s in downtown Napa with Terry and France Scott:
That was a very good time, too. Terry and France had been storing wine for me, too, and we got to drink the 2015 Viader. Eight years from bottling, it’s just perfect. So was the company. This is a very special couple because France is also from Montreal. She’s also still model thin, of which I was glad because I had parked my car in a very tight parking spot and figured out, as I was getting out, that I’d never be able to get back in, if the car beside didn’t move. So I took France and Terry back with me and, sure enough, she did have to squeeze into the Beemer and back it out for me. I have such super friends.
After I picked up my carry-on from the Carousel, I fumbled around a bit before I found out that I needed the Sky Train, and where to find same, but I made it there and managed to find Sixt, who had presented a BMW for my 20 day rental, for not much more than the Yaris I could have had for less than $500 less. Since I don’t have a car and therefore don’t carry car insurance, I was looking at close to $3K, and $500 wasn’t such a big part of it.
So I have a Beemer, again. My last one was a 1987, that didn’t get to come to HK with me in 1989. I liked that one a lot better than this one. It took about 15 minutes in the garage at SFO to get used to the new one. I kept having to call the attendant to help. The silliest part was getting the three headrests on the back seat down. Cheaper cars have a button for that. I looked all over for it. The guy just climbed into the back seat and brought them down manually, because this expensive car doesn’t have that button. But, it drives very nicely and I took the scenic route through the City, over the Golden Gate, and up through the vineyards to Napa.
Ulla and John Brown were waiting with hugs at their big beautiful apartment in The Meadows. They let me get a little nap, because of the time difference, but we were soon off to a party. It was Silverado’s third of July, which I remember well for its main event – the fireworks. The wildfires decree that Silverado has seen the last of those, like Montreal and a whole bunch of other places. But they still have the big party, everyone invites their kids and grandkids, and there’s a bouncy castle.
The food was good, lots of salads, chicken and burgers for the other people and corn, spare ribs, potato salad and cornbread for me. Ice cream and cookies for dessert, of course. In the lower right hand corner of this shot, you get Michael Hooks and Paula Schultz. We had a very good table and I met a bunch of people that I knew from my 22 years at Silverado. I met more of them at The Meadows, mind you, but we probably shouldn’t go there. It gets chilly at night in the Napa Valley, so the party was breaking up by 9:30, which was fine with me, as that was after midnight in Montreal.
Sure enough, by Tuesday morning, July 4, I was reset. John had to take one of their cars into the shop, so I volunteered to drive. The Beemer had given a spot of trouble last night, refusing to shut off when I moved it into The Meadows Visitor parking. The Browns’ driver got it to turn off but wasn’t able to give me a reliable formula for how to. So, before we left the garage, after dropping their car off, we decided to test it. It wouldn’t shut down. I went in to the garage for help and the lady there managed to get it off but couldn’t tell us how. Meanwhile John had been doing the RTFM thing, but there was nothing it there telling you how to turn it off, either. You are obviously just supposed to push the button. Finally, John and I talked it through and came up with: Just let it turn itself like it does at a stop light with your foot on the brake, then put it in park, get out and lock it. That seemed to work reliably, but you never know when it might not work, so I took it to Gabe. Gabriel Pastrama owns Alpina Car in Napa, and maintained Babar, my old grey Merc, for most of its 22-year life. It beat him, too. Nowadays, they fix such things by replacing the starter assembly, which is a computer. So Gabe sent me to the nearest BMW dealer, who is in Fairfield.
It was a great place. I have my own consultant, Isaac Ruiz, who has the most gorgeous smile. Their waiting area is stocked with all sorts of beverages, from the fancy coffee machine, down to bottled water, which is what I took. The starter assembly wasn’t in stock, so Isaac called me a Lyft and said he’d call me when I could come get the car, likely tomorrow afternoon. Sami, the Lyft driver, was very nice, a good conversationalist, and delighted to be driving to Napa, where he could get some delicious sloppy sausage sandwich at Genova deli, which I was delighted to know is still there.
Back at the Browns’ I worked all afternoon, mostly getting quotes on cruises for clients, who will be sailing the Panama canal next March, once we settle on the cabin or cabins. Then John and Ulla and I had a very nice dinner at Tarla, a middle-Eastern restaurant on main that opened just before I left Napa in 2016. The spanakopita was the best I had ever had. It was followed by an excellent Moroccan lamb shank and some sumptuous baclava. Happy tummy, great company, happy camper, me.
Wednesday, July 5 was another workday in my office in The Meadows. By the end of it, we were getting closer to the sale, and it was looking like two cabins. That night Ulla and John hosted a dinner party in Vela, The Meadows’ private dining room for eight. Ulla had asked me for a list and I had given her about twenty people, so she could choose the ones she wanted for her dinner party. As always, she made very good choices and we had Maurine Potter, Ian and Jill Leverton and Pati and Don Simon. Do I have a picture to show you? No, that would have been smart, but I wasn’t.
We were all happy to be together, though, on the right side of the grass, making the most of the decent health we all still enjoy. And, bless our hearts, we found a lot of other things to talk about than the state of our health. Good on us. I have to tell you the story I contributed. My friend, Steve, lives in Westmount, not far from where I used to live before I went to Hong Kong. There’s a lot of wild life there, thanks to Mount Royal park, which is enormous. Steve had a cage/trap in his back yard, because he had a groundhog living under his back deck. It had been caught but they leave the trap a couple of weeks longer, in case it has a mate. Apparently it didn’t, but there were new tenants. One morning Steve went out to find four baby skunks in the trap. Madame Moufette (Mrs. Skunk to you, but Moufette sounds classier) was studying the problem from all angles. She made her decision and started to dig. While Steve watched, she dug a trench along one side of the cage. Eventually, the edge of the cage toppled over into the trench and, lo and behold, tripped the lock, giving her access to her babies. One by one, she moved them back under the porch. Mme. Moufette, B.Eng. Steve let her stay there until she eventually led them up to the mountain one night, and there were five of them trailing behind her.
I had also picked up the beemer in Fairfield. The part won’t be in until next week. I don’t mind the drive and I’m hoping it results in a couple of free days from Sixt. Thursday, July 6, was moving day, but Ulla kept me in place for a couple of extra hours with the very nice present of a massage, right in her bedroom. The massage therapist, named Jen, was happy to come to the house, now that Ulla had purchased a massage table. If you ever saw the length of the halls in The Meadows, you’d understand why no one will schlep a massage table into there. It’s a wonderful place though, and I recognized many names and faces, during my short stay. The most remarkable was Kate Hemphill, who had been a neighbor in Silverado Oaks for my 22 years there. She’s 99 and looks 75. She’s a great advertisement for the place, too. I am being encouraged to return to Napa and am seriously considering The Meadows. Not for a few years though, as I love my independent life in Montreal at the moment.
I moved into Val and Dave Lasker’s house in the Silverado Highlands around four in the afternoon and settled in to my new home and office. It has a nice view over the Silverado Country Club and comes with two very nice dogs and a geriatric cat, two out of three of whom I have known for years. Caroline, the Canine Companions puppy-in-training, Dave’s tenth, is the new one. She’s eight months old. Jacee was his second puppy and Bernie the cat, was a kitten when Sylly P was a kitten. He’s seventeen now, plagued by a number of serious health problems, but still alert and happy, bless him and his cute little white mittens.
We had a Megan, Fitzgerald and Lasker “company dinner” in the evening at Fumé Bistro, Terry Letson’s restaurant. Terry was our castle chef on the Loire in France, and for the Villa in Tuscany that I never saw, because of a broken pelvis. He stopped by our table, which even included Sallyann Berendsen, our teacher partner, and her husband, Peter. Do I have a picture of this momentous occasion? No. Duh. Smarten up, Helen.
And I did. The Panama Canal Cruise sale closed for two cabins on Friday, July 7. Dave, Val and I went to a concert that night. It was outside and it got cold and windy as the performance went on. I kept adding clothing, shawl, raincoat, touque, and gloves by the end of it. But it was a good concert. I just felt sorry for the performer who is 84 years old and was trying to play the guitar while her fingers were freezing. Luckily she had backup. Here she is, folks, Judy Collins at the Meritage Hotel in Napa.
Pierre was Prime Minister of Canada for eleven years, and I thought he was pretty good. He was certainly very smart and was following a vocation. Justin, not so much, but he’s a lot better looking, and we can’t find anyone any good that’s willing to take the thankless job. The USA has the same problem. Enough of that.
This will be the last time I leave Montreal in July, now that I have seen what it really is in Festival season. I am missing so much this year: The F1 Grand Prix, The Montreal International Jazz Festival, Just for Laughs, Cirque du Soleil, Francofolies, Montreal Completement Cirque, Nuits d’Afrique, on and on and on. The Terrasses are full and we have more pedestrian streets. It’s a happening place. Come visit, like Sue and Mike Nagle did this year. I was happy to have them in town, even just for a bit, and Steve was happy to drive us all around. We had dinner at Bonaparte, yum.
And I didn’t totally miss all of the good stuff. The Grand Prix paddock is just across the street from my apartment, so I witnessed the partying from on high and walked around the area, where there were fancy cars on display and a lot of car-related booths. The only one that looked interesting to me was the simulator, and it had too much of a line up. No surprise.
I also got to see Echo, Cirque du Soleil’s new show, with Linda, Bev and Wendy. We had dinner at Terrasse Nellie, on the roof of the Hotel Nelligan, in old Montreal. I’ll be taking more people there. It was magic. So was the Cirque. They always think of something new. And, they give us locals a break. I remember paying $265 US for the big top in San Francisco six or eight years ago. Here we sat in the very first row for $155, Canadian. That’s only a hundred bucks to you. The first row is a kick, by the way. There’s just enough element of danger from flying bodies to keep you on the edge of your seat.
That was Thursday, June 29. The next day at 10:30am, I met with my accountant to turn over my papers so he could do taxes for two countries. I was ready about 10:28am. I just threw away a bunch of receipts. I have way too many to justify, anyway. How much can you charge against a job that doesn’t pay? It just gets me about $100,000 worth of free cruising every year. No, the horseshoe up my touchie isn’t giving me any pain at all.
The minute my accountant left, I picked up the phone and called my new friend, Steve, to tell him I was free to play on Friday night. I still had a cruise to sell and the clients were considering a number of them, so there was research, but I needed another night off, after taxes.
I got on the Jazz Festival web site and found some balcony seats for John Scofield, a famous old guitarist. By that, I mean he’s my age, and he played with Miles Davis, yada, yada. Then I found Le Central, an upscale food court with better restaurants, and they had the reincarnation of Pintxo, a tapas place that I had loved years ago. So I called and reserved there. Steve left his car at Les Cours and we took the Metro, which is how you do festivals in Montreal, so convenient and no worries about parking, when everyone is in the same place at once.
The reservation at Pintxo got us a table by the patio doors, open to the street. We had a nice bottle of Spanish white wine with our lobster tail, calamari and patatas bravas and went off looking for ice cream. We were in the Quartier des Festivales, during the Montreal Jazz Festival, and we had a helluva time finding an ice cream place. We walked from St. Lawrence Main to Place des Arts, by way of Complexe Desjardins and found exactly one purveyor of crème glacé. By the time we found it, we didn’t have time to wait in line. It was a lot of line, as you can imagine. Someone is missing an opportunity here.
So we made our way to our venue, the Monument National, home to the National Theatre School of Canada, and up to our pretty good balcony seats. The theatre is probably a hundred years old, and I was told it had great acoustics. They all did back in the day, before electronic enhancements took over. Something acoustical happened right on time at eight o’clock, but it wasn’t our show. It was the fire alarm. Down the four floors we went and out to the street. The crowd was very orderly, there was a park across the street and four fire trucks arrived to check the building out.
The whole thing took about a half-hour until we were back in our seats and the show went on, as it must, you know. I thought it was good, considering how old Scofield is by now, and that’s the essence of a Jazz Festival, the very old, very new, and very popular. It will be on until July 9 or 10 but I am on a plane bound for California, another home. I can’t complain.
Saturday, I caught up with my emails and worked on my next cruise sale, which involved comparing the available Panama Canal options for next March. That’s selling out, so I just made five bookings, four of which I will be cancelling. The weather was very iffy, so I just had Steve over for dinner figuring we could go to the Jazz Festival after, if it improved. We had thunder and lightening, while we ate down my fridge, and were too lethargic to go out after, even if the weather had improved.
Sunday morning, I packed up Robbie to go to Dena and John’s house for a month. I managed to catch him and John took him away around eleven-thirty. I kept working on the Panama Canal cruise, finishing around four. I stopped for breakfast and started to pack around five. By seven I was done, but I made the mistake of going back to the computer, where there is always plenty to do. I went out to dinner about eight-thirty, planning on Fiorella, my local Italian in the St. Martin Hotel. No luck, they are closed Sundays. The next closest place was Dunn’s, but smoked meat sometimes repeats and I wanted to sleep, so I had a hot chicken sandwich. That was my go-to when I was at McGill and the gang wanted to go to Ben’s. I didn’t like smoked meat at the time, so I would have a “Hot Chicken” (The “sandwich” is silent), ordered in English with a French accent, fries and a coke. That’s what I had at Dunn’s, and, with tax and tip, it came to thirty bucks. I used to get it for a dollar in the early sixties. My IBM starting salary in 1965 was $5,400. It’s looking a lot better in retrospect.
At 6:00am, I was in a taxi on the way to the airport, the “hot chicken” having provided the desired good night’s sleep, albeit a short one. Not having a bag to check saved me a line that had to have 200 people in it. The customs hall probably had 400 people in it, maybe more. There was an attractive looking Nexus/Global entry line, and I asked the line monitor if TSA-pre would possibly get me into it. That, no, but she took a good look at me, said she could do something, and sent me to the crew/handicapped line, which was even better. So I am recommending that we old farts ask that question, even when we know the answer, just to have our age noticed, acknowledged and rewarded. Then, at the gate, when they were begging people to check their carry-on rolling bags, I stepped up to the plate, expecting that good deed to be punished by a half-hour wait at the carousel in SFO. Then, once First class and Super Elite status were boarded, she invited those of us who had volunteered our bags to board next. I got on this plane without ever waiting in a line. You’re welcome.
The other trick that worked was booking an aisle seat in a row where the window seat was already booked, in the hope that no one takes the middle seat. There is exactly one free seat on this plane and is to my right. My mouse and notes have a seat of their own. This trip is starting very well.
With a cleanish bill of health, Addy was ready to play again. She would not have liked to be flown home at this point, and is starting to admit to herself that maybe there is too much wrong with her to keep galivanting around the world. But she was certainly ready for a last fling. So, today, she joined my shopping team: myself, Nona and Lenora, and took it to new heights. This was absolutely the A shopping team. We weren’t the only ones out on the same mission. I met lots of my people.
The shopping was good, too. It looked like a Hong Kong family had had the bright idea to model their stores on Stanley Market, where I shopped like a local for five years, and kept going back. We scored tops and bottoms, hats and purses. It was great fun. Once you have given in to the second suitcase, and Holland America has provided a big one, you are open to buy.
We finished off with a beer on the square and took the shuttle back to the ship, well satisfied.
The entertainment was a fellow named Tom Crosbie, who called himself The Entertainerd. I am a bit of a nerd myself, and his mathematical feats were impressive, but I didn’t need to see the Rubic’s Cube solved eighteen ways from Sunday, one-handed, blindfolded, etc. Dee and I pounded a good few zzzzzzzzzzzs.
Saturday, May 6, 2023
At Sea
I worked in the morning, when I suppose I should have been watching the Coronation of King Charles III, but I am not in to watching television by myself in my cabin when there’s work to be done, and the ship hadn’t made an event out of it. Seabourn did, I found out from my informer. And one of my fellow hosts did. Tom Mullen, long time Cruise Specialists’ ‘Round the World host, honored a tradition Brits have for such occasions. It’s called “The Big Lunch”. In England and abroad, people hold big, elegant lunches on Coronation Day, and Tom’s was in The Pinnacle. I was honored to be his friend and one of the “Colonials”. There were more decorations there than on the whole rest of the ship, which had none, despite our Cruise Director being British, too. The cake was particularly impressive:
At four o’clock, I had to be in the Crow’s nest to receive my Platinum medal for 700 days sailed on Holland America. The medals came quickly, thanks to five circumnavigations, but this is the last one before President’s Club and that’s 1400 days. I should live so long. Anyway the ship took a nice professional picture with the Hotel Manager, Henk Mensink and Captain Frank van der Hooven:
Henk has been Hotel Manager on all five of my world cruises, but Frank is new. I did the other four with the inimitable Jonathan Mercer.
The entertainment was to my liking. It was Pianist/Vocalist Lisa Harman, and the material she chose was show tunes.
Sunday, May 7, 2023
At Sea
It gets very busy during the last six days of the cruise. It’s like the ship saves all its events to send you away remembering the fun you had. There are so many Mariners of all star levels that they do three Mariner’s Lunches. I went with my old friends from 2012, Beryl and Nona, and this year’s new friend, Lenora.
Microsoft had a title for this picture. It was “A group of older women sitting at a table”. The nerve. Did they not notice we were “happy ladies drinking wine”? “good old friends getting sloshed” ? anything.
That night I hosted my own “Big Dinner” at the Pinnacle, to recognize my Distinctive Speakers. If you want to put together a good party, just ask a bunch of speakers. I’m never going to let that idea go. I don’t think the speakers would let me. They all loved telling the group about what they had done in life that was special. They had me tearing up with appreciation.
We started dinner at seven, so we did finish in time for Jim David’s second show, the gay, dirty show. He had warned the audience at the first show not to bring the kids, there are five of them on the whole ship. He had also cautioned anyone who thought they might be offended to stay away. There were still negative comments the next day, but I thought it was hilarious.
Monday, May 8 2023
At Sea
My old friend, Dan, from previous worlds, had a birthday party in another old friend, Marlene’s suite, and a nice dinner in the Dining Room, with “Panjang Amurnia”. I think Dan was 85. It was a little sad, because Dan’s best friend aboard, had been disembarked with heart problems in the Azores, and would be flying home. His condition is stable, but it made us all a somewhat morose. A lot of people face their mortality on these long cruises, but all in all, it’s not a bad way to go.
The entertainment was Tom Crosbie again, on which I passed. I can sleep in my own bed.
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
At Sea
Our farewell no-host cocktail party was at 4 o’clock, to have dinner with the early eaters, for once. Fifty four people came and 50 of them came to dinner, where I poured wine for everyone from my own wine package. That costs me a bit, but, being five-star, I do get it half price, and it generates a lot of good will. My own table was delightful. The Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers were on stage with their last Production Show, “Simply Broadway” They were wonderful.
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
At Sea
This was my packing day. I got organized and even packed a bit before my office hour. It was quiet. I think everyone else was packing, too. I said a few goodbyes, including a nice one to Tom Mullen, who stopped by. We will met again.
Miraculously, I had more wine left in my package than I could drink, but my tablemates were short a bottle, so they drank one and I took my bottle around the dining room, looking for my people to pour for. I found good ones and was happy it was them. Liza Harmon was on stage again. Good.
Thursday, May 11, 2023
At Sea
It was time to write my sad little farewell letter, so I did. This one summarized our time together.
Please don’t ask why the logo isn’t centered. It was in the word file that i distributed. I am lucky to have it at all.
May 11th , 2023 Newsletter No. 22
Guest Names
Time to say “GOODBYE
Thank you for sailing with Distinctive Voyages. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve you. You have been a wonderful group, on time, good communicators, nice people, the works. I am very proud to have been your host. Please don’t forget to thank your travel agent for this program. If you did not know about it beforehand, tell your Travel Agent that the amenities are on “Agent Universe”, and that you’ll want to know about them, in a timely fashion, next cruise.
Our shore excursions saw us in a Maori Village in Tauragna, NZ, on catamarans in Port Luis, Mauritius, watching Flamenco at a winery in Jerez, and Irish dancing in Dublin. Some of us even went to jail and/or the Opera.
We had six cocktail parties, with optional diners after, and four shore excursions. We also had no host dinners in the Pinnacle and Canaletto as well as dinners out in Sydney, for people going to the Opera, in Cape Town at GOLD, at Dim Sum at Zilver in Sydney, and a pub lunch in, Dublin before our no-host add-on at Kilmainham Gaol. There were a few that came up quickly, when I found a yacht club to visit. A lucky few were well received by the Royal South Australia Yacht Squadron in Adelaide and the Royal Perth. We need more overnights.
My apologies to those who don’t drink wine as that’s the way this Montreal and Napa girl expresses her hospitality and her thanks for participating in the program.
The Distinctive Speakers series has been a great success. I’ll be repeating it every world cruise now and asking for budget to cover the AV. Huge thanks to our speakers, Larry Sutton, the Navy Diver, Sandra Hobson, the Audiologist, Ken Stein, who has demystified Space on the World stage, Dee Wescott, with her gorgeous underwater photographs, and Pat Sanders, whose software found the Titanic.
I have helped with three insurance claims and accompanied two patients to medical appointments. I’m there whenever any of you needs me.
Many thanks to those of you who have returned your Comments Card. If you haven’t yet, please do. Return it to me, or to a PERSON at the Front Desk, where they will have an envelope for me. Do NOT put it in any box the ship puts out for its reviews. If you can’t find the form, I’ll bring some to our last Happy Hour, tonight.
Maytheroadrisetomeetyou. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields, and ‘til we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
Helen Megan, Distinctive Voyages Host Stateroom 7041
Friday, May 12, 2023
Fort Lauderdale
It was an easy, well run disembark. We quickly found a cab to the airport. My plane was on time and landed 40 minutes early. Best ever. Now to get my report in, and taxes done for two countries, before I leave for my next adventure on July 4.
I used today’s sea time to finalize everything for Dublin and Kilmainham jail. It got more complicated as Dublin is a tender port for us, after all. We, the Shore Excursions Manager and I, had been hoping for a dock, and had been told we were getting it, but – not to be. So everything had to be tightened up. I adjusted the Newsletter accordingly and got the thing out.
It’s Dutch Kings Day, so it was Dutch high tea, which doesn’t look much different from English but did surprise the guests.
It was also Wells Wescott’s 86th Birthday Party day, so here he is in the Pinnacle in Orange
For the Orange Party with the Crew after dinner, I had an orange dress and fascinator, but never got a picture. That’s Cristel on the far left.
Friday, April 28, 2023
Portree, Scotland
Portree is a tender port, with a floating platform, steps down, yada, yada, and the weather wasn’t so hot, so I took another work day. I needed to get started on arrangements for my next trip.
Oban is another charming Scottish town that you reach by a not-so-charming tender – read lifeboat. And it had Scottish weather, cold and wet. Plus, tomorrow was Dublin and I wanted to be very sure everything would be perfect for that. So, I stayed in. One of the things I did, was point my phone at my trophy display: I thought they were fun.
I also got a great email from a Napa friend, who is writing her diary from the Seabourn Sojourn. It contained this gem: “The first item under activities on the daily news sheet on 4.1 was: -“Nude trampoline exercises for the over 70s to be held in the retreat area of the spa. After thinking that that would definitely not be a pretty sight, we remembered the date!” She didn’t include a picture, though. Methinks I am on the wrong ship. They are having a lot more fun than we are.
Dinner was a treat. We had the comedian, Sid Davis for a guest. The entertainment was good after dinner, too. It was Jonathan Johnston, Irish personality, Musical entertainer.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Dun Laoghaire (Dunleary), Ireland
Port for Dublin
The weather was better in Dublin for our big day. I got up and out early, but not before someone had checked in sick with a cold, which was later tested and found to be COVID. I didn’t know it then, but had tested myself as a precaution before leading a tour. Everybody checked in on time, bless them, including our sparkling Addy. When we got to the bus, Peggy told me that Vicky had stayed behind with Addy, who had been whisked off to the Medical center, after feeling faint and nauseous. I had been so busy checking everyone else in, that I hadn’t noticed what had to have been happening not 20 feet away. Good on Vicky. That was very sweet of her to step up to the plate.
In the end, 58 people came on the tour, which was excellent. Both of the tour guides received high praise from the participants. All Irish tour guides are fabulous. It’s a nation of tour guides. Every Irish person is well-educated and steeped in Irish history, from the cradle. You can’t be going wrong, now. Ireland also made a disproportionate contribution to Irish literature. That was discussed, too. And we stopped by this whimsical statue of Oscar Wilde, who was born in Ireland, but not happy about it. Don’t miss it if you go, now.
Our tour ended with an Irish music and dance show in the Arlington Hotel, on the river Liffey. There we were met by my old high-school and later, friend, Mary. I include this selfie for a few of you who have had the pleasure of meeting her. It’s still, and always will be, a great pleasure.
I am not all that good with selfies. Sorry about that.
After the show, the people who hadn’t signed up for Kilmainham Gaol, went back to the ship in the buses, and those who had, went upstairs for a good pub lunch. I had a steak and Guinness pie. Lovely, now.
At 2:25pm, the bus I had hired separately picked the 27 of us up and took us to jail, without passing “GO” or any of that. Mary had vouched for the fact that it is the best tour in Ireland, and I truly believe it or I wouldn’t have tee’d it up. It’s quite moving and a lot of us have Irish roots. I got a lot of good comments on it.
Back on the ship, after dinner, there was another River Dancing demonstration. You gotta love it.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Cobh, Ireland
I found out early that Addy had gone off the ship for medical evaluation and the faithful Vicky had accompanied her. When they came back, without having been able to get the cat-scan required because it was a public holiday, I assured Vicky that I would take the next shift. She should not be ruining her vacation for someone she had just met on the cruise. They are both part of about six single women who hang together a lot. I am part of the group now and then, too.
I went out in Cobh with Nona and Lenora. There was a lot to do, very near the ship, and we did a lot of it. First there was a fair, where I purchased an Aran sweater tea cozy and a home-made gluten-free carrot cake for my 4PM breakfasts. It was this kind of a fair:
Check the horse shoes.
Cobh was the port from which most of the Irish sailed who were coming to North America. There is an extensive heritage museum right near the ship and the Titanic Museum in the very offices if the White Star Line, which owned and operated her. We decided to tour that. The ticket was very interesting. We each got a replica of one belonging to a real passenger, and inside, after the tour, we would be able to access the record of what had happened to our person. We had a little time before our time slot and spent it, of course, in the shop. There they were selling 4-quid bookmarks and I was sucker enough to buy one. It had part of my passenger’s story on it, you see. She had survived and only died in 1944, the year I was born. I was convinced I was the re-incarnated Nora Keane:
Well, I’m not, because she lasted until December of ’44 and I was born in October. So much for that. I’ll use the bookmark, though. There was a lot of information on the ship herself and how she sunk, who rescued the passengers and why more of them weren’t rescued. It was very interesting and monumentally sad, but I can recommend it.
It was a cold, sunny day, which meant you could eat and drink outside if you could find a table in the sun. The pub with the live music was full, but we found a coffee shop across the street next to a place that sold beer, so Nona got her beer and I got my hot chocolate and a pastry to break my fast. It was a very good day.
Dinner was good and we had another fine production show, “Rockin’ Roadhouse”.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
At Sea
Luggage Forwarding are on board and everyone has a zillion questions. So I got ahead of it and got most of the answers to help my people. Many people treat a world cruise like a second home. They don’t pack lightly. They bring most of their clothes and a lot of other stuff, too. It is four-and-a-half months, after all. Even I checked a bag and will have two on the way home, because of my trophies and all. But I don’t deal with Luggage Forwarding. It was a day full of baggage questions, though.
I made a bunch of birthday cards, and got out a Newsletter because I had a Distinctive Speaker tomorrow. The entertainment was nothing short of weird. You were to wear your jammies to the pool, where stories would be told “Once upon a time…” I had a little look at it and retired to my cabin to read my book.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
A Sea
I spent from 9am to 10am in Medical with Addy, making sure we had an appointment for her cat scan tomorrow in the Azores. There was not to be a repeat of the day in Cobh, where Addy and Vicky taxied all around the place and never found one. My COVID patient is still feeling badly and has a really sore throat. I had some Strepfen in my pharmacy and she pronounced it way better than what the Medical Center had given her (Strepcils). I’ll get more of that.
Pat sanders gave his Distinctive Speaker talk to a full house. It was excellent. Just to give you an idea of the kind of talent you find in a DV group:
Pat Sanders learned how to survey underwater with the US Naval Oceanographic Office. In 1985 he formed HYPACK to provide PC-based mapping and search software to oceanographers and hydrographers. HYPACK® is commonly used to maintain shipping and boating lanes at specified depths to ensure safe passage of marine vessels. It provides hydrographic surveyors with the needed tools needed to design their survey, collect, and process data, and present it in a variety of output formats. After several unsuccessful attempts by others, over the years, since the Titanic sunk in 1912, it was finally located by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using HYPACK software. Pat was president of the company from 1985 to 2015, when he sold the company and retired. He has served as President of the Hydrographic Society of America and was elected to the Hydrographer Hall of Fame in 2018.
His presentation looked at the tools used in searching underwater for hazards to navigation, shipwrecks, cars, etc. It explained how they found the Titanic and looked at some items found for a NOVA TV special on surveying wrecks from the D-Day invasion. He even told us what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight 370.
The show was Jim David, a pretty good comedian.
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Ponta Delgada, Portugal – The Azores
Addy and I were up and out at 9am and off to the Hospital Internacional dos Açores. It is a very nice facility, all that you would want a hospital to be. It took until about one-thirty, but we got the scan and the doctor’s evaluation, everything but the bill. We were told it was being taken care of by the ship and she would pay them. The driver reappeared to take us back to the ship but Addy wanted to go shopping. I haven’t told you. She’s 88 and rides a scooter but she’s the hippest cat on the ship. So, we had ourselves let off downtown, had lunch and went shopping. It was fun and we needed that.
When we got back on board the documents staff were waiting for us. It seemed like we had skipped out on the bill and would have to go back to the hospital and pay it. Neither of us wanted anything to do with that. So, we stood out ground, saying we had offered before we left the hospital and they would have to find a way to get the bill to the ship, where Addy could sign it onto her ship-board account and the ship could pay it. It took another three or four hours, but we weren’t sailing until 11pm, so it did get done in time.
The entertainment was a movie called “80 for Brady”. Since I am not into sports films, I passed. If they had advertised the cast I would have gone. I heard it was good it starred:
Lily Tomlin, 83
Jane Fonda, 85
Rita Moreno, 91
Sally Field, 76
Tom Brady, 45
I’ll have to find it on Netflix some day.
2023 – 4 – Grand World 4.4 of 5 More Europe – Scotland and Ireland
Thursday, April 27, 2023
At Sea
I used today’s sea time to finalize everything for Dublin and Kilmainham jail. It got more complicated as Dublin is a tender port for us, after all. We, the Shore Excursions Manager and I, had been hoping for a dock, and had been told we were getting it, but – not to be. So everything had to be tightened up. I adjusted the Newsletter accordingly and got the thing out.
It’s Dutch Kings Day, so it was Dutch high tea, which doesn’t look much different from English but did surprise Patrick Sanders.
It was also Wells Wescott’s 86th Birthday Party day, so here he is in the Pinnacle in Orange
For the Orange Party with the Crew after dinner, I had an orange dress and fascinator, but never got a picture. That’s Cristel on the far left.
Friday, April 28, 2023
Portree, Scotland
Portree is a tender port, with a floating platform, steps down, yada, yada, and the weather wasn’t so hot, so I took another work day. I needed to get started on arrangements for my next trip.
The entertainment was a film “Wild Mountain Thyme”. The description went: A pair of star-crossed lovers in Ireland get caught up in their family’s land dispute”. I even question the validity of the grammar in that, unless they were first cousins or something.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Oban, Scotland
Oban is another charming Scottish town that you reach by a not-so-charming tender – read lifeboat. And it had Scottish weather, cold and wet. Plus, tomorrow was Dublin and I wanted to be very sure everything would be perfect for that. So, I stayed in. One of the things I did, was point my phone at my trophy display: I thought they were fun.
I also got a great email from a Napa friend, who is writing her diary from the Seabourn Sojourn. It contained this gem: “The first item under activities on the daily news sheet on 4.1 was: -“Nude trampoline exercises for the over 70s to be held in the retreat area of the spa. After thinking that that would definitely not be a pretty sight, we remembered the date!” She didn’t include a picture, though. Methinks I am on the wrong ship. They are having a lot more fun than we are.
Dinner was a treat. We had the comedian, Sid Davis for a guest. The entertainment was good after dinner, too. It was Jonathan Johnston, Irish personality, Musical entertainer.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Dun Laoghaire (Dunleary), Ireland
Port for Dublin
The weather was better in Dublin for our big day. I got up and out early, but not before someone had checked in sick with a cold, which was later tested and found to be COVID. I didn’t know it then, but had tested myself as a precaution before leading a tour. Everybody checked in on time, bless them, including our sparkling Addy. When we got to the bus, Peggy told me that Vicky had stayed behind with Addy, who had been whisked off to the Medical center, after feeling faint and nauseous. I had been so busy checking everyone else in, that I hadn’t noticed what had to have been happening not 20 feet away. Good on Vicky. That was very sweet of her to step up to the plate.
In the end, 58 people came on the tour, which was excellent. Both of the tour guides received high praise from the participants. All Irish tour guides are fabulous. It’s a nation of tour guides. Every Irish person is well-educated and steeped in Irish history, from the cradle. You can’t be going wrong, now. Ireland also made a disproportionate contribution to Irish literature. That was discussed, too. And we stopped by this whimsical statue of Oscar Wilde, who was born in Ireland, but not happy about it. Don’t miss it if you go, now.
Our tour ended with an Irish music and dance show in the Arlington Hotel, on the river Liffey. There we were met by my old high-school and later, friend, Mary. I include this selfie for a few of you who have had the pleasure of meeting her. It’s still, and always will be, a great pleasure.
I am not all that good with selfies. Sorry about that.
After the show, the people who hadn’t signed up for Kilmainham Gaol, went back to the ship in the buses, and those who had, went upstairs for a good pub lunch. I had a steak and Guinness pie. Lovely, now.
At 2:25pm, the bus I had hired separately picked the 27 of us up and took us to jail, without passing “GO” or any of that. Mary had vouched for the fact that it is the best tour in Ireland, and I truly believe it or I wouldn’t have tee’d it up. It’s quite moving and a lot of us have Irish roots. I got a lot of good comments on it.
Back on the ship, after dinner, there was another River Dancing demonstration. You gotta love it.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Cobh, Ireland
I found out early that Addy had gone off the ship for medical evaluation and the faithful Vicky had accompanied her. When they came back, without having been able to get the cat-scan required because it was a public holiday, I assured Vicky that I would take the next shift. She should not be ruining her vacation for someone she had just met on the cruise. They are both part of about six single women who hang together a lot. I am part of the group now and then, too.
I went out in Cobh with Nona and Lenora. There was a lot to do, very near the ship, and we did a lot of it. First there was a fair, where I purchased an Aran sweater tea cozy and a home-made gluten-free carrot cake for my 4PM breakfasts. It was this kind of a fair:
Check the horse shoes.
Cobh was the port from which most of the Irish sailed who were coming to North America. There is an extensive heritage museum right near the ship and the Titanic Museum in the very offices if the White Star Line, which owned and operated her. We decided to tour that. The ticket was very interesting. We each got a replica of one belonging to a real passenger, and inside, after the tour, we would be able to access the record of what had happened to our person. We had a little time before our time slot and spent it, of course, in the shop. There they were selling 4-quid bookmarks and I was sucker enough to buy one. It had part of my passenger’s story on it, you see. She had survived and only died in 1944, the year I was born. I was convinced I was the re-incarnated Nora Keane:
Well, I’m not, because she lasted until December of ’44 and I was born in October. So much for that. I’ll use the bookmark, though. There was a lot of information on the ship herself and how she sunk, who rescued the passengers and why more of them weren’t rescued. It was very interesting and monumentally sad, but I can recommend it.
It was a cold, sunny day, which meant you could eat and drink outside if you could find a table in the sun. The pub with the live music was full, but we found a coffee shop across the street next to a place that sold beer, so Nona got her beer and I got my hot chocolate and a pastry to break my fast. It was a very good day.
Dinner was good and we had another fine production show, “Rockin’ Roadhouse”.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
At Sea
Luggage Forwarding are on board and everyone has a zillion questions. So I got ahead of it and got most of the answers to help my people. Many people treat a world cruise like a second home. They don’t pack lightly. They bring most of their clothes and a lot of other stuff, too. It is four-and-a-half months, after all. Even I checked a bag and will have two on the way home, because of my trophies and all. But I don’t deal with Luggage Forwarding. It was a day full of baggage questions, though.
I made a bunch of birthday cards, and got out a Newsletter because I had a Distinctive Speaker tomorrow. The entertainment was nothing short of weird. You were to wear your jammies to the pool, where stories would be told “Once upon a time…” I had a little look at it and retired to my cabin to read my book.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
A Sea
I spent from 9am to 10am in Medical with Addy, making sure we had an appointment for her cat scan tomorrow in the Azores. There was not to be a repeat of the day in Cobh, where Addy and Vicky taxied all around the place and never found one. My COVID patient is still feeling badly and has a really sore throat. I had some Strepfen in my pharmacy and she pronounced it way better than what the Medical Center had given her (Strepcils). I’ll get more of that.
Pat sanders gave his Distinctive Speaker talk to a full house. It was excellent. Just to give you an idea of the kind of talent you find in a DV group:
Pat Sanders learned how to survey underwater with the US Naval Oceanographic Office. In 1985 he formed HYPACK to provide PC-based mapping and search software to oceanographers and hydrographers. HYPACK® is commonly used to maintain shipping and boating lanes at specified depths to ensure safe passage of marine vessels. It provides hydrographic surveyors with the needed tools needed to design their survey, collect, and process data, and present it in a variety of output formats. After several unsuccessful attempts by others, over the years, since the Titanic sunk in 1912, it was finally located by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using HYPACK software. Pat was president of the company from 1985 to 2015, when he sold the company and retired. He has served as President of the Hydrographic Society of America and was elected to the Hydrographer Hall of Fame in 2018.
His presentation looked at the tools used in searching underwater for hazards to navigation, shipwrecks, cars, etc. It explained how they found the Titanic and looked at some items found for a NOVA TV special on surveying wrecks from the D-Day invasion. He even told us what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight 370.
The show was Jim David, a pretty good comedian.
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Ponta Delgada, Portugal – The Azores
Addy and I were up and out at 9am and off to the Hospital Internacional dos Açores. It is a very nice facility, all that you would want a hospital to be. It took until about one-thirty, but we got the scan and the doctor’s evaluation, everything but the bill. We were told it was being taken care of by the ship and she would pay them. The driver reappeared to take us back to the ship but Addy wanted to go shopping. I haven’t told you. She’s 88 and rides a scooter but she’s the hippest cat on the ship. So, we had ourselves let off downtown, had lunch and went shopping. It was fun and we needed that.
When we got back on board the documents staff were waiting for us. It seemed like we had skipped out on the bill and would have to go back to the hospital and pay it. Neither of us wanted anything to do with that. So, we stood out ground, saying we had offered before we left the hospital and they would have to find a way to get the bill to the ship, where Addy could sign it onto her ship-board account and the ship could pay it. It took another three or four hours, but we weren’t sailing until 11pm, so it did get done in time.
The entertainment was a movie called “80 for Brady”. Since I am not into sports films, I passed. If they had advertised the cast I would have gone. I heard it was good it starred:
2023 – 4 – Grand World 4.3 of 5 More Europe – Holland, Denmark and Norway
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I took a tram into downtown Amsterdam with Nona and Lenora. We ended up touring the Royal Palace, which happened to be open that day. There were a lot of interesting sculpted friezes, but I think I liked this dining room best.
They knew how to entertain. I should put that in the present tense. The palace is still in use to entertain state visitors, who even get to sleep in it.
I like to eat out in a city when we have an overnight, but Holland America had a different plan. They were having a gala dinner and a 150th anniversary bash with the president of the company. So we all went to that, and I would have preferred my usual strategy. I don’t run the show here.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Still in Amsterdam, Nona and Lenora and I took a different tram and visited the flea market. It was a lovely day and I got this pretty picture.
And this one of the bicycle culture that has long been alive in Amsterdam:
Then we walked around for a bit and didn’t find a resto we could agree on. The others started getting nervous about missing the boat, but I was hungry, so I had croquettes on the street at the place I was sanding near, and it was a very pleasant experience. Then I went in search of orangines to compare Dutch ones to Belgian ones. All in all a good day.
I had given Belgian Orangines (Leonidas) to the Front Desk after our stop in Zebruge and now I presented the Dutch competitor. Both the Front Desk and my table agreed, the Dutch version was better. They had a comedian after dinner, Sid Davis. We thought he was very funny.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
At Sea
I got word that our very important question for Gus Antorcha had been delivered to his room and would be answered. Well, it wasn’t answered at the Q and A session, I can tell you that. I sat through 40 questions before I had to leave to get ready for our welcome cocktail. Gus made a lot of points for Holland America with that session. He just plain stayed on the stage until the last question was answered and I don’t know how long that took, because I had to leave after two hours. But he got a lot of marks for staying on his feet and taking it. There was another great production show from our singers and dancers called “All for Love” and we enjoyed it thoroughly.
Friday, April 21, 2023
Copenhagen, Denmark
Uffe & Joan Folkmann joined Nona and Me on board for breakfast today. I had to have ONE dining room breakfast and this was a good occasion. Uffe was our guide for Mariann’s tour of Denmark last year. He’s such a nice person and so is his wife, Joan, who joined us for the last day, last year. They were not unfamiliar with cruise ships. It’s one of their favorite ways to have a vacation. I get it.
But it was a work day for both of them, so, after I had thoroughly enjoyed my eggs Benedict, they drove Nona and me into downtown Copenhagen. Joan was already gone when I had the presence of mind to get a picture with Uffe. I hope they visit me now, in Montreal. Could happen.
With a map from Uffe’s Segway Tour business, Nona and I walked through the shopping district, through a department store and on to Nyhavn, where we met Shari and Pat Sanders and had them take this super picture.
I should have one of them but they rushed off to more adventures. Nona and I had a beer, in the sun, at one of the delightful cafés, happy to have found a seat. It got really packed while we were sitting there. Then we walked along the waterfront past the cherry blossoms in bloom and The Little Mermaid, had a smoked salmon smorgasbord and another beer, and caught the shuttle to the ship, an A+ day.
My acupuncture session after that was pure torture but I had a nice dinner with Lynann, Nona and Lenora. The entertainment was another EXC talk about Nordic Pioneers. I gave it a miss.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Oslo, Norway and cruising Oslofjord
Lynann and I got on the Hop On Hop Off bus right on the pier. Lynann’s plan was just to ride the thing once around. Mine was to ride it twice, getting off in Frognerkilen on Bygdoy and having a drink at the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club, which had an interesting location “Dronningen”, which means “The Queen”. It looked like a bit of a challenge but, by my google research, doable.
It was a beautiful Spring day, and, no surprise, Norwegians behave like Canadians on the first gorgeous day of spring that happens to land on a weekend:
They also clog the streets with traffic and hold marathon runs. Net, it took well over two hours to circle Oslo once. Back at the ship, Lynann got off. I made some calculations and decided to go around again, to get off at the RNYC.
That’s where I made my mistake. I should have just taken a taxi to the yacht club, because the HOHO took even longer the second time and I ran out of that commodity. Next time. It was still a beautiful spring day. There was scenic cruising as we left Oslo, a treat we were to have for the next few days.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Kristiansand, Norway
We docked in Kristiansand and it was easy to just step off the ship and walk around, so Nona and I did that. They were nicely set up for tourists with literature on what to see, not that we could have missed any of it. It was a pretty small place. But, we did as we were told and toured the sculpture garden. I liked this whimsical display:
Then we walked into the old center of town, where we were invited to go to mass at the Catholic church by a very nice Vietnamese man. We demurred, not that Nona doesn’t go to mass every day, but yours truly certainly preferred what we did do.
Next thing you know we were sitting in a restaurant on the square, where we were introduced to “dirty fries”. I don’t know where they have been all my life. They were delicious, French fries with all the tacos toppings, and they were pretty much a meal.
I fell asleep in the bathtub when we got back to the ship.
There was more scenic cruising, dinner and nice entertainment for a change, Iris Kroes on Harp and vocals.
Monday, April 24, 2023
Haugesund, Norway
This looked like another nice little town but I needed to stay in and work
We had a terrific dinner guest in the person of sax player Akos Laki. The actual entertainment was a film: At Eternity’s Gate about Van Gogh. I went back to the cabin and read my book.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Eidfjord, Norway
There was no Internet all day because they were changing the ship over to 5G, so I was very willing to go out. It was a pretty little town from my balcony.
It was also very cold, like 45 degrees. There wasn’t all that much to see on our walk, until we happened on the Nils Bergslien Gallery attached to the Voringfoss Hotel, just opposite where the ship was docked. Nils Bergslein (1853-1928) was a native of the place. He did very well as a painter, sculptor, and designer of many major buildings. He returned to Eidfjord for the last 25 years or so of his life and this delightful museum is the result. Here’s a sample:
There was plenty of daylight left when we got back on board at five, so more lovely scenic cruising in the Crow’s Nest. The entertainment was our delightful dinner guest from a few nights ago, sax player, Akos Laki.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Bergen, Norway
I got a newsletter ready to go tomorrow before I even thought of venturing out at noon with Lenora and Nona.
The weather was terrible in Bergen. People coming back in reported sleet. I don’t go out in sleet. I went back to my cabin and took care of business, like insurance for my next couple of trips.
The entertainment was good, again, comedian Sid Davis.
On Monday, April 10, 2023, we docked in Lisbon, Portugal
Nona suggested an excursion out of Lisbon, where I had just been last year, to Sintra, Queluz and Cascais and it was a good one. Queluz is a palace from the same era as Versailles and with the same kind of rich decoration. I took a good few little pages of notes, but since it is now over a month later, I really have to wrap up this project, so here are just a few pictures, no great detail, except in the decorative arts, which speak for themselves, anyway.
There was a lot of that and there’s a good story, but you can google it. Our guide had terrific commentary. It was a good day. Cascais used to be a pirate village and here it is now next door to Estoril, where the rich people hang out.
Tuesday, April 11, was a sea day. I had a cold but it wasn’t COVID, I tested. Then I went, masked, to my office hour. One of my people doesn’t think she’ll be doing a world cruise again. Cell phones have ruined it for her. Where you used to make friends waiting for a shore excursion, or a show, now everyone has their nose pointed at their device. It’s just not the same. I have to admit. She does have a point.
Another one loves the list of past cruises taken on Navigator but wonders where some of them even went. When they show a date and “Grand Voyage” for 67 days, she has to wonder “Where to?” Some she can recall, some not. I told her I would find out. That ended up taking me a couple of weeks and a lot of correspondence with the Mariner’s Society. When the answer came it was so complete that it detailed the itinerary of each cruise. Yes, I know I am ahead of myself. You get some perks for doing your homework a month late.
The Distinctive Speakers series continued at 4:00 pm, with Dee Wescott’s gorgeous underwater slides. Dee is an engaging speaker, too. She told us how she got into the sport, and talked about every gorgeous fishie, turtle and piece of coral she showed us. The audience was most appreciative. Thank you, Dee.
After dinner, there was a production show on called Rock Legends. I loved it.
Wednesday, April 12, we were in A Coruna, Spain. I had sold my shore excursion, half price, so I could fully recover from my cold. I worked on some of my own TA stuff and a question for Gus Antorcha, President of Holland America Line, who will be on board in Amsterdam,. The entertainment was a film “The Duke of Wellington” no less – pass
Still at sea on Thursday, April 13, I was feeling better so I got a bunch of client work done and worked on tomorrow’s outing with an old tablemate from Azamara, Wanda Arti, who lives in Bournemouth. We are having a bit of weather today. You should see the waves in the pool. The I called Gil Mercier in Paris and now I have a nice plan to meet Gil and Sandy when the ship docks in Le Havre.
We had the Ship’s Doctor for dinner and she was delightful. The entertainment was Anil Desai, billed as a man of a thousand voices. Few of them came close to the originals.
On Friday, April 14, we were sort of at sea. We were at anchor outside Portland, UK, when we should have been in Brest, France. The Captain’s noon announcement included the worse news that the port of Le Havre has been canceled due to a labour strike in France. We’re going to Dover. I WhatsApp’d Gil. He had some very choice (unprintable) words for the French dockworkers, including the gem that they made the NY Teamsters’ Union look like choirboys. It did look like we were making our Portland stop, though, so those plans hold. The weather is still terrible, mind you.
There were just four of us at the table for dinner and we then saw the Lyodji Duo, on the World Stage. They are an acrobatic show with light effects. It started slow but it was very good.
On Saturday, April 15, we were finally in Portland, UK. The weather was a lot better today. Nona and I went out around 10:30am and took the ship’s shuttle into Weymouth. While we were waiting for Wanda and her daughter, Katja, we walked around Weymouth and got some pounds out of an ATM. It’s a cute, touristy little town. We loved these quirky, knitted sweatered, posts.
We watched the drawbridge go up, too, and saw other tourists doing what tourists in English seaside towns do. They were having fish ‘n chips from the local Chippie, and did they ever look good:
Wanda and Katja arrived at the appointed hour at the appointed spot and off we went on our adventure as “local tourists”. Wanda used to bring the kids over here from Bournemouth for an “outing” when they were young and Katja figured we would like it, too. We did. We went past Chesil Beach, which was very near the ship, and along the rugged coast to Portland Bill lighthouse. There we ate at The Lobster Pot, a local institution. We had crab sandwiches, just like Wanda and the kids used to do, and got ourselves caught up on each others’ lives.
Then we brought Wanda and Katja back to the Zuiderdam and gave them a tour of the ship and a cocktail by the pool. Too soon, we had to hurry them off, because the ship was going to sail. It was a very fun day.
The entertainment that night was an EXC talk about bicycles. EXC is the new name for Shore Excursions. It was not my idea of entertainment.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Dover, UK, should have been Le Havre (Paris), France
I hadn’t got over my disappointment at not being in Paris and London was too far to go. I stayed on board and cleared another pile of work. You’d think I would have had time to get more of this blog out but I didn’t. I don’t now, either. I am making it.
The entertainment was at least a live professional singer, more to my liking. I have seen her before. She’s Michelle Montouri, popular on the cruise ship circuit.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Zeebruge, Belgium
I went into Zeebruge with Nona, to walk around, see the tulips
and eat the local food.
We picked different local foods and drinks, but that’s just fine:
The evening’s entertainment was another EXC talk about HAL’s 150 years. Not memorable.
Well, the Canary Islands are part of Spain, and Morocco is almost Europe, isn’t it? On Monday, April 3, 2023, we docked in Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
After the lesson on how much I could walk in Tenerife, I decided it was time to stay in and have rest and elevation. I also went to the spa to cancel the rest of the acupuncture. On my way there I had a bit of business with Shore Excursions and one of their people told me she had had the same experience, had stopped the acupuncture for a bit, resumed and it helped. So when Renée, the spa manager, suggested that I let her just cancel the April 5 appointment, and see where I was on April 10, the day before my next appointment, I agreed. Fair enough.
My aches and pains mostly subsided over the day, but a couple of new ones surfaced. Since I am writing this three weeks later, I can say that they didn’t persist, which is good, but do I ever hate ageing.
I got a lot of work done with my feet up and went to dinner. There was nothing in the way of live entertainment, unless you wanted a dance band or the piano bar and I wasn’t into any of that, so I read my book, which is always OK with me.
On Tuesday, April 4, we were in Agadir, Morocco. I got some work done in the morning and Nona and I went out around noon. We had heard the ship’s shuttle wasn’t going into the city, just to a sandy beach where you could eat all the sand you wanted, standing up, before you took some other form of transportation. There were a few taxis at the ship, so we started negotiating. For $15 each Hassan would take us to the souk and wait for us. Deal. Only the souk he had in mind wasn’t the souk we had in mind. We wanted the old local market.
Agadir has been largely rebuilt since 1960, when they had an earthquake that leveled 60% of the city and killed 17,000 people. Everything looks pretty new and the roads are in excellent condition. While they were rebuilding, they built a couple of fake souks, which doubtless pay a commission to the likes of Hassan, which was why he was so accommodating. He took us to two of them and they were largely a waste of time. Ya think?
We really didn’t mind too much. I bought a $20 blouse that lasted two wearings. The first wash ripped it apart. I didn’t blame Holland America.
My right knee buckled in the last souk and gave trouble all the way back to the ship, which wasn’t far, thanks to Hassan. I crawled into bed with my computer and ordered room service for my 4PM breakfast. That’s when I found that we were going to remain in Agadir over night to avoid some bad weather and set off for Casablanca at 7:00 am. All aboard was at 10:00PM for the safety of those who went out. I made it to dinner and our singers and dancers took to the stage again. They are getting better and better.
The first thing I did the next day was to cancel my tour for Casablanca, which was marked strenuous. The ship had an ice cream social in the middle of the afternoon and I met a lot of my DV people there. I had dinner with Beryl, Nona and Lenora for a change but went back to my usual seat for the show with my tablemates. It was Michelle Montouri who has been on the cruise ship entertainment circuit for donkey’s years. She’s good.
On Thursday, April 6, we docked in Casablanca, Morocco. I delivered my newsletters first thing in the morning and went out with Beryl and Lenora around noon. It took us to the middle of town and Beryl decided to just go back to the ship. Lenora and I were bent on going to the real souk but we couldn’t find it, until one guy told us it was just across the street. That was easier said than done with all the traffic, but there was an underground passage, if you could find it. We asked around and the light rail station attendant finally told us where the rabbit hole was. We took it and popped up in a real souk. Here it is, complete with pussycat.
And with Lenora, who was delighted with the leather jacket she bought, a little after this picture was taken.
Unfortunately, it was Ramadan, so there were no food or drink outlets open or we would have had a snack, rested a bit and poked around some more.
We got back in plenty of time for me to do a little more work . I had dinner at the table as usual and were entertained by comedian, Paul Adams, who was pretty good.
For a change, I had a ship’s tour out of Tangier, Morocco, the next day. We went to Asilah, an old fortified town dating back to the Phoenicians, now a lovely seaside resort. It looks like they overbuilt before COVID and a lot of new condo projects seem to have run out of money. We pit stopped at a restaurant before the walking tour and I happened to spot three of four calèches waiting for fares. I was still in a mood to baby my right knee and left ankle and found a willing partner named Nancy. It was only going to be $10 each for a 35 minute horse and buggy ride around the city. Of course, we saw the modern city, rather than the refurbished old one, which was closed to all but foot traffic. No matter. It was easy on our legs and a lot of fun. There was no live entertainment again, so I got to bed early.
Malaga, Spain, where we were next, on Saturday, April 8, is the antipode of Auckland, New Zealand. That means you can draw a line from one to the other straight through the center of the earth. A lot of us had been here before, but a few of us decided to see the Picasso museum and I was one of them. Beryl, Nona, Lenora and I got on the Hop On Hop Off bus and rode it the full way around once. Back at the ship, Beryl got off and Nona, Lenora and I stayed on for the Picasso Museum. The nice thing about going around twice is that you then have the seats right up front on top, where you can get some good pictures. A nice gal named Jeri, joined us, as there are four such seats. Jeri has been cruising ‘round the world since I started with Elvon. She has MS, and had the first very light packable scooter I had ever seen. She still has it, or a newer version.
When it came time to get out for Picasso, her scooter was boxed in behind someone else’s power chair. Neither she nor I could move it. It was like I rubbed the lamp. I looked up and there was Pat Sanders, all big and strong like he had been on the catamaran, when I needed him. He solved the problem in a New York minute and we four were on our way to the museum. Jeri and her “caregivers” got special treatment, of course, jumped the line, went around to the elevator, used the handicapped bathrooms and all. Jeri has a brother, who, on hearing of her diagnosis, many years ago, crowed that now she could take him to Disneyland and they would get in to everything fast.
It was a brilliant museum and they didn’t care how many pictures you took. Here are a couple I particularly like. Still Life with Skull and Three Sea Urchins, Paris 1947
and Musketeer with Sword, Mougins1972
Picasso grows on you over time, a lot of time. The more you look his work, the more you see that more than meets the eye. I still see a dog on the forbidden sofa, looking guilty, in the first one, but I can also make the title fit. The Musketeer has a good few add ins, more hands, more swords, more faces. It’s very cool.
As was what we did next. We had beer and tapas on the square before we rejoined our HOHO We were glad we did, because we waited almost an hour for the thing. Luckily, we had the time.
We had dinner guests, lecturer, Dr. Shreeyash Palshikar and his wife, Peeta. They are both 2nd generation Americans with Indian fathers and American mothers. He lectures on Indian Magic and performs some. He has taught at Yale, Oxford, University of Pittsburgh and Albright. They were a lot of fun. It was a movie on the world stage and I had never heard of it, so to bed with my book again.
Finally it was Easter Sunday in Cadiz, Spain. I never did run out in the morning to experience the Easter festivities in Cadiz, but I was told they were very interesting. Those who saw the statues being carried in the streets were glad they did. A couple even found the churros con chocolate and pronounced it wonderful. I have learned not to try to do too much. Just do the task at hand well. So I worked over my bus lists to be sure they were in order and found my way to the appointed lounge at Noon.
Everything went smoothly. It was a good hour’s drive to Jerez. The commentary was informative and the people at the Real Tesoro winery knew what they were doing and how to handle large groups. The place was beautiful, and we had a good winery tour. The reception rooms were gorgeously decorated and the picture I have chosen to share resonates with me. You probably won’t wonder why.
Once we had received our education on the making of fortified wines, we gathered in a very large room for wine, tapas, and flamenco. What was not to like? The dancers were great, the wine flowed freely, and we missed seeing the horses on the way out because so many people were buying wine. They gave me a free bottle and I added two to it. I’ll be serving them at our farewell dinner.
We got back in plenty of time for dinner and a show. It was Rodrigo, a local Portuguese Instrumentalist, and he was excellent. The instrument was the Chapman Stick. You can google it. It was interesting.
To be clear: When I posted my first apology to Denise Davenport, I used the words “unfounded suspicion” which I meant to mean that the statement was false. She was not guilty.
This blog is a diary and a log, before it ever becomes a blog. I record a lot of things that cross my mind that have no business in the public domain. I have just removed a part of a paragraph from 3.3, that should never have seen the Internet and I owe Denise Davenport an apology. It was an unfounded suspicion that I meant to keep to myself. I am deeply sorry.
Helen Megan 