The first week of the year was spent pottering around and getting ready for the Cruise.
I covered some boxes with fancy wallpaper, to help tidy my craft room.
Mick pulled the suite apart after watching You Tube. He put some new elastic slats under the seats and we will investigate new foam inserts in the future, now we know its possible.
Out to the Dresser’s Arms at Brinscall with Nigel and Debbie. The ‘Little Hong Kong’ restaurant was great, and the food excellent. The whole place has been gutted since they had a fire and they have made a modern yet comfortable eatery. Really lovely evening.
I went Burnley with Karon and John, material shopping.
I visited ‘Preston Lace Makers’ society with Liz. Lovely day seeing other peoples work and chatting. It is a large and thriving society which bawds well for the future of Lace-Making.
Packing for Cruise.
Travelled to Southampton to spend 2 nights on our boat ‘Fleur’ prior to setting off on P&O’s Oriana to Casablanca, Portugal and Spain.
11th January – Sunday
A short taxi ride took us to the Cruise Terminal at Southampton. We booked last minute and so where not expecting much as she is 20 years old, but the Oriana has had a refit and was very well appointed.
13th January – Tuesday – La Coruna, Spain
Arrived La Corunna in Northern Spain after 2 days of Force 10 gales in the Bay of Biscay. Glad we were on a huge ship and not ours. Serves us right for being cheap and travelling in January, only to be expected really.
La Corunna has been a major port of call for centuries and has a lovely old town feel about it. The most prominent features are the covered in balconies on the buildings. If a Spanish town needs covered in windows they must be lashed by the Atlantic at times. They do Art Deco city tours and you can see why.
We walked from the ship and it was a bit showery but warmer. I had a little snooze on deck in the afternoon, I love the old reclining deck chairs on Deck 7 (Promenade Deck) and a bit of winter sun, just sent me off after our walk.
14th January – Wednesday – Oporto, Portugal
We visited Oporto a few years ago with Andy and Sue. We had previously been on a city bus tour which fortunately took us to the Port. So when we walked off the boat we knew where we were. We walked around the Port area and along the promenade which is approximately 1 or 2 miles from the Centre of the main town. It is worth a trip and all the Port Wine houses offer free trips.
The local fishermen land their catch here and there are many fishmongers and warehouses. On the sea front there are tiny restaurants which look nothing from outside but on the inside are quite special. In the summer there are canopies outside so that you can eat outdoors, in winter the canopies are gone but you still see the large barbecue's, at the side of the road, ablaze and ready to cook. No sign of the safety elf.
I found the most delightful haberdashery shop, which in a very small space, had every sort of lace, ribbon and trimmings you could ever want. Where most shops have 6 of something she had 30. Amazing.
15th January – Day at Sea
For those not familiar with Cruises, sea days pass quickly going from one event to another with food breaks in between. Itineraries are left in your cabin each night for the following day so that you can choose. There is something for everyone, lectures, recitals, dance lessons, gym, saunas, pools, quizzes, and much more. Port day talks about the next destination, a cinema and TV’s in every room streaming films and various interest programmes and news channels along with a bow camera to check on the weather conditions.
We attended Ricky Bastin’s Concorde lectures. He was a technical engineer for Concorde for most of her life. He gave impassioned, if a little biased lectures on every aspect of the plane, including her downfall. He then took questions in one of the lounges in the afternoon after each speech. Great to get information straight from someone so intimately involved. He is worth googling.
The entertainment deputy Karon held Craft gatherings on sea days and sold small craft kits for people who had not brought their own crafts. I met a lady called Margaret who showed interest in making a bear. I had brought 3 bears cut out and would never make them all so was happy for Margaret to have a try. Her passion is Embroidery so she was handy with a needle. Over 5 sea days she managed to make a bear, which she christened ‘Teddy Oriana’. We met some lovely ladies and it was nice to bump into each other around the ship too.
Michael went to Piano recitals when I was at Craft sessions. The first one in the Bay of Biscay had to be aborted after the Grand Piano broke free of its position. It was likely to dent passengers and its expensive self (£70,000).
He also went chatting to the Concorde guy.
16th January – Friday – Casablanca, Morocco
We opted for an organised trip on this occasion to get a good feel of the city. We passed ‘Rick’s Cafe’ on the bus, an enterprising American lady had created it after the success of the film ‘Casablanca’ which was all filmed in Hollywood! (You can just about see the sign).
First stop was to the Hassan II Mosque, the seventh largest in the world (we were told third largest). Finished in 1993 after only 6 years building with 10,000 people involved (we were told 15,000). It does have the world’s tallest minaret and it is difficult to show the scale.
The picture below shows the beautiful marble bathing facilities for the faithful, which extends under the whole mosque.
We then visited a Catholic Church (Church of Our Lady of Lourdes built 1930), we did not fully understand the reason for the visit, as it was very plain concrete on the outside, but had the most fabulous strained glass walls on the inside. Not just windows but the whole wall down each side of the church.
We were then dropped off to walk around the old town hall which had intricate carvings.
Then onto the Souk. Sadly it was Friday and due to prayers many of the shops were closed. We stopped for Mint Tea at the ‘Cafe Imperial’ and then back to the bus.
There is a small shopping area at the Portside if you did not want to take a trip, but as the Moroccan's are avid traders, the people who chose to walk were pestered quite a bit. There were also many armed police around, as we were there very soon after the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ incident.
17th January – Sea Day
18th January – Malaga, Spain
Sadly this was a very rainy day, but un-deterred we took the Portside walk from the ship to the town which takes about 10 minutes. There has been heavy investment in shops and cafes to cater for Cruise ships and tourists in very modern surroundings.
The town itself was a total surprise and a real treat. We had expected a Benidorm type experience, which could be found in the sea-side part of town. But the old town was beautiful. Old and modern buildings sitting comfortably together. The old Cathedral was impressive from the outside and full bling on the inside. Including large TV screens which we had not seen before in a church.
The old castle was charming and had an amphitheatre in the grounds, which was discovered relatively recently.
Lovely lanes of shops and cafes darted from every square. We had a delightful day despite the rain.
19th January – Cadiz, Spain
Our first fully sunny day. A short walk from the ship took us to the centre of Cadiz. The small narrow streets then merge into lovely squares. One square had a market and an old tiled market house.
The Cathedral was very old and not ornate inside. We happened to walk through another church which had a kind of cloister. It also had very strange life like statues wearing ornate clothing, and lifelike cadavers in caskets, which were quite unsettling, we did not linger.
I managed to buy some more bear stuffing from a sewing shop, after Michael had failed in a previous shop to mime ‘stuffing’, to the owners amusement.
20th January – Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon was a sunshine and showers day. We had been to Lisbon before with Andy and Sue so decided to have a walk around on our own. What should have been a short walk from the ship into town became an uphill hike through tiny streets after we took a wrong turn and headed ever upwards towards the castle. The walk down was much more pleasant.
There is an old fashioned tram system in Lisbon and the trams are very attractive.
The whole area including the coasts of Spain and Portugal were hit by a large earthquake a century ago and when Lisbon was rebuilt the town centre was built on a grid pattern. So the main town streets are very uniform and old world modern. The main square is a whopper and is surrounded by decorative buildings.
Leaving Lisbon by sea takes you under the suspension bridge and a Brazil-like enormous statue of Christ (just visible in the background). This was our last big ‘Sailaway’ party of the trip so many people took advantage of one last look from the back of the ship.
21st January – Sea Day
Drink with Peter and Sheila who are related to our friends Graham and Pauline. It was a special birthday trip for Sheila and we had seen them around the ship but it was really nice to sit and have a chat in the bar in our Black Tie clothes for the ships last dressed up evening.
22nd January – Sea Day
Margaret finished her bear which she christened ‘Teddy Oriana’.
23rd January – Friday
Off the ship at 09.15 and said our last goodbyes to Jo and Bob who had been our dinner companions during the Cruise. It is fortunate if you meet people who you get on with and we were very lucky with Jo and Bob.
Went to the boat by Taxi and she was covered in a hard frost which had settled under the clear sky of the previous night. It made her look like a snowball.
Aldi Indian Meal for two, not quite the 3 course meals we had on board the ship but very good nevertheless.
24th to 26th January – Saturday to Monday
Mick carried out some maintenance. The rudder had a rust prevention treatment using Galvafroid. He also replaced the water pump speed seal.
Monday – Portchester
We had a drive around the coast to Portchester. When we were in Portsmouth Harbour we could see a castle in the distance across the bay, which turned out to be Portchester Castle. Then onto Port Solent which is a purpose built marina village.
There is an excellent Chandlers called Marina Superstore. We bought pilot books for the next leg of our travels. Antifoul paint for the bottom of the boat once she is out of the water in March, as it was such a good price. I managed to find a pair of heavier duty, wet weather trousers with the ladies back flap. There were times last year when I coveted them on our sailing chums. They had been in the shop 3 years and after 2 reductions were £30 instead of £100, bargain. http://www.marinesuperstore.com/
There are lots of shops and restaurants at Port Solent and it was a very pleasant find. There was even a trading post for local crafters, so something for everyone.
We then went to South-sea Marina, as we had talked to people during the summer who use it. The facilities seemed excellent and the staff were very friendly. The amenities are currently being updated so should be ready for next season. The Indian ‘Bombay Bay’ which was recommended was sadly closed, better luck next time.
We then travelled back to Southampton on the coastal route via Lee on Solent with great sea views. We had the biggest bag of chips ever, (Karon’s on the High Street) so much so that dinner was abandoned when we returned to Fleur.
27th January – Tuesday
Home in under 6 hours. Boat leftovers for tea.
28th January onwards
Since coming home, I had my hair cut, Mick went out with work colleagues, and I made 2 bags.
We are spending February at home, then back to the boat in March for preparations for this years trip to Holland. Well towards Holland, last years plan was a little rigid so we are going to aim towards Holland in no particular hurry.
