August 21 – London, UK – Calgary, Canada!!

London was approaching warm when Chris and I went out around 11:30 for one last pint and a bite to eat before we headed to the airport. Our pick up and drive to the airport was seamless – we once again pre-booked a car to take us, which worked out great. We were able to return the wireless internet device we rented for this trip…that thing was pretty fantastic – it wasn’t great on the boat, but otherwise was perfect. We were at the airport very early, so we found a quiet spot in the BA business lounge, had a drink and something to eat, a shower and relaxed.

This has been a wonderful vacation. We’ve seen so many wonderful things that I can’t even remember most of them – it’ll take me a few days back to take a moment and reread this blog. As usual I’m happy to be going home even if that means this time next week I’ll be packing a lunch for work! I am so thankful to everyone who read this blog. This is the 10^th year of the blog…some people say I should change the name…I like it…it’s retro! This is the 363^rd blog entry! The first few vacations I did it there are no pictures, because I did it on Chris’ first Blackberry…entirely with my THUMBS and a few have had the photos disappear, but it’s one of my favourite things about vacation. 

August 20 - London, UK

18 degrees, cloudy and rain off and on – sometimes the rain was quite hard, especially when we wanted to be out!

London Eye, Big Ben and WIND

Thames and London skyline

We actually set an alarm this morning as we had museum tickets booked for a specific time. It was not raining when we looked out the window before we left our hotel room, but by the time we got to the street it was raining – a little mist turned to a full on pour with rain, so that we went down into a Tube station and considered taking it to the museum. The walk wasn’t really that far, and we planned to pick up our tickets to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that we’re seeing tonight on the way. We persevered, but got pretty drenched. It was quite windy (especially as we crossed the river), so the umbrella I had wasn’t all that useful – Chris had a hat which served him pretty well.

Many of the museums in London (maybe other parts of the UK too, I don’t know) are free to enter. However, special exhibitions which we were seeing

outside Tate Modern, St. Paul's and the Millennium Bridge

today at the Tate Modern (Georgia O’Keeffe) had a cost. We really enjoyed ourselves and were glad we spent the 70.00 for the tickets and audio guide. By the time we were finished with the special exhibit we decided against seeing the rest of the museum as we had seen it before and were a bit thirsty!

A coffee at the museum and a pint along the Thames near the museum helped us regain our strength.

Next was a bit of a wander through a few interesting areas, a cross of the river (without the rain, but still wind) and then another museum. This one was called the Courtauld Institute of Art, it was small, not crowded and fantastic – photography was also allowed.

Lunch was pizza and wine at an outside table – by now it was nice enough to sit outside.

lunch

Chris and Vincent

In the evening we went to the musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was good, but I think I preferred last night’s Matilda more.

Dinner was at a ‘supper club’ kind of place. There was a DJ playing music, the place was loud and happening, until it died and most people went to the disco downstairs – we didn’t.

Courtauld Institute of Art

We did decide to make one last stop at the disco in our hotel. The second floor reception area turns into a disco at night, we walked through last night, but tonight decided to

stop for a drink – fun place, but by the time we got back to the room it was way past blogging time. I had to finish this in the morning.

August 19 – London, UK

war monument

20 degrees, cloudy and light rain off and on – in the evening it was cooler, but clear and sunny

Piccadilly

This morning was spent drinking coffee and planning our time in London. We are a bit spoiled for choice here. When we are in a small place with one or 2 places of interest it isn’t hard to plan our time. When we’re in London where there are about a bazillion different things to do, it’s hard to choose. We have tickets to 2 musicals and tickets to a museum which were on our for sure to do list, but beyond that…we aren’t so sure. Eventually we decided to walk, with Harrods as our destination.

outside our lunch pub - love the green wall

Along the way we checkout whatever we encounter. I like this kind of exploring…touring is like a box of chocolates. Today’s weather is a lot dodgier than yesterday, but we pretty much manage to only get a bit damp. Although it rains, the rain is light and misty.

We visit a church and see musicians preparing for a noon concert, see a war monument, walk along Piccadilly and see many countries’ embassies. It’s fun just walking along, seeing what we see.

embassy-ville, Turkey's in the background

At Harrods we check out the restaurant floor (not cheap) food to take away (very cool things), and find the floor selling art by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol and other artists I’ve only seen in museums! These are a bit out of our budget, so we settle for a few souvenirs. 

fish and chips and shepherd's pie

We have lunch at a pub and I finally have shepherd’s pie. I’ve been looking and looking, but this is the first pub that’s had it when I was looking to eat…it is HUGE…and very good, I’m not disappointed. It is exactly as I expect it to be…ground meat and potatoes. There’s mushy peas on the side that are actually very good. 

We head back to the hotel for a nap before our evening at theatre. We see Matilda the Musical. It is great. I didn’t know the story at all before we got the tickets…never read the book. Once we got tickets I got and read (most of) the book. It certainly wasn’t necessary, but it is interesting to compare how the original story had been altered for the musical.

After the theatre we have dinner in a small Mediterranean bistro, before getting to bed. We are tempted to check out our hotel disco – I said it was hip, but after walking through a bit, decide we are just too tired and not exactly in our disco duds.

August 18 – London, UK

28 degrees (so it said, but I don’t buy it) and cloudy 

As it turned out…today was arduous, grueling, hard, trying, demanding, frustrating, for sure, but we were on vacation and really in the grand scheme of life…it wasn’t, so bad…and more than a few curses were thrown.

It all started when the cab driver in Lisbon wanted to charge us a premium for picking us up at night…whaaaaat? I know we’re not from here, but 6:45 AM is NOT NIGHT. So we had a bit of a ‘discussion’ at the airport and in the end we likely paid more than we should have, but at least knew enough to call major BS on his BS, before we walked away saying…cab drivers the world over…they truck you…no…wait…I don’t think we said truck, maybe it was duck…no…cluck…who knows…I’m pretty sure it was something that rhymed with buck!

sink in the middle of hotel room

Next was the usual checking in and getting through security…seamless. Other than the guy checking us in thinking that as we were Canadian that we needed to communicate in French…I was charmed that he would even have a thought, so I smiled.

Next we waited and waited in a warehouse type area…some shopping, duty free, coffee etc – not palatial, but just fine.

The plane was the usual Westjet type thing, but again…just fine. I was seated between Chris and a woman who didn’t take over my space and didn’t give the impression that she hadn’t seen a shower in a few days – like the guy I waited in line in front of to board the plane!

finally!!!!!!!

The plane was the usual Westjet type thing, but again…just fine. I was seated between Chris and a woman who didn’t’ take over my space and didn’t give the impression that she hadn’t seen a shower in a few days – like the guy I waited in line in front of to board the plane – lovely!

3 hours later we were on the ground in London…well not exactly IN London. We came into one of the smaller airports that services London about an hour away. We had arranged a car transfer to get us to London – similar to how we got to Southend at the beginning of this trip…certainly not as economical as a train, but similar to a cab, the price is agreed upon up front, the cars and drivers are slick, they have water and there is someone waiting with a sign for us as we come out from baggage. That sign thing…that’s the theory.

Firstly, between passport control and getting our bags (which took FOREVER) we lost the driver we were meeting – he had to go back to his car. Then, trying to find him was next to impossible. Luton airport, which is where we arrived into is ‘under construction’. So…it took us a looooong while to find our driver…we texted, talked on the phone and visited all outside areas of the airport. We kept saying to each other…”thank God it wasn’t raining!” Finally we found each other and were at the hotel about an hour later…2 after the plane landed.

 The hotel is right in the thick of London’s West End. We are staying at the W Hotel. We’ve stayed at a W before and we know it is ‘mod’, ‘cool’, ‘funky’ and ‘hip’ – everything we are of course! However…sometimes function is sacrificed for cool. The bathroom sink is in the middle of the room, at least the toilet isn’t.

After unpacking we ventured out for a well-deserved pint (cider again.) We then picked up our theatre tickets for tomorrow night, and found dinner. We decided against a Lobster Roll at our hotel restaurant for 50.00…WOW, not sure about that! I know London is pricy and am not expecting to be able to pinch pennies here, but again…WOW.

Before one last pint (10.00) we found a Whole Foods Market for some provisions and made it an early night.  

BTW…we can’t escape Chris attracting the attention of A Streetcar Named Desire fans. The world over, when he says his name people inevitably ask “isn’t that Marlon Brando’s character from A Streetcar Named Desire?” Yes, we answer…Stanley Kowalski. That was the only question of the passport woman who looked at his passport. Maybe someday we should actually see that movie.

August 17 – Lisbon, Portugal

Sao Vincente de Fora monastery

28 degrees, muggy and partly cloudy

Good morning Lisbon. Today is the last day of the cruise, tomorrow we move on to London for a few days and then home. A week after that I'll be back at work steady...the first time in a year!!

In the morning we explored the steep, winding, old streets of Lisbon just up from the port-very convenient for us to walk. Painted tiles are everywhere...on the outside of what look like old and dilapidated buildings, the train station, churches...really everywhere. It is warm and humid today, but not oppressive because of significant cloud cover. We found a church and a Monastery of Sao Vincente de Fora. It was very peaceful and interesting.

Before heading back to the boat or lunch we find a small taverna for a beer on an outdoor, right in the street platform. The tavernas all seem to set up platforms in the small streets outside their establishments because the streets are so steep. They couldn't have any outdoor tables if they didn't – it’s brilliant and lovely. An old Portuguese woman stopped to ask us for help…who knows what for…I guess we look Portuguese – when she realized…she laughed and laughed…was she laughing at us!

One cool thing we noticed since the last time we were here (which we realized was 10 years ago! On Chris’ first sabbatical) are tourist tuk tuks. Apparently these are new to Lisbon in the last few years. Some of them are wildly decorated and the drivers give tourist commentary. Some are just golf carts.

steep streets of Lisbon

tuk tuks behind me

In the afternoon we take an excursion to a medieval town called Obidos about 90 min outside Lisbon. We opted for an excursion outside of Lisbon as we have been here before. We started with a bit of a driving tour of Lisbon on the way out of town. Once we got to Obdios we walked with a guide through the old fortified town stopping at a couple of churches and have a drink of sherry at a small hotel. The town was interesting, but it was quite a ways to go for a short visit to a small town. We are back at the ship by about 7, to pack, have a last dinner and get to bed for a travel day tomorrow.

Lisbon roof tops and the sea

I haven't seen anything like this...love it

monastery cistern

August 16 – at sea along the coast of Spain en route to Lisbon, Portugal

edamame appetizer and cool sake decanter

20ish degrees

Today being cool and at sea, meant we did very little…the weather impacted our activity level somewhat, in that on a warm/hot sea day we would have hung out by the pool which we didn’t do today. The ship has plenty of activities on the go if we wanted, but we don’t want…so it was nap…eat…nap…read…repeat! Very relaxing.

This ship has an area on the top deck where part of the glass roof can retract where we spent some time today. The roof was closed today and it warmed up quite a bit in there – it still feels like we are outside, but aren’t in the wind.

Oh, and we gained an hour of sleep last night, moving time zones…fantastic!

3 kinds of crème brulé

Dinner tonight was at one of the ship’s theme restaurants – the Asian one. A week ago we ate at the Italian one. There were some very cool elements tonight. One – sake, that came in a glass ball, type decanter that had a separate spot in the middle for crushed ice so the sake would stay cold, but not diluted and 2 – 3 flavours of crème brulé for dessert that came in won ton soup spoons.

August 15 – St. Jean de Luz, France / San Sebastian, Spain

32 degrees in St. Jean de Luz, cooler in San Sebastian rain for a bit

Today we are in the Pyrénées mountains, and are a bit in France and a bit in northern Spain. We tendered into this small port of St. Jean de Luz. We port into France, yet our excursion is into Spain.

above San Sebastian Bay

down at San Sebastian Bay

from the boat to St. Jean de Luz

San Sebastian is about a 30 min drive along the coast. In fact, it only take us about 10 minutes along the highway to get into Spain.

San Sebastian is a town of about 180 000 people and being a bit higher into the mountains it is cooler than when we are in St. Jean de Luz. When we arrive it is a bit cloudy and eventually rains a bit…not too much, but some so that we have to seek shelter.

We see the town from high above when we stop at Monte Iqueldofor a look down on San Sebastian Bay and then spend the rest of our time in the old, historic part of town walking with a guide through pedestrian streets and then a bit on our own. Unfortunately the time on own wasn’t long enough to get a glass of wine or try their pintxo - the Basques version of tapas, so we wandered a bit and were soon back in France and St. Jean de Luz.

taloa - tasty

St. Jean de Luz behind us (our tender in the shot too)

Once we are back in St. Jean de Luz (and the heat), we have a glass wine and a snack of a Taloa – basically a regional dish in the Basques area. It is a street food with fillings inside a corn tortilla – we had chicken, onion and cheese…quite good.

August 14 – Bordeaux, France

good morning Bordeaux

random street art...I love this!

trying to cool off

32 degrees (at least), about 250 degrees on the top deck of the boat, very clear…HOT, not too humid, but H…O…T, trés chaud as they say around these parts

random beautiful street

Today is another day on our own…glorious. It’s good to have a balance between guided education and wandering, blissfully ignorant of what I may be experiencing and looking at. We’ve had a good amount of time with guides, so a couple of days alone is welcome. Tomorrow things will change again.

Early morning laundry (good thing since all of our clothes will soon be drenched with sweat) was followed by breakfast of espresso and a peanut butter roll. Our plan was to do a bit of shopping, lunch and back to the boat. We are setting sail at 2:30 this afternoon, so we have to keep our eyes on the time. It’s a good thing that I did the shopping that I did yesterday as we learned last night that today is a holiday, so many of the shops will be closed. We also found that many of the bars and restaurants are closed also, so lunch ends up being back on the boat. A glass of wine is doable though – whew, close call!

I wish I could get in

our ship is very close to town

I buy a few things at the tourist info centre…I have no problem with tourist-ville…that’s what I am after all, and I feel it’s less likely that I’m getting screwed. I am again proud of myself being able to order wine and pay and buy a few things all en Français!

Bordeaux, very near where we were dovked

It is very hot even before noon, so I take every opportunity to cool off in any fountain I come across. I wanted to get into one, but it was just a bit too deep, kids were in up to their waists, so it was just a foot dip for me – even that was glorious!

After lunch back on board, we headed to the pool for some music played by our favourite ship band and sail-away. Holy cow it’s hot! Of course I’m in the shade and am still on fire, doesn’t matter how many beers, water or champagne I drink it’s hot.

There’s a bridge that we go under on the way out that can be raised and lowered, today it is raised for us to get under…very cool.

another bridge to go under

part of bridge raised to let us pass

August 13 – Bordeaux, France

shopping haul

32 degrees, very clear…HOT

How things have changed in the weather department! Although we didn’t step foot outside until about 9:00 this morning it was hot then and didn’t cool off!

morning refreshment

We spent the morning and early afternoon wandering around Bordeaux on our own. Our first stop was for a morning glass of wine…we are in Bordeaux after all. Then it was a bit of shopping for tea towels. I’ve had my heart set on some tea towels on this vacation and today was the day. We happened upon a French linens shop that was fantastic. I could have spent a lot more time and money in there! Chris left me and tried to get a beer while he waited, but it didn’t take me long enough and by this point things were getting busy in the cafés.

We decided on a pizza for lunch washed down with a couple of glasses of rosé at an outdoor place in a little alleyway.

In the late afternoon we headed out to the Bordeaux Girondas soccer game. We got there by tram which is always an adventure. I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear one word other than French spoken by anyone…this was a very local experience. We didn’t end up getting any food at the game, I had hoped for something interesting, but all there was was typical game food…les hot dogs, les hamburgers, la pizza etc. We got beer, but no food.

One very weird thing happened at the game. I went into what I thought (based on the sign of a person in a dress) was the ladies’ room…men were coming out of it and were also in it. Oops I thought…I’ve been known to make that mistake before. I hurried back out and checked the sign…sure enough it was a DRESS! So I went back in and did what I had to do…I won’t even go into my thoughts on the lack of seats on the toilets. The next time I had to use the facilities there were men in there AGAIN! What is going on I wondered. For a second I thought they were just all used as unisex…nope…Chris used the men’s and there were no women in there. My conclusion is that men just go where ever they want! I hardly cared, but I was quite stymied by the whole situation.

interesting pineapple cheesecake dessert

We tram it back to the ship, get a shower, dinner and pack it in early for the night watching some Olympics.