Winter Atlantic Cruise

Needing to leave our comfy home in Stow-on-the-Wold for a couple of weeks, we found a 16-day cruise to Lisbon; Gibraltar; Barcelona; Las Palmas, Canary Islands; Dakar, Senegal; Santa Cruz, back in the Canaries; and Funchal, Maderia.

The QE2 may well be the most famous ship on the high seas (after the Exxon Valdez). It was built in 1967 and has traveled something like 5 million miles since. It took troops to the Falklands during England's disagreement with Argentina.

Nine 9-cylinder diesel engines (which replaced the original steam) make a total of 127,000 HP getting 50 ft/gallon. Does 18 knots. 963ft long. 105ft wide. Has 1900 passengers and a crew of 950.

And like all hotels, it should be nuked every 10 years and rebuilt. This 38 year old tub has all the markings of a Best Western that was once a Travelodge that was once a Howard Johnson's that was once a Holiday Inn. We're sure the British soldiers back in 1982 enjoyed our mattresses more than we did. The QE2 needs to be made into a museum - or a reef. It's clean, just old.

And so are the passengers. The average passenger is a married couple. He served in WWII. She has blue hair. Both are very British (or Scottish) - 1600 Brits and 79 Americans. Neither eat very much food.

Which is good as the portions in the dining room are really tiny. Not that we've eaten there much. We eat in the cafeteria most times since we abandoned the fancy clothes, suit, etc. to fit our clothes in a couple of suitcases back in Europe. Bob could rent a tux to be allowed into the dining room (at $85 per night).

Other things like sewage stink, commodes with the water turned off, needing to eat room service on Christmas night because the cafeteria was closed, and the general attitude of the Purser's office didn't help the experience.

But we met some very nice people. With two Coventry-ites and a couple from Dallas we had a heck of a six-some pub quiz team which won the quiz seven times. Bob played duplicate bridge every sea day and Terry found a sewing circle. Scroll down to see pictures of the shore excursions.

Not much deck space compared to the Millennium.
They were empty until we crossed the Tropic of Cancer.
You really don't want to see a picture of septuagenarian sun bathers.

A proper English bar but no Real Ale.

The clubs at the cage disappeared after the first day. They claimed it wasn't safe with people playing shuffleboard right behind the cage. Wonder if they ever use it.

Juggler with 4 glasses of wine on a tray balanced on his chin.

Moments later - broken glass and wine everywhere. Your roving reporter caught the action.

A mandatory casino.

Models and memorabilia are everywhere around the ship.

Dining staff is efficient and food comes quickly as compared to the Millennium.

Evidently the thrusters don't work. We had to be tugged in and out of every port.

Last time we were in Lisbon our ATM privileges were revoked after dyslexia with the PIN code so we just walked around, had a Ginja cherry liquor, ate a cheap lunch, and rode the trams. This time we were flush and we walked around, had some Ginja cherry liquor, ate a cheap lunch, and rode the trams.

One difference. This time someone lifted Bob's wallet from his back pocket. It happened just as a crowded tram stopped and the doors opened and two guys insisted he push the door-open button. He saw the setup coming, had the wallet wedged in sideways, felt the lift from the little weasel standing behind him, and responded by yelling and blocking the three guys from leaving the tram until his wallet appeared on the floor. No harm done and nobody was ever in physical danger - just a good war story. Didn't have the presence of mind to pull out the camera at that time though, darn it.

While spending 5 days in Barcelona last May we saw most of the touristy highlights and got a good feel for the real city. This time we got some walking exercise and went through one of the Gaudi buildings (below) we didn't before.

Came across a Christmas market and bought a 6" high tree for the cabin.
A log with two front legs and a funny Santa face must be a Spanish tradition.
Don't know why the tongue hangs out but it gives them a friendly-dog look.

By late afternoon the Ramblas was still sparse
but a shell game can always draw a crowd.

The downtown house of the Batllo family was built 1904-1906 by architect Antoni Gaudi. Lo and behold, we could take pictures inside. Today it's mainly a display piece but there are 8 apartments and/or offices, 2 per floor above two bottom floors. These you can't wander through, but the first two and the top floor (attic) are open as well as the roof. Didn't see a sharp edge or a square corner in the place.

A center atrium air/light shaft has a staircase and an elevator wrapped around
the walls and balconies overlooking the narrow drop.

The chimneys are a bit quixotic and the top of the front facade resembles a dragon's back.

Looking up the central atrium.

The 8 apartments have identical doors and asymmetrical ceramic tile surrounds.

Back facade.

Some touches look like art deco 25 years before art deco was invented.

We had bypassed Gibraltar and went to Barcelona first because of levanter winds (not to be confused with mistral or sirocco winds). These easterlies race through the straight of Gibraltar and cause rough seas but the boat rode well. Two days later they calmed and we landed in Gibraltar just in time for the pre-Christmas shopping mayhem.

Last time in Gibraltar, the tours to the monkeys and caves were closed because of a rock slide. This time we got to the top of "the rock" and did the touristy thing. A recommended reason to part with £16 per person. Views, monkeys, St. Michael's cave, and tunnels dug to protect the peninsula during a siege in the 1700s.

A narrow spot separates Gibraltar from Spain to the north.
This is the only flat land so that's where the airport is located.
It goes clear across the isthmus and the highway to Spain crosses the runway at its midpoint.

The unfortunate church where John and Yoko were married.
Doesn't need a big picture.
They've taken down the memorial plaque as it kept getting defaced.

The siege guns are really old.
The tunnel goes back about about ¼ mile along the north side of the rock.

The siege guns look out over the airport to Spain. Wonder if the security people have thought of the ramifications.

Beside the runway is the really, really crowded cemetery.

This 4ft wide stalagmite was sawn in half like petrified wood.

The Barbary Apes - really just short-tailed monkeys - are famous for their speed and voracious interest in tourist's food and jewelry.

Terry and friend. No she hasn't gained weight; there's a fanny pack (bum bag) under that coat.

Las Palmas is a pretty big city in the Canaries. Part of Spain. Quite like any seaside city with lots of bustle in the high-rise downtown surrounded by neighborhoods and parks. Markets, tapa bars, museums, palm trees, and lots of fish. Instead of lions, bears, or cows, the Canaries have painted plastic dogs everywhere - Canary comes from "canine", not from the bird.

We got a 2-person bus pass for 5.30€ and saw several neighborhoods and a museum (below). Nice day, good weather even if it did sprinkle a few times. We'd like to return to see more of the island. It's a pleasant place to hang out in the winter.

There's a beach just 3 blocks from the center of town.
A bit cold for swimming on Boxing Day though.

The dividing line between pre-history and history on the Canaries is about 1480AD when the Spanish moved in. Before that time agricultural cave-dwelling folks lived very simply because there is no metal to be found on the island to make any advanced tools. No written language. All woven grasses, animal skins, pottery,

The Canarian Museum shows archeological and anthropological finds in 11 rooms on two floors. There are over 50 known pre-historic communities on this one island and most of them have been left largely alone so far.

Very advanced pottery!

Woven bag about 6" high.

Ah, Dakar. The capital of Senegal. The westernmost point of Africa. The busy, crowded import center for all of western Africa. An ex-French territory. We're told cruise ships stop there often because diesel fuel is very cheap.

What to say about Dakar. How about "never again"? It might well be an OK place. Doesn't look like there's extreme poverty in the city itself. They even have a brewery. Lots of street venders with food stalls. Never did see much. Didn't find an open bar or restaurant.

A shuttle bus into town leaves you on the Place de Liberation and you are immediately surrounded by a dozen people pestering (yeah, that's the word) you to buy their cheap trinkets. This doesn't stop. Ever. We walked about 5 blocks and went back to the shuttle bus. Never had more than 10 seconds peace. Sure didn't want to break out the camera - only the first picture below was taken during our "walk".

Carvings, knit purses, hats, T-shirts, socks, even underwear by gawd. Everything was, of course, imported. Looked like maybe a few shipping containers gone awry. Men, women, children. All selling the same items. By the dozen. You feel as if you're Custer in a swarm of gnats.

We're told an organized $99 tour out to an nearby island is nice. Another tour to a volcano was evidently 45 minutes of driving past abject poverty, 10 minutes of viewing, and 45 minutes of driving back. Given Dakar's reputation, most people never got off the boat.

Santa Cruz, like Las Palmas is a bustling Spanish town that can be seen in a day but can be wandered for quite a while longer. The downtown is surrounded by hillside suburbs. We stayed downtown and walked to a mercado. Didn't do much, just a laid back afternoon.

Inside the Parliament.

Inside the Mercado.

Have you ever really seen high-heeled sneakers?

Funchal is Portuguese which is only slightly different from Spanish in feel and in language. Again, we walked around town. Uphill in the morning and downhill in the afternoon. Interestingly, this island had no human inhabitants when the Portuguese found it in the 15th century.

Bob found a likely looking bar and stayed there while Terry went window shopping. She got back after 2 wines, a beer, and 3 brandies, just in time lead Bob to some food and a nap under a statue. Quite a nice day.

This was one of the very few times we were able to stay out after dark - normally we've needed to be back on the ship about 4:30pm. But tonight the boat (and 5 others) stayed in dock until after the fireworks at midnight. A very impressive show. 2 miles of shoreline were used as the launching pad and it went on for almost 15 minutes.

Local wines and brandies. The three on the left are very local, being
formulated, mixed, and aged in the back. A dry sherry-based, a sweet port-based,
and a chamomile brandy aged with twigs and flowers in the bottle.
Spicy, big aroma, grape background, big alcohol burn.

Every culture needs a brewery, accordion music,
and a local variant of the elephant ear. And maybe an airline.
Madeira's elephant ear is thick with just a powdering of cinnamon-sugar.

On the way to Southampton to get the ship we stopped in Winchester. The city itself was a Roman city in Claudius's reign. Then an important Anglo-Saxon town in Aelfred's time. A Viking city under Cnut. The second oldest cathedral in England was built by William the Conqueror and the city became the treasury and mint for England. It lost a lot of power when Henry VIII closed the Catholic churches. Charles II was going to build a palace there but the project was never finished. By this time a lot of the area inside the city walls had reverted to fields. It sank so low by 1861 that an election defeated the idea of sewers because they would require a tax increase. Now it's a typical city with a lot of tourist traffic but little industry.

While in Southampton we didn't wander very much as it was quite cold. We did visit a still-working flour mill powered by water in a tidal pool. They can only operate 4 hours a day - of course they could work a second night shift but never did because of the explosion danger before electric lights. Neat stuff like automatic feed, alarm bells if the grain stops feeding, and wooden gears that could be replaced individually.

We also stopped at Southampton's free Maritime Museum.
This ship's steam engine is similar to the bellows blower we saw in Vienna.
The whole boiler pivots instead of having a connecting rod.
Seems like doing it the hard way.

The Canary Islands brews Tropical Pils, Reina Oro, and Dorado. All decent all-malt helles lagers.

Funchal, Madeira the Coral brewery. They make an uninspired light lager as well as Coral Tonica - a decent dark lager.

In Memory of
Thomas Thetcher
a Grenadier in the North Reg.
of Hants Malitia, who died of a
violent Fever contracted by drinking
Small Beer when hot the 12th of May
1764. Aged 26 Years
In grateful remembrance of whose universal
good will towards his Comrades, this Stone
is placed here at their expence, as a small
testimony of their regard and concern.
Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire Grenadier
Who caught his death by drinking cold small Beer,
Soldiers be wise from his untimely fall
And when ye're hot drink Strong or none at all.

These Scots are really a joyous couple.
You missed celebrating New Year on the QE2 with them.