Another cruise

A surprise birthday for Tom - all he knew was that we (Tom and myself) were going on a cruise from Southampton in September!

I had been planning a surprise birthday for Tom (well, he was 60 earlier in the year). We (Chris, Diane and myself) had been plotting for months. We had had meetings in Manchester (Tom thought we were just having some girlie time together), numerous eMails / text messages etc. and the day had finally arrived. Amanda (my sister in law) collected us from Natland and we were on our way, only to be thwarted on the motorway - it was closed! We had arranged to meet at the station at 10:45. I was trying to text Chris to say we were running late when Tom kept telling me off for always being on my phone! We arrived at the station at 11:13 (our train was 11:27), fortunately for us, Amanda is a real whiz when it comes to finding her away around Manchester. I persuaded Tom to go and buy a paper (he wasn't too happy because he said we should be trying to get on the train), I tried to phone Chris, the call went through to voicemail, Tom came back, my phone rang, it was Chris, I couldn't answer because Tom was moaning about the phone again! He went to the loo, I tried Chris again, she said she was trying to get onto the train, we were cut off, Tom came back and spotted me on the phone, he started to moan "couldn't I just manage a morning without being on the phone", the phone went again, it was Chris - dare I answer it, I decided not to, I couldn't cope with all the moaning (have I mentioned Tom has turned into a grumpy old man!). We walked down the platform and I spotted both Chris and Diane boarding the train. The next sequence of events was very similar to a Benny Hill show (some of you may be old enough to remember his shows!), as we were getting on the train with our cases, they were trying to find space for their cases, without Tom knowing they were there. I nearly had an argument with a woman who was trying to nick my space in the luggage compartment (that's another story!). So Tom couldn't see them, Chris and Diane got off the train and then got back on it at the other entrance to the carriage. Tom went to find our seat, Chris and Diane made another quick exit off the train and back again to the entrance they had just come in from. FINALLY, Tom sat down, Chris tapped him on the shoulder and said "would it be OK if we joined you in the cruise"? What Tom said then is best left on the train, needless to say he was rather surprised as he thought they were both in Spain!

I think we were one of the youngest set of people on the cruise! It was very similar to being on a SAGA holiday (I assume as I have never been on one), there were blue rinses, blankets, zimmers, walking sticks and motorised scooters! We didn't book many 'trips' with the cruise operator, however we did make the mistake of booking one in Sardinia. We knew we were in trouble, when we were sat in the theatre waiting to get onto our coach, when we overheard a member of staff saying "orange 7 have walking difficulties!". We were part of the orange 7 group, what on earth had we let ourselves in for. All I will say is that the blue rinse, blankets, zimmers, walking sticks and motorised scooter were all on our coach ! Then, to make matters worse, we had to listen to our 'guide' waffling on about the malaria mosquito. Now, just so you don't feel as if you have missed out on anything, Sardinia has swamps (or did have), which encourages the malaria mosquito! Did you know that if you plant eucalyptus trees they soak up more water than any other tree? No neither did I. We do now. I guess the moral of the story is if you live in a swampy area and have lots of mosquitoes, then think about planting some eucalyptus trees !!!!

Gibraltar - duty free and Barbary Apes! We had been warned! We managed to negotiate a good price to be driven up the rock. We had been warned about the apes, they apparently steal anything, glasses, cameras, food etc. Our driver stopped the minibus and started to warn us about the apes, we wernt allowed to feed or touch them as they could be vicious (why then are we stopping>?!). We dared to get out, within 10 seconds Tom had been accosted by the biggest ape you had ever seen, it was on his back and wouldn't get off, the driver had to come to Tom's rescue (we certainly couldn't, because we couldn't stop laughing) and threatened it with his flip flops, (the ape, that is!). Next minute Chris had an ape attached to her head! Flip flop man to the rescue, again! The flip flop chap then suggested we could have our photos taken with a baby ape, (I thought we had just been told not to touch them!) no way was I going to have an ape sat on my shoulder. Diane, Chris and Tom all stood and posed. Needless to say, I ended up with two of the bloody things attached to my head (Tom said he had spotted them eyeing me up, but he thought it would be funny not to tell me!). They wouldn't get off my head, everyone was laughing (I supposed I was getting my comeuppance as I had been laughing at everyone else). Once again flip flop man came to the rescue with a white maltezer (I don't know if that was to tempt me or the apes - you know what I am like with chocolate) and one of his flip flops !!! We do have some excellent photos!! Gibralter can't be all bad, I did manage to negotiate a good price for a Kindle and a new camera!

We had a fabulous holiday and Tom really did enjoy his surprise holiday. We visited Rome, where we managed to get a taxi outside the port directly into Rome. Vince (our taxi driver) couldn't have got any nearer to the Vatican unless he had actually driven us into the place. We were given a guided tour all over Rome and then returned safely to our ship (all for 300 euros - a bargain). Cannes was a real surprise, we had gorgeous weather and what a beautiful clean resort. We took a mini-train where we spent an hour just meandering around the back streets, then back to all the shiny very expensive yachts 'on the front'! Florence, well, what can I say, it was beautiful, although we managed to get lost, yes 4 of us managed to get lost, you would have thought that one of us would have been able to map-read!! We eventually got back to our taxi about 20 minutes late, which was rather embarrassing as we had been telling our two fellow passengers how good we were with a map!

Thats it for 2011 holidays, however I will be back in 2012 as we have a few holidays booked!

TRAIN TRAVEL

Oxenholme to Manchester, travel time 1 hour 10 minutes ..... not on Saturday 16th January 2011.

We arrived for our 11:32 train only to find it was cancelled. We went to the ticket office where we were told by a very charming lady (not - but that's another story) "the train is cancelled - have you not seen the weather"! We new it was raining, we were wet. "They are going to put on a special train from Lancaster, it should be here in 30 minutes or so, it will change tracks, then travel back to Manchester". Just listen out for any 'announcements'. Our hopes were instantly raised!

Not ones to be daunted by a train being cancelled, when all said and done, there was another one in 30 minutes, we decided on coffees. We had to cross the track to the other platform (via the under ground walkway I hasten to add - I know we are out in the 'sticks' but even we know not to walk on the tracks). Over to the waiting room (which seats 6!) and 4 coffees (£12.50 - I thought Tom was going to faint!).

.... an hour later, with no 'announcements' (and our waiting room, which I mentioned only seats 6 was full - well, it was raining!) a train arrived. Our hopes were raised, we were on our way, which was a little confusing as the passengers who were travelling to Edinburgh also left the waiting room. Mayhem! The train driver didnt know where he was going! The staff at the station didnt know where it was going! The passengers on the train didnt know where they were going. Still no 'announcements' ! 30 minutes later the train left (thank goodness, I hear you say), but NO we were back in the waiting room, the train driver decided he would make a 'dash for it' to Edinburgh!

Back to the waiting room. (We were on the other platform, the waiting room was much larger which is just as well, as there were quite a few of us in it ..... well, it was raining!).

We had now been at the station for 2 hours! BUT, good news, we were told we could get on the next train - to Birmingham ! Fortunately they decided it should stop in Preston, which it did. We were only in Preston for 10 minutes and managed to scramble on the next train to Manchester which to add insult to injury was full of City fans !!!!

We finally arrived in Manchester (where it was raining) 3 hours later!

We had a brilliant weekend and the thoughts of our return journey on Sunday were at the back of our minds, it couldnt still be raining...... could it ?

ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN !

Imagine the scene. It is 06:45 in the morning, it is dark and I am trying to get around the house as quietely as possible so as not to wake my sleeping husband. (He had mentioned on more than one occasion "you do make a lot of noise - could you not use the hair dryer in a the other room"). I creep out of the bedroom and attempt to descend the stairs without putting the light on (first mistake). I'm half way down the stairs and I trip up and fall. I am still not trying to make a sound (but I do - you never know Tom might hear me and pop out to help!) - he didnt. I hobble into the kitchen (still without the light on - if the fall hadnt woken Tom, then I didnt want to switch the light on !). At this stage, I feel sick, I cant eat anything (I musnt be well!). I sit on a chair for about 10 minutes then feel a bit better, I decide I to drive to work (second mistake). 45 minutes later I arrive at work. I dont feel too bad. I get out of the car - aghhhhhhh. I cant walk. I hop up the stairs (using my good leg, the one attached to my arthritic hip!) and sit on my chair. I am in a real quandry, should I go home? Should I go to the local doctor? I do neither and spend the rest of the day agony. The only way to get around the office is to use my chair and I can only go backwards ! The kitchen is out of bounds as is the toilet (its downstairs .... dont ask!). The good news - I do eventually manage to get home, hobble into the house and was greeted with '"what was all that noise this morning" , I told him I had fallen down the stairs, Tom said " can you fall down the stairs a little bit quieter next time" ! (I feel it is a little improper of me to repeat my response).

I did go to see my GP and he said "that looks painful and what a funny colour"(it was black and I do mean black). Off to the hospital for an x-ray. Good news, nothing broken, bad news, soft tissue damage, which will take longer to repair than if I had broken a bone.

Moral of the story ....... make as much noise as you like when you get up in the morning !

WALK THE WALK

Received confirmation we (joanne who I walked the marathon with a couple of years ago), have been accepted for both the London marathon in May and the Edinburgh marathon in June.

We will attempt to do some 'training' from January onwards, but I have already made a start to my training by threatening NOT to eat any chocolate until the end of the first marathon in May..... this is OK, but I have replaced the chocolate with alcohol !!!

BALTIC CRUISE 2010

We have just returned from a 12 day cruise from the Baltic - Amsterdam, Warnemunde (Germany), Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Talin (Estonia), Copenhagen and back to Amsterdam. Absolutely BRILLIANT.

www.flikr.com/photos/judeandtom/show

MEETING NEW PEOPLE:
Again we met some great people. Our 'dining partners' were Ed (known as Mr Ed) and Juanita. We didnt get off to a good start as Mr Ed insisted in calling me Judi (aghhhhhhh). Needless to say after he started to call me Jude we all got on like a house on fire ! Our 'boozing' partners were Shannon and Monika - great fun and they drank as much as we did. (Thanks, guys - you made us laugh - especially the conversations about the group of people who kept 'taking over our bar' on a regular basis!).

BEING PREPARED!
All I can say is that its best to be prepared, especially when it comes to the weather. We had friends who had been on the same cruise and told us to be prepared for some bad weather (yes, even in August). I packed sweat shirts / waterproof jacket and even an umbrella! We used all three. St. Petersburg was particularly cold. I was wearing jeans, 2 t shirts, a sweat shirt and a jacket and I was still cold !! (As the coaches left each port you could spot who had thought it was going to be warm as they were all wearing the same 'Celebrity X' sweat shirts / jackets etc).

PLANNING!
I always like to 'plan in advance' but this cruise we decided to explore some of our 'stops' on our own...... not one of my best decisions! We managed to get round Stockholm ourselves and had a great time. We arrived in Helsinki with high hopes! In a nutshell, we walked miles without actually seeing anything (well, apart from the Rock Church which was a church made out of rock!!). We left the church with a map (well 2 maps but neither of them did us any good). Our next stop was a 'monument' we had been told we must visit, we set off with both maps (!) and seemed to walk for ages we bumped into 2 gypsies who said we needed a train to find it (they were as clueless as we were), we eventually ended up at a huge cemetery !!! We decided to make our way back to the shuttle drop off point and start again - we couldnt even find that ! Helsinki was very busy at this time and tempers were a little frayed (I also needed to find a loo) ! We eventually found the shuttle drop off point and decided to return to the ship .......... (A little tip we were given, which I think was (is) very useful, is to take a photograph of the shuttle drop off point and whatever surrounds it, then all you need do is check out your camera - what a brilliant idea).

Finally in this particular area on planning, Ed and Juanita were so well prepared they set their alarm for an early start for one of their excursions and found they were a day early !!! Thats what I call organisation!

GOOD FOOD:
As always the food on the ship was excellent. There was food in abundance, I could certainly recommend the bacon, sausages, black pudding, beans and scrambled egg, because I had this most mornings, well to be honest every morning. Needless to say I am now on a diet!

HIGHLIGHTS:
Copenhagen: was a real surprise - sunny, friendly, clean, cosmopolitan!
St Petersburg: I guess this was what I had expected. Just getting into the country was a bit of a pain, passports, visas, stern looking immigraton officers checking and stamping your passports (mmmm, where have we all seen them before - yes, returning back to the UK at Manchester airport). All the street signs were in Russian (I know, I know, we were in Russa - but you would normally something in english, we didnt). Our guide said eventually there would be more signs etc. in English, but not in his lifetime (he was only in his 20s). I felt in a way priveledged to be there, but tresspassing at the same time. I could write so much but I feel it will become a visitors guide to St Petersburg....... needless to say if you get the opportunity to go, do, because I would certainly go back.
Talin: again what a surprise. The old town is really quaint. People were sat in groups painting buildings, girls (and guys) dressed in traditional outfits giving away roasted almonds - it almost felt like a christmas scene.
Warnemunde: what a beautiful place, we climbed the lighthouse which gave us a magnificent view of the place itself and the seaside - WOW what a surprise.
Amsterdam: I have been before and have seen the 'sights' as some of you may well know!. This was Tom's first time. We werent able to go into the red light district on our coach, but the coach did get stuck in traffic ..... and just to our left you could see into one of the bedrooms of the young ladies in a state of undress, and I do mean in a state of undress, needless to say Tom didnt moan!

This really was a fabulous cruise and I would recommend anyone to try it. Even the weather didnt dampen our spirits!

BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Its the bank holiday weekend and its raining. I have had 1 or 2 problems with my back over the last 6 months or so. My GP decided that a steroid injection would be a good idea. Well I guess it was, but that has meant I have not been able to do anything for 48 hours! I have to stay in and 'take it easy' as he said ........ there is only so much bank holiday TV you can watch !! I was even very tempted last night to watch the Eurovision Contest .... I didnt !

Its back to work on Tuesday and only another 12 weeks or so before our next holiday (Not that I am counting). We have another couple of cruises booked for June - we are going on a "Jazz Cruise" on Windermere. We leave Bowness at 19:45 and return approx 2.5 hours later. There is a jazz band (obviously) and a buffet and plenty of alcohol. We are celebrating friends birthdays.

MORE HOLIDAYS

Yes, another cruise !

We decided to leave from Southampton (which in hindsight was an excellent decision due to the 'ash issue'). We cruised to Brest, Vigo, Bilbao and Lisbon (not necessarily in that order). The weather was absolutely gorgeous +26 most days. Lisbon and Bilbao were our favourites. We travelled around Lisbon on a trolley bus and coach and had a great day out. The highlight for me was Bilbao - what a beautiful place, so clean and people were very friendly. We went to the Guggenheim museum (http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/) it was fantastic. The actual building is a piece of art and it is situated on the river with fabulous walkways etc. etc. (I sound like the tourist information office!). Well worth a visit. Vigo was Ok - just somewhere to get off and walk around and Brest gave us the ability to drive into the french countryside which was beautiful. All in all a great holiday.

Once again we met some great people on the ship. Our dining table was shared with 4 other people, Kris and Vi (not too there if that is the correct spelling, but I'm sure she wont mind) and Mick and Phyl. We had some great laughs over dinner and most evenings we were the last out of the dining room. I am sure the waiters were rather fed up with us at the end of the week. Talking of food ...... its just was well we were only on the ship for a week as the pair of jeans I had travelled to Southampton in were rather tight on the way home !

Just one last item on the cruise ........ its always best to be punctual! If you are not back on board the ship by the time its due to sail it doesnt wait for you. It is then up to you to make your way to the next port! One unlucky couple were late back! They eventually did board, but this was via the pilot boat (which guides the ship in and out of the port). Apparently, they had to wear a sling and be 'slung' onto the ship - whilst the ship was moving and at speed! I always knew it was good to be early !!