Sue and I have just returned from one of our regular cruises, this time to the Iberian Peninsula. Over the past two weeks we have had to change our clocks backwards and forwards on what seemed to be an almost daily basis, and to go from a cold UK to a warm Portugal, then a hot Gibraltar, followed by an even hotter Spain, and then a wet and windy Portugal, before returning to what looks like warm weather in the UK!
As the blog entry about our cruise will bear out, things did not always go according to plan. During our cruise:
The next few days will be taken up with all the chores associated with unpacking, washing, and putting away the clothes we have worn, and generally getting back to normal. With luck, a lengthy blog entry about our cruise will appear soon.
On today – Easter Sunday – I'd like to wish all my regular readers a Happy Easter and Passover. Although I am not a deeply religious person myself, I have lots of friends who are, and for whom this time of year is one of the most important for them.
As the blog entry about our cruise will bear out, things did not always go according to plan. During our cruise:
- The ship was unable to put into La Coruña and had to go to Vigo instead
- We visited a completely different part of Porto than we had expected (and planned) to visit
- We walked miles and miles (and got lost!) in Gibraltar (it is bigger place than you think that it is when you see it from offshore!)
- We got very hot in Valencia, but managed to visit the biggest lead figure museum in the world
- We nearly got soaking wet in Lisbon ... but did manage to eat some delicious Portuguese custard pastries
- The ship had to CASEVAC a passenger by helicopter off the coast of northern Spain
The next few days will be taken up with all the chores associated with unpacking, washing, and putting away the clothes we have worn, and generally getting back to normal. With luck, a lengthy blog entry about our cruise will appear soon.
On today – Easter Sunday – I'd like to wish all my regular readers a Happy Easter and Passover. Although I am not a deeply religious person myself, I have lots of friends who are, and for whom this time of year is one of the most important for them.
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Bob, glad you enjoyed your latest cruise and look forward to reading your posts on it. So it was hot in Valencia? ... you would not want to be here now as we are experiencing some unseasonably heavy rain, it has so far rained almost non stop for 4 days, grey and misty with red Sarah sand covering everything. The pool maintenance guys are going to be busy once this is over, as they are all full of red sand too! Intrigued by the lead figure museum? All the best, Lee.
ReplyDelete'Lee,
DeleteIt reached over thirty-two degrees centigrade whilst we were in Valencia ... and we had been told to expect temperatures in the mid twenties. It sounds as if you are paying for that minor heatwave now!
The lead figure museum is wonderful, and my wife found it almost as interesting as I did as it was not all toy soldiers, but also featured cartoon and film characters and some stunning 54mm figures in fashionable clothes from major designers. The museum is located in the older part of the city, about ten minutes walk from the Tower of Serrans. I'm sure that you'd enjoy visiting it ... and it only cost six Euros to get in!
All the best,
Bob
Happy Easter to you Bob and Sue...look forward to reading about your travels in future posts. Cheers. KEV.
ReplyDeleteKev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteA Happy Easter to your and yours!
I hope to finish writing the blog entry about our cruise over the next few days. In the meantime I am catching up on the blog sites I follow using Feedly ... and I have been most impressed by your progress on your model railway. It really looks great, and will be a little bit different from others I have seen.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeleteThank you for reading about my OO Scale Model Railway- and glad you like the progress so far completed- yes, hopefully it will be a little different to the norm- a long way to go yet- though fully determined to see it all to fruition. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI like the fact that it is very like a British railway ... but has its own particular idiosyncrasies to meet local conditions.
I once saw a layout that was based on a railway built by a British company to serve part of Argentina. Everything looked sort of British, but wasn't ... especially the terrain the layout occupied.
Good luck with your project.
All the best,
Bob
Happy Easter, Bob!
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading about the lead figure museum and the Portable Colonial Wargame developments.
Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI hope that you and your family have a great Easter!
I took so many photographs in the museum that I'm not sure how i can do it justice in a blog entry ... but I'll give it a go. As for the PCW rules ... well its very early in the book's development, but I want to take my time to get it right. As soon as I am happy with the first draft, I'll send it to you.
All the best,
Bob
It doesn't take a lot of area for enable one to get lost. But these sorts of things usually make good stories afterwards. Glad you recovered and were able to finish an enjoyable cruise despite the various sources of "friction"
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteThe problem with getting lost in Gibraltar was down to us leaving the Trafalgar Cemetery by the lower rather than the upper gate, which was closed. We knew it was the road opposite a gate that we had to use ... and went down the wrong one! As it was, we had a nice walk towards Europa Point before deciding to turn around and return to Main Street.
The cruise could have been a lot worse due to the outbreak of Norovirus, but thanks to the excellent procedures that were promptly put in place by P&O, the number of passengers affected was kept to a minimum.
All the best,
Bob