I spent much of the other Saturday ashore in Northern Sardinia, exploring the picturesque, narrow streets of Alghero. The town is the second largest settlement on the island, and overlooks a large and attractive bay, framed by a range of rocky hills.
A transfer by tender, basically one of the ship's lifeboats, was necessary to reach dry land, as there are no berthing facilities in Alghero, for large vessels, such as the Queen Anne. Mrs PBT's didn't fancy stepping off the ship and then into a tender, that was gently bobbing about, so I left her on the ship and experienced
The holiday I took in the Maldives, 21 years ago, stood me in good stead for this exercise, and with members of the ship's company to assist, the process was relatively straightforward. Each lifeboat can accommodate 150 passengers, although the tenders aren't normally filled to capacity for these "jolly boat" types of transfer.
After stepping ashore in Alghero, I headed up the hill, into the old town, ignoring the larger, and more modern settlement to the right. I had been sent shopping by my good lady wife, who decided that as I hadn't bought enough T- shirts with me, I needed to buy some more. But where?
Fortunately I overheard a conversation between a couple from the cruise ship, and one of the locals, confirming that the clothes shop I'd seen earlier, was the place for keenly priced, and good quality clothing, for both sexes. OHS delivered on both fronts, so having made my purchases, I looked around for somewhere that I could eat at , and also grab a beer.
I spotted an Australian couple we'd got to know, enjoying those very same things, under a series of shaded parasols occupying most of a square towards the top of a hill. They were just leaving, but gave me the thumbs up about this particular place. The typical Italian menu looked appealing, as well as moderately priced, so I grabbed a table and ordered myself a beer.
Nothing local, or exciting, but a half litre mug of draft Peroni hit the spot. The spaghetti Bolognese, sprinkled with oodles of grated parmesan cheese, and served up with local bread, satisfied my hunger on top of my thirst.
I took a different route back to the quayside, walking along the raised walls that enclose the old city. The walls afford pleasant views across the harbour and out to sea. There was a lengthy queue for the tenders, although I managed to get a seat on the second boat back to the cruise ship.
The return crossing was on the choppy side, and it was also rather warm onboard, but it was still an experience, and a most enjoyable day out, in a part of the world that few travellers, especially those from the UK, get to see.
We docked at Barcelona this morning, and the ship won't be leaving until 10.30pm tonight. Despite warmings of rain, the weather today has so far been warm and sunny. Mrs PBT's and I caught the shuttle bus into town earlier this morning, although we didn't stay long, having been to Barcelona on a number of previous occasions.
After stocking up on various goodies, we returned to the ship and treated ourselves to a spot of lunch in the posh restaurant. I say "treated", but the restaurant is all inclusive, although it's nice to be waited on sometimes, especially if it means avoiding the mele that ensues in the buffet at busy times.
We've got a day at sea tomorrow, before docking at Civitavecchia - the nearest port to Rome. I've booked a full on tour around the Eternal City, which should be interesting, especially as it's my first visit to the Italian capital.
I haven't managed to connect my laptop to the internet yet, hence this quick post on my phone, but I have been typing up loads of stuff as Word documents. These will be added to the blog, when we return to the UK.
This wasn't the photo I was planning to use, although it will do for the time being. In the meantime I'm being hassled by Mrs PBT's to nip along to the onboard launderette and check if our washing is ready. It's not all glamour, on this cruising lark.
Mrs PBT's and I are on the Queen Anne, which is currently moored in Vigo, so just a quick post to test the waters, and, to take advantage of the data connection. I haven't taken the laptop out of its bag yet, mainly because Eileen thinks I'm being antisocial rather than chatting to her!
Perhaps she's right, although I keep telling her I've got my loyal readers to think about. So, here are a few photos of Cunard's latest Queen ship, along with the odd one or two of the port area, where we're currently moored berthed.
There's a slight technical hitch at the moment, so will wait until the laptop is up and running. ☹️
With just three days to go before we set sail on our latest
voyage, it's been a case of all hands to the pump to get everything packed and ready
to go. As with previous cruises, Mrs PBT seems determined to take as much as
she can along, including the proverbial kitchen sink. Whatever happened to
travelling light seems to have gone out of the window, because as well as cramming
her own suitcase(s) full to overflowing, she's already eyeing up mine. It’s
like a repeat of last year’s cruise, when after packing just the right amount,
there was still quite a bit of room left in my case relatively, so guess who
ended up nabbing the spare space.
It’s a while since I last undertook an overseas break on my
own – although that’s not strictly true, as I went to Cologne last year. That
was a business trip though, which meant suit, smart shoes, several shirts, plus
a couple of casual outfits to wear in the evenings. The same thing applied to a
business visit to China, five years ago, although I swear on that trip I spent
more time siting on a plane, than I did carrying out the audit, on a potential
new supplier. That was the reason my company sent me to the far-east in the
first place, but despite the long haul, it was definitely well worthwhile
seeing the set up with my own eyes.
If I didn’t know that my efforts would fall on deaf ears, I
would direct my good lady wife to the travel blog, One Small Bag, written and expertly
put together, by Christine Taylor. Some of you will probably know Christine as
Mrs RM, - wife of ace pub ticker, and prolific blog Blogger, Martin Taylor. Now
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Christine on a couple of occasions, and I know
she is a very practical and matter of fact individual, so it will come as no
surprise to learn that One Small Bag means: exactly that. I’ll let Christine
explain the philosophy and the purpose behind this title.
“I like to jump off that plane, train, or bus without delay
and without carting a heavy bag about or finding somewhere to dump it. I just
don’t want stuff getting in the way of my fun!” She then goes on to describe
her ideal travel bag - a 20L day pack, preferably weighing in below 6kg, when
packed. Christine ends with the lines, “Not only does travelling with less make
my life easier, but it also saves me money.” The money saving part is not
having to pay for expensive hold baggage, especially as the price for checked-in
bags can often be on a par with the price of the flight itself.
I have managed this on a couple of occasions, the first being
a short solo trip to Barcelona, nine years ago, and the second, a flight to
Edinburgh airport. This was as a prelude to a presentation to a group of dental
sales people, in Dundee. Travelling light meant my colleague and I travelling
up to Scotland in our business suits, which not only wasn’t ideal, but was also
unnecessary seeing as the company was footing the bill. Still, it was his idea,
rather than mine.
My good lady wife’s outlook on packing for a cruise, is the
complete opposite, her thinking being that once we are on board ship, we will only
have to unpack once. Basically, we will be on a floating hotel that delivers us
to a different destination, not quite every day but more often than not every
other day. In her eyes this means she can take as much baggage as she likes,
and to this end, she has bought yet more new outfits. I swear there's more than
a few items of clothing hanging, up in the spare bedroom, which are yet to be
worn, having been bought for previous holidays. I shall leave it at that, as
I’m sure I’ve given you more than enough detail over our packing arrangements.
Now, over now to the main event, a 16-night cruise to warmer
climes (fingers crossed), a voyage which despite any good intentions I might
have about traveling light, has required quite a bit of organising. I've got to
call in at work tomorrow morning to deal with an insurance matter, but once that’s
sorted, I'm good to go. If all goes to plan, we should see be driving down to
the outskirts of Southampton, to a place called Hedge End, close to the village
of Botley, for an overnight stay at the McDonald Botley hotel. (We've stayed before at the Ronald
McDonald Hotel as I like to call it). On
Friday morning, a mini bus shuttle will transport us from the hotel to the cruise
terminal at Southampton. The package we have opted for allows us to leave the
car at the hotel, ready to pick up on arrival back in the UK.
So where are we cruising to this time? And which ship will
we be travelling on? Well, this particular cruise is confined to the western
Mediterranean which means we will be visiting several destinations around the
coast of Spain, including Vigo, Barcelona, Majorca, Malaga, and A Coruña, followed
by Civitavecchia in Italy and Alghero in Sardinia. So, 16 nights away, with
plenty to see and do, both onboard ship and at the various ports of call. As
for the ship itself, it is none other than the Queen Anne, the latest addition
to Cunard’s fleet of ships named after famous British queens. (I’m not sure
where they go after this, as they’ve already got Elizabeth, Mary and
Victoria. Lady Jane Grey? Perhaps not, considering the barbaric fate of this poor, unfortunate, young girl, who lost her head after being caught up in a real life Game of Thrones, at the tender age of 17 years.
The cruise we’re booked on, will be the Queen Anne’s third commercial
sailing, following her maiden voyage on 3rd May from Southampton to
Spain and Portugal. This was followed by a 14-day cruise around the British Isles,
which included a visit to Liverpool, where the naming ceremony for the ship
took place. When Queen Anne arrives
back in Southampton on 7th June, it will be our turn.
Like I did last October, I shall be taking my laptop, as well
as several good books to read, despite Mrs PBT’s claiming that I’m boring with
my head stuck in a book. I shall endeavour to put out the odd post, depending
on data connections and time in port. Apart from Barcelona, all the
destinations are new to us, and several offer opportunities to visit other
places Cordoba or Granada – in the case of Malaga, plus Rome from Civitavecchia.
Neither of us have pre-booked excursions, as it’s often easier to book them on
the ship, when there is the opportunity of discussing the best options with the
cruise line’s own travel team.
I’ve waffled enough now, and with final packing, and last-minute
chores to attend to, it’s best that I call it a day. Don’t forget to check out
Christine Taylor’s blog though, not just if you’re interested in travelling
light, but also if you want to learn about countries and destinations off the
beaten track, in regions such as the Balkans and Norway.
