STRESS & TENSION

Got off the ship successfully, thank goodness, to join the shore excursion from hell. We were doing a tour of Miami & the Everglades dropping off at Miami airport. We met the tour guide, but the bus driver got lost in the port. Someone was sent to find him & bring him to us. So we started 40 minutes late. We went around Miami & made our way to the park where we were to pick up the airboat after a few missing of junctions & driving over the hard shoulder. Nice airboat in the swamp, no gators but osprey catching & eating a fish in the tree. Boarded but had to drop off first at Fort Lauderdale airport & then to Miami airport. Well, driver got totally lost & started heading up the freeway to Orlando. Time was starting to get tight for some folks leaving Miami & the passengers started to get annoyed, shouting directions to the driver, coming down the front. Arguments started with the tour guide & she offered to hand over the tour to the shouting people. Lots of anger, shouting, driver getting rattled. We finally made Miami airport but I don't know if the folk made their flight - they were close to 1 hour to take off. Nice & calm now, we've been shopping in Walmart, tomorrow off to Flamingo Gardens.  Home Monday.

PARTY NIGHT

The crew cleared the pool deck & put up tables for an evening B-B-Q & buffet. All the entertainers performed together for 2 hours. Captain steered the ship in a different direction to minimize the rock & roll from the ocean swell, all very good. Lovely night, even I danced - Wow!

MID ATLANTIC

Just sailing over the mid Atlantic ridge. Had a few lectures about the ocean including the tectonic plates making mountains at the ridge. Weather's warming up 25 today 27 tomorrow. Sea has been rough probably stirred up by big storm. yesterday it wasn't windy, so the the sea was smooth & glassy but it had a slow moving 4m swell, so the shipping was moving about quite a bit. Today it's windier but the swell is down to only 1m. We have been watching the flying fish, they get disturbed by the ship, leap from the water & fly perhaps 50m. Very impressive. It's very isolated here, we have run south perhaps to level of the Canaries, & we have seen nothing, no ships, no aircraft & no land for the last 3 days. 

TURMOIL AT SEA

You wouldn't think so judging by the photos, sunny, warm, calmish but the Captain came on the horn at lunchtime & told us Bermuda was cancelled & we would be calling somewhere else, yet to be negotiated. Apparently on course to Bermuda we would have encountered 5m wave following sea which would have made for slower speeds & uncomfortable sailing, so he is setting a different course further south. Apparently this ship is about Titanic size but we have only 300 passengers compared to 2500 but still have to avoid troubled waters.

Fixed my specs today, refitted the screw so can see things better now. Funnily enough as I got out the cab I saw a set of trodden smashed specs in the gutter which yielded me a spare screw to use.

We both slept like logs last, rocked to sleep like Isla.

LEAVING LISBON

Done with Lisbon, it's a very nice place. The piccies are the Belem tower, a world heritage place built to defend the harbour that was apparently not much cop. The other is the top of the lift to get you top of the other streets. The queues for it are very long. People at street junctions are very different here, on A10 in Enfield we have beggars & rose sellers( not so much now) here we have circus performers. As soon as the lights go red out pops a unicyclist, juggler, saxophonist or a singer pops out into the middle of the road, does his bit and rushes back to the pavement before he gets run over.

The auto correct on the phone is a nightmare, it changes trams to teams without a by-your-leave, trams is a real word, is it not?

WALLYTOUR

Bought ourselves a couple of "red rover" tickets for the Lisbon transport system & did our own thing. Xmas has arrived here already, lot of people, decked out road trains, street sellers everywhere. We went along the River Tagus waterfront which is pretty good with modern & clean facilities, nice promenades. We used bus, team & metro to get around the sights, all easy to use but the teams were crowded. They use old historic trams in the city centre that are so crowded, you have to queue for ages. Ended up at the Gulbenkian museum that houses his private collection. Very sumptuous. He was an Armenian oil billionaire & collected widely. He had a large Lalique collection containing none of the glass paperweights you see on bargain hunt. Beautiful gold & enamel jewellery of which the dragonfly brooch is stunning. The picture of glass tower is the lift that takes you up to the next street level - it is so hilly in places.

PASTRY FACE

Been out on private tour of Cabo de Roca, the westernmost spot on continental Europe, Cascais, the home of the rich in this area & Pena Palace in Sintra, a world heritage site. All very nice, blowy at the Cape, lovely in Cascais & very hilly at the palace. Very interesting & our guide, Alex was very knowledgeable but it was mandatory to call in at the cafes  to try the classic pastries that are very strong on egg yolks & sugar. So all in all we've had 4 pastries each today amounting to 10000 calories. Ah well, someone has to do it. Considering we were in touristy places, the prices were good, 4 Euros for 2 coffees & 2 cakes. After more food, tomorrow is a Wally tour.

SOME GOOD SOME BAD.....

in the start of our day. Bad - didn't sleep well - Michelle left for work at 8, coming running back, "the pavement's smoking, it's on fire" I wandered out in my jammies, and it was from a BT cover. Rang BT, had to send a text, reply said get back to you in 20! Dialled 999, fire brigade turned up in 3 minutes - we should get the FB to fix our telephones. Covers off, big plume of smoke, pavement cordoned off for BT to fix. Good - cab turned up, 40 minutes to Heathrow, through security & sitting in cafe 20 minutes later. Bad - put glasses through scanner, put them back on, thought I had problems with the peepers, couldn't see properly. The lens had fallen out. Couldn't find it without my glasses. Cataract free Lin spotted it, now it just remains for me to fix them. Good - breakfast was delicious, bacon on toast & porridge oats with banana & honey.

GETTING READY TO GO

Off on our travels again, first stop Lisbon, the town of a thousand steep hills. Tour to Sintra, a world heritage place & a wander around some of the sights by tram, bus & shanksy's. Pre-tour pub to get ready.

PATMOS

And I thought she was a 1960's lady rally driver. Omnipresent selfie, but nice bouganvillia in the background. Have you noticed how these Greek island villages look similar. This one was particularly nice with lanes containing nice shops & cafes - very pleasant. Linda found one that sold health giving products and bought a selection containing carob. Let's see if it does any good. The big grey castle like building at the top of the hill is a monastery where St John the evangelist wrote his epistles and the book of revelation. You can't beat a good epistle when you need one. Off to Athens tonight for a 2 night stay in Pireaus.

AGHIOS NICKOLAI

I think I got the village spelling right. St Nicholas to you. Another pretty greek island village nestled against the backdrop of the mountains. Went on ships tour up into the mountains to visit a monastery to pray for our missing wallet & phone. Only one monk lived there accompanied by millions of cicadas - the noise was defeaning. Looked down on the leprosy isle of Spinalonga, which now has some swanky resort hotels nearby. Ended up in an olive oil farm where the processing kit is not what you might imagine - all stainless steel and computer control. Returned to the ship for white night party on deck. Everyone dresses in white and dinner is served on deck. Food was great - sushi, barbeque meat & fish, all the trimmings. Too much drink & dancing, now the knees hurt.

CHILLIN

Here in Heraklion, we have been here before, so many years ago that we can't remember anything about the history of Knossos, other than the bull and the ball of string. Names, context, background - no idea. Back to Wikipedia. My knees been hurting so laid around the pool, had too much to drink, Linda beat me at cards - again. Now chillin with my friend Johnny Walker before dinner.

CRUISE OF DISRUPTION

Off to Ukraine - not, then to Mykonos instead - not. 50+ mph winds made tender disembarkation impossible so re-routed to Syros. Never heard of it before but it turns out to have a picturesque village running up the hills and a shipbuilding industry as well. The big yacht in the harbour belongs to an Indian steel magnate. We took a Spooner tour that went a bit wrong but we did see an el Greco in the domition church (that's the English translation, google it) Next stop Crete, will it be con or mainly wood!

CANAKKALE

Learnt all about Troy & Trojan Wars. Couldn't see Brad Pitt though. Smallish city, nowhere as spectacular as Ephesus. Hot again, lots of dogs touring with us, they must know story off by heart. Tried to chill out on balcony when we got back. Couldn't do it without big sun umbrella.

ISTANBUL

We are here for a couple of days in Istanbul. Went on private walking tour around the palaces and mosques of the old town. Had to get up early for old persons ablutions & bowels, so breakfast taken on balcony - lovely outlook, so much river traffic, we are the confluence of the Bosphorus to & the Golden Horn.  Topkapi & Hagia Sofia were great. Hagia was a Cathedral then a mosque then a museum & back to mosque so lots of styles. The room with coffins reflects the old Ottoman tradition of coronation. When new Sultan crowned, all his brothers were killed & their children strangled. That would Claire lots of business. Went Bazaar for shopping, so exhausted by then opted for river ferry ride & back to boat. Still cheap to eat, had afternoon tea for 3. Six cups of tea, 3 cakes, four bottles of water £8 with tip.

CESME

Here we are in a small port in Turkey on the Adriatic coast. It's a quiet town, nice & clean with parts old & modern. Some good looking hotels on the outskirts, lots of shops, restaurants & bars in town. Stopped at cafe for a cup of tea - 5p - food is pretty cheap too. Hot, over 35 but the wind keeps you cool.

EPHESUS

Visited Ephesus, 3rd largest town in Roman empire. Spectacular place with marble roads leading from the port to the city, where you are faced with massive semicircular 5000 seat Greek style theatre. Also visited Virgin Mary's house where she lived with St John. Drank the magic spring water.

ATHENS PHOTOS

Photos didnt go