Med Cruise: Day 4 – La Spezia

Posted on June 18, 2012 by lindaharley

Next stop, Italy. One of my favourite European countries (the food! the wine! the passion! the art! the style!) I was thrilled to be visiting a region of Italy where I hadn’t been before. This was the first stop where we had to use the tenders to get to shore – I was woken at 5.30 by the noises of them being lowered. There was gravadlax on the menu for breakfast, and then we lazed around and read for an hour or so while the tour parties got out of the way. Using tenders can mean a bit of a queue.
My research into the “must sees” had said take a boat ride to the Cinque Terre, 5 little hamlets nestled against the precarious cliffs along the windswept coast. But we’d just missed one boat, so instead took a taxi (10 euro) to la stazione, and I brushed off my rusty Italian linguistic skills to get 2 tickets to the furthest of the villages, Monterosso (for the princely sum of 2.60 each). The train journey isn’t that exciting, as it is mostly though mountain tunnels, with only the briefest of glimpses of the stunning coastline. But the short journey (15 minutes) was rather enjoyable, and we emerged from the station in beautiful sunshine to find a bay of golden sand with some rather spectacular surf crashing onto it.

Whilst it is possible to walk from one village to the next, Roger wasn’t up to such physical demands. We’d planned on catching the return boat at 12.10, which would call at each one before returning to La Spezia, but when we found the harbour, there was a notice saying “service suspended due to rough conditions”. The return fare on the boat would have been 25 euro. We found a little cafe, Cafe Mexico, overlooking the swell crashing on the shore, and ordered an iced coffee (the best of the trip!) and a glass of local white wine – I’m now in love with Ligurian wines.
Despite the red flags flying, some hardy souls were splashing about in the surf. We split a rather large mozzarella and tomato salad, and discussed our options. We decided to get back on the train, but to get off at one of the other villages on the way. Sticking a pin in the choices, we plumped for RioMaggiore. This may have been a mistake, as there was a rather long tunnel from the train station into the town, and a pretty steep walkway down to the petite harbour.

The place reminded me a little of Mont St Michel. I had another glass of local vino ( expensive at 5.50, but soooo good), before getting back on the train to La Spezia and a taxi back to the boat.

We room serviced up some diet coke and a bucket of ice, and were relaxing when the captain came on the t annoy with an announcement. We had been due to anchor off Villefranche tomorrow, but the swell running meant that he didn’t feel we’d be able to safely operate a tender service, so instead we were going a few miles further down the coast to Cannes. Oh dear, what a shame!
That night’s sailing was a bit later, at 7 pm, and we had booked a window table for dinner, and so were able to enjoy a truly memorable meal as the Italian coastline glided gracefully past in the sunset.

Cruise Tip Of The Day: Check the sailing times. If you ARE going to be sailing during evening meal time, try to get a spot where you can see outside, it’s a truly memorable experience.

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Med Cruise: Day 2 – All At Sea

Posted on June 15, 2012 by lindaharley

Our first full day on board was also the only day we spent all at sea, making the long crossing from Palma to Corsica. Cruise ships don’t go fast so as not to cause too much of a breeze on deck.
I joined the gym guy for his 8 o’clock “walk a mile with a smile” session, which was 5 times round the upper deck. 8 am is about the only time you could do that, as from then on it steadily filled up with sunbeds. I stayed in the gym area and ran on the treadmill for a while in a desperately last ditch attempt to look good in my next outfit – a bikini. I’d brought along a mix’n’match set of black bottoms, black and white bandeau top, and black and white tankini.  I also had a turquoise and white Billabong beach dress which had handy pockets on the front, thought the tie string neckline was the same as the bikini tops, which was a bit confusing.  Sadly, I also saw someone else on board with the same dress!

We lounged by the pool reading our Kindles – I was reading Game of Thrones, having been totally confused by the TV series and wanting to learn who was who.  Kindles are great, but one of the downsides is that you cant just leave them on your sun lounger while you go to the bar/ for a dip in the pool/ to the loo etc.

The weather was superb – I was conscious that I didn’t want to burn on my first day, so was slapping on the Factor 30, while Roger was intending to go as brown as he could.

Dressed for dinner in a dress of my daughters – her “Donna” dress, to be precise, which had graced the stage during her performance in Mama Mia.

Cruise Tip Of The Day: find out what facilities are on board – if there’s a gym, and you think you might use it, make sure you pack your trainers.

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Med Cruise: Day 1

Posted on June 14, 2012 by lindaharley

We set off on our belated honeymoon – a cruise around the Mediterranean! We’d booked it rather last minute, so I only had about 3 weeks to get ready, packed etc. I also wasn’t too sure what to expect from a cruise, this being our first one. I did some research on each of our stopping points, and noted the one “must do” in each, and noted them on my phone.
It was an early start – the flight was leaving at 6 am, so I wanted to be at the airport at 4, which meant leaving the house at 3, and setting the alarm for 2 am. It hardly seemed worth going to bed! But we did manage to drag ourselves away from the Queen’s Jubilee concert on telly, and got a few hours sleep.
I didn’t look too bad, given the hour…

Capsule wardrobe items: Gladiator sandals (M&S footglove), cotton turn-up trousers (from an organic cotton place on Lisburn Square that is sadly no longer there), tribal T-shirt (TKMaxx) and light shirt (Craghoppers). Battered old panama hat, and hand luggage which I bought at Banjul airport last time I was coming back from The Gambia. Grey pashmina from my daughter.

We paid £20 for extra legroom, but I found that I really didn’t like being separated from my handbag, which isn’t allowed to be stowed under the seat in front on these over-wing-exit seats.
Palma is a pretty big airport – but then Majorca is still a huge tourist draw for the UK and elsewhere. The Thompson check-in and transfer procedure was very smooth, and we were being welcomed aboard the cavernous Island Escape by about 11.30, heure locale.
the huge bulk of the cruise ship, Island Escape

Our first experience of the Beachcomber restaurant was pretty good, and I easily fround some grilled fish and salad for lunch. Some reviews had complained about the melamine plates in this restaurant, but that’s to allow you to take your food outside, or to eat by the pool.
We picked up a taxi outside the port, agreed a rate to take us to the cathedral, on my list of Palma musts. Entry to the cathedral costs 6 euro, but it is a stunning, vast cavern of space and light, with the most beautiful brightly coloured stained glass windows.
Leaving the cathedral, we called into a pearl shop – I’d said that I wanted a string of pearls as a honeymoon present, but we weren’t keen to buy anything in the first shop we found. But the assistant was extremely helpful, warning me to guard my handbag in the area round the cathedral, and giving us a map directing us to the little streets of the old town. We had a very pleasant wander of the tiny alleys, settling down to an iced coffee and some people-watching at a cafe on the Placa de Aeulia.
In Spain, Rog usually does the talking, but I managed to dredge my knowledge of Eurovision Nul-Pointers to remember that poor Spanish girl in her striped blue and white tablecloth dress, and recalled the word for boat. So I asked the taxi driver to take us to “la barca grande”. Which he did.
After the compulsory safety briefing (post the Costa Concordia disaster, it is a requirement that all passengers take part in this on their first day), we changed for dinner and decided to treat ourselves to the wine-and-dine package at the Oasis restaurant for £14.99 (all prices on the boat are in sterling). It was delicious.
carpaccio of beef

I wore a sleeveless black dress accessorised with coral jewellery, a coral wrap, and black fancy sandals. Felt very elegant!.

We found a quiet spot on deck to watch as the ship set sail at 11, and glided past the night-time lights of Palma…

 

Cruise Tip Of The Day: It can take a few hours for your luggage to get to the cabin, so pack a swimsuit and flip-flops, Tshirt and shorts in your hand luggage, so that you can change out of your travelling clothes.

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Photohunt taste

Posted on June 2, 2012 by lindaharley

Ah, a very special bottle of Scottish malt whisky indeed! From a syndicate of motorbikers, which I was supposed to join but my cheque was delayed in the post. And then another member had to bow out, so I got to take over his share! Cask strength Cragganmore, my absolute favourite malt.a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass

The name of the whisky, Nakambale, was the biker name of our dear friend and Gambian trip fundraiser Gert de Jonge, who was tragically killed in a bike accident. And the shot glasses were given to us by the Old Blacksmiths at Gretna Green, when we got married there.

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Cruise Capsule Wardrobe

Posted on May 20, 2012 by lindaharley

I’m so excited about out up-coming Mediterranean cruise! It’s a sort of belated honeymoon, and I’ve never been on a cruise before. Plus it just sounds so cool when dropped casually into the conversation…

Its not a very formal cruise, so I don’t need to pack my ballgown. But I’ve tried to be clever with the limited luggage space we have. I’ve based my wardrobe around some basic neutral colours – black white and biscuit – with some accent colours of turquoise and coral.

Here’s what we have so far

clothes for a cruise holiday

Shoes: black flat sandals, beige pumps, brown leather thongs.
Crop trousers: biscuit, black, grey, turquoise

Shorts: Brown, burnt orange
Tops: striped white/ green/ blue halter, biscuit/ black African print, beige beaded, aqua linen, blue sequinned, white overshirt, black Tshirt, orange/ black silk cami
Swimwear: cobalt blue one piece, pale blue halter one piece, black white bikini bottoms/ bandeau top/ tankini top. Billabong turquoise/ white coverall. Pareos in coral with shell detail, and dip-dye turquoise/ black/ cream.
Dresses: Black, electric blue, cream/ brown, coral pleated, coral strapless with ruched hem, black with cream/ coral detail.
Cardis: brown, beige (matches the orange cami), grey, green shrug.
Travel trousers and jacket, bush hat and panama, water carrier, pacamac, jewellery in accent colours, fancy belt.

What I think I still need; I’d love a pair of bronze flat gladiator sandals, and maybe some wedge espadrilles in coral. And a big beaded coral necklace. I intend scouring the nearby charity shops to see what I can find in this line.

I’ll try to blog what I actually wear each day, to see if I can come up with a totally fabulous functional capsule!

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Photohunt: scoop

Posted on May 12, 2012 by lindaharley

Ah, St Patricks Day! The world’s excuse to dye everything green, and flavour everything with Guinness. Including ice-cream.
Guinness flavoured ice-cream

Actually, this worked quite well – the malty flavour of the stout was reminiscent of other confectionery like Maltesers, and I don’t like my desserts to be overly sweet.  For reference, this was in an ice-cream parlour in Newcastle, Co Down, where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

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Photohunt Zap

Posted on May 5, 2012 by lindaharley

A tricky subject this week. Not having any photographs of lightning striking, or superheroes ka-powing (though I do have a picture of a carboard cutout of Qi-gon Jin, with his light sabre…..) here’s an arty shot of some rays of sun, zapping a river…
rays of sunlight on teh river at Kesh

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Photohunt Awesome

Posted on April 7, 2012 by lindaharley

One of the most awesome achievements that I was privileged to be a teeny part of was the construction of the new Calum’s Road in The Gambia.

The original Calum’s Road, on the Scottish island of Raasay, was an awesome achievement itself: one man’s toil and struggle against the intransigence and disinterest of the authorities, eventually building a road to his croft all on his own.

This inspired the late Stella Brewer, and later her sister Heather Armstrong, to repair a road near the village of Sambel Kunda, to provide a vital link to schools, health centres and markets. Much of the fund-raising for this was done by my husband and a group of fellow motorbikers, who journeyed through the snows of January 2010, across sub zero temperaturs in France, through Spain, across to Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and finally to The Gambia.

One of the bikers was Gert de Jonge, who was tragically killed in a road accident later that year. The road is dedicated to him and to Stella, and the ribbon was cut by Gert’s widow, Annette.

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So, that year in summary…

Posted on December 30, 2010 by lindaharley

Welll… I’d said it was probably the toughest year of my life. And possibly also the best. Here’s a photo montage of some of the highlights.

Including:

The Gambia, Calum’s Road, leaving in January in heavy snow, heavy laden bike, The Butcher’s Shop restaurant (where we got food poisoning), and a return to the original road on Raasay.

Severe weather conditions, but spring arriving!

Volcanic ash disruption, and alternative ways home. Prince Charles waving to me, and Meet the Meat.
New iPhone!

New abode – planes trains and automobiles.

Bad bananas and mad dogs.

Talented daughter and bf.

Pangalactic gargleblasters on 101010.

Parking fine and flat tyre.

Major work to the Beahive – shed, bathroom, boiler, furniture from IKEA, where I’m now on first name terms with the staff.

The many aspects of me – new hair, new bag, my Trilogettes, dressing up as Doc for a Back-to-the-future-a-thon, Beatrix, working out measurements in the Numbers room, balloons, bingo by the pool, dancing with Chris Hollins….and getting engaged!

I’ve ended the year 1/2 a stone lighter than I began, and I hope 2011 will be as full of adventure and fun !

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Hole!

Posted on May 26, 2010 by lindaharley

On Saturday – a glorious day with the sun beaming down – I took a trip up to my native city to see Jem’s boyfriend Matty perform in a production penned and produced by the performing arts and music students at Magee college. Based on the Glee TV show, the event was of course called… Maglee! I’d been rather frustrated by my experience as a theatre goer to the newly refurbished Playhouse theatre: the booking of tickets had to be done online, with stern exhortations to bring along ID when collecting them, the website gave no meaningful directions and no information on car parking nearby, and once I had arrived where I thought it was, there was no sign outside to confirm that I was in the right place.

No matter, I met up with Jem at the Diamond, we had a bite to eat at the Wetherspoons on the corner (for future reference, the tables upstairs by the window are the ones to nab) and then strolled around the walls. I pointed out the chapel of St Augustine – the little church on the walls – where my parents were married and where I was christened. From there we could look down on Free Derry corner, and I was relishing giving her a little bit of both family history and political significance during our pleasant walk.

The show itself was great fun, and Matty clearly enjoys performing. Congratulatory hugs duly dispensed afterwards, I set off for the 77 mile journey home. About 5 miles outside the city, I heard a loud bang, and assumed a stone had hit the car. This was followed by a juddering sensation, and I knew as I released my grip on the steering wheel and felt the car pull to one side that I had a puncture. I pulled over safely onto a layby and surveyed my position. I have changed a tyre in the past, but not for ages, and not on this car. But I started by extracting the spare wheel and tools and thinking about how to proceed. I could see that the trim on the wheel was held on with cable ties, so I’d need something sharp to cut those. I needed help.

a hole in my tyre

Thinking fast, I called Matty. “Is your Dad still there?” I asked, since I knew his parents had been at the show. They’d be heading home on the same road that I was on, and I hoped I’d catch them before they left. Sure enough, 5 minutes later their car pulled in behind mine and switched on matching hazard lights. His Mum is a driving instructor, so knows her way around cars, while he makes guitars (how cool is that!) and had his work tool kit with him, complete with knives. In under 10 minutes he’d done the tyre change, and they volunteered to follow me for a few miles at least to make sure everything was OK. They even spotted me stop 3 miles later to close the passenger door properly, and I was enormously grateful to my knights in shining armour for their care and concern.

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