The final push home

It took three days to return to the UK. Few of us really wanted to see those shores. What greeted us was grey sky, grey waters and huddled, shoreside people. A lady next to me looked out the window, "Okay seen it now can we go back to the Mediterranean?"

I suspect most of us would have agreed.

Some lucky people were doing back-to-back and were off to the Canaries for a further fourteen days. One couple joined the ship late November and had no intention of returning home until mid March. 

"I've reached the age when I don't like UK in the winter, so we don't stay. We lock up and get on board..."

If you can, then I can see their point.

I've noticed how many hotels offer four weeks for the price of three. The thought of getting away from 'grey' UK is very appealing and something, I too, will be exploring. 

So, back to the final three days.

The closer we got to the English Channel the greyer everything became. At one point the sky, sea and light were all the same colour. Rain began after we left the French coast but we were toastie on board. The seas remained calm, even through The Bay of Biscay, so we all continued to sleep soundly in our beds.

The captain kept up 17.4 knots all the way and, instead of going into Portsmouth (our usual port) we ended up at Southampton. 

The jury is out as to why, but two rumours in the laundrette seem probable. 

The first was because of upgrading work at Portsmouth itself; they were upgrading the electricity so as to cope with aircraft carriers hooking up to shore power. The other was to do with the two, twenty-foot generators on deck six; Southampton had the correct repair facilities to remove the generators and repair the faulty back-up system on board. 

🤷 Either/Or/Both, your guess is as good as mine.

As to my decisions? 

● I want to visit Rhodes and Paphos again. Not sure when but will wangle it into my schedule.

● Want to repeat this cruise but not do trips, instead, get off and wander with Google maps assistance. 

● Need to be away for January at least. Now I'm back, so are my aches and pains...... but I have at least discovered the reason for my facial neuralgia: a cold house!

The Grill dining room. We were early that day.

this was the picture we used to work out which way was the exit. It was positioned at the end of the long corridor where the buffet was situated.

A final destination: Cádiz

There's something about this small, but very lovely place. I fell in love with it the first time I came, and it still tickles the hearts strings, even now.

It may have been Sunday,  but the stalls and  souvenir shops were open by 10am. I suspect it's because they saw a ship come in. Plenty was bought and many passengers are returning with bags of goodies.

Today I wandered. I'd not been to the other side of the town and, as it was so close, I found the most direct route and headed there.

I was in for a treat. 

Fabulous beaches, two fortifications and a botanical garden.

The beach is predominantly sand with seaweed drifting up. The guide by the promenade said the area is rich in sealife, but I didn't come across any. I would imagine a snorkel and goggles would expose a lot.

There were large numbers of boats, both in and out the water. The ones on the beach probably come into their own doing the holiday season which begins in April. Fishing, most likely.

Next came the botanical gardens which were fabulous.

They contained a play area for children, walkways to look down on the gardens and sea, avenues of topiary as well as examples of many trees, succulents and cacti.

Towards the centre was a water feature with high walkways and tall waterfalls. I'll post those later as all pictures are portrait.

I wandered back then, through the lanes and back to the cathedral. 

I spotted an artisan chocolatier.... fatal. Have some dark chocolate to go home with. Happy bunny.

I'll post more photos when I get home but needless to say, it was a lovely time in Cádiz. 

Just wish my feet agreed. After breaking the ankle and dislocating the other they've been unhappy with much walking.

Never mind, there's always another time..... now where's the sun cream, it's flipping hot here.

Two days at sea

From La Goulette to Cadiz its two days sailing.

Tonight, the second day, we pass through the Gibraltar Straits at about 12.30am and then we leave the Mediterranean and enter the Atlantic once more.

We've noticed the temperature slowly drop as we've sailed closer to our last destination port but we're not looking forward to that sudden drop when we reach the English Channel and then home. 

Brr. 

Temperatures are 15°C colder than we've enjoyed for the last three weeks. Nope, not looking forward to this at all.

Shirley and I have spent most of the time nattering. I've walked deck 6 for a mile or so, one of the days, going down to the hydrotherapy suite and exercised there the other. I'll seize up if I don't. 

As per usual we are the first two up for our evening meal, the other early birds arriving a few minutes later.

It's funny really, although there are no set tables, no set times, we have each gravitated to our favourite tables arriving at our favourite times.

So, final destination, Cadiz, and it's a Sunday. The shops will be shut, and the weather is overcast and cool.

Oh well, at least it's not raining. 😁

Tunis; but we're too far away to see it

The industrial port is nice. To get anywhere we need a shuttle bus to take a shuttle bus to get into the town.

Novel.

I'm staying on board today. The talk about Tunis spoke of watching this and that, not wandering alone, de dah, de dah.......

So, I'm watching the unloading of a loose cargo ship. Interesting.

Sicily, a land of crazy drivers

We arrived early and docked just before one of the big cruise ships pulled in. 

I checked; 3949 passengers! 😳

And we all had to use the same, one person wide, check point! So glad they separated Saga from that ship, at least transit took five minutes instead of ...... dread to think.

May I start out by saying English roads are better? There are less pot holes, more order and, well, less stupidity..... honest!

By the end of the trip I'd had enough and even wearing a collar, my neck was a mess.

So, what did I think of Palermo? Um..... give me time to think on that will you. 

The buildings are interesting, architecturally and having part of it pedestrianized is nice, but the scooters go everywhere and at speed.

The roads amaze me with undertaking, overtaking, driving on the pavements, weaving..... chaos to an outsider but one would presume, normal for them.

Our first stop was up a windy, narrow road suited more to goats and carts. I'd forgotten the 'thrill' of the bus taking a corner and everything in front of the wheels hanging over the edge!

Four coaches all arrived together successfully blocking the road to all but the most intrepid scooter rider.

We didn't stay long which was fortunate as the local bus was stuck waiting for us to clear the road. 

Next, we headed back down and into the town. Traffic was on a par with London but honestly, a lot more stupid. 

We weaved past many a building and then out to the nearest beach which would be heaving in summer.

How I wished we had more time. I scooted down to the water's edge and paddled. The water was cold but as you can see, beautifully clear, and yes, the sun shone giving us another lovely day.
Time to return to town and the nightmare traffic began as it was 3.30pm and heading towards end of day. 

Students on e-scooters, usually two up, streaked through traffic who's kamikaze attitude created two very near misses and several close ones. My hat off to the driver. 

We stopped by the famous opera house and I joined other pedestrians ....in the middle of the road. Quiet round here.

Would I come back?

No.

Too big, too busy and far too many pick pockets and bag snatches. You're warned not to ask too many questions about anything incase they think you're a Mafia spy,  not to take photographs of places if guards with guns are guarding them, not to talk about politics or religion.

Mm..... is this a holiday or is this attempting to get pick up or picked off?

One day in Turkiye

Today, we sampled the coast of Turkey, or as it us now pronounced, Türkiye.

We stopped in Antalya at a berth next to the marina, a couple of miles outside the centre. To be honest, it was a lovely spot overlooking some of the most expensive boats in private hands, the mountain range and the trees.

My trip for the day proved more mountain goat rather than strenuous, so, like two others, I decided not to go up the high heights (really more suited to 40 to 50 year olds, or younger). Instead, I wandered around the necropolis, which was by the bus.

The site here hasn't been restored, it's been left as it was found. It's clear each one of the sarcophagii had been robbed. Lids had been prized off, sides had been smashed open, and anything that had been there was long gone.

There was a fresh excavation going on at this level where a round pillar was being uncovered. This was at the entrance to a large temple which had also been at this level, facing the necropolis. 

Like all of this part of the Mediterranean, evidence of Roman and pre-Roman settlements litter the area. For me, the interesting part has been the linking of the stories of that time with the places in which they happened. Troy, Athena, Aphrodite and Alexander the Great, Nero etc. Even parts of St Paul's wanderings as written about in the Bible are evidenced here.

After a long stay here we moved back down to sea level.

We drove to a superb museum in the centre of Antalya, which is reportedly the best in Türkiye. I would agree, but unfortunately we had little time there, no more than thirty minutes, forty at most. I could have spent a happy morning there and still only began to scratch the surface.

The richness of finds are being returned to their place of origin, much from USA which has vast stores of artifacts from this region (think some has come from UK too).

The collection of statues from varying dates was unbelievable and made the few we had in London seem remarkably under-representative of the richness of sculpting presence in that era.

By far the most surprising was the one of Alexander the Great. He was, indeed, a handsome young man.

The trip was very long, longer than expected so when we return to the ship we managed to grab something and chips from the stern of the boat. Fortunately, they kept it open for us. 

It's a shame Termessos was so out of my reach. Too many injuries to my ankles and hip, all of which began to speak as we began the incline.

No, I don't do inclines (not at a 45° angle) any more.