The Inscrutable Sphinx

My theory (well not really mine, I saw some show on tv since I took this photo two years ago--this one best illustrative of my point) is that the head of the sphinx is a recarve from the original, which would have been that of a lion.   Two reasons I think this is probably correct: the ancient Egyptians were masters of proportion, the current head is just plain too small for the size of the body.  Secondly, if you look at the erosion on the body versus that on the head, it is (apparent to me) much more worn down.   Wonder who did it?  History's mysteries!    By the way, I made a mistake  the other day regarding King Tut's tomb, it was discovered in 1922, not '20.  Sorry!

The Great Pyramid of Khufu

A few facts:  At  4,500 years old, it is the only surviving wonder of the ancient world. It is 755 feet long at the base on each face, accurate to a few centimeters, 481 tall when constructed (the very top is missing), nothing taller was constructed till the cathedral at Cologne in the late middle ages (I think).  Each face was originally covered with polished limestone (who removed it and when?),  and is oriented exactly north, south, east or west.   The striking thing as you stand humbly at it's base, besides it's enormity, is how steep the thing is.   My friend Daria climbed it 20 some years ago (no longer permitted), she says it was utterly frightening towards the top-- I can't imagine doing it.  Just looking straight up the face is a bit overwhelming,  it's really hard to wrap your mind around it all,  indescribable  fits here.

The Pyramid of Khafre Still Has Some Cladding. Free Camel Ride, It'll Cost To Get Off!

A Very Clear Day, Rain the Night Before Cleaned the Air

Good Morning From the Arabian Sea!

Still have to catch up on Egypt I know,  and also now Muscat and Dubai.   We are half way across the Arabian Sea, next port of call: Kochin, India.  We were to have stopped at Mumbai, however docking space there was for some reason not available.  I'm a bit disappointed as that's a city where my aunt and uncle and cousins lived, but you just have to go with the flow!    Life on the ship is good-- days flow one to next, have no idea what day of the week it is.   The dinner table is fun, everyone has learned what topics to avoid with whom, a little system of winking has developed between the various subgroups at the table, to express dismay or amusement at whatever or whomever.   There's a certain gentleman from Liverpool who seems to ruffle feathers the most--it has never (apparently) quite sunk into him that the American War of Independence is long over, and oh by the way Britain lost--hello!  A week ago I did finally say something (nicely of coarse) and things have been quite amiable since.  The two waiters assigned to the table are really good--Edwin and Benelito, from The Philipines, precision teamwork, they know everyones likes and dislikes, the menu is different every night, appetizer and/or soup, nice salads, choice of 4 or 5 main courses, of coarse dessert, and then a little truffle and candied ginger, coffee, espresso, whatever you want.    All done with a lot of style and warmth and laughs.    The portions are reasonably small, sauces very light--the plates are always beautiful.   Been ordering seafood frequently.   Really never leave the table feeling stuffed,  which is good since it's late (10;30 or so) by the time we're done.   I like to go walking around the ship afterwards, inside and out.  The moon is getting on towards full now, just beautiful, the days ever since Lisbon have been like a perfect spring day, no warmer than 75 or so. The sea has been calm, dead calm today.   Per the Commodores noon announcement we are in quite deep waters, a mile and a half from the keel of the ship to the sea floor.  There are dolphins to be seen and phosflorescent plankton will make the ships wake sparkle tonight  The ship"s position is 350 miles south of Karatchi, Pakistan and 300 miles west of Mumbai, steaming southeast.

Now for a bit of nostalgia.  We docked in Dubai the day before yesterday just aft of the QE2.  I was able to walk right up to her.  Here's a photo, taken then, followed by three pictures taken in November of 07 of my dad Morris when he and I went from Southampton to Alexandria and back on board.   She's a great ship,  we had a wonderful time,  and it's sad to see her tied up there, fate unknown.

Ordering Dinner, Full Officer's Dress Uniform, He Commanded Attention.

Now That's Quite a Breakfast, He Ate It All, Took Til Noon!

Morris at the Great Pyramid, Age 93.

Cairo, the Egyptian Museum, the Pyramids and Don't Forget the Sphinx!

Makes for a busy day,  considering it's a two hour drive across the desert from the port at Sohkna.   I was on a private tour, arranged through contacts made prior on a website, cruisecritic.com,  but all the buses from the ship travelled in a convoy,  with armed escorts at the front and back.  On each bus is an armed guard as well--all due of course to the murder of tourists a few years ago in the valley of the kings.   The road is a six lane toll road-- police with AK47s and clipboards check you in and then they check you out at Cairo, it's all very organized!      Every maybe twenty kilometers there's a checkpoint with a guard tower and the business end of an AK47 sticking out., police milling about below.      All very friendly mind you, they wave and smile.    The convoy was stopped once for a bit while they did who knows what.     And then Cairo--huge city, 22 million people, mostly poor and full of all you might expect of such a city. The traffic is crazy--two lanes become three, three become four, pedestrians crossing even the freeway (the ring road), police with (yes) AK47s manning guard booths at street corners, barricades on streets here and there manned by (what else?) police with AK47s.   The really crazy thing is that buildings (except where the wealthy live and office buildings, hotel etc.) in Cairo are rarely ever finished (can you imagine that, Paul?).    Two reasons:   taxes don't kick in until the building is done,  and, when a son marries, dad just adds a storey for the new family.   By the way,  arranged marriages are still very much the norm still,  the mothers hook things up, and men can have up to four wives.    Well that's for the Muslims,  Egypt is 15% Christian, and our guide said there are 250 Jews as well, living in Alexandria.    The city is all sort of a version of controlled chaos.  People are friendly enough, but want money (baksheesh) if you so much as ask a question, and are constantly trying to sell you something, heaven forbid you do fork over money because you'll be swarmed.   I really can't imagine enjoying spending any amount of time there.      

All that aside, it's amazing!   The Egyptian Museum is a wonderland filled to the rafters.  What I loved about it is character,  it feels inside just what you think it should, windows flung open to the breeze,  modern museum standards blatantly ignored, one priceless object after another and another,  each with a little hand typed note card.    The crowning glory is of coarse the trove of treasure found at the tomb of King Tutahnkamen in the Valley of the Kings.   His was the only tomb not robbed in ancient times and was discovered intact by Indiana Jones in 1920.   If you've seen the collection that Egypt has occasionally loaned out,  you've barely scratched the surface, and out of context of the entirety you just don't understand.  Over 1700 items we're pulled from the tomb, most famous the death mask and the solid gold casket, all encrusted with this and that, in perfect condition--four life size chariots, tiny little things, four enormous gold covered boxes that fit within each other that held the coffin,  on and on.   No photography permitted.    Just amazing!     More to come.

Cairo Advancing Towards the Pyramids--Note the Rebar Sticking Up, Ready For the Next Storey.

View of Cairo--Why Is All That Junk On the Roofs?

The Suez Canal is a Busy Ditch!

We entered the canal at three in the morning, I woke up at seven,  just as we were about to pass under our third great suspension bridge, this one connecting Egypt proper with the Sinai Peninsula.   I  just managed to get out on my balcony in time to get a few photos.   The air outside was thick and warmish (for the hour), and saturated with the unmistakable "odeur d'Egypte".   It's petrochemical at it's base but there's more to it for sure.   Haven't exactly put my finger on what,  but it's there.    Quite a few oil refineries are located in the Nile delta, as you head south the air gets cleaner.   The canal was dug by the French and British, opened in 1869, and was operated by them until 1956, when President Nasser kicked them out.   It now provides Egypt with some three billion dollars a year in income.    QM2's transit cost Cunard  3/4 of a million dollars and took twelve hours.  I found it endlessly fascinating.  First off it's just plain weird to have land so close on both sides of the ship.   The Sinai side is pure desert the whole stretch--think sand dunes, big ones and lots of them.   The other side is cultivated, quite green,  with villages  and people and traffic and finally the city of Suez.    All along the way, people waved and called out,  we must be quite a site-- I wished I could hop off to check the big girl out!     Ships travel the canal in convoys at eight knots,  in one direction only, and meet in the middle at the Great Bitter Lake.     We were a southbound convoy of 15,  at the lake there were 31 ships, all either container ships, car carriers or oil tankers, waiting for us to clear.   All of this is rehearsed the day before on computer, and can be viewed online at suezcanal.com.,  per the Commodore.  As we exited the 60 mile long canal at Port Suez there were crowds lining the shore, waiving us on.   Really a cool day!

The Sinai Desert

Good Morning From the Gulf of Aden!

The days are flying by, yesterday marked the halfway point in terms of days.  We've spent an entire day transiting the Suez Canal,  a day in Cairo,  a day in Luxor-- each of which I'll cover in a separate post,  steamed down the Gulf of Suez into the Red Sea (it's blue), and last night (ship darkened, decks closed) though the Strait of Bab el Mandeb (there's one you didn't know about, did you?) into the Gulf of Aden.    It's 2000 nautical miles from our last port, Safaga, Egypt to our next which is Muscat, Oman, giving us four days at sea.   Yay!   I love days at sea.   By the way, no problem with seasickness.   With the exception  of one day crossing the Atlantic and one day on the Bay of Biscay the sea has been very calm.   Those two rough days didn't bother me (I loved them), but you could tell some people were a bit green around the edge.  This ship has a deep draft (32 feet),  a very streamlined bow and hull, and four stabilizers-- she really is built to handle whatever the sea might have in store.   Of course we've seen nothing like the worst that can be dished out, 20-40 swells, or the occasional rogue (out of nowhere) wave, which can reach 90 feet in height.    The QE2 took one that high once, a lot of broken crockery etc., but she righted herself and just kept on ploughing through.    Another by the way-- a nautical mile.   It's the equivalent of one degree of latitude at 45 degrees,  and equals 6076.12 ft.   Yet another by the way,  use of the word steaming, it's not technically correct, we run on diesel generators, but the Commodore uses it so I feel free to take the same liberty.   Several things of note have occurred since Safaga.   We entered the tropics, defined as crossing the Tropic of Cancer, 23 and 1/2 degrees north latitude.   The ship's officers switched from their dark uniforms to their whites, all bright and crisp-- you could tell they love it, me too!   Then yesterday afternoon a US Navy destroyer was spotted.   She came abreast of us and did a 360 degree turn (on a dime), coming right along our starboard (right) side, with all the ship's company (some 300) lining the decks at attention.    Big cheers went up from all of us crowding along the railing of the promenade deck.  It was a thrilling sight!     The two ships blasted their whistles repeatedly, and the destroyer (USS Ferragut, number 99) peeled off hard to starboard.   Off it went, wonder what it's top speed is!    By the way,  a ship's horn is called a whistle and the Mary's is a deep A note, two octaves below middle C, and can be heard for ten miles.     Just now, as I write,  passing westward on our port side is a convoy of ships being escorted by a warship from the Indian Navy.  The officer of the watch on the bridge just announced that, mentioning as well that in the early hours we passed by a US warship escorting a sensitive cargo of weaponry.   Busy place around here!   We're coming up on a Turkish Frigate and soon after that a Saudi warship called Mecca.  They are being very chatty from the bridge today!    Yemen is 60 miles to the north and Somalia is 100 miles to the south.   We are now 1050 miles from Muscat and running at 26 knots, per the Commodore's noontime announcement.        We are following the IRTC, or Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor, and as you can see, it's well patrolled.   Gorgeous day out there. 75 degrees, time to go snag a deck chair.    Cheers!         Oh, by the way,  will someone who has Gabriel's email forward the blog to her and Tim,   I don't think I did.    Thanks.

Our Route Across the Med

Ah Rome, Thankfully Sunny, Always Glorious!

Took the train from the port of Civitavecchia (Ancient City in Italian).    It takes about forty minutes to the first stop in Rome which is very conveniently St Peter's.   It's about the only bargain in Italy at nine Euro round trip (about thirteen dollars).   Went up with one of the piano players from the ship and and a former purser from the QE2 who also remembered my dad and me.   The station is just behind the great basilica and your first view is of Michelangelo's magnificent dome.   We walked into the piazza and there to my surprise was the biggest nativity scene set up in the middle,  just under obelisk (genuine Egyptian--stolen) and an enormous Christmas tree.  I liked it!   The goal of the day for me was to climb to the top of the dome, which I had last done when I was 15, traveling to India with my aunt and cousins.  We went into the Basilica first where Mass was underway, what a treat to hear the great organ, while taking in the beauty of it all.  The Pieta of Michelangelo is just inside to the right, now behind the most invisible sheet of glass.   The scale of the entire basilica is epic--cherubs, frescos, mosaics, cupolas, saints, no doubt a few sinners--it's all a feast for the eye and the soul!   There was also inside the most over the top nativity you could imagine.   Then it was back outside to queue up to climb the cupola--short line, 5 euro fee and up you go.  It's really cool, just as I (barely) remembered.   It's double walled, you're right in between and it slants more the higher you go (of coarse).   You start thinking this is 400 years old, and then you think well,  Michelangelo did design and engineer it's construction.  And then you  think besides that he carved the Pieta, painted the Creation of Man and the Last Judgement (Sistine Chapel)-- don't forget David and Moses and everything else he did, and all I've done for the last 20 years is work on my silly (well beautiful) house and you feel really small, and then all of a sudden  you emerge into the sunlight at the very top and all of Rome is at your feet!   All you can say is wow!    Hung out up there as long as I could , then down to the crypt under the main alter where the Popes are interred, including of course John Paul II.   Then just time for lunch-- lasagne and a side of spinach,  mmm,  a walk along the Tiber and a dash back to the station and back to the ship.  A great day!

The Nativity at St Peter's, with Waterwheel, and James the Brother of Jesus, Perhaps?

Michelangelo's Pieta

The View From the Top.

The Dome, Notice the People Up There.

Ready for Departure From Civitavecchia

The Rock of Gibralter, It's Made of Limestone.

The Commodore took us in  for a close look.   Notice the different colors of the water.   The evaporation rate of the Mediterranean is greater than net inflow of all the rivers feeding the Med resulting in the Atlantic being constantly sucked in.    The Atlantic is grey-blue and the Med is blue-green, the lines where they meet and mix are very visible.    Interesting, eh?

Reboarding in Lisbon,  My Cabin is Just Under the Second Lifeboat , Went Straight to the Hot Tub!   Note the suspension bridge we passed under.

A Very Rainy Lisbon, Got Soaked To the Bone, Had Fun Anyway!

This Morning, A Pirate Drill!

"Code Alpha Papi!  Code Alpha Papi!   for exercise, for exercise only"  announced the Commodore at 10 this am.  We received a letter advising of this drill a couple of days ago.   We are all now sitting or standing in the corridor outside each stateroom while the bridge pretends that we are being chased by a small boat of Somali pirates.    On the 23 January we exit the Red Sea and enter the Gulf of Aden,  where the bad guys operate.   The plan for the 23rd and 24th is to run at high speed through the area.    At night all the exterior decks and curtains on the windows will be closed, and lighting reduced to the minimum  required.by maritime law.   As no ship has ever been taken that is moving faster than 14 knots,  no one really thinks we have any thing to worry about, but in this day and age you don't really know, do you.   I can't imagine that any  pirate would want to mess with 3800 hostages (passenger and crew),  angry at missing dinner or their bridge game or what have you.   I've learned you don't mess with bridge players-- they are MEAN!     There's a story that the woman Bea who lived (yes lived) on the QE2 was banned from bridge for a week once for improper behavior and it about killed her.   I digress    The Commodore has announced his satisfaction  with the drill and that we may stand down.     I"m looking forward to the high speed part of it all,  I figure it will be a chance for the Commodore to put the pedal to the metal--the bean counters at Cunard be damned!    I do have a pirate outfit all lined up to wear , but I'm rethinking the wisdom of that!

Speaking of the Commodore, the reason he's Commodore and not Captain is that he's the Senior Captain of the fleet and that's the Commodore.   That's just how it is.   Never mind it's a fleet of two--soon to be three.   Queen Victoria and in the fall Queen Elizabeth are the two younger sisters of Queen Mary 2.  Not to be disparaging,  but they are not the equal of this great ship.   They are shall I say-- off the rack, more or less standard vista class cruisers tarted up a bit,  built at Fincantieri shipyard near Venice, Italy.   They resemble more floating apartment blocks, with a stubby bow, a much slower operating speed, less of a promenade deck and lower ceiling heights in the public spaces.   Cunard has dumbed itself down with those two.         Back to the Commodore.  His name is Bernard Warner and he's very nice and friendly.  He gives a very informative noontime announcement each day.   He has a great speaking voice,  if you want to hear him he narrates the virtual tour of QM2 at Cunard.com.   The cocktail party he gave last night was for  past passengers who had been promoted at Southampton from silver to gold in their rewards program.    Besides the champagne and shrimp I get two free hours of internet access.    Yippee!     At the party a couple came up to me and asked if I had been on QE2 with the older gentleman in the wonderful uniform--my dad of course.  I felt at the time folks would remember him.   The tie of his that I wore was a hit!

So tomorrow it's already the Suez Canal.  Like I said yesterday I've got a lot of catching up to do.   Since crossing the Bay of Biscay we've spent a day in Lisbon (driving rain), through the Strait  of Gibralter (saw the rock) past the islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca (weather's getting better) squeezed between the islands of Cypress and Sardinia (middle of the night) docked at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome since the days of Ceasar,  past the island of Stromboli (active volcano- -glowing and spitting and puffing a bit) through the Strait of Messina which separates the toe of Italy from Sicily, past spectacular snow covered Mt Etna and this morning past Crete.  It's beautiful out today, sunny and 65 at noon.   A sushi buffet for lunch!

A Few More Thoughts About Crossing the Atlantic

First off it's a blast!    Just the departure from New York alone makes it worthwhile.   Secondly, it's historic--Cunard has been making the run since 1840.  The fact there is a ship built in this century for the very purpose of crossing the Atlantic is in my mind nothing short of remarkable.    It took us six days to cross but in the heyday of liners it took four days--going slower now to save fuel.    The tank  on Queen Mary 2, by the way,  holds  1.4 million gallons of heavy diesel fuel and it takes all day to fill her up.   That powers four massive diesel generators, supplemented by two gas turbines that are fueled by a higher (and more expensive)  grade of marine gas oil.    This altogether produces 150,000 horsepower that is delivered to 4 Rolls Royce electric motors inside pods that are attached to the hull.   On each pod are four stainless steel propeller blades, each weighing 9,900 pounds.  Each pod weighs as much as a 747!     The ship carries eight spare blades ,  and a spare anchor,   all mounted on the forward area of deck 7.   They are cool to see,  and touch--over nine feet tall, very graceful and finely crafted.    QM2 is the first liner to be built with four propellers since the s/s France was built in 1962 (at the same shipyard, by the way--Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire, France, where also was built the great liner s/s Normandie.   She has a fine lineage!      A few more notes about the crossing:   we didn't see another ship the six days,  we passed 14 miles north of where the Titanic sank,  each day was 23 hours long-- the effect of which surprised me.  You wouldn't think you'd notice much,  but  each morning I woke up later til Thursday I woke at noon.   I couldn't believe it!    The days seemed to just fly by,  as they still do.    We are deep now in the Mediterranean and I've got a lot of catching up to do.   Today, January 17, is  my dad Morris' birthday.  He'd be 96.    We plied these very waters together just over two years ago on the Queen Elizabeth 2.  He liked to tell people on board that he was on his third Queen, as he had been transported during the war on the Queen Mary to England and the Queen Elizabeth home.   Well now I am privileged  to be on the fourth great Queen.   I brought his coolest tie along (the dark green one with martinis and geisha girls) and I'll wear it in his honor tonight to the Commodore's  cocktail  party and dinner.

The Sea is Making Herself Felt Today--Crossing the Bay of Biscay.

This is the huge area defined by the west coast of France and the north coast of Spain.   Here the might of the Atlantic Ocean gets trapped , if you will, causing swells, today in the 15 to 20 foot range.  The commodore in his noon announcement described them as confused, as in coming at the ship from all directions.   Deck 2 is the lowest passenger deck and it's great fun watching the wave action from there as the ship slices through the water.  You get a real feel of just how fast this ship goes.   Her top speed is 30 knots, which she rarely does, her average is usually in the 22 to 24 knot range, which is 25 to 28 mph or so.  No other ships built today go this fast,  or handle heavy seas as well.    In Southampton yesterday  around  700 people  disembarked,  including the gentlemen from Morocco.  Everyone at our dinner table had grown fond of them--they are missed.     Replacing them are a couple from Liverpool, who I think will settle in just fine.    A lot of people got on in Southampton, mainly British, but also quite a number of German and French.  I heard that 200 people missed the ship due to the bad weather in Britain, and that they will be boarded in Rome.  At whose expense I don't really know,  but I would guess that if you had made your flight arrangements through Cunard they cover it all,  otherwise you're on your own.    It would be really awful to miss the boat!   It's one of the reasons I went to NYC three days early.

Southampton, Home Port of Queen Mary 2

We docked around 5 am, and by the time I got up at 8 the sun was still not!   Very grim and grey out there.   They say of England, 9 months of winter and 3 months of bad weather!    I bundled up and caught the shuttle that Cunard provides into the center of town.   The city was bombed during the war so there's a lot of newer buildings-- what does remain that is cool are the original walls and gates of the city, dating from the middle ages.  After wandering around town, and after doing the computer thing I ended up near the docks.   I saw a place called the Bosun's Locker with a sign out front advertising room's from 30 pounds.   I thought well if I was ever to depart from here again it would be perhaps a good place to stay, so I went in.   It turned out to be memorable.   I had cashed a 20 dollar bill into pounds earlier, and had spent all but 2 pounds of it on 8 AA batteries and 2 donuts--each donut was $2.50 (which might have given my dad a heart attack),   England is expensive!   Turns out the Bosun's Locker is a pub with rooms above.  There was a fire in the fireplace and half a dozen locals enjoying the afternoon, so I asked if 2 pounds bought a beer and the barkeep said it would buy half one.   Next to me was an older gent who said,  "i'll buy the lad a beer".    Wow!     I of course started to chat him up--told him I was in port for the day.   Well, turns out he had been a waiter on the Queen Mary in the 50's and 60's,  and I was all over him with questions.   The Queen Mary is my favorite place to visit in Southern California (with the exception, of coarse,  my brothers and sisters homes , of coarse).   Robbie was his name,  he had worked all three dining rooms, tourist, cabin and first.  Well we talked and talked.  He bought me another beer and then another bloke did.    It was endearing!     I had my laptop so I showed him movies that I've taken on board in the beautiful dining room on QM2 and in the pub onboard and elsewhere.  He was fascinated!   Thank goodness I had a twenty dollar bill still on me and gave it to the barkeep to buy drinks the next day.  Another afternoon I will never forget!   It was a short walk to the pier, where a band played and fireworks were set off as we headed out into the night.

Sunday Afternoon in the Library

I'm parked in my favorite forward facing spot here in the library, and we are just now coming into rain.  The sky has been a leaden grey all day and the wind's been brisk across the bow.   This afternoon we will see the lighthouse that marks the end of the transatlantic portion of the voyage and we enter the English Channel.    In just the few minutes it's taken me to type this the rain has picked up quite a bit.    Lunch was really good today.    I picked the Italian buffet for the first time  Lamb chops in a really nice sauce with vege stuffed tomatoes and roasted potatoes and a bit of salad--mmm!     The buffets are just inside of the promenade deck 7 ,which is one deck up from my cabin.     Never far from lunch!     There are 4 different ones to choose from:  Lotus features Asian dishes,  I've eaten there twice--nice and spicy,   the Carvery serves English style roasts and chops etc,  the Chef's Galley is sandwiches during lunch but at night is a chef's demonstration venue--reservations required,  and then there's La Piazza where I had Lambchops today   The seating areas more or less flow into each other, the best spots are in the little glassed in bays that jut out onto the prom deck.   Nice and sunny if you pick one on the starboard side ( well if you're heading east and the sun is out!).     Twice across the Atlantic they've put something special out for lunch-- a sushi buffet one day and a chocolate extravaganza another.     The Britannia Restaurant is open for lunch as well and is of course very nice,, been there thrice!    The Golden Lion Pub serves fish and chips and other pub fare for lunch as well,  I ate there yesterday-- a jazz band playing along.       There is live music at various times all over the ship.  Never a dull moment!

Mercury and Zeus Watch Over the Entry to the Planetarium

Pretty Eh?

Plowing Through the Swells

She Carries Spare Propeller Blades

It's a Sixth of a Mile to the Back Door!

So That's Enough of NYC!

I'm sitting in a Krispy Kreme in Southampton on a very chilly grey day.  My dad would be proud --he loved donuts.    I'm taking advantage of the free internet to catch up posting photos,  I hope all the postings out of sequence don't confuse things too much!    Southampton is a busy small city, there's a maritime museum with Titanic related exhibits so I'll head there after I post a few items, and then it's back on the ship by 5 pm and we sail at 6 for Lisbon.    Our course across the Atlantic took us 14 miles north of the spot where Titanic sank.    We didn't see a single ship the six days it took.     The sea was beautiful, what surprised me was how different it appeared each day   Here come some photos!

Cafe Un Deux Trois, Times Square, I Used To Tend Bar Here!

The Great Diego Rivera Ceiling Mural at 30 Rockefeller Center

A Holiday Window at Bergdorf Goodman

Here's Something New in New York!

Polka dot traffic free spots and bike lanes everywhere--go Mr Bloomberg!

She's As Big As A New York Skyscraper!

QM2 and Manhattan On Approach to Laguardia

Monsieur from Montreal took these great shots.

Bon Voyage to Sue and Jim, 70 Nights Around So America on the Beautiful Prinsendam!

I Am So Surprised!

By several things actually but let's start with the weather.    It's been much warmer than I ever thought it would be!   After all the bitter cold of last week, I just figured on more of the same.    First morning out of New York I poked my nose out onto the balcony of my cabin and it wasn't bad at all.   By the afternoon it was in the 50's, sunny and perhaps most significantly the wind was at our stern-- meaning of course that coupled with the speed of the ship there was effectively little or no wind at all! Mind you it's not the Carribean but it's been pleasant.   I believe this proves my contention that all of the severe winter weather in the States is the fault of Canada!  Ahead, Great Britain is in a terrible state, with snow everywhere and transportation at a standstill.  There are about 700 passengers disembarking in Southampton and there's quite a bit of chatter on board among them about messed up travel plans.    The wind direction shifted a couple of days ago,  we've been heading into it, so it's not nearly so pleasant on deck, but it's still a good walk out there,  just no hanging out in the great teak deck chairs--in fact they are now tied to the railing.   I had booked a shore excursion to Bath to see the Roman ruins there, but alas it was cancelled yesterday due to all the bad weather.   Cunard though runs a shuttle to the centre of Southampton so that will be fun to explore.  People have told me the shopping is "brilliant"   I'll plan to find some free wifi and upload a bunch of pix.    We dock tomorrow morning at 5 am. and it's supposed to be snowing   It's amazing how quickly this week has gone by.    Of the 6 days only Thurs was the sea rough, with waves crashing over the windows on Deck 2, the lowest passenger deck, where the Golden Lion Pub is located.    I made a little video watching the waves out side and of my beer on the table showing no motion whatever--this ship is steady!    She just plows right through,  and she's fast.   The only way to cross!!!

Lobster for Dinner Tonight!

Here's the Cast

Dinner At Table 212, Britannia Restaurant, Deck Three, Table of Eight

Well we got off to a bit of a rough start,  but it's all turned out just fine!      No one is boring that's for sure.    There's  (clockwise from me) a retired English teacher from Kansas City who's traveling solo but usually uses the pronoun we (I'll get to the bottom of that eventually),  a couple from near Montreal--monsieur fishes for lobster, but spent his career in the Canadian Air Force as an aircraft mechanic--full of stories, has been everywhere from the North Pole to a ferry on fire in the Greek Isles and way beyond, his charming and chatty wife--they're both one of eleven children(!),   a couple from the Hamptons on Long Island who've retired to North Carolina--she's of Italian descent and writes,  he appears of Irish descent and golfs,  again both witty and charming,   and a pair of gentlemen who have retired from England to Morocco (where one can still afford servants(!) and have already been aboard for weeks!      Now thats quite a table--and quite a sentence, I think!      The rough spot came quickly enough, between the two gentlemen from Morocco.   Some how one of them managed to hurl an insult at the other,  and up the offended  stood,  announced he didn't have to take it and stormed off!    Jaws dropped all around--the waiters didn't skip a beat,  and we all just carried on!   Let's just say that none of us would trade bar bills with the two of them!     Dinners since have been fine , although they do like to make a grand entry about 20 minutes late.    Oh, and by the way the food is wonderful!

Take Her To Sea, Mr. Murdoch!

I've been dying to misuse that line!       Departure from New York was a blast!      Waiting in my stateroom was a nice bottle of French sparkling wine courtesy of the Commodore, and a bottle of Perrier-Jouet Champagne (the real deal) and hors d'ouevres courtesy of Sue, my excellent travel agent.     Three blasts of the ship's whistle and we were off.    I cracked open the bottle from Cunard and headed up top to watch the sunset beyond the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty as we slipped the pier in Brooklyn.    Quite a sight!    The highlight though is clearing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.    QM2's height was dictated by that clearance,  which varies each departure according to the tides.   Monday night we had twelve feet at the center of the bridge.   (Note to the Greenland Ice Sheet::  stop melting!)     As you approach it feels more like the bridge is coming at you, and that it won't go well!     Already at 15 knots, the bottom of the bridge deck seems to float overhead and the giant red funnel comes along fast .   Yikes!     It's so cool!    From the vantage point  I have on the top deck the funnel appears to just slip under and we do indeed head out to sea!     I recorded the scene on my camera and will post it on you tube when I find free internet, perhaps in Southhampton or Lisbon.     Then it was down to my cabin and then later off to dinner to meet my tablemates.    These are the folks I will be dining with the entire voyage, so it's always an interesting moment--one hopes for the best!

This Is Your Ride If You Stay At The Plaza!

Why Can NYC Keep It's Fountains On In Winter and Denver Barely Succeeds In Summer

A Brisk Breeze at Rockefeller Center

Wow, That Went Well!

Not only did I not have not have time to do my laundry, the upload really wasn't much slower than at the hotel in New York.     Speaking of which,  I want to write a bit about my last full day in the city.   It was of coarse bitter cold, the wind was howling off the Hudson, and I bundled up as for an arctic expedition--it's all about layers, and headed up to midtown.    New York City positively glitters during the holidays, and Rockefeller  Center is the heart of all.  I think it's the most beautiful assemblage of buildings anywhere.      I walked through to the skating rink and the tree, and then across 5th Ave to St Patrick's Cathedral, where High Mass was being celebrated by none other than the cardinal himself!       I stayed for the rest of it--glorious pipe organ music and choir singing christmas carols,  incense  and a nearly life size creche with a smiling camel!    It was beautiful!      Warmed up now,  back out on 5th Ave,  I looked at the great bronze central doors of the church.     One of the panels depicts Mother Cabrini,  who my mother always said her father drove up to the orphanage  she founded in the hills west of Denver.     By the time I thought that through I was already refrozen!     Walking up the Ave.,  I said to myself, I can go here or I can go there,  taking in the fantastic window displays along the way.      Well, I made it to the corner of 58th st ,where looms the Plaza Hotel in all it's glory!      I thought,   THE OAK BAR!   It's been seen in many movies and is a protected NYC landmark  (yes the interior-heaven forbid that Denver should ever extend it's preservation ordinance to include interiors-- I can hear the howls of protest from here in the middle of the Atlantic).     So I went in the hotel, found the bar and ended up spending the afternoon there!    Don't ask what the check ended up being, but it was worth every penny!    The bartender was super friendly. He was a fan of Denver, and wanted to know the cool hotel bars there, I told him the Cruise Room and the Ship Tavern.    Made us both wonder what's with the ship theme in landlocked Denver.     A really fun Australian gal sat next to me  (why are Australians always fun?)  and the afternoon flew by!   By the time I left it wasn't nearly so cold out!   Walked down to Times Square to visit Cafe Un Deux Trois, where I worked as a bartender for two years, in the mid 80s    Its a great place still.    Enjoy the photos to come!

On Board Queen Mary 2!!!

This ship is drop dead gorgeous!     Stem to Stern-- I've been all over her the last two days, and I like!      As with anything new to me regarding computers, i procrastinate-- in this case figuring out the on board internet access thing, hence the lack of posts since departing NYC on Monday.       I'm sitting now in the library, which is a beautiful room that faces forward across the bow  I just asked and was told there are 9,606 books in here, all in gleaming burlwood glass fronted lit up cabinets, which are currently being polished by a steward.      The attention to detail is crazy good every where you go!       I' m going to post this now to see how it goes!

OK, One More--the Front Desk