Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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!!!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
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!
Friday, January 8, 2010
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!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
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!
Monday, January 4, 2010
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