River cruise

Whilst sailing along the north coast of France, Diva and TSH saw a spectacular night thunderstorm which continually lit up the sky with sheet lightning.

TSH knew from previous holidays that reaching Rouen involved sailing up the Seine for a number of hours, although this was a surprise to Diva and many other Silver Moon guests.  It was a very scenic voyage, just like a river cruise, as they passed many attractive towns and villages, greeted with a wave by many local people.

TSH was disappointed that he failed to identify the camp site on the banks of the river where,  in 1974, he spent his first night outside the UK. He thinks it passed whilst he had lunch and that that he will miss it on the way back because it will be dinner time. Getting the priorities right. He has also had one of his few day-time beers of this cruise – a sign that the weather is getting warmer.

Rouen is an industrial city with an historic centre which Diva and TSH could see by taking a short walk along the river. Naturally, TSH had to climb the steps to the bridge, walking across the river to get a better view for his camera.

In the Alantide restaurant, they made their choices from the menu and the waiter immediately rushed over to take the order. Apparently the sign that service is required is TSH removing and folding his glasses.

Diva has been busy with Wordle every morning whilst TSH shaves. It has always been a good sign if she has been able to complete it faster than TSH can shave. They know of one other guest who has also been doing Wordle, claims not to be very good and actually deduced the word in fewer tries than Diva on one occasion.

Diva had a discussion with another guest about the horror of the lack of face soap on the Silver Moon. Her husband said that the conversation fell into the category of ‘overheard in Waitrose’.

Diva and TSH are very aware that the end of the cruise is near. Luggage labels and instructions will shortly be appearing for the disembarkation and the journey home. Looking back on the cruise, they agree that they have visited many very interesting places and have enjoyed themselves. The problems were all at the start, with the bad experiences at Manchester Airport and the Athens pier and the twelve day delay in TSH receiving his clothes from FedEx.

 

 

Last few ports

In scenic St Malo, TSH and Diva took an unguided walk through the narrow streets and along the waterfront outside the city walls. They then re-boarded the tender in order to return to the Silver Moon and enjoy the view from the water. The Captain was also on the tender – he had been to see the port authorities to exchange plaques, as this is Silver Moon’s first visit to St Malo. TSH and Diva have often viewed the plaque collections on the Silversea ships – they did not know that the port authorities also receive a plaque from each ship. Where do they put them all?

On the last formal night of this cruise, TSH ate a filet mignon, whilst Diva had a chicken curry.

Easy days

In Bordeaux, TSH and Diva ignored all the offered excursions and walked unaccompanied along the riverside and back through the city. Local people held a small protest outside the ship – objecting to the carbon footprint of the Silver Moon.

The next day was a sea day. At lunch time, as wells as the buffet, there are always a couple of dishes cooked to order – usually a pasta and a stir-fry. One of them was labelled ‘crazy water’, which was a new concept to TSH and Diva. They think it must have been something like this: Fish in Crazy Water Recipe - Marcella Hazan | Food & Wine (foodandwine.com)

A guest from the US is spending 2 weeks in London at the end of the cruise. He wants suggestions about what to do and he has chosen TSH and Diva (Northerners who hardly ever visit London now) for his source of wisdom.

The Sainsburys order has been placed. So food will arrive at their house 16:00 – 17:00 on the day of return

Covid update: 3 guests testing positive. All ‘more or less’ well.

Crazy water, Bordeaux, silver moon, sainsburys, covid

Drinking in the morning (4)

The excursion in Bordeaux took TSH and Diva to the wine museum. This is a very modern, interesting and well set up building – photo below. In order to hear the commentary and understand the exhibits, you need headphones and a transmit/receive device. Point the device at the indicated places around the museum and you hear the commentary in your own language. Unfortunately, no-one told TSH and Diva which bit of the device to point, so they needed help from some kind French people. In turn, they were able to help other people who had not been told how the system worked. They learned that the original meaning of ‘symposium’ was ‘drinking together’. So all those business meetings were accurately described after all.

The final part of the visit was to the Belvedere on the 8^th floor. Diva does not like crowded lifts but dug up enough schoolgirl French to ask the attendant not to allow too many people in with her. He was very sympathetic and held most people back for a later ascent. On the Belvedere, they each drank a glass of Bordeaux rose (seemed more morning-like) and looked at the views over the city. TSH and his camera went to the outside viewing platform.

Over lunch, Diva was incredibly impressed to hear people discussing the recently found possible discrepancy in the mass of the W boson (Particle’s surprise mass threatens to upend the standard model (nature.com)). This potentially overturns the standard model of particle physics. And one of the people on the next table had been involved in the work at Fermi Labs!!!

Later, outside Panorama lounge, there was discussion about the advantages of the James Webb telescope over the Hubble telescope. Silver Moon is a physics ship.

 

TSH is let out on his own

In St Jean de Luz, Diva decided that she did not want to be herded round on another guided tour, The ship was anchored in the very scenic bay, so she decided to enjoy her last views of the Pyrenees.  

TSH left the Silver Moon to visit Bayonne and Biarritz accompanied only by his camera.

He has often encountered road signs in two languages but this time there were three. In Bayonne, road signs were in French, Basque and Gascon - a language local to South-West France.

The cathedral in Bayonne had an English feel about it -  the building was started by the English and completed by the French.

The bus driver expressed a view which TSH has often thought to be the case. He said that he was driving something stronger than the cars, so he could pull out in front of them at a busy roundabout. However, he was more polite when there was an emergency vehicle behind him - he drove the bus right round the roundabout to let it pass. At Biarritz the driver encountered a “Route Barree” sign, so alternative parking and additional walking were organised.

TSH returned triumphant – he had been on the correct tour (see Turkey) and he had not been left behind anywhere (see Terracotta warriors). By the time he returned, La Terrazza was closed so he went to the Arts Café for lunch.

The bus theme continued into the evening as one of the waiters sang “the wheels on the bus” whilst turning the handle on the parmesan cheese grater. 

The pilot for the navigation along the Gironde  river to Bordeaux was dropped onto the Silver Moon from a helicopter.

Diva is still working out how much remains of the on-board credit and what she can spend it on.

Photoblog 4

 

 

Drinking in the morning again

Lisbon was another embarkation day – the one where most of the Mediterranean Grand Voyagers left the Silver Moon. TSH and Diva decided to remove themselves away from the sanitisation process by going on the tour to Cascais and Sintra. In Sintra, they sat at a café in the main square and TSH drank beer out of a glass that was so tall he spilled some on his shirt by trying to obtain the last drops.

In Oporto, they took a boat ride along the Duoro River, followed some sightseeing and a late morning port tasting.

Food disappointment: SALT have not offered the delicious Portuguese custard tarts. TSH has made them before and has been commissioned to bake another batch when they arrive home. He has already started booking Sainsbury delivery slots for the return.

There are now 1 guest and 1 crew member testing positive for Covid. No information as to whether they are new cases. Still well under control.

T shirt quote of the day: ‘Tomorrow I will carpe diem’.

A very smart lunch

The first thing to say is that with very very few exceptions the food on this holiday has been excellent and TSH and Diva have enjoyed it very much. But on the last day of the Grand Voyage (TSH and Diva are staying on board for another 12 days), they were invited to the final special lunch for those who have been on the Silver Moon since Athens. Normally there is a wide choice of food but this was a fixed menu with at most 2 options for each course.

If there was to be a least suitable menu for them, this was it. ‘Carpaccio’ and ‘Tartare’ are not good words for appetisers, as they basically mean raw meat and fish, which they do not eat. Having explained this to the waiter, no alternative was offered – ‘just go straight to the next course’. The beetroot risotto, when it arrived, was topped with what looked like cream, which Diva had already explained she does not eat. (Later she discovered it was actually ‘goat cheese espuma’ but the waiter also though it was cream).  A fresh portion was cooked for her – it arrived well after TSH had eaten his. There were walnuts scattered on top – good job she does not have a nut allergy.

And then her wagyu steak arrived – she had asked for it well done, as the kitchen was obviously being run by somebody who doesn’t like cooking. She had a vague idea that this was one of the most highly prized steaks in the world. It was only afterwards that Google explained that the meat should not be cooked much beyond rare and that it was meant to be fatty. So that wasn’t great either. TSH’s ‘Red snapper fillet with breadcrumbs coat, passion fruit and eggplant quenelle’ was mediocre and a woman at the next table complained that hers was dry.

No substitute other than ice cream was offered for the cream drenched dessert. They never discovered what was being offered to vegetarians, vegans, dairy intolerant, gluten free people etc.

The service was slow. Partly because the top chef (in his hat, which has to be taller than the hats of all the other chefs) was personally carving the iberico ham for the anti pasta, followed by the waiters adding the olives, tomatoes etc. For around 100 people!!

La Terrazza is booked for tonight. Real food.

Only 1 crew member testing positive for Covid now. All transit passengers have been tested again.

Photoblog (3)

 

 

It must be 5 o’clock somewhere

The excursion from Cadiz included a drive round Cadiz itself and then to Jerez. Part way through the drive, some guests required an urgent toilet stop, so there was an impromptu stop at a random bar. There were flamingos in the water by the roadside. Then TSH and Diva were taken to the Osborn winery (the original owner was from Exeter). First there was the technical explanation of how sherry and brandy is produced. Then a visit to the tasting room, to test the various sherry types and consume tapas. Diva does not normally drink sherry in the morning but here is a picture of what was offered to her (she did not drink all of it):

Drinking in the morning

During the night, TSH and Diva experienced the first choppy sea of this voyage. They had been warned about it by the Captain of the Silver Moon but decided to risk it without Stugeron. They were proved right.

On arrival in Malaga, TSH and Diva took an excursion which included a walk around part of the city, including a view of the Roman theatre. They went into the house where Picasso was born and then into the gallery holding many of his works. The guide explained aspects of the which they were not previously aware of. The final call – just before midday- was to a bodega for tapas and wine. Although Silversea provides complementary alcohol on demand at all hours of the day and night, TSH and Diva rarely touch a drop until at least 18:30. TSH needed to rehydrate and he drank 4 glasses of water in quick succession when he returned to the Silver Moon.

TSH has discovered that the menus of the day are all accessible via the TV, so he is now able to choose his food before entering the restaurants. He also spotted a strange beetle when he was walking around the outside deck and will try to identify it.

Silver Moon docked in Malaga close to her Royal Caribbean cousin, the Odyssey of the Seas. The latter is much bigger.

Quote of the day spotted on a guest’s t-shirt: ‘Every box of raisins is the tragic story of grapes that could have been wine.’

The crew of the Silver Moon are exceptional

Cartagena, surrounded by mountains, is a favourite call. The Silver Moon docked close to the city centre and there was no long walk to navigate the port itself and no need for a shuttle bus. Because it was Monday, both the Roman theatre and the Underwater Archaeology museums were closed, but it was possible to take a pleasant walk along the waterfront and into the city’s main square.

During the meal in La Terrazza, Diva was transferring some of the antipasti vegetables in tomato sauce from the slate on which they are presented onto her side plate. Not easy with a knife and fork and she spilt some of them on the tablecloth. Before serving the main course, their waiter brought an extra napkin to spread out and cover the offending stain. She apologised, but in a fine example of the humour and charm of the crew he said ‘Madam, it is entirely my fault for serving you messy food’.  Later, when Diva decided not to have a dessert, he tried to place TSH’s chocolatinis in the middle of the table so that she could share them. TSH pulled the plate to his own area in a very assertive manner.

The bar staff are very attentive, greeting TSH and Diva by name and remembering what they drink at different times of day – various teas, decaff coffee, no milk or sugar, shiraz, cognac. One of the bar managers was able to inform them of how many nights it was since they last had their night-cap in her bar.

 1 guest and 1 crew tested positive for Covid on 1/5/22

 

Best ship entertainment ever

On formal night in Atlantide (restaurant), TSH and Diva were given a window table and the waiter obligingly opened the blind so that they could see the sea. Surprisingly, it was Diva who first spotted what was happening. First one dark shape and then another appeared fleetingly above the surface of the very calm sea. Soon it was apparent that there was a large number of dolphins accompanying the Silver Moon. Many jumped clear out of the water – sometimes more than one at one time. Brilliant show appreciated by all. There has long been a guest rumour that a tank of dolphins is kept in the bowels of the ship to be let out by the Captain at appropriate times. When better than formal night?

In Valencia, TSH and Dive took the almost empty shuttle bus into the city centre and walked around the main squares. They had been warned that it was Sunday of a Bank Holiday weekend and everything would be closed but in fact many cafes and some tourist shops were open and there were large numbers of people around. When they boarded the shuttle bus for the return journey, it was clear that many guests were using the shuttle as a drive-by excursion, were not getting off and were quite happy to return immediately to the Silver Moon.

TSH is taking many pics but is struggling with his camera steaming up whilst he is wearing a mask.

Only 1 guest is now testing positive for Covid.