London

Dramatic sail to Tower Bridge – one of the most impressive places in the world to moor a cruise ship. Embarkation sad as always.

Honfleur

Silver Wind docked in Honfleur, which is much more convenient than using the tenders. This is a very attractive town with a photogenic port and an extensive old town. TSH and Diva had a pot of tea by the harbour – almost 10 euros, so similar to drinking in St Marks Square, Venice.

The sea remained flat calm in the channel, through the Dover Straits, across a few miles of North sea and into the Thames estuary. Phones are back on their home networks. Lunch on the sea-day was English-themed, so as well as fish and chips there was chicken tikka masala, the making of which was demonstrated in the morning by the executive chef and an assistant from India.

Packing was easier than usual. No flying, so no weighing of cases and no worry about liquids and sharps in the hand luggage. 

St Malo

The tender service started late because of fog around the harbour and consequent safety concerns. However, it lifted slightly and Diva and TSH were able to accompany the executive chef to a local farmers’ market. The chef amazed one stall holder by buying 2Kg of pate – more than she had ever sold in one go before. The group tasted cheeses, of which there were more varieties than most UK people could imagine. Hams and other cooked meats were stored right next to raw chicken but it was not possible to work out if hands were washed between handling the different items. TSH and Diva bought, ate and enjoyed a local speciality – Gallette saucisse – a pancake wrapped round a sausage.

The Wrong Money

As the ship did not anchor until midday, there was a cooking demo in the morning – chicken in cider and a cod dish made with dried Portuguese cod. As usual, the audience were shocked by the lack of hygiene, which they are always assured does not extend to the kitchens. A chicken was jointed, hands not washed properly and the board re-used for other tasks. But nobody died. Diva only tasted one boiled potato, which the chef said he had paid 15 euros per kilo for. It was very nice but not quite nice enough to justify the price.

The excursion in Guernsey did not start well. The bus arrived at the underground German military hospital and the doors were firmly closed. A nearby resident appeared to say that he would get the owner to open up as he only lived up the road. The decision was taken to visit the military occupation museum first. This turned out to be full of interesting items but it lacked the overall theme which a modern museum would be expected to have.  TSH and Diva learned something about the difficulties of the local population under German rule.  Back to the underground hospital, which was notable mainly for its sheer extent. It was built by slave labour, mostly brought in from Eastern Europe. Some guests think that the hospital was an attempt to invade the UK by underground tunnel.

The bus driver, who was also the guide, was a charming young man who tried hard but was totally out of his depth. He explained that since Guernsey has only two dairies to produce its milk and cream, each cow on the island was taken to one of the dairies twice a week to be milked. Now, Diva is a proud townie, but this did not sound right. Some people from farming communities queried this arrangement, but were assured that this was the Guernsey way. They would love to get higher yields by milking more often but this was not possible. A check with Google afterwards confirmed that there are two dairies but that the cows are milked twice a day (like everywhere else in the world) and the milk refrigerated for collection by the dairies. This collection is probably what happens twice a week.

One interesting piece of information is that there is no road tax but that drivers have to buy a number plate. These numbers start from 1 and go up to 5 or 6 digits. People pay more for the lower numbers, just to show that they are rich, and the numbers less than 100 are much prized. TSH and Diva saw number 21.

The ship’s doctor invited TSH and Diva to dine with him and he diagnosed Diva as OCD after about 5 minutes. How could she have given him an idea like that?

TSH is very experienced with money and it is one of his duties to issue the party with money before every visit ashore. It was only after returning to the Silver Wind that he realised he had issued euros instead of pounds. Fortunately, no money had been needed and he did have a credit card with him, although that would have been of little use to buy an ice cream.  He used some travel budget to take out an open booking for 2018.

Referendum: The ship’s doctor, who was from the US, thought that Obama had been wrong to say that the UK alone would be at the back of the queue for trade agreements. He thought that agreements between the UK and the US would be put in place in no time.

St Emilion and Belle-ile

The tour to St Emilion was the best Silversea tour this cruise. It took TSH and Diva to a medieval stone village which is a world heritage site. On the way, they passed many famous vineyards, such as Pomeron and Cheval blanc, whose produce is way beyond TSH’s wine budget. One of the highlights of the village was the stone church which had been carved out of the rock. During WW2, it was used to store the stained glass windows of the northern France cathedrals to save them from the bombing. Back in Bordeaux, they had a good external view of the new wine museum, open for just a few days, which is designed to look like wine swirling into a decanter. The inside seems to be a bit like the Guinness museum in Dublin, with tasting in the panoramic view bar at the end.

The Silversea boutique had a sale of venetian glass jewellery, so after a couple of glasses of port, Diva added to her collection.

The excursion to Belle-ile has two narratives. TSH thought it was interesting and scenic and he had a good time. Except when Diva was complaining. Because the walking in the heat up hills and over cobbles was far more than she had expected. And everybody walks faster than she does. It felt like games class at school. Parts of the coast were very wild and rocky, like Cornwall but the interior was mainly rolling small hills. The views on the coast were very dramatic – in one place, it was totally clear and in just a few moments the mist rolled in. TSH took so many pics that his SD card ran out of space.

An unscheduled stop next so that the Silver Wind can officially exit the Schengen area.

TSH photographed gannets following the Silver Wind and on Belle-ile he spotted a few lizards of varying sizes. Also special breeds of cows and sheep.

The executive chef is providing special food most evenings. Mostly cheese but sometimes antipasti, such as olives or oysters. Diva ate the oyster but TSH passed. He had eaten shellfish earlier in the day when he did not wear his specs to visit the buffet and he ended up with seafood pizza.

Good news

TSH and Diva learned that they have a new grand-son. Two weeks early but obviously desperate to join the world. All’s well with him and his mother. His health was toasted with much Prosecco in La Terrazza.

Bordeaux

The sea was still calm as the Silver Wind made its way across part of the Bay of Biscay. Diva spotted a couple of dolphins leaping out of the water as they came over to investigate the ship. It was good to hear that one of the waitresses (20 years with Silversea) had been able to find time to visit the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

A few nights ago, Diva thought that the butler was very efficient on a time-change night as the alarm clocks has been altered. Turns out it was TSH who was the efficient one.

Bordeaux is a beautiful city which can be appreciated even from the mooring close to the city centre. The only other vessels there were river boats, including one belonging to Viking. The morning walk took in the seafront, a farmers’ market and several large squares, including the one between the cathedral and the hotel de ville and the one with the main theatre.

Referendum: One young woman thinks that the best prospects for the UK lie in Brexit and then becoming a tax haven. Her greatest fear was of extreme German socialism. Not sure which kind of socialism she was afraid of.

Bilbao in the rain

It is only a few years since TSH and Diva visited the Guggenheim, so this time they decided to use the shuttle bus and walk round the city on their own. This is the first time that raincoats and hats have been required on this cruise. The city is very interesting, with many impressive buildings which appear to date from the 19^th century. Many are connected with finance and banking but there are also government buildings. A visit to the railway station gave the opportunity for a few train pics and a good view of the impressive stained glass window,

The walk finished along the river with a good view of the Guggenheim before returning on the shuttle.

Dinner with new friends from Hove.

Gijon and Aviles

This area still has heavy industry in the shape of coal mining and steel manufacture. The tour started in Aviles, where there was a 1 hour 30 minute walking tour. This seemed a bit long but it did give an impression of a town which had been subject to many changes over 800 years. At first, it did not seem very hospitable. TSH and Diva tried to get a drink at a smart hotel but the bar was not yet open., although they used the clean loos, which really was the point of the exercise. The first street café did not serve either tea or decaff coffee, so that was useless. But the next one not only served with a smile but they produced complimentary biscuits and then a small piece of frittata on bread.

Diva thought the best part of the tour was the visit to the Labour University – a vast Franco-built attempt at a worker’s university. Fascist architecture but very impressive. Parts of it are still in use for education.

The city of Gijon is probably more attractive than Aviles and certainly seems more prosperous. TSH was most taken with a glimpse of the train museum and a steam engine. Although it was a five hour trip Diva and TSH were back in time for lunch – salad and fruit being a major part thereof.

Referendum: Diva had a chat with a British woman who seemed to want Brexit and did not see ‘what Brits have in common with Romanians and Bulgarians’. She had not lived in Britain since

1975.

La Coruna

The Silversea executive chef has joined the cruise. He has a table in the restaurant set out with port and local cheeses. TSH and Diva’s dessert was taken from this table and a good tasting session took place.  They plan to accompany him to a farmers’ market in a few days, to participate in the selection process.

Diva wanted her photo taken at the table in her formal clothes, so she handed TSH her smartphone. Regular readers will know that TSH has no smartphone but takes excellent pics with his digital SLR. But this makes him heavy handed and 14 almost identical photographs were taken with one heavy finger action.

The tour took in La Coruna itself and the nearby town of Betanzos. Not the most exciting of tours but it ended with a tasty tapas tasting at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. One member of the tour went missing for a while and his wife, desperate for him to hand over some money for her to buy a hat, speculated that he had been kidnapped. Europeans convinced her that the chances of this in a small town in Northern Spain were really quite low. Good sighting of a number of diesel engines on the way back into port.

New butler and maid not trained yet,

Referendum: Today’s Spanish guide seemed to think that the British have already decided to leave the EU.

Lisbon and Porto

On the second day in Lisbon, TSH and Diva took the metro into the centre of the old town and spent a pleasant couple of hours walking around.

It was not just guests disembarking at the end of their cruise – there were also many crew changes. So there is a new butler to train, as well as a new cleaner. And a new captain. They all did well on their first night, remembering all the special requests and steering the Silver Wind safely to Porto.

Porto, where TSH and Diva have visited before, was a really good port. They walked around areas they were not familiar with and took a pre-booked (by themselves, from home) trip to the Palacio da Bolsa. This is the home of the local Chamber of Commerce. The building is airy because of the central courtyard with glass roof. It contains an area with emblems of the countries Portugal traded with when the building was built. The woman from Iran was disappointed that there was no emblem for her country but the most disgusted were those from Canada and Australia who were told that they were included with Britain at that time. The most spectacular room is the Arab room, which is decorated in elaborate fashion from floor to ceiling.    

Today’s walking target was achieved but should have been more than doubled because many of the steps involved steep hills.

To TSH’s delight, the Cruise Port near Porto has a 19^th Century steam train on show.

Port in Lisbon and little Portugese custards in Porto.

It is Captain’s Welcome night, but the invitation to dine with Martin was refused.