July-December 2012

Six months have passed by in a flash. Life seems rather mundane when we’re not out cruising and I hadn’t planned to keep to a monthly writing schedule as there didn’t seem to be that much interesting to say. Looking back, in summary though, we have had quite a bit going on over the last six months, so, I thought I would share a few photos and comments.

A spent the summer and fall commuting to Copenhagen for work. The work was satisfying (after it was all over!) and the customer deadlines were met. For my project farewell dinner, we went to a restaurant in the famous Tivoli Gardens in the heart of Copenhagen. It was a crisp fall night and the Gardens had all been decorated for Halloween, lots of fun and good memories. Our project team was an interesting mix, with English, Scottish, South African, American, Lebanese, Spanish, Portugese and Canadian (me) members. The customer team had Danes, of course, as well as lots of Poles, Bulgarians and especially Swedes. The only common language is English and I continue to be amazed at the multilingual capacity of Europeans. It really makes me embarrassed to be a unilingual North American. In the office, language is never a problem, but, I have heard other cruisers say that they have occasionally gotten flak for not speaking the local language(s). With most cruisers visiting many countries, even within a single year, it just isn’t possible to get more than a few words, let alone become fluent. After a few months of listening to Danish, I was starting to pick up a few things, but, not enough to communicate.

2012 was also the Olympic and Queen’s Jubilee summer for London. We’re not much into crowds, but, I must admit that London had a ‘vibe’ that was hard to beat. Lots of smiles and people from everywhere. Flags and bunting were proudly displayed. Each country had a sort of ‘clubhouse’ somewhere in the city. Amusingly, while A was working in Copenhagen, St. Kat’s marina was turned into a little corner of Denmark with a floating entertainment stage, free hot dogs and cultural showcase pavilions. The marina itself was almost empty, management had tried to gouge with their pricing structure and it backfired when the expected superyachts never materialized. We, however, decided to stay and pay the ridiculous seventeen day premium. To move the boat somewhere else and then have to commute back into the airport for work didn’t make much sense. Commuting was difficult, especially through our local station, London Bridge. Huge crowds were forced to pass through barricaded entry/exit points and a few platforms had to be closed due to overcrowding, but, generally, it was ok.

Albufeira, Portugal

Outdoor escalators from the beach to the street

In December, we decided to take the opportunity for a short trip. We’d always heard about other people going on these really cheap holidays and getting fantastic deals. Somehow, we never seemed able to get one for ourselves. One day, I just happened to get one of those ‘deal’ emails that couldn’t be resisted. We booked to go on a seven day trip to the Portugese Algarve for £268 (about CAD$400). Now, this included both our return flights to Faro, a studio room with kitchen and breakfast and all taxes etc.!! At that price, we thought we could spring for a car as well and rented a car for eight days for only £65 (about CAD$100). The hotel and reviews looked ok online, but, for the price, we couldn’t imagine it would be anything special. To our surprise, it actually was quite good. Location was excellent, right on the beach and a short walk into the main town. The public areas of the hotel were of a very high quality and the breakfast was excellent. Ok, the room was a little shabby and the beds not great, but, it was clean. Albufeira in high season would not be our favourite place as I’m sure it’s very crowded, but, the week before Christmas most shops and restaurants were closed and it was very quiet. The ones that were open were hungry for business and we were enticed into one restaurant with cut-price offers, food was very good and we ate there two nights. The best days of the trip were when we took the car out of town and up into the mountains. We did a circular hike along a high ridge which had spectacular views. On our way back down the mountain we stopped at a restaurant we had noticed on the way up. It wasn’t obviously a restaurant, only the cars parked outside gave it away. It was packed with local people and we had the most fabulous meal. There was no menu. The waitress, luckily, knew enough English and told us, in one-word sentences, what we were going to get. A plate of very thin, dry-cured ham, a plate of thick-sliced, fresh, tomatoes and onions liberally laced with crunchy sea salt, home-baked, heavy peasant-style bread with fresh butter, followed by peri-peri chicken (spicy, barbequed chicken) and home-made French fries. What a feast and what a great trip!

G with new friends

On one of many beach walks

From Albufeira, we also signed up for a day trip to Seville, Spain. This was a great day out with someone else doing the driving and our first visit to Spain. Seville, of course, is famous for its marmalade oranges. All the streets were lined with trees laden with the fruit which added colour to the extensive Christmas decorations. It was a very beautiful town.

Amazing tilework

Seville - Tiled bridge

Seville - street scene

Seville oranges

We got back from Portugal just in time for Christmas. A’s office arranged their first Christmas party this year and it was very special. We were invited to a black-tie affair (our first) and an overnight stay at a 16th century Royal hunting lodge. The lodge was near Windsor and we took the train there. The hotel was absolutely amazing with original carved wood panelling and a warm ambience. We were almost late to dinner due to G’s wardrobe malfunction. His rented tux had a very complicated bowtie that neither of us could figure out. Luckily, the hotel restaurant manager came to the rescue and made us feel better when he said he had just had to assist another guest with the same problem! The evening was lovely and much enjoyed. We had little treats from Harrods placed in our rooms and enjoyed a lovely breakfast the next morning as well. After a stroll through the gardens, we departed for the boat and packed away our finery. There’s not much call for high heels and formal wear in our cruising life, but, it was fun for a night.

Christmas 2012

The Christmas week itself was actually spent in transit, on the boat, to Suffolk! More to follow on that in the next post.