How long ago did I promise you a blog would be coming “soon”? A month? Can’t be. Wow. Really? I’ve been back on this side of the pond for a month? Things have been a little busy. First of all, I’ve been enjoying some of my favorite ports up here in Canada and New England. I’ve had a change in bosses. And I had my parent’s cruising for a week. All of those have required my attention and energy so I haven’t been writing much- sorry. If I take a break from writing for a bit I find it really hard to start again. In fact I will find just about anything else to do instead of write. If you don’t believe me, I read the last 4 months worth of Reader’s Digests in just over a week AND I went to the gym today- second time this week. I know, I think I need a therapist too.
So what did I promise last time? Tales of the crossing? Who can remember? That was so long ago…. I’ll give it a try though…or maybe I’m making it up. You weren’t there. In fact, how do you know any of my stories are true? You believe the pictures? Um, ever heard of Google Images? Maybe instead of visiting all of these places I’ve actually just been sitting in my cabin perfecting my Photoshop skills to trick you all. For all you know my ship is actually a riverboat casino permanently docked somewhere in Louisiana. If you still think I’m out having worldwide adventures read on.
My transatlantic crossing cruise began in Harwich, England and ended 14 days later in Boston, Massachusetts, USA- hence trans-Atlantic.
Our first port of call took us on a jaunt across the Bay of Biscay to Le Harve, France. Also known as “The Port of Paris.” Paris is not a port. Don’t let that title confuse you. Le Harve is a port, or a parking lot for ships. Paris is a mere two hour bus ride away. Now a two hour trip may sound far to some, but it’s Paris. How can you not go?!?! Plus it’s about two hours from my house to where I used to work in Pittsburgh and I cannot begin to even count the number of times I’ve made that trip in the last four years. If I’m willing to drive two hours to see Pittsburgh, or my hometown for that matter, how can I not travel two hours to see Paris? So, yes, I went. I bought a seat on the “Eiffel Tower Crew Tour.” I was a little surprised when my “tour” just dropped me off at the base of the Eiffel Tower and told me when to be back at the bus. No trip to the top? No informative tour guide speeches? Nope. First, I got in line for the lift to the top of the tower, but then I decided I needed to get my workout in yet today so I got in the line for the stairs. That’s right, I took the stairs up the Eiffel Tower. I took a picture of stair number 500, but I honestly can’t remember how many stairs there were in total. 720? Maybe. That sounds familiar. That took me to the first and second levels. From there we had to take a lift to the top, but we didn’t have time. Sad. I went the whole way to Paris and didn’t make it to the top of the Eiffel tower. Oh well. I guess I have to go back. I want it to be some spectacular “End of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’” type situation up there anyway (yes, I know that was the Empire State Building. Studying Nora Ephron films helped me earn my college degree. Be jealous.).
From the Tower I saw the Notre Dame and the Arch de Triumph. I would love to actually go see those places up close someday, but I just didn’t have enough time. There was definitely a lack of planning on my part which is unusual since I plan everything. However, I did get to eat lunch in a sidewalk cafe. If memory serves I even ate French Fries in France (Mental note: “French Fries in France” is a great title for a children’s book). I had wanted to eat French Fries, French Toast, French Bread, and French’s Mustard. I got the fries and a few croissants. That will have to do for now.
The next day was Cherbourg, France. I’m glad I’m typing instead of speaking because I cannot say the name of this town for some reason. “Cherbourg” and “familiarization” are tough for me. Those and “Rural Juror.” Say it. See?
Anyway, Cherbourg is a fishing village. It was a cute French town. I felt like I was walking through a movie set. Narrow streets. Pastry shops. Beautiful. There is an awe-inspiring Gothic church in the town too. It was my safe-haven from the rain and was absolutely gorgeous. There was also a tiny, yet amazing, park in town. A former mayor, or official of some kind, in Cherbourg had loved nature and plants and he built this park with lots of unique plants. Including a palm tree. I saw what is possibly the only palm tree in France.
After France I was off to Ireland, a place I have always wanted to visit. My first stop was Cobh- aka the last above water stop of the Titanic. I had wanted to go kiss the Blarney Stone and see the Blarney Castle, but I had to work that afternoon so I was just able to see Cobh and nearby Cork. Cork is a city. I guess a nice city. I’ve found that I’ve become pretty unimpressed by cities unless there are things I want to see and do there. I don’t shop so the main reason most people go downtown is completely lost on me. But there were some nice, historical churches around town and it was all quite pretty.
Cobh is a smaller town and it looks like the economy is not great over there either. Lots of storefronts were boarded up and are now for sale. It was rather sad. One of the first things I saw in Cobh was a monument of a girl and her two brothers representing some of the first people to arrive in the United States through Ellis Island. Lots of people left Ireland for the States during the Famine. This was of particular interest to me because I visited Ellis Island for the first time earlier this year.
Cobh has markers on a few sites throughout town that pertain to the Titanic. For example I found a set of stairs that the passengers walked down on their way to the dock. There is also still a “White Star Line” sign atop one of the waterfront buildings.
I was in Dublin the next day, but it was a short one. I think I had to be onboard around 3:00 PM. Like a lot of the European ports, you had to take a shuttle bus into town. The bus dropped us off right across from King’s College but I didn’t really have time to explore it. Instead I went and saw the Dublin Castle, local parks and churches and just tried to blend in and observe a typical Dublin day. To help with that I had lunch in a pub. I didn’t make it to the Guinness factory, but I did see a Guinness truck in town making local deliveries.
After a day and half at sea I was in Reykjavik, Iceland. Can someone explain to me why I can say Reykjavik and not Cherbourg?
We didn’t get in until about 2:30 PM so I went out on deck to see the sail in. I could see the majestic cliff-lined coast of Iceland while we were still a long way out. As we got closer, a guest lecturer we had onboard from Iceland made announcements telling us about what we were seeing. I saw steam rising from the mountains and it was from all of the volcanic activity of the island. I was about to see a lot more steam since later that night I went to the Blue Lagoon- a resort with natural hot springs. It wasn’t as hot as I had expected it to be, but it was still really nice. The Blue Lagoon provided silica to put on your face as a spa treatment. They had a swim up bar and I loved drinking my smoothie while warming my bones in the lagoon.
We were there for an overnight and I spent the next day walking around town. Iceland is now one of my favorite places in the world. I would love to go and spend a week or more there. See the volcano. Hike on the glaciers. Sit in the hot springs some more. Everything is incredibly expensive in Iceland, but it is like no other place I’ve seen. I would really like more time to explore.
One of my favorite parts was the Northern Lights. I saw them a little bit the night we were docked in Reykjavik. At first glance I was really disappointed. It looked like a cloud with a slight green tint or even pollution. Perhaps a better description is the scene in “Christmas Vacation” where the old guy causes an explosion while lighting his cigar on the lawn of the Grizwald’s house- the first glimpse of the Northern Lights I had looked like the gasses that were coming from the storm drain in that scene. But with a little patience, I saw an amazing display of God’s creativity. What would start off as a faint green line would become a bright green swirl and would sometimes change to white or even red as it danced through the sky. The display was even better the next night. I spent hours watching the night sky all bundled up. I tried so hard to get pictures of it and only figured out the correct camera settings for it as they disappeared. Refer back to my earlier Google Images comment.
I was now on the Voyage of the Vikings- Iceland to Newfoundland. After 3 days at sea we landed in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. How long did it take the Viking’s? Probably longer than that. While I was happy to cross another Canadian Province off the list, there really wasn’t much to see in St. John’s. I had some really nice blueberry pancakes and I enjoyed reading about how St. John’s was home to many escort ships used in war. Other than that I just walked around town some more.
Three days later I was in Boston and back in the continental United States for the second time in four months. The only other time was as I was changing planes at JFK on my way from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Helsinki, Finland. Being out of the States for that long really is a big deal since until 4 years ago I had only ever been out the country to Canada three or four times and didn’t even have a passport. Actually I had never been on an airplane until four years ago. Crazy how life can change. It’s also crazy how it is not at all how you imagine it. I make it a priority to live with no regrets though. Try new things and always have fun. My new motto is “We don’t stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing.”
Go play. And learn how to use Google Images. And Photoshop.
