May 9 & 10, 2015

May 10, 2015

We were awake at 7 when the announcement on the hallway speakers broadcast that we had arrived at St. Peter Port, Guernsey and the tender boats would soon be ready to take passenger to shore. On the ship’s closed circuit TV there is a morning show that tells you the main events for the day. It is produced in the ship’s TV studio and you can be a member of the audience.  Another channel gives you the current weather and the ship’s location. There are some American and British news channels. The day is starting with cloudy skies, some wind and a temperature of 9 C. We went for a two lap walk on deck 17 as we were a bit early to meet Peter and Karen for breakfast. There is a huge 300-square foot, 69,000-watt movie screen on deck 17 that can be viewed from most of the pool deck 16 and deck 17. The audio is broadcast on speakers on the two decks. You can even get popcorn to munch as you watch the show. There are three new movies each day that can later be ordered on the stateroom TVs later in the cruise. After breakfasting with Peter and Karen, we met them to wait for the tender boats to ferry us to the St. Peter Port pier. Steps 2,903. We checked at the Information Centre as to where and when the Roman Catholic church service was held and then decided to explore the town and area separately.

The Channel Island of Guernsey is just 30 miles west of the Normandy coast of France and 75 miles south of the English south coast town of Weymouth. We ventured to find the Guersey Tapestry, but the gallery is closed on Sundays. Then we walked to the Nazi German Underground Hospital, in nearby St. Andrew. The walk took only 45 minutes. The German Underground Hospital built into the side of a hill during the 1940 to 1945 German occupation of the island.  It was built by slave labor, digging the rock out and using it to build a flat roadway at the front, then pouring concrete in the excavated area or using bricks to cover the rock to create caverns for using as 28 to 30 bed wards or operating rooms for injured German soldiers or as storage for ammunition.  It is damp, cool and has some lighting. It had three escape exits. Two were 75 feet and 40 feet ladders to the surface and there was also a stairway to the surface, as well as the two camouflaged ground level entrances. It took 3 ½ years to build and was only used for three months to treat injured German soldiers after the Allied forces June 1944 D Day invasion of France. It was closed from noon to 2 pm so when Peter and Karen arrived by bus shortly after noon it was closed. We took a 20 minute bus ride back into St. Peter Port and visited the Castle Cornet, about half a kilometer from the pier. The temperature was 14 and the sun was shining when we arrived at the 800 year old Castle Cornet which had additions to it in the 1690s after the 1672 lightning strike which caused a fire in the Inner Ward which housed the ammunition storage, which explored and destroyed the center of the castle.  The last addition was in the early 1940s when the Nazis added gun batteries. It houses five museums and was a 20^th century prison as well as in earlier times. We took pictures including the 13^th century Prisoners Walk. We walked back to the pier in less than 10 minutes and browsed the Farmers Market on the pier.  There were about 15 stalls with local produce and crafts as well as cheese and wine from nearby France. We waited in a long line for over 40 minutes for the tender boat transfer back to the ship.  There was also a smaller ship, the Marco Polo, in port, with its own tender boats. Once back n the Royal Princess we had lunch with Peter and Karen in deck16’s Horizon Court buffet.  At 3:15 the four of us went to a wine tasting of five different wines.  Before returning to our stateroom to get ready for the first formal evening of the cruise we stopped on deck 5 at the International Café for cappuccinos.  The ship’s photographers have stations set up on decks 5 and 6 and also took pictures of people at the dining room tables and as couples. There was a special 50^th Anniversary menu and as a special item for Mother’s Day, the ladies were presented with a copy of the menu. We selected as appetizers Risotto cakes or Porcin Mushroom Cappuccino Soup, then entrées were Grilled Salmon with mashed potatoes and vegetables or Beef Fillet Medallion with roasted potatoes and vegetables. The 50^th anniversary dessert was Chocolate Raspberry Mousse with Vanilla Brule and crunchy shortbread. After dinner went danced at the Vista Lounge on deck 6 then met Peter and Karen at the Piazza, but the New Deal’s 60s music set had not yet started so we decided to go back to the stateroom and read.  There was a Captain’s announcement that we were passing Land’s End, England and entering the Celtic Sea which would have stretches of rough water. Total steps for today 18,941.

 

May 9, 2015

Watching the BBC news before breakfast, we learned that on VE Day 1945, the Channel Islands were not surrendered until the evening and each of the three main islands was surrendered individually.  Our stop tomorrow is in St. Peter Port, Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel off the north western coast of France. Today is cloudy, windy and a morning temperature of 12 C. We had a full English breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room. We needed to have our luggage ready to be picked up to be taken to the storage room until our ship transfer arrives at noon. Used the tablet to send emails to as many people as we can remember that there will not be any blog entries until the end of May when we return home. Ken and Evangeline were introduced to the group, they had arrived in London after we did yesterday.  We were in the bus on our way to Southampton just after noon.  We recognized some of the buildings near the hotel from our drive yesterday.  A light rain started as we crossed the Lambeth Bridge but had finished before we left Kensington. The clouds started to ease as we got closer to Southampton. We arrived at the Southampton Dock Gate 4 about 2:40 p.m. and after being sure that our luggage was on the conveyor belt to the ship, we entered the terminal, registered, waited about 15 minutes for our number to be called to board the ship, Royal Princess, and were in our deck 10 stateroom by 3:30 p.m. plus a bonus, the luggage was already delivered. This the first time that the luggage has arrived in our room before a life boat drill! This year Princess Cruises is celebrating its 50 year anniversary.  The Royal Princess was launched in June 2013 with a capacity of over 3,500 passengers. We were able to go to the Deck 16 Horizon Court buffet for a quick lunch with Karen and Peter before the 4:15 mandatory life boat drill. By 4:30, the drill was over, the quickest drill on any cruise ship on which we have travelled.  We then unpacked and there were over a dozen hangars each and plenty of drawer room in the stateroom. Our stateroom attendant, Michelangelo, introduced himself after the lifeboat drill. The lights only come on when your cruise card is inserted in the holder by the door. Our London hotel had the same system. There is a one minute delay before they turn off when you remove the card.  We were able to dance to the Rick Kilburn Quartet in the three storey high Piazza atrium to several tunes before going to the 6 p.m. dinner seating in the Allegro Dining Room with 12 of the group. Karen and Peter had anytime seating in another dining room. Steps 8,723. Our server is Jelena and the assistant waiter is Aurelio. Tonight for dinner we chose for appetizers Red Snapper Mojito with a mint, mango and avocado mixture or spring Rolls followed by a Watercress & lettuce salad or Caesar Salad. The entrées were Crawfish Soufflé with rice and vegetables or Leek and Ricotta Cheese Tart. The 8 o’clock show in the Princess Theatre, which is smaller than in other ships which have with fewer passengers, was a preview of the next few nights entertainment. The comedian, George Casey was quite funny. The cruise director is Lisa Ball. After the show we explored decks 5, 6 and 7 where the cafés, bars, casino and boutiques are located. We met up with Peter and Karen and arranged to meet for breakfast and explore St. Peter Port in the morning. The party band, New Deal returned to the Piazza for a 45 minute set of dance tunes, so we danced with about ten other couples until they finished playing then called it a night. Total steps for today 13,538.

 

May 7 & 8, 2015

May 8, 2015

Once off the plane, we walked to the Border Control area and the line moved well, but it was a long trek to the next terminal, down two or three storeys underground to pass through a wide tunnel under the plane gates and back up. There were moving walkways, like flat escalators to use, but we chose to walk. There were escalators and stairs to change levels and we took stairs where ever possible. The whole group of 12 was on the bus to transfer us to our hotel by 10:30 a.m. We have already logged 2,054 steps.

On our route, once in Greater London, we saw the London Eye (or Millennium Wheel) across the Thames River in the borough of Southwark, as we drove along the Embankment in the borough of Westminster, seeing lots of television cameras by the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.  The British had just elected a Conservative majority government on May 7^th. In Scotland the majority was for the Scottish National Party. The media attention was to cover the 70^th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe ending the European part of World War 2). We drove past the Tower of London and saw Tower Bridge as we neared the Grange Tower Bridge hotel. The check-in went smoothly and we were in our 9^th floor room by noon. Since our luggage was being taken to our room by a porter, of course, we used the stairs to get to our spacious room, with its view of London. We had logged 2,397 steps when we left the hotel at 12:30 p.m. for our exploration along the Thames River from Tower Bridge to Westminster Bridge.

A five minute walk toward the Thames River took us to see the hotel where we stayed on our first visit in 1983 beside the Tower Bridge. The hotel was as we remembered it, across the street from the 1,000 year old Tower of London. We walked around the St. Katharine’s Docks and saw where to get tickets for the Thames River boat cruises, but decided to walk to the London Eye, only 3 ½ km away and perhaps for the return to the hotel take the boat cruise or a hop-on, hop-off bus and see other areas of London, depending on the time. 

 

We climbed the steps up to the walkway on Tower Bridge, built in 1895, and passed the Tower Bridge Exhibition Ticket booth and found that there was a wind as we crossed the bridge to the borough of Bermondsey. We could see the cruiser Belfast, which now a floating museum, as we crossed.  On this side we noticed sidewalk markers telling us that we were walking part of Jubilee walkway, a 24 km route created to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Anniversary in 1977 and expanded over the years. We walked part of the Western Loop, Eastern Loop and section 8 of the Jubilee Greenway Loop, about 8 km plus our detours from the paths.

The skies looked like we might encounter some rain during the afternoon, but we were wearing waterproof hooded jackets. Our first stop in the borough of Bermondsey was Hay’s Galleria of shops and cafés for a quick lunch. It was originally built in 1850 as a wharf, but is filled in and there is just an interesting water sculpture, rather than clipper ships taking tea from India and China to the warehouses. At Costa Coffee, we bought coffee and an Italian bun to share then sat in their patio in the open courtyard before browsing and buying some cards. Then we went back to the walkway along the Thames River and worked our way into the borough of Southwark to see the Cathedral and the Borough Market.  Southwark Cathedral is an early Gothic London church which has its origins in the first church built in 1106 and now has parts from 1207, the 15^th century and a rebuild in the late 19^th century which can be seen as different materials were used in the various stages of construction. Just across the lane from it is the Borough Market, on the south side. Borough Market is the oldest market in London area with historical references that there was a market here in the 13^th century. There has been a market on this site since the mid 1500s. Part of the market is located under a railway viaduct off Borough High Street.  There are more than 60 stalls with a wide variety of goods - fresh produce, flowers, potted herbs, fish, meats including venison and rabbit, spices, wines, ciders, cheeses, breads, coffees, chocolates, pastries and even a stall selling Turkish Delight and Baklava. Our next location was the London Eye, but we made a wrong turn and took 45 minutes to get to it.  It was hard to miss, once we had our direction corrected. We were close to 11,000 steps when we arrived at the ticket office, after 3 p.m. when the peak time was over. We only had a ten minute wait in the ticket line and about the same amount of time in line to board the capsule of the giant 135 meter Ferris Wheel, with 32 pods that can hold 25 people each. The wheel does not stop for passengers to get on or off. The London Eye was officially opened on New Year’s Eve 1999 as part of millennial celebrations.  It took about half an hour to slowly make the one revolution which has great view of London. We could see up and down the Thames River, St. James’ Park and zoomed in for a picture of Buckingham Palace. The Houses  of Parliament were just across the Thames, we could see Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral, but Tower Bridge was around a curve and we could not see it.  In the last 10 minutes a gentle rain started. Our route continued, to cross Westminster Bridge, built in 1750, to the City of London borough, in a light rain. We walked under the trees along the Embankment then we crossed Waterloo Bridge. The 19^th century John Rennie designed Waterloo Bridge was opened in June 1817, the second anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and had a toll to help cover its building cost. John Rennie also designed the 19^th century London Bridge. The current Waterloo Bridge was constructed during World War 2.  We walked along another part of the Jubilee Walkway and decided to start a search for a place to eat dinner as it was after 4:30 p.m. and we hadn’t eaten much. At the Millemium pedestrian bridge, we crossed the Thames again and walked right up the front of Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral built between 1675 and 1711 after a previous church was destroyed in London’s Great Fire of 1666. Next we walked along the Strand until we arrived at the Monument, designed by Christopher Wren to commemorate the 1666 Great Fire of London with a loss of 13,000 houses. Then we meandered back to the Tower of London, just after 6 p.m. and decided to have dinner at a St. Katharine’s Dock restaurant, Coté Brassiere. The menu offered a three course meal for about $25 Canadian plus beverage. We chose appetizers of cold or hot Potato and Leek Vichyssoise or riblettes with sourdough bread; entrées of puff pastry with ratatouille of goat cheese, black olives, capers and olive oil or roasted sea bass with creamed leek and mushrooms, then for dessert apple crumble with vanilla ice cream or a creamy dark chocolate pudding topped with crème fraiche along with a glass of wine or pint of beer.

It was less than a ten minute walk back to the hotel where we climbed the 156 steps to our 9^th floor room The pedometer read 24,542 about 16 km walking today. It was just after 9 p.m. when we went to bed, 33 ½ hours since we woke up to start our journey to London.

      Just as I finish this narrative, the Windows Operating system of the computer has failed and I cannot post the blog entry. 

      There will not be further postings until we get home and fix the problem or buy a new laptop.

 

May 7. 2015

Scott drove us to the airport for the flight to Toronto on May 7th.  We met the members of the group – hosts, Brian and Brendene; first time cruisers, Trish and Dave; our friends, Peter and Karen; and past cruisers from other hosted groups, Ed & Linda and Trudy & Geisa. The other couple also past cruisers from other hosted groups, Ken and Evangeline will join us in London.  We checked in and the Toronto to London flight was 2 hours later than the itinerary time.  Brendene checked with Carlson Wagonlit, the travel company that arranged the group tour, to be sure that they were aware of the change to check that our transfer bus to the London hotel would arrive to pick us up at London’s Heathrow airport at the proper time. We arrived in Toronto airport about 3:30 p.m. and had 4 ½ hours between flights to grab a bite to eat and walk around the post security International Flights area of the airport. At 6:30, we had logged 11,367 steps. Karen’s sister and family were on the same flight, but in another compartment of the plane. We found seats in the gate waiting lounge and read or chatted with the other group members until the plane boarded. The flights from home to London cover about 6,400 kilometers. Takeoff was 9:09 p.m. (or 2:09 a.m. London time).  Logged steps were 12,235.  Within an hour, a hot meal of Shepherd’s pie or creamed chicken and vegetables with a bun, corn and cabbage salad, wine and dessert of a brownie was served. We dosed and may have slept for an hour in total before giving up and either reading or watching a movie or the map of our flight. Around 6 a.m. London time, there was some turbulence as we were getting closer to Ireland. A snack of banana bread and coffee, tea, juice or water was served around 7:30 a.m. We were 255 miles west of Cork, Ireland and 582 miles east of London Heathrow.  About 40 minutes before landing, the British landing cards for Border Control were distributed. We touched down just before 9 a.m. with cloudy skies and a temperature of 53.6 F.