Funchal, Madeira

We have just finished our first full bridge day at sea.  Actually, we had one a few days ago but this is the first of the seven straight days.  The competition is pretty touch and I don't know how some of the ladies can pick up their hands to hold their cards ... their diamonds are too heavy! I have never seen diamonds like the one being flashed around here.  Thye majority of the players are from Florida and they go on all the Larry Cohen cruises and most of the Regent cruises.  There is another cruise director on the ship as every Regent cruise has a bridge director who teacher the Audrey Grant bridge lessons.  Audrey Grant supplies all the cruise directors for the cruise line.  Enough about bridge ....
Yesterday we docked at Funchal, Madeira which is a Portugese Island off Africa.  What a beautiful island; especially since Andrea and Dave where there to greet us at the warf.  We hopped into their rented car and got a guided tour of the island.  Actually, Dave's GPS was guiding us!  They got me out of my comfort zone with heights!!!  We drove to the highest point on the island and it really was spectacular.  It was 6,000 feet above sea level and we were far above the clouds and could actually look down on our ship.  Lots of cool photos.
Madeira us called the island of flowers and is volcanic which gives spectacular rock formation and vegetation.  The road that crosses the island has a section that us an UNESCO world heritage sight because the forests go back hundreds of years.  This is one place where we could return to easily.  We have lots of great photos and Andrea and Dave will have a whole week's worth.  Lots of great spots for them to hike.
Around 2 o'clock we brought them back onto the cruise ship and we had lunch by the pool with some great wine and beer.  The cruise ship was very obliging when we asked permission for them to come aboard.  They had made up bording passes for them and they left their passports at the entrance while they were on board.
The weather is lovely with the air temperature around 20 deg.  It is sunny with calm seas.  According to the captain, weather looks good.
Regent had a "Black Friday" sale on Friday and Saturday, so we took the opportunity to book another cruise for next November.  This one is a 23-day cruise which starts and finished in Miami and travels up the Amazon River.  There are 7 ports in the south Caribbean and 5 ports along the Amazon River.  The ship has only 490 passengers.  This should be a real adventure!!
All the news for today.  Love to all ...

Tours, tours and more tours ...

This is our first "free" day on the cruise as we travel between Malaga, Spain and the island of Funchal, Portugal.  It is a warm and sunny day and I am sitting on our balcony realizing that the ocean is 4km keep.  Doesn't really matter because after the first 10 feet depth means nothing.  We had our first full day of bridge and Larry's lesson was super.  The bridge players are very good with the majority of them having well over 2,000 master points!!
I would like to describe our 4 shore excursions, each one being unique.  Other than the fact that we feel like a bunch of sheep being herded onto the busses, the trips are great.
Our first stop was Monte Carlo and we took the tour to Eze along with a walking tour of the old town of Monaco.  Eze is a small village situated on a high hill, complete with narrow cobblestone streets, unique restaurants and magnificant views of the whole French Riveria. It was a pretty intensive walk uphill for 25 minutes and some of the older folk could not do it.  When we got near the top we each paid 5 euros and climbed higher through a beautiful cactus garden.  Afterwards, we drove back to Monte Carlo and then walked to the palace to see the changing of the guard.  Once we returned to the ship we were tired out but were so impressed with the beauty  of the whole area.  Docked beside our ship was a beautiful yacht owned by the ambassador from Saudi.  Too bad  I cannot post photos ... when I return home and get a better internet connection, I will add some photos.
On Tuesday we went on the wine tour to Jean Leon, a one hour drive from Barcelona.  Once again, we enjoyed seeing the beautiful countryside with miles of vineyards.  The Torres winery is the largest in Spain and employees 1,500.  The winery is so large that we were seated in small trains to travel throughout the winery. We had a fabulous wine tasting of 4 wines.  These Spanish wines are sold in North America and I have had the Celestial wine before.  I did buy a few different bottles to bring home and I know we can taste some of them in Florida with Bob and Francine.
Unfortunately, a gentleman (87 years old) on our bus fell while walking down the  stairs on the bus.  He had had a hip replacement 4 months ago and broke it again.  (Don't you do that Roeland) He was taken away by ambulance and was operated on that night.  He is expected to be flown back to Toronto in a few days.
There have been several serious falls on the ship.  Some of the people cruising should not be on the ship!!
After we toured the winery, we had a driven tour of Barcelkona before returning to the ship.
On Wednesday we docked in Valencia, Spain.  What a beautiful city!  We drove through the new modern part of the city on our way to tour the Llaro factory where they make porcelain figurines.  It was extremely interesting to see the whole process.  On our way back to the ship, we toured the old city.  It is a very clean city, with lovely trees and flowers.
On Thursday we docked in Malaga,  Spain which is the big tourist area along the Med.  Once again, the flowers and trees were beautiful.  It boasts 90 golf courses, but we only drove by one.  Our destination was Mijas village (the little while town), located high in the mountains.  All the houses are painted white -- it is the law that only white paint is allowed and they have to be painted once a year. They have donkey carts to transport you for a large fee ... the donkeys did not smell very good to say the least.  It was a lovely day and once again, the photos will follow.
That is it for our tours.  In Funchal tomorrow we are meeting Andrea and Dave who have rented a car and will take us around to see the sights.  The good news is that we have set it up so that they can come aboard the ship.
All for now ... wine time!  Love to all and keep your stick on the ice!!

Life on the Ship ... a real hardship

Sunday was an exciting day as we boarded the cruise ship at 11 a.m.  What a gorgeous ship the Regent Seven Seas Mariner is. We thought the ship would be small because there are only 700 passengers, but it is quite large.  Because it is an "all suite ship", the staterooms are at least double size.  We were greeted with champagne and there was also a chilling bottle of champagne in our room.  It is still there as neither of us like champagne.  This is an "all inclusive" cruise, so our room steward asked us what we would like in our fridge.  Yikes .... we were kind of at a loss for words because Eric only drinks beer and I only drink wine, in very limited quantities!
Our stateroom is gorgeous.  Due to the fact that the internet is rather slow here, we cannot download photos, so you will have to accept our description.  Once we entered the suite, the washroom was directly to our right.  It is full sized with full tub and shower ... all marble. Next there is a vanity with lights, stool and hairdryer.  Then comes the full walk-in closet, complete with drawers and luxury bath robs and slippers.
The large king size bed is so comfortable!  It has 2 night stands and lamps.  Then there are curtains that separate the living room!  It has sofa (which pulls out to another bed), chair, coffee table across from the full wall unit.  This unit has flat screen TV, desk, drawers and fridge.  More drapes and then the balcony.  It is actually so warm this afternoon that we were sitting on the balcony while at sea.
The first day was one big party!  They had a "block party" after we left the dock.  We came out   into our hallways and they served us champagne and wine with canapes while we met our neighbours.  It was interesting because first thing there was the captain greeting us.  He and his first officer + the cruise director made their way throughout the entire ship to greet everyone.  I was very careful not to ask him who was driving the ship!
The theatre troup on the ship all mingle with the passengers during the cocktain parties before dinner.  They are the most  interesting and beautiful young people.  The girls are all dancers as well as singers and they are simply gorgeous ... tall and slender.  They have wonderful personalities and it is evident that they are hired for more than their musical talents.  We were sitting in the lounge before dinner and two of them came and sat with us.
The captain (who we have net 3 times so far) is only 35 and is a super person.  He is from France and he is a very social and vibrant person.  Most of the crew is from Europe and they are all very professional.
The food is beyond description!  Certainly when we return home it will be back to basics!  Poor Eric is consuming many tums!
We are here to play bridge and actually go to do so today for the first time.  The shore excursions have been taking all our time!  Looks like a nice group.  Some VERY weathy folk here.  The diamonds are beyond reality!  They are very nice people and we know that we are going to enjoy our bridge game with them.  They are "groopies" who not only go on all Larry Cohen's bridge cruises but also have been cruising with Regent for years.  The staff all know them personally.
We have had 3 shore excursions so far, but this will have to be another blog .....
Sorry if we have bored you with all the details, but we were under orders from Dad and Bette to give all the details.

Paris to Rome ... if you have time to spare, go by train!!

Paris was dark when we left our hotel at 6:30 AM.  It was only a 10 minute walk to Gare Lyon, but things were busy in the train station.  We located our gate and then went through French customs.  Customs in Europe is much more pleasant than North America and the customs agents are actually human beings that can crack a smile and make you feel welcome in their country.
We had purhcased our Eurail tickets "online" several months earlier (thanks for Dave Woolnough for his help).  This train was a much nicer train than the Eurostar from London to Rome.  Cruising along at over 200 kph (sometimes much faster) made the flat countryside go by quickly and before we knew it we were approaching the Alps.  At St. Michells the train stopped to pick up passengers and sat at the station for 20 minutes before we were told that there was an oil spill on the tracks ahead and the train could not proceed.  We would have to wait for busses to pick us up at this station to drive 80 km to the next station where the other train would take us on to Milan.  We waited 2 hours for the busses while they brought the passengers on the other train to our station.
The drive on the bus took us through the most beauiful part of the Alps and we were told once we got back on the other train that we would arrive in Milan at 5:15 pm.  We knew that our tickets fron Milan to Rome were no good and that we would have to catch the 7:15 train from Milan to Rome.  After we were on the train for only 30 minutes, we were informed that we had to change to another train!  This train was a dirty old thing with no heat!  It turned out to be a commuter train to Milan.  We were telling the lady across from us what had happened to us and she was just horrified and apologized for the terrible treatment we had received.  When we finally arrived in Milan, we had 17 minutes to catch our high-speed train to Rome.  This kind lady personally took us to the ticket counter (which would have taken us forever to find) and made certain that we got on our train.  She certainly was a blessing to us because we would have never made the connections to get our ship the next day.
When we had our tickets, we ran to the train (our walking before the trip had certainly paid off) and hopped on the first coach.  We had no assigned seat, simply a ticket so when we found 2 seats together we just sat down.  After a few minutes when the train started we realized that we were sitting in first class!  We figured we would wait for the conductor to come to check the tickets and ask where we should be seated.  When the conductor came along, we told him what had happened and he just stamped our tickets and smiled!  First class all the way to Rome .....
Once is Rome we had another good samaritan who helped us buy our tickets to Civitaveccia and we got on the last train out for the night.  It was 11:30 when we left and we arrived at Civitaveccia at 12:45.  Off the train we went and walked to 2 blocks to our hotel, which was waiting for us.
What a day!!  The Amazing Race had nothing on this.  I really I hope I get a customer survey from Eurail!!!  We were so impressed with the Italian people who were so helpful and kind to us.
Finally, in first class we had a GPS display which was kind of cool.  It clocked the speed of the train and the fasted speed it reached was 296 km/hour!!!
I am writing this on the ship on Monday after our day in Monte Carlo.  Great interet here for a great price!  We had a huge shipboard credit which I am sure will be used for internet.  Was actually able to Skpye Sandra last night.

Paris in One Day

What to do when you only have one day in Paris??

First, we did not pay the 18 euros each for breakfast at the hotel; instead walked down the street to a little cafe and had coffee, pastry and orange juice for 4.50! It certainly was not my usual yogurt and fruit! I guess I have to get myself built up to cruise food.  Eric was not impressed with the coffee and I gave him mine because I am still not drinking coffee.

Because we are right at Gare Lyon, the hop-on-hop-off bus stopped close by, so decided to hop on for the day.  It did suit our needs well as it is difficult to decide on what to see.  We did make a point of stopping at Notre Dame cathedral and were impressed by the beauty,  Eric kept commenting on the old buildings with their amazing architecture,

Some of our observations so far on this trip:

The British have cell phones glued to their ears and iPods glued to their hands.
The French all smoke!  Even while driving their scooters.
The British and French have very few obese people.  They must come to North America and be shocked at our obese population.
There are no parking meters!  Lots of cars and scooters parked everywhere in Paris but in London there is just no place to park!
Even though there is no smoking in cafe's and restaurants in Paris, people sit outside and smoke ... no matter what the weather is like.  I love the fact that they are such "social" people.
And last but not least for Andrea .... there are so many Smart Cars!!!  We have even seen them parked 2 to a spot, but one got a ticket.

Off on another "Amazing Race" tomorrow.  Train from Paris to Milan and then Milan to Rome. Then we take another train from Rome to Civitiveccia (sp).  Will be a long day ..... then the cruise!

How Good is my French???

Today was our travel day.  We had a very nice quiet breakfast at our hotel in London and left about 10 am for the nearby Underground station.  It was our "Amazing Race" to Paris.

I would not like to be a disabled person in London because the Underground certainly does not favour people with limited nobility.  Not only are there many stairs to climb but even the escalators are hard to manage. We have 2 very large pieces of luggage + our shoulder bags and it was all that we could do to get them from one point to another.  At some points, Eric would take both pieces of luggage and I would carry the 2 shoulder bags,  We took the Underground from Earl's Court to St. Pancras (Eric kept calling it St. Pancreas in honour of Andrea!).  One thing about the Brits is that they know how to move people around. We had quite the marathon walk at St. Pancras in order to get to the Eurostar station.  That station is really beautiful with lovely shops and lots of space.  We quickly made it through security and immigration.  I must say that the British and French immigration is much more pleasant than American immigration.

The trip on the Eurostar was also interesting  I had a wonderful sleep and Eric watched the french countryside.  It took 20 minutes to go under the English Channel and we had lunch then.  We arrived at Gare Norde, which meant we had to take the train to Gare Lyon where our hotel was. It was quite an adventure to find the correct train, but we were impressed with the French people who helped us out.  We stepped off the train at Gare Lyon, walked outside the station and literally walked 2 blocks to our hotel.  I knew we were close to the hotel when I spotted the wine bar next to it that I had seen on Google Streetview!

We are impressed with our hotel which is a Best Western.  The room is the standard small French room, but very clean and with FREE internet!!!

After settling in, we went outside and just walked the streets!  So cool!!  Love Paris.  So much more interesting than London.  We found a lovely little French Restaurant (one of about 100 in the local area to choose from) and enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous meal. Le Bistro De Lyon. www,lebistrodelyon,com,  The cute little French waitress (a minaiture Francine) gave us the business card when we left  I even had desert .... creme brule!  The wine was excellent and Eric found a great French beer.

Now I hear Eric snoring ......  goodnight all!

Hello from London

Kingston - London

Seeing that this is being written in London, looks like we made it here okay.  We did have a 5-hour wait at Montreal and Bob, Francine and Andrew made a wonderful effort to come to the airport and see us.  It is not easy getting to the airport and very expensive to park there, so we really appreciate their effort!  We will be with Bob and Francine again for a week when we dock in Florida after the cruise.


Thankfully, our flight to London was fast and smooth!  We upgraded to Executive Class and appartently that gave us larger seats and a better meal.  Even though the seats were larger, we found the Air Canada seats much more comfortable.  The meal was very nice, as well as the wine.  We were in the front row in Executive class and that gave us extra legroom.
Heathrow was rather interesting.  Once we got off the plane, we just followed the signs (went on a cool train) and very quickly we were through customs and baggage claim.  At 8 am, things are not very busy. We had a short walk to the Underground and 50 minutes later walked up the stairs, 2 blocks to our hotel.
I had booked our hotel through priceline.com.  Bidding on a hotel room is rather nerve-wracking and not knowing London, made it a challenge; but we got super room at a super price. We are at the NH Kensington which is of course in Kensington. Our check-in time was 3pm and we arrived there at 9 am.  They had a room all ready for us -- quite impressive.
We checked in and then checked out for a few hours!  Afterwards, we walked about 10 minutes and picked up the Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour.  Our ticket was good for 2 days + river cruise.  We spent the two days hopping around London and doing the river cruise.
We had lunch at a pub in Greenwich.  Enjoyed walking the streets before returning to the river cruise back to London.

Europe ---- here we come!

Everything is ready to go!  Just have to do the final weight review of the luggage.
Our departure is Monday, November 14th.  I will try to post blogs along our way, if I can get internet connections.
Our itinerary includes:

2 nights in London
Eurostar to Paris
2 nights in Paris
Train from Paris to Rome
Cruise from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale
7 nights in Orlando
return home on December 11th.