Good evening

It is 5:30 pm and we are sailing out of Southampton and on our way. I have to say Vancouver and many of the ports we have sailed out of beat Southampton...photographically speaking...perhaps not in terms of cheap (er) portage costs. Grey skies, wind, sailboats heeled over as they make their way back to port; a flat landscape dotted with housing estates, an oil refinery and the odd castle slipping away as we make our way down the estuary. It is kinda neat to be on board at 1 1/2 degrees west Longitude...sorry you have to be a geographer...and not from Britain to think of that trivia. And Gary said we should keep a look out for U-boats...right location, wrong century.


I'd tell you about the flight but seriously the best part was, although the plane heaved itself into the air late it arrived on time. If you have arrived at Gatwick you know it is not an exciting destination airport. Sort of like a British LAX. So my tip for travellers on getting a cheap flight...expect nothing and you won't be disappointed. Two glasses of water and a coffee before arrival...go prepared. And make sure you take your laptop or phone if you plan on watching movies...as Beth knows. And if you went on September 26 as we did you got to watch the Clinton/Trump debate.


Southampton seemed fairly unremarkable. In 2016 the most visible economic base is, as it has been historically its port activities...the automotive import business and the cruise industry. Our cab driver defined it as a "ghost town" in the off cruising winter months. On the other hand the rows of newly off-loaded Jaguars defy the prognosis of economic collapse predicted during the Brexit vote.

I am sitting here watching Britain fade and toasting our departure, as well as Barb's successful knee replacement surgery today in Richmond. Dan is keeping us updated and everything sounds positive. Barb faces a challenging few weeks, as Alberta Morgan well knows. Barb we are thinking about you...from experience I can say it does improve rapidly, although right now you think it never will and question your decision to have the operation. Stiff upper lip, something stronger than red wine but not so strong to make the room spin is the answer...but if you find it let me know. I never did and opted for no pain medication and just whined.

Sea Days............

And so now we are into four sea days before we land at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. We rock and rolled for the evening of our departure...not sure if the Captain had to put out the flippers...but we were definitely rocked to sleep and all outside doors locked down.

Our first sea day we had great expectations of attending various on board activities but after we returned from breakfast we managed to sleep through two presentations, lunch and a movie before waking at 4:30 pm in time for dinner. Today, our second sea day we are hoping to do better. Gary has already been to the gym. I am just starting to read Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal by Zachary Karabell. We will both take time out to watch some of the Ryder Cup.

There are about 3,200 passengers aboard the Emerald Princess, one less after a medical evacuation just over our heads by the Spanish Coast Guard helicopter at 1:00 am last night.

We are meeting quite a few folks from Britain, a few other Canadians, a number of Americans but far and above Aussies cruising back home to Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Talk about the American election not really on the radar of most of our dining companions...other than a chap from South Carolina who told me he didn't need to vote before he left home because the state was solidly for Trump.

The huge screen on the top deck which usually features movies now has the Sydney Swans vs Western Bulldogs...the AFL Grand Final 2016...we assume this is Aussie football. It is really breezy out today as we sail past Gibraltar, so the football fans look like logs wrapped in striped pool towels, every once in a while rising to let out a groan or cheer. We thought it should have had the Ryder Cup playing ...but clearly are in the minority.

Saturday October 1st

We are now in the Mediterranean, the winds have calmed and the sea is flat. All of a sudden the deck chairs by the pool are filled and the Promenade Deck is busy with everyone getting in their 850 steps per circuit (or that is what Gary and I calculated). So about 6 times around a day, climbing the 5 decks to food and 6 decks to the gym from our stateroom on the 9th deck, (Dolphin) should do our 10,000 steps per day. Plus of course Gary is back at the gym.

We have figured out receiving our expensive wi-if is best sitting outside the Internet Cafe...stands to reason. So we are able to download our NYT and Globe newspaper. Not bothering with the Sun. And I just might be able to upload this blog and send it out along the way. We have received Dan's email reporting Barb is home and beginning her recuperation. She and Dan have a cruise booked for late November so she has an incentive to get her knee back to good working order.

We have an excellent lecture series on sea days by an Australian historian of various leaders during WW I and II. So far two days on Churchill and today on Rommel, Montgomery and Patton. She is with us until Sydney so I expect we will have lectures on the history of the areas we are sailing past. She focuses on personalities and events and seems to have a knack of making history come alive. It goes with all the reading I have done over the years so I find it perfect. Larry, as a person knowledgeable about WW II you would enjoy the series, and not fall asleep like many sitting around us. As we talked about when we were in Sicily we already know that Patton disobeyed orders and quickly led his battalion into Palermo so that Montgomery wouldn't get the glory of freeing the city.

  
 
Sunday October 3

Our last sea day before three days in Italy. Normal must be back since we were up at 6:30 am and surprisingly found almost no one else getting coffee then. Dawn isn't until about 8:00 am which seems strange to me after our summer of long days.

We have done our laps around the Promenade Deck. Then we spent an hour relearning how many dreadful decisions were made during WW II with Montgomery's dithering and need for control, Patton's inflating ego and ambition and Churchill's arrogance. The take-away from plunging back into the thick of the WW II battles is how little value these leaders placed on the lives of their men. In the pursuit of personal battlefield glory battalion after battalion were flung into the fray, or held from lending assistance to allies, consequently taking huge casualties.

One of the several books I am reading is Lynne Olsen's "Citizens of London" which tells how three key Americans: Averell Harriman (Head of the Lend Lease Program in London), Edward R. Murrow (Head of CBS News in Europe) and John Winant, the US Ambassador to Britain played major behind-the-scene roles in London during WW II. It fits in well with lectures...a good read (I recommend it), but buy the Kindle version. I have a hard copy book and the print looks like the tiny ants in our garage marching across the pages.

We brought one very small guide to Rome with us, as recommended by Lois, who remembered I had it from our trip to Italy in 2015. And amazingly I found it. Gary has it out and is thumbing through it.

We are taking a bus from the port into Rome and going wandering. We have with us Dan's guide to his favourite churches, my desire to return to the Colosseum to be awed, or perhaps to perch again on the Spanish Steps now that the renovations are done, as they are at the Trevi Fountain...yet maybe wandering and sitting in Piazza Navona drinking coffee and watching the world go by will win out.
 
First we have to find out who wins the Ryder Cup. Will Rory dominate in singles matches, will Dustin choke on the last 3 holes, from behind how many trees will Phil have to hook his ball onto the green. The possibilities are endless..if you are a golfer you can watch for hours! The first pairing is off in 3 hours. More laps, the gym....etc etc.

I'll say so long for now. Take care

Doreen