Author Archives: dipidydoo
Be Still My Beating Modernista Heart
Our final port of call on this cruise was Palma, the capital city of Mallorca, which is the largest of the Balearic Islands that sit off the east coast of Spain. They speak Catalan here, in what is something of a mini Barcelona. Before we left the ship, we could see the Cathedral which completely […]
Ian’s South Downs Way Walk
An hour drive to Winchester followed by a ride on the Park & Ride bus from the car park on the outskirts of the city centre meant a late start for my first day walking the South Downs Way (“SDW”). It was soon after 11am when we found the first sign pointing to the way […]
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The last sea day is when it hits you – you only have one more day to do everything you haven’t done yet. How much can you cram in? Do you stick to your favourite activities or try some different ones? Have you found every secret nook and cranny on the ship? We decided to […]
Malaga – “Very Nice”
Today we did something new for us – we each took a shore excursion with the ship. These always cost considerably more than doing a tour with a third party, or exploring on your own. However we had some credit, so my tour was effectively free, and Ian’s was cheaper than I could find elsewhere. […]
Seventh Continent
In Antarctica last year, we saw people posing for photos with signs saying “Seventh Continent”. A quick calculation revealed we’d been to 6, with only Africa missing. One of the reasons we chose this cruise was because it called in at Tangier, Morocco. Before we left, we printed our own sign, and put it away […]
Mostly Flat: Orienteering In Slow Motion
The course planner (me) came up with a clockwise route which would take in the Baixa and Alfama neighbourhoods of Lisbon. The terrain description (provided by Google Maps) was “mostly flat”. Not sure when or if they last visited here? The control descriptions came straight from the Condes building. As this is shared with a […]
Porto
Porto is all about the river. The Douro snakes its way through a steep sided valley, under 6 bridges. The old town of Porto is on the north bank, while the port wine making centre of Gaia is on the south side. Away from the waterfront on both sides, the terrain rises rapidly. Our ship […]
Bilbao
Day 2 of the cruise was a sea day, a chance to rest and recharge our batteries. It was also my birthday. We celebrated with a 5 course dinner at Sabatinis, the Italian restaurant on the ship. The piece de resistance was the huge piece of birthday cake, served with a flourish and accompanied by […]
Things That Begin with S
In order below: Embarkation day is like stepping into a parallel universe. Because we believe in self flagellation, we dragged our heavily laden suitcases and backpacks for almost 3 km, to the Mayflower cruise terminal. This took over an hour. On arrival, we were sent to Baggage Pod 4, then Baggage Pod 1, then Baggage […]
Southampton, City of Seagulls
After an uncomfortable night (warm room, lumpy bed), we woke to drizzle. Our morning was spent on optimistic tasks (shopping for lightweight tshirts and sunscreen, in anticipation of things to come). The drizzle turned to rain, and we headed back to the apartment for shelter and lunch. By mid afternoon it had almost cleared, so […]
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