forgap

Down for the count all day yesterday. Slept all day and all night and feeling much better this morning.

Lazy day in Gibraltar. We slept in and puttered about until we docked at 12:30. We decided to cancel our tours in favor of a walk about. The last time we were here was about 10 years ago and there seems to have been a construction boom in that time span. We walked from the port to the main pedestrian street, past box after box of high rise housing. We took a cab back to the port and our driver had some choice words to say about developers making a fast buck (or pound in this case). He was not a fan of this utilitarian architecture. The Main Street is sort of how I remembered, totally pedestrian with assorted shops and eateries. This has been a port intensive cruise which has us making sea days from port days!

We had the ultimate bad excursion today and it was an excursion we paid for. The description sounded wonderful. Wine tasting in Colores and then lunch and free time in Sintra. It was an early departure as the ship was scheduled to sail at 2. We settled into a small bus and off we went through Lisbon traffic with a running unintelligible monologue provided by our guide. No sooner did we hit the freeway when the bus started to overheat. We pulled over in a wedge between the highway and an on ramp. After about ten minutes, our driver started up again hoping that the overheating was an aberration. No such luck. We managed to get to the side of the freeway, on a bridge in the exit lane. There we sat for an hour while another bus fought Lisbon traffic to get to us. Our guide assured us that we would still make all the sights but in an extremely abbreviated fashion. Our view: The new bus arrived and we shimmied against the guard rail and climbed onto the new big bus. Thirty minutes to Colores and a taste of really bad wine. Thirty minutes to Sintra, 45 minutes for a very rushed but nice lunch at Cafe de Paris, no free time to shop, then back to the bus to rebord Splendor at 1:30.

Lisbon from our balcony.

This is the cruise port. White tile that glistens in the sunlight. Really beautiful!

We gained an hour so we took a leisurely tour of Porto. Visually Porto is dramatic with the river dissecting the town, high cliffs, and a series of beautiful bridges. This bridge was designed by a student of Eiffel. Eiffel himself designed a bridge further down the river. Our first (and only) stop was port tasting. Our charming guide gave us all the details about the harvesting of the grapes and the manufacturing of different styles of port. We tasted a white port and a tawny port. We then had some free time but it seemed like only cafes were open and, frankly, neither one of us had the stamina to traipse up and down the hills by the river. Back on the bus, we toured the city, saw impressive buildings multiple times as it seemed we made several loops of the city. I am always charmed by Portuguese tile work. In fact the cruise terminal was impressive and designed like a nautilus with thousands of white tiles. We returned to the ship at about 2:30 with the rest of the passengers. The pool grill was slammed to the point it was hard to get to the buffet. I snagged a table and ordered a hot dog NY deli style. That and a glass of rosé improved my mood considerably.

We are in La Coruna, Spain today and we opted for an excursion “Galician Food and its Markets”. Our guide spoke in Rapid Spanglish, so historical and other important facts passed right by me. But, Google is my friend so I will back in the facts! A short bus ride from the pier brought us to a lovely Plaza de Luga adjacent to the food market. In the plaza was a sculpture of a dog, Ney, who died in 2016. He was a golden retriever with a kind character and a good disposition. As he aged, he grew fat so he had to sport a sign to prevent people from feeding him. He was so beloved that, when he died, the people of the area collected funds to commission an artist to create a memorial to him. The market was a visual feast. First floor was devoted to fish. The second floor was devoted to meat and cheese. The the third floor was for produce and spices. There was a reference to the Queen of Sheba and cheese. I didn’t get the exact story as I was accent and hearing impaired, but the gist of it was that she was very well endowed. The local bishop disapproved and had all references to her altered so she became flat chested. The townspeople didn’t like this censorship so they shaped the local cheese in the shape of breasts and this tradition continues today. The rest of the tour was panoramic sightseeing. The last stop was at a restaurant so we could sample Galician cuisine. After sangria,beer, octopus, frittata, and dessert, we rolled out of the restaurant to our bus back to the ship.

My bet peeve is the “hurry up and wait” after getting your bus assignment. If it is a port with a gangway, there is absolutely no reason not to go directly to the assigned bus. We are adults. We are seasoned travelers. We can manage. Instead, we gather in the theater until our number is called and then rush like a herd of bison to the gangway.

In Bilbao we opted for a private tour. Our guide was great and we went directly to the Guggenheim. A Picasso sculpture exhibit had just opened and included hundreds of pieces that I had never seen before. There was also a retrospective by a Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama. (photo is upside down, but I rather like it this way! The Guggenheim has monumental works in its permanent collection as well as installations of works by contemporary artists. IMG_6290.mov After the museum, we walked to the old town for a respite of pintxos and beer. Bilbao is very impressive, surrounded by mountains and lush vegetation. Manufacturing is its main industry and the city has made a real effort to clean up the industrial pollution of the past to create a vibrant community. The Basque lifestyle is easygoing with an emphasis on relationships with friends and family and meet ups in the many parks and pintxox restaurants. It is also very independent from Spain with its own language, economy, and tax structure. Forty hour work weeks are the norm (and 4 weeks of annual vacation) but the 40 hours are spread over 4 1/2 days so the work week ends mid day on Fridays. We managed to walk just under five miles which left us rather depleted. Our evening consisted of attending the seven seas society event, an early dinner, and an early bed time. Today we are in La Caruna, Spain. I am going on a food tour and my husband is making it a sea day.

La Pointe, 10 Rue Sicard, 33000 Bordeaux, France About a 10 minute walk from the ship.

Dégustation des huîtres complètent! We walked to a square surrounded with restaurants and found a local boîte specializing in seafood. Two dozen oysters and une verre de vin later the oyster quest is completed. Of course the oysters are substantially different from gulf oysters-smaller, deeper shell, saltier, tasting of the sea. My French held up, too. The restaurant was a popular local spot.

We slept in today in favor of continuing our oyster quest for lunch. It is another clear and warm day in Bordeaux. I am adding on a bit to Rachel’s comments on Sainte-Emillion. The vineyard was a humble, family owned “estate” which left me scratching my head as to why Regent chose this one rather than other, larger vineyards in the area. However, the explanation of transforming the grape to wine was most informative concerning all the variables that go into growing, harvesting, and producing wine. The village itself was beautiful with some stunning visitas. In the cloister, an artist had installed a very interesting mural of heaven and hell. We were once in the alpes and discovered a small chapel that had been transformed by a monk with modern paintings and sculptures. It was very moving as this was.

We were on tour with Rachel and George so I won’t repeat much except to say that she and George were wise to split away from the group. Our guide had a very thick French accent and our tour took us into the catacombs and the crypt of the church. Accent plus écho made the narration indecipherable. On return to the ship, we ate lunch in La Veranda which was featuring a French theme which was nicely done. After a bit of a rest, we ventured into Bordeaux to explore and find oysters. That was a bust so we will continue the quest today. Our target restaurant didn’t start service until six although their website said five. Well, we’re in France .

Well I huffed and I puffed, I pulled and I pushed and the balcony doors stayed stuck. I called reception to arrange a fix. Reception said to call housekeeping. The trick? Handle up, lean shoulder against the glass, pull open. Without the shoulder trick, I’d still be pulling.

Finally awake after a two hour nap. We went to the wine connoisseurs lunch. Enough said. the setup. prosciutto et melone tempura shrimp salmon I failed to photograph the fillet but here is dessert

We had an interesting morning excursion. Our guide/bus driver kept up a running conversation about Guernsey. We covered, politics, history, education, and finance - all in the span of three hours. Did you know that Guernsey’s biggest industry is finance? Our first was the Sausmerez manor. We walked through the sculpture garden on a narrow path surrounded by subtropical vegetation and underwhelming sculpture. The manor house is allegedly haunted by a number of spirits and tours are scheduled for those interested in this kind of phenomenon. From there we traveled to Bruce Russell’s gold and silversmith workshop. Beautiful workmanship was on display. There was also a Druid rune stone on the property. Legend had it that if you walk around it and put your finger in a hole at the top, you are guaranteed prosperity and fortune. I am already feeling the vibe! Our final stop was the Little Chapel in the center of the island. It was a wonderful example of naif art. The chapel was created and destroyed three times and the final iteration fell into disrepair. The islanders were determined to restore it and enlisted the help of school children to source bits of pottery and receive candy as payment. Only later did their mothers discover that their prized china tea sets had been nicked by their candy seeking progeny. We returned to the ship for lunch. It was such a beautiful day, we ate outside at La Veranda.

On board now. We visited Stonehenge with about 2000 other souls. Years ago I visited when you could get up close and perso able. I understand completely why they have often to protect the monument from high spirited tourist. From Stonehenge we traveled to Southampton which took about an hour. The embarcation gauntlet was easy and is now my gold standard. Two pics to sum up the day!

@Gilly I know, I know that we should have made the excursion. The UK just screams for a land trip to appreciate all the beauty. We managed to get to Churchill’s War museum (fantastic!), the Tate Modern, and the Tate Britain. It was somewhat a comedy of errors. I had gone to the Tate probably 40 years ago. Who knew that the Tate has split into several museums. I love the pre-Raphaelite paintings and Tate- Britain had a Rossetti exhibit ….but, sold out completely. However, it was not a huge disappointment as we took in the Turner collection, and other mesmerizing paintings. Lunch with a view at Tate-Modern:

We had our first full pre-cruise day with a visit to Hampton Court, lunch, a Thames river cruise, and then a panoramic return to the hotel. I don’t quite have my excursion legs yet as an eight hour tour with constant guide patter while jet-lagging was a bit much. We were a group of 24 on a standard size coach, so lots of room to spread out. We have opted out of today’s marathon to Bath and the Cotswold. We decided a leisurely day was in order. So, we will take in Churchill’s war room and either the Tate or the British Museum. Dinner last night was at a wonderful Indian restaurant, the Darjeeling Express. It was a convoluted walk from the hotel (thank you Google maps) which brought us to Kingly Court on Carnaby St. Kingly court is a food hall, very hip, and very crowded with young people with disposable income. The restaurant is a prix fixe with limited but delicious choices. We had a blast. Our hotel is the May Fair. It is a lovely hotel, very well positioned in London, with a great breakfast. On our first night we decided to get an apéro in the lobby bar while we waited for friends to join us for dinner. It looked lovely but as soon as you walked through the doors, the music was deafening. We had our drinks and speculated about hearing loss in 20 something’s. My ears are still ringing!

Re: vineyard dinner…..seemed too pricey for me and more of a banquet situation rather than a romantic dinner. Also, my husband is French so we can navigate without any problems. I would rather use this kind of money for a special dinner without a bunch of new Regent friends tagging long.

I know, I know, not ANOTHER alive thread on Splendor! After a summer sailing around Scandinavia, Splendor is now going to go south for the winter. Want to come along? We left Atlanta on a direct flight to London on Virgin Atlantic. The flight left about an hour late with a garbled announcement from the caption about something, something and paperwork. But, the jet stream was on our tail and we arrived at Heathrow 15 minutes early. We were about an hour getting to and through passport control and picking up our luggage. Upon exiting customs, I found a man with a Regent placard with our names on it! I was expecting to gather with other Regent ducklings and wait for stragglers before heading to a bus. This was different though…..a Mercedes six- passenger van for just us! It took about 1.5 hours in morning stop and go traffic before we reached the May Fair Hotel. We checked in, and, thank God, there was a room available at this early hour and we dragged ourselves and our luggage to the room. We managed an hour nap before heading out to lunch with old Regent friends who are doing a tour of the UK and not sailing with us. This is the beauty of sailing Regent. You can meet lifelong friends! In fact, we met standing in line at the chaotic airport in Siem Reap. We recognized each other as kindred spirits and have visited each other many times in the last six years. Please chime in if you are on this cruise (Rachel, I’m talking about you!). First days are always a bit of a blur and I feel another Power Nap calling my name!

I think we are finally on a cruise at the same time! We flew into London today for the pre cruis tour.

We also are doing this trip in April so we are following along with anticipation!

Since we are leaving next week for our first Splendor cruise, I thought I’d look at reviews. We have sailed many days on Regent (gold now but soon to be platinum) and always had a lovely time. The reviews lately have been just terrible - in marked contrast to the live threads on this forum. i wonder if full reviews invite more critical passengers to post? Could the reviews be made up? The bottom line, though, is that if I was a first time Regent passenger the reviews would make me take a pause. what is your take on this phenomenon?

We booked Pan Pacific when Delta changed our flight times. We decided to stay an extra day to avoid anxiously getting to the airport, clearing customs and boarding our flight after debarking.