Brilliance TA Sept 3 N Atlantic Part 2

[wassup4565]

The Ports.

 

Harwich. Well you're going to have to get yourself there from Heathrow, about a two-hour drive away. Google it, or get onto the M&M, and arrange your transport. If you think you're just going to get a taxi, be prepared to break out the bankroll - seriously expensive. But don't, for God's sake make the mistake we did. Do not be mislead by maps, Google, and Expedia into thinking you can get a bargain by staying in Felixstowe (only four miles away from Harwich as the SEAGULL flies.) If you stay in Felixstowe it will be: shabby, and a sixty pound cab ride to Harwich, where the ship is. Unless, like us, you manage to find the foot-ferry to Harwich from Felixstowe. I don't recommend this, but it was (in that strange way of travel) one of the most memorable experience of our TA.

 

From our shabby hotel in Felixstowe (people kept asking us, Why are you here??? And two asked us for immigration advice.) Yes, we got the foot ferry to Harwich. Quite a bargain, at 6 pounds each vs a 60 pound taxi ride on land. The thing was, we had to drag our suitcases down a steep slope of pebble beach. People helped us, thank God. And it didn't rain when we were on that little open boat. And the captain called for a cab for us on the Harwich side, which only took 40 minutes to come. And a little British humour, as the captain asked each passenger for 6 pounds for the crossing, but asked me for 66 pounds - har har. Just a joke. Sailed away from that.

 

Le Havre. PLEASE, could you people stop calling this place Le Harve? It's embarrassing. Do not move the R - it comes after the V. You pronounce it Le Av. Raining like a son of a gun in the morning, and the French guy who demanded we be on time or he would rent to car to someone else showed up half an hour late. In front of us in line were the dancers from the ship who were going to Disney France and doing leg exercises while we waited. Charming. Got a really crappy little Renault rental that had no poop - it also had zero visibility out the back window. Got lost for an hour in Le Havre until we found the highway yee-haw! Not so fast...there is a French farmers agricultural action that causes about 100 tractors to block the freeway, and we limp along at about 20 kph for about an hour. At this point we bail off the 4-lane into Caen needing a potty stop. We should have stayed there longer. Caen - Gorgeous. Old. Great food. Great ambiance. We abandoned plans to drive on to Mont St Michel because the farmers had slowed us down, but certain A-Type goal oriented people in our group resisted just having around in Caen (which would have been great) and so we set off to the Beaches of Normandy. I had resisted this, because I thought it would be all tasteless souvenirs, gaudy glorification of war and sad. I was wrong - do not hesitate to go there. It is respectful, beautiful and uncommercial. After that, we wound along on small roadways through old timeless French towns - sun had come out, so beautiful. Found a French grocery store and bought some cheap soap which I hope to pass off as classy Xmas gifts. No tractors and no rain on the way back.

 

Portland, Dorset. We thought this would be a nothing walk-around. It helped that the weather was sunny and warm, but we still concur, this was one of the nicest places we visited. Free shuttles took us from the port to this seaside town, and free maps provided by the local tourist authority helped us see the sights. The architecture is beautiful, the food is varied and available everywhere you walk, and pubs are all around. The local people are helpful and friendly. We bought some gorgeous numbered prints from a local fabric artist that still take my breath away. I'd go back to Weymouth in a minute. As we prepared to sail away, we were serenaded by a local band, and blown out by some costumed men firing an ancient cannon!

 

Cobh (pronounced Cove) Ireland: The sun shone all day, apparently the only day it had all summer in Ireland. We took a little Tommy tinker toy train for a tour (8 Euro twelve bucks to me) and the commentator over the audio was a constant joy and a hoot. He was yarning and lying the whole way along. Then we got off and found out you can have food, or booze in a pub, but not both at the same place. As our fellow cruise passengers had filled up all the food places to overflowing, what else could we do but choose booze? And this was perhaps the most serendipitous time of our trip. We were welcomed in this pub, serenaded by a drunken Irish poet playing his guitar with his mates. He was exactly a tragic, poetic, warm, Irishman - you couldn't make that up. So we drank Guinness all afternoon in the sun and they told us the stories of their lives. Possibly a band played the ship out of port, I can't remember, blame it on the Guinness.

 

Klaksvik, Faroe Islands. I really don't want to be mean, but this was a great disappointment. It is an astoundingly beautiful unique place (although cold, damp, and rainy.) Th best of it is seen on the sail in. If I ever go there again, and that would only be by accident, I'd stay on the ship. Klaksvik is not a one-horse town. It's smaller than that, not pretty, 20 minutes would do a walk-around. I am trying to be kind, but the people are insular (they live on islands). They seemed not to particularly like us being there. Most of the stores were closed (even though a ship with 2,400 pax with moola had docked there.) The cafe/pub we found ran out of food at 12:30. Our tour operator (Greengage Incoming) had confirmed a driver for a four-hour tour 9 months in advance of our date, and we had paid in full beforehand. Nevertheless, we were stood up at the dock. No notice, no apology, just no tour - too bad. Yep. Beautiful to look at, and that's all. You can look at it from the ship just as well.

 

Gonna quit for now. I will cover our experiences in Iceland and Halifax in a future post. Not to mention four harsh stiff sea days in the north Atlantic

[pspercy]

Good stuff ! Thanks:)

 

Part 1. is here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2260870