Of Winds and Whispers.

[drron29]

We were now in one of those boats for a 30 minute "cruise".But it meant I was at swan level-

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[drron29]

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The tulips are"in flower".

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[duct tape]

Brugge? Beautiful.

[drron29]

Yes I realise now I am a g short of a load.

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[drron29]

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[drron29]

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[drron29]

The last couple of photos from the boat.Was it worth it?If it wasn't in the package I wouldn't bother.The most earnest part of the commentary from our driver was when asking for a tip.He had his hand out so I shook it.

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We headed back to the rendezvous point as we were hungry and the restaurants there seemed to be at the lower end of pricing-still expensive.As well a couple had cover and it did look like it might rain.

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And this is the city tour bus.

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[drron29]

And now to lunch.A beer from across the road for me and a small Sancerre for mrsdrron before our Moules et frites-

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We had a bowl each-should have shared but they were delicious.Rojaan then went to a craft shop.i told her the only thing worthwhile was this BBQ apron.Not impressed-

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[drron29]

So after that I went on a walk by myself through the opening in the City Wall-

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[drron29]

As you can see there were very few tourists in this part of town.I was in my element-

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I enjoyed my little stroll.Mainly religious order building with schools,a couple of churches,day care and a clinic.This one had a nice orchard-

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[drron29]

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[drron29]

Amazing the City wall had been part demolished for a car park.Reminds me of a song.

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And back to the rendezvous point as the tour bus does another circuit.

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[drron29]

The café where we had lunch-

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Now the drive back to the ship-

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[drron29]

That night was the Farewll cocktail party.First 2 of the Voices of Silversea,the Captain and then presentation of the crew-

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[drron29]

Next was presenting employee of the month awards to several of the ship's departments-

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But that wasn't all tonight.This was Captain Corsaro's last voyage as a captain.Significant because he captained the first voyage of the Silversea line on the Silver Cloud in 1994.It became an emotional night.

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[drron29]

This is the Captain explaining that the first thing he wants to do in retirement was to take a cruise-a river cruise though.

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Video links brought messages from the Silversea chairman but also from the Captain's family-

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[drron29]

I thought a lot about posting the following pictures but decided to do so because they show the human qualities of the Captain.He was obviously emotional during his children's message but the crew had done a lot of sleuthing and were told of one of the Captain's favourite songs which was sung by the Voices of Silversea ably helped by all the passengers as the words appeared on the screens.

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[drron29]

And he leaves his last farewell as captain to a standing ovation.

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[Stumblefoot]

Very cool that you were able to be part of such a wonderful ceremony.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[duct tape]

One more time, thank you! Glad you are there!

[spinnaker2]

Special time.

Thanks again for sharing.

Nice to see captain and Jorge too!

[WesW]

Dr. Ron, thanks so much for sharing heartfelt photos of the Farewell cocktail party. Angelo Corsaro has made a significant positive difference for Silversea while serving as one of the Silversea ship's Captain's. We sailed with Angelo on the maiden crossing of the Spirit--his exceptional passenger engagement made this voyage one of our fav's. He will be missed--Angelo, enjoy your well deserved retirement!

[drron29]

Thanks for the thanks.Now to finally finish.

That evening we had dinner with the Cruise Director,2 American couples and a woman from Tasmania.A very enjoyable evening again apart from one of the Americans.

So it was rapidly coming to the end of the cruise.We awoke as we were steaming into Southampton.A grey and cold day.not very interesting and as we came into the dock we had a wonderful view of the English countryside-

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Now the English are sticklers for their rules.Immigration is one of the ways they try to discourage tourism.No one is allowed off the ship until every passenger and crew member has had a face to face check by the Immigration officials.Naturally 2 couples didn't think this applied to them.No one got off until after 0945.there were some very irate passengers..

We got off in the first group,picked up our bags and got a taxi to the local airport.We picked up our Avis car there.It had been a very easy decision-an automatic Mercedes was cheaper than a manual Ford.Who was I to argue?

 

We headed for our English extravagant stay which I will include as some may be interested.On the way we detoured via this small village-

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The village of Tolpuddle which Australians of my vintage were taught about at school.

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One of the "martyrs" was a Methodist preacher so the Methodist chapel has a lot of information on the Tolpuddle 6.And it is free so no need to go into the museum.Basically farm workers treated harshly who organised to fight for better conditions but found guilty of forming an illegal organisation and transported to Australia.There was an outcry,they were pardoned and returned to England.most then left for Canada.

So next will report on our stay at the Gidleigh park hotel.Was excellent.

[drron29]

We now try and incorporate a stay at a boutique hotel with a well respected restaurant on one night of our trips.For this trip it was Gidleigh Park.The restaurant reviews are a little mixed as about a year ago their chef retired-he apparently was a classic French cuisine chef.The new fellow is of a more modern school and not everyone enjoys that.

First it is difficult to get to on one lane roads through Dartmoor.However the hotel website gives very good directions and warns you not to use your GPS as it will usually direct you to the town of Gidleigh.Yet some Trip Advisor reviewers still complain how it was difficult to find using their GPS.We were lucky driving in only meeting one car coming the other way getting there and a clear run when leaving.The road though is visually pleasant for any passengers.When you arrive the place looks magnificent-

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Greeted as we pulled up and luggage taken.Car was parked for us.We had arrived a little early so after being shown around we had cappuccinos on the terrace-12 GBP for the 2.Then shown to our room.First the Reception area and sitting room-

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