Melsea's Adventures of First..Part 5

[melsea]

At Sea. 24th Oct.
Sunny & warm, the sea was a mill pond all day.

Looking through the daily programme of activities that were around the Cunard Ship Queen Elizabeth, there really is not much difference to those you get on board the P&O fleet. For example; Ice Carving demonstrations, lecture by Martin Woodward, although they head it with the title Cunard insights Lecture. Bingo, watercolour class, deck quoits competition, diamond seminar, various meetings solo travellers, service club meeting, friends of Bill W, friends of Dorothy, not forgetting the Masonic's informal gathering. Various quizzes. A number of dance classes. Most evenings there are various music entertainment at any one time. Cocktail Pianist Dmitry Khodorovsky who we saw in various venues around the ship & was very good. Two other piano entertainers Graham Wellard & Vic Cooper. Other entertainers that were also on board but were not playing this evening are the The EOS String Quartet & a Harpist Rebecca Mills. All these artist also play during the Afternoon tea in the Queens Room which is a nice way to enjoy having your afternoon tea while beautiful music is accompany you.
Today was also the day they had the behinds the scenes tour. In the evening at dinner our American couple on our table had done the tour which was 3 hours long and one bit they saw was the engine control room and I can't remember where else they went but it was an in depth tour.
The evening show by The Royal Court Singers and Dancers was 'The Palladium Nights'. It was very good and the singers sang songs that were right for their voices of there are 4. The dancers of which there are 10, 5 males & females, on P&O they have more female dancers than men. So on here having the equal of the dancers means they do more dance routines and they were excellent all of them were from overseas, places like Estonia, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic and other countries of the Continental Europe.

Corfu, Greece 25th Oct.
Today was very warm & sunny

Last time we visited here was back in 2008, on a P&O ship Oriana. At that time the med was experiencing a heat wave early in the summer it was high in the 30's and this was early June even the locals were complaining it was too hot. This time it was pleasant and nice to walk around in. There was a shuttle bus taking you to the edge of the town. From here you could easily walk around the various little streets. I came to a very busy area where all the main shops are and where it seems most Corfu locals do their shopping. I then saw something that I was not expecting, a Marks & Spencer. Off I had to go in but it was not very inspiring so continued on my way. I was trying to get to where I had visited before, it took a while as the map given by Cunard was not much good, does that not sound familiar. I swear these ship companies do it on purpose. I eventually found where there is a park that leads to the Old Fortress which was just a few euros to get in. I walked all the way to the top but not before I and another couple had to figured out how we got there, we could see people up there but could see how, we got there in the end. The final bit is a little steep in places and like many places on the continent they make their pavings out of cobbles which can be very shiny and slippery to walk on. Fortunately in some places there was something to hang onto. Finally getting there with no shelter not he way the view is well worth the climb up. You could see the three ships that were in town on one side and in the opposite direction the airport where I saw a few planes come into land. Ahead of you is the old town spread out in front. I took many a photo. On my way down I had to be careful so as not to slip but also to make sure my knees did not give out. They hurt sometimes when I go down at an angle. Those of you that may have this problem will understand my caution on my way down. I managed to find my way back through the narrow streets to where I had to collect the shuttle bus back. Before then I saw a bag shop that sold crochet small bags for wearing across your body. The one I have was getting a little tired from so much use. The lady had a great selection and it took me a little while to decide. In the end I got two, just like a women I hear from the men out there. I got the two for 12€ as oppose to 18€.

Dubrovnik, Croatia. 26th Oct.
Would you know it, another beautiful sunny day.

Visited here 3 times now and today was probably the coolest temperature we have ever had here. Which meant good walking weather as I intended to walk the City Wall which I had not done before and I was determined to do this time. The shuttle bus took you to the Pile Gate (the old Town) and it was to be. 20 minute journey which if there had not been a hold up where there is a narrow road that was not intended for big coaches, I swear they are getting bigger, the journey would have been 15 minutes. They have been wildly wrong on their estimates at times, playing safe as always or scare tactics, who knows.
So arriving at the gate outside, there were a number of coaches already. Which in all likelihood was due to the couple of other ships that were also here. So it was going to be busy day walking around this beautiful walled city.
Once over the very historical bridge to enter the city you are guided through an arch where they had a two way way through, you were guided in this way so that you didn't end up bottle netting in the very narrow archway.
Once through I made my way to where you would buy the tickets to do the walk around the high city wall. As you are looking down the main thoroughfare of the city which has the tower at the end of it, on the left opposite the fountain there is an opening, go through there and it's here you buy your ticket to do what is arguable a very good tour. I didn't get the audio as the price of the ticket was fairly expensive at 90 Kuna which translate to around £10 or less depending on the exchange rate of the day. You could not use any other currency other their own or you had to use a credit card, specifically you could not pay with Euros in big letters. I used a credit card to buy my ticket. So onwards with my DIY tour of the wall which takes you all the way round the perimeter. I had a small map that would allow me to work out what I was looking at and there were many people doing the same thing. There was quite a line of up to get our tickets but it did go down fairly quick. Suffice to say the wall was not devoid of people. In some places it was probably not a good time to take photos as there are arts of the wall that is narrow which is not surprising as it is a very ancient wall that had a particular purpose in guarding the city as a sizable area faces the sea where the threat of the enemy would come. The view from this wall is quite something and it shows you the scale and beauty of the city laid out in front of you. The whole journey for me took me around 2 hours this includes stops to explore certain places on the wall, take photos, read some of the details about an area you were looking at. While on the wall I saw out to sea a ship coming in, it was to be anchored off shore since we and other ships had taken the allocated slots at the terminal. By the time I had finished my wall walk and had made my way down to where the ferries and yachts were, the tender boats for the ship I saw earlier had started to arrive. It was a Costa tender and unlike P&O and Cunard these tenders were brimming with people standing, something you do not see normally. I walked along the main thorough fare of this city and I found a place to have a devious ice cream but not before I had to exchange some money for local currency. Very yummy it was too. There are so many little side streets, well alleyways type of places where you can find all sorts of interesting places, not to mention a little quieter away from the hoards of people vying for the same small place. I didn't have time but there is also another good place to get a great view and that to take the cable car which you get by going out of the walled city. Not sure how long it would take to get to the station of it but it would be a fair walk and it will be uphill. I may well do that next time if we are by here again. One thing I must mention is that on your way out, it's the same way you. One in there are two large boards on the wall. It's easy to just file pass without realising that actually they are important. The sign says it shows 'the city map with the sites of damage caused by the aggression on Dubrovnik by the Yugoslav army, the Serbs and the Montenegrins in 1991 a 1992'. There are symbols indicating what happened where, keys to the symbols are those of roof damage by direct hit, burnt down building, roof damage by shrapnel and last direct hit on the pavement. It's not a pretty a picture you see before you and it's absolutely amazing how the city has repaired itself as there seems to be no obvious signs that such a dramatic event of history even happened here. As always the time comes by quickly to get back on the shuttle bus and head back to the comfort of the floating hotel, yes I know it's a ship, sorry a liner in Cunard's case. Where the coaches were was also where everyone else was to be picked up. Being another ancient place it was never built with coaches in mind. There was a bit of a queue but it wasn't long before I was back on board.
In the evening the Royal Cunard singers & dancers presented 'Hotel Royale' it's a cross between a play and a musical. This one was based on the Cinderella story with a twist. It was very good as the singers were given the correct songs to sing and they gel better. I am not sure if I mentioned it but I found out that this theatre company had only just come onto the Queen Elizabeth when we boarded in Rome, which explains why they seemed a little raw, but surprisingly they improved even in the short time we have been on board and the dancers are the best I have ever seen.

[emjay45]

We've only been to Dubrovnick once and it poured down the whole day. I would love to see it in the sunshine.

[Boris+]

Dubrovnik is lovely, yes - but if you have a chance of an excursion to Cavtat do it - what a lovely spot.


Em

[emjay45]

Dubrovnik is lovely, yes - but if you have a chance of an excursion to Cavtat do it - what a lovely spot.


Em

Actually Em that was the excursion we did. It should have been Cavtat by Land and Sea, but because of the weather we had to take the coach there and back. It simply did not stop raining and as we were wet and miserable we didn't bother looking around Dubrovnik but went straight back onto ship. Perhaps another time we can do both in the sunshine

[Boris+]

We liked Cavtat so much that as and when we can we would like to go back there for a week or two.

We had a gloriously warm day, and it just was the clarity of the water all along the quayside in Cavtat which attracted us. I reckon we could hire a little boat and have some fine fun.

Em

[oldbluefox]

I love the detail you put into your reports melsea. Many thanks.
For anybody going to Dubrovnik walking the City Walls is a must - well worth the £10 entry fee. The views are tremendous. Cavtat sounds good for those who have already been to Dubrovnik.

[Kendhni]

Just catching up with your reports Melsea, great to see you posting such detailed adventures.
Enjoy rest of your cruise.

[melsea]

Thank you everyone for your kind words about my reports. It was certainly a fabulous trip.. Last of the trip is yet to come the wonderful Orient Express..

I will certainly look into doing the alternative trips for Dubrovnik if we ever go by that way again. We have been very fortunate that the times we have been that the sun has shone very brightly and very hot. Just not that hot this time but nice and warm.