So, how should I celebrate this momentous birthday? Or, perhaps I should say how do I want to mark the day? Inevitably I thought back to my other significant birthdays – my 50th, with a big party in my home on El Curtola in Lafayette, my 60th with my girls picnicing by San Francisco Bay. But what to do this time? I’d been contemplating taking a cruise around the British coast for a while. For me it must sail out of Liverpool because of the history associated with that port over so many generations. When I found that the 5 day cruise that I’d originally contemplated was fully booked I ended up with a ten day Ambassador cruise calling at places that I’d already visited with the exception of Honfleur in France. But then I asked myself ‘Why shouldn’t I revisit a place I’ve already been to?’ And that’s how it happened.
DAY 1 Liverpool to Guernsey
First the train to Manchester and then train to Liverpool. I’d been freaking out all week about ‘missing the boat’ quite literally so I gave myself plenty of time. I took a little stroll around Manchester cathedral to kill some time in the city and then got a train to Liverpool reaching Lime Street station through the railway cutting with its amazing rock formations in a multitude of colours. Once in Liverpool I began writing limericks to pass the time, something I haven’t done in a while. I had a snack from M&S in the station and then took a taxi to the dock on Princes Gardens. The taxi driver wanted to know all about my cruise and said he wished he was coming with me!
Ambassador’s Ambition seemed enormous as I approached, but boarding was incredibly easy. I was issued with a boarding card which is used for everything on the ship from boarding to getting through customs, and all the payments encountered whilst on board. I purchased an Internet package which I was assured would cover all messaging but I was to discover it didn’t include sending photos, or regular messaging, or give me access to email or Facebook. My cabin, however, was delightful, sun streaming through my window as I entered.
My big rolly bag was waiting outside my cabin. I’d sent it by a courier service. After briefly unpacking and getting acquainted with my cabin – I initially thought the safe was a microwave! – I went up to the top deck, deck 11, to get ready to watch our progress from directly opposite the Liver building, along the River Mersey to the open sea.The presence of all those millions of people who’d travelled this route before was very much with me. Even before we’d left the dock people were already spread out on the sun loungers on the spa deck, some covered in towels or blankets. There was even a woman in the hot tub reading a book!
I’d requested the second sitting for dinner but I didn’t expect it to be quite so late – 8:15, and that was just for the first of four courses – so I sat in one of the many lounges and settled down with a bottle of cider to take in the day. All that anxiety and worry about getting to the boat on time and having the correct documentation could now be thrown overboard. As I relaxed and people-watched I noticed a couple who reminded me of my former husband and his wife, and as destiny took its course they came to sit by me. They were from the Ribble Valley. We started a conversation and lo and behold the man had been an extra on the set of the TV series The Gallows Pole just like me. We didn’t recognise each other, but what a coincidence. They’d also recently visited Heptonstall Museum where I sometimes volunteer and where I took Rachel on her visit at Christmas time.
I’d been assigned to the second sitting of dinner at The Buckingham restaurant, table 92. There were only two other people on our table even though it was set for six, which was rather disappointing. This was made even more so by the presence of one very opinionated lady whose topic of conversation began with why Dolly Parton is a gay icon, and another lady with mobility issues who barely said a word. I’d been very surprised by the number of people on board needing walkers, walking sticks and wheelchairs. How wonderful that they feel confident enough to take a cruise, often by themselves. It sort of puts my anxiety into perspective. So far everyone I’ve spoken to has been on multiple cruises. I haven’t found a single novice like me who has only been on one before and that was twenty years ago. Several had been on the Alaskan Inside Passage cruise that I’d taken with my daughters. The food at dinner was excellent – sea bass, my new favourite, but a disappointing Eton mess – not enough meringue. A lot of the conversations around me were concerning the drinks packages that seemingly everyone except me appeared to have purchased. I thought the packages were outrageously expensive but then I only have one drink per day. Here people were happily buying a bottle of wine each evening for just themselves.
We didn’t finish dinner until about 10:15 and I went to check out the evening’s entertainment – the Eternal Valentines, a married couple, singing and playing keyboard and guitar. It was a short half hour set but quite pleasant. Then it was off the see a game show called State of the Nation in the Palladium theatre – most entertaining since it involved audience participation.
DAY 2 – At sea
I braved The Borough Market for breakfast, a self service cafe which was very crowded. Having found some fruit and yoghurt I couldn’t find anywhere to sit so I sat outside, carefully trying to avoid the windy side of the ship, even though it was a beautiful sunny day with a calm sea. Then I went to explore the ship, finding a sauna, exercise room and shopping centre. I retreated to my room and began the embroidery project I’d brought with me, a cross stitch kit of an owl that I though might fit in with Anna’s colour scheme for Jude. Mid morning I attended a presentation about Guernsey and Honfleur, our first two ports. The strategy for exiting the boat was given plus a description of the shore excursions that were available.
Then it was back to Borough Market for cheese and biscuits and a cold meat selection and then back to my room to do some more embroidery. I tried putting on the TV but the channels available were unappealing – BBC News, Sky News, Sky Sports News, and Prime movies but without a menu to check the schedule to see what and when the movies were showing.
I returned to the lounge to watch the Eternal Valentines again and got talking to another couple and inevitably the opening question is ‘Where are you from?’ I’d already met someone from Burnley who had worked in both Bolton and Bury, so I tried to describe Affetside’s location. She hadn’t heard of it but asked if it was near The Last Drop – I’d only had my wedding reception there! So, confronted with this ‘new’ couple I asked where they were from. ‘Torquay’, came the response. ‘Ooo, I don’t know anything about the South of England. I’m a Northerner through and through,’ I quipped. ‘Well, my mother was born in the north of England in a place call Todmorden. Have you heard of it?’ ‘I can walk to it from my house,’ I laughed.
I’d elected to go and meet the captain at a meet and greet, so I took my leave of the Southerners and joined a short line to greet the captain while the ship’s photographer took my photo. I asked the captain where home is for him. He told me that Ambition is registered in Nassau. He himself is from Ukraine.
After dinner with the same two ladies on Table 92 the evening’s entertainment was a Globe Trotting quiz with an excellent compere and four volunteers each representing a different country of the UK. There were some fun questions about the various countries and my favourite was a round of crazy place names where the contestants had to guess which country the places were in. The game lasted well over an hour and was lots of fun. Afterwards I popped into the evening’s show in the Palladium theatre. Though the costumes were fun – all the ladies done up to look like Mary Antoinette, and the set was an English country garden, there was no variety in the songs and after half an hour I left. It was after 11 p.m. anyway and it was time to head for my cabin, 8026. It’s been years since I’ve fallen asleep without my radio on but since I can’t get radio reception on the ship I’ve been able to prove to myself that I can actually fall asleep without it!
DAY 3 – Guernsey
At 7:15 a.m. an almighty clunk rocked the boat – we had landed on Guernsey. I raced to open my curtains and found that my cabin was facing seaward and I could see the islands of Herm and Sark in the distance. I was wondering how to occupy myself in St Peter Port from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. I couldn’t just wander the streets for ten hours. I had gathered that many people stay on board ship even when we land at a port but even though I’d spent five days on Guernsey in January 2019 I wanted to explore the island. Yesterday a lady had suggested a group of us get together and take the ferry to Sark but there was no way of contacting her, but I reckoned there’d be people at the dock selling various tours.
Mulling all this over I had breakfast in the Buckingham restaurant – still busy but not as crazy as Borough Market. Then it was a trip on the tender for the 15 minute sail to St Peter Port. It was a large stride/jump onto the tender but there were lots of helping hands from the staff to assist.
When we’d sailed past the jetty in the tender I spotted the lighthouse and castle so I headed off in that direction hoping to get a good photo of the town from the end of the jetty. Hundreds of boats were moored in the harbour and sunlight poured down on the bright blue water. I spent a couple of hours exploring Castle Cornet which had been constructed over several hundred years. Formerly on a tidal island the castle was first built around 1200 and was taken over by the French, then the Welsh and then the English.
During the British Civil war it was held by the Parliamentarians and then the Royalists. It had also acted as a prison from earliest times until the end of World War ll, and had been a garrison for soldiers through the centuries. I found the display about the German occupation of the island very moving. A small garden added colour to the ancient stonework and I had coffee and a Guernsey Gache, a local toast with raisins, on the outdoor patio.
I gathered alongside a few other tourists to watch the firing of the cannon at midday. A soldier in full military uniform waited for the precise moment and then an almighty bang left everyone with buzzing ears!
I was ready for a sit down after wandering around the castle and climbing up and down the many staircases. So I headed to the bus station to find a route around the island. I found just the right one and spent the next hour and 40 minutes on a lovely tour of the island including the Vason coast that I’d explored in my previous visit. The houses exuded affluence. It would be interesting to know how much they sell for. Their steeply angled pan-tiled roofs are very distinctive. The coastal part of the ride was beautiful. Many concrete bunkers left from WW ll still dot the coastline.
Arriving back at the port I had an hour before it would be time to catch the tender so I thought I’d go and see the main church in the town centre. A helpful docent picked up my interest in the organ there. Apparently he has an organ stop named after him somewhere. He even opened the console and was happy for me to play the instrument but neither of us knew how to turn the massive instrument on so I suggested I play the nearby piano instead. When he took off the cover I could see that it was a Bechstein – the company which had just closed its shop down in Manchester much to my piano Meetup group’s disappointment. It had a beautiful sound and he offered to take a video of me playing it. It took him four attempts but finally he succeeded.
I had a little wander round the town for half an hour before it was time to get the tender. I found a little cafe next to the waiting area and enjoyed an early evening refreshment as I wrote my journal before it was time to leave the island.
Departure time for Ambition was 6 p.m. and I spent the evening sampling more of the onboard entertainment of plays, quizzes and music. I saw a beautiful golden sun peaking through the clouds over the ocean around 8:30. Sunset was around 10 p.m.
DAY 4 – Honfleur and Giverny
I’d booked a coach tour that would take me to Monet’s garden and house at Giverny. When booking everyone was concerned about how overrun with tourists the place that Monet made his home for more than 40 years would be. I’m glad that we had been forewarned. Apparently over 500,000 tourists visit this little village each year! Compare this to Haworth Parsonage which gets tourists from all over the world, but only 50,000 to 75,000 per year.
We docked at Honfleur on the River Seine at 8 a.m, the anchor chains making an almighty racket. I opened the curtains expecting to see bright sunshine and a sleepy little port. Instead I found myself looking at an rain drenched enormous goods yard full of wood and cranes – no, not the feathered variety.
I had to have an early (for me) breakfast because we were to meet ashore at the coach stop by 9 a.m. for the 2 1/4 hour ride to Giverny, which included a 20 minute bathroom and snack break half way. The landscape was rolling agricultural fields and we saw nothing of the town of Honfleur as we left the riverside.
We had a tour guide on the bus and she filled us in with facts about Monet’s life at Giverny. Apparently the entire gardens had been left derelict at some point and later reconstructed as they would have been in his day. In 1883 he began to rent this house and its orchard garden. With the help of his family, he changed its appearance from a farming plot to a flowering garden. Around the house, he sowed seeds for his favourite annuals: poppies, sunflowers, and nasturtiums. In spring he would plant daffodil bulbs, primroses, and willow herbs. By 1890 his paintings had become collectors’ items and he had enough money to purchase the house and land. Now on his private land he embarked on a much more ambitious gardening plan: he hired two full-time gardeners, which would eventually grow to six, built a large greenhouse just to propagate species and preserve bulbs, and rented a separate garden, not far away from his house, to move all the vegetable and fruits to, so he could devote his own garden solely for his flowers. His flower collection grew with a more extravagant range of species, which must have cost him a fortune: irises, peonies, delphiniums, Oriental poppies, asters, and many species of sunflowers gave colour. He diverted water so that he could build his famous Japanese water garden with its bridges and water lilies. After he completed the development, he devoted the last 30 or so years of his life to painting almost 250 panels depicting the serene surface of his water-lily pond. The guide explained that she couldn’t guide us around the house or garden because it would be too crowded and we wouldn’t be able to either stick together, or hear her. The couple from the Ribble Valley were on the bus and we chatted throughout the journey. Once at Giverny the guide showed us the way into and out of the garden and house and the way into the little village and back to the coach park – all very confusing. There was a grey sky above us but rain wasn’t forecast until 4 in the afternoon by which time we were scheduled to be on our way home on the coach, but I’d brought my raincoat ‘just in case.’
We arrived at 11.15 and were told that this was the quietest part of the day but I could already see a long line of visitors stretching from the house itself so I set about wandering in the gardens. They are so extensive that they now take 50 gardeners to care for them. How on earth did Monet manage to create this himself? The scent from the roses permeated the air and the straight rows of flowers separated by little parallel paths were beautifully cared for. My undergraduate dissertation had been about the influence of impressionist art on Debussy’s music so this was a very special place for me to visit fifty years after I first learned of it. But the place was just so busy that I didn’t get a real sense of Monet’s life here, with his two wives and eight children. The narrow walkways in the gardens were filled with slow moving elderly people and younger people stopping to take selfies every few minutes. An underpass led to the Japanese garden. But unfortunately it isn’t water lily season. It was almost impossible to take photos of the Japanese bridges, there were just too many people on them. Soon it started to rain, so I’m glad my raincoat got some use.
Eventually I went over to the house when I could see that there were only about a dozen people in line waiting to enter but the queue inside stretched through every room. I was very surprised at how large the actual building was but what surprised me most was his collection of art works, especially Japanese prints. I asked a docent if they had been there in Monet’s time, and the answer was definitely yes, though many of them are replicas for security purposes. I asked the docent to take a photo of me in the same place that Monet was standing in one of the photos displayed on the wall.
Exit was, naturally, through the gift shop, and though I had gathered some postcards to send to my daughters I gave up after I saw the length of the checkout line. Someone said it was an hour long! I consoled myself thinking that I’d buy some postcards in the village itself but no – none of the little gift shops carried any postcards. Perhaps the house has a monopoly on their sale. I thought I’d get a drink before returning to the coach at 2.15 and I spotted a little cafe that looked inviting. They had a range of teabags to chose from – impressive – but then lady server poured me just half a paper cup of hot water. I paid with my debit card and looked around for some milk. “Ah, that will be an extra 50 cents,” she told me. I rummaged around for my card again, made a big show of giving it to her but she just shrugged her shoulders implying that I needn’t pay for the milk. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been charged separately for the milk to be put in a cup of tea.
After this amusing encounter I headed back towards the coach stop passing a field of long grass peppered with flowering red poppies, at the centre of which was a haystack – all familiar presences in Monet’s paintings. The field was part of the Impressionist museum but there wasn’t time to visit it. I was relieved to find my way back to the coach park without any difficulty and off we set – in the pouring rain!
Back in Honfleur I felt tired enough to go straight back to the ship for forty winks, especially since we’d moved the clocks on an hour overnight, but I couldn’t miss going to have a look at Honfleur, so along with the couple I took the shuttle bus directly into the centre of Honfleur rather than going back to Ambition.
Satie had lived in Honfleur as had Monet and his teacher Boudin and they had both done many paintings of the town. My GPS wasn’t working on my phone and I was loathe to head off into the town without it. The last shuttle bus back to the ship was 7 p.m. and so I explored the town with the couple who had both been there before. The central dock with its ancient multi-storey buildings is iconic but in all the photos and paintings I’d seen of the houses were beautifully coloured. How different today.
They are brown and grey wooden structures and that wasn’t just because it was now raining quite hard. Some of the side streets had ancient wattle and daub buildings and we selected a lovely bar for a drink and a brief shelter from the rain. It reminded me of The First and Last Chance Saloon in Oakland with its walls and ceiling decorated with all manner of things. Flags covered the ceiling and there was even the bear flag of California to make me feel at home.
Heading out I suggested we went to see if the big church, St Catherine’s, was open and it was. It’s all constructed of wood and the ceilings of the aisles look like the keels of upturned boats – and no wonder – it was constructed by fishermen. It dates from the second half of the 15th century and is the largest wooden church in France. because of its wooden structure it wasn’t strong enough to support a tower so a tower topped with a spire was built separately – and now serves as the public toilets!
Back on the streets a souvenir was purchased – in the form of Pisse de Vaches – a liqueur called yes, cow’s piss.
We got the last shuttle back and as we checked in we were told that were the last three people to return to the ship! They also mentioned that there was a spare seat at their table for the second sitting in the Buckingham restaurant so at 8.15 I made my way to their table – table 2. There were four people already seated at the six seater table and the couple weren’t there. The others looked at me as if I’d flown in from another planet but as soon as I’d told them of my invitation to the table they welcomed me. A few minutes later the couple arrived and so she had to grab the table settings from another table and we squeezed seven onto our table. She explained that they had been delayed because her partner had gone to the laundry on board to wash his red pants that had got muddy and wet during the day – and he’d only brought one other pair with him – his dress pants and he wasn’t going to wear them at tonight’s informal meal. I had a lovely curry as my main course. Again I noticed that people were tucking into their bottles of wine like there was no tomorrow.
After dinner I went to the Palladium theatre to watch a ghost story play. Then it was off to my room around 11.15 – a tired and content bunny. What a lot I’d packed in today!
DAY 5 – At sea
I enjoyed working on my cross stitch owl and reading Gordo, the book that Sarah had given me for Christmas, set in the farming community south of Santa Cruz. I don’t seem to be able to give myself ‘permission’ to read and embroider at home, so I welcomed this. I had a latish breakfast in Borough Market. Again, it was very busy but I had a delicious bacon butty.
At 11 o’clock I attended a lecture by Stuart Laing, former Master of Corpus Christie College, Cambridge, entitled ‘Heroes of Hull, Brigand of Bristol’ about the slave trade. He had been an ambassador to Oman and Kuwait. I felt that his lecture went way above the heads of the audience – mine included, and rather irrelevant to this particular cruise. It was all about the Afro-Arab slave trade.
Later I went back to the market for a light bite and was joined by Arthur for one of the most interesting conversations I’d had so far on the trip. We were still chatting two hours later! One of the inevitable conversation starters is about former cruises and he told me all about the Hurtigruten cruise he’d taken – the post boat to the Norwegian fjords. This was a cruise that Maggie had been on and had urged me to take. Arthur had recently been widowed and when his husband died last year he’d taken the cruise rather than be a third wheel at friends’ Christmas celebrations. Despite there only being four hours of daylight he described basking in the hot tub on deck with snow falling on him, and an amazing husky ride on the frozen ice. He has lived in Spain since the mid 1970s and has had five operations on his spine so his mobility is very limited, so his husky ride was very special for him.
In the afternoon I managed to talk to Sarah and Daphne briefly, having figured out that WhatsApp calls can be done from the ship.
Dinner was on Table 2 again and then to The Retro Rock Rebellion at the Palladium theatre – a singing and dancing show which was well done but didn’t interest me very much and I left before it finished.
DAY 6 – Ijmuiden, The Netherlands
I’d booked a tour called ‘Amsterdam on your own.’ Basically it was just a coach taking me to the from the port of Ijmuiden to the centre of Amsterdam, about a 45 minute ride. It left at 8.45 which meant an early start for me but since no return time had been posted I presumed that I could return to the boat at whatever time I pleased. Imagine my surprise then when the coach driver announced that we’d need to be back on the coach by 1.50 for a 2.00 departure back to Ambition.
I woke to a view of bellowing chimneys and a huge industrial estate. One of the problems of not having Internet was that I couldn’t research places that I’d be visiting. During the trip out of the port we passed big factories and goods yards with giant car parks – all filled – but I didn’t see a single person until we reached the outskirts of Amsterdam. The coach deposited us close to the central station much of which was under wraps since it is undergoing some major reconstruction.
When I got home after the cruise I noticed that a TV series has been made – Amsterdam Central 24/7 about the 900 men and women who keep things running smoothly at the station which is undergoing its largest renovation in its history. Our coach guide gave me directions on how to find a place where I could board a cruise along one of the canals. It had just started raining as I left Ambition and it was now blowing a gale so I didn’t fancy just wandering around the streets on my own for four hours. It wasn’t until I reached the cruise chalet that I realised that this was the same company and route that I’d taken in March, 2019. Was it really six years ago? The hour’s cruise was enjoyable despite the weather, passing the tall houses, some only one metre wide because taxes were assessed on ground space. I was fascinated by the taking in pulleys on the gables, some of which are still used for getting people’s furniture into their homes.
Once back at the dock it was a struggle to find the terminus of the Hop On Hop Off bus but once found I was assured that it would be back at the starting point in an hour – by 1.30. However, as we drove around the streets traffic was at a standstill in many places and I began to worry that I’d not get back to the shuttle coach in time.
I’d been told that a taxi back to Ambition would cost 100 Euros. Just before we reached the terminus the bridge that we were about to cross suddenly took flight so that two boats could pass beneath, thus delaying the bus even more. It was precisely 2 p.m. when the bus reached the terminus. I could see my coach shuttle across the street and I just made it in time – the last one to board.
Dinner was at Table 2 again. I had a lovely seafood starter served in a shell and then pork stuffed with dried apricot and I caught a little bit of the Game Show Around the World after dinner and then went to see comedian Gerry Graham, a 45 minute show.
One of his specialities is writing his own words to favourite song themes – very funny. A couple of his one liners were rather ‘old school’ and a lot of his material was based on TV programmes, comics and songs from the 60s and 70s that I don’t know but his presentation was flawless and quite witty.
I was back in my room by 11.15. The ship had started to rock and sway quite a lot and it was a little tricky to walk in a straight line – and I’d only had a small glass of white wine with my dinner!
DAY 7 – All at Sea for my birthday
When I returned to my cabin after breakfast today a Happy Birthday banner had been installed above my window. I opened my birthday cards that I’d brought with me. I’d already opened one from my daughters that had been there to greet me when I first stepped into my cabin, along with a plate of delicious chocolates. Somehow Rachel had organised that! Today there was a card from Ambassador cruises, a Mothers’ Day card from Wobbly Bob, and two original cards painted by Gill and Jane.
I planned to go to the play at 2 o’clock in the Palladium Theatre, but, oh my, the theatre was completely full – no spaces whatsoever, so I took a couple of strolls around the ship, wrote up my journal over a nice cider. Trace has another week of paternity leave before returning to school for two weeks before the long summer break. Belinda was there. It’s her birthday too today! When I called Sarah she was in a rush to leave – all dressed up with her long hair down rather than pinned up as it usually is. She was just about to leave for the first meeting for the musicians of Sweeney Todd, the musical she’s playing in in the pit with Cabrillo Stage.
I had a shower myself, got dressed up and then went to hear the Kit Kat Trio, a Filipino group with two girls and a guy. One of the girls plays guitar and sings, and the guy plays keyboards and sings occasionally. Then off to the Nice and Easy Trivia Game where I was soon joined by five others including a man who was very interested in my trip to Alamogordo in New Mexico, the site of the first nuclear explosion in 1945. Our conversation had been ignited by a question about the Oppenheimer movie. Rachel had visited the site too, just as the movie was released in 2023. However, the man wouldn’t accept my answer that Spain won the Euros in 2024, insisting that we wrote the answer Italy!
Then it was time to go to dinner with Table 2. Our attention was drawn to the waiters gathering round a table at the far end of the restaurant and singing Happy Birthday, so I shared with my table that it was my birthday and told our waiter. Soon after someone from our table took a trip to the bathroom which seemed to take a long time and when she returned she’d made a little birthday card for me on behalf of all at Table 2. Another member of Table 2 is celebrating his birthday tomorrow and so he’s booked us all to go to Saffron restaurant, a small restaurant on Ambition specialising in Indian and Chinese food. As our dessert was served all the waiters gathered around our table, sang Happy Birthday and presented me with a piece of cheesecake with one lit candle – very sweet. Someone asked if this was a significant birthday – and I replied that all birthdays are significant!
The late evening’s entertainment at the theatre was A Night in Nashville – the performers singing and dancing in extravagant cowboy costumes – very entertaining, and very well done.
DAY 8 – Orkney
I looked through the window to see that it was pouring down, foggy and blowing a gale. I could see the green fields beyond the terminal and just make out the spire of St Magnus cathedral which I recognised from my previous trip to the island in August of 2017. An early lunch was required in order to meet the tour bus at 1 p.m.
The wind was so strong that it was hard to stand up straight especially on the steep ramp down from the ship. Our tour guide for this four hour excursion, Norah, was excellent – a wealth of knowledge and she even pointed out her house, a remote farm, during our trip. She’d come to live in Orkney 15 years ago. As we drove around the island in a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers but with a consistently strong wind my attention was drawn to the ruined longhouses reminding me of the entire ruined village I’d seen on Mull on my trip there with Keith in August 2018. It was difficult to differentiate between the inland lochs and the sea.
There were lots of sheep with their young lambs and cattle with their calves. We had a photo stop at Palace beach. The colours on the island – the sky, the rocks, the fluorescent green of the fields and the varieties of blues on the water are amazing – no wonder these northern isles are a paradise for artists. Three wooden picnic tables had stone semi circular walls built to protect them from the wind. It really was difficult to even stand still.
I think this is probably the strongest wind I’ve ever encountered. But at least there was some bright sunshine for a few moments as the clouds scudded across the sky, sometimes obliterating the sun and sometimes opening for the sun’s rays to reach the earth. It was these colours that I tried to capture in my photos of the island, that – and the remoteness of the individual farms and ruins of former buildings.
Palace takes its name from the Earl’s Palace built around 1606 by Patrick, earl of Orkney, one of the island’s most notorious rulers. I was disappointed that our coach didn’t stop at the palace ruins.
At Sandwick there was a chapel on a cliff with a beautifully maintained cemetery. There was no village nearby, just this isolated chapel. It is a rare survival of an unaltered Scots parish kirk of 1836 with views of the Bay of Skaill and Skara Brae. It was hard to imagine that in the mid 19th century the kirk would have been packed with 500 people – each having no more than an 18” space on each pew! I do wish Norah had told us that the chapel was open but one of the passengers did go inside and he shared his photos with me. It looked very similar to the non-conformist chapels of Calderdale in West Yorkshire.
And then we headed to Stromness, a town that I didn’t visit on my Brightwater Adventure to the Orkneys and Shetland. We were here for just 40 minutes so I wandered around the sea front with its ancient buildings basking now in the glorious sunshine. A lot of music was issuing forth since today is the last day of the Orkney Folk Festival. There was even a small group of young girls playing the violin on the street which so reminded me of Rachel at the same age. I got a coffee to take back with my on the bus and then we headed to the Ring of Brodgar which I’d visited before. Gone was the wooden picket fence that had surrounded the circle on my previous visit so it looked much more ancient and pristine.
Well, it is 5,000 years old. The surrounding heather of course was not in bloom but still it was the colours that impressed me most. An unexpected encounter as I walked around the stone circle was two Morris men lying prostrate close to the henge in their costumes. I asked if I could take a photo and was told no. So I just walked away and pretended to take a panoramic shot but actually took the photo that I wanted. As I walked around the circle I couldn’t stop thinking about how remote these islands are and what it must be like to live here, whether it be 5000 years ago, or today. The wind was still strong and it was obvious a storm was brewing. Overhead a huge black cloud was heading in our direction and three minutes before I arrived back at the coach the rain started. It didn’t last long but it was a huge downpour. I looked in vain for a rainbow but I was told later that evening that there had been one.
Back on the ship Table 2 had migrated to Saffron and tonight we were joined by another man who just happened to sit opposite me. I thought I recognised his accent. “I’m from Bolton,” he told me. I joked that I’d buy him a drink if he could guess which village I am from, but when he said he knew Harwood and Tottington I withdrew my offer – all in good fun. Then he mentioned that his favourite pub in the area is the Pack Horse at Affetside, and that he was meeting a friend there this Friday, even though he now lives in Durham.
I took a video of him explaining all this to share with my daughters. Our dinner reservation was for 8 p.m. and with the starters and drinks it was 9.30 p.m. before the main course was served. I’d had enough by 10 p.m. so I made my excuses, saying that I wanted to photograph the sunset and cloud formation, so off I trotted. Sunset was at 10.04. Beautiful.
Entertainment for the rest of the evening was ‘Live Aid – a Musicians Songbook’. revisiting the songs of the live aid concert of 1985. The show was interrupted by a message from the ship’s captain which many of us in the audience thought at first was part of the show. He informed us that we would be encountering rough weather. We were advised to hold onto the ship’s rails and bannisters as we walked and that sea sickness tablets were available free of charge. The show resumed but the ship began to lurch violently. The actors and dancers carried on regardless – they are obviously used to situations like this. The passengers on the other hand aren’t. I had cling to every rail and chair was I left the theatre at the end of the show. Just crossing the hallway to the lift was challenging. And once back safely in my cabin even getting ready for bed was difficult. I woke up many times during the night feeling the pressure of the ship swaying. The captain had also informed us that because of the turbulence we wouldn’t be able to go to Shetland the following day. We’d have a day at sea and spend the final day of our cruise docked at Douglas on the Isle of Man.
DAY 9 – At sea
This was an unanticipated day at sea. We had been scheduled to sail north overnight and spend today on Shetland but the storm had meant that we’d had to make a detour and head to the Isle of Man.
Fortunately I’d brought some seasickness tablets with me and I’m glad that I did, though I still felt decidedly unwell all morning, and I tried to sleep it off. The outside deck was severely flooded, the mock grass carpet being under several inches of water.
By the time we sailed past Uist the sea had become calmer and I spent the rest of the day doing my embroidery, reading and watching the amazing parade in Liverpool on SkySports TV. Liverpool FC had finished the season on top of the Premier League and a parade of open top buses holding the team were cheered on by thousands of fans with lots of red smoke and fireworks. The parade passed the Liver Building and the dock where I’d boarded Ambition. I’m glad we weren’t scheduled to dock there today. Well over 100,000 people were there. What I didn’t know at the time was that some crazy guy drove his car in to the crowd injuring many people.
Because we had to pass between the Hebrides we were able to see land on both sides of us throughout the day, something that I’d been disappointed not to see on our other days at sea – always having docked and departed in the dark.
I decided to have an early light dinner in the Borough Market, so after dinner I went to the pub quiz on a movie theme where I joined Table 2 at 7.30. My Mohave desert answer was much appreciated – though here it was pronounced Mo – jave by many! Another question was how many symphonies did Beethoven compose? Our team didn’t win but at least I’d made a contribution. At the end of the evening all crew paraded through the theatre so that we could show our appreciation. There were 512 crew to 1200 passengers.
DAY 10 – Isle of Man
I slept so much better since we were back on calm waters. We dropped anchor at 6.45 a.m. I looked out of my window, and there it was – the Isle of Man. OK, the sky wasn’t exactly blue but it wasn’t foggy or pouring with rain. But by 10 a.m. the land had become shrouded in mist and it was raining heavily – but at least Ambition wasn’t reeling around. I’d received an email from Baggex, the luggage courier service, to say that they wouldn’t be able to take my rolly bag home – darn it – I can’t even lift it.
I have a photo of my mum, my grandma and her friend Annie Brown on a boat on the Isle of Man and I think my boyfriend Tony went there with his mum, flying from Blackpool, but I’ve not been there before today. The excursion that I’d booked was to leave at 1.15 and we were advised to leave the ship to board the tender no later than 12.30. As I looked out towards the tender it was certainly bouncing around a lot in the water and many passengers who had not paid for an onshore excursion and just wanted to take the tender to the shore in Douglas were having second thoughts. I took another seasickness tablet, just in case, and then we were off, heading towards the promenade with its rows of tall white buildings, obviously Victorian, built as guest houses and boarding houses. It was only a 15 minute sail in the tender to the landing area and in the reception building my attention went straight to a blue piano placed there in memory of someone named Cody, so I gave it a little tinkle of Bach and Grieg as I waited for the coach.
Our guide was knowledgable about the island’s history, of which I knew nothing. She pointed out that in the 1960s, which is when my family would have visited, tourists visited the island for its beaches, ice cream and dirty postcards. Now, it’s much more upmarket, home to millionaires and it offers great tax incentives. I had no idea that the island had its own language, and currently one elementary school only uses the Manx language in an effort to preserve it. The island was settled by the Vikings, was the place of a 25,000 person internment camp during WW ll and the home of William Hillary who founded the RNLI. Gently rolling hills shrouded in mist was the order of the day as we drove to Castletown where we had an hour to explore on our own. The town is dominated by Castle Rushen, a medieval castle built for a Viking king.
The town is a maze of narrow streets and former fishermen’s cottages. The town and castle have been the site of numerous sieges and battles, as the Norsemen, the Scots and the English fought to control it. Robert the Bruce captured the castle three times. My first teaching post in Bedford had been at Robert the Bruce school! There’s even the remains of an extinct volcano on the island – as I type this Mt Etna, which I hiked halfway up in 2018, has just erupted. I even noticed a bus stop called Smetana’s stop which had music inscribed but I don’t know why it’s there – and neither did our guide!
I walked around the dock and took a brief peek into the House of Keys, the island’s old parliament building.
Wandering around the main shopping streets they felt very deserted, not a person in sight and many of the shops were permanently closed – almost a ghost town feel to the place.
Back on the coach we took the A3 north passing Foxdale, home of 13 lead mines in the 19th century and we could see some of the ruined smelting mills dotted in the fields. The mines were all compulsory closed in 1911. Gardners in the vicinity today are still not allowed to grow veggies in the soil, just in pots with good soil, because of the lead content still present in the soil.
Then we stopped for an hour in Peel, dominated by the castle originally built by Norwegians in the 11th century under the rule of Magnus Barefoot. After the Norwegians left it became a church when a cathedral was built on the site. Excavations in the 10th century uncovered a 10th century grave containing a Norwegian necklace and a silver coin dated 1030. The colourful fisherman’s cottages that lined the streets reminded me of Tobermoray on Mull. It was a pity there wasn’t enough time to visit the castle or the museum but I did buy a toasted teacake and take a cup of tea back to the coach with me.
Back at the ferry terminal I asked someone to take a video of me playing the blue piano and then it was back to the tender which thankfully wasn’t a bouncy as earlier in the day. I was back on Ambition by 6.30 and then I hastily did my packing because everyone had to put their suitcases outside their room by 11 p.m. Later I did the pub quiz with the same two ladies for the third night and we did quite well.
I had dinner with table 2 and then it was off to the Palladium theatre to watch Oscar Night. This group of young singer/actors are very professional, as are the backdrops and the costumes.
I was back in my cabin by 11.30. I have to vacate my cabin by 7.30 tomorrow morning. That’s awfully early for me!
DAY 11 – Going home
I had a peek from my window just before 6 a.m. hoping to see some coastline but all I could see was are sea. I left my cabin just before 7.30 knowing I then had to hang around the ship for four hours since I’d been assigned to an 11.30 disembarkation. How better, then, to find a quiet spot in one of the lounges and write up my journal for yesterday. And, I got my first consistent WiFi connection in ten days, so I needed to catch up with all those emails and Facebook messages, especially those wishing me Happy Birthday that I hadn’t been able to acknowledge.
Embarkation was straightforward – just a question of handing in my Ambition card. This card had been the sole way of paying for anything on the ship including the excursions. It had also acted as a passport. It was strange to think that I’d visited France and The Netherlands without having to show my passport at any time on the trip. It almost felt as if I hadn’t actually been abroad.
Many of the passengers had pre-booked taxis and they had priority on disembarkation. When I enquired where to get a taxi from I was directed, not very well, to a spot just outside the perimeter of the port, where to my horror I saw a line of at least 30 or 40 people in front of me, with not a taxi in sight, and it was raining cats and dogs! The ship’s people had told me that there’d be a line of taxis waiting for people leaving the ship.Not! It was 10 minutes before the first taxi arrived, by which time at least 20 people had joined the line. It was going to take hours.
So – book an Uber! My Uber arrived in 5 minutes and 15 minutes later I was on the platform, awaiting my train to Manchester. There’d been no sign of the Liverpool FC parade during my short journey to Lime Street station. My concern about dealing with my rolly bag proved to be unfounded as I found people willing to help me lift it onto and off the train. I noticed that the rhododendrons on the sides of the railway track had come into bloom whilst I’d been cruising around – and my purple headed chives in my garden had flowered. I’d booked a taxi in Hebden Bridge, and I was home safely by 2.15 and by 2.30 I was sitting comfortably with Branwell purring in my lap.
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