Formal Night Pics

These are the photos from our first formal night on board the Jewel of the Seas

Mom and me with the captain at his pre-dinner reception

Awww. Mother and son. Kind of like an upscale Olin Mills....

And this is the picture my roommate says "ought to snag me a husband"; see how sincere I look in a tuxedo?

Asia de Cuba photo

The grainy camera phone pic taken of Stefan, Troy and Mom at Asia de Cuba in the St. Martin's Lane Hotel, London.

Ossipee, New Hampshire

My Uncle Ralph picked us up at the pier when our ship arrived on Monday. We stopped off for Dunkin' Donuts and to see my cousin Ellen and her husband before treking to Ossipee, New Hampshire.

My uncle's place in New Hampshire overlooks Dan Hole Pond, named for a fur trapper who was popular with the local First American population.

That night we ate at Whittier House, a student union style bar decorated with old license plates, beer cans, and pewter beer steins. We sat in the screened in back porch which had a stone coy pond in the center.

Mom and I were both pleased to get into full sized beds. I could (and can still) feel the ocean. Mom swears she can't feel it, but I believe she's too exited being on land again to try.

Sunday, Mom and Uncle Ralph went shopping and then watched football all day. I wrote all morning and then planted bulbs in the front yard. There was a quick shower that soaked me - our only rain the entire trip!

Mom won a one dollar bet with her brother on the Broncos/Patriots game. She's says she's going to frame it and put it on her Bronco altar at home.

Monday, we stopped in to see my cousin Stephen on the way back and got to Logan for our flights.

And that's it! We're home!

Home Again

Mom and I both arrived safely at our respective homes last night at about 8pm.

I called her today. She said she was happy to be home but missed the chocolates on her pillow.

Anyway, I still have pictures to post including New Hampshire, dinner at Asia de Cuba, and formal night (I have to scan these, so it may be a few days)

Service Highlights

The cruise staff conducted themselves far beyond our modest expectations of good service - especially our dining room waiter Yatin from India and our assistant waiter Olga from Lithuania.

Even though he manages dozens of tables, Yatin found time every night to seat my mother himself. Olga discovered early on that we enjoyed hot tea with our meals and layed out a tea service every night for us.

While the cruise line provides everyone with generic envelopes in which to place cash for tipping, we picked out some handsome watercolor greeting cards in which to enclose a gratuity with our handwritten thanks.

Final Sea Day!

We dock and disembark in Boston on Saturday. Once there, we rendevous with my uncle and his family for a weekend in the New Hampshire woods. Then Monday we fly home.

Today on the Atlantic, the cloudless sunny weather persists. Mom went to a towel folding demonstration this morning and I read my book by the pool in the Solarium where I took a dip in the saltwater pool. We're looking forward to watching the sunset from our nightly stakeout in the Champagne bar (one diet Coke one regular Coke, the bartender calls it "the usual").

The Grand Buffet

Our final food event of the cruise took place at midnight.

700 man hours went into preparing all the foods and sculptures for this incredible display that took up most of the 1000 seat dining room.

Highlights included:
-gryphon, dolphin, swan, and mermaid ice sculptures.
- a verdigris green statue of liberty made entirely of chocolate.
- cheese wheels carved to resemble American coins,
- animals made from cut fruit.
- caviar and salmon in mass quantities.
- seven layer cakes in seven flavors.

Mom grabbed some salmon, cheese, and crackers. I got some fruit and a wedge of white chocolate black forest cake. The best part of the buffet? We got to take our portions back to our stateroom for all night munching.

Halifax and the Evangeline Trail

Our kilted guide Ken toured us through the Anapolis Valley where French Catholic settlers, known as the Acadians, first settled.
They built clay dikes to permit the high Bay of Fundy tides to flood the area, leaving mineral rich silt for farming when they rolled out.

The British forced their expulsion from the land in the mid 1700s. Longfellow's narrative poem "Evangeline" popularized the cause of the Acadians internationally. In the last century, Queen Elizabeth dedicated the histroic park at Grand Pre to the memory of thier tragic exile.

We ate in the small college town of Wolfville. Mom and I tried out the "national obsession" Tim Horton's coffee shop. I had a few sips of the brew - my tounge grew fur and my ears began ringing. Later, we journeyed to a local apple orchard where I tasted a 400 year old cultivar, the German Gravestein. Most everyone else enjoyed a scoop of homemade ice cream.

When we passed back through the Anapolis Valley the tide was high and the clay dikes we'd photographed earlier in the day were now swollen marshlands. As a bonus, our coach took us to the star-shaped dry moat Citadel that looks over Halifax, guarded by soldiers in traditional costume.

St. John's Surprise

Our unreally perfect weather continued into St. John's, Newfoundland. Rough winds, however, chilled us at our first stop, Cape Spear.

This handsome stetch of coast, a lookout station during the second world war, still boasts a working lighthouse and status as a national park. Wild yellow lupins, thistle, milkweed, and black eyed susans bind the soil with their roots and prevent it from blowing away. The evergreens all bend in the direction the wind blows and lose their needles on the eastern side.

After a pass by the settlement of scenic Petty Harbor, we drove through downtown St. John and up Signal Hill.


We could see our cruise ship from this site that overlooked both the harbor and the Cape Spear lighthouse. I climbed the steps to the Marconi Turret where the first wireless transatlantic signal was exchanged.

Our guide Laura, a young Newfoundlander, though less steeped in history and fact than our other guides gave us the best demonstration of what it was like to live in the area as she joked with the driver and shared personal anecdotes.

The locals easily gave us our best welcome and our best send off of the cruise. At the pier, huge furry Newfoundland dogs, Canadian mounted police, actresses in Victorian dress and a Tv crew greeted us. As we departed, our friendly hosts lined the piers, cliffs and roads surrounding the inlet and waved to us until we passed from sight.

Sea Days

The transatlantic crossing, constituting the middle three days of our journey, ended today in St. John's, Newfoundland.

During our sea days:

- Mom played a sanctioned game of duplicate bridge
- I saw a French Caberet singer in the shipboard theater.
- Mom went to the daily Catholic mass held in the discoteque.
- I worked out in the gym. ("Why do these weights seem so heavy? Oh, KILOS!")
- Mom watched a cooking demonstration.
- I worked on my novel in several quiet corners.

We saw a several movies in the cinema including "The Devil Wears Prada," which seems to be the passenger favorite. We also both got treatments in the spa.

Lismore and Waterford

Our most rewarding of the journey, the shore excursion to Waterford took over nine hours. Our guide, Claire passed around a bottle of Potcin, or Irish moonshine, and a sod of dried peat or "turf" as exhibits to explain the way of life in the Irish Countryside. She graciously explained hurling, mandatory prayer in schools, Irish divorce (the couple must spend four year apart to make it legal), and many Irish aphorisms.

Mom wants to import "Tidy Town" and "Tidy Street" competitions to the U.S. We passed the all-Irish "Tidy Street" winner on our way through Lismore and took a stop at Lismore Castle which one can rent out for 2 grand per weekend with 12 friends.

Ultimately, we traveled to the Waterford Crystal Factory. In the last 30 years, the factory, which originally employed a team of about 70, expanded to 900. We saw at least two dozen active workers on the tour, pouring, molding, turning and shaping hot glass.

The three floor showroom was crowded both with crystal and with consumers. Both Mom and I made small purchases.

Cobh, Ireland

We arrived in Cobh, the second largest natural harbor in the world (Sydney is first, San Francisco is third) at dawn. This pic is a little shaken by ship motion. Cobh is one of two islands in Cork county that are connected by bridge to the town of Cork on the Irish mainland.

The first immigrants to be processed on Ellis Island originated from Cobh. Irish immigration to the United States is percieved in Ireland to be a century-long phenomena, tailing out in recently with a twelve year technology related boom.

Dublin Pics Part 3

A view of St. Patricks from the lawn. Near the gate is the well where St. Patrick performed baptisms.

Dublin Pics Part 2

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Dublin Pics Part 1

St. Stephen's Green in Dublin.

Our Ship

Our cruise ship, The Jewel of the Seas, as seen from the tender boats departing from Plymouth, England.

Dartmoor Pics 3

These wild ponies are also native to the area. Their full height is about 4 ft tall. This one has a foal.

Dartmoor Pics 2

A black-faced ram. This type of sheep is native to Dartmoor and roams wild over the moors and across properties.

Dartmoor Pics 1

A view from the tour bus of foggy Dartmoor, the inspiration for Doyle's "Hounds of the Baskervilles".

Port Racine, France pic

The smallest port in France named for the playwright who once lived in the area.

Grevile, France Pics Part 2

Mom posing in front of a typical house in the village of Grevile

Grevile, France Pics Part 1

In Grevile, the birthplace of painter J. F. Millet posing with his statue.

Cabin Pics Part 2

Me spreading out on the desk in our cabin.

Cabin Pics Part 1

Mom demonstrating our balcony on embarcation day!

System Up!

After some "safe-mode" troubleshooting, I got my laptop working again.

I'd just spoke to guest services and returned the Internet cable for my room when the system came back.

When I begged for the cable back I told them Mom fixed the computer while I'd been talking to them.

If Mom could have fixed it she would have. She was more distressed than I about our blog being disrupted as this would have necessitated writing many postcards.

Anyway, we have some pics to post.

Dale and Mom Status Update

Mom went back to the ship this afternoon. I stayed on to find a Mac system software disc and check out St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Of course, we both want to do everything on the ship, but there is not nearly enough time.

Mom's not used to such busy days. I'm not used to eating so much cheese.

Cork is our next stop with the longest shore excursion of our cruise, the Waterford Crystal tour, a whopping nine hours.

I think we'll probably skip the late show in the theatre tonight and rest up.

Our first day at sea will be a relief. We're both getting spa treatments in the am and eating on our own at the Italian restuarant on board in the pm.

If I find an Internet Cafe in Saint John that will probably be my next login

Dublin Castle

We saw Dublin Castle today. The rooms were all very spectacular, featuring rococo plaster ceilings, antique chairs, browned lacquer portraits, and gilded pillars.

We saw a room where heads of state slept. Someone asked our guide to name some notable visitors. "Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan slept here - not together, of course. And Bill and Hillary Clinton slept here - together surprisingly."

Mom and I both enjoyed the Castles collection of Louis the fourteenth chairs upholstered with tapestry illustrating Aesop's fables.

On the way out, we were hustled aside as the Irish President was approaching. She got out of her car and we glimpsed her at close range for a second before she glided into the fortress.

On the way back to the coach, several Amercians expressed surprise at the low level of security.

A Finish man said, "If you could not approach her as an ordinary person, she could never get elected in Europe."

The man behind him on the coach said, "That's the problem in America - they're ordinary people until they get elected."

Plymouth and Dartmoor

We arrived in Plymouth on Wednesday where we took tender boats to shore.

Our tour took us through the Devon countryside to Dartmoor. Yellow gorse, pink heather and ferns colored the sides of the road.

The farms in the hilly Devon region divide along hedges, which, as accidental wildlife refuges, are federally protected and cannot be altered. The grass is brilliantly green. Mom said it really looked like the green in a crayon box.

Once we got to Dartmoor, black faced sheep and wild Dartmoor ponies could be seen grazing everywhere. The ponies and sheep are "owned" by local interests, and are tagged once a year, but they are left to graze and roam and never culled.

We passed Princeton, where Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired to write "The Hounds of the Baskervilles" among the moss covered heaps of extruded rock.

Finally, the Dartmoor Inn served us a cream tea.

As the tea was layed out, but our table was reluctant to dig in, I assumed the role of "mother" and poured tea for the group. The Dartmoor Inn bakes their exceptionally light scones in a outdoor woodstove at the entrance to the property.

Just before we left, some ponies and sheep began grazing on the West end of the property. You can get close enough to touch them, but they kick. Don't ask how I found that out.

Let's Eat!

We have a dinner table for six on the ship. Cathy and Nick are a Canadian couple. Dick and his wife (Betsy, whose name Mom couldn't remember for some reason) are from outside Washington D.C. All are about Mom's age or a little younger. We get along well.

The serving staff is very attentive. Cathy who is slight never eats too much but they load her up with food anyway.

Mom ate fish every night except last night, our first formal evening, when filet mignon was served. The satifying vegetarian meals included a vertically stacked Eggplant Parmesian and a large Pumpkin Curry pastry served with asparagus.

For breakfast and lunch there are a variety of place to eat on the ship, including the dining room, although almost no one uses the dining room before the dinner seatings.

Cherbourg Mon Cheri

Another day of unbelievably beautiful weather greeted us in Cherbourg where we went on our first shore excursion Tuesday.

We toured of the West Coast of Normandy. Our first stop, the small village where painter J.F. Millet was born. Next, Port Racine, the smallest port in France named for the playwright who lived nearby.

We had a photo op at a lighthouse and climbed a Norman heath from which one could see several islands belonging to Britian.

Mom spoke for a long while with our tour guide who lives in the middle of Normandy with her boyfriend. She said their ritual was to come to the restaurant on the heath, and have a crepe with the wind rushing by. It was clear she was passionate about the area.

Meltdown

We've not updated recently as my computer melted down somewhere between Britian and Ireland.

I'll post a few anecdotes to keep you all in the loop, but pics are probably not forthcoming.

You can find an Apple system software disc laying on the street in San Francisco, but nowhere in Dublin, apparently....

Embarcation Day

After a three-hour transfer through the English countryside Monday, we arrived at the port of Harwich and boarded the boat.

Our cabin is layed out differently than we expected. More favorably in many ways.

It's as big as some suites on other ships, but not nearly as long. The balcony is roomy enough for two to comfortably sit with a table between them. I've spread out on the desk. The bathroom was perhaps the best surprise, roomy and clean with blue tiles and circular shower stall featuring sliding doors.

We took in the "Welcome Aboard" show which featured a juggler/commedian I'd seen on my very first cruise.

Asia De Cuba Dinner

My friends Stefan and Troy joined us for dinner Sunday night at the hotel restaurant.

Troy is from Australia and Stefan is from Sweden although they both live in London now, so we discussed immigration and our native dinner traditions.

Mom's favorite was the lobster mashed potatoes. I enjoyed the Mu Shu tortilla pancakes with mint and goat milk sauce.

At the end of the night, my camera batteries failed. I took a picture of my three dining companions with my cell phone to be posted when we return to the US.

"Rock N Roll"

Sunday afternoon we attended a matinee of the new Tom Stoppard play across the street from our hotel at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Sinead Cusack stood out. She portrayed both a mother and her daughter over the course of the play's twenty two year timetable.

The production used music cues to mark passages in the character's lives and in the social life of Prague before and immediately after the Velvet Revolution

Pub Lunch

We had lunch Sunday at one of Britian's oldest pubs, the Lamb and Flag, parts of which have been around since the 17th century.

I asked for a Ploughman's Lunch which featured a generous wedge of Stilton Cheese. Mom said she'd served as much Stilton to her friends at a bridge party. I took it as a dare. I consumed about 3/4ths before "giving in".

Getting Lost

A planned journey through Regents Park went arwy when I led us down the wrong side of the Grand Canal.

I first knew we were lost when we found a place that was open Sunday before noon. They also sold me four double A batteries for 2 pounds - about half the going rate downtown.

When we finally gave up, a pair of men on a bench with thick accents were powerless to direct us. We’d walked all the way to a much more native and less scenic part of London called Shepard’s Bush.

Trafalgar Pic

Mom took great pictures on this trip. Dad used to jinx her photographic efforts saying she always cut off the subject’s head.

The pigeons are not as numerous in Trafalgar square as they once were, but they still leave quite an impact. When I stood up I discovered my hand was in some of it here.

Canterbury Tales at the Gielgud

We attended a performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "The Canterbury Tales."

One of the dudes from East Enders, Michael Matus (he had the recurring role as a stereotypical American on Absolutely Fabulous) figured promiently.

The director Mike Poulton was the star of the show, however, as it was easily the most complex and originally staged play I've seen in some time.

Dale Gets Lost, Finds His People

While Mom took a nap this afternoon, I walked around to find a good currency exchange and some "take away" food.

I wandered around SoHo which was wall to wall gay men, especially around the Seven Dials and the shops around Dean Street.

Almost everyone was well groomed in a button-up shirt with an open collar. Sort of the unofficial gay uniform here like a t-shirt jeans and a baseball cap would be in San Francisco.

Our theatre tonight was at the Gielgud, so I got a taste for what the current nightlife is like without have to lose my sleep to join in....

Mom at Covent Garden Market

Turned Back From Buckingham

Our plans for Buckhingham, aside from maybe sticking our tongues out at a guard or two were altered.

First, we arrived too late for the Changing of the Guard.

Next, the ticket office cancelled our reservation for the Queen's Rooms. We would have appreciated any effort they might have made to notify us of this before we spent five pounds on a cab to get there and queued up for a half-hour.

More Good News More Bad News

After a lengthy queue at Customs and a speedy transfer, we arrived at St. Martin's Lane Hotel

Though the service was excellent and our room was ideal, the staff put us off for a while about the condition of our belongings.

When the porter brought our bag to us, it was gaping open, shredded at the corners, and held together with tape. I could close the latches with the suitcase empty, but the inside was exposed.

Just the same, nothing was damaged or missing.

We went got an excellent new suitcase on Picadilly and gave our destroyed bag to the porter.

"I'll take it outside," he said, "I need something to kick."

Boston to London

Mom was at Logan to meet me at the gate. We went through another security battery and had time to eat at a greasy bar food restaurant.

Our flight left on time. We were seated next to several of our shipmates who are staying in the same hotel in advance of the cruise.

All the items in the in-flight goody bag glowed under black light and all the lavatories were illuminated with black light.

We were both impressed with the safety video which was a cartoon rendered in blocky 60s-feel characters.

Mom had a conversation with one of the crew members and asked if there was a reason why all the flight attendants were so cheerful. "Boston is an easy trip. Everyone is so polite," she said, "it's not like this flying in and out of New York."

SFO to Boston

On the flight to Boston, I met a soldier on her way to a weekend with her five-year-old. She was about to be deployed for her second tour of duty in the Middle East.

She was first sent to Afghanistan and will now be stationed in Baghdad.

I thanked her for her service.

She said her greatest reward was watching a major Afghan party run a woman for president. She openly wondered when a major US party would have the courage to do the same.

Another Wrinkle and Wrinkle Removed!

A few websearches demonstrated that my AC adapter issue was in fact a battery issue.

I resolved it but went to SFO for my Boston flight with the laptop half-charged.

At the airport, I took my computer to a automated charging station and topped the power up. It was very space age. Unattended remote controlled, taking credit cards and securing charging ports with red light isometric thumb-print readings.

When I went to retrieve my Pismo, the thumbprint reader wouldn’t work! Neither would the courtesy phone beside the station!

I had ten minutes before my final boarding call to rescue the device from three tech support people and while I was waiting my phone ran out of minutes. Ultimately, Pismo and I were reunited just in time for takeoff.

Another Wrinkle

The AC adapter on my laptop just busted. :(

It's 11pm the night before we travel. I've got about two hours of power left on my Pismo now. Not that I'm going to be making any mid-air posts....

At least I found out in time to websearch directions to the Apple Store in London.

Good News/Bad News

The good news? Our luggage arrived at the hotel today three days ahead of schedule.

The bad news? According to our courteous concierge, the suitcase was "broken beyond repair," though none of the contents were missing!

Stay tuned....

The Veggie Factor

Vegetarians take special risks when they travel.

Principally, they risk starvation.

To protect myself from this fate, I've enlisted the help of the graphically challenged but internationally ambitious vegetarian listing site Happy Cow

"Backpack to the Future" or "My Pack: A Love Story"

As I previously suggested, my Mom and I elected to send our luggage to London ahead of us.

The prevailing system = total surrender to overworked baggage handlers,
outdated airport systems, understaffed customs areas and overspeculative security.

Hopefully the upcoming system will look more like this

Until then, at least my backpack has the 007-esque Tumi tracer

Facetime

Pic of me from Christopher Irion's "Who Makes San Francisco"

To Do List...

As cruises resemble all-inclusive vacations, one imagines planning very little in preparation.

I must gather materials for our suitcase,

Arrange for our luggage to be shipped ahead so we can finesse customs,

Purchase tickets for shows,

And figure out where we'll eat on land.

Transatlantic Lit Crit

When favorably considering a Transatlantic passage, few benefit from available literature.

Buckley bores

Cornellia kevetches

and disaster worship, thy name is Titanic

Barring the sudden appearance of pedantic Republican pundits, bed bugs, and icebergs, however, I think we'll have a decent voyage.

How Did It Happen?

My Mom wanted to go on a fall folliage cruise along the Eastern coast of Canada. I wanted to go overseas.

Our Cruise

19 days will be our longest sustained interaction in 19 years.

Linda Montano and Tehching Hseih spent a year tied to one another by a rope back then. Sharing a balcony stateroom for a fortnight seems like a modest accomplishment in that perspective.

More About The Year of the Rope

Welcome to Frequency Hopper

The theory of radio controled devices was not new in 1940, but the notion of frequency hopping was. Actress Hedy Lamarr (who shares the month and day of my birth) co-invented it, demonstrating the brains under all that blonde.

Today, the theory of frequency hopping is the basis for all secure military communications.

More On Lamarr

On these pages, frequency hopping will more or less about jumping out of everyday living into entirely different realities.

Hedy certainly had ideas about that; she changed husbands six times.

We're just going on a Transatlantic cruise.

We'll use this blog to keep our family and friends in the loop.