Chatterbox

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Being born on the sea and raised on the sea, there is nothing that I treasure more, than being on sea.

I suppose you could say a drop in the ocean then?

[WWordsworth Profile]

Cruising doesn't appeal to me I'm afraid.
Having watched TV programmes about it I am left with the impression that you queue to get off in port and to get back on again, the drinks are very expensive and you can't escape from other people.
Happy to be corrected of course.

We looked at doing a Hurtigruten Northern Lights cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary. Sadly we got married in November and would have enjoyed only 4 hours of daylight per day.

We went to Havana instead, much to the dismay of a colleague who cannot grasp that we dislike resorts.
We loved Havana.

[Alexandria Profile]

Our Valentine´s Dinner on the 14th was quite delightful ..

Where: The Parador Network Hotel, Hotel & Spa El Saler, El Saler, Valencia, 18 km. south of Valencia City.

Cuisine: We started off with a lovely array of tiny appetisers, or tiny tiny tapas, what I would call amuses boûches as they were quite petite in size, including a well known appetiser called All i pebre de angula, which is freshly prepared eel.

We shared the main course, Arroz de Bogavante, a fresh wild lobster rice dish common in both Valencia and Alicante.

The desserts we shared were: Orange Textures, fresh, sorbet and an oddity on a stick, sort of like a mini popsicle and the 2nd which we enjoyed very much was Horchata,

or Tiger´s Nut, a tuber, which was prepared into a turrón and ovally shaped into a hot chocolate ..

Quite wonderful in small dosis.

We had a bottle of lovely Champagne, from a small producer, Salvert ( Federic ) ..

Very lovely evening. We spent today exploring the coast. Very beautiful weather too ..

Have a nice weekend.

[Renee Profile]

What a very lovely meal you had Member 461! It sounds quite a lot, but in small amounts it would be perfect!

[Alexandria Profile]

Renée,

Thank you for your feedback ..

Yes, it was quite lovely, and since we shared the Lobster Rice Specialty, it was just enough.

We shall be heading home early tomorrow morning after breakfast ..

We took the high speed train and rented a car just for the drive to the Hotel (18 km. and the trip).

It is 4 autonomous regions south of Barcelona ( Valencia, Castellón, Tarragona and then Barcelona going north ).

We caught some wonderful weather ( not hot ) ranging from 18 - 22 centig. but extraordinarily sunny, so it feels alot warmer ..

As it is February, it is not spring yet ..

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend ..

Expecting a cold wave upon return !!

In the mornings it runs about zero to 5 degrees centig ..

So, it is quite chilly !!!

All my best wishes.

[Alexandria Profile]

WordsWorth,

Cuba .. Definitely has its "salsa" ..

We had gone over to Cuba a few years ago, for 9 days 8 nights and then headed to The Dominican Republic for a week ..

Not via cruise !

The aquamarine sea is simply breathtakingly beautiful.

We took a tour around the lesser known parts of the island via boat and it was very relaxing ..

[Rainbow Profile]

Cruising doesn't appeal to me I'm afraid.
Having watched TV programmes about it I am left with the impression that you queue to get off in port and to get back on again, the drinks are very expensive and you can't escape from other people.
Happy to be corrected of course.

My feelings exactly, WW. Travelling with 2,000 other people, or more, doesn't appeal at all. I have friends who rave about all their cruises, but I don't really see it as 'travelling' with just a few hours in any one place.
I imagine the smaller ship river cruises would be much better, as Petronius has said.

[Lusciouslush Profile]

We did a cruise a good few years back through the Panama canal - it was a P&O ship & we flew out to Los Angeles to meet it. Only 400 on board so the ratio of staff to people was very good & relaxing.
We thoroughly enjoyed it & had a good time, standards were high, dressing for dinner & all that, but I wouldn't step foot on these huge cruise ships - ugh!! - all those people - like a sailing Butlins - we were at a boat show at Southampton docks a couple of years back & the biggest cruise liner ever built was just about to make its maiden voyage so everyone on board was on deck & waving away - I can't tell you how horrendous it looked - damn good captain tho' for maneuvering it out of that harbour.

[patpoyntz Profile]

- damn good captain tho' for maneuvering it out of that harbour.

It would be the harbour pilot doing the manoeuvre Lush...he would know every inch of the harbour, and would be giving instructions to the Captain. I know these things because I am married to a ships pilot, and we get over 90 massive liners here each year.
And I quite agree, that those giant ships look absolutely horrible, but they bring a lot of money into the area.

[Lusciouslush Profile]

I knew when I was writing it I'd spelled manoeuvre wrong! doh! Lazy Lush!

How interesting Pat.....! I did think there must be an arsenal of people involved at the time, but very interesting to know there is an actual harbour pilot too - us landlubbers know nothing!


Where abouts are you based? & do you get to go on trips with your ships pilot husband? ………...that does sound very glam

[patpoyntz Profile]

We live in the Highlands Lush...Cromarty Firth. Not very glamorous I’m afraid, lots of very early mornings and late nights during the season. OH is semi retired now, so mostly works in the summer which is the liner season. I don’t get on any trips with him now, but used to when he was properly ‘at sea’.
When 2 or 3 liners arrive on the same day, there can be as many as 7500 passengers coming ashore. Of course most of them go on bus trips to see Loch Ness or various castles etc. The buses come here from all over Scotland to accommodate the travellers!
The charity shops in the local town do really well with the crews buying stuff to take home for their families.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I’ve enjoyed small cruises - river and the Dalmatian islands but don’t want to go onto the big floating shopping malls. The decor always seems reminiscent of a modern casino which puts me off too

[Lusciouslush Profile]

That's a helluva lot of visitors Pat! But as you say, if it helps the local economy...….

The Lushly has visited one or two oilrigs at Cromarty Firth in the past, we have equipment on them - so he knows the area, although he was helicoptered in as usual.

I always think of the late-night shipping forecast when I hear Cromarty Firth - I always found it very soothing to listen to - probably the music it opened with - I haven't heard that in a long time, is it still aired ?
Hope it's not too cold up there at the moment.

[Suffs Profile]

Oh yes ... the Shipping Forecast is on R4 last thing at night and first thing in the morning ... not sure of the timings but I love listening to it as I drift in or out of sleep

[Joanbunting Profile]

Didn't they stop playing Sailing By and even talk of abandoning the shipping forecast?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4aRzK8eliY

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no way the shipping forecast can be abandoned - that reassuring voice!


I haven't heard Sailing By for a long while - so lovely to hear it just now - feel like having a snooze - thanks for that Joan

[Binky Profile]

I met my husband in sixth form.

We didn't start going out together until my 18th birthday, when he romantically asked me if I wanted to go to the cinema........but I'd have to pay for myself (well, this is a Yorkshireman we're talking about). We've been married 43 years so something went right


As for cruising, it's something that interests me as you don't have to pack and unpack, but as others have hinted, the idea of hundreds of people on the boat, waiting to be served food etc or lining up for shore excursions, no thank you.

[Lusciouslush Profile]

he romantically asked me if I wanted to go to the cinema........but I'd have to pay for myself (well, this is a Yorkshireman we're talking about).

I Know that animal very well!

Not all cruises are the nightmare, if you shop about you can still get much smaller ships with higher standards which mean the 'great unwashed' aren't there - they won't appreciate or shell out the money, a big plus if you want to get away from it all ( including phones) & be uncontactable which was the big attraction for us at the time.

[Binky Profile]

We've had two holidays on boats. One was sailing the Croatian coast with 8 persons aboard, and the other was sailing around the Galapagos with 16 persons aboard. No queues for meals, drinks, water shoes, wetsuits or boarding the pangas. Lovely. The smallest cruise boat I can see for (say) the Douro or the Baltic is approx. 120 persons. Too many people for me.

[Alexandria Profile]

Brilliant Fashion Designer Karl Lagerfeld Passes Away

The internationally acclaimed Fashion Designer, Author, Photographer, Interior Designer and ingenious creator of some of the world´s most incredible Fashions and fashion accessories, passed away this evening at the age of 85.

All our sincere condolences to the family and dear ones of the Late Karl Lagerfeld.