meandering ahoy!

 D & I were up early this morning (well early for me, 7.30am – that’s the crack of dawn), to see our arrival into Lisbon. The Captain said last night that we would be sailing up the River Tagus by 7.30, pick up the pilot about 7.45, go under the April 25th bridge and pass by the magnificent statues of Henry the Navigator and Christ the Redeemer. Well worth leaving one’s bed for, especially as we’d gained an hour during the night.                                                                          Lisbon holds special memories for me, as I was last here when I was 16 in 1967 and on an educational cruise on the SS Nevasa. We arrived in port to see the dockside lined with local lads, (O brave new world!) who knew that a cruise ship full of British schoolgirls was about to arrive. On disembarkin...

Cádiz really is the biz – and such a surprise to D & me as we really didn’t expect much: we thought maybe we should have forked out for the coach trip to Seville, rather than stay in a busy old port. Glad we didn’t, as ‘the little silver cup’ as the locals call it, is a beautiful Andalucian city full of history: cobbled medieval streets, whitewashed Spanish plazas, Roman ruins, a beautiful cathedral, a botanical garden and much more. There are even three lovely beaches – no black sand or imported stuff here – they’re the real deal! The streets are lined with endless shops of every kind: not just a riot of souvenirs (thousands of fridge magnets and phone charms), but hand-crafted goods and fashion, alongside street markets, bars, restaurants and umbrella fringed pavement cafés. All this was such a pleasure to stroll through in the hot sunshine taking in the scenery, sights and smells. Wow - we need to come back here! D & I knew little of the place, save he thought it was somethi...

Lanzarote isn’t grotty at all! In fact we think ‘The Rock’, as the locals call it, is our favourite of the Canary islands we’ve visited. Perhaps because Arrecife was bathed in sunshine when we arrived and the gentle spread of whitewashed buildings is much lower and less imposing than in Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Apparently, all buildings have to be painted white and be no more than 3 storeys high (with the exception of the huge Gran hotel). Windows and doors can only be painted with 3 colours, too – blue to represent the ocean, brown to mimic the colours of the volcanoes, or green to symbolise the palm trees. Really pretty.                                                       Lots of people set off on the ‘Mountain of Fire’ excursion, to visit Timanfaya National Park and the live volcano, but we set off for the shops, hot enough in the sun. A lovely wa...

D was first up this morning, so had the one of the unique pleasures of a cruise - opening the curtains and seeing the new port. ‘Does it look nice?’ I enquired. ‘If you like boats and building sites’, was his reply. The view was much better on the starboard side when we went to breakfast, the urban sprawl of Las Palmas has enough creamy white buildings, palm trees and blue sea to look cheerful. Lots of cloud though, with a predicted temperature of only 21 degrees - cooler than the UK - which made D furious.  Getting off the ship we thought we spotted a sightseeing bus in the distance – hooray – need to rest our feet today. We were relieved to find we were correct; yesterday we headed eagerly in the direction of a little train we had seen in the distance (we love the tourist ‘petit trains’), only to find it was part of a children’s playground. Acted as if we knew that and meant to go there.  Paid our 50€ and queued for ages, then raced to the open top, ready for 75 minutes of t...

Tenerife is the big boss of the Canary Islands, a bit of a shock after the rather daintily pretty islands we’ve visited so far. Santa Cruz is a bustling port city and the landscape on view from the ship is decidedly urban: apartment blocks, offices and hotels, with just a hint of the natural beauty of the mountains beyond.  D & I hotfooted it off into the city about 11.00am; hotfooted indeed, as in between gusts of warm wind, it was scorchio. Trekked uphill to the shops (all these islands seem to be hilly), spent the mandatory 4 euros on coffee, whizzed around the Mercado La Recova (painted bowls, smelly cheeses, local art), then decided to look for the Bus Turístico. Such a good way to see a new city, I said.                                                                              ...

  We were woken rather rudely this morning, before 7am, by a loud message over the tannoy, asking Teagan to report to Reception, or to check in via any of the ship’s telephones.  Blearily hoping that Teagan was just up early to be first in the breakfast queue, rather than inadvertently jumping overboard, I then speculated that she might have spent the night in someone else’s cabin… Perhaps at that very moment she was running to a phone, frantically wondering what she could tell her parents. Go Teagan! D & I had our usually leisurely start to the day – quick glance out of the balcony door to spot La Palma on the left, looks pleasant enough – then a stoke up breakfast before leaving the ship at 11.00. We plan our days around our food intake now, avoiding spending much money by only partaking of the free nosh on the ship. Eat, leave ship, 4 euros on coffee, back to ship, eat. Disembarkation was a trifle easier today, owing partly to the shorter gangplank on Deck 4, but also b...