“Home is the … “
Posted by Big John on May 14, 2007
I’m once more on ‘terra ferma’ after an enjoyable cruise on the MS Braemar. Unfortunately my bed keeps moving and I still have to ‘hang on’ in the shower. Steering my trolley (cart) around Sainsbury’s this morning was a bit of an effort as it wanted to go to ’port’ when I was heading towards ’starboard’.
The food and service on board were excellent, although I must say that
I felt somewhat uneasy about having my ‘Lobster Thermidor’ and ‘Beef Wellington’ served by hard working, but probably underpaid, people from the less affluent parts of our world. Our waiter was from India, his assistant was from Cuba, our wine waiter was from Thailand and our cabin maid and cocktail waitress were from The 
Philippines. All very pleasant people, although you can have too much polite attention, even if it does always come with a smile… Blimey ! … You should have heard the number of times the bloke on the next table was called .. “M’Lord” .. as every waiter on down from the bloody maitre d’ (left) went over the top when serving this pompous old relic and his .. ”M’Lady”.
At most ports of call many of the passengers went off on organised tours. Not exactly my scene, as I much prefer to wander around with my wife and see a few sights like this one…
… which we enjoyed while sitting by the river Tagus on a very hot day in Lisbon ..
Funchal, Madeira was lovely … Santa Cruz, La Palma was pretty … Las Palmas, Gran Canaria was very pleasant … Santa Cruz,Tenerife was under construction … Arrecife, Lanzarote was … Well ! … a little ’grotty’ ! … and as for Morocco ? …
… Well, that’s another story.
Betty said
Welcome back, John. I’m glad you had a good time on your cruise. While you were gone, I gave you a “Thinking Blogger” award. You can find out about it if you go to my April 30 blog. I hope you get this. I’m having trouble getting my messages accepted either by wordpress, for some reason.
Jackshian said
Glad to see your back safe and fairly sound and that you had a good time .. hope you didn’t let down the good name of the UK abroad .. yeah right!
Your last pic reminds me of the time I got lost in Lisbon while trying to get back to the Algarve .. your pic shows what was the largest suspension bridge in Europe (maybe still is) and the statue of Jesus on the hill (fingers on his hands are 12 feet long so its pretty big) which were the landmarks I had to look for and couldn’t find .. spent two hours driving around looking and it turned out the road I needed was the A2 .. should’ve known I guess.
Ginnie said
You started your blog by saying “I’M ONCE MORE ON TERRA FIRMA…..” Does that mean that you came back alone? Please reassure me that the “Missus” came back with you! I’m nervous about all those references to the Berber tribesmen !!
Glad you’re back, though.
ferouzeh said
“…..and as for Morocco ? …
… Well, that’s another story.”
….a foreboding feeling …goodlord: I hope he didn’t sell her..:-)
Terri said
A belated “welcome back” John. Much has been going on at our house over the past two weeks, so please forgive my tardiness in visiting here.
Loved your photos and happy to hear you and your wife had a great cruise! But glad you’ve joined us landlubbers once again.