Into the wild blue yonder days 1

Into the wild blue yonder days 1 - 4

We are on a different boat to the trips we have done before... its disorientating but quite good fun discovering nooks and crannies and finding our potential favourite spot.
Our cabin ...in the bowels at the very front of the ship is cosy and comfortable with 2 large portholes. To be fair we are not quite in the bottom but near enough to feel we are almost in the sea - I like that feeling.

This ship is full of very ornate decor... obviously mostly sea themed - it adds a feeling of opulance and granduer - mostly in keeping of guest expectations but sometimes just a little over the top... I'll be using some of it for van decor inspiration.

The cafe arrangements are different - but so far the food is much improved although breakfast was, as before, only lukewarm... our circumstances on this ship, ie as 'staff' dont allow me to complain but I continue to be surprised that paying guests put up with constant cold bacon and eggs.... me, I'm only making the point that these 'complementary' working cruises do have flaws🤣🤣🤣. Although it is quite splendid to be eating breakfast while spotting dolphins alongside... Other food i.e. lunch and dinner have been very good... quite a range of choice and extremly tasty - probably my fav bit of the whole experience - not having to shop, cook, or clear up - a real treat.

I like the motion of the ship as well especially at night as I am gently rocked to sleep... all those dolphins, whales and mermaids circling the ship while we slumber.

The weather is variable - mostly sunny but a wee bit windy so not quite warm enough for any but the most hardy, to be sprawling out on deck soaking up the sun.... early days yet.

Dr Fred has his talks and star gazing sessions timetabled in and fortunately he has no early morning starts which is a relief as his evening sessions have to be quite late - and then there is supper club to savour.

We've attended some of the other speakers lectures and its interesting to learn about our destinations.

These are longs days at sea which is quite relaxing and if I have any complaint it is that the ship is very chilly. The air conditioning is so high that last night we gave up trying to find a comfortable spot and went to bed at 9.30 to get warm.... we have resorted to wearing jeans and fleeces but the temperatures are creeping up and we are ever optimistic that proper sunshine and warmth is going to materilise eventually..

This ship is very different in that it has a lido pool bang in the middle of all the decks with a retractable roof... I'm reserving judgement until we hit good weather as with the roof closed it resembles a municipal leisure centre with the ever present odours of chlorine and echoey swimming pool sounds - hardly condusive to a pina colada by the pool moment. The nicest place to sit which is partly outside sheltered bar with no actual live music playing so you can hear yourselves having a conversation, is sadly given over to the smokers corner, so it's not really that nice to sit in. Every other bar has either football or tennis showing or different music playing - We are obviously not alone in finding this frustrating as the other two rooms the Earth room and the Botanical room are crowded out with people obviously looking for somewhere peaceful to sit and read their books.... So it's actually quite difficult to find a quiet corner.

I've had some enjoyable afternoons in the art class, sitting painting turtles and hydrangas - yes eclectic but in fact both apparently indigenous to the Azores...
I'm also steaming through the book club titles, 2 of three I have read before so they are just quick refreshes...

We've chatted with quite a few guests... Dr Freds contract forbids him (and by default me) to discuss various topics including polictics - this probably a good thing as this still seems to be ever present in peoples minds and we sense a difference of opinion on several subjects. It makes for guarded conversations - it will be easier when Dr Fred has done his first talk and people know him better - there will be safe topics for discussion.

Added edit... Dr Freds first lecture very well recieved and the first stargazing last night was a whirling maelstrom of wind.. bobbing ship..scudding clouds and extremley appreciative guests, with a grand finale as the ISS passed directly overhead.... a wild night on deck 10 followed by welcome supper club.

Alesund

Our final destination stop was Alesund. This is a very pretty town in southern Norway built on a peninsula. All the houses are painted pretty colours and a lot of the architecture is all very Art Nouveau based. This is because the town itself was completely burnt to the ground In 1904 by a fire for which they never found the original cause. The whole town had to be rebuilt and this became a huge National Effort and a lot of prominent and up and coming architects flocked to the town to stick there 20 pence in. Consequently the town is very heavily Art Nouveau which was very fashionable at the time. There is this wonderful Museum just off the harbour which is a very beautiful Art Nouveau house. It has amazing panelling, doors, wallpaper, and it's all furnished with beautiful art Nouveau Furniture. It also house a collection of of enameled Art Nouveau Trinkets,boxes, spoons, jewellery, very very beautiful. There is an interesting collection of old books and paintings a...

The Blue Dot

Excellent evening spent at the first Blue Dot festival held at Jodrell Bank. Clever use of the radio telescope as back drop for the main stage... there were some major teething issues which hopefully will addressed if this event happens again - mainly access and parking.. it was a nightmare approach to the festival and fortunately as we were only doing one night we decided to ditch the car and chose to walk the last mile and half into the site... what a relief as if we had queued we would most certainly missed Public Service Broadcasting which was one of the reasons we were going.. anyway we caught them and then enjoyed fantastic set by Underworld - danced much of the night away in the rain - my trusty solfest poncho almost kept me dry.. it was a splendid evening and the telescope looked brilliant when lit up when it got dark. There was a rather fab "installation" called a luminarium, lack of site information - another hiccup meant we were really lucky to catch it just ...

Goodbye Dissertation!!!

The dissertation is finished... it took me ages to do all the detail stuff Harvard referencing ect... the simplest tasks were starting to drive me mad!! I cant believe how long it took me to work out how to number pages excluding the first two pages aagghhhh... I suppose I should be grateful that its not like the olden days where you had to get it typed and bound before hand in - this essay has been a hard slog, a subject which I felt was interesting - how the digital explosion is ruining traditional creative methods turned into a fairly unexciting - pretty boring unexceptional topic! there will never be a next time but my advice is think of something funky - does Danny Boyle like garden Gnomes - Racoon meets Lady Gaga - anything that might surprise you but not too grown up!! I have worked hard and will be rewarded with a mid grade because there is no passion in this essay - the hard slog is evident as is the lack of enthusiasm - C'est la vie you cant win them all....

Planet Ruby Starrs

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