Monday, January 25, 2016

Before the Storm






Click on photo to see them properly


Diverted to Antwerp.

A lesson to be learned by British towns

Rubens in the cathedral and gigantic pillars
A strange figure - part of a temporary exhibition and - we think a much venerated local composer, not Hendrix as we first guessed.

The collection of the Cathedral of Our Lady includes four masterpieces by Rubens. 
this is the Descent from the Cross.
after nearly170 years of construction the outline of the spire of the cathedral finally dominated the skyline around 1520




Back to the ship after coffee and divine chocolates.
  1. More dull weather in Gibraltar...
but a friendly pub with a full English brekker to die for after our recent hardships.  No pun intended.
My cabin - I always forget to tidy it before photo.

More than adequate but in the storms every panel rapped and creaked and rattled and banged all night long.  Lying under the window in the dark was scary at times.



At last - the sunnier climes we had booked for.
Tenerife
We drove up through the Esperanza Forest.  Above is the Dragon Tree.
The landscape turns to lava as we near Mount Teide 12,000'
Spot the birdie at our pit stop.
We see black lava, red magma and green rocks through which the road was cut.
Here we coud wander around alone .  Mesmerising.
Just to the right you see the top of Mount Teide.  I longed to go to the top but there was no time



Note the dramatic change in the landscape.  Back to Santa Cruz
Another day another port - Las Palmas and more sunshine.


My cabin is on the other side - the port side
Very pleasant to just amble round in the sunshine - a week late!
Strange as it may seem we have had occasions when we lost sight of the ship and panicked when we couldn't make anyone understand.  Shame on us!
View from a bridge.

14 comments:

Granny Annie said...

Wonderful photographic accounting. I have only been on one cruise but could relate to some things. Especially the "divine chocolate" part. I looked for chocolate in every port. LOL

kenju said...

Very nice! Thanks for sharing your trip, Pat!

LL Cool Joe said...

I could feel myself relax as I saw the photos in the sun. Nothing like the sun on your face to lift the spirits is there? So was your cabin under the water?

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Oh, my dear Pat! What a treat to see these wonderful pictures of your trip......I loved when you got to the Sunny and Warm places----it looks like Southern California....! That Cathedral is stunning----The Rubens---Well, GORGEOUS!!! And even though it wasn't the trip you hoped for, there certainly were some beautiful places to see....

Where I am, my dear, we have not had horrific weather.....just our usual strange---'it's cold, no, it's hot, oh no....It's Cold!!!' The East Coast of the country got a terrible terrible snow storm----BLIZZARD, to be exact! NYC was almost unrecognizable in the pictures I saw, and from my friends who live there------well, they all said it was Horrific! Thanks for asking, my dear......

Ms Scarlet said...

Although a dull day, Gibraltar looks interesting. I would have been scared sleeping next to that window in a storm, AND.... SUN!!!! Yay, I'd forgotten what it looked like.
Sx

James said...

A full English brekker in Gibralter! Is G. still British? Just as well to have it though,as even if it's good to try foreign food, much of which is well worth the experiment, those continental breakfasts are rubbish!

SDC said...

Destination-wise, this is exactly the kind of cruise I would like. Minus the stormy seas and cruise-line problems of course, but overall I like your choices in trips.

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos, some of the places are stunning

Helen

Mage said...

I so hope your next cruise will be vastly better. My friend Peter Knego reccomends either Crystal or Oceana.

Pat said...

Granny Annie: I'm trying to control my chocolate urges.

Judy: the one redeeming feature ws that I od write about it:)

Joey I was on the 6th deck - well above the sea but in the terrific storms the waves rose up massively so the motion was very uuuuuuuup and then doooooooown!

Naomi: yes you would have loved the Rubens. Such gorgeous colour. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and it was a joy to feel sunshine on one's face. One can understand why people tend to settle there in
later life.

James: I googled your question and the short answer is yes Gibraltar is still British. It wasn't so much fancying a full English as sheer ...... hunger!

SDC: the Canaries will be a popular choice for me because you don't have to fly and usually the weather is kind whatever the time of year.

Helen: great to go from leaden skies to azure ones.

Mage: thanks for that Mage. I shall investigate.

Scarlet: I'm awaiting their reaction to the 'points' I made. There - as always - were some good bits:)

AndrewM said...

My cabin is on the other side - the port side

The other side is the starboard side. Confusing ain't it?

Pat said...

AndrewM: I'd like to pretend it was a deliberate mistake, but you wouldn't believe me.
I check lots of times but have the ability to day dream at the same time.

Wenni Donna said...

These are gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. I visited a beautiful event space in foothills of Pirin Mountain to attend a destination wedding. All views over there were fabulous and would go there again.

Pat said...

Wenni: so glad you enjoyed it - now a distant memory.