November 6 - Kotor, Montenegro

Early this morning I did something I rarely do – I got up before dawn to watch us sail into Kotor, Montenegro. Despite having cruised in this part of the world a number of times I’d never been here before.  To get to the little town of Kotor we had to sail through a pretty spectacular series of fjords. It was  dark but as we moved silently along the eastern sky turned pink and then golden and created beautiful reflections in the calm water ahead of us.  

I should write a little about Montenegro which is where Kotor is located.  The Balkan Peninsula has had nearly as  chaotic a history in modern times as the Middle East, also in part to the way that countries were created by other parties at the end of wars.  Prior to WW I the area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with a portion also belonging to the Ottoman Empire.  When the Austrians and Ottomans lost WWI the victors created the Kingdom of  Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.  In 1929 the name was changed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.  During WWII significant fighting occurred in the peninsula because there was heavy resistance from the population.  One of the leaders of the resistance was a man named Josef Broz Tito, a Communist.  Following the Allied victory in 1945, Yugoslavia was reconstituted and added some territory in the northeastern Adriatic area from Italy.  It became under the control of Tito from then until his death in 1980.  He ruled first as prime minister and then as president.

Why am I writing all this?  Well, when I was a child my family lived in Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, for nearly 5 years when my father was assigned there.  During our time in the country I had been to Montenegro but not to Kotor which sits on a fjord on the southernmost coast of the Adriatic.  My father was in the US Army and at the time we were giving Mr. Tito aid in an effort to keep him from aligning Yugoslavia with the Warsaw Pact nations in eastern Europe. When the breakup of the country came in 1991, Montenegro initially formed a union with Serbia, but in 2006 the two former Yugoslav states separated and became the independent nations of Serbia and Montenegro.  Everyone I’m sure remembers the wars and terrible things which happened in the 1990’s in Bosnia , Croatia and Kosovo.  Those conflicts were driven by many things but one of the principal causes was religious differences between Muslims and Orthodox Christians.  How many times has religion been the cause of war?

I’m writing too much but I want to chronicle my memories of this area.  When my family lived in Yugoslavia we had both a Muslim and a Christian maid.  During our years in the country everyone seemed to get along and tolerate one another.  My memory has been reinforced in the times I’ve visited Slovenia, Croatia and now Montenegro. I’ve spoken with locals who have told me that their parents and grandparents told them how everyone got along in Tito’s time.  He was a dictator but at least people weren’t killing each other.  Oh well.

Anyway, after we docked and I slept for another hour or two, I went ashore and hired a taxi to take me on a little tour of the area. There is a small walled city, but I chose to drive out along the fjord and go to a couple of lookout points.  My driver was a young woman named Angela who is married with two little boys and a third on the way. She and her husband both have degrees in hotel management and tourism.  As it happens tourism is about the principal business of Montenegro.  Because of that the Covid era was particularly tough for the country.  Now it is experiencing some inflation because a number of refugees from Ukraine have come into the country which has raised the cost of housing in particular because the supply of housing hasn’t kept up with the influx of people.  

Angela drove me to the top of one of the very steep mountains around the fjord where I got a lovely view of the Encore down below.  It really reminded me of the view one gets in some of the fjords in Norway except there everything is very green and here there’s a lot of rock with spots of vegetation intermingled.  We drove back down to sea level and drove around the fjord to a little village where we stopped and sat at a café and had something to drink.  I tried a glass of a nice dry Montenegrin white wine and we talked about what life is like for a Montenegrin family.  There is public education through 12th grade.  After that young people can choose university or trade school.  There is a public health system but Angela said that for any kind of significant treatments there can be significant wait times.  Hence people who can afford it pay a private provider to get a procedure done.  The population is primarily Eastern Orthodox Christian and the total population of the country is approximately 650,000. Montenegro is a member of NATO but it isn’t a member of the European Union despite using the Euro as the currency.  The country is trying to gain membership and may acquire that in 2028.

Well, now I’ve written more than anyone really wants to know about this country, but I like to get things arranged in my head so I understand where people are coming from and why things may happen. The area around Kotor is quite beautiful but for me the interesting part of our stop here was having the opportunity to spend a few hours with Angela and gaining some insights into her life and her thoughts.

After a couple of hours she brought me back to the ship, we said our goodbyes and I marked the day down as a success even though it probably doesn’t sound all that exciting. Onboard the daily routine continued.  We had another session of trivia.  We finished pretty well but tomorrow will be the last day of the cumulative session so we’ll see then how we fared.  I had dinner at a hosted table with the Argentine manager of the shops on board and some new acquaintances.  The night ended as usual with a show and then a little dancing. Laku noć (I think that’s good night.)

November 5 - Corfu Greece

I’m way behind in writing but there has just been too much going on here.  I’m skipping one port, Katakalon, because I didn’t go ashore there. Instead I had a sea day.  Katakalon is the gateway to Olympia, birthplace of the Olympics, and I didn’t think the ruins there had changed since the last time I saw them.

We docked the next day, Wednesday the 5th, in Kerkira, Corfu.  I’ve been here on previous cruises too so rather than taking a tour I decided to get a taxi into the old town and wander around a little. I suppose I should tell a little about Corfu’s history.

As with every place here in Greece its history stretches back thousands of years.  It’s an island not far off the Grecian mainland and it and the nearby smaller Diapontian islands mark the border between the Ionian and the Aegean Seas.  In ancient times Corfu, or Kerkyra as it was known in Greek, was one of the three major naval powers along with Athens and Corinth. Also as with most of the places in this part of the world, Corfu was conquered by a variety of civilizations that came along including Ottoman and Venetian.  At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 Corfu came under the control of the British Empire for a period of time. Finally in 1864 it was ceded to the modern Republic of Greece.

People familiar with German and Austrian history know that in the late 1800’s an Empress of the Austro- Hungarian Empire, popularly known as Empress Sissi, built a summer palace here on Corfu.  She was a rather tragic figure.  She had several daughters and her mother essentially took them away from her.  She had one son Rudolf who was involved in an episode called the Mayerling Incident which was a murder-suicide ending with Rudolf and his lover dead.  Sissi never really recovered from the loss of her son and heir to the throne.  In 1898 she was assassinated while visiting in Switzerland.  Her palace in Corfu is one of the main tourist attractions  which I visited on a previous stop here.

Old town Corfu is very typical of places  in this part of the world.  There are narrow streets lined with shops and cafés.  Many buildings have balconies from which flowers cascade down and every now and then there’s a little square, usually with a church.  I was looking for a particular small jewelry shop that I’d seen online.  There were four ships in port today so it was pretty busy.  Thankfully none of the ships was one of the megaships so there weren’t hordes of tourists.  I found the place I was searching for and found what I wanted.  The salesman was a delightful Greek gentleman who had actually gotten a bachelor’s degree in piano at a college in the US.  He was helping out his newly widowed sister at the family shop until the end of the tourist season in Corfu (it ends in a week or so).  Then he’ll go back to playing with various orchestral groups when the winter music season begins.  

After a lovely chat I asked him to recommend a nice place for lunch. Nikos recommended a place nearly around the corner next to  a park so I went and sat outside enjoying a wonderful Greek salad (what else?) and some of the best homemade crusty bread I’ve had in a long time and just watching the world go by.  I also had a very nice glass of a dry Greek white wine.  After a while I took a cab back to the ship and chalked it up as another lovely day.

I should mention that we’ve been having trivia every afternoon.  Some of my teammates I’ve played with before and we’re doing okay.  It’s cumulative so we have a few days before we’ll see how we come out.

As usual I’ve been going to the shows and afterwards to the Club.  I’ve reconnected with some old friends and made some new ones, so the world is good.  More later.

November 3  -  Nafplio, Greece

This morning we anchored off the city of Nafplio, capital of the region Argolis on the Peloponnesian peninsula. I stopped here not quite two years ago on this same ship and wrote about some of the history of the place, so I’ll only repeat a couple of things.  I always thought the Acropolis was the Acropolis, the one in Athens.  Acropolis is a generic word in Greek meaning high point which can be fortified, so there are many of them in Greece.  On my tour today we passed at least two although they were not nearly as spectacular as the one in Athens.  

This time around I decided to take a tour to a vineyard here in the Argolis region. We took about a 35-minute bus ride through the plain of Argolis.   Along the way we passed through fields of orange and olive groves. We had an excellent guide named Helen who explained to us that the climate is such here that they actually get two crops of oranges every year and so one can see trees that have both ripe fruit and blossoms on them.  The plain is ringed by low mountains on whose sides vineyards are planted.

We arrived at the Skouras Vineyard and Winery for our tour, tasting and lunch.  During our visit we met Mr. Skouras who began the vineyard in 1986 after studying oenology in France and Italy. His vineyard now produces around 880,000 bottles of wine each year of which 50% is exported and 50% stays in Greece.  We walked through the cellars where we saw the rows of oak casks (French oak which is it what most vineyards seem to use) and then saw the bottling operation.  After we went up to a tasting and dining hall where we tasted two white wines and two reds, followed by a nice lunch.  I’m not one of these people with a discerning palate; I just know if something tastes good, bad or so-so to me. The wines I tasted were somewhere between so-so and good I thought.  I’ve never heard that Greece is renowned for its wine and that’s about how I thought of what I tasted.  It was an enjoyable experience though.

Entrance to the Skouras Winery

Greeks love myths and legends so of course Helen told us about the legend of Amymone and Poseidon and the plain of Argolis.  (There are apparently different versions of this story but this is the one we heard.)  Amymone was one of 50 daughters of King Danaus, an Egyptian king who fled to what is now Argolis with his daughters.  The area was arid and nothing would grow so Danaus sent Amymone out to find water.  She searched for it but each time she would find a spring it would dry up before she could fill her water jug or go back to tell her father she’d found one.  On her third try she encountered a very handsome young man who struck a stone with the trident he was carrying and water came gushing out ending the drought.  The young man was actually the god Poseidon and he fell in love with the maiden, married her and they had eight sons.  That was Helen’s version of the myth.  I’ve read others and I don’t know which is correct, but then it is just a myth.  I don’t think there is a place you can go to in this country that doesn’t have some kind of legend associated with it and I find them all fascinating.

On our way back to Nafplio Helen told us a little about the city and the area around it.  The last time I came here I went to the ruins of Mycenae. From about 1600 BC to 1100 BC Mycenae was the dominant city in Greece and in fact the time period is known as the Mycenean Age.  It fell into decline  around 1100 BC for a number of reasons including earthquakes, internal strife and wars.  The city of Nafplio did become a major port in the Peloponnese and it was captured by every civilization that came along.  The city has the remains of three fortresses built to protect it (not too successfully).  The most intact one was built by the Venetians in the 15th century.  Under the Venetians it became an important trading port.  In the 1820’s Greece fought for its independence from the Ottoman Empire.  (They celebrate their Independence Day on March 25th which was the beginning of their war for independence in 1821 much like our 4th of July).  After that was achieved with the help of the British, Nafplion became the capital of the First Hellenic Republic and the Kingdom of Greece from 1827 until 1834.  Now it’s a little more sleepy but still quite charming.

That's one of the fortresses up on top of the hill

and here's another

A street in Nafplio

I’m always amazed when I come to this country at the history here.  Wherever you look there are ruins and reminders of civilizations past.  We in the USA are not even toddlers as compared to the civilizations that have risen and fallen here.  It can also be a cautionary tale about how once great societies went into decline and ruin, often from internal strife.  We should bear that in mind as we go along.

November 2 - Kalimera from Athens!

I made it to Athens last night (November 1) after what seemed to be an interminable day.  My flights were good with no delays or turbulence, but as per usual I didn't sleep crossing the Atlantic so I was bushed by the time I got here.  I'm not ashamed to say that I always ask for wheelchair assistance and believe me, in most of the international airports it's a must if you're tired and laden with carryons.  I'd been through Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport  years ago and it was even bigger than I remembered it.  If I had tried to walk from my landing gate to the Lounge and then to my departing gate I would have been exhausted.  As it was the walking I did brought me up to three miles.

Anyway, I met a very nice man from Manchester, England who was on my flight and going on my ship.  We were seat mates and had a nice conversation on the flight from Amsterdam to Athens.  I had a driver from Blacklane (if you ever need a car service I highly recommend them) whose name was Demitrious and he was a delightful young man.  On our drive into the city we had an interesting talk about Greek education and economy.  From that conversation I gathered that Greece shares many of the same problems we do.  Once again I have to say that talking to people from other places is my favorite part of traveling.

Once at my hotel, the Grande Bretagne, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they upgraded me to a suite.  It's much more room than I need for one night, but I'll take it!  Here are a couple of photos.  I'm already feeling pampered and spoiled - I have a butler!

I had reservations for dinner at 8PM at the rooftop restaurant where Al and I had eaten years ago and even though I was very tired, I had to go because the view is spectacular.  For the first time in years the scaffolding which has been around the buildings on the Acropolis is gone so you can see them as they really are without scaffolds and tarps.  It is breathtakingly beautiful!  Dinner was a lovely Greek salad (what else?) and some grilled fish.  There was a couple from Vero Beach, Florida at the table next to me and we had a nice conversation.  They're going on a Celebrity cruise from Athens on the day after mine.

I had a good night's sleep and woke up early - unusual for me - and went up to the same restaurant for the breakfast buffet.  It was all delicious!  Why is it that over here in Europe they have much better bread and crusty rolls than we have in my area?  Once again I had to step outside and take daylight photos of the Acropolis and the Parliament building on the other side of the square the hotel is on.  In a little while the car will come to take me to the ship so I'll close for now.  Next time I write I'll be on the Encore.

The Parliament Building next to my hotel

October 31 - Halloween in Atlanta

 I've made it to Atlanta!   I haven't  seen any ghosts or witches but I have seen a couple of kids dressed as skeletons and a wheelchair attendant who had a great big bushy tail sticking out from under his uniform vest. I'm not  closer to Athens, but at least it's movement.  Fingers crossed, my flight is still scheduled to go to Amsterdam and then onward to Athens.  I've said a few travel prayers and hopefully they're being answered.

On my flight from Richmond to Atlanta I sat next to a very nice gentleman who works for Lego.  If you didn't already know Lego is building a huge plant outside of Richmond.  My grandson is a HUGE Lego fan and I asked if when the factory is open there would be tours.  Eoin (pronounced Owen) told me there wouldn't be because Lego has many proprietary things which are kept secret. Who knew?  He was a very interesting seat companion.  He's Irish originally but lives in Copenhagen, Denmark and has worked and lived around the world for a number of different corporations - everything from Coca Cola and Pepsi to pharmaceuticals and now Lego. As I've often said, my favorite part of traveling now is meeting people from different countries and cultures and with different life experiences from my own.  It's from that I feel my life is enriched.

Wish me luck.  Hopefully the next thing I write will be from Athens.

October 30 - The best laid plans!

Below is what I wrote early this morning before the car came to take me to the airport in Richmond.  Thanks to either the weather in the New York area or the government shutdown (I have my idea which it is) I'm back home in Williamsburg.  Here's how today went.  The car picked me up as scheduled, I checked in at the Delta counter and I went to the gate.  So far so good.  Then everything went downhill. First we were informed that our flight was delayed due to a ground stop at JFK.  Eventually we got on the plane and taxied off to someplace on the tarmac where we were told of other ground stops.  At 2:00 PM (I was supposed to leave at just after noon) the pilot advised us we were going back to the terminal because our new takeoff time was 5:45 PM.  Unfortunately for me and many of the other passengers that meant we wouldn't make our connections.  The most thankless job in Richmond today was the poor gate agent who had to rebook us.  I was lucky; I was first off the plane so first in line for that.  I am rebooked for tomorrow on a more circuitous route via Atlanta and Amsterdam.  I don't care as long as I get to Athens by the day I board the ship.  I had to call the car service to come back and pick me up (same driver - he was shocked to see me).  I had to cancel my much anticipated tour to Delphi; I'll just have to go back to Athens again!  And that was my day.  I keep hoping that some genius will invent a transporter like they had in Star Trek.  I'd much rather be beamed than fly these days.  I've left my original entry here so you can see my itinerary and when I look back at my blog I can see what nice days I had planned.

 I'm starting my next journey today.  Hopefully flights will go as planned with no glitches.  I'm flying to Athens via JFK for a two night stay before I board the Seabourn Encore.  The last time I was in Athens two years ago, it was just a port call but I had the most marvelous day with the taxi driver who was a former professional soccer player.  I decided to spend a couple of nights in Athens this time because I want to see Delphi, home of the Oracle. To that end I've arranged for a private tour with a guide who is a historian.  I like tours with just a guide and me because I can sit in the front seat and tailor the tour to my interests and abilities. An added plus is getting to know someone from another country.

I'm staying at the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens right on Syntagma Square which is where the Greek Parliament building is located.  Al and I stayed there years ago when we visited Athens before boarding a cruise which ended in Mumbai.  It will be bittersweet staying there on the one hand, but on the other it will bring back many wonderful memories of that trip.

On this voyage I'll sail through the Mediterranean, cross the Atlantic, go through the Panama Canal again and cross the Pacific.  I'll spend three nights in Tokyo and then fly home via Qatar.  Like Phineas Fogg I'll go around the world in almost the same time he did - 80 days.

September 14 - New York Harbor

I’ve been home a week and I wasn’t going to write anything else about the Sojourn cruise, but I thought I should add something about sailing into New York harbor.  I’ve done it before but each time it is thrilling and moving.  As I passed the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island I thought of what it must have been like for some of my ancestors to see that sight as they began a new life here in the United States. This country was one of great promise to them and I hope it still is to us today.

September 13 - The party's nearly over

It’s Saturday, September 13 and tomorrow I’ll have to say goodbye to the Sojourn for the last time.  She has been sold and I won’t be on her again between now and when she’ll be turned over to her Japanese owners.  That makes two Seabourn ships I’ve said goodbye to.  

Yesterday Katie, Stan and Alfred came on for several hours when we were docked in Boston.  It was very nice spending time with them.  I especially wanted Alfred to have a chance to see a ship and to know where his grandmother has spent so much time.  We went from top to bottom but unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to visit the bridge.  Boston was the Sojourn’s first US port of the season so there were all kinds of Coast Guard and other federal inspections that had to be done and a visit to the bridge was impossible.  (A little aside is warranted here.  Yesterday evening everyone on the ship was commenting on how pleasant, friendly and accommodating all the US Customs and Immigration personnel who came on the ship and with whom we dealt were.  If one paid attention to some media outlets, one would think they were all grizzly bears with teeth bared and guns drawn.)

Isn't my grandson a cutie?

Katie, Stan and Alfred

We had lunch in the Colonnade and then played cards out by the pool until it was close to time for them to disembark.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and I think we all had a nice time.  Alfred said he would like to go on a ship, but I told him he would probably be happier on one with water slides,  bumper cars and kids’ programs which this one doesn’t have. 

I had a drink before dinner with my new friends Jenny and John in the Club and through the windows we could see that there was going to be a lovely sunset so I went out to the stern and got some shots of the sun going down behind the Boston skyline.  Jenny and I had dinner together because John wasn’t feeling well and then I went to see a magic show.  I’ve seen this magician before and he’s very good but it was so much more low key than the previous night that I think it was a little of a letdown.  

Today we’re anchored off Newport.  I decided not to go ashore because I really need to pack.  The choices of excursions all involved drives along Bellevue Avenue (Millionaires’ Row) and truthfully I am not that interested in seeing that.  Additionally this weekend is the Newport International Boat Show so it will be absolutely packed. Maybe I’ve developed a fear of crowds but I just don’t like being in the midst of throngs of people anymore.  

Looking back on what I’ve written about this voyage I realize it doesn’t sound very exciting and I guess that’s true.  The fun part is meeting new people and getting to learn how they think about things from their perspectives whatever they may be.  My contact list is getting bigger as I make new friendships and I expand my understanding of people from different cultures and places. That’s my favorite part of cruising.  Seeing new things and everything else that goes into a cruise is like the whipped cream on top of a sundae but the people part is the best.

Tomorrow will be a long day.  Sailing into New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty is pretty spectacular so I’ll have to get up early.  Cabins have to be vacated by 8 AM to give the hard-working crew time to get ready for the next lot of passengers.  Seabourn has arranged for me to be taken to a hotel to have lunch and spend a few hours before a car will take me to the airport.  Hopefully all will go according to plan - United Airlines won’t have any glitches out of Newark and I’ll be home before dark.  I had been a little worried about crossing the North Atlantic at the peak of hurricane season, but Mother Nature cooperated and it has been a lovely cruise.   I guess that’s it until the next time I sail away.  Bye for now. 

September 12 - Rainbows and Red Moon Rising, Odds and Ends

Today is another of those catch-up days when I don’t have anything significant to talk about.  On September 10 we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  I’d been there last year and my friend Kathie picked me up and gave me a tour of the island. This year it was my intention to go ashore and walk along the boardwalk in downtown old Halifax.  I looked out from the stern of our ship and I saw two huge ships tied up next to us and a horde of people on the sidewalks. Downtown here isn’t very big and I decided to stay aboard.  I just didn’t feel like fighting crowds to see someplace I’d already seen. Maybe I’m getting jaded. Who knows?  Instead I had a lovely day talking with friends, answering emails and generally relaxing. In the evening I went with two new friends, part of our lunch group, for dinner at Solis the alternative restaurant.  We had a good time and in fact closed the place down. We went from dinner to the Club where we danced and laughed a lot.

That's just one of the ships docked near us. You can just get a tiny glimpse of the other one on the far left.  

Yesterday was our last sea day and there were the usual sea day activities.  I’m happy to say that our team, the Smartinis, won the cumulative trivia contest.   I won some more Seabourn swag which I will dispose of before I get off on Sunday.  The show last night featured one of my favorite entertainers in the world, Sam Bailey.  She won Britain’s X Factor, the equivalent of American Idol.  Besides having a fantastic voice she is one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet.  I stayed up late after the show talking to one of my new friends Joyce. Among other things we talked about a not so happy subject, the senseless killing of Charlie Kirk.  I don’t watch or read much news here, but that popped up on everyone’s phone.  I don’t care what one’s political persuasion is; everyone should be revolted by such an action. People who have been celebrating it must be evil in my opinion.

Enough about that.  Today we’re in Boston and my family is coming to visit me on the ship very soon.  I’m looking forward to that and I’ll write about how that goes soon.

I entitled this “Rainbows and Red Moon Rising” because two friends sent me photos they got in the last few days of both, and I thought I’d include them.  As we sailed away from Baie-Comeau, Chester, my favorite Bar Manager saw a beautiful rainbow across the water and managed to get some pictures of it.  We didn’t find the pot of gold at the end unfortunately.

Last night my friend Joyce went out on deck and got some pictures of a red moon rising in the sky.  It’s truly amazing how many things one can see in the night sky when at sea where there’s no ambient light to interfere.

Hard to see here, but the moon looked really red.

Katie et al are coming aboard shortly so I'd better go and get ready to meet them. TTFN.

September 9 - Girls just want to have fun!

Only 5 nights left on this cruise. Where has the time gone?  Since my last entry I’ve had two sea days and a stop in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  I guess I’ll start with the visit to PEI.

Last year when I came to Charlottetown I went to learn about birds of prey; this year I took a tour entitled “Anne of Green Gables and a lobster bake.” Prince Edward Island was the birthplace and home of Lucy Maud Montgomery who wrote the famous book Anne of Green Gables among many others. First  I should write a little bit about the island. PEI is named after the fourth son of King George III.  It’s approximately 141 miles long and about 60 miles wide at its widest point.  It lies in the Gulf of St Lawrence west of Cape Breton Island, north of the Nova Scotia peninsula and northeast of New Brunswick.  It was here in September 1864 that representatives from other colonies in British Canada came and drafted the articles of confederation which created  modern day Canada.  Interestingly PEI didn’t find the terms favorable so they didn’t join until 1873. In the years before that the islanders had entertained various other options, such as becoming an independent country and they even met with delegates from the USA to discuss becoming part of the United States.  (As an aside, I find that I am seriously lacking in knowledge of historical events having to do with Canada and its interaction with my country.)

Prince Edward Island has a population of around 180,000. It has evidently exploded in the last few years. That growth has caused problems with increasingly higher housing costs as the available places to live have become scarcer and it has caused a strain on the infrastructure, particularly availability of doctors. A medical school program has just opened at the local university so hopefully that problem will be alleviated.

My tour guide and driver were Cheryl and Leigh, both senior citizens and both PEI islanders. They were very engaging and full of knowledge and they also seemed to know everyone on the island. We drove first to the north coast which has pretty dramatic red cliffs and a few beaches. The cliffs are red because the soil here is mainly red sandstone. The island is completely dependent on ground water so everyone has a well. The primary economic driver is agriculture. The countryside consists of low rolling hills with the highest point only being less that 500 feet. Looking across the inland part of the island it looks like a patchwork quilt of greens. The crops grown include soybeans, corn, and potatoes.  Cheryl told us that Prince Edward Island is the largest producer of potatoes in North America.  I don’t know if that’s true; I always thought it was Idaho.  What I do know is that they are one of the biggest exporters of mussels along with New Zealand. As we rode along the coast we passed forests of pine and some hardwoods especially birch trees.  Many looked dead and Cheryl told us that a few years ago PEI was severely damaged by Hurricane  Fiona.  Many trees were lost and lots of homes were damaged or destroyed. 

A little fishing harbor we passed on our ride through the countryside

The red cliffs of Prince Edward Island

The rolling terrain with  lots of varying shades of green

From the north shore we drove to the small community of Cavendish which is the largest seasonal resort area on the island and also the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery.  In fact, despite the fact that she died in Ontario her remains were returned to PEI where she was born and grew up and she’s buried in a cemetery near the house she lived in.  Lucy was actually quite a tragic figure I think.  Her mother died when she was very young, she didn’t get along with her stepmother,  and she had an unrequited love.  She married a Presbyterian minister with whom she evidently didn’t have the best of relationships. In her writings she idealized parts of her life probably as a means to escape the reality of her real circumstances as she saw them.  She died at the age of 67, officially from a coronary thrombosis, but a granddaughter  in 2008 revealed that  Lucy had left a note decrying her life leading the granddaughter to believe she took a drug overdose and died of that instead.

In Cavendish we stopped at the Green Gables National Historic Site which is owned and operated by the Canadian government.  The grounds include a house that has been refurbished to look like what is depicted in Montgomery’s novels, gardens and a small barn with some old farm implements. The gardens are quite lovely and the house is a white-shingled building with only green trim.  The interior is furnished as it is described in her books.

This contraption is a turnip pulper and seeder

After our visit to the house and garden we went for a lovely lobster lunch at a nearby what used to be a farm producing butter.  We each had a whole lobster, which we had to work to open (but we were given all the right implements).  We were entertained by a very exuberant Islander who played a keyboard and sang local folk songs.

Looks good, doesn't it?

Our entertainer while we ate

After the lobster we had a yummy raspberry and whipped cream pie.  To work off some of our lunch we had time to walk in the lovely garden called the Garden of Hope along the banks of the Clyde River.  It was a beautiful, peaceful and pastoral place.  Then it was time to board our bus and return to Charlottetown and our ship.  It was a really enjoyable and informative tour.  

Scenes from the Gardens of Hope

Now what have I been doing on these two sea days?  Mainly, as I entitled this post, we girls have just been having fun.  There are a group of us who close down the Club every night around midnight (confession – sometimes we stay even later).  We sit in a semi-circle in front of the bandstand and essentially we have our own private and individualized concert because we make requests and the band and trio very kindly play them for us.  We dance a little, laugh a lot and have a really fun time.  

Today we had lunch together in the restaurant, which is only open for lunch on sea days.  We were joined by two of the loveliest officers, Jennifer and Mara, and by the two great singers from the Trio and Band, Melody and Rylin. I had arranged for a special menu a few days ago with the restaurant staff and Chester, my favorite Bar Manager in the world, brought us my favorite after dinner drink which is a dessert all by itself.  Most of us have sailed together in the past and we all just like having a good time.  Things like this are why I love to cruise.  The friendships we make are as they say “priceless.”

The Girls at Lunch

From the other end of the table

So there is how I spent the last three days.  I haven’t watched TV, read the news, or thought much at all about anything happening outside my little world here on the Sojourn and it’s absolutely wonderful.  I will be sorry when the next five days have flown by, but there’s always another cruise waiting in the wings. Ciao for now.