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Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts

6/05/2014

RAINY DAY ACTIVITY

Today is the first day of rain and it’s a great opportunity to give you an update and tell you about our first week and a half on the island.

Let’s start with the end of our Transatlantic Crossing. We used the two port days in South Hampton, England and Seebrügge, Belgium to further explore the ship and to get ready for disembarkation in Hamburg, Germany. Before dinner, on May 25, we placed all of our luggage outside our state room door and it magically disappeared by the time we returned. We woke up early Monday morning because the engine of the ship sounded differently and we knew that we were already in docking mode. We wanted to be up to see the ship approaching Hamburg, but that happened in the dark of night and we didn’t wake up in time. There were already people at the pier waiting for arriving travelers. We told our pick up crew, our oldest daughter, grandson with girlfriend, best friend with husband and her 2 adult children not to be there until about 9:00 am. Our instructions for disembarking let us know that we were not able to leave the ship until 8:30 am. I figured that disembarking would be just as smooth as checking in on the May 16.

Just as planned, we had breakfast, at the Kings Court, as usual. With plenty of time to spare we went out on deck 7 with our coffee/tea and watched the activities in port for a while and then strolled to the Princess Room, our assigned gathering place and waited for further instructions. At 8:30 am sharp we were able to make our way off the ship. Our family and friends were already waiting for us and helped us gather and load our luggage. We sat down for some more coffee/tea for a few minutes before we headed to our final destination, the island of Fehmarn, Germany. It about an hour and a half by car at the end of A7 Autobahn. The roadways feel scarily narrow compared to American Highways, especially going 100+ miles/hour.
Arriving at the campground we found American decorations in and outside our camper and the American flag was blowing in the wind. Everything was set up ready for us to use. My daughter did a fantastic job getting everything ready for us to start living comfortably from day one. Everything we needed was ready to go and, of course, we had some coffee/tea and enjoyed each other’s company for several hours until our friends left and went back to Hamburg and our daughter went to her camper to make dinner. While she was cooking I used the opportunity to empty our suitcases and store all of our belongings in the cubby spaces of the camper and was surprised that, after all suitcases were empty and packed away, we had plenty of space left to accommodate the full 66 pound box that is in transit and will arrive mid of July. After dinner we played a few rounds of rummy and headed “home” to go to bed. We slept very well on our cozy little bedroom. It’s beautiful to wake up to birds chirping and the wind blowing.
The first full day we went to the town of Burg to do some shopping. I needed some coat hangers, food, certain ingredients to prepare meals, new pillows and a few necessities. It took about 3 days to set up everything just right. The good thing was that it was very windy and we didn't want to spend much time outside. The first week flew by and Saturday afternoon we went with another set of friends to the Rapsblütenfest in Burg. Many vendors offered locally made good, traditional German “fair” food like crusty rolls with pickled herring Lebkuchen hearts, roasted almonds, cotton candy, Bratwurst,



pastries and beer. For the kids they offered face painting, rides and other fun activities. One in particular caught my attention. It took place on the little town pond. Large, clear vinyl bubbles to climb in and walk/crawl on water. That looked like a lot of fun – not only for kids.
http://www.wowbubbles.com

Sunday we had our first birthday party invitation. My best friend, the one from Hamburg that came to pick us up at the pier, celebrated her birthday. We enjoyed our first German BBQ followed up by wonderful pastry deserts.

The wind stayed for almost the entire first week before it turned nice sunny and warm. We were somewhat sunshine deprived and soaked up the warm rays, resulting in our first sunburns. Not to the point of pain, but red and a bit sensitive.

Yesterday we worked on our bikes (as in bicycle) all day. That will be our main means of transportation for a while and since they stay outside all the time they needed some TLC. New tires, new brakes a transformer, new handle bars and BASKETS. The baskets are most important for transporting food home from the store. I have one in the front and one in the back and Tom has only one in the back. Tom takes a trip to the store every morning to get fresh crusty rolls for breakfast and the local paper. German breakfast without rolls is not German….at least for me J

We didn't really go and explore the area much. The change in the climate, the food and the calm lifestyle makes us really tired. Multiple naps are not uncommon and very welcome.
  
I had mentioned earlier in the Blog that Metro PCS told us that our cell phones should work in Germany just fine. Well, they sold us a bunch of lies! Nothing works at all. Not being able to communicate is not fun. I ended up establishing a Skype phone number to call Metro PCS just to find out that they don’t offer service outside the US and that the sales crew in the Manchester, NH is either completely clueless or they flat out lied! Now we have a situation where our service with them has to be in place for 90 days before they can unlock the phones to try if they work with a German sim-card. The service was established April 17. Ninety days will bring us to July 17 until we can unlock the phones to test it. But until then they expect us to pay for service we don’t have on phones that don’t work. Makes sense??? Another company on the list of American corporations to watch out for. It’s all for corporate profits and never in the interest of the end consumer. It is very upsetting.

Internet with Outland http://hotspot.outland-net.de, a local provider, was rather frustrating in the beginning as well, but after a few complaints it seems to be more reliable. A better solution still has to be found. We are considering purchasing our own hotspot. That worked well while in the remote location in Maine and hopefully will work here too. More research has to be done. All that will be easier while in my home town Kassel, Germany for the following two weeks.

For now let me close with a general feeling of calm and happiness. It seems it was a good decision and so far we have no regrets. 
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5/23/2014

DAY EIGHT

Today we have a big rotation on board. Many of the people we used to have dinner with have left and the QM2 is in process of boarding about 1500 new passengers. Mostly Germans who are now going back to Germany, do a northern loop to include Norway and a few islands and then back to South Hampton to sail across the Atlantic west bound to New York.

We docked early this morning in South Hampton, England. It has been raining all day. For a little while it actually looked like snowflakes or at least slightly frozen rain drops. Combined with the strong wind it is just really raw outside.  I feel bad for the passengers that booked port excursions, sightseeing or shopping trips. Visibility is very low.  The Queen Victoria, another Cunard ship, is docked behind us and two other cruise ships are in an opposite docking area. Typical harbor activities are loading and unloading cargo (mostly vehicles), and on our ship outside maintenance started immediately. The poor ship took a beating this crossing.


It is 2:00p now and we have another 3 ½ hours until we sail across to Belgium. We will dock in Seebrügge early tomorrow morning. Another day when most passengers leave the ship to explore the port area. We will stay “home”. Then we have to start packing and prepare for our arrival in Hamburg, Germany.
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5/22/2014

DAY SEVEN

Last night as by far the worst in regards of high winds and waves! It was so bad that for the formal event I took my heels off and walked barefoot. Heels and waves in combination with a damaged ankle don’t go along well. It is really funny when you watch people walk. Tom enhanced it a bit by increasing the motion and flung himself from side to side and went down to his knees and then stretched to tip-toes as gravity dictated it. I was behind him in the hallway laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.
My sleep pattern is completely messed up. They steel an hour a day, but our meal times are still the same. So we eat dinner at 8:30 pm but, by now on our time, it would be already 1:30 am. By the time I get tired it is around 3:00 am and I don’t wake up until noon. Tomorrow morning I will get up with the alarm again to train my body for the new time zone. Tom doesn’t seem to be effected by the time changes at all.
After dinner last night we poked into the ball room for the Ascott ball to admire the ladies hats. That was rather amusing. Some ladies had made hats the afternoon before and came up with unbelievable creations! Not anything I would be seen in public with – but it was just for the fun of it. We stayed for the dance performance, strolled through a few clubs and ended up in the movie theater.
Today we checked out the professional pictures and selected the ones we liked best.
It was much less windy and we went for a walk again. LAND IN SIGHT!!!! The very southern part of England was visible today. A few other ships joined us as well. Tomorrow morning many passengers get off the ship to either take tours of South Hampton or to complete their journey. We will stay on board since we will be in driving distance and at a later point visit for a few days.

All this delicious food, available around the clock, with a disturbed body clock is very dangerous! Once we arrive I believe we have to tape out mouths shut! Gaining weight is super easy here. The on board gym is always full but I haven’t seen the inside yet.  We just eat, sleep and have fun!
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5/21/2014

DAY SIX

This day turned out to be much different than anticipated. I woke up with a massive headache that didn’t want to let go. Besides we have HUGE waves outside and items on the counter are actually sliding around. It was interesting taking a shower today, because you had to lean against the wall to stabilize yourself. So far we’ve had only one and a half days of somewhat nice weather, but that’s alright. There is so much to do indoors and the view through the countless windows is still spectacular. Today we are moving towards Bishop Rock, passing over the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the North Atlantic Ocean. England is a little less than 1000 nautical miles away.
We have TV in the room and can tune in many different channels in several languages. Right now we find a lot of soccer games leading up to this year’s Soccer World Cup.
Tonight is the Royal Ascot Ball. Formal attire required. It is a beautiful sight when men and women are dressed in gowns and suits. Woman also will show off their favorite hats tonight. There is actually a hat decorating class on the schedule this afternoon. Well, I will not wear a hat. I guess it is a British custom to wear hats at certain occasions.

About half of the passengers are British and will disembark the ship in South Hampton. Others, like American Tourists will also disembark and continue by train or car to either be back on board in June when the QMII travels back to New York or others fly back to the US. I have met a few German passengers so far who will continue the journey to Hamburg, Germany.
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