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. 

DAY NINE

The journey is coming to an end. We had a wonderful time and it perfectly matched our needs. It was very relaxing – even though we had high winds, huge waves, overcast skies and rain. Entertainment was always available all day and night. There was always food in sight and it was hard to stick with healthy choices when the most delicate deserts were twinkling at us. So for 10 days we tossed all health and weight concerns out of the window and ate whatever our taste buds desired.

Cunard provided an excellent service. All staff members were most helpful, always very friendly, looked after our room twice a day to keep it spotless and waited on us royally. If we requested something or voiced a need, the response followed within minutes. It will take a moment to get back to the reality of having to cook our own food and then to do the dishes. It is super easy to get really lazy in this environment. – Just what we needed –

Now, almost all the bags and suitcases are packed and ready to go. Waiting for the washer and dryer to be done to complete the packing. We place the luggage outside our state room and it will magically, in silence, disappear until tomorrow morning when we leave this beautiful ship.

We, wholeheartedly, recommend travelling on the Queen Mary 2. This will not be our last time. We are already looking at west bound crossings into New York.

You will hear from us again tomorrow.

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.

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.

DAY ONE

We had a smooth ride to New York. A friend of mine travels to NY twice a month and had given me her favorite route. We really appreciate her suggestion. There was traffic, but it was always moving at a decent speed all the way to Brooklyn, NY. The transaction with Enterprise Car Rentals also was a great experience. Everything went without a hitch. We loaded our luggage in front of our home and unloaded it right in front of the terminal onto provided luggage carts. We arrived about 30 minutes early and proceeded through the check-in line without delay. There were minimal waiting times and everything seemed to be very organized and coordinated.

Once in our State Room, our luggage was delivered and we were able to store some in the closet, and the big ones under the bed. By now we were hungry and visited the buffet on the 7. floor.  Delicious food and plenty variety. We now had some time to do first exploration of the ship. It had turned very windy and we needed 2 tug boats to keep the Queen at the pier. At 4:00 pm we gathered for safety drill and instructions. It took place in the gym since it was too windy and rainy outside.

We were supposed to leave at 5:30 pm and we decided to go out on deck to watch. There was not much to see today. Lower Manhattan was hidden in thick clouds and the financial district was not much better. Even the Statue of Liberty was fogged in. The wind, the rain and the fog made the Captain skip the Lady Liberty drive-by and finally, at about 6:15 pm, we headed out to see. With the Ship picking up speed the wind and rain increased and we had to go put some more clothes on, but came back outside just in time to pass under the Verrazano Bridge – with only a few feet to spare.

While sitting on deck we already met some people from Hamburg, Germany on their way home. Now it was time to get ready for dinner. The first night was an informal night. We were ready early and went for a walk to see what all we can do in the next 10 days. The ship is beautiful!

Dinner was scheduled at 8:30 pm and we were assigned to a table with a British couple and two gentlemen from Ohio. Both parties are experienced cruisers. We were informed that we are not on a cruise or on a cruise ship but on a crossing – to be specific, on a transatlantic crossing. The Queen Mary is very different from other cruise ships. The hull is V-shaped to cut deep into the water while cruise ships have a somewhat flat bottom.

It was difficult to decide what to select from the dinner menu. We decided for a Liver Pate with honey glazed cranberry onions and bread as the appetizer. As the Entrée I chose portabella mushroom with chicken and Tom had a seafood fettuccini. Caramel Pecan pie with vanilla ice cream completed the meal for me.

Now we are rather tired and will not indulge in available activities but get some sleep.