COPENHAGEN Mon. July 15

            This morning we visited ‘The Little Mermaid’ on the harbour, which Sea Princess tells me is the internationally recognized symbol of Copenhagen. It is a statue of Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘Little Mermaid’ heroine.

            We are docked a little further along the harbour, so when we set out to ‘walk’ (me on scooter) along the waterfront we met the floods of tourists from their coaches streaming along towards her. She is tiny and you’d think hardly remarkable enough to draw such crowds, but here they were. Some were scrambling out onto the wet rocks to perch beside her to have their photo taken with her. No one slipped into the harbour while we were there but I’m sure some must do.

            It was a very pleasant walk when we were in the sun. The ship said expect 20°C and cloudy. It probably was 20° except the sharp wind along the waterfront made it feel less. Especially when it clouded over. Everything along the waterfront was neat and trim. Grass mown and huge flower pots – at least a metre high – in full bloom with summer flowers. Further along there was a small park with flowers in profusion. Lots of lavender and other tallish flowering  bushes blooming in the neat beds. Along the way were plenty of seats facing the water for strolling people to rest.

            We also met several Kings – Frederick or Christian – in bronze, and a beautiful water fountain with mythical ladies. This fountain was very scenic against the several steeples of a grey stone church which chimed every quarter hour. Tourists with cameras and phones lined up to take its photo.

            We wandered into the closest end of the city and found a neat street with modern stone buildings right to the footpath. A word about those footpaths: tarred sections covered the old cobblestones except for the driveways into the courtyards behind these restaurants and apartment blocks. There seemed to be car parking in the courtyards behind. These buildings had roofs I have long associated with Scandinavia.  The Mansard has the almost vertical edge with windows in it. The other has the usual sloping roof with dormer windows from the attics.

            I said thank goodness for the tarred sections of  footpath as the cobblestone sections are rough and jerky to ride my scooter over. Soon we decided to cut through to the waterfront again and there we met large squares and waterfront pavements all of cobblestones. I rattled along on them for quite a while as we watched the long and low boats crowded with tourists glide around the harbour – all making for the Little Mermaid and away again. The tourists stood up and leaned over in their anxiety to take photos of her as they went by. Just as none of the tourists climbing out on the slippery rocks near her had fallen in, neither did we see any of those leaning out of the boats fall overboard.

            The wind whistled along the waterfront as we made our way back to the ship, so we were glad to get inside. There was a problem getting the scooter over the lip of the gangway as it entered the ship. In an effort to make it move over easily for the assisting crew in the blue vests, Bruce kicked a lever at the back to put it into ‘neutral’, and after that it wouldn’t go into gear again so we were stranded. Bruce pushed it over and into a ‘up’ lift to our floor where it sat unhappily outside the lifts until later when he took it apart and got it going again. Thank goodness, as it makes the long distances in the ship easy to travel. He’s a clever chap sometimes! He’s always quoting that he ‘used to be an engineer’ – but sometimes his specialty is that he can ‘bodgey up’ something to make it work.

            It was sad for us that our Copenhagen friends were away sailing somewhere North on their summer sailing holiday. We had seen much of Copenhagen when we stayed with them in their city, so we restricted ourselves to the waterfront along from the ship where we could venture on foot and scooter. So we did not see again the magnificent Palaces, changing of the guard, or the home of our Australian Crown Princess Mary and her Danish family.

            What we did see along the waterfront were the old disused warehouses – tarted up a bit and sometimes with statues in the windows of unused floors. There were huge modern buildings along the waterfront with large picture windows facing the harbour, but as they had no names (on our side of them at least) we have no idea what they are. The windows were opaque glass, but we could see lights inside so people were working there. Must be a pleasant place to work with such views.

            Last – the windmills. Their tops tower in the distance in all directions above the buildings. They are huge. Not the old Dutch windmills type, but the modern slim, tall metal energy generators with their three blades turning and turning in the wind. As Sea Princess slid away from the Harbour we saw the famous Bridge from Denmark to Sweden – six miles long. We saw a TV series from Sweden/Denmark called ‘The Bridge’ which made us familiar with it’s strategic character.

We saw windmills out in the ocean. A line of them. We counted eighteen all turning relentlessly in the onshore winds to provide much of the electricity for Danish consumption without polluting the atmosphere with carbon from fossil fuels. 

ROTTERDAM Sat. July 13

Now it’s Holland!  Rotterdam is a magnificent city. While we had breakfast we watched the low and long barges crawl back and forth along the waterway below the Sea Princess. Going down river they were empty and riding high, with their living quarters of three, four or even five small windows with curtains at the back where the barge captain (owner?) had living quarters. Coming up river they were loaded with containers and low in the water.

Across the water we could see the tall office blocks of the city, and Erasmusbrug stretching across from one side to the other. This is the third bridge we have seen supported by wires from one side stretching right across to the other. Only one we saw in Ireland could be lifted a bit and swung to one side. This one did not lift or swing, was firmly attached and busy with traffic.

We took the scooter out and down along the inner road between the port buildings and the wharves, where we found a Shuttle Bus provided by the city waiting to take us into the city proper. The guide there told us to wait for the next bus which had a lift to take up my scooter. So it was. The driver hopped out and opened a special small door at the back and lifted out a ramp which lifted me and my scooter by motor up to the inside floor of the bus.  He then strapped it into place with heavy hooks attached to the floor.

When we reached the old Town Hall in the main street, we did it all in reverse and I sailed off along the wide footpath beside Bruce. No pushing the wheelchair today. There was a breeze here and we had coats but expected a high of 22°C today. The Town Hall was old and had stone stairs and windows surrounds in stone. It must have survived the bombing in the war as when we saw an aerial photo of the city in 1946 at the Information Centre there wasn’t much left standing. On the footpath today there were old bronze statues of various Mayors of the city several hundred years ago. They likewise must have survived the bombing.

We had been warned about the bike paths on each side of the road, so we were cautious. Push bikes and motor scooters like the Vespas of Rome went at speed in both directions in these 2-3 metre wide strips set apart from other traffic. Never a bike helmet in sight all day, and children being carried either in front of or behind the riders. 

So it was: find a striped crossing, make sure to dodge the bikes, remember to check for cars coming from the right hand drive side, and see there were no trams on the way. Trams are really classy vehicles here. Where there were no lights at the crossing, motorists politely stopped for pedestrians. We paused for the bike lanes!

Streets are very clean, buildings well cared for and footpaths very wide. There are rows and rows of push bikes everywhere along the outside of the footpaths everywhere in the city. Some were in bike racks, others just standing on their own supports two and three deep – so the footpaths need to be wide.

The coach driver had directed passengers to the large Department Store called “de Bijenkorf” so we went there. It was big and airy, with each department stretching across a large floorspace and enticingly well laid out. Plenty of room to move between displays.  Out of the lift area came a rather large lady in a flowing scarf on a scooter maybe a bit bigger than mine with two dogs sitting in the space under her legs. When I smiled my surprise and enjoyment of the site, the lady nodded and gave me a hearty smile back, and both dogs – obviously tied on short leases – also looked up at me and ‘smiled’ in their doggy way. I guess they had been travelling like this all their lives.  Although I told Bruce to look out for her we didn’t see her and the dogs again. Dogs seem to go everywhere on leads with their people.

There were five floors of elegant displays and another in the basement, which contained formal men’s wear and stationery.  Bruce was amazed at the prices of suits on display at ‘Half-Price’. The stationary on display was cheerful and full of colour. There were mothers and girls looking at the bright exercise books and school supplies and I realized they were getting supplie for going back to school in September. Fancy thinking of going back to school as early as this. But at least the supplies were very bright and cheerful. I enjoyed buying a cheerful note book and a couple of book marks myself. This was also the Book Shop.  Lots of books had covers in English and names I recognized. Such as those by Dan Brown. Inside they were in Dutch. It was still a surprise when I opened them.

            For lunch we had a toasted sandwich at a footpath restaurant called ‘Roaul’s’. By now the clouds had burnt off and the sun was out.  We enjoyed sitting on their padded seats with extra cushions. The place has six foot high glass walls all around, so we could watch all the comings and goings on the street when we took off our coats and sat in the warmth of the sun.

            After a visit to The Information Centre we decided we’d better go back to the Old Town Hall and wait for our bus with the electric hoist to get back to the ship on time.

            This is our last port to use Euros, so I had a walk around the hall in the Cruise Centre next to the Ship when we got back. It was full of stalls selling Dutch handcrafts of all sorts, with a man carving clogs. I used my last €5 on two small blue and white dishes decorated with windmills.

            At midday today (14^th) the Captain told us we are in the North Sea and must expect usual rough North Sea weather. There are lots of white horses out there and the floors have started to move up and down again.

Bruce saw the end of the First Cricket Test in England today and was disappointed at the lack of fifteen runs for an Australian victory. The  Sky News Sports Channel has been more interested in all the Football teams with who is transferring to where, and how many thousands a week they’ll get. Cricket scores were reported every News half hour. But when the conclusion of the game drew close they actually played the last 10-15 minutes – and the controversial last decision which led to England’s win.

DOVER - Fri. July 12

            When I woke up this morning I could see the White Cliffs of Dover out through my balcony door. Alas – no bluebirds over them, but Vera Lynn stayed with me all morning.  There were however lots of very large seagulls soaring about above fishing boats in the harbour. They are very large seagulls as we later saw one on the ground in Dover. Almost as big as a small hen. Dover Castle high above dominated the port as it has done since Roman times and the days of William the Conqueror. I can understand why Dover has always been on the invasion route for armies from the Continent.

            Ship’s tours to London left shortly after our arrival at 7am. That will be another long day. About 10.30 we took the local shuttle bus – which turned out to be an old sky blue double decker – into Dover. At first we were disappointed as the first street we took from the shuttle was decrepit with a few very old and dilapidated buildings, which were probably fine looking in their day with wide stone window sills and door frames.

            The main street turned out to be a mall – wide, with ceramic tiles instead of cobblestones down the middle. Lots of people and no vehicles.  Bright looking shops and quite a variety.  Much more as I had expected the City of Dover to look.

There were several Churches with the look of antiquity in their stone walls, and the story of the special bell donated by the King of Belgium in gratitude after the War.  In the small square outside the Town Hall there was a monument to those from Dover who died in Great War, 1914-18.           

The familiar yellow arches of MacDonalds called us and we had a coffee and snack there as it was warm and they took Euros as well as Pounds. Ah – we thought – Dover is a place that caters to European visitors. Sensible. Broadminded. Their change from Bruce’s Euros however was in Stirling pence which he donated to a young man on the street with a donations bucket for some charity. A few minutes later Bruce tried to buy a second hand novel which took his eye in a Charity shop and they surprised us by refusing his one Euro payment. There you are. You can never tell.

So we didn’t go to see The Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey or any of the other places ship’s tours took people to see. Not even the nearby Canterbury Cathedral. We had visited all these a few years ago when we did a month ‘home swap’ on the outskirts of London. So we just went to see Dover.

On the way back to the ship in the Shuttle Bus we saw how old some of the port buildings were looking: an old disused train line and station; old warehouses and run down buildings. This reminded us of the centuries that Dover has been importing and exporting. From the top balcony of Sea Princess we could see across the bay a constant turn-around of modern Channel Vehicle Ferries, and always ships on the horizon in the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel. 

FRANCE -Le Havre Thu. July 11

            Lately our ports have been the gateway to some other place and this time it is ‘Le Havre – Gateway to Paris’.

            We didn’t go to Paris which was about three hours away by coach before you began the tour of Paris, and then three hours back to the Sea Princess. The coach trips to Paris left about 8am, and were due back 7pm. They must have come back because we are at sea at 8pm on the route to Dover. And this is touted as “The Gateway to London”.

            Alas – another day and another country. This is becoming a bit of a whirlwind. Also, our clocks went forward an hour between Scotland and France, and tonight they have to go back an hour for England. Practically this means that 9pm tonight becomes 8pm at tomorrow’s time.  I believe this has something to do with Daylight Saving in England and not on the Continent. Then the Newsletter tells us clocks must go forward another hour tomorrow night for Holland. No wonder I am confused. It’s just as well I have Bruce. He’s very particular about time and he keeps us on time and changes all our clocks.

            It’s latish now and I’m starting ‘Le Havre’ story before I go to bed. It’s getting so I just can’t keep up with the day after day reporting. So this will per force be shorter so I can be briefly ‘up to date’ for at least a day.

            Today we took the local Shuttle Bus into Le Havre city (at a cost of  €8 each person, for each way. A bit stiff, and too far to walk.)

            We took the Singapore wheelchair, as my scooter won’t fit under a bus and is too heavy anyway. Bruce pushed me along the footpaths which were blessedly free of cobblestones. There was a wind that whistled through the streets and it was very cold. The ship said to expect 14°C and it felt even cooler. We wore our warm clothes for the first time. People appeared at breakfast in jumpers and warm coats.

            It was a bit scary watching for the traffic coming on the right hand side of the road. No one else waited for green pedestrian lights, so soon we began to follow the local French and hope for the best.

            This is Normandy and you can’t help thinking of the Second World War. I believe that this whole place was totally destroyed and that it took years to clean it up and start building again. Nothing looked old as in other places.

            All the streets we passed were clean and tidy, with small shops of all sorts. Before we got into the town proper there were vacant shops along the way. Sign of the economic times? Too far out of town? There was a building site which advertised the opening in 2014 of a large white conical shaped building with no windows, called something like ‘The Vulcan’ which I took to mean ‘Volcano’. It was that shape and at least five stories high. A diagram on the building-site fence showed internal floors with compartments that could be shops or offices. A sort of volcano ants’ nest? But – no windows?

            We passed a park with flowers and the city square outside the large ‘Maison de Ville’ with French and European flags and “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” printed high across the façade. Near there we found a large shopping centre. It was warm inside so we stayed a while. There was a large supermarket to explore, and I spent time in the Deli section – amazed at the ‘take-away’ cold meat section which contained not only cold cuts but already cooked casserole dishes, like “Curried Lamb”.  The cheese section was also just something else! I took photos of the amazing displays, but can’t put them here as I don’t know how to do photos. Sad.

            Meanwhile Bruce explored the grog section and bought two bottles of French red wine, which now reside behind the television in our cabin till he gets around to drinking them in his pre-dinner cocktails at 5pm. Just a note on the purchase. The two bottles of wine cost €5.98 and that meant only €0.02cents change. The check-out girl asked if he’d like them in a bag, which made the bill €6.01 and he got lots of small coins to carry around as change.  How did he know she was going to charge him for the plastic bag?

            There were ‘Sales’ in all the shops. Some said they were up to their Third Reduction in price (that is, if my translation was right). They kept saying 30%, 50% and as much as 70% ‘Off’. I found a little Boutique of ‘Christine Laure’ ladies’ wear, and had fun with my 60 year old schoolgirl French and their French sizes. With holding up fingers, we (the lady and I) decided I must be French ‘size 4 or 5’ instead of ‘Size 16’ or just ‘Large’ as in Australia and I bought a greatly reduced shirt to remember France and Le Havre.

            Back out into the chill wind and along the streets to the place we had to meet the Shuttle. Bruce assured me he was a good Boy Scout and we would never be lost.

            Tonight we have only to cross the English Channel back to Dover. Then it’s England. For one day!  The first Test of the Ashes is one and Bruce has been glued to TV Sports News to keep up with the Score. He’s very frustrated they are not showing the whole game – only the score among Football news.

GLASGOW - Tues July 9

            “WELCOME TO INVERCLYDE” screamed the notices around the Port of Greenock – the gateway to Glasgow. Our ship’s wharf was surrounded by containers and huge cranes, so we must have been at a Container Wharf. This happens either because there is no Cruise ship Terminal available or our ship is just too big for what’s available.

            We had booked a ‘City Drive’ ship’s tour for the afternoon and weren’t too sure where we were going. We thought it was only a couple of hours and so must be around the City of Greenock – not very big now we were here.  But we were welcomed to the coach by a little man in a kilt and full Highland dress with a shock of grey hair who turned out to be more like an Irish Leprechaun than your dour Scott.

            We set out about 1.30pm and headed straight for Glasgow, with a cheerful, informative and amusing commentary all the way. We did not arrive back till almost 6.30pm so it was much more than a couple of hours of the sites of Greenock.

            What do I say of Glasgow? A very tidy city of orderly streets, homogenous streetscapes,  buildings and gardens, and a clean river Clyde. Everything seemed to be in the same red brick and buildings looked to me  ‘drab’ -  but very dignified. There was a sameness in styles in the city – tall, rectangular windows and no balconies anywhere, even in the big hotels of International names.  No colours or neon signs  anywhere. Businesses named in discretely painted signs above doors.

            Of course, the lack of balconies and big windows must be influenced by the climate. Who would need balconies when they have snow and ice? There was a section of more modern apartments of lighter colour and with balconies facing the afternoon sun with people enjoying the sunshine on them. It was again an uncustomarily warm day with sunshine 24-25°. In the parks there were many people relaxing in the sun, especially the young people around the University. I don’t think I saw anyone shirtless as around Dublin.

            Nor did I see any graffiti anywhere. Not around the dock areas, the older parts of Greenock, or anywhere on the way to Glasgow. Not that I was looking for it, but it does hit you in the eye when you see it around. None around Dublin either.

            Our last visit of the afternoon was to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. This was a really magnificent stone building with lots of arches, its own great organ, and hall after hall of great exhibits. We had a coffee in the Centre Hall while we sat to admire the building. It was a shock to find that the coffee shop counter would not accept any currency except Sterling, and we only had US dollars. Euros and Australian dollars. One of our friends at table was later quite indignant that Britain was so fussy about its own currency. For us, someone from the ship who was also having coffee was happy to swap 5 pounds Sterling for €5.

            In one hall a whole Spitfire aeroplane from World War II was suspended above  Wild Life exhibits. The plane was from The City of Glasgow Squadron.  

            The other Exhibit that inspired me was Salvador Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross in its own upstairs balcony little room. Alas time ran out before we could see the rest of this amazing building and its exhibits.

  Bruce – who has spent much of his life involved  with buildings - was fascinated with the whole impressive building. He wondered if it was built as  a Cathedral or some other great public building. But the Reception Desk said “No”. Its construction as the Museum began in 1888 and it was opened in 1901.

            All in all our trip to Glasgow was a really good afternoon with commentary by our Scottish Leprechaun.