Is there no WiFi in Spain??

Here I am sitting in a restaurant on a Sunday evening amongst all the happy Bilbaoians as they enjoy food and drink and I am trying to use this wifi connection that I was told works great and therefore sat down, ordered some food, I didn't really want, and turned on the Mac. There is a wifi, but the speed is so slow, I can't upload any photos and I just hope that this message gets sent. Bilbao is a pretty city and Guggenheim has put it on the map. Went yesterday to Biarritz and got some good shots and enjoyed the day.
Sorry to not be more prosaic, but I feel totally forced in this busy place.
I'll try another spot tomorrow - I hope
Later

Last Day in Lisbon

It has been a very good stay here in Lisbon, though the access to a fast and reliable internet/WiFi site has kept me from posting as often as I had hoped. I will do my best, but I have been out in the city and around on Field Trips to explore the beauty and sites of Lisboa. Instead of going back and trying to paste photos into the past blog, here are some of my impressions of the trip so far.

This was our first Sunset in Lisboa

Coming along side the port. We were fortunate enough to get docking very near to downtown Lisbon.

It started to rain yesterday, after being sunny and bright. Now it's just sultry and humid. Sadly we leave tonight. Happily we off to a new port - Bilboa, Spain.

Went the a small restaurant in the Alfama to listen to Fado and Folk dancing. Had a great time looking for a good shot. 

I took the long way back from the Fado and saw this little restaurant serving outside, while those inside were eating drinking and watching Portugal play USA in Brazil. We tied 2-2.

As I said, we leave port to night and head to Stop #2 - Bilboa, Spain. I'll send more notes after being there awhile and find another WiFi site there.

Later

Well dear Readers, sorry to not get thius posted until now. I will not go into depth about the gremlins that exist to hold back the progress of this endeavor. Fortunately, all the impediments are electronic and nothing to do with the ship or the people. 

It appears that I will not be able to place photos with the blog until I get a new mobal chip for my iPad (opps, we didn't know you only wanted the cheaper data only chip!!??##). So that should reach me by our next stop in Bilboa, Spain.

Today is Friday, and this was to be our day to arrive in port, but in a effort to conserve fuel, we arrived yesterday, but we will not get shore leave until our scheduled begins tomorrow. Kids are here to study after all.

It was a beautiful approach into the dock coming up the Tagus River and passing the sites along the riverside. We were able to get a slip close it to Lafama and that means we are near the old city and within much easier walking to the sites.

Here are the notes from the voyage while we were at sea. I guess this will be the way we must go as the internet on the ship is only an intranet and the emails work. My cell reception only works on land, so we must adjust. It a HOLIDAY!!!

Monday, June 16th

Today we left the berth at Southampton and set sail on our voyage of discovery aboard the MV Explorer. There were no bands playing, no confetti flying but there was a great deal of excitement from all aboard. We were push and pulled away by tugs, as we had to turn about and sail down river on the opposite heading of our berthing direction. It was nine pm local time and as well headed down the River Text the sun set picturesquely over a refinery astern of the ship. A beautiful beginning of a very busy and hopefully educational journey.

Tuesday, June 17th

Our first full day at sea and with my motion sickness bands firmly in place (I put them on at the hotel before we left Heathrow) I awoke too damned early. I think it more to do with the sun rising at 4:44am as much as jet lag. I hadn't realized that we were so far North. The sun sets at 9:20p and then rises a little over seven hours later. Of course we are heading for the summer eqinox in a few days. 

This whole day was spent in Safety and class orientation and actual classes begin tomorrow.

Everyone is very up and excited and looking forward to the true beginning of the voyage. I have chosen not to register for a class, but instead will join in unregistered "lens classes". The first is an antropology class on tourism.

Wednesday, June 18th

Just can't get the sleep cycle down. Missed breakfast and my class by sleeping right through them. Feel a bit more refreshed however. The workings of the email and internet are terrible and have spent much of the day trying to get it to work. Finally over the hump with that and have sent messages to the girls. I am going to use the email on the ship while at sea and just makes notes for the blog to be posted when we made landfall. I may not be able to upload pictures at the same time as I post my blog, we see how good the WiFi is at the port facilities will be.

Thursday, June 19th

Land Ho!!!

We are making port today - two days early. They want to save fuel costs and give us more hat shore time. Great!

Last night I went on deck at 1am to see the stars. I was hoping for a beautiful star filled sky. There is so much light pollution at home that seeing the Milky Way is impossible. Well I saw more stars than at home but the ship has so many lights on for safety and navigation we brought our own light pollution. Very pretty, but I was hoping for better.

It's quite exciting making our first landfall. Approaching from sea to the same port that saw all the Portuguese adventurers leaving for their discoveries so many centuries ago. The British Men-of-war who have come here since before the American Revolution and during the Nepoleanic Wars when Portugal was the ally of Britain.

They have yet to announce wether we - the LLL's - will be allowed to leave the ship tomorrow, as we are here a day sooner than planed.

Tomorrow - Saturday - I'm off for a tour of the sites.

More later

The Expedition Begins - Day 1

Well Sports Fans, just as the World Cup begins in Brazil, I have begun my trip(s) to Europe. I am setting here in the lounge at the Hilton Hotel at Heathrow. I'll stay the night and bright and early I and the rest of us Life Long Learners (L3) get on a bus and drive (on the wrong side of the road) to Southampton where we will join the MV Explorer and begin our voyage of discoveries.
The flight over was uneventful though I readily admit to being spoiled form years of first class travel (sadly no longer in the contract) that flying over in steerage (well I am paying for it myself!) was just a slap to the reality face. The flights were both smooth and well done - on time and all - but the space that United has added to the extra cost extra legroom seats as been removed from those that are 'regular'. I don't believe they have reduced the number of sets at all. Reality check number one. Of course no meals - come on it's 2014 coach - and on to the O'Hare and into an extra legroom seat. Yea!! Well no, the seat available was an exit row. That's good, but the seats don't recline more than three inches - I guess they don't want people stumbling on the way out the windows. They did serve 'dinner' - I'll refrain from a description but hell no why not!! There was a radiated piece of chicken breast, a noodle concoction with an strange brown 'sauce' and some veggies that were much closer to the nuker then the rest of the meal. Well, maybe breakfast would be better. I now no why the 'breakfast' was not mentioned in the note about meals on the flight. We were trying to wake - though for me that wasn't hard as I didn't sleep at all. To be far - I never have been able to sleep on planes. Anywho - the stewardess asks would you like breakfast - quickly to become would you like a croissant? Any resemblance to the delicate puff of crescent shaped buttery pastry was didn't exist. It was like a donut without a hole and it claim to fame for this 'meal' was it fit into a plastic container 3x5 and was able to share the space with the plastic utensils and a bowl of fruit. Have you ever noticed that these said bowls of fruit on airlines have always contained three pieces of cantaloupe, three pieces of honeydew melon and exactly three red grapes. You know there is a chef assistant whose job it is to count melon pieces and grapes.
I'll share the photo of the British Airways 474 that rode on our wing into the holding pattern for Heathrow.
More to come

Nine Days to go

Not that I'm into doing a count down, but I'm just trying to remind myself how many days before I leave on my 'expedition'. I've gone on location for just as long a period of time, and spent no more than an hour throwing things in a bag the night before, but for some reason the more time I have to think about what I should take and what I can take has got me just spinning my wheels.
I've gotten everything I can think of - and a few more - and now I going to pack. For the first time in my life I'm thinking of making a packing list. Eh Gawds!!
Looking forward to spending the last week with the family before they settle in to their summer of fun with their kids and I get out of their hair and enjoy mine.
Later