Maiden Voyaging

Queen Elizabeth has now completed her maiden voyage around the British Isles, amid much pomp and circumstance. There is still quite a mystique surrounding the Cunard ships, which have a one-hundred and seventy year history in this part of the world. Crowds turned out to see us dock an sail away. Visitors came on board to see the ship in droves each day in port. Once I saw large amounts of people parking and walking in the same direction, and I asked a local what event was taking place, where were they all going. He said our ship WAS the event. I'd never experienced attention like this before. But the real highlight of all this attention was in Liverpool, the "spiritual home" of Cunard, where the original office was. A large scale concert was put on for all of Queen Elizabeth's guests (and interested/available crew) and was held at the immense Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool. Buses were arranged to transport thousands of guests to the event, they had to start seating people an hour and a half before the event, and the entire floor of the cathedral was packed with chairs. The theme of the event was celebrating the three ships to bear the name Elizabeth over the last century. The Liverpool Philharmonic along with two choirs and the Welsh Guard performed some amazing music, and the sounds that echoed in the cathedral were incredible. The event was star-studded, as far as Cunard Line and the UK are concerned. I got to hear stories from crew who worked on the original Queen Elizabeth and the QE2, in the days of the famous transatlantic filled with Hollywood and other celebrities. I really felt like I was a part of something special.
I did also make time in Liverpool to follow in the steps of the Beatles, so as not to disappoint certain relatives and friends back home. :-) I really enjoyed the tour. All day I kept wishing you could have been here with me, Dad!! We visited a really neat museum called the Beatles Story, as well as the Cavern Club on Matthew street, childhood homes of John and Paul, Strawberry Field and Penny Lane. I can now say I've been "in a shelter in the middle of a roundabout".
After the concert I spent a few hours at a pub in town with the rest of the band, enjoying our night off and a late sailaway. I got to meet a trumpet player named Albert who lives nearby, who will most likely be in our band next year for the world voyage. At 9pm we stumbled back on board and out onto the forward deck of the ship, crowded with crew members, to watch the nighttime spillway. Our arrival was the official beginning of a festival in Liverpool, and so thousands were gathered to watch us and live bands were performing. And the top it off, fireworks lit our way from the pier as we pulled away. What a night!!
Other highlights of the voyage were a visit to the Guiness factory in Dublin, as Gianni is a big fan, and a beautiful scenic tour I went on in Ireland where I was lucky enough to get some sunshine.
Today we've begun our transatlantic, tracing the paths of so many other Cunard ships across to New York. We've been told to expect some rough weather from tropical storm Maria, and we've battened down the hatches, literally. (They've closed the portholes in the mess, anyway). America, here we come!!!!

Catching up - Paris and Scotland

Sorry everyone! I've been absent for a while due to my hard drive crashing....again....why does this always heppen when I'm overseas?? Anyway today I'm in Greenock, near Glasgow, Scotland, with about half an hour's free time in town before I need to return to the ship. I went on a tour of Glasgow this morning. I found a little museum here that has free use of computers for the internet, hallelujah!
I must tell you that I have finally been to Paris!! I have always wanted to see it, and was able to have a few precious hours in the city last week on a tour. The drive is nearly 3 hours by bus, each way, from Le Havre (our port) to Paris, so I needed the whole day even to get there for a few hours. I can't describe the feeling of finally seeing the Eiffel Tower in person, it was so neat for me. There may have been tears...:-) I also got to spend a while in the Notre Dame Cathedral, and walk all around it as well, which was very cool. We drove to all the highlights of the city, and had barely enough time to snap photos of the Louvre, Les Invalids, the Arc de Triumph and many more....it was really a whirlwind tour - there is no way to properly see a city like Paris in a day. But at least now I've seen a little bit for myself!! I hope to go back someday. It was fantastic.
I've really enjoyed Scotland these past few days, Edinburgh being perhaps my favorite. I also visited Inverness (of the river Ness, of Loch Ness), which was a nice town as well. I didn't make it out to Loch Ness proper, but maybe next time. In the small town of Invergordon where we were docked, I had the pleasant surprise of running into some artist's booths. One man was letting people make their own metal castings, by carving out a design on a flat surface, then sealing it and filling it with liquid metal which then hardened into whatever shape you had carved. It was so neat! I made a little flower. What a perfect, free souvenir!! Better than anything you'd buy in a store. I also met some well known graffitti artists called Dufi, who were working on a project I got to help with. It was such a neat day! I love it when the unexpected finds me.