How to be a follower

I think, maybe, I have figured out a way for you to become a follower.  It helps us to know that you are out there and we are not talking to ourselves.  It feels great to know that others are traveling with us in spirit.  We may need your support later, when we are traveling on our own.

On the right side of this page there is a new button that you can push that is under the title "followers and how to be a follower".  You may need to scroll to the right if the heading does not show.  Click the "Join this Site" and then you log on, or set up an account if you don't have one.  That should do it.  We are unable to do it because we are the bloggers.  Let us know if it works for you by making a comment on this blog.

I think I was wrong about you getting emails when we post a blog if you are a follower.  I wish it was true because it would be very helpful.  I did find this ap that I added under the "followers" ap.

You can subscribe to our blog with it.  I really don't know exactly how it works.  It might work on phones or tablets or emails.  Check it out and see if it lets you get emails when we post a new blog.  Then please let us know.  Thanks.
 
Do you know how to make to make a comment?  Just click on the word comment at the end of the blog and write away.

And yes, Sandi, we did get your comment on "6 days at sea".

It is wonderful to have some time on the internet when we aren't totally rushed.  Sorry if some of our posts are short, late or just snippy.  But today we have Mc Donald's to thank.  Free wifi close to where the ship has docked.  So, remember to patronize your local Mc Donalds on our behalf. :)

Aalborg, Denmark

 

Aalborg looks like what you would think Denmark would look like.  New buildings look modern and the old stuff looks like the pictures you’ve seen.  Here are some.

We were met by a welcoming group that included guides to direct us to sights and 2 gentlemen who were our crossing guards.  Not sure whether they are just very friendly or thing tourists are really helpless.  Either way it was very nice.

Our first stop was the Jens Bang’s House, built in 1624.  He did not get along with the town fathers, even though he was the richest man in town, so when he built his mansion he added a figure of himself sticking his tongue out at the town council.

The Bang house is the 3 pointed one at the end of the block.

It’s kind of hard to see his whole tongue.  It continues from his mouth down his chin.  It also looks like he is rolling his eyes.

We went to the Budolfi Cathedral.  The best part of that church is the pulpit.  Can you imagine what you would have to wear to stand up there? 

This is the Monastery of the Holy Ghost.  Notice the lovely door and we noticed that in the windows of what we assume are the chambers, since we were not allowed to enter, are lots of wine glasses.  Are the monks lushes?

     

As you would expect, the Dutch really do ride bicycles, lots of them.

Some more shots of the city.

     

Our last day at sea

 

Now our trip starts getting hectic.  Almost all our days will be in one port or another.  We had hoped to rest up for the great amount of exercise we are going to get walking all over Scandinavia.  Not to be. 

We moved from our beautiful, large veranda suite to our new cabin,  We knew our new cabin would be a lot smaller, but that was our plan.  We didn’t need to spend our money on space, we had to on the first part of the journey, since that was all that was available.  Since we could downgrade to a veranda without the suite, we chose to do that.  Our view is looking back at the ship’s wake.  It is beautiful.   BUT…..then the ship started it’s engines.  We expected some noise and vibration, but wow.

We tried to sleep that night.  Duane of course had no trouble, but I did.  And things were working their way off shelves.  I spent much of the day asking for another room and was told the ship was full.

But at about 10pm we were given a chance to look at another room and we grabbed it.  So twice in 2 days we had to pack up our stuff and move.  But it was worth it for last nights rest.

So now we have 500 new friends to meet.

Tilbury, England

 

Today 500 people got off and another 500 got on.  We had to go through immigration, even though we were going right on with the trip.  (see the little British there?  )

We spend way too much time looking for internet connections.  Today we walked all around the tiny, tiny town of Tilbury.  The only one we found that was working was in a (you guessed it) Mc Donald’s.  Then I used up the battery on our computer just working on couchsurfing.  It turns out that it is very time consuming to find a host in Amsterdam.  Our first 4 tries were unable to host us, so I had to find another 4 to ask.  We may rethink this whole idea, since we do not want to spend our trip on the internet rather than seeing where we are.  We may also find that not planning ahead may take even more time in the city when we arrive.

Well, can you tell that I am tired right now?  We changed cabins today, so we had to pack and then unpack in a smaller room.  No, this was not a surprise, we planned it, but still it was a pain.  All done now.

Now we have a mostly new shipload of passengers to get to know.  The ship holds about 750 passengers.  About 250 of us are continuing, so like I said, 500 new friends to make.

Yesterday we stopped in Cherbourg, France.  We did not take an excursion, we almost never do, but we stayed in town and again, worked on the internet.  We docked at an old port building.

  

 

Like I said, we didn’t see much of the city.  He had been here before (check out world cruise of 08, Duaneandarleen.blogspot.com)

Brest, France

 

Bon Jour from Brest, France.  Brest is a port city.  The day started out cloudy and then proceeded to rain, rather hard at times.  Being the seasoned travelers that we are, we had our rain ponchos with us, so all was well, and is now drying out.

Brest took a heavy beating during WW II, so there is only one neighborhood that has some old buildings in it.  Here are some pictures of the buildings we saw in town.

     

This is a public WC (bathroom or water closet).  We did not use it.  (though Duane tried,  it was locked, luckily)

The main attraction for us, here in Brest, is the castle.  It was a fort, a military outpost and a chateau.  We just love these old things.  It is situated on one bank of the River Penfeld and a tower is on the other.

 

  

These walls were built by the Romans.  Notice how they layered 2 rows and of brick and 6 rows of rock.

  

  

This is the tower on the western bank of the river

  

We are in France, so there are lots of pastry shops.  I was good and only took pictures,,,

  Are those video games pieces?  Your know, the ones that eat the dots.

It seems in town that cars park on the sidewalks and people walk in the streets

Do you think this sign means that adults cannot cross the street, but children can?

Lovely flowers

 

 

    Unusual aren’t they?

Lisbon–part 2

 

We walked to the Black Horse Square.

    

 

Then we took a tram to the Jeronimos Monastery.  It is no longer a monastery, not since the government took over the building hundreds of years ago.

   

    

You cannot get the feel for how huge this chapel is.  It is plain, yet ornate.  Go figure that out.

This is the cloister of the monastery.

 

   and this is the tomb Vasco Da Gama

                                                                                                 

Besides all the tiles used on old buildings, they also use a lot of iron.

And of course…..(look closely)

Lisbon, Portugal Part 1

 

Today we arrived in Lisbon at about 3PM.  We leave tomorrow at 3PM.  Strange.  We cruised up the Tagus River to dock in Lisbon.  These pictures were taken during our sailing.

This is the Statue of the Heroes.  Included in the statues are Henry the Navigator and Vasca da Gama, who founded a route to India for Portugal.

    

Here are some pictures of the city from our ship, the Prinsendam.

Black Horse Square

  

Bridge built to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge…..note the dolphins.

 

    

This statue of Christ the Redeemer shows how close the ties are between Lisbon and Buenas Aires.

This building is a state museum with info on the different men who tried to lead Portugal to freedom.  It is made of limestone and took 200 years to finish,  It was opened in 1957.

   

Even though it looks like a church, it was never one.  I has a beautiful pipe organ that cannot be played due to the echoes cause by the domed ceilings.

More buildings, notice the tile work.  There are tiles everywhere.

     

We came across what we thought was a market place.  It was one at one time, but now it is a culinary center.  We saw different displays of local dairy product (featured at this time).  Notice the cheese press…..notice that you cannot get that design out of that press !!!

We think there may have been a festival recently, since there are decorations on many streets we walked down.  We also came across this poster in front of a church.  Do you have any idea who she is?  She looks like an old 1940’s movie star.  What do you think?