I want to start off with an apology for the lack of posts (and the delay with getting those I had written out). I started university (again) and things were very hectic. I'll most likely do a post on it at some point fully explaining everything that happened to make it so stressful. On top of the stress I also had a lot of essays to write so didn't feel like doing much more writing on top of that. I'll discuss this in more detail in another post, though. I'm going to try and make an effort to post more, though this is dependant on whether I can think of things to write about.
Anyway, onto discussing the travel writing. I definitely enjoyed it, it was fun reliving my holiday, and I think it will be great to look back on several years from now. I'd definitely do it regularly if I was able to afford to travel enough to write a regular travel blog. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money, nor do I have the time seeing as I have degree to focus on, so it's not something I'd be able to do regularly. However, when I do go away I will definitely be documenting it on my blog, it was really fun to write about! I'd maybe do a few things differently- I'd definitely take a few notes so I can remember what happened properly when it comes to writing it up, and I'd maybe format my posts differently so they're less text heavy and easier to follow. I'm looking forward to writing about my travels again- I just have to get something booked now!
Wednesday 8 March 2017
Saturday 4 March 2017
Travel Diary: Day 7 At Sea
Today was our final day of our holiday, which, for me, was pretty sad. I always miss my holidays a little when they finish, wishing I was back having a great time and forgetting about all my worries and problems. As a result, I made sure that I made the most of this last day, and this included waking up a bit earlier so that I had a longer day (and also so that I could have my second last breakfast).
After several bacon and croissant sandwiches we got comfy and watched a movie in our stateroom. The movie we selected was called 'Unfriended,' a 'horror' movie about a group of friends who are tormented by what I guess was meant to be the spirit of a friend of theirs who committed suicide. I put horror in inverted commas for a reason- it was the furthest thing from scary. The plot was decent, I suppose, but I wouldn't really recommend the movie, particularly if you want something that will keep you on edge with fear. I began repacking my suitcase, then we went up to the buffet for our final lunch. I really made the most of my lunch, even though I was a bit disappointed with the selection (though they did have truffle oil mac and cheese, which was nice).
After lunch we had a bit of a rest in the cabin. As we'd been pretty busy the previous few days, and adjusting to our new surroundings on the first day at sea, I hadn't had the opportunity to take pictures. Since I had most of the afternoon free I decided to grab the camera and rush round the ship taking photos of everything. I like having photos of my holidays, they make the memories I have of holidays much more vivid and sometimes remind me of elements of my holiday that I may have forgotten. Before I set off on my photo snapping adventure I had some scones with cream and jam from the buffet, where they were serving afternoon tea, and admired the ocean. Then we set off to deck seven, moving from location to location around the ship, taking pictures of the amazing decor. Having finished our little 'photo shoot' we went back to cabin where we opened a bottle of prosecco that had been intended for the first day, though it still seemed fairly fitting for the last day. We had a nice chat in the stateroom as we enjoyed our bubbly.
When we'd finished out prosecco, we proceeded to get ready for our final restaurant dinner. I opted for a simple, comfortable outfit (the dress code was evening casual anyway), but spent a bit of time doing my make up (I really enjoy doing my make up). I also finished up my packing, and got my suitcase ready outside my cabin, where it would be collected by a staff member and taken to a room at the port, available for us to pick up when we disembark in Southampton. Today's menu was quite nice, especially as there was duck, one of my favourite meats, as a main course. The desserts, however, were a bit of a disappointment, though I still ordered some. We spent about half an hour resting in the cabin, before making our way to the theatre on deck 7 to watch the show. It was pretty awesome, as it had been the previous times, though I wasn't too keen on the music, which had an impact on my overall enjoyment of the show. This one had a British theme, which was fitting considering we were sailing back to Southampton on Britannia, and the Irish and Scottish dancing was a particular highlight. I have to say, the performers were both incredibly talented dancers and singers, and their talent really brought the shows to life. The special effects were also spectacular, the shows were far better than anything I'd seen before, and much, much more than you;d expect from a performance at sea. The final day at sea was concluded with whiskey and coke and chatting until the early hours of the morning, largely in some attempt to prolong the holiday for at least slightly longer (we could sleep all we wanted at home, but we only had a few hours on the ship).
After several bacon and croissant sandwiches we got comfy and watched a movie in our stateroom. The movie we selected was called 'Unfriended,' a 'horror' movie about a group of friends who are tormented by what I guess was meant to be the spirit of a friend of theirs who committed suicide. I put horror in inverted commas for a reason- it was the furthest thing from scary. The plot was decent, I suppose, but I wouldn't really recommend the movie, particularly if you want something that will keep you on edge with fear. I began repacking my suitcase, then we went up to the buffet for our final lunch. I really made the most of my lunch, even though I was a bit disappointed with the selection (though they did have truffle oil mac and cheese, which was nice).
After lunch we had a bit of a rest in the cabin. As we'd been pretty busy the previous few days, and adjusting to our new surroundings on the first day at sea, I hadn't had the opportunity to take pictures. Since I had most of the afternoon free I decided to grab the camera and rush round the ship taking photos of everything. I like having photos of my holidays, they make the memories I have of holidays much more vivid and sometimes remind me of elements of my holiday that I may have forgotten. Before I set off on my photo snapping adventure I had some scones with cream and jam from the buffet, where they were serving afternoon tea, and admired the ocean. Then we set off to deck seven, moving from location to location around the ship, taking pictures of the amazing decor. Having finished our little 'photo shoot' we went back to cabin where we opened a bottle of prosecco that had been intended for the first day, though it still seemed fairly fitting for the last day. We had a nice chat in the stateroom as we enjoyed our bubbly.
Travel Diary: Day 6, Bergen
Today I decided to skip waking up ridiculously early to see the port as we entered and catch up on a bit of greatly needed sleep again. I did make sure to get some breakfast, though, as there were only a few days left and I wanted to make the most of it all. It's pretty good I did because I discovered that bacon and croissant compliment each other perfectly (though I'm certain that my stomach and my heart don't agree). As a result of taking it a bit slower we left a bit later, which was actually quite good as getting up and leaving early was getting pretty exhausting.
On the journey back to Southampton the water was pretty choppy, and this could certainly be felt in the ship. As a result of this I ended up feeling quite travel sick, and this combined with the fact that it was a formal evening (and I did not have the patience to make myself look nice), I wasn't keen on anything in the restaurant menu and they were serving Italian food in the buffet, meant that I really did not want to go down to the restaurant for dinner. However, bearing in mind the fact that I didn't have a lot of time left on the ship I forced myself out of bed and into my formal clothes, put a bit of make up on and ate in the restaurant, While we waited for our pager to go off I ordered a ginger ale, which helped largely with the nausea. I quite enjoyed my meal, even if it was a bit much for me and I struggled to finish it. By the time we'd finished at the restaurant my sea sickness had cleared up, so i felt able to go for a bit of a walk around the ship to soak up the atmosphere as it's pretty nice at night! As per usual, we finished up at the cabin (where else would we go?!) for our penultimate sleep on the ship.
Bergen is nicknamed 'the rainy city,' and on that particular day it really lived up to its name. Grey clouds filled the sky, and the day was punctuated with spells of fairly heavy rain. In my opinion, this did lower the tone of the day, making it somewhat more tiring and unpleasant. We did what we mostly do when we explore a port- wander around aimlessly, with no particular plans of anything we specifically want to see or do (which is not something I like doing, but is something that I have to do.) Actually, we did plan to see a fish market, though we got were unable to find it, and the weather didn't particularly encourage us to persist with trying to find it. However, we did find a restaurant that served fish that was quite impressive, with tanks of live crabs and lobsters and large, dead fish that actually looked quite spectacular on display, ready for costumers to purchase and consume. It also looked pretty nice, and my nostrils weren't assaulted with the smell of dead fish. The rain spells convinced us that it was better to head back to the ship a bit earlier, otherwise we'd just end up huddling in front of shop doorways in an attempt to shelter ourselves from the wind and rain. I have to say, out of the four places I visited, this was the one that I enjoyed the least. The not-so-pleasant weather certainly contributed to this, but I also found that Bergen was less scenic than Andalsnes and Alesund, lacking the beautiful mountains and lakes, and it felt slightly less quaint than Stavanger. I still thought it was pretty, nevertheless.
We intended ordering room service, but decided to check out the buffet anyway. Since we happened to be in the buffet area we decided we might as well get ourselves a little to eat. We returned to our cabins to shower and generally relax with a book and a drink. Somewhere in the mid afternoon I decided that I wanted afternoon tea as I only had two more left, and, having been reminded that it was a special one filled with chocolate treats, I dashed all the way up to deck 16 (well, 'dashed' is a bit inaccurate seeing as I took the lift, there were no stairs midship, which I would have taken if I could have). The selection was lavish, with a ridiculous amount of elaborate, decadent, delicious-looking cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts and desserts, I had to restrain myself in order to prevent myself from taking all the desserts. Since I'd come up alone I sneaked these treats back to enjoy in the comfort of my stateroom. We also decided to order the room service we'd discussed earlier- it's not everyday you have the opportunity to order free room service. However, only a few minutes after we'd ordered, the captain came of the speaker announcing that there were whales visible, so we naturally dashed up to one of the top decks to see them. I love spotting the likes of dolphins, whales and other sea creatures on cruises- they always look so amazing, it really makes my holiday. These were pilot whales, so they looked a little like dolphins as their black fins bobbed up and down amongst the waves. Satisfied that I had finally seen a sea creature in this trip I returned to the cabin. Our pizza arrived shortly after we did, and we devoured it, along with the chocolate treats I'd brought back.
On the journey back to Southampton the water was pretty choppy, and this could certainly be felt in the ship. As a result of this I ended up feeling quite travel sick, and this combined with the fact that it was a formal evening (and I did not have the patience to make myself look nice), I wasn't keen on anything in the restaurant menu and they were serving Italian food in the buffet, meant that I really did not want to go down to the restaurant for dinner. However, bearing in mind the fact that I didn't have a lot of time left on the ship I forced myself out of bed and into my formal clothes, put a bit of make up on and ate in the restaurant, While we waited for our pager to go off I ordered a ginger ale, which helped largely with the nausea. I quite enjoyed my meal, even if it was a bit much for me and I struggled to finish it. By the time we'd finished at the restaurant my sea sickness had cleared up, so i felt able to go for a bit of a walk around the ship to soak up the atmosphere as it's pretty nice at night! As per usual, we finished up at the cabin (where else would we go?!) for our penultimate sleep on the ship.
Travel Diary: Day 5, Andalsnes
Today we docked in Andalsnes, which is a phenomenally beautiful place and definitely my favourite stop on this cruise. As I'd slept late and woken up early the previous three days I'd decided to skip going up to the top deck and eating breakfast in order to be slightly less sleep deprived when we did our tour. I wolfed down a delicious muffin that had been brought for me from the breakfast buffet as I got ready, then we headed down to wait for a tender to take us a shore. For those of you who don't know, a tender is a little boat-like vessel that, in my opinion, somewhat resembles a lifeboat that are used when a ship is unable to dock in the port (you'd usually just walk off the ship when it's in port). They're a bit more of an inconvenience because taking one means waiting for one to arrive, fill up with passengers and transport them either to the port or back to the ship, and who wants to waste time waiting?! I also used to find them quite small, wet and unpleasant as I found they rocked quite a bit, though I'm used to them now and so don't dislike them quite as much. In fact, in this instance I quite enjoyed taking the tender, actually, as it provided me with the perfect opportunity to drink in the view, which was great as the view was stunning.
After exiting the tender we boarded our coach almost immediately, ready to start the tour. The tour consisted of two stops, one at a church and the other at the Troll Wall. A large part of the tour, however, consisted of driving around, which I thoroughly enjoyed as the whole place was incredibly scenic and all the roads we drove down were surrounded by this great natural beauty. The coach journey was truly amazing (even if I did have an incredibly quick power nap in the coach to boost my energy and reduce my tiredness). I have to say, I was awestruck by the views, which I think I was incredibly fortunate to see. Smooth, tranquil lakes sparkled calmly, while tall mountains stood proudly and peacefully as waterfalls and glaciers graced their sides. Bright fluffy white clouds hung low, adding both an air of mystique and serenity. Even the miserable, overcast day couldn't silence their beauty.
The church was our first stop. We were given a talk about the history of the church whilst sitting on the pews inside. We were then given the opportunity to take pictures of the church and use the loos if we needed, before we boarded the coach in order to carry on with the journey. The church's surrounding area was so astonishingly beautiful, with the most breathtaking view- I wish I hadn't wasted time queuing to use the toilet as it resulted in me having less time to marvel at its beauty. We then carried on to the Troll Wall, a tall rock wall that stands gracefully and majestically. We were given about twenty minutes to get off the coach and admire the wall, take pictures and have a look round the area. Once our twenty minutes were up we returned to the coach, which took us back to the tender area so we could go back to the ship. On our way back, we had a photo stop at a beautiful location, which provided us with an excellent opportunity to get some amazing shots of the scenery. This was great as I hadn't had much of a chance to capture the serene lakes with the impressive mountains towering above, with the emerald trees lining them. It was a pretty quick tour in comparison to others that I've been on, but I was completely satisfied and thought that it was amazing value- it really allowed me to get a real sense of the place without dragging on or being overly tiring.
Since our tour started quite early and only lasted for a short period of time we were back on the ship pretty early. We enjoyed a drink in our stateroom until it was time to go up to the lunch buffet. When we'd finished lunch we watched the remainder of 'The Theory of Everything,' (which I actually read through since I'm not that big a movie fan and I was finding my book pretty interesting). Once the movie had ended we went up to the top deck to admire the beautiful landscape while we still could, as the ship was due to sail away fairly soon. Shortly before the sail away we had some drinks in the atrium (I had the strawberry and lime cider again, yum), then we watched the ship leave the port and waved goodbye to the breathtaking scenery. We decided to have a more relaxed dinner tonight as there wasn't anything particularly exciting in the restaurant and they were serving Indian food in the buffet. It was actually pretty great eating at the buffet as the food was delicious and, as many people also came to the buffet this evening, there was a bit of a buzz in the atmosphere. It felt cosier and more relaxed than the restaurant, and we got to see the remainder if the gorgeous scenery as we sailed away, which made for a fantastic dining experience. There was another show being performed in the theatre, this time with a fairytale theme. It was a great show, though I felt that it lacked the 'wow factor' of the previous one and, as a result, was less spectacular.
After exiting the tender we boarded our coach almost immediately, ready to start the tour. The tour consisted of two stops, one at a church and the other at the Troll Wall. A large part of the tour, however, consisted of driving around, which I thoroughly enjoyed as the whole place was incredibly scenic and all the roads we drove down were surrounded by this great natural beauty. The coach journey was truly amazing (even if I did have an incredibly quick power nap in the coach to boost my energy and reduce my tiredness). I have to say, I was awestruck by the views, which I think I was incredibly fortunate to see. Smooth, tranquil lakes sparkled calmly, while tall mountains stood proudly and peacefully as waterfalls and glaciers graced their sides. Bright fluffy white clouds hung low, adding both an air of mystique and serenity. Even the miserable, overcast day couldn't silence their beauty.
The church was our first stop. We were given a talk about the history of the church whilst sitting on the pews inside. We were then given the opportunity to take pictures of the church and use the loos if we needed, before we boarded the coach in order to carry on with the journey. The church's surrounding area was so astonishingly beautiful, with the most breathtaking view- I wish I hadn't wasted time queuing to use the toilet as it resulted in me having less time to marvel at its beauty. We then carried on to the Troll Wall, a tall rock wall that stands gracefully and majestically. We were given about twenty minutes to get off the coach and admire the wall, take pictures and have a look round the area. Once our twenty minutes were up we returned to the coach, which took us back to the tender area so we could go back to the ship. On our way back, we had a photo stop at a beautiful location, which provided us with an excellent opportunity to get some amazing shots of the scenery. This was great as I hadn't had much of a chance to capture the serene lakes with the impressive mountains towering above, with the emerald trees lining them. It was a pretty quick tour in comparison to others that I've been on, but I was completely satisfied and thought that it was amazing value- it really allowed me to get a real sense of the place without dragging on or being overly tiring.
Since our tour started quite early and only lasted for a short period of time we were back on the ship pretty early. We enjoyed a drink in our stateroom until it was time to go up to the lunch buffet. When we'd finished lunch we watched the remainder of 'The Theory of Everything,' (which I actually read through since I'm not that big a movie fan and I was finding my book pretty interesting). Once the movie had ended we went up to the top deck to admire the beautiful landscape while we still could, as the ship was due to sail away fairly soon. Shortly before the sail away we had some drinks in the atrium (I had the strawberry and lime cider again, yum), then we watched the ship leave the port and waved goodbye to the breathtaking scenery. We decided to have a more relaxed dinner tonight as there wasn't anything particularly exciting in the restaurant and they were serving Indian food in the buffet. It was actually pretty great eating at the buffet as the food was delicious and, as many people also came to the buffet this evening, there was a bit of a buzz in the atmosphere. It felt cosier and more relaxed than the restaurant, and we got to see the remainder if the gorgeous scenery as we sailed away, which made for a fantastic dining experience. There was another show being performed in the theatre, this time with a fairytale theme. It was a great show, though I felt that it lacked the 'wow factor' of the previous one and, as a result, was less spectacular.
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