Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Have a good trip Sue, one thing about river cruises is that you don't have the worry of storms and rough seas!



I spent an hour and a half on tweaking the engine. I've not tarted it up, just cut all the studs to length, fitted the lock nuts and adjusted all the bearings...... I think he might like it.......

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed shortly and will do one small job on the engine for my mate and then get back to the undercarriage for my carronade. We are promised a sunny but cold day, a rerun of yesterday but by sheltering under the wall and wearing my wonder coat I managed a very acceptable bookie watch. I shall look to do the same today.

[Sue]

Morning

Up at 5, taxi at 6 now we are sat having a coffee at the airport waiting for bag check in. We are promised no long queues. We shall see. Flight to Lisbon just before 11, then stay there till Tuesday. The weather forecast is still poor until Friday. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I hope check in goes well Sue. No queues in the shed.....



Today I was mainly working on the attachment of the trunnion bar to the barrel of the carronade. Here we are at knocking off time with all my ducks in a row for tomorrow. See shed matters for the details....

[Stanley]

Not as sunny as yesterday but I had a walk and a pleasant sit under the shelter of the wall opposite the bookies. If you are in the wind it's bitter....

[Stanley]

I shall finish fixing the trunnion bar to the carronade this morning. I touched up the black paintwork on John's engine with Humbrol gloss paint and it looks so good I shall do mine as well.
I shall be aiming for a walk and bookie watch even though today is going to be colder. This NE wind has a lot to answer for!

[Stanley]

Hopefully Sue and Bob are in Lisbon enjoying better weather than we are having with only 11C expected today before the wind chill.



The carronade has its trunnions fitted and the elevating screw. Ready for axles and wheels now.....

[Sue]

Morning

Its14 degrees, 18 expected and no rain today. Breakfasted and just about to go on an organised sight seeing trip. All went well yesterday. The plane was an hour late due to problems at Lisbon. Queues in Manchester were less than we have normally had. It was all well organised.

Have a good day all

[Big Kev]

Its14 degrees, 18 expected and no rain today.

That's not so bad

[Stanley]

Almost tropical when compared to our 9C when wind chill is taken into account!
I shall be in the shed chasing my carronade. The word from Oz is that great grandson Al;ex has got his carronade and is delighted with it. Margaret says he has been researching carronades on the web and she heard him yesterday showing it to his friends and giving them a lecture on naval gunnery....
(She also said that the first thing he asked was whether they could fire it. Margaret had to explain that we had to de-activate it to avoid possible trouble at customs.)
Bookie watch might be on but I shall take a view later, depends how sunny it is!

[Sue]

Morning

Yes it was a good day yesterday, a pleasant 18-20 degrees and a light breeze. This morning the forecast rain has arrived but temperatures appear to be OK. We will be in a coach most of the day doing a sight seeing trip as we travel to Porto to pick up the ship. Lunch is included so I should imagine there will be a 2 hour stop at lunch time. We had to be up early as our cases are to be picked up from our rooms any time now. We had had breakfast and have time to kill before an 8.30 departure .

Yesterday morning we had a coach tour of Lisbon visiting some major sites. In the afternoon we did the optional walk through an old district savouring the food and drink of the region in small bistros. It was very well organised and an interesting trip. It was particularly interesting yesterday as it was a public holiday celebrating the peaceful coup of 1974, on 25 th April when fascism was overturned and Portugal became a true democracy. It is called the carnation revolution , and many people were carrying bunches of red carnations . Many roads were shut throughout the day as there were parades, services and other events. In the evening we needed something but not much to eat so wandered down to the major square of the event and had a glass of wine and shared a small pizza . Most party goers had gone but there were a few groups of what we took to be students drinking beer and singing, in not very good voice, the national anthem and the song that was played on the radio to signal the start of the revolution. As you can tell we had a very good informative guide.


Cases have been collected, have a good day all


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution

[Stanley]

It all sounds interesting Sue, particularly sampling local foods!

I've had my two hours in the shed making wheels out of difficult scrap, see shed matters.

Here I am at knocking off time, the stock has been drilled for the axles and I am ready to part four wheels off.

[Stanley]

I never went for my walk and sit on the bench yesterday, it was too gloomy and cold!
I shall have two hours in the shed chasing my carronade and then consider a walk later. The weather is improving slowly I think but we'll see how inviting it looks later in the morning!

[Sue]

Morning

It was a busy day yesterday. We set off in the coach at 8.30 . It was cool and pouring with rain. Although rain turned to showers it remained cool and the views from the coach were mainly of dark clouds and thick mist. At 11.00 we stopped at the old capital of Portugal, called Coimbra, pronounced Qumbra. By this time it was more or less dry with a very occasional light shower, sun and thick cloud all mixed. We had about 40 minutes to look round the ancient town before we went up to the University, the oldest in Portugal. It was formed in the 1100 s and from the 1500 s has been based in the palace there. We visited the old palace chapel and the old library. It would be easier to find a link than to describe it to you. Photographs were not allowed in the latter. We were introduced to endless traditions

From there we went to a local restaurant where we had a lovely three course traditional lunch. In our case a tomato and mozeralla salad followed by a sort of fish pie. Between courses we were entertained by traditional Portuguese guitar music and songs. Very good indeed. There was lot of wine flowing. Back to the coach, we arrived at the boat about an hour later. The next few hours passed in a blur of meetings, unpacking, welcome drinks of port and tonic, later welcome drinks of sparkling wine, followed by the evening meal. We opted for the Portugese specialities. Again wine flowed freely . We finished with coffees and opted to retreat to our cabin to read. Whilst eating we cruised down to the sea and back, remaining here for the rest of the night. The engines have just started ready to move from the berth at 7.15 am .

Each morning for 5 days, this being day 3 we have to provide a saliva sample for covid testing . There is a lot of, indeed almost permanent mask wearing as wearing masks in transport is compulsory . We have to provide the sample before eating or drinking anything. Masks are provided if we want them and sanitising stands are everywhere. Its a small boat, only one restaurant and specific times for meals more like a hotel than the cruises we have been on before. Our cabin is roomy for a cruise ship. We have our own balcony, in fact everyone has which is very nice .

I think the boat is moving. 16 degrees and showers forecast. Have a good day all

[Sue]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coimbra

[Stanley]

It sounds good and the video reinforces it. You're obviously enjoying yourselves and that's good. It sounds very civilised and I like the constant references to eating and drinking the local food and wine. (Why would anyone want English food when you're in Portugal!?)
I have done my two hours in the shed and slowly overcame the hard steel I had pulled out of the scrap box. Here's where I was at closing time, getting very close to a finished Carronade!

[Sue]

Yes Stanley, we are of the opinion that if we cook it at home we won’t be choosing that option . I have never fancied fish stew but had it last night and it was delicious. Just been on deck as we went through the first lock

[Gloria]

Loving these updates Sue, enjoying them very much. I was glad to hear the queues at Manchester airport seem to have died down.

[Big Kev]

The food and wine sound good, not sure I'd manage the coach journeys though. I'm not coach size
How many people are there on the boat?
Is there entertainment onboard?

[Stanley]

I've had my walk and bookie watch. I also got some sprouts and am cooking them. Must feed my addiction!
PS. Though light that wind is cold!

[Sue]

The food and wine sound good, not sure I'd manage the coach journeys though. I'm not coach size
How many people are there on the boat?
Is there entertainment onboard?

I think about 100, the boat is not full. Its not a big boat. The trips all need the coach to get up the mountains to the vineyards, it was a bit nerve wracking today going up to Sandemans and Mateus vineyards.

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Update in the morning, I am a little full of food and wine at the moment

We are in three coaches for trips, there are 25 on our coach so loads of room

[Sue]

Entertainment of a sort, not much really. We retire to our cabin at 9.00, after eating, so have not really participated. Its a pretty full day

[Gloria]

We’ve done two river cruises, and it was entertainment of sort, we’ve been with emerald and Viking, who are you with?

[Stanley]

I shall be cruising into the shed around 6AM for a couple of hours. No wine in there, must keep a clear head. Looks like a colder day than yesterday...... I shall take a view on walking later.

[Sue]

We’ve done two river cruises, and it was entertainment of sort, we’ve been with emerald and Viking, who are you with?

Morning

We are with Viking, Gloria. We are impressed with the cruise but the initial organisation and info was a bit confused, and we thought rather late in getting to us.

Yesterday we decided to do an early breakfast so we could watch the ship go through the first lock. The sun broke through about 9.00, so we sat on our balcony watching the world and water go by for a bit. About 10.00 we went on deck to enjoy the sun and experience going through the deepest lock in Europe, followed after by an extremely low bridge . So low that we had to duck on our seats as we went underneath.

Over lunch the clouds started to gather over the mountains and it then it began to rain , really quite heavily, so our drive out into the hills in the afternoon was initially wet. By our first stop at the village and palace of Mateus the rain was no longer with us but we could see heavy showers over the hills. The palace had wonderful gardens where apparently all the maintenance, including cutting hundreds of yards of formal box hedging in magnificent shapes and patterns is done by hand. It was really the wrong time of year to appreciate the gardens as it was mainly roses and later flowering plants. I found the palace itself, interesting but not spectacular.

From there we drove into the hills and visited Sandemans vineyard where both port and mateus rose is produced. We had a guided tour and free tasting, before another hair raising drive back down the hills to meet the ship which had carried on up the river to meet us.
The views around us are full of vineyard covered mountains.

We rounded up the day with another fabulous meal, once again choosing the Portuguese option. We now share a table with an English couple and an elderly American couple. Sadly Mary, the american lady has not been feeling well for a few days. I doubt it is covid as we have all been testing daily and as our guide says, no news is good news. If she is no better today the doctor will visit.

I am not yet sure of todays itinerary but we do reach Salamanca in Spain . The sun is out, the temperatures are still managing to reach 18 , despite the forecast.

Have a good day