A Day in lovely Oxford

The sun is shining again and the trees have lost that damp, limp and dreary appearance.  After taking on some fuel at College Cruisers ( so much cheaper than on the Thames) we strolled into the city of dreaming spires!  

Our first stop was to be a cup of coffee and as we made our way up George Street we stumbled across the old Fire Station, now a 'cafe from crisis', which looked just right.  However,  our cup of coffee turned into a brilliant 'Fireman's Breakfast'. If you are ever in Oxford and fancy breakfast we would thoroughly recommend it. Excellent service, excellent bacon and sausages and excellent value for money.  Well fed, we ventured on and enjoyed a great few hours wandering the streets of this beautiful city.

Then, much later, we just had to visit The Old Bookbinders Ale House!  Today we found it open and what a find!  The excellent beer was served at just the right temperature and we spent a very pleasant hour or so in the warm and friendly surroundings of this unique little pub.

We made the short journey on to the Thames on Wednesday morning and found a mooring at the busy East Street moorings. We walked up to Osney Lock to buy our licence only to find the lock on self service and the poor boaters in the lock struggling to use the control panel! There was no power so they were having to work the lock manually! We had been warned that many of the Thames locks are not manned now but it will be hard graft if we have to hand wind  them! So much for Jenny thinking she was off duty for a couple of weeks!

We had planned to meet good friends, Jan and Tony for lunch at the Punters, a great little pub just opposite Hunters Moon.  Great to catch up, have yet more good beer and an enjoy an excellent lunch in good company.  The day was bright so we had a little walk after for Tony to show us where the fish market and meat market were. Two places that we will most definitely visit on our journey back to Fenny in October.

Into Oxford

We have had a beautiful couple of days at Thrupp with warm sunshine and clear blues skies.  Needless to day we knew it would not last. Heavy rain overnight bought a rather grey, damp morning as we left for Oxford.  Just before we left we met India on Suzy Q, who we had got to know at Springwood Haven whilst painting Hunters Moon earlier in the season. It was good to catch up with her and hear her news.

Jenny had whiled away a very pleasant afternoon on Sunday by making a turkshead knot to adorn the tiller. As a first attempt she did pretty well.  What do you think? There is still another to make for the top of the tiller. The mark II version! 

The approach to Oxford is a rather sad affair along the Oxford Canal. The canal side, for much of the way is littered with boat after boat that look in a sorry state and rather neglected and the towpath has an array of tatty garden furniture,  bags of coal, piles of logs and sadly, boaters cast offs and rubbish and sheets of tarpaulin flapping on top of boats, by the side of boats, partially covering odds and sods along the towpath. This all gives the effect of a shanty town.  The visitors mooring towards the end if the canal are ok but further out they are overgrown and it would be nigh on impossible to moor or get of the boat. It is all very disappointing as the lead in to such a splendid city.

We found the last mooring opposite the College Canal Cruisers hire boat base and we're looking forward to having a drink in the Bookbinders pub in Jericho  but it is not open on a Monday! We will just have to stay until Tuesday to sample their ales on our good friends, Sara and Pete ' s recommendation! 

Blue Skies

As forecast Thursday turned wet so as predicted we did do some retail therapy and we are ashamed to say that we got a few Christmas pressies! Oh! I hear you cry not in September!

We woke on Friday to a bitterly cold morning but the sun was soon shining and we left our mooring under clear blue skies. 

Passing Tooley's Boatyard under blue skies 

 The water was very quiet and the countryside looked beautiful with little autumn hints appearing in the hedgerows. Steady progress southward was made with the help of a single handed boater who suggested we share Aynho Lock, a diamond shaped lock and something we had never done before. 

Later we were able to help out again when we came across the same chap having problems keeping one of the many lifting bridges along this stretch lifted! Every time he got the bridge open it started to close before he could get back to his boat.  Jenny stepped up to the mark and used her 'derriere ' to sit on the beam whilst he and then Sid passed through!

Our warm day's cruising finished at a delightful mooring at Heyford  Common where watched the sun go done, far too early these days.

Back to normal cruising

After our wonderful Baltic Cruise we are certainly back down to earth now.
We felt we had rather neglected our beautifully painted and sign written narrowboat having not set foot on her for far too many weeks but we soon  familiarised ourselves and loaded her up with provisions and our little floating home was shipshape and ready to head south on the Oxford Canal then onto the Thames for a couple of weeks.

The sun was shining as Sid steered Hunters Moon out of Fenny Marina for our autumn cruise. Sadly, it wasn't long before the clouds thickened and the wind began to build.

We made good progress through Claydon Locks die to a steady stream of boats heading north.. However, these poor folk travelling north had not been so lucky. One of the pounds had been drained overnight and this had caused a long queue at the bottom lock. By the time we arrived at the top lock normal service had been resumed and water had been restored o the flight.

We had a short lunch stop in Cropredy and made the decision to press on to Banbury. It was a good one because the sun appeared again and we had a good afternoon on the cut and arrived in lovely, warm sunshine.

If the forecast rain arrives tomorrow we will enjoy a day in Banbury. Maybe some retail therapy!

Our Normal Cruising

Just to mention we will be resuming normal cruising mode very shortly when we return to Hunters Moon and make our way down the South Oxford Canal and onto the Thames for a couple of weeks. Back to self catering and more blogging!

Back to Blighty

We had a lovely journey through the Kiel Canal in bright sunshine but with a stiff breeze blowing. Most of the time we spent outside waving to friendly Germans along the way.

We entered the Brunsbuttel Lock at about 4.30pm and didn't move!  We were still in  the lock at 6.00pm when the Captain announced, over the tannoy, that the delay was caused by the German Lockmaster accusing the Captain of damaging one of the wooden fenders on the lockside. A dispute had arisen and the captain decided he was not going to budge until it was sorted. For those of you who do not know what fenders are for, they are used to act as a cushion between the boat and the quayside and they inevitably to suffer bumps and knocks so it did seem a bit odd.  The Police had been called and we suspect there was a lot of legal discussion going on.  Eventually the captain and the lockmaster agreed to disagree and we went on our way.  However, we got the feeling that that was not the end of the matter!

As we left the lock the wind was building as night was falling and during the evening it was with much difficulty that we waltzed and quickstepped around the floor.  We were in for a bouncy night.
Unfortunately, Jenny had looked at the forecast earlier that day only to see that violent storm force 11 was forecast for our area with very rough seas!

The next day we found out it was Storm Aileen that we had sailed into and in the early hours of Wednesday morning we were in the eye of it.  The ship had been prepared and we were advised to be very careful around the ship.  We don't know whether people were being careful because we decided not to set foot outside our cabin, both of us felt a little queezy with the corkscrew motion of the ship and neither of us felt like breakfast or lunch.  The storm started to move through early in the afternoon, we ordered a ham sandwich from room service and by later in the afternoon, although the sea was still causing us to rock and roll everything was much calmer.  We had survived.  The Saga Sapphire being a 35 year old lady looked after us well.  We are not sure if we would have faired as well in one of the huge modern cruise liners that just look like a block of flats!

We woke early on Thursday morning, our cabin being just above where the pilots came on board!  it was still very dark but we tried to make out the lights shimmering a short distance away.  They didn't look right for lights on the Isle of Wight and we wondered where we were.  It eventually became clear that they were the lights of a great number of tankers at anchor off the eastern end of the island.  Both excited and wanting to see our approach to the Solent and Southampton Waters we dressed quickly and made our way up to the drawing room from which we know we would get a good view despite it being dark. We decided it was a bit chilly and still quite breezy to be out on the open deck.  We were the only silly people up and about but we were rewarded with the sight of the Queen Mary 2 making her way down the Solent in front of us also heading back to Southampton as dawn was breaking.  It was quite magical as we neared our destination at the end of a wonderful cruise.

We feel so lucky to have had this experience of a lifetime.  We have been pampered and well cared for for 16 days.  We have eaten some incredible food and been served by the nicest, friendliest and happiest Filipino crew you could ever imagine. We have met some fascinating people, made great friends and will look back with fondness at our first cruise.

St Petersburg and other ports of call

St Petersburg, the highlight of our cruise lived up to expectations.  It was quite intimidating going through immigration where we encountered some very stern looking officials.  Jenny tried to ingratiate herself to the Russians by trying out her limited Russian language with a 'dobre utra' and 'spasiba' (good morning and thank you) learnt from our trip to Lithuania earlier in the year. This did raise an eye but not much more!

First impressions of St Petersburg were of traffic jams, and lots of people!

Unfortunately, we had arrived in this magnificent city along with six other huge cruise liners, which made all the sightseeing venues very, very crowded.  However, We were lucky enough to have a brilliant guide and coach driver and between them we manoeuvred through the traffic and through the crowds and we had a marvellous day viewing many of the must see sights.  We were also entertained with Russian music during a great and much needed lunch, which of course involved vodka and champagne.

The next day included a visit to the newly opened Faberge Museum.  This was much quieter than the Hermitage the previous day and the exhibits were jaw droppingly beautiful.  During our trip there we were shown yet more of the sights around the city. There is just too much to take in over just two days.  Another visit one day???!!!

Our next port of call was Tallin, Estonia.  After the hurly burly of St Petersburg it was refreshing to enter this charming capital.  The cobbled streets and squares were beautiful with some wonderful architecture.  We had no planned tours so it was also lovely to have the freedom of doing our own thing, especially after being shepherded everywhere in Russia.  The whole atmosphere in Tallin was very relaxed and we wandered through the historic lanes at our leisure.  One of our aims was to find the chocolate museum, which we did but the actual factory has now moved to premises away from Tallin centre but the building houses a wonderful café and there is an opportunity to watch marzipan being moulded and then painted into wonderful characters.  We weren't too keen on the marzipan eyeball lollies but are sure children love then.  There was a vast array of chocolate on sale but we opted to have a coffee and some chocolate cake.

We browsed the city walls and Fat Margaret Tower and found a great piece of high ground from which we got a good view over the orange rooftops of delightful and picturesque city.

From Tallin we sailed to the island of Sareemaa.  This Estonian island is the holiday destination for many Estonians.  However, with the holiday season now finished (the season stops abruptly on 1st September) much of the island seemed rather deserted and shut up.  The folk on Sareemaa are trying desperately to encourage the smaller cruise ships to visit this rather flat, heavily wooded island, which has a host of wildlife.  The roads are very good and we encountered very little traffic on our tour to the capital Kuressaame.  This is a sleepy little town with a beautiful church, a fort, a small marina, several spa hotels and a weekly market, mostly manned by rather aged ladies with very few teeth but big smiles.

After our visit to the town we were taken to an open air farm museum where there were many old thatched farmhouses kept much as they would have been centuries ago and the farm equipment and machinery have been kept in good order and displayed in the original houses.  The windmill on the site has been fully restored.  Here we were entertained with some folk dancing and we both got asked to join in on one of the dances along with many other unsuspecting visitors.  It was great fun.  We were rewarded after with some locally brewed beer ( it was very cloudy with a huge foaming head but tasted great) and black bread and locally made butter.

Riga, the capital of Latvia was our next stop.  Here we were moored right next to the town.  Riga, although bigger than Tallin was another interesting city and once again we decided to do our own thing.  On our arrival in the centre it was very quiet!  Latvians much like us do not get going early on a Saturday morning but by about 11.00am a friendly bustle had developed as families and youngsters started to appear in the city.  As with most of our visits we try to find the not so touristy places to investigate and to try and get a taste of the local way of life rather than the artificial tourist traps.  we were rewarded in Riga by finding a little café frequented by locals where we had two coffees and a large apple pancake (which we shared) for a total of €2.70.  

We enjoyed a lovely walk along the canal, through the beautifully kept gardens that boarder it and came across an interesting, giant, floating moon, touring exhibit suspended over the canal.  It was quite stunning.  We also encountered a baptism (or whatever it is called in the Russian Orthodox religion) taking place in the magnificent The Nativity Church. We also encountered a couple of weddings, it being a Saturday, where the tradition appears to be for all the guests, men and women to carry or just take for the bride and groom, a huge bouquet of flowers.  A lovely sight!

The town was also preparing for a marathon with lots of roads closed but by the time we departed from the dock at 19.00 there was no sign of the start of the race just lots of people arriving so we can only assume it was a late evening marathon!!

And so to our last port of call, Wismar in Germany.  Yet another delightful port where there are still a few hints of life before unification.  A few buildings around the port still have the imposing pre 1991 look while some have been turned into waterside flats and the harbour area is gradually being westernised with eating places and smart shops, as happens on other waterfronts throughout the world. The town centre still bears a few of the marks of the WWII  but mainly intentionally.  Most of the town and its architecture has been given a face lift following unification with just a few glimpses at the sad state buildings were in prior to 1991.

We had a great guide on this tour and after being taken on a brief tour of the city we were taken to a sparkling wine cellar.  We were treated to a tour of the cellar and an insight into the production of the wine after sampling four different types of the wine - very dry, a little less dry, a little less dry still and a half dry!!  They were all gorgeous and we couldn't resist buying a bottle!

Once again a little canal runs through this town so we gravitated to it once we had bid farewell to our guide. However, it is not much more than a stream now and very shallow so not suitable for navigation but we found some unusual adornments on some of the bridges.

Loving Cruising

As we now head towards the highlight of our Cruise, St Petersburg, we are enjoying some much needed sunshine mixed with force 8 winds and a huge swell which has caused the ship to divert from our stop in Helsinki To head straight for St Petersburg.

Having called at Gdynia, Poland and coming across a Polish Navy Officer's Passing Out Parade, which appeared to be a much more relaxed affair than in the UK. A few police were in evidence and some if the waterfront was temporarily cordoned off but apart from that the general public were lingering around and listening to the speeches and lining the area of promenade used as the parade ground. The marching and general turnout was not a patch on the passing out parade we experienced at Dartmouth just over 2 years ago.

From Gdynia we headed north to Stockholm and having been advised that the approach to Stockholm was something not to be missed we woke at 05.30 to enjoy this amazing scenery. There are 24,000 islands in this archipelago, some just a few rocks poking through the water, others with small houses on and of course a jetty for a boat, some uninhabited and some, as in Stockholm itself, supporting major residential and business communities on massive islands.

Despite the brisk, cold wind and the early hour we were rewarded with the most spectacular scenery and a wonderful memory.

Stockholm was cold, much colder than anyone was expecting, made worse by the strong and building wind!

We enjoyed a sightseeing trip by water, which was a great way of getting a taste if the city and it's wider environs.

We set sail from Stockholm in ever increasing winds. The ship is amazingly stable but we had a bit of a roll on and a noisy night. Hence, Jenny did not have the best if night's sleep.

The Captain, Stuart Horne, had to then make the difficult decision in the morning to bypass our stop in Helsinki for safety reasons. Disappointing, but understandable in the deteriorating and unexpected conditions.

However, the 'Team put together a hasty programme of events to keep passengers entertained.  Also, the skies brightened and Jenny enjoyed an hour on the sundeck soaking up some rays before enjoying a swim (indoors as the outdoor pool had been drained!). It is a strange experience swimming in pool with a 'wave machine' effect with the rolling motion of the ship. Most days she has also done the mile (6 laps) of the upper deck but not today as this area has been cordoned off, once again for safety reasons.

Two days in St Petersburg lie ahead of us. Can't wait!