Monday 1^st September

We are at sea all day as we steam from Helsinki to Copenhagen, weather is pretty good with light winds and some sunshine. It was a good day for John’s second lecture which was on the making of the Beatles Story. Better attendance, around 200 we reckoned, with a lot of interest and they seemed to love the Bits & Pieces competition at the end. All the lectures benefit from doing them in front of a love audience and we are constantly modifying and improving them in the light of experience as we go along. Nothing else of any great interest to post so we will try to get ashore in Denmark tomorrow to post the pictures from Sunday in Helsinki.

The journey is passing all too rapidly and after Denmark we have Zeebrugge to look forward to on Thursday then it’s back to Southampton and home on Friday.

Pictures were taken in Copenhagen.

Today Wednesday September 3 we are at sea again and it was John’s turn to do his last lecture on Censorship of Music over the years. Whether it’s because the word had spread we don’t know but this was by far the best one so far, well attended, lots of people wanting to play “Bits & Pieces” and a very good audience reaction to all the content which they really loved. We also sold a few books after the show which was a good spinoff. Weather a little different as we move back into the North Sea with force 6 to 7 winds making it a little choppy. We don’t care as we are getting a little demob happy now, it’s been great fun and we’ve enjoyed it but two weeks is enough and we look forward to sleeping in our own beds on Friday.

A day in Zeebruge was enough, we both had a free day as there were no escortign duties for either of us so we went to a nearby seaside town and enjoyed a very large serving of mussels and chips. Photo shows this.

What else would you have in Belgium?

Then it was back to the ship for a farewell show and a rough crossing of the channel for home

September 5

We docked at 0530 at Southampton and drove home in continuous pouring rain all the way with a temperature of 14 degrees C, both very tired but pleased with the trip. We learned a lot and enjoyed all those new places. Who know when we will be off again.

WATCH THIS SPACE

Post from Cpenhagen, Tuesday

Dressed for the Country evening

Typical Phone box in Helsinki

Helsinki sea front

Helsinki, 31st August
Before we left on Saturday evening there was a themed “Country” night on board, as you can see the two of us entered into the spirit of it as did most of the passengers and the on board cabaret show was excellent. We have noted how very professional all the shows on board have been and we’ve really enjoyed them.
When we woke this morning we were in Finland and had gained an hour overnight so were less tired. For once the weather was sunny but cold, only 15 degrees at the highest and a strong east wind which made the eyes water.
Sue had a party of folks to take on the city tour and John took his bunch on a boat tour of the islands off the port. In our view Helsinki is a bit like the Finns themselves rather dull. When you seen one rock covered island with a sauna you’ve seen them all and the town was not very exciting and expensive though Sue found a bargain in the way of a fur “comforter” which looks cute. We’ll leave you to judge from the pictures.
Monday 1st September
We are at sea all day as we steam from Helsinki to Copenhagen, weather is pretty good with light winds and some sunshine. It was a good day for John’s second lecture which was on the making of the Beatles Story. Better attendance, around 200 we reckoned, with a lot of interest and they seemed to love the Bits & Pieces competition at the end. All the lectures benefit from doing them in front of a love audience and we are constantly modifying and improving them in the light of experience as we go along.

The journey is passing all too rapidly and after Denmark we have Zebrugge to look forward to on Thursday then it’s back to Southampton and home on Friday. Tuesday we have arrived in Copenhagen where I am postign this, another post on Thursday if I can find a conection in Zebrugge.