Day 2…Norway Cruise…Bad WiFi…Sorry for late post…

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Note: Due to the poor WiFi signal aboard the ship, I am unable to add a single photo today. Once we arrive in Nevada in early September. we’ll be able to post our photos from  Edinburgh and this cruise. Of course, we’ll continue to try to add photos each day! We are sorry for the inconvenience. Perhaps, when this cruise ends, we’ll be able to start posting photos while on the upcoming Celebrity cruise in 16 days. We’ll continue to take photos and write text each day, if possible.

We felt bad we couldn’t post when we boarded the ship yesterday afternoon, although we’d signed up for the $319 unlimited internet package for one device. We usually can get a package for two devices, but on this particular cruise line, they didn’t have more reasonably priced packages for two, and we didn’t want to spend another $319 for a second device.

Besides, the signal is so weak that spending more on another device makes no sense. As a result, we’re switching back and forth between our laptops and phones as needed. This morning was the first time I got a sufficient signal to get online on my laptop when I couldn’t get into the editing site for our blog on my phone.

As a result of these difficulties, I may not be able to post when we arrive at some ports of call when the signal is always at its worst. If you don’t see a post, please do not be alarmed. It simply means we aren’t able to post. Please know we will post as soon as we are able.

Once, we left the Bay Hotel in Burntisland with our excellent driver Mo, accompanied by his lovely wife, Shaziia Hassen, our tour guide. At the same time, MO manuevered many narrow and winding roads in the center of Edinburgh; we felt excited to finally see some of the highlights of the stunning city of Edinburgh, rich in history and culture.

Mo proved to be a fantastic driver, thoughtful of our wishes as to what we wanted to see, and, along with Shazia, made our few-hour experience a pure delight. If and when you ever come to Edinburgh, we highly recommend him. He can be reached at mahmood_hassan@sky.com, phone: 00447931772188.

Mo stated he’d be happy to arrange regular transportation and, if desired, tours of the fantastic city of Edinburgh and its surrounding areas. He explained how he has embarked on a few day-long trips with tourists who wanted to travel far from Edinburgh.

The conversation flowed easily with Mo and Shazia, and by the time we were at the pier, they invited us to stay with them at their home in Edinburgh the next time we came to Scotland. Also, they have a home in Pakistan, and they offered this to us as well. What wonderful people. Who knew we’d connect so well with our Uber driver and his lovely wife?

Our dear friend Don in Hawaii, whom we met along with his beloved wife and my precious friend Kathy in Marloth Park in 2013, has been ill for some time. Don had mentioned he attended Fettes College in his youth, located in the heart of Edinburgh, and we thought it would be fun to drive by there and send photos to him.

Unfortunately, the college was closed, and we weren’t able to enter the gates, but we took a few exterior photos and sent them to him and Kathy yesterday afternoon when we had a signal for a few minutes. Also, they suggested we visit Edinburgh Castle, but we never ventured into the castle. We had a schedule to follow to get to the port of Leith on time to board the ship at our designated time.

Also, the venues in Edinburgh were packed with tourists since there were two festivals upcoming in the next few days, and Edinburgh was more packed than ever with worldwide tourists and visitors from throughout the UK. The quaint and narrow streets were filled with people shopping, browsing, eating, and drinking at endless shops, restaurants, and pubs. What a delight to behold!

We could see a lot more from the car than we would have had been on foot. Also, with my difficulty walking long distances, this was a perfect solution for us with limited time to get to the pier. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Once we arrived at the port of Leith, we exchanged warm hugs and goodbyes with Mo and Shazia. Moments later, our bags were whisked away, and we could check-in for the cruise in minutes. We were handed two glasses of sparking wine, which we never drank when it was too sweet for me, and Tom doesn’t like anyway.

In a matter of less than an hour, our bags were at our cabin. We had a few drinks by the pool and ran into the lovely couple we met at the hotel, Cheryl and John, and ultimately had an enjoyable dinner with them last night in the main dining room.

Finally, by about 10:00 pm, we returned to our cabin. We’d unpacked earlier in the day and were thrilled to be all set and organized. The cabin is small, with the tiniest bathroom and shower we’ve ever seen, but we are okay. I will take photos of the ship and share them here in the next few days. Today and tomorrow, we’ll focus on posting the photos from our time in Edinburgh.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, August 2, 2013:

Concerned about maintaining good dental health, we have always used these Brushpicks, which have been instrumental in reducing tooth decay and gum disease. They can be purchased at some pharmacies and also on Amazon. For more, please click here.

Day 2 in Scotland…Sightseeing and sail away tomorrow…

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Tom’s Sunday Roast of roast pork loin, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes, carrots, and au jus. He said it was delicious.

We haven’t gone sightseeing since we arrived in Scotland less than 48 hours ago. We got caught up on sleep, including a few naps, and feel great. Tomorrow our trusty Uber driver Mo will pick us up in the morning, and we will go sightseeing in Edinburgh until our scheduled time to board the ship at 1:30 pm at the port of Leith.

I had asked for the dressing on the side, so they took my plate away and returned with the plain prawns with the sauce on the side.

Since our hotel is over an hour from Edinburgh, it made sense to go sightseeing this way. Plus, the round trip cost to the hotel using an Uber is over US $260 with tips. This way, if we go sightseeing before boarding the ship, we save hundreds of dollars and hours of driving time.

Sure, we could have booked a hotel in Edinburgh, but we hadn’t budgeted over $1500 for the waiting time before the cruise, which was very expensive. Living this life on a budget has limitations, and we must make practical decisions along the way.

I gave Tom my chips, but he didn’t have room for them after eating Sunday Roast.

Always booking our preferred balcony cabins with perks on both cruises (as always) was more important to us. Besides, after almost 11 years of world travel, we have seen more historic castles and buildings than we ever imagined possible, especially in The UK and Europe.

But tomorrow, we’ll see the highlight with Mo driving us through Edinburgh. We will post those photos on the first few days of the cruise and then start posting cruise photos from there on.

Horizons restaurant in the Bay Hotel.

At the end of the first cruise, 16 days later, we will fly from Amsterdam to Reykjavik, Iceland, to embark on the next two weeks’ cruise with one overnight stay required. We’d already done an extensive tour in Reykjavik several years ago, thus we won’t be sightseeing there. A month from now, we’ll be disembarking in Boston, where we will stay one night to see my cousin, Phyllis.

Then we fly to Nevada for nine nights and then to Minnesota for one month before leaving for Ecuador. It’s just the right amount of being busy for us, especially having fun times with family members and friends in both locations.

An antique double-decker bus in Burntisland.

I have managed to keep my computer running on its battery reserve by not using it much to prepare the post, instead doing most of it on my phone. If I observe it carefully, I can get through today.

But tomorrow, I won’t post until after we get on the ship, and I can charge it for a while. It only takes about an hour to fully charge it. That will give us plenty of time to get unpacked and settled.

The side of the double-decker bus.

So, hang tight, dear readers. We will have plenty of photos coming up in the next few days and after that.

Today is rainy and overcast, which is not unusual for Scotland. We’re actually glad we don’t have plans today. But tomorrow, rain or shine, we’ll be on the move. It’s exciting, and also we are enjoying our time at this lovely hotel and simply being together.

Sign on the side of the historic double-decker bus.

Still…no headache, no face pain. Thrilled beyond belief!!!

Be well!

Photo from ten years ago today, July 31, 2013:

The opposite side of the archway in a historic building in Lucca, Tuscany, above as we entered the Piazza Napoleone square that housed government offices in these unique structures. For more photos, please click here.

Second Covid test is positive…No cruise for us…Now what?…

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Tom placed four bananas in the window to ripen. This reminded us of the ten months we spent in lockdown in Mumbai, India in 2020 when Tom was served four bananas a day, often unripened like these. Yikes!

After a fitful night of coughing, I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed, shower, dress, and begin the process of taking one more online Covid-19 test, which requires contacting a live person through the Navica app and eMed, monitoring the test with me.

I knew it would be positive the second time we did the self-test in the past 24 hours. I still have many Covid-19 symptoms, whether Omicron or another variant. My throat is red and raw, my voice gravely and unrecognizable, and the cough…Well, the cough…It’s brutal.

It’s only been four days since I first tested positive on the ship. The tiredness is still prevalent, but the achy painfulness has waned, the headache and the feverish sensation that lasted for days. What did we expect?

Even if I tested negative today, I wondered how I could possibly get on the Queen Mary 2, manage to walk the long corridors, dress for dinner, and participate in events and fancy dinners. I could barely keep my head up to eat a few bites for breakfast this morning. It has hit me hard.

No, I don’t need to go to a doctor or hospital. I had a worse virus in South Africa in 2021 when I had trouble breathing and yet had a negative Covid test. The electric nebulizer and medication are helping tremendously, and today, for the first time since this began almost a week ago, I feel like the dry cough is loosening up a bit.

This also reminds us of those ten months in India with not much view from the hotel room window.

When I can get a negative test, we can fly to the US, which is up for grabs. Since we had to cancel today’s cruise on the Queen Mary 2, we’ll now have to fly to Minnesota from Southampton once I can manage a negative test. Tom is well on the mend. We didn’t use another test on him since his symptoms were almost gone. If one of us tested positive we couldn’t go on the cruise anyway. Why use up another test kit?

We will not wait for the next sailing on May 8th. If I test negative within a week, we’ll arrive in Minneapolis by May 1 as planned, head to Nevada on May 15, and then fly from Nevada to South Africa on May 22. We’d lose all the bookings we made in the US during May since we’d have to move fights, hotels, etc. Most likely, we’ll lose the airfare from New York to Minneapolis anyway. We didn’t want to compound the situation.

At this point, until I test negative, we can’t plan anything. We extended this hotel room for four more nights when I will test again. If it’s still positive at that point, we’ll extend it again. There’s nothing else we can do. It’s out of our control. In the interim, I’m resting, eating healthy foods, and treating the symptoms to the best of my ability.

They say Omicron is like a bad cold, at worst. It is not like any cold I’ve ever had. It’s sneaky. It’s insidious. And for some, it’s relentless. I only hope it is over soon.

This morning, when we couldn’t reach a live person at Cunard Cruise Line to report we won’t be going on the cruise, Tom decided to walk to the port to report it to a representative. We were concerned about them not perceiving us as a “no show,” negating our opportunity for a future cruise credit which they promise for positive Covid results.

Tom just now returned after a frustrating time at the port but managed to show my test results and our cruise documents to a representative who hopefully will document our reasons for not boarding.

We will keep you updated as we work our way through yet another challenging time in our world travels. Nope, we’re not considering giving up! (In case you were wondering).

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, April 24, 2021:

Everybody was busy munching on Big Daddy’s fallen tree. For more photos, please click here.