Stage Two, getting me to Lisbon and the ship........... Oooooooer

Well, I'm posting this just before I leave for Lisbon.  If it doesn't get updated, then I didn't make it!  (Boy! That sounds a bit dramatic doesn't it?)

As it happens, I've got it all in hand:  Train tickets...... Check.  Overnight hotel booking...... Check.    Flight tickets, euros, and instructions in Portuguese for a taxi from the airport to the ship......... Check, check, check.   Passport, EHCI card, yellow fever certificate...... Check, check, check.  How organised am I?

What's the betting something goes wrong?

I admit to jumping out of bed last night to check I'd got the dates right, and I know I won't be sleep in the hotel because I will be scared that I won't wake in time for the flight.  This then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy because I will eventually fall asleep at about 3 in the morning and and subsequently find it extremely hard to wake up when the alarm goes off!

I can't wait to get there though, and then onwards to Madeira, Cape Verde and the Amazon.  Awesome.

 Oh well, here we go.........

Stage One Complete. Peter has detached from the Home location and connected to the Ship

And left me all me on me own..........  Absolutely shattered, I might add, because his poor night's sleep had a direct affect on mine. At one point he sat up, called out "TIE!" switched the light on and headed into the wardrobe, a couple of  noisy rummaging minutes later he got back into bed satisfied that he had found his ties to add to the suitcases in the morning.  Not condusive to a good night's sleep!

Frequent updates all day today meant that I was able to warn him that the Queen Elizabeth Bridge was closed (which he knew), but it was alright, because I could see his route on a map and knew he'd get off the M25 before he reached the bridge.  (Which he didn't know).

Then he rang to tell me he was in the cabin.  Yippeeeeeee!  And that it was a nice big cabin.  (Picture on his blog)  Yippeeeeeeeee! And everything was going swimmingly well.  Yippeeeeeee!

Then he rang to tell me it was not going quite as swimmingly well as first thought, because Cruise and Maritime had never had a watercolour artist on board the Marco Polo before, and were not really sure what to expect.  A bit like Peter not knowing what to expect from Cruise and Maritime I suppose.   This is going to be interesting...............................

Stage two involves getting me to Lisbon, I start my journey on Saturday, and should be able to run into Peter's arms, (like something off the movies), about midday Sunday.  Watch this space.  

Going Cruising Again Yippeeeeeee

Time to switch the blog over slightly, now it becomes my cruising blog. We're going to the Amazon in January.  Peter leaves before me, he sets off from Tilbury on Tues 3rd Jan just after the bank holiday.  I'll follow and join him and and the ship at Lisbon on Sunday 8th Jan.
We've found a brilliant TV article about the ship Travel Channel Cruise Today - Marco Polo, The actual cruise we are going on is here: Our Cruise.   Now I'm starting to really think about packing and stuff.  Peter will be taking my things with him, so I need it all to be ready when he leaves.  It's getting close now..........

The Amazon River taken from Santarem last time we visited.