79 - Sailing back across the pond the easy way!

Once our new Airbnb in Cocoa was set up and ready MaryAnn flew back to Louisville to assist with her dad while I stayed in town for a few more days.  With a truck available to me, I loaded up my kayak and went fishing the next few days.  I had fun and caught fish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  By Thursday, I was ready to start heading north as well but in Dad’s truck.  I left mid-afternoon and drove most of the way to just South of Nashville.  By then it was 5:30 the next morning and I was getting sleepy.  So, I pulled into a truck shop and sleep for a few hours.  I set my phone to wake me at 7:30 thinking a couple of hours would be good but, I did not catch the time change and ended up sleeping for 3 hours.  It was nice being at a truck stop as I could use the bathroom and grab a cup of coffee to go along with the sandwiches I made before leaving Florida.

I met up with my dad as he was also alone while Mom was away with the girls for the week.  I was able to catch up with MA later that week as well.  I think everyone had a great time.  We even had a pool party at my brother’s house and spent a day at the river. 

By Wednesday the following week, it was time to get ready to catch a flight to Brooklyn, NY to jump on the Queen Mary 2 for our 7 day/night ride to Southampton, UK.  Sometime back, we decided to spend a couple of months exploring the more northern areas of Europe that we can't or don't want to (we are not fans of really cold water) reach by boat.  And we decided there was no better way to go back across than again on a boat.  

We convinced our friend Doug (who sailed with us in Greece) that he and his wife should join us the 7-night transatlantic crossing from Brooklyn NY to Southampton UK. We were traveling on the only "ocean linear" currently in service in the world (google the difference between an ocean linear and a cruise ship).  While we thought it would be a more interesting way to travel, we can tell you it was amazing.  We had seven days and nights of beautiful sailing, cruising at 25 knots regardless of the waves, wind speed, and or direction.  We never had to deal with night watches or even trying to determine what to fix for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Instead, we got to spend the morning walking the deck with our coffee (it was 1.5km around so we walked at least 3 laps every day), eating a wonderful breakfast, followed by a soak in the hot tub, a drink on the deck, lunch in the pub, drink on the deck, soaking in the hot tub, (MA keeps telling me she wants a boat with a hot tub.  Well, I told her not only did she have a hot tub for the next 7 days there were 3 hot tubs to chose from) getting ready for dinner, happy hour, dinner with our friends and a then a late-night show.  We really didn't expect to like it as much as we did but would definitely recommend it!

Anyway, as I said, we flew into Brooklyn and made our way to our hotel near the cruise terminal.  We checked in, unloaded our bags, and headed out for a walk and to find something for lunch.  We found a great place that served a beautiful brisket sandwich, a couple of nice sides and a cold beer.  Then it was off to explore.  We walked from the hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge, across the bridge and back to the hotel.  It only took 4 hours so it was a short walk.  Next, we decided to grab a bottle of wine and head back to our room for the night (I know party animals, right?).  The next morning, we awoke to see the QM2 had arrived and was out our hotel room window off in the distance.  As we could not get on the boat until 2:00 pm, we were able to store our luggage for a couple of hours while we went off walking again - this time for a Dim Sum lunch.  At last, it was time to for the main event, so we made our way back to the hotel to grab our luggage and head to the boat. 

Once aboard, we started planning our week.  We knew ahead of time that two of the nights aboard required (well suggested anyway) formal dress for dinner.  MA found several nice formal gowns at the local thrift store before leaving the US and she also found me a tux, two shirts and a cummerbund on e-bay.  So, for about $100 we walked the decks and dinned with the best of them and no one knew how little we spent. (P.S., most of that money went to my tux and shirts, I think MA only spent $5 or so each on her dresses and that included shoes).  As you know, we were planning on "backpacking" through Europe and didn't plan on the formalwear dinner requirements on the QM2. So, we used an extra suitcase in which to transport the formalwear to the boat.  Once we were in Southampton, leaving the boat and no longer requiring the formalwear, we simply left the suitcase with all the formalwear on-board with instructions to the cabin crew to either use, pass-a-long to those in need or donate to the local charity shop.  

Before we left the states, MA found a house sit for us in Fulham, London (Fulham is a western suburb of London) for a dog (Inka) and two cats (Buddy and Lady).  We were arriving in Southampton on Friday but the animals we would be taking care of didn't need us until Saturday.  Therefore, we made arrangements for an Airbnb close by for Friday night and would walk the next morning from the Airbnb to our animal's house.  During our trip across the oceans MA received an e-mail from the animals asking if we could be there on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning.  With a quick check of our arrival in Southampton and a review of the train schedule, we determined that, yes, we could be there Friday afternoon.  Once on land and off the boat in Southampton, we found a train that would take us from Southampton to London Central and then a local train to our house/dog/cats for the week.  When we arrived at the house, the animal's owners had a doctor's appointment come up at the last minute and couldn't leave for an hour or 2.  So, we dropped our bags off, met everyone and took Inka for a walk.  When we got back the Doctors visit was still in progress so we dropped Inka off and went out for some lunch.  This time when we got back the owners where still there but now ready to leave so, we helped them pack the car and sent them on their way.  Finally, we had a house with a dog and two cats.  

A little bit about our dog Inka.  She is a Stabyhund.  The first part of the name is most likely Dutch "sta meg bij" (stand next to me).  The second part of the name simply means dog.  This is a very rare dog breed that originates from Friesland, Netherlands.  There are only about 3500 of these dogs today.  They are a bird dog and use to be used for hunting fox, small game and birds.  You might remember sometime back we house sat for our friend Charlie and his dog Shuka in Cocoa Beach.  We also spent some time in Charlie's house in France and Charlie also sailed with us in Greece.  Well, it turns out that Shuka (Charlie's dog) is also a Stabyhund.  So, out of the 3500 dogs around the world we know and have sat with two of them.  We thought that was cool and we loved both dogs.

Inka was a blast.  She was very well behaved and enjoyed going to the park to play fetch with her ball and ball thrower (Pedro).  In fact, we took her to the park 2 to 3 times every day.  After each time, you could tell we were wearing her out.  But it was good for her and us.  However, we did inform the owners that we are usually the fun aunt and uncle (they can be the disciplinarians).  The rules stated that the dog was not allowed up stairs and definitely not on the bed.  Well, it wasn't two minutes after the owners closed the door that MA went upstairs followed by Inka.  From that point on she was always upstairs with us and was in bed with us.  So, much for the rules.  

The two cats were something different.  Buddy, we only saw twice the entire week.  But there is a neighborhood watch system that keeps track of Buddy.  With a little help from the watch group, we were able to make sure Buddy was alive and well and being fed.  The other cat, Lady would show up every morning for food, maybe hang around the day sleeping, would show up again for dinner and most nights also slept with us as well.

The other cool thing about this house sit was the local road markets that opened every day (except Monday) for fresh eggs, fruits and vegetables.  There was a local meat shop and two fresh fish markets.  So, we ate a lot of great home cooked meals.

We also did some sightseeing and exploring around London.  We met our friends Doug and Sandy and the "Shard" hotel for drinks on the 82nd floor and dinner later that night.  With the public transportation in London it is very easy to move around the city.  We went to several of the parks, walked along the river and of course saw several churches.