Ålesund, Hamburg and the return to Southampton

The last of the Black tie evenings was a masquerade ball. Dressing up makes photographing mandatory! The is in the Grand Lobby where a relief of QM2 may be viewed from 3 decks

I originally had a Zoro mask but it kept slipping so I could not see anything and kept bumping into the furniture. As a result I was eventually persuaded to don this maid’s mask. I was one of a half dozen picked out at the masquerade ball by the hostess. She wanted some background to the mask. However I was not sure I wanted to say anything else other than I have not come out!

Ålesund was our next port of call. This lovely town is situated on an island but has expanded well beyond this boundary. It is also the entry to “fjord land”. Our shore excursion started with a coach ride up the adjoining mountain (hill) called Aksla. There were great views both over the town and up the fjord.

The coach took us to a quite large catamaran which accommodated some 100 guests as we took off for a trip up Hjarundfjorden. It was spectacular as we passed lowly salmon farms and high mountains.

There was quite a headwind going up the fjord which gave these two a different high.

The scennery speaks for itself and was made more magic by the dappled light.

 

All too soon we had to turn around and travel back. Standing on deck for the return leg  the wind was calm despite the speed of the boat (ie an effective 50knots headwind when we travelled up as the boat was going at least 25 knots).

Some home owners had a real focus on the envionment with grass rooves.

There were other contrasts such as this working dry dock and shortly after the sailing club headquarters.

The town was burnt down in 1904 over a 16 hour period during a hurricane (there is a theme developing between all these towns). The town was rebuilt in the early 1900 using the Art Nouveau design style popular at the time (and reminiscent of Napier in NZ). The canal that completes the island is a great backdrop to some wonderful buildings.

As we left Ålesund we were treated to some loud piped music. It started with “God Save the Queen”. Most on the public bridge deck were Germans and they clapped and yelled thanks at this farewell. I enjoyed it but found the German’s enthusiasm rather strange. However, a subsequent tune of “We’ll meet again..” I found quite moving. Although Queen Mary 2 (as part of the Cunard line) is regarded as British and based in Southampton she is registered in Hamilton, Bermuda and was built by Alstom in France so I guess we should not be too possessive.

We were also treated to a fire boat salute and escort.

The final shot as we left Ålesund sugggested that leaving was not a good idea and that there were storms ahead.

Nonetheless the Queen Mary 2 flag was lowered and we headed out.

Faced with the following day at sea we decided on afternoon tea with champagne.

The tea came in a basket that was lowered into the pot and the brewing time was measured using sand timers. There were different colours to suit specific teas. All went well until one of the timers got stuck!!! Good strong pot of tea that one...

We also decided to again venture out of the Britannia restaurant and take in a Thai cooking lesson. This was great fun and the dishes were explained by a Liverpudlian chef (bit strange that aspect given there are over 50 nations represented in the crew and with 164 chefs one of them would be expected to be Thai). However, our Scouse friend new his stuff and satay chicken followed by prawns in lemon grass was well received.

Although a late night resulted we were up early the next day for our arrival back into Hamburg. This time we turned round on arrival and really appreciated how tight the turning circle was.

Once safely moored we took a coach trip for an hour North to the medieval town of Lubcek. The first item to greet us was the Western Gate. This is the only one standing of the 4 that were originally built. The guide thought the others were demolished due to their upkeep costs and with the changing development of battles were no longer required. Looking at the pronounced leaning of the remaining gate I suspect the others collapsed due to the lack of a suitable foundation given the silt/clays in the area.

Still a lifespan exceeding 500 years is a sensational effort.

Just up from the Gate is the river which also has some very old buildings

and some colourful and more modern day boats.

The gate from another angle suggests that the tower was leaning before the spire went on as this seems to have had some adjustment towards the vertical compared to the towers. However, the leaning continued to get worse!

We also visited the Hospital of the Holy Ghost where men and women could have a room for a couple of nights (in separate corridors of course). This was built in 1286.

There were many other delightful buildings but as a history lesson is not appropriate in what is already a long chapter in this blog some examples are all that is appropriate.

After expending all that energy (we were now in a heat wave of some 27°C) it was appropriate to finish the tour with a coffee and some cakes. We all went to Neideregger which is world famous for its marzipan. It apparently exports over 40T per year with the almonds coming from Spain however all the rest of the ingredients are kept strictly secret under pain of death (and only two know the recipe).

The cake was covered in a good layer of marzipan and to ensure we recovered our calorie intake after all that walking the centre was largely cream.

On our return to QM2 a smaller cruise ship had tied up. If you have a close look at the bow you can see that they are not so adept at turning around!

As we left we were once again treated to a Hamburg farewell. The flotilla that followed us out kept jockeying for position. It was great fun to be in our own pageant.

Thousands lined the shore and the sun on the various gilded clock towers made a wonderful backdrop.

Again we were treated to various piped and voluminous music from the shore. This hotel went so far as to encourage patrons and staff to wave their towels out of the windows while they piped “God Save the Queen” and “Jerusalem” as we passed as well as letting off a few cannons. (Yes, Hamburg is in Germany!)

Further downstream we passed the Airbus factory with an early version of the Beluga carriers in the foreground (see the 4 July 2009 posting Le Tour for the current version.

The two planes between the buildings are Airbus 380s for Malaysia and Thai airways. The planes are built in Toulouse from components made throughout Europe (including Hamburg which builds the fuselage). When built they are then flown to Hamburg to be fitted out to suit the individual carrier’s requirements.

The light on this warm evening worked well with the cut out motif of the deck wind protector.

This is the crew that served us dinner whenever we ate in Britannia. Our head waiter (on the left) had 9 years service and worked a 9 month on and 3 month off pattern. 



The following day was at sea and the warm 27°C  temperature continued with the very small seas. Apparently this is remarkable for the North sea and did remind us more of the Caribbean. Jo was kind enough to buy me a QM2 tee shirt and shorts as the clothes I had brought were for cooler climes.

On the last evening we had a special meal at Todd English. Here Pam and I had a lobster soup where the liquid was added at the table. I could handle this dish anytime

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Of course we all dressed up for this last supper. Here is a wonderful portrait of Helen – what does it suggest to you? It is clearly glamourous but is it also seductive, tolerant of being photographed (again), patiently waitng for dinner or asking the question what do you think about the nail colour?

 

Between courses we were able to slip out to the rear deck where a great sunset enabled some silhouette shots.

The last of the sun was as we passed through the Dover straights. There were a number of ferries crossing and it was strange to think we would be on one in a couple of days time.

We arrived back at Southampton on a pleasant morning and watched Queen Elizabeth slip past us to her mooring followed by the P&O Ventura.

A wonderful trip which we all enjoyed so much we have already booked another cruise for July next year – St Petersburg, Stockholm and Helsinki. This at least gave us something to look forward to after the inevitable sadness of completing a voyage where we had had such great time.