Cruise 08

Okay, so we finally came full circle and arrived back in Palma, Mallorca. There we disembarked and flew back to Bristol. Well, what a holiday and all thanks to the kindness of my old dad. He'll be 78 next month and has kept in reasonably good health since the heart by-pass. His facility with words is not what it once was but one of the highlights of the trip for me was having a good chinwag with him. I especially liked it when we had a son or two sat with us too. There's something fascinating about the generation thing. It made me remember my dad's father too, a Roman Catholic steelworker born in the black country but who moved to Newport, South Wales as a youngster.

[Pics: My dad and sister in the lift; Mallorca dawn; typical food display on board; last shot in the Captain's Club/Library]

Cruise 07

Our Good Friday, the penultimate day of our cruise was spent, as mentioned in Menorca, in Mao or Mahon. I am quite unfamilar with a Catholic Good Friday and it wa sinteresting to see nearly everything closed and some flags at half mast plus the 'hoodies' I mentioned in a previous post. Since my earlier post I found a website mentioning an evangelical church in Mahon (jarsofclay) but it doesn't seem very sound and the site looks way out of date. PS Mr Bean was everywhere we went.

Favourite Puns 03

My boys enjoy the Cruise

Cruise 06

By the Wednesday we were beyond Italy and reached Nice, France. Nice is big and wealthy. We came on a good day weatherwise and enjoyed our time on the promenade, on the beach and in the market. Very nice. Above we have a rare shot of the whole party then one of my wife and our nephew. (Nephew in Nice - I can't see any pun there).

Favourite Puns 02

Having a nice time with my nieces in Nice

Cruise 04

On the Tuesday we reached Citavecchia, an hour and a half from Rome. We took a guided tour of Rome and the Vatican. Rome wasn't built in a day and you can't see it in a day either but we made a stab at it beginning on the coach with some of the most ancient ruins (Colosseum, etc) and then moving onto the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, etc. We had an excellent ravioli lunch with red wine followed by tira misu before making an assault on the Vatican and St Peter's basilica, site of the pieta and supposed resting place of the apostle himself. Fascinating stuff. one had mixed feelings being at the lair of the Antichrist himself. My sons enjoyed getting pictures with various nuns and priests. What St Peter's has remotely to do with the gospel is hard to see.

The joy of reading

One of the joys of the cruise for me was sitting in the Captain's Club or the Library reading or writing up my journal (especially when no-one else was there). I took Paul Johnson on Napoleon, Tom Barnes on Glorification, the Boris Starling novel Messiah and my Bible. Every cabin had a Gideon bible (the one concession to anything like that). On the last day I left my little pile of books in the Library while we went into town. When I returned the Bible was gone. I don't know if someone who really needed one had it or if someone rather malicious threw it overboard. I'd not written anything in it. It's the second book down in the little pile in front of me, under my journal. Next to me you can see my trusty i-pod. Many of the books that appear to be behind me on the shelf are just a facade.

Strickly forbidden

You may need to double click to read the above

Coincidence at the Pantheon

Last Tuesday found us at the Pantheon. A truly amazing building it really is worth seeing. This website gives you a good idea why. To add to the amazingness we bumped into an African American family who have recently begun attending the church and who also just happened to be near the Pantheon that day too. If I'd not read the fascinating book Beyond Coincidence by Plimmer and King (see here) I would have been utterly bowled over. Consequently I was only pretty amazed.

Cruise 03

Our first port of call was Ajaccio, which is on the western coast of Corsica. Now Corsica I knew about and that Napoleon was born there - actually in Ajaccio itself, and in the house above. (The plaque says Napoelon est ne dans cette maison Le XV Auoust M DCCLXIX - Naopoleon was born in this house 15 August 1769). Closed on Mondays it turns out ;-(. Anyway we had a nice look round and found a lovely sandy beach for the boys to play on. We also saw this statue of Napoleon and his four brothers. My nephew William very kindly acted as the horse. Technically my second son should be sat on him not my fifth. (Napoleon also had two or three sisters).

I had with me for the trip Paul Johnson's recent biography of Napoleon, which I have almost completed. I can recommend it for its brevity, detail, insight, grasp of the subject and unwillingness to believe in myths. We all ought to know at least this much about Napoleon. He truly was a phenomenon.

The other thing that fascinated us in Corse was being able to see snow on the mountains even while we were quite warm among the palm trees.

Cruise 02

Endeavouring to keep the Lord's Day was not easy. The ship went full steam ahead towards Corsica (I hadn't really grasped how big the Med is) and on the ship we seemed to be the only ones seeking to keep the Sabbath. It reminded me of Brainerd's comment on the Indians he sought to reach. We had to do a safety drill in the morning. My dad (78 next month) overdid it a bit on the stairs and had to use a wheelchair. The presence of a doctor landed him with a hefty medical bill before the end of the week which I hope he'll be able to reclaim. The rest of us (Eleri, me, my 5 boys, Gail and her four) gathered later (am and pm) in our cabin for services. I preached (in a more informal manner than usual) on aspects of the cross and we lined out some verses of hymns to sing including Eternal Father strong to save pm). It was okay but a bit of an effort - such an effort that we didn't try anything like it the rest of the week, which was a little one sided I guess. Some of the boys were seasick and Eleri felt a little queasy but tablets solved it. I was surprised at the swell in such a large boat.

Cruise 01

So this cruise. We left London at some ridiculous morning hour to fly from Bristol (where we met up with the rest of my family) to Palma, Majorca (or Mallorca), and the cruise's beginning. We had a little time in Palma before sailing but didn't venture too far. There is a Reformed Baptist Church there I was aware. See their website here. The pastor since 2004 has been an Englishman Andrew Birch, who I remember meeting on one occasion. Sadly, it was not convenient to seek him out. No time to see the magnificent cathedral either. So we concentrated on getting to know the ship. There's a library area but sadly no chapel.

Cruise

Okay, I confess. I've been away on a cruise. My father has sold the family house to move into sheltered accommodation and he wanted to take my sister and our families away for a week long Mediterranean Cruise. I protested, of course, but gave in. It's a little like Butlins on sea I suppose but is flexible enough for you to make of it what you will and we did. We went with Island Cruises (see here) on their ship MV Island Star, which has 753 cabins and a capacity of 1,875 passengers with a further 573 crew. She weighs 46,811 tons, is 208 metres long and has a cruising speed of 18 knots. Our Captain was John Brocklehhurst. We were on the Mediterranean Essence cruise and the map above reveals our itinerary. Being rather untravelled it was all pretty new to us. I'm afraid I'm going to be boring you with it for the few days or so.

Menorca Hoodies

I'll explain why again but I spent Good Friday on the lovely Mediterranean Island of Menorca, in Mao. Most things were closed, understandably, but in a church we spotted these hooded figures before they headed out in procession. Traditionally, these were penitents who wished to remain anonymous. They would also beat themselves or carry heavy crosses on their backs, pleading for forgiveness from God. Today it is part of the traditional Easter Week processions in many parts of Spain and Italy. I wonder if there is any evangelical witness in Mao.