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Rulocal
Rulocal

Rulocal

A really nice guy who is working relentlessly for world peace (when sober) Read more🇬🇧Ashton-in-Makerfield
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  • Rulocal2017 Navigator TransatlanticRulocal

    Coach to Southampton

    November 6, 2017 in England ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C

    Well, up to now the coach journey has been good.
    The check in at the coach station was great and very quick, we got on the first coach to leave and we are making good time, despite having to come off the motorway at Stoke to avoid an accident.
    Back on now and halfway down the toll road.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    La Spezia, Italy

    September 27, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today we where back in La Spezia, and this time I decided to have a walk up to the Castle of St George,high above the town.
    It was built in the 14th century as a defence for the town of La Spezia, but nowadays it is an archaeological museum.
    The walk up there is quite a hike, but well worth it, as the views of the city and the harbour are beautiful.
    Also there is a pretty park that you can walk through as an alternative to the steps, you end up at the castle whichever route you take and the park, although slightly longer is very pleasant.
    The museum itself was closed at the time I was up there, but even so it was a pleasant if strenuous walk up.
    I stumbled upon a small modern funicular type lift that could be taken to get you back down to the lower street level, which I gratefully took.
    On the way back to the ship I took a stroll through the Giardini Pubblici, which quite simply translates to Public Gardens, which are beautiful and run along the sea front back to the port.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    La Seyne-sur-Mer, France

    September 25, 2017 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    This was the docking port for the cruise ships visiting Toulon, which was a short ferry ride across the bay.
    As I'd never been to either place, I decided to give the ferry a miss and have a mooch around La Seyne sur Mer itself. As I left the ship I could see that I'd probably made the right choice, as the queue for the ferry was quite long.
    It was a pleasant 15 minute walk from the ship to town. Just before the town proper, I came across quite a nice park called Parc De La Navale, which although not a particularly pretty park, is very pleasant, and has lovely views across the bay.
    At the far end of the park is the Pont basculant de la Seyne-sur-Mer, which is where I was heading for.
    It is an old railway lift bridge 🌉 which was used to get trains across the bay to Toulon. It is permanently vertical these days, and has been turned in to a 44 metres tall, observation platform, and is a tourist attraction.
    You take a lift up to the top where the views of the town, the harbour and surrounding area are beautiful.
    You then walk down the stairs where you come across a small museum platform which houses the original engines that used to raise and lower the bridge, all in all it's well worth a look, and best of all the whole thing is free.
    After that I strolled further into the town, which is very quaint and typically old French, with narrow winding streets and beautiful old buildings. I came across a church called  Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Voyage, which translates to Our Lady of the good voyage.
    It is a fairly plain church inside compared to some I've been in, but does have impressive gothic arches.
    Quite a nice little town which I will explore more if I come again.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    Mirador del Poble-sec Park Barcelona

    September 24, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After the slight disappointment of the graffiti park I had a walk to another place I'd seen on the map, namely Mirador del Poble-sec Park, it is a public park set part way up Montjuïc which is a big hill or small mountain that overlooks the port of Barcelona on one side and the city on the other.
    It's quite a hike but well worth it for the views.
    I made it up to the port cable car station right by the Miramar hotel, which gave me some great views. I only scratched the surface today, as there is much more to see up there.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    Jardins de le 3 Xemeneies Barcelona

    September 24, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Well it's turn around day today, so, I decided to have a mooch around Barcelona, but not around La Ramblas.
    I picked out on the map, a park called Jardins de le 3 Xemeneies. This means Gardens of the 3 Chimneys and is built on the site of an early 20th century power station, and is is one of five official graffiti parks in Barcelona, where graffiti artists can officially display their talents, they just have to book a date and time and away they go.
    This means that the artwork is constantly changing.
    The idea is great but the reality is slightly different.
    Some of the artwork is brilliant, but the park is full of litter and homeless people dossing down.
    Which is a shame on many points, firstly that people have nowhere to live and are forced to sleep on park benches, but also a public space that has been put to good use is spoilt.
    This should be a pleasant and interesting place to sit and relax. But is rubbish strewn and quite intimidating.
    But having said all that it is worth a look all be it a quick one.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    Palma de Mallorca Spain

    September 23, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Today we are docked in Palma de Mallorca, and I didn't get off for my usual mooch, as we had an invite to see the Gipsy Kings later this afternoon as VIP guests, at an "exclusive" event held at the local bullring, arranged by Royal Caribbean.
    We as supposed VIP guests where not to meet by the quayside with everyone else, but in the conference room on deck 2.
    Well I got there with Maz and Sue as Sheila didn't come as it would be too much for her.
    Anyway we get to this conference room, and I could immediately see what the trip was going to be like.
    We had the usual pinnacle posturing, and one-upmanship, as some of them think they have been given a knighthood with the pinnacle badge.
    For instance, the seats were almost all taken and Sue was looking for one, I had decided to stand and there was a seat right in front of me, so I called Sue to sit there, when this American bloke who was top cruiser on the ship rushed across and sat there. Now I may only be from a rough council estate near Liverpool, but I was always taught to give up my seat for a lady, but obviously if you are top cruiser this does not apply.
    So I thought to myself, if this is how people are behaving before we even get on the bus to the concert, what are they going to be like getting seats at the bullring?
    I thought if I go I'd end up arguing with someone, so I told Sue that I wasn't bothering and went back to the cabin to see Sheila.
    Anyway about 6.30 people started arriving back which was a good 2 hours early, and I was right, it turned out to be a bit of a shambles, which was a shame as the other event that had been arranged earlier in the week, was spoiled by the horrendous weather.
    Having said all that it's still been a good cruise.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    Rather a hectic sea day.

    September 22, 2017, Western Mediterranean ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    After leaving Naples, we had a day at sea, heading for Palma de Mallorca.
    After breakfast, the four of us went to the theatre for a Q&A with Michael Bayley, this turned out to be very interesting and enjoyable and it over ran by about 10 minutes, and as we had a suites and pinnacles event to attend with more food and free booze🍷, we scooted up to Chops Grill at the other end of the ship. I had told myself that I wouldn't be drinking to early today, the event started at 11am, we arrived at about 10 past and I had my first wine at a quarter past!!
    Then we had our lunch with an officer to go to at noon, so straight from Chops to the dining room and lunch, with more wine 🍷 and before you say anything, it would be rude not to, so I did, lol.
    On our table we had Gary Davis, the hotel director, who's a scouser and a really nice guy, with a typical scouse sense of humour.
    So after this it was off to the cabin for an extended afternoon nap, before attending the top tier event at 5.30 pm, there was more booze there but only cheap champagne 🥂 which I don't like, so, I didn't have any.
    Also for the first time ever at one of these events, you couldn't get a regular glass of wine, only the cheap champagne.
    Which thinking about it was probably better for me, lol.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    Naples, Italy

    September 21, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today we docked in Naples, Italy 🇮🇹.
    Last time I was here, I went to the left from the port and visited the Castle Nuovo, and then had a stroll and found a beautiful church and a very interesting museum.
    This time I decided to go right. I had looked on Google maps, and there was something called the Penne Palace, which conjured up thoughts of Napoli in times gone by, with beautiful ornate buildings.
    I should have known better, this was modern day Naples, and what I found was a very run down building, which looked nothing like a palace at all.
    Having said that, you could see that it was a beautiful building in its day, and could be beautiful again, with some restoration.
    Next to the palace was an old church, again very run down the front door was open, so, I poked my head inside, and it appeared to be getting used by students having an art class.
    Around the corner I came across another church, and in this one the university was holding a graduation ceremony, with the students wearing mortar boards and being presented with certificates.
    After that I had a walk around the back streets, which brought to mind the Peter Sarstedt song, "Where do you go to my lovely" where he sings about the girl being brought up on the back streets of Naples.
    Then having had my fill of neapolitan culture, I headed back to the ship for lunch.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal
    La Spezia cathedral

    Wine tasting wash out.

    September 19, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Today we where docked in La Spezia, Italy 🇮🇹.
    As we had the wine tasting and hot air balloon excursion booked for the afternoon, I just had a walk in the town and visited the Cathedral of Christ, which is a very modern building with a very modern interior on the lines of the Liverpool Catholic cathedral.
    Not very interesting, but nice enough.
    The town itself although quite run down in appearance, did have some very ornate architecture.
    In the afternoon as I said we had the excursion booked, this was free to all pinnacle members, and $99 to anyone else.
    It was a trip to a vineyard in Tuscony, about an hour and a half away from La Spezia, a place called Cenaia.
    We were supposed to have a wine tasting then watch some hot air balloons go up.
    We where sat outside in the vineyard, it was a beautiful rustic setting, just how you would imagine an Italian vineyard to be. We were just having the third wine, when we heard the first clap of thunder then the lightning 🌩, then the heavens opened, not rain, but hailstones the size of frozen peas.
    Needless to say everyone piled inside for shelter.
    The storm then turned into torrential rain and the thunder and lightning 🌩 got worse, at one point knocking out all the lighting in the building.
    After about 30 minutes it showed no signs of letting up so some people asked to be taken back to the ship, as there was no chance of the balloons going up in that weather.
    So Michael Bailey the CEO arranged for a bus to come back early and those that wanted went back to the ship 🛳, myself Maz and Sue included.
    Having said all that, it was still a very enjoyable day, and was worth doing.
    Oh yes and the people who had paid for the trip where promised refunds on their tickets, so no problems there then.
    We did learn some interesting stuff on the coach to the vineyard, such as the seeing the mountains where they cut the world famous Carrara marble, this is the pure white marble that was used on most of the statues by Michaelangelo and the like.
    Until the guide told us, I just thought that it was snow 🌨 on the mountains.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

    September 18, 2017 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today we are anchored off the beautiful little French town of Villefranche-sur-Mer. After breakfast I got the tender across as I had planned to have a mooch about, one thing I did want to see was Rue Obscure, which is a 13th century covered street hidden beneath the buildings in the old town. It's a wonderful atmospheric little street, and you feel transported way back in time as you walk it.
    After that I had a walk up to the Citadel Saint Elme, which now houses three small museums, a military museum, a film museum and the third is more of an art gallery with work by the sculptor Volti.
    All in all a very pleasant and interesting couple of hours, and most importantly to me all completely free.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Freedom Med SeptRulocal

    Day 1

    September 17, 2017, Western Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Well that was one of the best trips to Barcelona I've ever done. Firstly I got a text message from Jet2 saying we could use their twilight service and take our bags to the airport the day before our flight. Meaning we just went straight to departures the next day, no stressful queues etc. The flight was good, and on arrival at Barcelona we had transfers with Royal Caribbean, which meant that we bypassed all the queues at the port check-in, we were on the ship in minutes.
    After muster we went up to the old diamond lounge which for this trip is reserved for Pinnacle members only, woo hoo!
    On the way up we saw one of the two nicest people on board that is Adrianna (Georgie) the loyalty ambassador and upstairs Gisleni (GiGi) one of the best concierges in the company.
    Another nice surprise was that we as pinnacle members had been invited to Chops Grill for dinner that night. So all in all a brilliant start to the cruise.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    Afternoon tea

    May 14, 2017, Celtic Sea ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Today all the pinnacle members were treated to a wonderful afternoon tea in Chops Grill.
    I was a very civilised way to spend an afternoon, and thankfully there was no alcohol served, as I personally have had all the booze I can take, well maybe until tonight... LolRead more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    The old Legend of the seas

    May 11, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    When we docked in Málaga, there where two other ships in, one was the Rhapsody of the seas, and the other was the old Legend of the seas, which now has a new life with Thomson cruises as the new Discovery 2.
    It was really nice to see her all decked out in her new livery, and it's amazing how quickly it was done, as we were sailing on her for her last voyage as a Royal Caribbean ship only 6 weeks ago.
    Anyway as I said it was nice to see her again, and I hope she serves Thomson cruises as well as she did Royal Caribbean. I'm sure she will.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    Málaga, Spain

    May 11, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Last time I was here in Málaga I had a walk up towards Castel Gibralfaro, I say up towards, as I never made it to the top! For a change I listened to my body and the slight pain in my chest was saying that's far enough you old fart. Anyway while I was taking in the beautiful views I noticed a bullring down below, and today that's what I set out to find.
    It's actually called "Plaza de toros de La Malagueta" and was built in 1876, and is designated a Spanish cultural building, which I suppose is the same as a listed building back in the UK.
    Even though I'm not a blood sport type of person, it was still an interesting place to visit.
    For the princely sum of €1.80 you could go in to the arena and also visit the small museum.
    It all made for a very pleasant morning off the ship, and once again proved my point that in most cases you do not have to travel far from the ship or pay for expensive tours to find interesting things in most ports.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    Valencia, Spain

    May 10, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    The port authority put on free shuttles from the ship to the port gates, then if you want to go to the old town you just cross the road and pick up the No4 bus, the fare is €1.50 each way and the journey takes about 30/35 minutes. Or you can take the ships shuttle which costs €10 return.
    I opted for the free port shuttle to the gate and then walked around that part of town, but I wouldn't recommend it as there is sod all to see.
    I did find a couple of nice buildings and a small church but that was it.
    So next time I come here it's the free port shuttle then the No4 bus to town.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    Civitavecchia, Italy

    May 8, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Civitavecchia is the port for Rome, but as Rome is an hour or so away by train, I decided to have a stroll around Civitavecchia instead.
    It's actually a place I like to visit, with its vibrant market and its many bars and cafés.
    It may be a bit run down in places but that's the same in most of the places in Europe nowadays.
    Anyway I took the free shuttle bus to the port gates, which by the way drops you at a different gate from the one we used to get dropped off at, so you now have a 10 minute or so walk in to the main part of town, but it's not that bad.
    So I spent about an hour mooching around the market and the back streets, where I came across an interesting memorial to the people killed in the bombings during WWII. It is the end of a building which I'm guessing was bombed during the war, it has been left derelict and had silhouettes of bombs falling on people. To me it is an ingenious and quite moving memorial.
    I decided to walk back to the ship using the port gate we used to be dropped off at and there is an impressive old fort at the gate, but you cannot go inside which is a shame.
    There was a three masted sailing ship in the port which I decided to have a look at; and it turned out to be quite interesting. It was called the Cuauhtémoc, and it is a Mexican navy training ship.
    As I approached I could hear music coming from the ship, and could see the crew with their striped shirts on the deck, so I took a video of it all but only one photo! What a numpty!
    Anyway it all made for a lovely morning off the ship.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

    May 7, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    I'm probably getting a bit blasé about some of the ports, as I didn't bother getting off at Villefranche, couldn't be bothered with the tendering. But I have been a number of times and it is a beautiful little town.Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    Barcelona, Spain

    May 6, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    It was a beautiful day in Barcelona, so I decided to have a walk off the ship.
    We where docked as usual at the Adossat Quay terminal A, and although the walk into the city is not that far, I opted for the very reasonable €4 return on the local bus. The bus drops you off right by the Christopher Columbus at the bottom of La Rambla.
    But instead of the usual walk up La Rambla, which I've done many times, I decided to have a walk along the harbour front up to Port Vell, which took me past the Maremagnum shopping centre and up to Port Vell and the aquarium.
    I then crossed over to the Passeig de Colom, which is the wide tree lined boulevard running from the Columbus monument to Port Villa, and headed back in the direction of the cruise port.
    That whole area of the city is called the Gothic Quarter, and is very interesting with its narrow winding streets, where the balconies above look as if you could reach across and shake your neighbours hand, they are that close.
    Anyway when I finally reached the Columbus monument, I noticed that the military barracks just by the monument had an exhibition on and best of all it was free entry.
    It was interesting and passed half an hour or so.
    Then it was back on the bus and back to the ship, after a very pleasant couple of hours in Barcelona.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    Amazing who you meet

    May 2, 2017, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Last night in the concierge lounge I met a very nice guy from St Thomas in the west Indies.
    He was sitting with our group in this wonderful military dress uniform, complete with medals and white gloves.
    It turns out that he's Sir Clive Bamford, and what an interesting guy he was.
    Needless to say, at the end of the evening I managed to knock my glass of wine 🍷 over him! But he was fine about it and laughed it off.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Independence Med MayRulocal

    The new diamond lounge

    May 1, 2017, English Channel ⋅ 🌬 9 °C

    Well I must say that the new diamond lounge is beautiful, with a huge bank of windows, and a nice outside area.
    The old one was good but a bit small considering the amount of diamond and above passengers we get nowadays.
    Problem is that the pinnacles and suite guests still have the quite comfortable but totally windowless concierge lounge on deck 10.
    You would have thought that they would have moved the concierge lounge up to the old diamond lounge, thereby giving the higher level guests some daylight.
    I know that we can also use the diamond lounge, but with 800+ diamonds on board, it gets full quickly.
    Anyway moan over.
    I have a feeling that this is going to be a good cruise, we have lots of old friends on board and some nice ports to visit.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Legend Dubai-BarcelonaRulocal

    Valletta Malta

    March 24, 2017 in Malta ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Our second and final port of call was Valletta, the Maltese capital.
    This beautiful historic harbour is one of the few really iconic European harbours to sail into and out of, I think it's right up there with Venice.
    Everyone I spoke to who was getting off was going to use the new elevator which has been built to save you having to make the very steep climb from the harbour to the town.
    But me being made of sterner stuff was going to walk up to the town via the one million steps up passed the hospital and the King George V Park.
    And this by the way had nothing to do with me being to mean to pay the €2 charge for the elevator, no matter what stories you hear!
    Anyway the stroll was actually very pleasant as the weather was perfect for walking, ie, not to hot.
    The wander through the town, is wonderful, with every turn giving you sight of beautiful old buildings, and great views of the steep and narrow streets.
    I walked down passed St George's Cathedral to the other side of town which had fantastic views of Manoel Island and over to the right the area of Sliema.
    On my way back, I passed through Strait St and the area called the Gut, which is where the soldiers and sailors who where stationed in Valletta during and after the second world war, went for their entertainment, if you get my meaning.
    I spent about 2.5 hours wandering and only scratched the surface of this wonderful old city.
    But I've been many times before, so I didn't mind.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Legend Dubai-BarcelonaRulocal

    Piraeus, Greece

    March 22, 2017 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Land ho! Would have been the cry, as we sighted our first port after 8 straight sea days.
    We had arrived in the Greek sea port of Piraeus, which is about 20/30 minutes drive from the capital Athens.
    I have been here a few times and done the Athens tour, so I decided to have a walk around Piraeus itself.
    To be honest, there is not a lot to see in the town, and since the financial collapse of the country it is even more rundown than ever, with homeless people all over the place, and these are not all "immigrants" there are a fair number of Greeks among them, which in my mind makes the situation even sadder.
    On a lighter note, I came across this small building not far from the port which I have seen before, but only from a distance.
    So as the church I was about to visit had a mass in progress, I decided to have a walk over to have a look at it.
    I'm very pleased that I did as it turned out to be a church, but the smallest church I have ever seen.
    It is the size of two large garden sheds, and inside it is stunning and complete with beautiful wall and ceiling frescos.
    I have said many times before that you quite often don't need to travel very far from any port, to find some interesting things.
    In fact most of the time when you arrive in these ports, you tend to ignore the things right outside the gate, and take a bus tour or walk deep in to the town.
    And this little church proved that point to me once again.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Legend Dubai-BarcelonaRulocal

    Pinnacles Lunch

    March 21, 2017, Eastern Mediterranean ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    What a special treat that was. As usual Peter arranged something completely different for the last ever pinnacles lunch, on board Legend of the seas.
    Firstly we were issued with commemorative T-shirts, and had a group photo in the centrum, this was followed by an authentic Arabic buffet, prepared by one of the Egyptian chefs. We had this sitting outside on deck in a restricted area of the ship where passengers are not normally allowed, all while sailing down the Suez Canal.
    It was a great meal with some fab wine and the whole experience added to the memorability of this the last cruise of this wonderful old ship. At least it's last cruise as Legend of the seas, as when she transfers to Thomson, she will be refitted and renamed Discovery 2.    Read more

  • Rulocal2017 Legend Dubai-BarcelonaRulocal

    Suez Canal Transit

    March 20, 2017 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Some time last night we started our transition of the Suez Canal.
    I have actually done the trip many times before, but always north to south, this is the first time I have travelled south to north, not that there is any real difference in the journey.
    I must say though that it never ceases to amaze me how they managed to dig out the thing 150 odd years ago, and in only 10 years.    Read more

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