Writing Wednesday 19th August

Steps, 15,831

Yesterday may have been my final time in New York, or for that matter, North America.  However, I do have a reservation on a January 2028 voyage to the Caribbean.

I was awake around 5 am yesterday morning, feeling that it was later in the day.  At 6 o’clock, I started to get up, leaving plenty of time for the 08.00 hrs meeting time in the Royal Court Theatre for the only tour not sold out, to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

It was raining hard at the beginning of this tour, and I carried a waterproof garment, along with water and biscuits.  The miracle we prayed for in Reykjavik (a parting of the clouds to reveal the eclipse of the sun) occurred in New York instead!  It became humid, and already fatigued from the early start, I was drained of energy.  The bus and ferry to our first stop, The Statue of Liberty, was familiar as I had been on the same tour in February 2022.  It was a jolly sight colder then!   I glanced around the Museum, filled with tourists and families wandering aimlessly in all directions. 

While walking around the foot of the Statue of Liberty, my already damaged but still wearable glasses fell to the ground, one of the lenses falling out.  I now have to use my precription sun glasses to write this blog and to read things at a distance.  I understood that titanium is indestructible.  Not in my posession – these are the second pair to bite  the dust!

I took advantage of some free time for a panini  and a much needed battle of water in the café. All twenty of us met at the ferry terminal for the “crossing” to Ellis Island.   By now, I was in no condition to do justice to this immensely historic and important location.  I did get to watch a string of amazing vintage videos, dramatically bringing to life America’s past.  So my time there was not completely wasted.

As you may imagine, I was ready to go back to the ship and catch up on some sleep.  However, our (superb) tour guide threw in a bonus trip to the National September 11th Memorial.  Five minutes’ shut-eye on the bus did the trick and suddenly, despite having been before, I was thrilled at what might be a final opportunity to revisit this area.

The journey back to the ship lifted my spirits further, catching fleeting glimpses of e.g. Brooklyn Bridge.

Our tour guide regailed how in 2001, he had been among the very many who assisted in the aftermath of 9-11.  

It was amusing that our bus driver seemed to get her information from Google Maps,a little mixed up providing an imromptu tour of one of my favourite places in the U.S.A., Red Hook.  I am told it has hardly changed since the 1950s.  We were dropped off at B.C.T. where Q.M.2 towered majestically over the terminal buildings.

I have done this a few times now.  However, here are a few more (probably) final images at. B.C.T., Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

Below are pictures taken as QM2 was about to and  setting sail for Southampton, a journey of seven nights, 3,150 – 3,180 nautical miles. (Google)

I have never seen the high Deck 14 so crowded. Ir does command spectacular views from so high up.

It had turned into a gloriously hot day and with the obviously long and special day, I just made it to dinner in the Britannia Restaurant.  Fr. Michael remains the only person from the previous voyage (apart from me that is).  A young lady from Alaska, on her way to study in Glasgow had chosen not to fly for the last part of her journey, has joined our table, as has an old guy who says he lives a hundred miles from Canada, as well as a solo traveller from Milan, returning home from a holiday in North America.

So beginneth the homeward journey after which I shall more than likely wait sixteen months before I walk the hallowed grounds of a refitted QM2 once more.

Many thanks for reading, David 16.59 hrs, in the Kings Court Buffet  19/8/26.