Visit the Paul Bailey's Beer Blog site

It’s the start of the week, and sadly Mrs PBT’s and I are onthe last leg of our cruise, and slowly making our way home. At around 11am thismorning, Queen Victoria began her passage through the Straits of Gibraltar, butthis time in a westerly direction. Unlike our outward voyage, we passed throughthis narrow maritime passage during daylight hours, although the view – in bothdirections was slightly hazy, due to sea mist. It was still possible though, tosee the coasts of both Morocco and Spain, and I must say the rock itselflooked imposing and impressive, rising as it does, straight up from the sea.
The 11am passage meant having to miss “Blowers” second talk,although those who did attend claimed it was nowhere near as good as hisinitial presentation, which took place a few days ago. The speculation was thatperhaps, too much wine had been taken, but that was just a rumour, of course. Havingsaid that, we have discovered that gossip spreads both rapidly and rather too easilyon a ship, with one example being the story of two passengers, left behind inCagliari, because they didn’t get back on board ship in time.
It turned out to be a complete fantasy, but another rumourwas doing the rounds this morning, along the lines that extreme weatherconditions might prevent the ship docking in Lisbon tomorrow (Tuesday). I’m notsure where that one came from, although the ship’s captain did advise thatthere might be a 3-metre swell, later on tonight, due to increasingsouth-westerly winds.
The weather has been glorious so far, and it’s still warmand sunny as I sit here out on the balcony, typing this post. It would be ashame if we did have to miss the Portuguese capital, as the city represents myfirst foray onto foreign soil, as a shy, 17-year-old schoolboy, taking part inan educational cruise. I’m fairlycertain I wrote about that trip a few years ago, so I won’t bore you again withthe details now, but that voyage represents my first and only visit toPortugal, so I am keen to renew my acquaintance with a country that isEngland’s oldest ally.
Since my last post, we have visited Santorini, Cephalonia withits lovely capital Argostoli, and Cagliari, the charming, cosmopolitan capitalof Sardinia. It was blisteringly hot, when we docked in the town, two days ago,so much so that Eileen, who doesn’t like the heat at the best of times, onlygot as far as the exit from the port area, before deciding to turn back. Icarried on, being made of sterner stuff – mad dogs and all that, but I stayedin the shade as much as possible and had a good time exploring this lesser-knowncapital, on my own.
I took a look at the city’s compact and modernised, railwaystation, before climbing the hill up into Cagliari’s old town. I only made itso far though, as beyond the main square there is a much steeper ascent up intowhat must have been the original part of the town. An imposing, and impregnablelooking fortress dominates this area, as does a majestic cathedral, but I wascontent to sit at a table outside one of the many cafés and bars, overlookingthe old market square.
A couple of cooling glasses of a craft IPA, brewed on theItalian mainline, along with some slices of ham and cheese, in a soft-flat,white roll was just the thing to set me up for the rest of the day, but notbefore taking in the local comings and goings, of this bustling Sardinian port.Some of the local girls, dressed to impress and in time for a coffee and snack,provided quite a spectacle, and woe betide anyone who got in their way, ortried to spoil their enjoyment.
After this light lunch I did a spot of shopping, purchasinga couple of Sardinian craft beers, some local virgin, olive oil, some Sardinianhoney, plus a bar of a nougat-like confectionary, that wouldn’t melt in theexcessive heat. Finally, no visit to Italy could be called complete without somelocal ice-cream, and the mango-flavoured Gelato, served in a cone, and enjoyedunder the shady shop canopy overlooking the seafront, proved the perfect way toend my all too brief visit to this charming, Mediterranean island.
I made my way back onboard the cruise ship and tracked downMrs PBT’s. After a welcoming cup of coffee, we went out on deck and watched asthe Queen Victoria slipped her moorings, and sailed majestically out ofCagliari harbour, once in open waters, the ship took a westerly course atfirst, towards the Spanish coast, before changing to a south-westerly one, downtowards the southern tip of Spain, and the coastline of Africa. That is wherewe came in, and this is now, where we must leave you.

Follow Blog via EmailClick to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


More...