Algarve

Today we had the chance to explore the Algarve coast of Portugal. We arrived in the city of Portimao early morning. Again our excursion buses were standing ready on the pier. The local guides waiting for us patiently, but eager to show us their region. The Algarve region lies in the South of Portugal and is famous for its beaches and beautiful coastline. In the western part you have fine golden beaches everywhere along the coastline, often lyingbetween high cliffs. One of this beaches was lying actually just 20 minutes from the place we were docked. Praia da Rocha has a length of 4 kilometers and numerous restaurants and bars in the vicinity. Many guests found their way to this beach and some even took a dip in the ocean. A little chilly at first but With a sea temperature at around 20 degrees not bad at all! The walking possibilities are very nice in this area too. Steffen, from the expedition team, tried out a new hike that goes along Praia da Rocha and then over the cliffs to other secluded beaches and cliffs. Definitely an option for next time! Cape St. Vincent is the southwestern most point of Portugal with far views to both sides. It was almost possible to see Africa and America from there... For our German guests it was possible to buy the last 'Bratwurst' before America! Some actually did and received a certificate for it.

The lighthouse on Cape St. Vincent is garding one of the busiest shipping areas in the world, it is also a landmark for the ships traveling to or from the Mediterranean. The cliffs at the Cape rise vertically from the Atlantic up to 75 meters high. After this relaxed day we make our way to Africa!

Globes and ropes in Lisboa

A dark, misty morning sees us rolling into the river Tejo, entrance to Portugal's capital, Lisbon. Or, better, Lisboa: The name translated means "Lovely Bay" in Portuguese and gives the reason for the long and colourful history of the town in a nutshell. Not less than 3000 years ago the Phoenician traders were the first to discover the advantages of the location and founded a settlement/trading point there. Much later, the Greeks would follow, then the Romans, the Visigotes, the Maures, the Templar Knights - literally every important nation of the Antique settled, conquered, built, modified this city. The heterogeneity of the architecture is the most prominent witness for that; here we have the labyrinthic alleys and winding streets of the Baixa, seeming randomly cut into the assembled houses, now lined with local shops and bars, there the neo-gothic buildings of the times of the first Portuguese Republic. The core of the old city centre is entirely different again: After the devastating earthquake of 1755 it was here that the Marquis de Pombal delivered his chef-d'oeuvre, reconstructing the town in a very short time, creating more space and making it safer against future earthquakes.

All this you can discover walking from our pier, which is more or less around the corner, or by joining the bus excursions, one going more into Lisboas details (and joining a Fado show for lunch), the other one heading for Sintra, summer refuge of the Royalty and the Royalty's Loyals. Especially King Manuel is to be mentioned, great promoter of the Portuguese navigation school and creator of a very distinct building style ("Manuelinic"), featuring the masonry depiction of a lot of maritime details, like ropes and knots, ship's bows and so forth. His influence made Portugal to the leading seafarer nation of the 15th century; but is was certainly the head of the navigation school who provided the knowledge and the training for the country's captains - Henry the Navigator. Although he never took to sea himself he accumulated the greatest skills in his person, so every navigator who came out of his school was up to all imaginable tasks. In 1960 the great monument Padrão dos Decobriementos was erected to remember this brilliant mind who died 500 years before.

The palace of Sintra is not one of those which make you sick of gold and gems, it is rather low key in the choice of materials. But the overall arrangement is so exquisite and tasteful that you are immediately captivated by the beauty of the place. Sintra itself is sitting in the immensely green and lush slopes of the surrounding mountains, a real little paradise.
Back to Lisboa, a city walk is the contrast to the peacefulness of Sintra, the city is buzzing and noisy and busy - but charming. The street cars are moving relics of the old days, the churches realms of silence, the streets a woven network of people, goods, food, and smiles.
Seems the only sad tune today were the melodies of the Fado...

Portugal Oporto Port

This morning we arrived around 8 o 'clock in the harbour of Lexious, which is part of the town Matosinhos. Matosinhos lies around 10 km's from the city Oporto. When entering the harbour we could enjoy a beautiful sunrise. It is always exiting to stand on deck when entering a new harbour, today we were passing several fishing boats surrounded with numerous birds. From the pier two excursions were leaving strait away. One whole day excursion with destination Douro valley and one shorter excursion to the city Oporto. Both excursions had as central themes the river Douro and Port wine. Port wine is produced exclusively in the Douro valley in the Northern provinces of Portugal. The scenery is spectacular in this region. Part of the excursion was a wonderful lunch in the winery of Quinta da Pacheca. During the city tour of Oporto we got to know a lot of facts about the people living there. Did you know that the Portugees eat twice the amount of fish then the average European! They catch a lot of fish also! After Japan and Iceland Portugal is the biggest fishing nation. In the centre of town we visited the cathedral and the Sao Bento Railway Station. After that we had a nice cruise on the river Douro with a Rabelo boat, once used to transport the barrels of wine from the Douro region down to the wine cellars in Gaia. We sailed under the numerous bridges crossing this river, and we had fantastic views on both sides. We ended our tour with a visit to a port wine cellar. Here we tasted two different kinds of port wine. First we tried the white port wine, made from white grapes and then we tried a glass of ruby port wine, made from red grapes. Both very tasty! Unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to try the tawny port which is also made from red grapes and are aged in wooden barrels. At 16 o'clock we left Oporto and we are sailing South towards the capital of Portugal, Lissabon!

Oh, A Coruña...!

Or is it "La" Coruna…? Or "O" Coruña??
Never mind, you'd only be supposed to know about these things if you apply for an administration job here in Galicia. Then you have to pass a test in their local language, Gallego, which is a mix of Portuguese spelling and Spanish pronunciation. So, the right answer has to be "A" Coruña. Traditions are living up again here in the north-western corner of the Iberian peninsula, even the kids at school are being brought up with their ancestors language. The reason is only partly romantic, but has also a political and economical side: The general crisis forced quite a number of citizens, who couldn't compete with the tighter market, out in the countryside again where they still had fields and a house to take up old-fashioned, but self-sustained work again. That brings back the old times alright. And there's elections coming up and of course the swing to the old values is a great wave to surf upon, at least in the eyes of the candidates. 

History is strong here, has been for a long, long time. Certainly the most spectacular and - by function - most visible monument for that is the Hercules Tower, the oldest lighthouse in the world. Built by the Romans already around the year AD 180, its structure is still standing, be it with a few outside reparations in the 19th century. And it is still in use, still showing ships the way in the dangerous waters near Cap Finisterre, now equipped with a modern LED, replacing the oil lantern of the old, very old days.
The Celts were here, the Maures, Napoleonic Wars were fought, only the second World War somehow left this spot out, so most of the beautiful houses with their characteristic glass verandas are still there. They were built from surplus material of the shipyards and proved to be very useful to keep the humidity out of the apartments. And moist it is, here, on this spit in the sea, warm and mellow. 

In finest weather conditions the excursions leave to various places, top address obviously being Santiago de Compostela, destination of millions of pilgrims from all around the world, who come to see the place where the bones of St. James are buried. Not millions, but thousands seem to be here today, now imagine the throng in summertime…! However, the magic of this place doesn't fail to enchant all who saw it, and the - very rare! - swinging of the huge incense bowl is a big event.

Quite a bit more peaceful the village of Betanzos, where flowers bloom and the soft autumn light is perfect for getting a shot of the Franciscan's church, where the odd relation between cross and pigs, or rather wild boars, is reflected in many a stone mason's work.

Seems we have spent the best part of the day ashore, as soon as we leave port clouds are closing in, and toward the evening the familiar pitching of the ship sets in; today, however, most of us have already earned their sea legs and don't care so much.
The dolphins out there have fun, too, frolicking around FRAM and jumping in great numbers. Dusk comes early here in the South, so the ship calms down after dinner.
Tomorrow: Next port, next country - Portugal, here we come...

Dancing on the Bay

In many religions the Sea is very often connoted with a female Goddess, and it sure has to do with beauty and fascination. However, on a day like this one could remark ironically that things like "change of mood", or "wicked temper" also spring to mind: Whereas this morning saw a mild ocean all around, us being the centre of a vast expanse of grey, our brave ship is riding bigger and bigger waves now like a cowboy on a rodeo horse that gets more and more angry by the minute.

It all started so peacefully, with morning lectures, breakfast at a mild 18 degrees and ample time to read, have a coffee upstairs (or a Sverre, which is a Norwegian waffle speciality, the equivalent to the French Gaufre). Time also to take a little sneak peak behind the scenes, into the tally for example, where every day the huge task is tackled to keep 231 guests well fed and happily digesting. A sea day is also the occasion for the crew to practice the necessary procedures for emergency situation, so a fire drill was carried out, of course curiously ogled by many. The glance into one of the lifeboats, however, is not one you get very often, so here you go, this is how these things look like from inside.

After lunch there was a slight change in the ship's movements, people in the lecture theatres were sitting with their legs more apart in order to have a better hold. Hm. Maybe just a short stretch.
That was three hours ago. Now we are in the middle of big (and beautiful!) waves that shake the floors and move the plates on the table. The Bay of Biskay shows its (her?) angry face, we have to cancel the program in the Observation lounge tonight - the higher you're up, the stronger the shakes (if you spill your drink up there - right, would be a Shakes-Beer… ok,ok - not funny!) The ship got quieter, the appetite is sinking, the galley staff is fighting with pots and pans.
That is what makes the sea so unpredictable. And so beautiful...

The great elephant of Nantes

At 8 o'clock this morning we moored at the pier of the island of Nantes. It is fair to say that the main attraction on this island is the museum "Les Machines de l'ile". This museum is built on the location of the former shipyards and it shows mechanical creations where Jules Verne's "invented worlds" are combined with Leonardo da Vinci's mechanical universe. The main attraction of this museum is the great elephant. After 30 months of construction it was ready in 2007. The elephant is 12 m high, 21 m long, exists out of 48 tons of steel and wood and costed around 2,5 million euro to build. But it was worth effort and the money!!  People can actually sit (max 49 passengers) on this humongous elephant and have a ride for half an hour. In the first four years the elephant carried already 250.000 passengers. It's really amazing, it walks like a real elephant, majestic and it even flaps its ears and can spray water if spectators are coming too close. But the city of Nantes has much more to offer. Especially on a day as today, mild temperatures and sun! Nantes is located on the Loire River 50 kilometer from the Atlantic coast. By the way, the Loire river is the longest river of France with a length of 1012 km. One of its main tributaries is the Erdre River and on this lovely river we could join a river cruise in the morning. This excursion was combined with a visit to the St. Pierre Cathedral and the castle of Dukes of Brittany, which both lie in the centre of Nantes. Also the surroundings of Nantes are very beautiful. In the afternoon we had two excursion possibilities, either to the town Guerande or to the Chateau Goulaine & Clisson. At 20.30 we left the pier and made our way west to sail down the Loire towards the Bay of Biscay.

A sunny day at sea!

Yesterday's evening ended with the M/V Fram fasion show where the officers and the expedition team were very exited to show their new range of clothes and hairstyles. Since we had quiet seas most of us were up in the Observation Lounge to see them walking up and down the "runway". This morning it was nice to take it easy and to study the daily program. We had the choice of many interesting lectures, bridge visits, waffels on deck 7 and Bjørn playing the piano in the evening. And furthermore, the entire day was perfect to be on one of the outer decks. The temperatures were mild enough (15 degrees) to lie in one of the lazy chairs on deck 7 while enjoying the ocean or to take a nap. Just before the last lecture session a pod of common dolfins gathered around the ship. They were very playful and showed us some nice jumps. Can it get any better? Tomorrow early in the morning we will enter the river Loire where we will pick up a local pilot to arrive safely in the harbour of Nantes. We are looking forward to explore this city!

Paris by night!

Yesterday afternoon we took the bus to 'the city of lights', 'the city of love', Paris! We were lucky to miss the traffic leaving Rouen and too late to have any conflicts driving into Paris. So 1,5 hour later we drove around the l'Arc de Triomphe and shortly after down the Champs-Élyseés. There was still an hour of daylight left, so we could enjoy all the main hightlights with good light. From our high bus seats we could enjoy all the choas around us. We were all glad we had a good chauffeur who was used to the Parisian traffic, and that we were not driving ourselves! At 20 o'clock we were at the bottem of the Eiffel tower where we boarded our restaurant boat! It was like stepping into another world, with all the glass windows around us we could enjoy the amazing views of the Eiffel tower, the Notre-Dame cathedral and the numerous

bridges. 

All this while eating a delicous french dinner, listening to the romantic live music and moving gently down the stream of the river Seine. A success! 

Today we had the entire morning to explore the city of Rouen. Either by taking the shuttle bus or by the offered guided tour. Another excursion possibility was to Giverny, to visit Monet's museum: the house and gardens formerly owned by Monet. In the afternoon the Fram turned around and we made our way westagain, down the river Seine towards the Atlantic.