Emily's Transatlantic Transfer and John's Terrible Topple

 

Emily made her final decision to leave the States and relocate to Europe while she was visiting in June. So we began the planning of her transfer during her stay. While she was divesting of many things (including a car and furniture), it was still a complicated experience to plan, as she was bringing along two guitars, as well as needing a second pair of hands to close her affairs. The original plan is that John would accompany her by airplane. However, John really wanted me to come along. Some of you may know (or have ascertained from our multiple transatlantic crossings) that I do not do long-haul flights. So, I told him if I was to come along, we would have to make the larger portion of the trip cruises. Everyone agreed that this would be a nice way to break up what would inevitably be a hectic time. 

So I began the long process of planning a trip with multiple segments: flights for me and John from Sicily to England, and New York to Texas, two transatlantic cruises (our only choice Cunard because of the time of year), and flights for the three of us + seat for guitars for the reverse route, which ended up including an overnight train. Because I had to invest so much time in planning, we didn't get to do a lot of the day trips and activities I had in mind for Emily's visit. But, we did have some fun times around Capo D'Orlando.

We went to our town's 2nd annual lemon festival, where we sampled all kinds of lemon treats. Can you believe that plant is a lemon?! The variety is called Buddha's Hand.

We spent time at the sea.

We had a lovely visit to the nearby town of San Marco D'Alunzio, courtesy of friend Livio.

We celebrated friend Grazia's birthday along with her family. That pizza was amazing! There was also an especially lovely sunset that evening.

We learned how to cook fava beans and how to make gnocchi.

We had several aperitivo and granite.

Returning to my story .... Just after I completed the final reservation of this grand voyage, John fell in the street and fractured his femur! He was transferred by ambulance to an emergency room in Milazzo, then that night to a clinic in Messina, where he had surgery the following morning. He remained in the hospital in Messina for a week and was then transferred for rehabilitation to an assisted living facility in our town. (During the period in Messina, Emily returned to the States to begin prepping for her transfer.)

At the hospital in Messina after surgery, bringing John some of the items he needed. A tiny portion of the many stairs I had to climb after a walk from the bus stop, on a hot, sunny day to get to the clinic on the hill. I had to sit down and compose myself, almost crying, when I saw the stairs! On Google maps it was labeled as a street.

John's surgeon in Messina was great. His patient care was basic. He didn't look so good upon arrival at Villa Pacis, but that changed quickly once the staff (Marco, pictured above) started working with and caring for him.

John certainly ate well!

PT began immediately, and John made the effort. This is just 4 weeks after the surgery. Amazing!

Check-out day at Villa Pacis. These professionals were wonderful!

But back to our plans. Now there was a decision to be made. Should we continue with the plans, sans John? Because of a SNAFU with the travel insurance, we lost all of the portion of the trip for John. (Although I was able to eventually get travel credits for 3 of his flights - thank you Spirit and Vueling! I'm not sure we'll ever use them, but it's better than nothing.) Additionally, Emily's apartment lease expired in July. We knew that John would be in rehabilitation during the time frame of the trip, and that it would be months before he would be able to travel. Therefore, we collectively decided it was best to forge ahead.

This was a strange experience for me. I haven't traveled alone in decades, and I've never cruised solo. I think the hardest part of traveling solo is that you don't have someone to brainstorm solutions to problems, or even to chat with about issues. I did have some challenging itinerary changes, and it was stressful to have to think out everything myself, as well as the in-the-moment stress of wondering if I'd make my unplanned tight connections. In the end, it all worked out, thankfully. 

Phew! I made it to Southampton as planned. The lines were so long to check in at Catania airport (and Wizz Air required physical check in). I only made it because the agent told everyone going to Gatwick to come to the front of the line. Needless to say, some dirty looks were flying around. At Gatwick, I picked up a train, then switched at this cute old station to get to Southampton.

I was pleasantly surprised to see an IKEA a couple of blocks from my hotel. Swedish meatballs for dinner. Winning! I was also able to do some research on chairs for the apartment. There is an IKEA in Catania, but it's a bit difficult to get to for this purpose. Fortunately, they deliver to Capo D'Orlando, and now I just need to make my final selection. Winning again!

Since my boarding time was in the afternoon, I took the opportunity to walk around the old city walls of Southampton.

This was the area of the Castle's Watergate, 14th century.

The area called West Quay, 14th century, was once a busy waterfront area lined with homes of rich merchants. The arches are the former doorways.

It was sad to see that these former wealthy homes were now temporary domiciles for the homeless.

A few miscellaneous shots of portions of the walls.

Heading toward the waterfront, I found the D-Day Wall. It has inscriptions from American soldiers who were among 3.5 million Allied soldiers who embarked in Southampton during WWII.

This mural, from 1951, traces the history of Southampton from Roman to modern times. It was too long to fit in one photo! 

 
There were many contemporary murals dotted around the city, including on posts of a parking garage I walked through. They were a fun contrast to the ancient city walls.

Beautiful flowers were on display all around the city.

Built in 1070, St. Michael's Church (Church of England) is the oldest occupied building in Southampton. I didn't go inside because services had already begun, but I sat on the bench a while and enjoyed the choir.

I was able to pop into St. Joseph's Catholic Church, as services had not yet begun. The greeters were very welcoming and enthusiastic in explaining the church's significance as the first post-Reformation Catholic church in Southampton.

Amidst all the commercial shopping area stands Bargate and Guildhall. The original gate arch was constructed c. 1180, with alternations and additions over time.

I finished my walkabout with my favorite British street food, and a stop into Boots and Waterstones for a few last minute cruise supplies. I love both of these stores!

My explore completed, I returned to my hotel to collect my luggage and to catch a taxi to the port. I arrived at the Queen Mary 2 at my scheduled time. I was dismayed when it took 3 hours, in 6 queues, to finally get on board. Maybe walking around Southampton all morning wasn't such a great idea? They do this all the time; it really should be more organized!

Embarkation day was the only day with nice weather. I sat in the fancy deck chairs for a little while, grabbed a bite to eat, then retired to my cabin balcony to watch the sunset.

For cruising, I did occasionally eat a meal or have tea with others, but I mostly stuck to myself. A small portion of this was a result of Cunard's policies. When they have gala nights, passengers are restricted from the dining room and most of the evening entertainment venues unless they are dressed formally (for men that is a suit or tuxedo, and for women a ballgown or similar fancy dress). I do not own these types of clothes, nor would I have brought them if I did, since I needed to reserve room for some of Emily's things in my suitcase. As well, I needed to be able to manage that suitcase on my own. 

All good, because I really needed that 6 days to de-compress and renew from the stress behind and the activity awaiting me in Laredo. I spent every morning swimming in the covered pool, afternoons reading, studying Italian, and napping, and evenings listening to live music or reading in my cabin. The weather was not nice, so I didn't sit out on deck, but I tried to view the sea whenever I could. I took many walks around the ship trying to find special features I had learned about before traveling.

Cunard has its own tartan.

All of Cunard's cabins come with a small bottle of bubbly. Mine sat in the fridge until the last day, when John said I should open it and have a toast to him.

Tea time. I met the funniest lady at tea. She was in her 90s and had been married three times (all husbands died - all rings on her fingers). Now she has a 'boyfriend' in his 70s. She told us at the table that he proposed to her - over text! She was deciding. On the last day, I finally found the Homer Simpson hidden in the bronze panels.

There was a passenger choir. I knew Emily would want to do this on the return voyage.

I found the 'secret' outside elevator. This was a good sample of the weather during the voyage. 

The planned route and the actual route, about halfway through. Note that they list the resting place of the Titanic on the map. Because of the bad weather and need to change routes, we arrived 4 hours late to New York. This required changes in travel plans for me, and I again had another tight connection to make. Desperate for a taxi to Newark Airport that wasn't trying to rip me off, I agreed to a random driver walking around (only because another passenger was riding with and splitting the cost). When we got to his decrepit van (of course), I was seriously questioning my life choices. I texted John and Emily: I'm either on my way to Newark or I'm with a serial killer! The positive side of the late arrival was that our sail-in to NYC was during daylight hours. I've done this sail-in twice before, but always in the dark.

Pilot boat arriving. Gloomy, but warm enough to sit outside for the sail into New York.

Approaching and going under the Verrazano Bridge. It's been featured in many films, but in one film it became its own star. Do you know which?

Sailing into New York is a special experience. Everyone was excited about passing Lady Liberty.

After the scary taxi ride, I had no delays getting to Texas. Emily and I had a little less than a week to clear up her final business. She had accomplished a lot during the time I traveled, so there was just the right amount of time to finish things up, for her to have a few last get-togethers with friends, and for me to do a bit of clothes shopping.

Saying good-bye to Marina. Emily's former student, and friend, Gloria is the new owner. We are happy such a nice person is going to enjoy Marina now!

Toasting the end of our business in Laredo!

Off to Newark! No travel problems in this leg, other than handling all the bags and guitars. We may have had a cocktail on the plane to celebrate. 

Sailing back with Emily was another new experience, because, while we have had a couple of mom and daughter trips, we have never cruised just the two of us.

My ride from Newark this time was not scary. So many bags, we needed the big Lyft!

Ready to embark - literally and figuratively!

We had a nice sail-away from NYC. This was Emily's first time experiencing this port and my first time sailing out of it.

A different view of the bridge.

Cheers to endings and beginnings. It was more fun having someone to share my bubbly with.

Some unique aspects of Cunard ...

A full library! 

A full service kennel! Only owners are allowed, but this pup came to visit us while we were exploring. It is said that the lamp post is for the British dogs and the fire hydrant for the American dogs, LOL.

Daily tea time. It's delicious, but you cannot do this every day. So much food! One woman I met said she limits herself to one per crossing.

The Queen's Room is where the evening ball room dancing occurred. There were couples on board who performed exhibitions, gave lessons, and danced with people who were sailing solo. Emily went a few times on the gala nights, as she had proper clothes. 

The Queen's Room is a nod to the ballroom on the original Queen Mary (now a hotel and event space in Long Beach, California). We stayed overnight in 2018. 

The main dining room has a lovely art piece recognizing The Queen Mary. The QM2 is like a museum for the QM and Cunard. Scattered all throughout the ship are informational pieces and objects about the history of Cunard and the Queen Mary. It was fun to explore these, and here are a few I found especially interesting.

I found this fun fact to be true. I remember commenting on how beautiful the wood on QM was, especially in our stateroom. B484, above, was not our stateroom. Emily sought it out because it was featured in an episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved about the QM being haunted.

This photo of founder Samuel Cunard is prominently displayed. When you look at it up close, you see that it is constructed of tiny pictures of various Cunard ships. Cool.

Many do not realize that Samuel Cunard was a Canadian. We learned this on a Transatlantic cruise stop in Halifax in 2023 (of which I still haven't written!)

This section honored the many places that have been visited. I liked the quote!

This graphic compared the size of Queen Mary to buildings and monuments from its time.

There was a fun section showing all of the famous people who have traveled. Near this area ...

A planetarium! I was really looking forward to this feature, only to discover that it wasn't functioning and probably won't be repaired until the ship's next dry doc. Boo. Do you notice the sign saying Hollywood? Cunard also includes many talks throughout the voyage. The topics vary depending on the sailing, and they were using the planetarium for some of these. The high profile talk on our sailing was a series of film showings and discussions by director David Anspaugh. Perhaps you have seen some of his films? I had seen several, so I didn't go to those. The one I had not seen (The Game of Their Lives), unfortunately, conflicted with Emily's show choir concert.

As predicted, Emily wanted to participate in the passenger show choir. They gave a wonderful concert, and you can watch it here if you like.

In addition to having a passenger choir, the musical entertainment was quite diverse. We had a harpist, classical guitarists, jazz, classical pianists, opera singers, and a duo specializing in traditional Irish music, in addition to the more traditional popular music options. Every afternoon there was a special performance in the theatre - a classical concert, a short play, etc.

We enjoyed some fun foods and fancy cocktails, as well as Mother Nature's show along the way. Weather was similar to my crossing at first, but cleared up once we were about halfway. People were even swimming in the outside pool. I thought it a bit chilly for that, but the sun felt great!

Emily loved that sushi was available every day.

These were my favorite buffet dessert, like little sculptures. And tasty!

We did a port tasting and a sherry tasting. I preferred the ports, although both were good.

Emily treated to fancy drinks several times. She must have known I needed something, LOL! The G&Ts were named after various queens and had special tonics and fresh ingredients inside. Fancy! The hot chocolates were super delicious.

Debarked, we traveled a bit through English countryside to Gatwick airport, from which we flew to Roma.

England to Italy

Because I couldn't find a direct flight from England to Sicily on our desired day and time frame, we had decided to fly to Rome and take the overnight train directly to Capo D'Orlando. To travel on this train has been a bucket list item for me and John, because the train does something interesting. When it gets to the end of Italy's mainland, it is put on a ferry to cross over to Sicily! We really wanted to experience this process. Unfortunately, it got checked off my bucket list, but not John's. I'm sure he'll get a chance in the future.

In our cabin and ready to go to sleep. Those are some weary travelers (and this is the good photo, LOL!). We had a cabin for 4, since they don't come for 3. Even with John missing, it was very crowded with the luggage, guitars, and two people. Sleep was elusive. Every time I'd nod off, the train would jolt or stop, and I'd be awake again. Our train was delayed almost two hours for various reasons I never understood. We did get a partial refund. On the positive side, with the delay (original arrival time was 9 a.m.), our continental breakfast wasn't delivered at 6 a.m. as originally scheduled. For me, the coach was not worth the extra cost. If I travel by overnight train again, I'll just sleep poorly in a seat.

While awaiting our train, I got to see another in the line of Italy's musically-named trains. I wrote about these in another blog, if you are curious. I don't think Vivalto is an Italian word. So, I think this one is a play on words. Alto certainly has a musical meaning, but also means tall. I thought perhaps since it was a double decker, it might imply, "live tall." But then it also occurred that the famous composer Vivaldi's name begins this way. If any Italians out there know, please enlighten me! Regardless, I loved the musical notes in the colors of the Italian flag.

Short video of our train car going onto the ferry. Are you wondering yet why this is necessary, or do you know already? Sicily is not connected to mainland Italy (at least not yet - there's talk yet again of a bridge). It is separated by the Strait of Messina. Therefore, to cross by train you have two choices: 1) what we did; or, 2) take a train to the last stop on either side, take a ferry, pick up a train on the other side.

Walking around the ferry. An MSC cargo ship in the background.

Train car on the ferry.

It felt good to be out in the fresh air. There was also a special feeling because our first visit to Sicily was on a cruise port stop in Messina.

Our first time in Messina, 2007.

Well, that's the end of our story. Thanks to many friends who checked in on John while we were gone. It really helped lift his spirits. We forge ahead!