I like to talk about some interesting encounters for my trip to Western Europe in May this year.
For this trip, I flew to London and proceeded to Southampton to embark on my cruise. The cruise itinerary consist of places in France, Spain and Portugal as shown in the map.
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| A TV channel showing the ship's navigational information such as its current position. |
Many people are unaware that Southampton is the port which Titanic was docked before its fatal maiden voyage. Before the trip, I searched online for information and the exact location of berth 44 which is where Titanic was docked. Unfortunately, berth 44 is no longer accessible to the public today as it has been transformed into a berth for cargo vessels. As a mark of respect to the victims of Titanic, berth 44 has not been made a tourist attraction. Nevertheless, I managed to take a photo of berth 44 when my cruise ship sailed past. At the time I took the photo, a cargo vessel was docked there and it was easy to identify berth 44 as one of the bollard which Titanic was tied to was painted bright orange.
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| Berth 44 can be easily identified by its bright orange bollard and the cruise terminal beside it. |
The first port of call, Le Harve in France had to be skipped due to a nation wide strike. Fortunately, this did not affect me since I visited Paris after the cruise. If you are planning a trip to Western Europe, you really need to be aware of labour strike.
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| Letter explaining that Le Harve port had to be skipped. |
At some places, tourists like me are having difficulty differentiating between male and female toilet. I recalled when I was in Lisbon, toilet signs showed "HOMEM" and "SENHORA". As I entered the one showing "HOMEM", I was glad to see the urinal which was an indication that I entered the correct toilet. The hilarious part was to see a lady (probably an American) coming out of this "HOMEM" toilet before I entered. You can imagine how much confusion the toilet signs caused.
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| Which is Male and which is Female toilet? |
I find the most interesting place for this cruise is Lisbon as Portugal is a less popular destination compared to U.K., France and Spain. Although Lisbon is a laid back city, there are still things to explore there. As my ship enters downtown Lisbon, the 2 icons were clearly visible. The first icon is the statue of Jesus Christ which is similar to the one in Brazil. The second icon is the Golden Gate Bridge which is similar to the one in San Francisco as both were built by the same contractor. Perhaps the most famous thing about this country which we know is the tarts. Portuguese tarts contain custard while the ones eaten here in Asia are egg tarts. If you have not been there, you wouldn't be aware of the difference.
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| Lisbon - a laid back city | Golden Gate Bridge & Jesus Christ Statue |
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| Portuguese Tarts (Custard) v.s. Macau Tarts (Egg) |
After the end of my cruise, I toured London for 2 days before heading to Paris. There aren't many things to mention about these 2 cities as most of us are already familiar with the attractions they have. However, something I feel worth mentioning is the Paris Opera House which is definitely a place to visit if you are a fan of the Phantom Of The Opera musical. There are some true elements in this opera house that inspired the author to write this story and it is not completely frictional as what we believe. One example is the underground lake that really existed in the Paris Opera House. In fact, the underground lake is so suitable for inhabitants that it really makes people wonder if the Phantom really existed.
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| The underground lake that exists underneath the Paris Opera House indicates that the Phantom story was much more than a fairy tale. |
References
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/article3213127.ece
https://www.inspireddiversions.com/article.php?id_art=118
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