Transatlantic crossing 2018: Portland, UK

Brest, France

When I woke up we were in Portland. The morning was grey and rainy. The misty Albion, true to its name, greeted us shrouded in thick fog.

My excursion to Salisbury and Stonehenge was scheduled for 8 am. The bad weather affected my mood and I thought about not going. On the other hand, staying on the ship did not sound any better. I quickly had breakfast and went to the lower deck where crowds of passengers already gathered waiting for the arrival of British immigration officers.

The excursion to Salisbury and Stonehenge was the farthest of all shore excursions and required more time. Therefore, we were going through immigration first.

Here, I had a problem. The ship’s final destination was Southampton, UK. I asked for permission to get off the ship the day before at the previous stop in Le Havre, France. After the cruise, I wanted to travel through Northern France to Germany and other countries. Disembarking in Southampton meant that I had to cross La Manche again to return to the mainland. It was extra time and expense that I did not need. The agency easily granted permission for the shorter cruise, no refund for the unused day. However, they informed me in writing that they would keep my passport in their possession until Le Havre. The reason for that was beyond my comprehension. Was the agency afraid that I was going to escape?

I asked how to go through British immigration without my passport.

‘Oh, you just go back to the customer service desk after immigration stamped your passport.’

‘Okay, and how do I return to the ship without the passport?’

‘Show another id or a photocopy of your passport’.

‘Can I bring my passport after the excursion?’

‘No, we must have now’.

This cumbersome procedure did not make sense to me, and I do not like things that make no sense. I decided to act according to the circumstances.

Returning to the ship after immigration turned out to be impossible. It was a one-way road. All passengers were led outside and put on large buses. By 9 am, all buses were packed except for ours. Two seats were vacant. Our guide said that these people were detained by immigration on board of the ship. We waited for another hour; the issue was not resolved and the bus left without them. I wondered what was going to happen to them at the last stop. A repositioning cruise does not return to its departure port. Everyone must leave the ship. If these 2 passengers could not get through immigration in Portland how would they do it in Southampton?

It drizzled and the fog stuck to the ground. Looking out of the window was pointless. The visibility was a few yards. Our guide Bryan did his best to keep us entertained. He had a nice British accent and rich vocabulary. Among other things, he explained why the British say ‘the loo’ instead of ‘the restroom’ and complained about the cost of gas which is called ‘petrol’ in Britain. It was $9/gallon. ‘That’s why we drive small cars and put a lot of people into them,’ he said.

When the fog gradually lifted we could see neat and sturdily built houses. Blackface sheep, the most common breed in the UK, recently had lambs. These little wooly creatures stood by their mothers on green pastures and the scenery looked idyllic.

From time to time, we passed on both sides of the road round mounds of earth. Bryan explained that they are Neolithic burial sites. Some of them were excavated. Now the archaeologists wait for a better technology that will allow them to see what’s underground before they start digging.

Fields of vivid yellow rapeseed crops were everywhere. “Not healthy, but, hey, it’s cheap!’ commented Bryan.

Rapeseed was never intended for human consumption. Today, this mass-produced oil is found in nearly all processed foods.

In 1956 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned rapeseed oil for human consumption due to high levels of erucic acid. Nature often tells us what to eat, and what to avoid, and the erucic acid made the oil very bitter and unpleasant.

So farmers developed different varieties with lower levels of erucic acid, apparently through “natural” selection.  This was called Canola (derived from “Canadian oil low acid”) and proclaimed the all-new healthy oil. 

Erucic Acid is an omega 9 oil and certainly has inflammatory properties.  It can irritate mucous membranes, damage the myelin sheath, interfere with vitamin E and can even cause myocardial lipidosis (fatty degeneration of the heart).  

There’s no escaping that this particular element of the oil has the potential for incredible disruption in the human body.  As ever, the widespread use of this, and other vegetable oils makes this more of an issue where people are consuming a lot of processed food, and thus by default consume more erucic acid than they should be.

Source: http://www.seventhwaveuk.com/content/117-is-rapeseed-really-a-healthy-oil

Stonehenge appeared without a warning and it shocked. One can look at hundreds of its photos. In reality, Stonehenge is much more impressive. I experienced the same effect at the pyramids. No photos can reproduce the real thing.

The Stonehenge rocks were raised about 4,500 years ago. However, this area was considered sacred long before the prehistoric temple was constructed. People believed in healing powers of the magical bluestones. The sick and the injured traveled great distances to this place to get cured. The unfortunate ones who died got buried in Stonehenge. Recent excavations showed an abnormally large percentage of bones with deformities or trauma which supports this theory.

The famous monument is more than the visible rocks. There are two deep circular trenches that surround them, burial mounds and postholes. The temple was rebuilt many times over the centuries and its configuration was changed. Before this place became a museum, the locals quite possibly reused a few rocks as construction material.

The area with the British national treasure is surrounded with a fence. It is not possible to approach the rocks. The new visitor center is deliberately built far (1.5 miles) from the Stones. A shuttle takes visitors to them. Walking is allowed too.

The rain stopped when our bus got there. We were given enough time to stroll around the ancient monument, browse through souvenirs in the shop and visit the museum. Bryan said that the cafeteria served tea and cakes, rather overpriced. So if we were not starving we’d better wait until the stop in Salisbury.

The sun was shining when we got to Salisbury. Bryan talked non-stop about the city and its history trying to make up for the hour that we lost while waiting for the 2 passengers with passport problems. The main attraction was, of course, the Cathedral that houses one of the 4 surviving copies of Magna Carta, a symbol of justice and human rights.

Everyone quickly glanced at the manuscript that dates back to 1215. Now we could say ‘Yeah, I have seen it’. This was all that one can do with it. The entrance to the Cathedral was free, but a donation of an equivalent of 7.50 British pounds (about $10) in any currency was required. Two ladies guarded the way. Their severe looks made it clear that no donation meant no entrance. This did not sound like ‘a donation’ to me and I skipped the Cathedral. Besides, there was little time, I was hungry and wanted to see the city.

There was a long line in the café located right in the Cathedral. Eating there meant that I would not have time for anything else. I ran to the pedestrian area, found a bakery and bought a shrimp roll.

Chewing the roll, I went to search for a pub called “The Haunch of Venison”.  The legend says that when Salisbury was a village a passing traveler offered the locals to play cards with him. He was so lucky that one by one he relieved all the villagers from their money. The last player was a butcher who spotted cheating. The butcher pulled out his knife and in a flick of a second chopped off the gambler’s hand. He threw the hand that was still holding cards into the fireplace. The mummified hand with cards was found years later when the building was renovated and placed into a glass case. The building eventually became a pub. The hand was there on display. It was stolen several times and somehow returned. The pub building is very old; first records of it are circa 1320 and it is believed to be haunted.

I made a quick circle around the old part of Salisbury taking photos and went back to the bus. The ride to the port was 2.5 hours. Once on board of “The Norwegian Jade” I brought my passport to customer service. They took the passport and nobody complained that I returned it after the shore excursion.

On the following day, the ship would be in Le Havre, France where I was getting off.