Ports of Call (Europe):

As I have written before, flexibility is the key to enjoying a freighter and the port visits would test my flexibility, but I did roll with the curves thrown and enjoyed them when I could.

Marsaxlokk, Malta (8 May 2006):

In the early afternoon of 8 May, the island of Malta appeared off the port bow. A very slow approach brought us to the mouth of Marsaxlokk harbor. Marsaxlokk is a port city that is located (if my sense of direction is correct) almost directly south of Valletta at about 10 miles. Malta Freeport Terminal is the name of the port itself and my understanding from the Captain is that CMA CGM was a major player in its development. I stayed up on the bridge from the time Malta came into view until just prior to the actual docking as it was time for the evening meal. After the ship was held outside the port for about an hour, the pilot boat came out a couple of miles and dropped off the pilot, who would guide us safely to the dock. Just prior to leaving the bridge for supper, the Captain invited me to join him and a few of the officers in town for a beer. After dinner, the Captain, Chief Mate, Chief Engineer (both named Gheorgi) and I headed off for the approximately 3 mile walk into town. In town I cashed some US dollars into Maltese Lira (all other ports would use Euro). The four of us sat outside at a harbor side bar and had a couple of cool beers. The Captain told me that we could depart the ship anytime we wanted, but prior to leaving the ship in the morning to check and ascertain the time of departure. Both the Ch. Mate and Ch. Engineer are quiet fellows, but I did find out that the Engineer was married with adult children and would leave in Lisbon. The Mate was in his early 30’s was married and had a 3 month old daughter back in Romania with his wife. He was a bit wistful . . . . missed them I believe. On our way back to the ship we passed a group of about 15 of the crew hanging out having a beer and some a “little” toke. Claudio jokingly offered me one. Found out the next day that they stayed out in town drinking until about 4 a.m. Geeez to be that young again.

The next morning it was a quick breakfast as Claudio had arranged for a taxi to take us into town at 8 am. We took a port bus from the ship to the exit of the port. The Captain told us we were leaving at 1:00 p.m., so we had to be back onboard at noon. We met the taxi and the driver took us to Valletta where we would do some sightseeing and shopping. I would look for a internet café and drop my wife a quick note. By the time we got to town we only had about 3 hours to look around as we had to meet the cab for the ride back at 11:30. With that short time, there was little to see, so we stayed as a group. We stopped at a travel office and obtained some maps and walked about, bought some souvenirs and headed back to the ship via our friendly cabby. In the short time available, I was unable to locate an internet café. Cost of the cab round trip was about $12 each. We sailed for Italy at 1:15 . . . almost on time. I was on the bridge for sail-a-way and the Captain informed us that the ship would be skipping its port visit in Savannah, Ga.

Livorno (Leghorn), Italy (10-11 May 2006): A day and a half steaming brought us to the port of Livorno. We arrived about 8 p.m. and as we were not allowed to leave until after customs and immigration had cleared us and the port agent arrived, we decided to leave the ship in the morning. Patty had found a card with the name and number of a taxi driver in Livorno and after an early breakfast, Claudio gave him a ring. The driver, Valerio, agreed to to pick us up dockside, drop Louis off at the train station in Livorno, then take Patty, Karen and I on a 3 hour tour that would include Pisa, Livorno and the hills overlooking Livorno. He would then drop us off in town for shopping, pick us up at an agreed upon time and deposit us back to the ship. This pretty much is how the day worked out. Valerio was college educated, spoke good but accented English and was a charming host. His vehicle was a late model VW 7 passenger Van and was quite comfortable. The cost for the day, including tip was about $50 per person. He dropped us off in town a little after noon and we agreed to meet him there at 4 p.m. Prior to dropping us off, we stopped at a ATM for me to get some cash, while the ladies went across the street to a money change shop to exchange dollars for Euros. Unfortunately, my ATM would not work as I did not have a European PIN (I think 6 digit). Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring plenty of cash to last me the trip, just in case. We ran into the bane of travelers . . . siesta. Actually, we first visited an open air market and made some purchases for the lounge and ourselves. Then it was on to a delightful restaurant for lunch. The ladies had shrimp scampi and French fries, while I had a seafood pasta in a spicy red sauce and a beer. The total bill came to 51 Euros which I put on my credit card and the ladies gave me Euros for their share. After, we walked around downtown Livorno looking at some of the shops, did a bit of sightseeing and stopped for a delicious gelato. We arrived to our pickup point a little early and at exactly 4pm Valerio pulls up to take us back to the ship. On the way back he told us we were lucky to have made the hire of him that day as there was only one, small cruise ship in port. He told us in all of Livorno there are only 75 or so regulated taxi’s and when the cruise ships are in port he is always, always busy. He also told us that the next day, 4 cruise ships were expected in port and we probably would not have contracted a driver.

While in Pisa, Valerio showed us the University of Pisa, or at least that part that incorporates the Piazza dei Cavalieri with its student housing, chapel and classroom building. The University of Pisa is, of course, quite famous throughout the world and has produced such notable alumni and faculty as Galileo Galilei, Pope Clement XII and the singer Andrea Bocelli, along with three Nobel prize winners, Giosue Carducci (Poet), and Enrico Fermi and Carlo Rubbia (Physicists). The town of Pisa has a population of 90,000 which is supplemented by a student population of 70,000. After the University, Valerio took us to the Leaning Tower. Although interesting, I wasn’t as overawed by this structure as I thought I would be, but was more fascinated by the Duomo and Baptistry located in the same square. May is apparently a good time to visit the area as there were only moderate crowds . . . . . . Valerio told us at times the square is packed with visitors. Amongst the visitors this day were several groups of schoolchildren whom I would guess were in primary school. Little tykes who, for the most part, seemed generally interested in what they were seeing and learning. We took some photographs and walked around for about one-half hour. After leaving Pisa we headed back to Livorno and a drive thru of that city. It is a quite congested city at least in the town center. We drove thru the town, then along the Oceanside then headed up into the hills overlooking Livorno and the area surrounding it. From the heights of the hillside, Livorno painted a very pretty picture.

All in all, I considered it a well presented tour and well worth the price we paid for it. The Captain told us that we had to be back on board by 6 p.m. as the ship would sail at 7 p.m. We actually got back to the ship at 4:30 and had time for a nap before dinner. We actually set sail closer to 7:30, so after dinner I made my way up to the bridge to enjoy the transit out to sea. I believe this was the last time that the ship remained on schedule. We would be arrive in Genoa in the early morning.

Genoa (Genova), Italy (12 May 2006): Originally we were scheduled to be in Genoa until about 4 p.m., which meant we would have a good 7-8 hours to explore the town. Prior to leaving the ship at 8:30, we were informed that we had to be back by noon as we were due to depart now at 1 p.m. So, my only desire was to find an internet café near the port or better yet a telephone exchange in the port. Well the damn phone exchange was closed for repairs and I never located anything that resembled an internet café. First off, I had a little problem navigating the port area and got lost trying to walk into town. Once I turned myself around I headed out of the port and crossed a major thoroughfare into the heart of the port area. Lots of walking, all kinds of shops and stores, but nary and internet café. After this fruitless search, I found a bar and had a nice cold beer at 10:30 in the morning – frustration was working its’ way in. After the beer I headed back to the port and found a restaurant at the entrance of the port. I was trying to ask the guy at the counter about a telephone, he understood telephone, but said no. We were having a serious language problem (my fault as I left a phrase book in the cabin). A customer interrupted and in almost perfect English, told me that there was indeed a phone exchange, but that it was undergoing renovations and was closed for 2-3 days. Back to the ship. At lunch, the ladies said that they had caught a bus right outside the gate and spent a couple of enjoyable hours in old Genoa. After lunch, I mentioned to Claudio my frustration about the internet café and/or phone exchange. He told me not to worry, because at our next port (Fos sur Mer) there was a seaman’s club with both facilities – great. I headed up to the bridge for the departure and learned that we would not be departing at 1 p.m., but perhaps at 2 or 3 p.m. We actually did not get underway until 6 p.m. They loaded containers until 5 p.m. Here is where flexibility came into play. Had I had a cell phone, I could have contacted the ship and stayed out 4 more hours except for the fact that the sail-a-way time was changed hour to hour that day.

Fos sur Mer, France (13 May 06): Fos sur Mer as a port call for passengers is a big zero. But Claudio and the Captain had both informed me of that fact well before our arrival, so there was little disappointment. We were to pick up 6 new passengers here and the interpersonal dynamics proved to be quite interesting (more on that later).

I awoke that morning at 3:30 a.m. and was unable to get back to sleep, so I dressed and headed up to the bridge to watch our approach to Fos sur Mer (Fos). The Captain was already on the bridge and he welcomed me and offered me a cup of coffee. I spent the next 3 hours enjoying the approach and talking with this very interesting man. The approach was interesting. We were not headed in a southerly direction, so the coast was off the starboard side. Originally, some lights could be seen in the hillside. As the morning fast approached, more lights became apparent as the citizenry awakened to a new dawn. Fos is located 40 kilometers south of Marseilles. As the morning light increased the town of Marseilles could be seen in the distance under a cloud of smog. This was not an unusual phenomena as I noticed it on our approach to all the port cities in the Med and in the U.S. A filthy haze of smog could be seen over them all. Hopefully, someday in the future, we inhabitants of earth will learn how to burn cleaner fuels. I have little to no problems with allergies, but by 6 a.m. or so my eyes were burning.

The approach to Fos was slow but steady. The pilot came aboard for the last hour of the transit and we arrived dockside at approximately 7 a.m. Once the pilot was on the bridge, I made myself scarce and stayed out of the way. After breakfast, we passengers just lazed around deciding that we would not go off ship until after lunch. The distance into Marseille and the cost to get there had made us decide to just use the facilities of the Seaman’s club and stretch our legs on land. The new passengers arrived throughout the morning. Pierre, a French born American citizen was first to board, followed by Peer and Chantal, Belgian born Frenchmen, the Pierre (2) a young French executive traveling on his own to the U.S. where he would meet up with his wife for a long 4/5 day weekend in New York City. Last to board was a delightful French couple Alain and Nicole. He was a retired French Army General. (Please note that 3 of the 4 men had derivations of the name Pierre). I will write more of these people later on.

After lunch, 4 of us passengers headed off to the Seaman’s club for a beer and in my case to try to make some contact (email or phone) with my wife. After a couple of wrong turns and buildings we made our way to the club only to see a sign stating that the hours were 16:30 to 23:00. Damn, double damn. This would not do as we were to be back on board by 16:00 (4 p.m.) for a 5 p.m. departure. So once again, my plans to contact my wife were thwarted by bad timing. With nothing else to do, we headed back to the ship. I spoke of my frustration with the Captain (not complaining, but just in conversation). He told me I could send an email from the ship and to see him the next morning when we were at sea. The next morning after breakfast, he took me to his office and let me use his computer and account to send a message to the wife telling her all was well. The only problem was the European keyboard, but I figured that out.

The day in Fos was spent loading, unloading and re-arranging containers and other cargo. In Miami, the ship had taken on as cargo a rather large pleasure/fishing boat. It was carried on the fantail (rear) of the ship and pretty much stretched from side to side. This boat was off-loaded in Fos and was an interesting evolution in itself. The gantry operator positioned it over the boat and two heavy-duty canvas straps were placed fore and after under the keel of the boat and with a series of maneuvers, it was gently placed in the water directly behind the Arno. This whole evolution took close to an hour and through binoculars we watched the owners as their “baby” was transferred off the ship. Nervous does not describe it.

Our 5 p.m. departure was once again delayed and we would leave after supper around 8:30, but again it was an hour by hour delay so no chance to get off and run to the Seaman’s club. It would really not have made a difference as we continuously checked the building with binoculars and it appears if they never opened the facility that day. We would spend the next day and a half at sea on our way to Valencia.

That evening at supper was the first opportunity for all the old and new passengers to get together and get to know each other. This evening would find them all to be delightful individuals. The two couples were closest to me and we were able to talk quite a bit. Luckily Peer spoke fair English and he acted as translator. Alain was not as conversant, but with the help of a translation book and Peer’s help, we also were able to keep up a conversation. Neither of the ladies spoke English, but once again Peer’s translation efforts paid off. Both Pierre’s were bi-lingual and conversation with them was easy. All in all it was an eclectic group that met daily in the dining room.

The next day Peer asked to join me on my walk. We walked together for awhile but it soon became apparent that he could not keep up with me. He told me to go on ahead. I would pass him a couple of times during the walk. Young Pierre was a jogger and he zipped by me twice during my walk. This would be our routine for the remainder of the voyage (except for rough seas days). Peer and I quickly became friends and we correspond to this date. I have also had correspondence with young Pierre.

Valencia, Spain (14-15 May 2006): We were due to arrive in Valencia around 3 p.m. on Sunday the 14^th of May and indeed we did. Unfortunately we were made to drop anchor and lay to off the port for 3 or 4 hours. Although we were never given the official reason for this, we passengers suspected it had to do with the America’s Cup challenges that were being held that day. The Luis Vitton Cup and the America’s Cup will be contested off Valencia next spring but there apparently a number of challenges contested prior to that in the waters off Valencia. After watching some of the action thru binoculars throughout the afternoon, we upped anchor about 7 p.m. and were dockside about 9 p.m... We knew this day was shot as it would take another hour for customs and immigrations to clear the ship. So we made plans to visit the city the next day.

Our original plan had been to get a cab to the central city where we could get a tourist bus (12 Euro) and enjoy a 2 hour tour of the city. But once again, the vagaries of this type of travel jumped up and bit us. We were informed we had to be back on board at noon for a 1 p.m. departure. After breakfast in the morning 6 of us headed off to the port entrance where taxis had been arranged to take us into town for a visit. On arrival at the entrance, we discovered only one taxi. That driver made a call for another taxi and we decided to split up. Young Pierre would accompany Karen and Patty, while I would join with Peer and Chantal for the day. The other group got the first cab and we awaited the 2^nd one. Fifteen minutes later a cab pulled into some office spaces across the entrance from us and dropped off a passenger. As he was leaving, I waved to get his attention and he came up to us. He was not the cab who was called for us (but he was supposed to be there in 5 minutes). Again the language barrier was raised, but fortunately, Peer could speak a little Spanish, so we got by once again. We hopped in the cab with Peer in front (so he could converse safely with the driver) and Chantal and I in back. then enjoy the day and catch a cab back. The ride was about 20 minutes. Ten minutes into the ride, Peer turns and asks me if we should try to hire him for a couple of hours. Why not? A price of 20 Euro per person was agreed upon and the driver Luis led us on a nice but quick tour of the city. We stopped for half an hour at a beautiful square (?? Del la Ria). The square was surrounded by apartments, restaurants, a beautiful Catholic church and various buildings. It was the feast day for the church and the square was gaily decorated in anticipation of the celebration to be held later that day. We enjoyed a coffee (beer for Chantal), then walked around and enjoyed the time, the place and each other’s company for two hours then headed back to the ship. On arrival back at the port we tip Luis 5 Euro each for his wonderful service. Unlike the morning when we had to walk from the ship to the port entrance, as soon as we got inside the port a bus picked us up and we were whisked back to the ship.

After lunch, I headed to my cabin for an afternoon siesta. When I awoke about 3 p.m. (expecting to be at sea), we were still tied up. Nothing new! I was just a little miffed and headed up to the bridge. The captain quickly noticed that I was upset and drew me out on the bridge, where he explained that the port agent had screwed up as to departure time and soon after we left the ship that morning, it had been determined that we would not depart until 6 p.m. We could have had 3 or 4 more hours to explore this beautiful city. Flexibility. We did depart Valencia at 6 p.m. and watched some of the racing yachts on our way out. We would be in Lisbon in a day and a half. Hopefully we would have some quality time in that port, but I was not going to hold my breath.

The next day while still in the Mediterranean, the seas were calm. About 10:30 I was in my stateroom working on my Bunka project. I got up to stretch and looking out my porthole, I noticed a disturbance in the calm waters. It was a large school of dolphin cavorting off our port beam. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say there had to be hundreds. (I later looked this up on the internet and confirmed that they would travel in groups this size where they are called herds or aggregations) (http://www.wiu.edu/users/emp102/DolphinWeb/dolphin_behavior.htm ) I headed up to the bridge and grabbed a set of the always present binoculars and watched in amazement as it became apparent that this school was even bigger than I thought. It appeared to stretch the entire length of the ship and out a hundred yards or so. It was huge. They hung with the ship awhile then disappeared. Some of the other passengers had seen them as I knocked on some doors on my way up to the bridge.

Later that day we headed back thru the Straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic, but because of the heavy haze there is really nothing to write about, so I won’t.

Immediately on departing the Mediterranean, the seas picked up and white caps appeared. We ran in these seas until suppertime when once again the seas calmed down to a gentle flow.

That evening Peer, Chantal, young Pierre and I sat around for over an hour after dinner just getting to know each other. We had a few glasses of wine (too many) and Claudio fixed us a couple of drinks (citrus mix and chilled vodka (almost a slush). Afterward Chantal, Peer and I adjourned to the lounge where she brought a bottle of vodka and we commiserated for a while longer over screwdrivers. Needless to say, I did not exercise the next morning. It was a most pleasant evening spent with a most pleasant couple.

The next morning as we steamed towards Lisbon, Alain, Peer, young Pierre and I were given a approximately two hour tour of the engine spaces conducted by the 2^nd Engineer. I am an absolute zero when it comes to things mechanical and his English was not to good, so I did not know all that I was looking at. Nevertheless, I was impressed by what I saw. Remember that the ship is almost 30 years old yet the spaces were clean and extremely well maintained. The spaces are huge. They run the entire length and breadth of the “castle” and extend 5 decks below the main deck. Like most engine spaces on ships, they were quite warm (but not as uncomfortable as on some Navy ships). There was an air conditioned space for doing paperwork, etc. After the tour I was talking with the Captain and he told me that when we were in port in New York a prospective buyer was coming onboard to take a look-see to buy the ship for scrap.

Lisbon, Portugal (18 May 2006): Finally, a port with quality time to enjoy. When I awoke in the morning and made my way to the bridge, I could see land dead ahead maybe 10-12 miles away. Even though we were moving slowly, I was told that we would be tied up shortly. Ahhhhh, but once again, the gods of freighter travel intervened. After breakfast I noticed that we were stopped dead in the water. Up to the bridge and no explanation. But, it soon became apparent just why we were stopped. A formation of Portuguese warships was slowly making it way out of the port of Lisbon. There were 2 frigates followed by an oiler/supply vessel which in turn was followed by one last frigate. Almost immediately after they past us, we started up again and were approached by the pilot boat. The transit into Lisbon is stunning. Running directly at land, the ship turned to starboard and headed for the famous bridge of Lisbon. A slow transit takes the ship by the lighthouse to starboard, then the beautiful Monument of Discoveries to port, then under the magnificent bridge and directly across the bridge over the Tejo river from the port is the famous Christ the King statue. Awesome!

We tied up at about 11:00 a.m. and were ashore by 11:30. The ship was not scheduled to depart until 11 p.m., so we had plenty of time to spend ashore. The walk to the port entrance was short and the same 6 people as in Valencia once again headed of to explore. Alain and Nicole were to depart in this port and head back to France for a first communion on the weekend ahead. We would miss their company. Pierre the senior never did leave the ship.

Once out of the port and across a small bridge we could not make up our mind which way to head. Peer and I thought to the left. Karen and Patty thought straight ahead. So once again we split up the same as in Valencia. 15 minutes later, Peer, Chantal and I thought we had chosen wrong. We decided to hail a cab. But, not in Lisbon. Apparently you have to call and hire one. So we kept walking. Soon we came to an area almost directly under the bridge we had passed under on the ship. Peer, having been in Lisbon before, thought it looked familiar and said, “Yes, yes, this is the place”. Sure enough, just to our left near the river we saw the backside of what appeared to be a restaurant. Indeed it was. In fact, it was the first in a row of 6 or more riverside restaurants. We decided to eat at the first one we had seen, a place called “The Irish Pub”. We sat down and enjoyed a cold beer while perusing the menu. The waitress, a cute Polish lass with stunning blue eyes, took our order. Chantal and Peer enjoyed a steak and I enjoyed a Portuguese hamburger (minus the bun). We shared a bottle of Mateus and I believe Peer and Chantal may have had a dessert. I know the meals were not expensive, but as I went to pay for the lunch, Peer said, “ John, because we are in Europe, your lunch is on us”. I could not refuse this gesture, and hoped to be able to repay them when we arrive in New York. After lunch we asked the waitress if she would call us a cab. She did and gave us the contract number for when the cab arrived (good thing as another tourist tried to grab the cab from us but we gave the cabby the right number). We asked the cabbie to take us to “El Englis Court”, which is something akin to an upscale super Wal-Mart. This cabbie, also named Louis as the cabbie in Valencia, spoke no English, but was fluent in French (how lucky can we get). Once again, we decided to hire him. We were to be dropped off at “El Englis Court”, given 45 minutes to shop, then we would get a 3 hour tour of Lisbon. The price was once again 20 Euro per person (we also tipped him 5 Euro each).

Louis dropped us off at the “Court” and Chantal accompanied me to look for some gifts for my wife. I sort of needed a woman’s opinion. I settled on a couple pair of Majorcan pearls, some table linen and linen rings. The store itself was quite interesting. As I mentioned it was an upscale version of our Super Wal-Mart, but instead of being a horizontal building (one floor), it was vertical with, I believe, 7 floors. The basement was devoted to groceries, etc. Unlike Wal-Mart, there was a liquor section where I picked up a nice moderately priced bottle of Port for after dinner in the dining room. After our shopping trip, we found Peer and Louis waiting at the cab and our 3 hour sojourn of Lisbon commenced. He drove us all over Lisbon and we stopped at a small square and had coffee and did some souvenir shopping. Past impressive churches and cathedrals, stopping at a couple of Plaza’s for photo ops. Unfortunately, I forgot my small journal and tried to commit the names of these places to memory. I failed miserably. Another unfortunate thing was that I forgot to recharge the battery on my digital camera and it ran out of juice as we were docking. As the battery was still charging, I left the camera on ship. Chantal and Peer later burned me a disk of their photo’s from that day. I wish I had been better prepared for Lisbon as it is a lovely city and has so many beautiful sights.

At the end of the tour, we stopped at a seaside bar and the three of us invited the driver to join us for a beer. He had a short one, while the 3 of us enjoyed on tall, cold beer. As the afternoon was proving to be quite warm, it was a refreshing stop. Louis took us back to the port and with some convincing at the port authority was able to drive us right to the ship. Nice touch.

We could have stayed ashore until 10 p.m., but we had done a lot of walking and were a bit tired. We got back to the ship in time to clean up and head for dinner. After dinner Peer quickly hurried to the passenger lounge to watch the finals of the European Soccer. A match between and English team and Barcelona. He is quite a “football” fan.

At dinner that night we were to encounter the first of a few unpleasant nights with Pierre the elder. He had apparently stayed on board all day drinking in his room and was quite belligerent at the table. Just a bit unpleasant . . . . . but it would get worse.

After dinner, I went up to the bridge and had a long conversation with the 2^nd Mate Anton (Tony). We talked about his life at sea, my life at sea, life at sea in general and also about our families. He explained a lot about container ships in general and the Arno in particular. He will take the test for 1^st Mate this summer and is quite confident that he will have a successful run at it. He is a graduate of a Maritime academy. He does have a special lady back in Romania. Tony is 28, but looks to be 18. I guess this is a bit because he tends to chubbiness and has a bit of a cherubic face and a buzz cut. I was never fooled by his appearance though. He was always “the” professional” I mentioned the “dolphin” experience of 2 days prior. He informed me that the gathering was much bigger than I thought it was. The ship picked it up on radar or some other instrument and it measured approximately 650 X 150 meters (2100 X 500 feet). It was huge. He said none of the bridge officers had ever encountered one near as large as that before. Interesting. I watched out over the pier as the crew meandered back to the ship and saw the Captain head off into town about 8 p.m. We must have been quite engrossed in our conversation as all of a sudden it was almost 11 p.m. During our conversation, the Mate carried on his duties answering bells and alarms, etc. Quite young (28) he was quite the professional.

I went to bed (again with the warm room), but awoke a little after midnight as we were getting underway. I just opened the porthole and watched as we went under the bridge and I said a quick prayer to the Christ for a safe voyage back across the Atlantic. It had been a nice 9 day visit to the Mediterranean and western Europe. I enjoyed it all and only regret not having had quality time in all the ports.