Portugal, Serra da Estrela

Wed 9/21

We arrived in Lisbon early in the morning to sunshine and warm weather at last!

Kenna, our LLL coordinator, and her husband Alan, an ecology professor, had invited me to go with them outside the city to see nature and landscapes for a change asI had told Kenna that I far preferred the country to the city

We rented a car and were given an upgrade to an Al Romeo which was not as fancy as it sounds.  (I think they make a cheap european model)  and set out to Serra da Estrela, a National Park about  300 Km from Lisbon.  We drove swiftly through Lisbon onto a toll road .  The scenery was unremarkable for the first two hours. We stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe and had a vey dry sandwich without any butter or mayonnaise.  The landscape then changed as we came to the town of Covilha at the foot of a range of mountains.   Many of the mediteranean style houses had red tile  roofs with white stucco walls There  were also some large apartment buildings   and an "old town"  which  extended up a hill  .The streets became narrow and the buildings old. A sign pointed us upward to the park on a very steep road with hairpin bends and steep overlooks. Luckily Kenna was very good driver so I only had to curb my backseat driving tendencies a couple of times We reached the summit  above treelike and the road straightened out somewhat .  It was very beautiful and stark reminding me of the highway from Estes Park to Salt Lake over the Rockies. Alan took many photos of the vegetation for his class.  We arrived at  the Posada and fell in love with it  and decided to stay there. Posadas  are all across Portugal and are nicely renovated hotels that have some historical significance, This one had the friendly feel of Alta Lodge in Utah.

After a whiskey sour and a portugese dinner (I am such a conservative eater,I really only like stuff that is familiar!) we had an early bed and an early rise to explore some more.  I have a wonderful video of goats and sheep crossing the road with their bells making lovely sounds because they all had a  different pitch- an orchestral meditation. My editorial team edited itfor me. Hope yu  like it.

.We drove onto a little side road with big rocks to sit on and trees for shade.  Alan said the trees were not ponderosas, but resembled them. We  had a picnic lunch of red wine, chicken sandwiches and cake which the posada had prepared for us .

After lunch we continued our journey down back to  Covilha ,  going through several little white villages with red roofs that appeared pasted to the mountainside, and back to Lisbon, arriving well before dock time..  Another memorable trip

Later that evening we received a mandatory call for a meeting to announce a change in our plans.  Because of the international situation the State Department and I.S.E. have decided to reroute the ship.  We shall now stay in Cadiz an extra three days and then go to the Canary Islands for two days before resuming the trip as previously scheduled. My thought is that this is a very good idea.  I don't particularly like Morocco.  Our co-eds might also cause another international incident by their scanty dress (even though they had been warned)  This change of plan has caused consternation at our Travel Desk  because all  our shore trips have to be changed.  Carol, however, doesn't look at all frazzled.

Belgium, E.U., Antwerp and Bruge

Belgium

Sunday September 9: Brussels and the EU

We arrived in Anwerp in the morning and immediately left for Brussels  for a tour of the European Union. 

Brussels is about an hour from  Antwerp .  When we arrived, we were left in the main square to  look around until the time for our tour.  As I did not want to walk around, I parked myself in  a cafe in the square for lunch and  waited till tour timel  We walked along a wide promenadeto the E.U. buildings. They  were quite expansive and imposing as befits the  parliament of 27 nations.  We went through security to a room where we were given an interesting two hour lecture. Kay Slaughter, who had arrranged the trip, did a write up which I have copied in its entirety:

Optical Illusion: EU flags are lined up, and one views them a tiny hole in this Sculpture, forming a remarkable figure.

American Democracy is not the only experiment in democratic governance!

Imagine a voluntary alliance in which the nations share their sovereignty with each other and whose collective legislation binds all members. Members are free to leave the alliance at any time.

You need not imagine this because the European Union is this alliance: --a remarkable institution, as 16 of us on Semester at Sea (SAS) learned yesterday when we visited the European Commission in Brussels.

One of my European friends had encouraged me to pursue this trip remarking “Young people in the US should really understand how the EU works.”

And not just young people. All of us – students, faculty and lifelong learners – had our eyes opened about this experiment in “shared sovereignty”.

Originally focusing on trade, agriculture, environment and regional policy, the EU has built common, binding and enforceable legislation among 27 European nations, ten of which are not in the “euro zone” for currency.

Unlike the U.S.A., European nations may leave the EU but except for Greenland, they have stuck with the Union, seeking to promote and protect their common interests. Europe includes not only core members Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy but also the eastern states of Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Turkey is a candidate state –the definition of where Europe ends and the Atlantic or Asia begins being a fluid one.

EU is governed by an executive body, The European Council; the Council of Ministers and Parliament who must okay legislation, and the European Commission, a civil service executive / administrative body that initiates the policies.

The European Council, consisting of the heads of state of all the EU nations, meets four times a year. The Council of Ministers of all the member states and the Parliament, elected directly by the citizens of the member nations, are responsible for passage of the EU’s laws and budget. EU states are equally represented on the Council of Ministers but participates in a weighted voting based on a population and requiring almost 74percent for a measure to pass, including at least 62 % of the population.

The Parliament is unique in that each country has representation based on its population but parties are formed, not by nationality, but across national boundaries by groups who must find at least 20 to form a group including at least 7 member states. This formula results in parties based not on nationalism but on various political spectra – from left to right and including Greens and a few “grays” who espouse no party affiliation.

The majority coalition usually fluctuates between from center- right to center- left, but not on the usual national interests.

The European Commission functioning as an executive and administrative branch is led by 27 appointed commissioners and includes over 40 directorates-general serving the main agencies of the EU. The Commission suggests legislation but it must be enacted by both the Council and the Parliament. Thus there are a series of checks and balances but different from those in the U.S.

Moreover, while the EU is not a “world government,” member nations share some decision making with it. Broad EU legislation policy directives require that member states implement these initiatives into national law. Other regulations are immediately binding on member states.

The European Court of Justice, located in Luxembourg, plays an integral role in interpreting It interprets the law and also brings infringement cases against states for noncompliance with EU law. Decisions of the court may be split, as with the U.S. Supreme Court, but the opinions—unlike the Supreme Court -- remain anonymous. Terms of the ECJ are for 6 years, not life, and the court includes a judge from each member state.

This is such an interesting area of governance to explore. I’ll be interested to hear what my students think of their visit. And also what others who have worked through the EU think about it.

After the lecture I parked myself again, this time in an hotel, and had a $12.00 marguerita till it was time to leave to Antwerp

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Antwerp and Bruge

The balancve of the week I explored part of Antwerp, a city with a very german feel about it.  I also went to Bruge, another similar city with very ornate architecture resembling a child's doll house.  We took a canal ride and I wondered how the owners of the very expensive apartments lining the canal liked the constant flow of tourists passing their windows.

   

Bedgebury Park

Friday, Sept. 7: Bedgebury Park

Today we rented a car and set out for Kent and Bedgebury Park school which I attended from l932 to 1936!   76 years ago, can you believe it! Dick, Pat and Connie came with me.  Dick drove all the way. We had a GPS in our rental car and set it to Bedgebury.  It took us to the Motorway and we zipped past towns whose names I remembered: Guildford, Hindhead, Petworth, Chichester.  It took us two and a half hours.  We stopped for lunch at a nice little pub and then rode around a bit looking for the school.  We found it after a couple of tries.  I remembered it as a beautiful old house with  spectacular grounds which it still is.
                                       

It is no longer a private school, but some kind of a language school.  We talked to a receptionist  who said the school had just been sold and is to be used  as a private house.

 I remembered it all:   dancing around the maypole in the spring on the beautiful lawns, sitting under the big trees  and reading, looking out my dorm. window when they had a senior dance on the terrace sitting in the library in the window seat  with the radiator  under it which was the warmest place in the school etc. 

 The man who escorted us pointed out some  old pictures of the headmistress, Miss Bickersteth,(in the old school picture below)

The inside of the building was a little shabby, but the outside was still gorgeous. Dick is going to make 

a  video of my "quest" to find my old school for our video class.  It will be fun.

This is my school portrait from 1933 and an enlargement of me at about age 12.

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We were going to  sight-see on our way back to the ship but found we did not have time.  We  took a more scenic route back via Brighton and Storrington but did not reach Southampton until 9:30 pm. - tired but victorious.

Sat. Sept 8:  Day of rest.

 We sail tonight for Antwerp where we are staying for six days.I think we are here for such a long time  to accommodate the people who are going far away to Greece and Berlin.

   

Literature of the Sea - Field Trip

Wednesday, Sept. 3

Our "History of the Sea" field trip was today.

Our professor, Erika, had arranged a sailing barge trip to reenact part of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.  A friend with whom she worked for several years in the West Indies, is a sailor and a Conrad expert. He will talk to us after the enactment.  

We took the train from Southampton to Portsmouth and boarded a large old-fashioned looking barge with big square sails. The students had fun raising the sails and climbing the rigging.  The weather was beautiful so it was a very pleasant sail from the dock over to the Isle of Wight. I thought I saw seagulls skimming the water, but they turned out to be the sails of many ships in a regatta at Cowes.

Only one of us had managed to memorize our part of the reenactment of Conrad, but that really didn't matter as it was just an excuse to have a fun day.Erika's friend was a charming gentleman. He gave us a lecture which I am sure was interesting - but I fell asleep. 

Note:   Some minor problems in my life. I brought the wrong cord to attach to my camera to unload pictures.  I did not know that one can take out the memory card and it attaches to the computer.  I also forget my pin number to my ATM account so have no money!!!  Hopefully that can be rectified soon.  Then my Kindle broke.  Why or how I don't understand.  I will have to return it to Amazon when  get back.  In the meantime I shall have to use the Kindle on my computer so that is also not a major disaster.

Thursday will be another day of rest.  If I pace myself this way I don't get too tired!

Ireland

Cliffs of Moher

Tower at Cliffs

Lake Magselllpuddy

Sunday, Sept. 2

I like Ireland.

With the thought in mind that I would be asked the question in class, I asked several Irish people what they thought was the "essence of Ireland" Here are some of the answers:

"They have a lot of pride in their traditions and history"

"The weather won't kill you"

"It used to be called the land of Saints and Sinners, but since the boom and bust of the last ten years, it isn't any more"

The one I like the best "It is mellow and laid back"

Ireland has cradle to the grave social services with medical care and education through University level free. The countryside which we saw was very like England, The limestone walls edging the fields were erected without mortar. Nearer to Dublin the walls gave way to green hedges. Many charming cottages were dotted about the landscape with immaculate and colorful gardens. Wildflowers grew abundantly in the fields. Ruins of old monasteries and castles appeared every few miles.

We went ashore in our lifeboats. I feel better about being shipwrecked now that I have ridden in one. They were sturdy and felt safe.

Our first stop was The Cliffs of Moher which everyone has probably seen in travelogues. Quite spectacular. We travelled through the burrins, which are a limestone layer of rock eroded by water so that they appear as scattered rocks but in between they have little canyons which may descend several feet. We had a wonderful irish stew for lunch at Casidies of Carson (I love the irish food). Then on to Bunratty Castle and a medeaval dinner. This was a very touristy place but well done with good food and music. We stayed the night in Killarny. After a full irish breakfast of eggs, bacon etc. we were off to the oak covered mountains of Megrellputty Reek and the two lakes at their feet. We took a boat ride to Muckross Park, a simulated 14th century farm (another tourist trap, but also well done) and then to Kilarny for the night. Our bus driver joined us in the bar for dinner and regaled us with irish tales.

Sunday we drove to Dublin and back to the ship. It was a very nice trip.

Personal notes;

Some minor problems in my life. I brought the wrong cord to attach to my camera to unload pictures. Did you know that this does not matter because you can take out the memory card and it attaches to the computer. I also forget my pin number to my ATM account so have no money!!! Hopefully that can be rectified soon. Then my Kindle broke. Why or how I don't understand. I will have to return it to Amazon when get back. In the meantime I shall have to use the Kindle on my computer so that is also not a major disaster.

Thursday will be another day of rest. If I time myself this way I don't get too tired!