From Phantom to Year's End

Yes....that's correct....'Year's End'. And, since I described this blog as the Adventures of Chris and Claire in 2017, that mean's 'Blog's End' as well. But before you breathe too loud a sigh of relief, I must correct myself and say 'This Blog's End'. 'Bits and the Poet Go Travelling' is nearly complete, but its successor is already created.  2017 was a good year for me to write a travel blog. We did a lot of travelling, and with the arrival of Chris's sensor insulin pump, we were released into more independence than we had achieved for many years. Now I must move on.
But first I need to give 'Phantom of the Opera' a mention. This wonderful show, which neither of us had seen before, was a fitting end to our travels. It confirmed my belief that the best modern musicals can only be seen to real advantage on a London stage with all the amazing sets and technology which are available. Despite the costs, and the near heart-attack caused by the life-like vast chandelier, which swung perilously close to the heads of the audience, I cannot recommend the show highly enough. It is unsurprising that it has maintained its popularity in the West End of London for so long.

So where next?
People who know me well will realise that I have pushed my boundaries of activity and projects to the limit in 2017. My New Year's Resolution is to be a bit less busy. The problem is that I really don't want to give anything up, and I do want to finish another book in 2018, so I can't quite see how I'm going to cut down, well on anything really!

I won't bore you with a review of 2017. It's all in this blog. If you have purchased my book, I sincerely thank you. If you have read it and enjoyed it even a little bit, but not yet put a review on Amazon, then I urge you to find a few minutes to do so. You don't have to have bought the book from Amazon, and each review in 2017 will impact on sales in 2018.

Here is the link Different Genes

And finally.........
The new blog will be called Bitsn'BooksBexhill. If you click on the title you will reach the first post. I'm not sure yet how the blog will evolve, but I envisage a mixture of bookish stuff including some reviews of other books, and tours of my lovely hometown of Bexhill. Thank you to everyone who has followed my blog this year.  Hopefully I will see some you on the new page in 2018, or maybe earlier. I wish all my readers a happy and healthy 2018.

From Dartford to Docklands

Last week Mr Bits and I embarked on one of our last planned stayaways of the year. It was a trip which had fallen into place for several unrelated reasons. This is how it happened.
Shortly before Christmas 2016, Mr Bits and I strolled along to the Bexhill Rowing and Social Club for their monthly raffle. Because it was December, the prizes were particularly enticing. We were very excited when Mr Bits won the first prize, which was £150 worth of London theatre tickets.
So when a Ladies Probus group rang me a few weeks later to ask if I would take my poetry to Dartford, I agreed, planning to combine the poetry booking with a couple of nights in London, and a  free trip to the theatre. We booked matinee tickets for Phantom of the Opera, and a two night stay in a hotel near Canary Wharf. What we hadn't planned for was the Bexhill virus which attacked us both the week before our trip, and left us struggling for energy. But we made it to Dartford!
The train to Victoria was delayed, so we had to get a later connection to Dartford. (More delay, repay) Nevertheless we arrived at the venue on time. Worryingly one of the audience was taken ill at the start of my performance, but I understand that she did recover. It is the first time that I have performed my poetry in the presence of three paramedics.....the show must go on!
Once finished, we gathered up our cases, and my guitar, and headed back to Dartford: thence by train to Lewisham, and onwards to Heron Quays on the Docklands Light Railway. It was my first visit to the Docklands area, having previously only recognised its iconic skyline from the train.
And it is impressive. This was the view from our ninth floor hotel bedroom.

What we hadn't realised was how much building work would be going on in the area. Several footpaths and roads were closed, and it took us a long time to find our hotel. Actually docklands seemed full of people pulling suitcases searching for their hotels, which in a perverse way made me feel better. Nevertheless I liked Docklands. Would I stay there again?...certainly yes. Would I stay in the same hotel?.....probably not.   

We stayed at the Britannia International, which is apparently at the budget end of London Hotels. This is because they do offer rooms without windows. The price we paid for our window room was far higher than the budget prices quoted on booking sites.
The hotel looks good from the outside, though it is surrounded by building work.

The shared lounges, bars and lobbies are comfortable, if a little dated, and the buffet breakfast was good.

 I even enjoyed looking at some of the more quirky decorations.

Our room was clean, reasonably spacious, and comfortable with a good sized bathroom and lots of storage, though sadly no fridge.

So what were the downsides?
Firstly, even though it was November, the room was unbearably hot. When I mentioned this, the staff admitted that the air conditioning wasn't working, and arranged for the delivery of an electric fan. Since the fan merely moved the hot air around the room, as the windows didn't open, the temperature remained hot throughout our stay.
Secondly, because we were tired, and there were very few eateries within easy walking distance, we used the hotel pizzeria on the first night. Years of eating school dinners have made me pretty tolerant to indifferent food quality, but I can honestly say they served up the worst reheated frozen pizza, I have ever encountered. The plastic-like cheese and thin soft dough, did not live up to my vision of a pizzeria serving freshly made crispy pizza with generous high quality topping. Note the extra mushrooms I ordered for £1-50.

     

The next evening we brought ourselves a sandwich from the nearby Tesco Express.

So sorry Britannia International, but you will not get our business again. I rarely criticize hotels on my blog, but a large commercial chain like Britannia Hotels could so easily do better.

Anyway the trip was as a whole, had lots of positives....more of that in my next post. 

       

Reflections On A Blog Tour

Six days ago my debut novel was officially published. I managed to organise a short blog tour to coincide with publication week, and today is the last day.

I have allocated the final spot on this, my very first blog tour, to my own blog. Although it is largely a travel blog, I do occasionally talk books, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take stock and to reflect on my blog tour experience.

So what have I learned?

Firstly, I want to say that I think book bloggers are very special people indeed. The good ones write their blogs for no payment, and they make a massive contribution to the world of authors and their readers. I was so impressed with the hard work, professionalism and conscientious approach of all the bloggers I contacted, and especially those who were able to be part of my blog tour. So huge thanks to:

Linda's Book Bag, Chelle's Book Reviews, Short Book and Scribes and Black Cat Book Reviews. 

You are all amazing!

Secondly, I would recommend any debut author, who has the time, to organise a blog tour or assign a third party to do this for them. It was so exciting to see my book reviews and guest posts written about in a different way each day, and then reposted and retweeted across a variety of social media.

I had been worried that the blog tour would be too short, but now I think the length worked very well for me. It gave my book a higher profile in its official publication week without bombarding the same audience for too long. It was also a great topic of conversation at the two book signings which took place this week. I was able to chat to interested visitors and purchasers about the blog, and discuss where I felt my book had most appeal.

                                                     De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill

                                                                Rye Bookshop

I am now happily exhausted.  

Like sending my first child off to school, I release my debut novel into the reading world, where I hope, with a bit more help, it will find its own place in the market.

  

Books For Older Readers

This week sees the official publication of my debut novel ‘DifferentGenes'. It tells the story of how sixty- two year old, Louise, discovers she is adopted and embarks on a journey to unlock her past. Intertwined within the mystery, is a love story. The publisher describes the book as ‘a moving tale of love in later life’.

It has come as no surprise to me that the book appeals to older readers. One reviewer said,  “As a recently turned 63-year old, it was satisfying to read a novel about a woman ‘of a certain age’, a woman who discovers that her life is not over AND still holds some surprises, albeit some she didn’t expect.”

These days most people in their sixties say how young they still feel. Many, like me, have reinvented themselves in retirement through new interests and energetic social lives. So how do you begin to market a book towards an older audience without implying that the novel is aimed at readers who are a bit ‘past it', which blatantly they are not? The problem is with the terminology. There is a whole generation of 50 + readers who most definitely cannot be described as ‘old’.

I approached friends and asked for advice about whether I should try and create a new genre. Suggestions followed, but, as yet, no vocabulary which has really caught the ‘feel young’ essence of an older generation. Indeed, some people I consulted were quite affronted that I dared to suggest any books were more suited to an older age group. Nevertheless, the majority of readers and authors, who I asked, expressed a wish for some sort of resource where books which might appeal to an older age group could be found.

So, at risk of offending my contemporaries, I have created a website. It is rather unimaginatively called ‘Books for Older Readers'. The publications are nominated by their authors, and the number of titles is growing daily. Unlike me, the website is truly young and in its early stages of development, but I hope that some readers will find it useful. This is the link. www.booksforolderreaders.co.uk

Arcadia J715; The Last Post

It is just after 4 pm on Tues 3rd October. I am sitting in our cabin, surrounded by packed suitcases. The sea is calm, and the sun is shining onto our starboard balcony. As you can see from the TV map, we are not far from the Cornish Coast. The massive size of the ship symbol on the TV maps always makes me laugh.

I have checked my phone for a UK mobile signal, but there is nothing yet, so I am am back into 'Airplane' mode. I'm hoping we might get a connection later.
It is no secret that this cruise has been one of mixed fortunes, and missed ports. But I have decided not to dwell on the negative bits. I remain loyal to P and O and will take up any issues with them privately. I am not generally in favour of gossip style 'trial by social media'.
The really good points on this cruise were:
The wonderful friends we have made (you know who you are).
The few ports of call which we did reach, especially Quebec.
Those passengers who have been kind enough to read my book 'Different Genes' onboard, and share their comments with me. Also your generous feedback on my poetry performance in the Passenger Show. This has meant so much.
The cabin stewards and waiting staff.....as attentive as ever. This is the lovely towelling swan which our steward, Rizwan, left for us last night.

And here are some of the hardworking crew from the buffet.

Although this is the final blog post of this cruise, the blog will continue with photos of the ship and New York still to come. I do send out a monthly newsletter about the blog and my writing for anyone who would like updates. This is the link Newsletter
Finally, can I send a very warm thank you to everyone who has followed our travels on J715. It is really important to a writer to feel that someone is reading their words, and you have done this in your thousands.
I wish all passengers on Arcadia J715 a safe journey home tomorrow.
Claire Baldry

Arcadia Entertainment

It is 4 pm on Sunday 1st October, just one hour behind current UK time. The sun is blazing into our cabin and the force 5 wind is causing a manageable swell. We only have three nights left onboard Arcadia.  All is well.
Mr Bits and I don't go to all the entertainment, so can't really give you a comprehensive view of everything available onboard. This is just a taster, necessarily limited by our own experiences. Sorry there is nothing in this post about the talented P&O Headliners, as the lighting tends to affect Mr Bits' eyes, so we no longer attend the Headliners' Shows.
There has been a good variety of 'background' musicians in all of the bars. We liked them all, but our favourite was definitely Matt and Sarah, who related really well to their audience, and Matt is an amazing guitarist.....his Mum must be very proud of him!!
As well as the many bars, the two main entertainment venues are 'The Globe' (night-club style') and the Palladium Theatre. Both venues are used for speakers, presentations, music and entertainment.

This is the Globe this morning, being used for a future cruise port presentation.

And here is the same venue, with Matt and Sarah, one evening.

The Palladium is a much larger venue, and definitely my favourite theatre of all the P&O ships I have been on. There are plenty of seats, wonderful boxes, and there is a real West End feel to the venue. Occasional pillars obscure a few people's view, but I think this may soon change. We heard the inspirational Calendar Girl, Tricia Stewart, speak there several times, and watched magicians and comedians....all good!

This is the Palladium used for today's (optional) Sunday Service.

Which brings me to my five minutes of fame! Yesterday I found myself on stage, as part of the Arcadia's Got Talent Show. It was a full house, and I would like to send a massive thank you to everyone who encouraged me both before and after the show.

 Well done to all my talented fellow passenger performers.

 I will post more photos in the next few days. 

Can I finally today thank those readers who have recently downloaded or purchased my first novel from Amazon. The ebook is only £2-48, and every purchase pushes the book up the bestseller ratings! For anyone interested, this is the link 'Different Genes'.

Arcadia J715 Saguenay

Saguenay was our last port on cruise J715. It is an isolated self-contained Canadian town at the end of a fjord off the St Laurence Seaway. We were berthed aside a floating platform which was designed to accommodate cruise ships. There is a well designed purpose built cruise terminal, and visitors to the area are welcomed with enthusiasm.

Although our arrival had been delayed by several days, the townsfolk had pulled together to ensure that everything was in place for our arrival. Entertainers were on the dockside to say hello.

The tourist desk was fully manned with free maps and a warm welcome. Busses had been 'borrowed' from around the town to shuttle us on the two route 25 Canadian dollar hop on hop off service with English speaking guides. We found ourselves on a yellow school bus for part of the 75 minute journey.

This was also a good place to practice speaking French, as the locals spoke slowly, and greatly appreciated visitors who made the effort to speak their language. We took the bus into the main town, saw the impressive cathedral, the iconic wooden clad houses and wandered down the main shopping street.

Although phenomenally windy on the dockside, the town itself was calm and reasonably warm.
It was only after we returned to the ship that the rain descended in torrents forcing our final (Great British) sailaway inside to the Crows Nest.

(Thank you to fellow guest Anita for allowing me to use this photo.)

Today 29th Sept we are at sea on the second of six sea days which will transport us back to Southampton. It is 4 pm ship's time. We have passed through the Belle Isle Strait which divides Labrador from Newfoundland, and are just beginning to feel the swell of the Atlantic Ocean.   I will try and post some pictures from around the ship in the next blog post and keep readers updated about the weather. Photos of New York will follow later.

More Change on Arcadia J715

Hello once again from cruise J715....sorry for the delay in posting, but we have had three busy days. Firstly, we were informed that we would be going to Saguenay on 27th Sept (today) instead of it being a sea day, and we would not now be visiting Sydney, Nova Scotia on 28th, which was the scheduled port. This meant a later sail out of Quebec yesterday, immediately followed by a day in Saguenay today, then six sea days home to Southampton starting tomorrow instead of the scheduled five. The change does sort of make sense, because we lost our day in Saguenay earlier due to the propeller problem. I've never been to Sydney, so I really don't know what we have missed. I rather hope it's horrible. The P and O staff have had to reschedule a load of coach trips, and it has been somewhat confusing, but everyone has been trying to make the best of it.
The GOOD NEWS is that (albeit shorter than planned) we had a fabulous day in Quebec. The weather was beautifully warm, and the night-time sail in was impressive.

I stood on our balcony cabin and watched the local folk dancers wait until the gangway was in place, so that they could board the ship for their slightly delayed show.

The following morning the ship was bathed in bright sunshine.

Provisions were taken onboard by crane, including a large supply of pumpkins....maybe in preparation for Halloween? 

We didn't take a coach trip, but wandered into the old town and admired this fantastic town with its historic buildings, impressive furnicular railway, and quirky streets. Chris made another friend.

When we returned to the ship I finally had time to take my first swim in one of the ship's two pools, and dry off in the heat of the afternoon. The weather lifted our spirits as we watched the sunset behind Quebec before our overnight journey to Saguenay.....more of that shortly.

If you are enjoying my blog, why not consider reading my first novel, which is now available on Amazon. The ebook is only £2-48, printed copies are £7-99. This is the link Different Genes.

Arcadia.....Repaired and Heading for Quebec

It is 7 am on Sunday 24th September. We are half way through our cruise and sailing through the Gulf of St Laurence towards the St Laurence Seaway. The sea is calm and the sun is shining.
A lot happened yesterday. The Captain gave us a full update about Arcadia at 9.00 am . Divers had been examining part of the propelling mechanism overnight and discovered some rope which had caught up inside, causing the damage. He explained that this had probably come from a fishing boat.
We therefore stayed in Halifax for the day, until the damage had been repaired. Extra busses were laid on to take us towards town, as for safety reasons, passengers were not allowed to walk across the dockside. The staff did their best to keep us fully informed.

We had already learned that the delay for repairs will mean a shorter visit to Quebec. This is, of course, disappointing, but it did give us more time to explore Halifax. In 2001, my husband, Chris, (Mr Bits) travelled twice to Halifax. The purpose of his trips concerned some failed relationship issues which had occurred shortly after 9/11, but shortly before Chris and I met the following year. It is not within the remit of this blog to tell the story, but if anyone is interested, I do recount the tale in a short autobiographical 99p ebook novella on Amazon. All profits go to Diabetes UK. This is the link South Something.
Suffice to say, that Mr Bits was grateful for the opportunity to revisit the town, and finally lay to rest the last outstanding demons.
He was surprised how much development had taken place in sixteen years. Halifax has certainly changed. The previous day we had taken a coach tour to Peggy's Cove. It was impressive, but Mr Bits was amazed at how busy it was.

On our extra day we caught a shuttle bus to Pier 24, and then walked to Pier Twenty One.

We  used our cruise cards to pay £30 each for the 90 minute hop on hop off tour on a 1960s bus. We sat upstairs.

My last journey on a similar bus was on my way to school in the late 60s. The bus was uncomfortable then, and nothing has changed! It was far too bumpy a ride to take photographs. We returned to Arcadia by 3 pm, in time for me to sign up for the ship's Passenger Talent Show later in the cruise.
So before I sign off this post, here is the answer to the one question many of you have asked.
Have we been offered compensation for the missed ports?
The answer is 'yes'.
No one can blame P &O for the bad weather, but, when combined with a mechanical fault, this has had a negative impact on our enjoyment of the cruise, and this has been recognised by P and O. Each passenger has received an extra £200 onboard credit and 20 % of the cost of the cruise in the form of a future cruise credit. We are grateful that P and O have made such a prompt offer. I for one, just want to get on now with enjoying the rest of my cruise. One final point.... if you are on this cruise, remember to check your travel insurance, as some policies do pay a small amount for missed ports.
See you all in Quebec.

Arcadia is Poorly

I woke this morning with an overwhelming feeling of optimism. The sea was much calmer, the rain had stopped, and a dramatic sunrise began to emerge over our cabin balcony.

We had arrived in Halifax, our trip to Peggy's Cove was waiting, and I intended, in due course, to write about today's trip.

However, knowing how many friends and family of passengers are following my blog, I have decided to use this post to update you on more recent problems.

We were back on board by the designated time of 3 pm ready to set off on our journey to Saguenay. When nothing happened in a hurry, we assumed that a coach load of passengers had been delayed. Then around 4 pm, the Captain announced that the ship had 'technical difficulties', and our departure would be delayed.
A man in a hard hat appeared, and an additional gangway was brought to the portside.

 There seemed to be a lot of men talking and scratching their heads. Strange equipment was installed next to the ship.

We waited until 6 pm, listened to a single bagpipe play 'Speed Bonny Boat' on the dock, watched Crystal Serenity sail out to the tune of 'What a Wonderful World', and finally received more information from the Captain. The ship still had problems....we would not be sailing tonight......he would update us at 9 am tomorrow morning......shuttle busses would be provided for anyone who wished to return to Halifax in the evening. There was no information given about how many shops, restaurants and bars would be open, so unsurprisingly most passengers stayed on board.
Rumours have grown about what the technical problem is....possibly something to do with a propeller or side thruster, but we have been given no more official information. The lack of information is really not helpful.
Nevertheless, we are all safe, and the ship's activities continue to keep up morale. Here are the amazing Matt and Sarah keeping us all entertained.

I will update readers tomorrow, as soon as I have something to tell. (We are still 4 hours behind the UK).

Farewell USA

If you have been following my blog, you will know that we have experienced some rough weather on cruise J715. After a warm two days in New York, we encountered high winds on the edges of Hurricane Jose, and the hurricane is still around. As a consequence, we missed Rhode Island and we have also now missed out Bar Harbour. This is a great shame on a cruise which is not 'port heavy', but we can't blame P&O for bad weather. It's just bad luck. So we were relieved yesterday when we reached Boston and were finally able to step on land, even though it rained all day!
Boston is a spacious town, famous for tea parties and Havard University, but on this occasion we chose simply to explore the town. P&O provided complimentary shuttle busses from the port to the centre. The queues were long, but the wait was short, as the bus service was well organised.

We were dropped by the ornate Quincy Market, which was full of food outlets and quirky stalls and well worth a visit. 

We purchased a couple of Christmas decorations and I bought a lobster hat, which might come in handy for one of my poetry performances. The shopkeeper insisted on taking this photo of us both.

   

Despite the rain, we managed to visit the harbour and a couple of small parks, as well as watching the popular hop on trolley busses which take tourists around the town.

  

   Chris made friends with a famous US basket ball player.

My favourite part of the day was definitely lunch. We sought refuge from the rain in a restaurant called Tia's where we tried the local Clam Chowder which they serve in bowl made out of bread. It was absolutely delicious, and I enjoyed gradually eating the bread as well as the soup. I might try making this at home, if I can work out how to make the bread strong enough to support the soup!

   

 Today we have again been at sea, as we make our way to Halifax Nova Scotia. We've been in a wet force 9 gale all day, but remain hopeful that the weather will eventually improve!