Pierre, Mrs Lifecruiser, Claudie, Renny and Tor.
Southern France, August 2009

The missing faces in this photo are behind their cameras: Mr Lifecruiser, Diane and Anna. This had to be well documented – almost as a historic happening…. lol

No wonder the happy faces and giggling, it’s not every day you get to drink with such good friends and the very best Champagne brand there is!

.. only problem was that they only had one bottle in the store, so we really had to share the drops verrrrrry carefully… *giggles*

Today we have another reason to make a bloggers toast, so I’ll fill up the glasses for you all and hope that you’ll follow me in this toast!

A toast for Renny, who’s birthday is today and is planning another blog gathering next year in August in Oslo, Norway.

Hop over and congratulate him and see what he wishes as a birthday gift – it’s something very special!

Cheers!

Lifecruiser ♥ France
 

Earlier posts in this serie:

Bloggers finally meet in France after three years of blogging
French blogger host lost
Start Fart of France Trip
Marseille Air Lair Stare
Pastis in Provence Southern France
Photographer beholder but not older
Connect Hotel Skavsta Airport
 

The Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg ran aground at the entrance to Göteborg on 12 September 1745. The ship was fully laden with goods such as tea, porcelain, silk and spices, and had almost reached dock after her third voyage to China, which had lasted a full 30 months. There was not much left of the ship in December 1984, according to the divers who descended to the sea bed by the submerged rock, Hunnebådan, 900 metres from New Elfsborg Fortress. Yet it would emerge that, under layers of clay, there was a great deal to rediscover. A marine archaeological excavation lasting from 1986 to 1992 opened the door to a by gone century, adventurous voyages and trade with China. And awakened the dream of rebuilding the ship.

The Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg Foundation was established in 1986 for the excavation. A fundraising foundation with the wholly owned subsidiary company Svenska Ostindiska Companiet AB (SOIC) was established in 1993. The firrst step in the exciting construction project was taken in June 1995. The long awaited First sea trial took place on 22 May 2005.

The project has attracted great attention in China. In April 2004, The Swedish Ship was visited by China’s Foreign Minister Mr Li Xiaoxing, who welcomed the ship to China. China’s Deputy Prime Minister, Madame Wu Yi, visited Terra Nova in September 2004. Both emphasised the importance of The Swedish Ship “Götheborg” as a symbol for trade, cultural exchange and friendship between Sweden and China.

The Swedish Ship Götheborg – a reconstruction of a ship from the mid-18th century is now one of the largest fullrigged wooden sailing ships in the world, and meets international safety requirements for ocean going vessels. The project is based on modern research combined with the revival of traditional methods of craftsmanship dating from the 18th century. Anyone meeting The Swedish Ship Götheborg under full sail out at sea would find it impossible to distinguish her from the original ship.

Finally I’ve sorted all the 153 photos we took in Visby the other day when we went there to see all the magnificent old wooden ships that were visiting Visby harbor. It’s so difficult to delete photos!

It was almost like being thrown back in time, feeling the magic of this ships history. Walking on historic grounds… erhm… I mean deck. You can’t resist falling in love with those wonderful old ships!

Here is the proof that I’ve sat my foot on this marvelous ship:

We (Me, hubby and Per, the farmer) had a wonderful day there even if the weather wasn’t the best. We managed to just barely avoid the rain showers. We stayed at the old brig Gerda during the worst showers,

I must say that there was a very friendly and nice atmosphere at Gerda. We were also having a good time at their bar. They had some whisky tasting of the only Swedish whisky Mackmyra.

Tre Kronor (Three Crowns) was another Brig visiting, who is modelled after Gladan, built in 1857 as a cargo navy ship. Four gentlemen with a passion for beauty, navigation and sailing vessels launched the Stockholm Brig project in 1993, but it’s traditional Launching wasn’t until August, 2005 with her first official premier sailing July 2007. In 2008 she is doing her maiden journey.

There were also a Schooner from Åland visiting – besides all the other modern boats in the harbor, some luxury indeed with the champagne on the table ready – yum!

Of course my hungry monster stomach demanded that we did eat something there too, but it was nothing fancy, just some pasta dishes down at one of the restaurants in the harbor. After that we went shopping for some things that Per needed and then headed home – arriving late in the evening.

Don’t miss all Lifecruiser glorious photos from the ships in Visby 2008! (I’ve written some more info at some of the photos)

You can read more about those ships at these links:
Swedish Ship Ghöteborg
Swedish Brig Tre Kronor
Swedish Brig Gerda (Only in Swedish)
Schooner Linden (From Åland)

The Google map below shows the road out there. (Tips: Click the + sign to zoom in, you can also drag the map in any direction by clicking it+holding in your mouse button and drag it – or click the “Sat” to the right to switch to the Satellite to see how it looks in real life!)

As you can see Stockholm is surrounded by the Baltic Sea to the right, where we were heading, but also has a lake to the left, Mälaren with locks in the city to separate them.

There is reasons for why Stockholm is called the Northern Venice and also the city between the bridges. Stockholm is built upon 14 islands which is combined by at least 55 bridges!!!

Besides all the water surrounding Stockholm, there is also quite a lot green areas, partly it can give real countryside feelings. We don’t have to drive for long before we can enjoy the wonderful nature, parks, forests, lakes, meadows, horses and sometimes even cattle’s or sheep’s.

We did a stop on the way to Bullandö Marina, we were exploring the island a bit and came close to the water in another direction than the marina is, so we stopped for a while and went down to the tiny beach we found. Just to relax and dip our toes in the Sea.

We sat there for a while before we were heading for the goal of our excursion: the Bullandö Marina and Krog (restaurant). I tell you, It doesn’t show in my photos, but I’ve never seen so many masts at one spot in my whole life, this is a lot of boats for such a small Marina. The photo below is just one small part of it!

I must say at just this day, it would have been very nice to take a boat trip out in the Stockholm archipelago – after all there is about 14,000 islands or skerries to explore. Anyone that wanna join me on my mini yacht…? *giggles*

Now to the most important though, we did come here to enjoy the nice summer weather yes, but also to eat something at the Bullandö Krog (restaurant). Mr Lifecruiser remembered from his earlier boat life that they had an excellent restaurant out here. It isn’t much other things to see or do – except enjoying the beautiful nature.

They have a sunny terrace or more like a porch at the seaside where we could sit down and listen to all the pinging and whining from all the boat masts. Since it were quite windy there were almost like a concert

The staff were nice, polite and attentive and even had humor, so we were in good hands. As an aperitif I started out with a glass of my beloved giggle water: Champagne – cheers!

To go with the Champagne, as a starter, I ordered fresh Smögen shrimps with Västerbotten (cheese) creame and Rhode Island and toasts, but as usual I totally forgot to take photos of it and – gulp – it were gone in the monster stomach! *giggles*

Even their chief were good we could notice after starting eating our ordered meals. The first one was my own delicious choice, not the cheapest, SEK 265 ($42 or 27 Euro).

Ovenbaked Turbot Fillet with Gotlandic Asparagus
& smoked salmon with herb Hollandaise sauce

Fresh potatoes with trout roe to go with the Turbot Fillet

To go with this mouthwatering meal I decided to drink a Sauvignon Blanc from Malborough New Zealand: Gordo & Morris, which I must say where really good. Price per bottle SEK 395 ($63 or 41 Euro, glass SEK 99 ($15 or 10 Euro).

What I liked with this restaurant where that there were a lot of choices, both for different tastes, but also for different wallets. Mr Lifecruiser did choose “Todays meal” for only SEK 75 ($12 or 7 Euro).

Ham steak with fried potatoes and brown sauce

My sister Susan did another choice, a meal considered being a popular old fashioned plain Swedish food.

Fried Baltic Herring and mashed potatoes

We stayed there for quite a while. I tell you, this was one of those days when you’re having such a great time, enjoying every minute of it. Ahhh, sometimes life really smiles at you! Of course, it’s not every day that I eat such great (or expensive!) meal either

After that we for once even ordered desserts, we have a habit of skipping them nowadays, have to think of the figure and to be able to wear bikini in the summer.

So we had two types of desserts, mine was the first one below and I must admit that I’m a bit picky gourmet when it comes to edible things as you can see of my choices…

Parfait of Mango with warm chocolate pastery and
caramelized banana served with lime sauce

Vanilla icecream with sweetened fresh strawberries

Of course I did take a lot of photos that day and as usual I throw away most of them, but there were 31 photos from Bullandö which is worth looking at, so check in:

Lifecruisers slideshow of Bullando

Especially if you wanna see more of the marina, paintings and I even spotted an old well pump – not to mention the menu close up!

No, we didn’t get arrested for doing something naughty in public, I swear! *giggles*

I got one of my “Let’s do something fun spasms” and booked a night at Långholmen, an old prison.

Afterwards I’ve come to realize that we did a very trendy thing: so called dark tourism, visiting places where bad things has happened. It seem to be very popular at the moment.

We found a special weekend package deal on the internet including a two course dinner and prisoners hats, which of course were impossible to resist for crazy peeps like us…. *giggles*

From the beginning the island were just pasture with a customs station. In 1724 there were buildings built for forced labor, to get to terms with all the vagabondism in Stockholm and later on it turned into a jail.

I guess we have the vagabondish blood from the vikings…

It was converted to a combined hotel and hostel in 1989. The name Långholmen is mentioned for the first time in the 1400s, but must have been used much longer since a silver treasure with German coins from the 900s has been found on the island.

It got it’s name from the long island where it’s situated. It’s about 1400 m long, 400 m wide and is located a couple of km from the city kernel.

This jailhouse has hold some of Swedens most wellknown criminals, like the spy Stig Wennerström and the author Lasse Strömstedt, as well as other guests to the warden, like the old famous Swedish poet and composer Carl Michael Bellman.

The Crown Prison was built in the early 19th century, but in the middle of the building is the gallery from 1866, which makes it very bright and striking appearance despite the fact that it’s the typical jail look.

What’s so cool about this hotel is that the rooms actually are the old prison cells. Though you get two cells as one room today, since one of them is the shower and toilet which of course, didn’t exist for the poor real prisoners before… but some of the furnitures actually are from the late prison time.

Just think about it for the moment, wouldn’t it have been really cool if you got to lay in a really old authentic prisoner bed for the night? (By the look of it, I should probably be thankful that so was not the case…)

The past and today’s prisoners comparison:
  

I do look a bit nervous in the photo, biting myself in the lips, don’t I? *giggles*

Were there knocking on the walls to communicate with the neighbors in the other cells?

No, we couldn’t hear any knocking on the walls – maybe our neighbor prisoner had died from the rough times there? I mean, 15 hours hard work per day, only bread and water on the menu, isolation, dark cells in the cellar and corporal punishment is enough to break down even the strongest…

Or maybe he had been executed? Because it was here the absolutely last execution were done in Sweden, performed with a new guillotine from France (of course, where else?), but I’m really pleased by the fact that it was the first and last time it were used!

Yes, and quite delicious dinner with a very compliance waitress serving on us, who also had a very good sense of humor on top of the very good service.

Starters:
Kalix vendace roe with cheese waffles
Wine:
Petit Chablis 2005

My Main course:
Pikeperch with asparragus and white wine sauce
Wine:
Petit Chablis 2005

Mr L’s Main course:
Grilled veal entrecote with tomatoes and walnuts,
sage bouillion and mojo rojo
Wine:
Cline

The restaurant as well as the pub Finkan (The Nick/Lock-up), are situated in the old prison hospital, but I sure can tell you that it’s nothing left of the hospital feeling!

Especially the nick is very cool decorated! I just love the old vintage images and the fact that a safeblower has been working on the safe. They really got the right details there.

  

In 1840 new ideas with cells for the prisoners and open exercise yards came along, which meant that Långholmen had to be changed to the similar form it has today. It weren’t particularly difficult to escape from there in the beginning, but on the other hand wasn’t the city so big and the underworld wellknown at that time and the jailbreakers could rather easily be found again.

Personally I was kind of surprised though, that this had been a functional jail up to the seventies – the last prisoner left as late as in 1975.

Today it’s used as a recreation area for the Stockholmers as it is very green and lush. We have to thank the prisoners during the 1800s for that, since this was a desolated island covered in stone, which they covered with mud dredged from the lake Mälaren and planted vegetation.

    

The old exercise yards is used as a café in the summertime, opening in the middle of May, so it was too early in the season for us to enjoy it.

Instead we went to the nearby café “Lasse i Parken“, which is very popular among the Stockholmers. Prepare to stand in a long line to order there!

Funny thing was: we were having excellent weather until we had started to eat our sandwiches out in the garden there. Dark, dark clouds appeared from no where and before we knew it, it was thunder and rain! We got stucked there for a while longer than planned due to the heavy rain….

So, do you think it was my bad weather curse this time too? *giggles*

In the same building as the hotel there also is a small Museum, opened every day, which tells some of the history of the prison life there.

      

   

They also have different arrangements suitable both for team-building and for kick-offs. Of course some kind of jail-themed and sounds like great fun to me!

You can even hold your wedding there – no need for a striped wedding dress though – with the dinner at the Banqueting hall located in the oldest building in the complex, dating from 1670, the former spinning-house or women’s prison.

Would we recommend this hotel for others? Yes, without doubt, this is a very unique place to stay!

Of course, when going to jail, you don’t expect a 5 star rated stay there, but I must say that these 3 stars they got, felt like at least 4 stars. I assure you, I haven’t been whipped to say this

Actually it was soo good that we tried to get us thrown back in jail again when we were supposed to check out… *giggles*

OK, the real story was that the receptionist had to phone us, he thought we had left the hotel already without checking out or paying our bill which should have been done around twelve o’clock and this was around one o’clock. I guess you really have to obey the rules when in jail!

Since the beginning of 2006 it has been undergoing another renovating project to even lift it up a level higher and I must say that they have succeeded very well. Very neat, fun, interesting and above all: captivating!

The only disappointment though, was that there were no leg-irons waiting for us (even though we saw some there) and no ghosts clanking with their chains in the corridors at the night… but of course that was compensated by the other night activities.

What other night activities? Well, you do know what the prisoners are doing in the cells at night, don’t you? *giggles*

I promised you to report back about our Räkafton (Shrimp Evening) out with M/S Vindhem the 16th of April in the Stockholms archipelago, together with my sister Susan.

I found this boat last year and registered for their news emails, since I thought it sounded like a fun trip to take, but we never got the chance to go out with them then. Recently I got a email with a very good “season opening-deal” from them, pay 100 SEK ($16) per person for the boat trip and all the shrimps you can eat, so we did jump on it!

Normally in the summertime it costs 280 SEK ($46), both for the shrimp evening and the Rock & Tacos they also have. I think we’ll try that one later on – if we get the time for it…

This boat trip is made very simple and unpretentiously, so you can really feel the cool styled, relaxed people and totally be yourself. No tight formal behavior, just simple fun!

As you know if you have read my earlier posts, you know that we went there with the purpose to cheer us up a bit – to celebrate life – and to dance since it’s a live music band aboard, this evening it was Janne & Emma that played pop & rock music.

It was such a surprising coincidence that the very first song they played was one of my Mom’s absolute favorite songs, the one that she always listened to in the evenings in bed: “Ta mig till havet” (Take me to the Sea) by Peter Lundblad. A very lovely and popular Swedish summer tune.

This was the only video of it I could find, to show you. I guess it’s really showing some real Swedish traditions to sit out and eat, this is probably out in the archipelago somewhere.

I did choose to show you the lyrics because my dear Scandinavian readers can understand it. It’s all about love in the summertime, at the sea, so no wonder it’s popular

You’re supposed to eat as much fresh shrimps with bread at the boat as you want to – which we most certainly did. I don’t think I ever have eaten that much shrimps. The shrimps are very fresh and with a lot of roe in them to Mr Lifecruiser’s gusto!!!

There were absolutely no need of the cheese and biscuits they served as dessert later… Well, maybe the fact that we managed to sneak in at a pub before we went aboard the boat, had something to do with it too. Because we did drink Guiness as a starter…. *giggles*

This was at Beefeater Inn since it’s very near the place where Vindhem departure, but Söder, the southern part of Stockholm city has many very cozy, kind of “feel at home directly”-pubs. If you ever come here, you probably can get stuck there for the whole evening just wandering from pub to pub!

Here you can see that we had a lot of dark clouds for a while, but it was rather mild in the air so it was quite nice actually.

We got really lucky though. The weather turned out to be really good for a boat trip and offered us a beautiful sunset at the boat too, but it was too difficult to take photos of it to show you unfortunately.

No, no no, it wasn’t at all that I got too drunk to be capable to take photos! I promise! I just were occupied having fun!

The left drink is Susans P2 (Vanilla vodka, apple sourz, sprite and lime), which I can report tasted almost too good, like candy…. My own Tequila Sunrise (Tequila, orange juice and Grenadine) to the right was just good as usual too.

If you want to see the drink lists content, click on the photo to enlarge it in Flickr.

The boat doesn’t go so far out in the archipelago, because it returns back at midnight again. It goes out to the Waxholm Castell which you might remember from our steamboat trip we did last year.

So, how was it, was I too occupied dancing to the live music or did I got too (grande!) drunk…? Well, we were so very occupied dancing that I didn’t have the time to get drunk…. *giggles*

As the matter of fact: I even ordered Coca Cola once :-O

So, why haven’t I reported about this until now? Well, erhm, you know, I shouldn’t dance with my bad back… so my body has been aching ever since… But it’s totally worth it!

Who knows, maybe we’ll meet there some evening? I’ll just say this warning: prepare to be sweaty from all the dancing!!!

If you want to see some more pictures – or register as a club member as I have done, just visit Vindhem.com.

We only had to go to the next town, Vila Real de Santo António about 5 minutes away by taxi, which was a nice little town too. We had a fast shopping tour there, but didn’t find anything.

From there we only had to catch a ferry to Spain which takes about 20 minutes. It was cheap, both the taxi and the ferry and it went over quite frequently, so we only had to wait for a little while.

Guadiana River is 778 kilometers long and drains an area of about 67,000 square kilometers and has nearly two thousand dams. It’s the second longest river in Europe and flows into the Gulf of Cadiz, which is a part of the Atlantic Ocean.

There are also a more modern way, a bridge in the north part of the town linked to the motorway between Portugal and Spain, but of course we had to take this nice ferry ride.

Ayamonte is a small old fishing town which felt wonderfully Spanish with more shops, bars and restaurants than in Monte Gordo, so no wonder it’s such a popular destination.

There are wonderful old medieval quarter in the central district of the town, with many very narrow streets and historical buildings. There were very attractive cobbled plazas, lined with trees and restaurants and bars.

Once again we could see all those beautiful and interesting mosaic work, just look at these two photos!!!

Claudie asked me about the food in one of the other Portugal posts. Well, this was in 2004 and it was one of our first longer trips together, so we hadn’t started to take the photographing as serious as we do now. I remember though that Ayamonte had many excellent seafood dishes.

Besides that, you already know that we often forget to take photos of the food because we’re so hungry and just throw ourselves at the food…. *giggles*

I found this short video taken from the air over Ayamonte, which gives you a glimpse of how it looks in real life – and how small the ferry is that we went with. Cute I think!

When I stumbled over that video, I also could see that Ayamonte obviously is holding quite many music events and the popular young singer Maria Isabel is from Ayamonte.

The one thing that we regret now afterwards, was that we didn’t go to the beach area of Ayamonte, Isla Canela, which is about 5 minutes away drive from Ayamonte city area. It’s reached by a causeway across the Marismas del Guadiana. These salt marshes are a wildlife reserve where you have the opportunity to spot some waterfowls like flamingos and herons.

Isla Canela has several kilometers of sandy beaches popular by both windsurfers and kitesurfers – and most certainly me! There are also quality golf courses where of one is built into the Marismas itself. That would for sure interest Mr Lifecruiser!

Now to the news: we might be able to go to Isla Canela some day soon, because as it looks like right now, we’re heading for Spain in the upcoming week, somewhere between the 27th of February and the 1st of March. More info comes later.

Lifecruiser is going on a trip again! *smiling from ear to ear*

Lifecruiser Ayamonte photo slide show.

We decided to take the local bus, which we often do when we’re out traveling, because that is an excellent way to see the real life at the location. Very often you get to see people on their way to or from their work.

This time we were the only tourists at the bus stop at the church. I loved that there was one man in the bus, keeping a cage in his knee and inside the cage were a hen! I love those kind of surprises. I can’t remember the fee, but it was really cheap. The bus was rather full, because it was market day in Tavira.

Tavira was once under Moorish occupation, which traces still can been seen today in it’s whitewashed houses with their Moorish styled doors and the interesting seven arched bridge which could fool you to believe that it is Roman.

There are 37 churches in this little town and these are just a few photos from there. I really regret that we didn’t go into one to see how they were on the inside.

The town were destroyed by the major Lisbon earthquake in 1755 (magnitude 9 on the Richter scale). All the Algarve area was damaged by shockwaves, fires and tsunamis. Because it was the first earthquake that were studied scientifically for its effects and over such a large area, it’s believed that it led to the birth of today’s seismology.

Of course it has all been rebuilt very nice again with buildings from the 18th Century. A bridge links the two parts of the town across the River Gilão.

Both Mr Lifecruiser and I love to study architecture where ever we go. There are so many interesting and also beautiful buildings around the world. Such a variety. I particularly find the architecture in these small towns around both Portugal and Spain very interesting, with all the mosaic work.

We also did go up on the hill above Tavira, more by accident and found the wonderful Castelo de Tavira (the castle in Tavira), which probably is dated back to the 11th century. There was the remains of two square towers, one octagonal tower plus the walls on three sides. There is also a small garden. You can climb up on the walls and in the towers, which we did – or rather tried to.

See the stairs? It doesn’t look so dangerous does it? I didn’t thought so either at first and that’s why went up there. Only problem was that when you got up to the last steps it really was narrow and much higher than it looks. I suddenly did freeze totally because I’m afraid of heights…

At once I thought: how on earth am I going to be able to go down these narrow steps without any handrail to hold on to? It felt very dangerous. What about if I slipped? I was shivering of fear and couldn’t really enjoy the view from up there, all I was thinking about was how to get down!

I had big problems moving around up there, walking (more like staggering) on around up on the walls. I was, at one stage, thinking that I’ll never come down from here, they have to come and get me some other way…. I simply can’t go down that stairs! Silly me! *giggles*

Of course I realized that I couldn’t stay up there for ever, I just had to get down. So, Mr Lifecruiser, as the pure gentleman he is, went down one step in the time before me, ready to catch me if I stepped wrong.

I went down backwards, holding on to the step before – with my butt in the air! It must have been a hilarious sight! *giggles*

Well, I’ll remember Castelo de Tavira for ever, that’s for sure!

Lifecruiser Tavira photos in a slideshow.

When going there with the travel agency’s hired mini bus, we could see how different Portugal was for us. The soil were all red, red, red. Wonderful colors for our winter tired eyes.

To buy a last minute charter ticket really can be hazardous when it comes to the location and hotel arrangement, so one has to be prepared to the worst. We stayed at hotel Alba, just 400 m from the beach.

This was a very ordinary three star apartment hotel, but what can you expect at the low price? 2.300 SEK = 247 Euro = 362 dollar for flight and hotel for one week with the Swedish travel agency Fritidsresor.

Monte Gordo was a very small town when we were there, it might have grown since then. We saw most of the town rather fast. The main shopping street there wasn’t much to be excited over. This is an excellent town to go if you wanted a calm, peaceful vacation.

When we arrived the first day it was excellent weather, so we headed out on the beach at once, enjoying the sun against our winter pale skins.

Though as usual, my bad weather curse did strike, so the rest of the week were a bit colder and cloudier. Not exactly sunbathing or swimming conditions, but we didn’t mind since we love to just take walks along the beach too.

Monte Gordo has the most excellent beach, very long and with the finest sand quality. I love to stroll at beaches and this one also had a lot of different sea shells and other interesting findings. I can do that for hours, totally forgetting about my back problems. The sea is the most peaceful experience I know of. Well, except from…. *giggles*

There also were some local fishermen with their boats on the beach. I like to see the locals, it feels more like experiencing the real life at the location then and not just tourists spaces.

There wasn’t much to do in the evenings though. There was one place we visited frequently that had live music performances and the most delicious Cappuccino which we never could resist. This bar is called Bar 42 Algarve and is located on Avenida Infante Dom Henrique.

They even have a Casino at the beach area, but we never went there. Not enough romance in that perhaps? *giggles*

One evening we went to the restaurant Vicius, located in a side street off the main square, Rua Goncalves Zarco, with really good grilled meat and with a friendly, cozy atmosphere. This was the only restaurant there that made any sort of staying impression on us.

The reason for us going there was simply because the owner was a really joyful, social and serviceminded and told us that he was going to held a special evening there with the most traditional music event.

Ever heard of Fado before? That’s Portugals most famous soul music, really special and wonderfully romantic, though a bit melancholy. Origin from the early 19th century.

This evening there included both Portuguese guitar players, singers and some small dishes – a taste of Portugal – served between the songs, which means that it was going on until morning. (I really recommend that you get a siesta during the day if you ever plan to go to a Fado evening!)

The other reason for the deep impression on us, was that we had one of our most romantically loaded moment in that restaurant. We don’t know why it happened right there. It was very romantic with the Fado, but it wasn’t just that. I guess we we’re just ready for it after have known each other for 3 months.

You see, it was here we both realized just how very much we really love each other. Suddenly it felt like we were alone in this small intimate restaurant, the others ceased to exist for us. The air was so loaded with love that no one, and I really mean no one, could NOT have noticed that!

You know, that kind of moment when your whole throat is filled up from your heart with love? If it hadn’t been so crowded and so little space over I seriously thought that Mr Lifecruiser should propose to me right there. I still can feel it…

Such a wonderful memory! *sigh*

Next post will be about one of the excursions we made from there, so stay tuned…

View our Monte Gordo photos slideshow.

Captain ♥Trips Lifecruiser

The new blog name

The new blog’s name is Cyber Cruisers, simply because the Cyber Cruise is what we have called it right from the beginning and that also tells what it’s all about.

We’re cruising the cyber space, but experiencing travel through other bloggers real travel written in blog posts.

Free host place for the blog

I went through a lot of different details whith each blog hosting site, to be sure to choose the right one to host the Cyber Cruisers. I did choose WordPress.com. Mostly because it’s so reliable and safe and isn’t having quite as much “annoying habits” as Blogger has. I’m not going to list all the reasons here…

How to announce a cyber cruise post

There are now several different alternatives for you to announce your cyber cruise post. The first alternative is of course the one I recommend for you to gain most publicity.

Alt. 1) You get an WordPress user account, which means I can add your user account to our group blog, so that you can write an asskicking announcement yourself, about your cyber cruise post over at your regular blog.

Alt. 2) You rely on me or other Cyber Cruisers to post your link for you in a post. The linking may be delayed – and certainly if I’m out traveling…

Alt. 3) You leave the link in the comment section of the Cyber Cruisers blog, with a high risk of being not seen – and this will not be stored in the Archives to easily be found later either.

It’s entirely up to you to choose which alternative that suits you the best

NOTE: There will be no more linking to Cyber Cruise posts on this blog, Lifecruiser, from now on, other than sporadic if I happen to have something to say about some specific post content, maybe.

How to get a Cyber Cruisers account

All you need to get access and start announcing your posts yourself, is a WordPress.com account.

If you already have a WordPress user account, all you have to do is to tell me the emailaddress you have in that blog’s settings – and I’ll send you an invite to the Cyber Cruise group blog.

If not: You signup at wordpress.com for an account: takes only a minute (!) and you don’t have to create a blog there if you don’t want to, just an user account.

Don’t forget to email me the email address you have there, so I can invite you to the Cyber Cruisers blog too.

Though I recommend you to create a blog with the same blog name as you have in your Blogger blog name. If you’re fond of your regular blog name, why not “secure” that no one else takes it in WordPress.com?

The last words about the move

Remember, it’s all up to you now. I’ll hop around telling you all about this post, but, I’ll not remind you again.

If you’re not leaving me that email address tied to a WordPress account, I’ll assume that you just want to leave your link in the comments of the new blog – or don’t want to participate in the Cyber Cruise any more at all.

Either way: I thank you all with all my heart for all the smashing fun times we’ve had on all the cruises so far!

Welcome over to the new Cyber Cruisers

The Cyber Cruise moves to an new blog!

I’ve decided to move the Cyber Cruise (not Lifecruiser!) to a separate new blog, as you might remember that I mentioned once earlier. This will make it more clean and tidy, a blog content which only is about the Cyber Cruise.

A group blog with own user accounts

I also decided to make it a group blog, so that you cruisers will get an own user account and be able to post your own announcements about your new cyber cruise post!

Yes, that will make it very fair to you: then you can wrote an asskicking introduction with a link to your own blog and I can feel free as a ship on the ocean….

The Cyber Cruise Archive ends

Another task of mine has been to keep the Cyber Cruise post archive list up to date. This will now end, because your posts will all be linked from the post you make on the Cyber Cruise blog and saved in the archives of that blog.

The Lifecruiser blogroll is dumped

The Lifecruiser blogroll will be dumped too. It has been tough to keep up to date since people join and then drop being active. Besides that blogrolls is about to be outdated, partly replaced by RSS Readers etc.

(Tip: Read blogs in one place by RSS)

This way, only the active cruisers will be rewarded, since their links will be in the posts at the Cyber Cruise blog.

Fair and square? Yes.

One reason for the change is travel

Part of the reason I’m doing this is that I’ll be out traveling soon (more news is coming later!) and will not be able to take care of the Cyber Cruise properly here.

This way you have the chance to dance on the deck while the Captain is away… *giggles*

Stay tuned to get more info about the new Cyber Cruise blog…