Weymouth and Portland

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On board the Konigsdam - Sea Day.





We met the CruiseCritic group in the Crow’s Nest. We were 128 strong. The group was comprised one third American, 1/3 Canadian and 1/3 Australian. They appear to be in their 50’s and 60’s wth a few of us geezers sprinkled around. Everyone was excited to be on board.



We then had to stand in line to pass British immigration and afterward it was time for Bingo for ML while I indulged in Asian food for lunch. We are sailing slowly towards the English Channel and I just want to read, relax and watch the world go by so I skipped the Hold ‘Em tournament and trivia pursuit in favor of a relaxing afternoon in the stateroom.



We headed for Happy Hour at a new location, The Billboard. While we waited for our drinks, Tuscan Lemon Drops, we enjoyed the music. Can’t remember the last time i heard Searching or She’s so Fine. Couldn’t help but sing along and surprised myself with the number of words I remember.



We dined at the Culinary Arts Center. This is another innovation on board. We watched the chef prepare our meal and listened as he explained the process, ingredients and the herbs he used. Everyone received an appetizer, small salad, Lobster Thermador and either rib eye, sea bass or a veggie option. An unlimited selection of red or white organic wine was served along with herbal tea and either a cheese platter or a chocolate cannoli for desert. Everything was delish and served in manageable portions.



After dinner we wandered around a bit before turning in for the night.



Tomorrow, Weymouth, England.





The weather dawned sunny if a bit cool. We boarded our bus and made our way along the Dorset coast to the Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens. Begun in the 1700’s by the Countess of Ilchester as a kitchen garden for her castle, it evolved over the centuries into a 20 acre garden of rare and unusual plants from all over the world. It is now a repository of plant species that have disappeared from their native areas. We only had a brief time wandering through the paths where the only sound was the birds and murmurs of our group. I surprised myself with the number of plants I was able to identify.



This part of the coast has its own micro-climate and is a perfect nesting spot for Mute Swans. There has been a Swannery here since prior to 1393, established by Benedictine monks as a food source for their Abbey. The Abby itself was destroyed by Henry VIII, all it's wealth confiscated by the crown and the land gifted to an Earl whose family still owns the property. The current Countess of Ilchester is reported to be the second wealthiest person in England after the Queen.



But back to the swans. We walked down a path and there they were, adults and cygnets all together. The cygnets are as large as their parents and are now learning to fly. The adults are astoundingly white while the kids are a beige, brown color. Other birds like this spot too. There were Coots and Canada Geese and other varieties of waterfowl too numerous to count,



We arrived just in time to watch the feeding. The swans choose to stay here as it is perfect swan habitat. These are free to fly away any time but return to nest in the exact same place year after year. They mate for life and share parenting duties. There may be as many as 1,000-1,400 swans at the Swannery at one time.



Chesil Beach is an eighteen mile stretch of shingle that protects for mainland from the Atlantic and forms a sheltered, shallow lagoon with plenty of food for the birds. Fun fact; Chesil Beach is not sand but pebbles and west to east the pebbles increase in size from lentils to small potatoes. Wave action deposited the pebbles and there is still controversy as to why the smallest pebbles were deposit first and the larger stones last.



Back to the swans. The food the staff feeds them is probable more for the delight of the crowd as the lagoon is so fertile but early in the year when the eggs hatch and the ugly ducklings are small, the grasses and wheat help keep the flock healthy. Swans prefer to nest on the same site year after year, even when it's inconvenient. A young pair May shoes a site in the middle of the gravel path and the male makes the nest out of gravel with some vegetation from nearby. Initially the staff will gently move the nest off the path and two days later the nest is back on the path again. Occasionally the path will be reoriented to suit the swans. Nearby reeds make ideal nesting material but there is only so much to go around and so swans improvise with whatever is available.



Sometimes swans imitate coots in the child rearing habits. Coots split the babies in half, the male responsible for one half, the female the other. Although the babies would feed from either parent, the parents strictly feed only their own half.



Those of us who wanted to were given a bucket of wheat and we headed off through the flock feeding at will. We are careful not to get too close as there are big birds and like their space. Still if one chooses to approach I am happy to comply.



Our time with the swans was too short we headed back to the ship through Abbotsbury where thatch is still used on some of the roofs. We actually saw a thatcher was busy repairing one. The roads are narrow and twisting as is expected in a village at least 1000 years old and probably older. It’s hard to imagine that the village and all the land around in including Chesil Beach is owned by one family. We skirted Weymouth and arrived on the island of Portland where our ship was docked.



One June in 1945, about 45,000 Americans and Brits mustered here for the surprise invasion of Normandy and the push to Berlin. What a sight it must have been. Today it is very quiet.



The rest of the day was predictable. A quick lunch in the Lido, reading in the stateroom, Happy hour and Trivia followed by a light dinner and laughs with our table mates Ruth and Joe and Rooney from Sweden.





Then it was off to bed. We definitely have to stay up later and enjoy the music or casino. After all we only have 28 days left.

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