I Forgot To Mention,

earlier in the week Diana had a email from the Home Office to say her passport was being printed, 

and this morning it arrived, so as soon as Diana arrived home from work, she opened her letter containing her new passport, at last! after 6 years of paperwork and over £10,000 of hard cash, Diana was now a UK passport holder and citizen of Great Britain, what a relief for both of us, Diana spent the afternoon chatting to her family as I watched some television, I should say I am only making one post today, first thing today I will be leaving to help Graham in the shop, back to Friday, 

a read before our evening meal,

Diana had prepared a chicken curry, delicious,

'Cheers!',

I was then out to the club to meet Steve, past the snail mail box, 

the tennis courts not being used today, 

the cricket pitch empty, 

but there was a match going on, blue

verses the pink shirts, Steve and myself were joined later by Frank, we were all watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, I have to admit I have less than 0% interest in the games, watching the antics of some of the dancers at the ceremony it reinforced my view of them, but there it is, regular television programs will be cast to the wind for the foreseeable future, after saying our goodbyes we went to our homes, Diana had already gone to bed, another early start tomorrow, for myself a Have I Got More News For You before I too was off to bed.

It Was Diana's Day Off,

so glad rags on and we were out, 

and as we were out, I took way too many photographs, so only one post today, 

we were soon on the train,

hurtling towards Ramsgate, we had been there a few times before on the 2nd. and 3rd. of February 2022, and again on the 16th. and 17th. of April 2024, so I will try not to duplicate too many photographs, 

new for this visit a seagull I guess it is greeting us at Ramsgate Station,

out of the station, 

and a wait for a bus into town which took no time at all, the wait and the journey, 

and here we are at the harbour, 

in the distance the vessel we had come to visit, the Spanish galleon replica, the Galeon Andalucia is visiting Ramsgate from July 25th. to July 28th.

more of her later as we get nearer, for now we were hungry and a hour to early, 

so a walk towards the vessel looking for somewhere to stop for a coffee, 

we passed the hotel we stayed at on in previous visits, 

and this is what we were looking for, 

a café underneath the arches, 

above the arches the imposing Royal Temple Yacht Club,

looking across the harbour at the moored boats,

well I just had to have my photograph taken!

there were a few cafes open,

in fact we were spoilt for choice, but we carried on looking,

a quick pose form Diana, in the background,

this barge moored up, 

at first I thought it was a restaurant, 

or floating bar, but then I saw this, 

on the side of the cabin,

we carried on looking for a coffee shop, 

as we approached this very well turned out craft,

decision made, 

inside it looked nice, 

even though it was overcast we decided to sit outside,

behind us one of the moving beer bars you can hire with friends and peddle around town,

 

our view from our table to the right, 

and left, 

I zoomed in towards the Galeon Andalucia, 

one from my camera, 

and another from Diana's mobile telephone,

coffee is served, 

there was a special offer on, a slice of cake and a coffee for £6.95, 

so a slice, 

of red velvet it was then,

and then, 

it started to rain, so a move inside for us, 2 latté coffees and one cake £9.05, at today's rate $11.64, 

after our coffees we continued walking towards the ship, looking at other businesses under the arches,

we then came across a board about the vessel we had seen earlier, 

the Starbuck, and nice she was too,

walking towards the harbour office we noticed above it,

what appeared to be another seagull, 

a little history to this building, the Ramsgate Home for Smack Boys,

founded in 1881 on Ramsgate Harbour, this home was for boys apprenticed to the smack fishermen. The boys were taken from the workhouse and were often orphans or abandoned, smacks were large sail boats, 

if you are into keep fit, this staircase would be good for you, up and down 10 times a day should do it!

we were nearing the Galeon Andalucia,

a panorama of this part of the harbour, 

looking back towards the arches, 

and here we are, 

about to join the queue,

 

a little about the vessel, this is a replica of a 500 ton galleon, with length overall reaching 160 ft. and beam 32 ft. Four masts hold 6 sails which measure almost 11,000 square foot, average speed is 7 knots, 

since her launching, this actual boat with a crew between 15 to 35 people have manned her across the seas and oceans around the world, She has navigated the Pacific and Indian oceans, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and her wake has spread over the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the South and East China seas, the Aegean Sea, the Bosphorus strait and the Caribbean Sea, covering thousands of nautical miles in an attempt to evoke her ancestors,

I moved a little closer, 

zooming in on the anchor, 

and then a look at a place I would rather not be,

in a fierce storm!

the group we were joining was the first group of the day, 

so preparations to the gang plank were still be made, 

there was quite a crowd of us,

netting put out, 

I guess to catch any passengers failing off of the gangplank,

careful!

no safety lines for the crew, 

nearly there,

netting pulled tight,

and the ships name now being placed on the gangplank,

the sign had a will of its own,

but was soon brought under control,

we had pre bought tickets but there was a ticket office there for anyone that wanted to take a chance on buying one on the day,

sign completed, 

and the first visitors of the day, 

made their way onboard, 

the queue moved forward, 

and we were soon boarding,

there was just enough movement in the gangplank to make me want to hold on to something,

 

for myself a long way down,

onboard we started to explore the route mapped out by guide ropes,

I had to look down again, 

meanwhile Diana,

was going up, 

looking back towards the stern of the vessel,

a quick pose,

by the ships bell,

and a little more about the vessel,

bearing in mind this is a working ship I looked at some of the blocks and tackle,

the blocks were huge,

and they worked, although the ship is a copy some items were made with up-to-date materials, the main mast are all steel,

Diana was in her element making a video, I will post it at the end of our visit to the vessel,

a pose, 

or two for the camera,

the harbour in the background,

the Spanish flag at the stern of the vessel,

one of the steel main masts,

and of course a cannon, in the day their were of course pirates, and some if not most of these ships on the homeward vouge carried silver and gold, lots of it!

a youngster finds a crew member, 

someone forgot about!

looking to the bow of the ship,

from the ships wheel,

well I just had to have a closer look!

as we made our way inside, 

the walls had souvenirs from its many places of call,

literally all around the world,

a little about the cabins, 

if you were an officer this was yours, 

with a self flushing toilet!

the captains cabin,

set for the officers meal,

and living quarters for the captain,

the room is across the whole width of the ship,

as we left the officers quarters, 

more mementos from counties visited, 

one of the thirty or so cannons on board, 

looking back towards the ships bell,

and across the harbour, 

to the pavilion,

then back inside, 

to the cannon deck,

where the crew would sleep, 

a little about sleeping on board, 

beside one of the cannons, samples of food kept on board, 

and someone tried some!

a closer look at what was on offer, porridge, bread and wine,

I was busy snapping away,

Diana was looking and making her video, 

a closer look at rations,

and a note on health and welfare, 

it must have been fun eating soup in a storm!

all the materials you need for caulking, 

an essential part of the maintenance of any wooden vessel of the time,

and of course on many voyages there were passengers, 

I just had to! one thing I noticed was how high the ceilings were, when we have visited other old ships for myself it was a crack on the head if I did not continually bend down, 

no problems in that department for Diana,

throughout the vessel, 

there were signs, 

and exhibits as to the history of the ships,

that plied there trade, vessels like this were used for over 200 years, 

a illuminated board, 

which unfortunately did not photograph to well,

the trade was quite lucrative, 

as can be seen from this paragraph,

we were nearing the end of our trip onboard, many thanks to Diana for finding this trip and buying us the tickets to go aboard, 

a last look to the right, 

and left, 

as we made our way down the gangplank,

one for the album, and we started walking towards our lunch, 

near the galleon a boat lift, 

will it fit?

no, 

just a tad too tight, 

a few more poses, 

as we make our way towards lunch,

one of the galleon, which I thought was a bit lacklustre, so I just had to have a play with it,

that is so much better, why could it not have been a bright sunny day today?

so instead of grey skies

it could have been like this? 

and well I just had to!

this part of the harbour is a working harbour, lots of fishermen's nets ready for the next tide,

looking across the pleasure craft, 

moored in the harbour, 

we started our walk,

past a few youngster fishing for crabs, 

and the Cervia,

in water, 

on a permeant mooring,

a little about her,

on the other side a dry dock,

and this is where we are heading, 

the Royal Victoria Pavilion, 

inside it is huge,

drinks ordered, 

the our food arrived chicken tikka masala for Diana,

fish and chips, real cod I should say for myself, 

a coke for Diana,

a glass of wine included in the meal for myself, well that was not going to be enough, so I just had to order a bottle as well,

'Cheers!', the meal including drinks came to £38.00 at today's rate, $48.87, bill paid we made a move for the bus stop to go to the station, 

it started to rain on the way to the bus stop, but luckily we remained dry, what a day, 

it was a tiring day, as we sped towards Beckenham, the train journey from Ramsgate to Bromley took 2 hours then the short hop from Bromley to Beckenham Junction,  

and we were walking into the park,

past a new addition to one of the small gardens, 

if you look carefully, a apple tree, 

past the snail mail box and we were home, and this is the video that Diana made of our visit,

when we arrived home we switched the television on, more in hope than anticipation, but low and behold, all of our channels had returned and the picture was perfect! we decided to watch the film,

 Dad's Army, not the new version, but the one that featured the original television cast, which was great fun, after which Diana was off to bed, another early start tomorrow, for myself a real treat,

Attenborough's Journey, it followed his film and documentary life from the early days of black and white to colour, 3D, 4K and beyond, what a life he has had, and with that I too was off to bed.