Day Nine: Up Among the Clouds

Just a brief entry today as the lethargy continues, although we began to get an inkling of what might be the cause. Let me explain: following a rather exhausting day touring Boston, we decided to spend the second Sunday of the trip with a more relaxing schedule. For this, I chose to visit the National John Adams Museum, in Quincy, just outside Boston. I say just outside, although it's pretty hard to say at exactly what point we left Boston as it seems to be one massive urban sprawl. Still, all of a sudden we emerged into an entirely different neighbourhood to what we had seen before, with large impressive houses and big green lawns. One of these houses turned out to be the John Adams Museum, although it was a case of blink and you'll miss it.

On our second pass we spotted it, and pulled up alongside to park. After Dad jumped out to ask about wheelchair access, we were shown the path to take which brought us to the park rangers office. We got out, and for $5 myself and Steffen, although not Dad as he seems to have some kind of allergy to tour guides, were given a personal guided tour of the house in which John Adams and four generations of the Adams family lived (if you're thinking Lurch and Uncle Fester, you've got the wrong family!). Despite only being able to get into three of the rooms in the house, we got all of the information from the tour we would have received otherwise, which was really interesting although my brain did reach overload point after about 20 minutes!

All in all however it was excellent value for money, and I found it good to see some context for the stories which featured in the historical TV show, John Adams, which chronicled the life of the founding father and third (I think) US President. I was probably the only one really interested in this however!

Anyway, I digress, it was on the way back from the museum that we saw the potential reason for my recent lack of energy. We got caught in some traffic on the way back into Boston, with four slow-moving lanes of cars on the highway. From here we caught a glimpse of the Prudential Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Boston located right next to our hotel. At first it seemed obscured by fog, but it was otherwise quite a clear day. As we approached it, it disappeared before our eyes into the clouds, which we soon realised was a thick layer of smog. The fact that our hotel is in the middle of a polluted haze, and the consequent effect it will have on my already restricted breathing, may explain my less than energetic feelings.

The solution for now, it seems, is to keep taking things easy and adapt our activities to my energy levels, however frustrating that may be. It might also be a good idea to try to get further out of the city to some nice clean air.

On a more positive note, to finish off the day, we went to the cheesecake factory for dinner. This was quite an experience, as you are handed a weighty telephone directory - sorry, I mean menu - with a huge variety of meals to choose from, and no less than 30 different types of cheesecake. Suffice it to say, I promised my Dad we could come back again, as I think he has designs to try as many as he possibly can. In fact, he does seem to have been wandering around a lot whenever I have been taking a rest, and coming back with useful information and goodies - could these be to try and disguise some kind of guilt over secret cheesecake eating?! Just kidding, he’s actually been fantastically helpful, even to the point of doing some hand-washing of laundry and even contemplating ironing. Anyone that knows him knows how significant that is!

Day Eight: Sandra and the Freedom Trail

Our first day in Boston started off, for me at least, with a bleary-eyed yawn and a slight feeling of lethargy which never quite went away. Nevertheless, I resolved to push through so we could make our first appointment of the trip, to meet up with a good friend of my brother since his time in Wisconsin. Sandra, who is now doing a post-doc at the hospital in Boston, has lived there for less than a year, and had kindly agreed to give us all a tour of the city.

After a short scenic detour which helped us to locate the nearest 7-11, Sandra, myself, Dad and Steffen picked up the Freedom trail, which is a famous route through the city which passes by many historical buildings of significance to the American War of Independence against us evil Brits, and the early formation of the Massachusetts state government. Despite my Dad’s protestations, I encourage Sandra to do the walking + guidebook reading trick, which was performed excellently and meant we learnt plenty too, like who exactly is Paul Revere, and why is Beacon Hill not really that much of a hill? Because they dug it up and dumped it in the water to create Back Bay, the location of our hotel.

One thing that really struck me on the Freedom Trail is how these old buildings are scattered all over the city in between modern high-rise blocks, to create a real hodgepodge of styles. Of course, I also couldn't help noticing how bumpy old brick streets can be! After a substantial effort at covering as much of the Freedom trail as possible, we stopped at the Boston beer Works for some much needed refreshments. This gave us a good chance to chat with Sandra about what she's up to, her dog Doodles, and how Boston compares to the Midwest - much less friendly apparently!

On our way back we checked out some of the more popular streets, such as Newbury Street where there are loads of shops and restaurants, which we will have to check back with later. After what seemed like a couple of miles we returned back to our hotel where we said goodbye to Sandra and went up to rest.

While we had an excellent tour and really enjoyed Sandra’s company, it did seem a little like perhaps I had overextended myself, as I was a bit more exhausted than I expected and couldn't really motivate myself to do anything later in the evening. It seems like the 3 or 4 miles we ended up walking was a tad ambitious on my part, as while my wheelchair batteries held up nicely, my own didn’t fare so well. Still, lesson learned and in future I'll try to rely on the public transport a bit more.

Day Seven: on the Road to Boston

Well, believe it or not I managed to get up at 5:30 AM, which I thought would give me an opportunity to see us sail into New York. Unfortunately, I had mistimed by an hour and woke up to find us just finishing our approach into the dock. Still, by virtue of docking in midtown this still afforded quite an impressive view of the famous New York skyline. When we went out onto the dock of the ship we could see for miles, and had a good view of the statue of liberty.

The docking process itself was quite lengthy, and we were not called to leave the room until 7:45am. This gave my dad plenty of time to have kittens about driving in the New York traffic which was already fairly busy. Fortunately the disembarkation procedure was fairly straightforward, and all three of us managed to leave together, with my father and Jan performing quite convincing impressions of pack-horses carrying all our (well mostly mine) luggage off the ship- three large bags of medical and electrical equipment, 2 suit carriers, a pillow and a rucksack each.

On the dock, we were reunited with our other luggage and escorted to the pickup point to meet our hire car. After some frantic ringing around we managed to locate the hire car driver, who gave us a very brief lesson on the car itself. The car, in the end is fine and will perform exactly what we need it to, if not being entirely well-designed or attractive! Most of this 10 minute lesson was focused on how to get me in the vehicle, with no more than two minutes on actually driving the thing. After signing for the keys, we were then promptly ushered off the collection area and into the New York traffic. All in all, rather a stressful experience for my Dad, which we only managed to get through thanks to the sat-nav we had already prepared, and the fact that I can sit up front in this car and was able to give directions.

However, despite being a little dropped in at the deep end, the plan came together quite well and we managed the three and a half-hour drive to Boston without any major hiccups. It did make us realise that the quality of the roads in the States is highly variable, and in some cases makes some of the potholed streets in Britain look like the unblemished face of any supermodel (or something similarly un-bumpy - yes I know, I need to work on my
similes!).

Our arrival in Boston was pretty uncomplicated, and we checked in to the Hilton with relative ease at 2:30pm. We were shown to our rooms, on the 23rd floor (quite why an accessible room is quite so high is beyond me, but I’ll just put the question of how I’ll be evacuated in the event of a fire out of my mind for now...). If I die to regret those words, I command you: see me avenged! Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be fine!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and devoted to recovery from all of the excitement! Our first sight of New York was particularly exciting, and it's good to know we will be back there to see it all. My mission now, to find free wi-fi access as this first 24-hour Internet session at the hotel cost $16! Still, I'm at a loss to find free WiFi nearby without first looking on the Internet! Ah, the irony!

Days 5 & 6: Cabin Fever

As the first leg of the journey draws to a close, we are all beginning to feel the effects of shipboard confinement, as it seems no matter how big the ship, there is still no escaping the fact that we are in the middle of the ocean with no means of escape! Fortunately we are almost there, as our recent pastime of trying to annoy each other, brought on by boredom, threatens to make things rather interesting.

That's not to say that we haven’t enjoyed the experience, from the fantastic food to (some) genuinely enjoyable entertainment. I say some, as it really is just one or two gems among a larger number of decidedly ropey performances. One such gem we went to yesterday, which was a much abridged version of Hobson's Choice, a play about a Manchester shopkeeper and his three daughters who he attempts to marry off. Good quality acting by the professionally trained Queen Mary 2 actors.

Last night we once again saw our two new dinner companions, who are a couple of eccentric Americans in their late 70s, from Idaho. They were late to join us as for the past few days they had stayed in their cabin, their luggage having been lost by the airline prior to boarding. On a ship like this, where the minimum standard of dress is a jacket and shirt, and three nights out of six is black tie, no luggage is beyond a mere inconvenience! Anyway, we spoke to them for some time, although there were some communication issues as they were both a little hard of hearing and seeming a little vague as to what they had done for the last few days. They did eventually find some common ground with my Dad on who should win American Idol - and there was I thinking he had just been watching mindless TV, little did I realise he was researching for this trip!

Today, our main focus has been on preparing for our arrival in New York and subsequent journey to Boston. At one point this morning we were receiving post almost every hour, each with new instructions on disembarkation procedure. After a number of visits to the powers that be in the Purser's office, we seem to have now sorted it, and we can but hope that the plan all comes together smoothly! I don't think my Dad is convinced of this, particularly as he now has to drive through Manhattan, which isn't known for its quiet streets!

So all that remains is the final dinner, and a bright and early start if we want to see the sights as we sail into New York, which should begin at around 4:30am. I'm not known as an early morning person, so we'll have to wait and see whether I'm up in time! Of course, I might convince myself to wait until the journey back - after all, at the speed we’ll be going, it doesn't matter much whether we are coming or going, the sights will be the same! Yes, as you can see, my powers of self-persuasion and rationalisation remain intact!

Day Four: Service with a Smile

One of the most famous aspects of the Cunard transatlantic experience is supposed to be the exemplary service you receive from the crew. So far everything we have seen has confirmed that reputation, from the boarding staff to our waiters and waitress at the restaurant, and of course our Butler I mentioned yesterday. The butler service is something we get as Queen's Grill passengers, which is basically the upper tier of cabins available, with extra space and a whole host of such luxuries. This extra luxurious status (which they certainly make you pay for!) was necessary as there were no accessible standard grade cabins available when I made the booking, but is something you truly come to appreciate when spending a week in one place.

Anyway, back to the crew. Our Butler is called Elgin, who hails from the Philippines. He works in nine-month long stints, meaning he gets to spend only three months in the year with his family which includes two daughters. It makes you think that the pay must have to be a pretty good incentive, but short of asking questions that are none of my business I can't guarantee you of that!

Elgin is the only one of the crew we have really got to know, but they are all remarkably attentive and vigilant, keen to spot any way in which they can be of assistance. After the first night the restaurant staff, after seeing my father cutting up the food for me, asked us if it was okay for them to do it before they brought food out -- which was really great as they were both helpful and careful not to make assumptions. It got me to thinking whether or not the staff received disability awareness training, although I am doubtful as at other times their approach has been a little patchy in this regard, occasionally addressing my father instead of me. But evidently this is outweighed by their clear desire to be as helpful as they possibly can.

And talking of excellent service, this entry wouldn't be complete without recognising the wonderful job that my PA Jan has been doing to help us out. It makes me wonder how we will cope without him on the way back! This trip once again demonstrates how varied the role of PA can be, and hopefully this would be considered a perk, although the rather hit and miss nature of ship's activities may at times bring that into question! I refer here to the Cunard singers show we went to in the afternoon, which was of questionable quality - it started with a medley from the Osmonds which probably gives you some idea.

A nice short entry today, and not even a pretentious quote to finish it off. Tune in for more tomorrow!

Day 3: In the Middle of a Transatlantic Crossing-Not the Best Place to Discover You Get Seasick!

One thing I expected from this trip was to discover new things about myself, as I moved well out of my comfort zone. Of course, I expected this to be a bit more deep and meaningful than the first such discovery - which is that I possess an innate desire for the horizon not to move whenever I look out the window. For the last 12 hours or so the ship has been travelling in what is classified as “rough” conditions, with waves overnight reaching heights of up to 6 m. Up until this point, I had been coping quite well being at sea, as the sea was calmer, and all that really told you the ship was moving was the very occasional wobble and some minor vibrations. Last night, however, I was overcome by queasiness and had to retire early, barely managing more than a few mouthfuls of a very tasty steak.

Fortunately, the crew on the Queen Mary 2 are accustomed to the situation, and our Butler (more about him in the next instalment) supplied us with anti-seasickness pills to sort me out. After sweating it out over a very restless night I woke up feeling considerably better. I'll keep taking the pills for the rest of the journey and hope for some much calmer seas.

Yesterday's activities were a rather strange mix of the elegant and the depraved, in equal measure albeit not at the same time. Let's start with the depraved: a half-hour lecture on the top 10 serial killers of all time. Not perhaps what you would expect to be the chosen topic for the retirees, particularly given the warnings for graphic crime scene images, but perhaps one of the most well attended events we've been to yet. I guess you should never underestimate the appetite for gore! It was rather disturbing in parts, and I've realised there were many serial killers who I'd never heard of, but that's probably one piece of knowledge I don't really need anyway.

The end of the lecture was rather comicly interrupted by good old Commodore Bernard Warner, (who reminds me of Captain Birdseye without the beard), who had an important announcement that we would now be docking in midtown Manhattan as opposed to Brooklyn as originally intended. That should be a much better view and approach, albeit requiring us to reorganise the meet up with the hire car and the directions to Boston. The Commodore continued to make his usual noon announcement, in his usual speaking style with long, deliberate pauses between each sentence which make you want to poke him until he switches back on to normal speed. Much to the annoyance of serial killer guy, who was dying to show us more gore. Just as he was about to continue, the Commodore's announcement was translated into German, French and Spanish. That might be have been the most entertaining part of the lecture, which tells you something!

The natural follow-up to blood and guts, of course, is a cocktail reception with the Commodore and deputy captain. Once again a formal night, and a chance to mingle with fellow guests. We met an American guy who must've been 70-odd, who told us of his role on the ship as “dance host”. It wasn't immediately obvious what that was, but it turns out he gets free boarding and food in return for dancing with the single ladies on the ship. Interesting guy - although perhaps a little more interested in himself than we were, if you know what I mean. Still, it was good to hear how he came to that line of work. Hats off to him, I can certainly think of worse ways to end up at 70.

I leave you with a quote from my book, the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, which I started to get me in the mood for the historical sites of Boston:
“So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do”

Day 2: Living It up with the Oldies

So what kinds of people choose a transatlantic cruise? For me, it’s the only truly accessible option to get to the states, at least until the airlines can take wheelchairs in the cabin. Not that I’m complaining, this is a fantastic way to travel, relaxing yet interesting, with a whole range of activities and plenty of opportunities to chat to your fellow passengers. But back to the question, the one thing I can say is that most passengers are older, retired, and primarily couples. Jan (my PA) and I can definitely vouch for that, after turning up to the 18 to 30 get-together to find nobody else there! Apparently, there are 25 people on the ships manifest aged 18 to 30 (out of a total 2500 passengers), but I guess we were the only ones feeling sociable!

Each evening on board we have the daily program of events for the next day delivered, allowing us to plan in advance when I need to get my bum out of bed! Day two started with a visit to the planetarium, for a typically cheesy, Americanised presentation of space photography including images from the Mars probes. Nice pictures, but it began to get a bit silly in points “ could you imagine an elephant if you'd never seen one before?” - truly thought-provoking stuff! The planetarium also doubles up as a cinema, and was where we came back to see crazy heart before dinner. A really great film - definitely worth the Oscar.

Last night saw the first formal evening, with a tuxedo or dark suit the minimum standard of evening wear. Which meant I had to break out the only tux I've ever worn, which has become a bit of family heirloom as it was passed from my Dad, to my brother, and finally on to me. My father, who is joining me on the whole trip, had to buy another one a long time ago to account for his, err... middle age spread! So it was a very smart affair, and finally we actually looked the part for the luxury Queen Grill restaurant! The evening was particularly civilised, with dinner, followed by a piano recital in the lounge. And then, after quite enough poshing it up, it was down the pub for another pub quiz!