30th March 2020 A bitterly cold day. Sue took a short walk to the postbox to send an Easter card, while I chose a cycling route I hadn’t been able to follow for quite a few months. The fields and rural pathways had finally dried out enough to take a tyre without slipping or clogging… Continue Reading
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28th March 2020 The death toll in the UK has reached a frightening 1,019. However, to put it into perspective, over the past 24 hours, another 832 people have died in Spain. NHS England’s medical director, Professor Stephen Powis, has said that if the UK manages to keep the death toll below 20,000, “We will… Continue Reading
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22nd March 2020 It’s only been a few days since I last published a blog, but given the current circumstances, it feels appropriate to record more frequent updates on the events and adjustments the Palmer family is making as we navigate this new and more vulnerable world. On Friday, 20th March, schools shut their doors… Continue Reading
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20th March 2020 Since returning from the Amazon on the 20th of February, the world has become a very different place from the one we knew before boarding the Magellan at the beginning of January. As we were cruising, we had been following, out of idle curiosity, the plight of the unfortunate passengers quarantined on… Continue Reading
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23rd February 2020 Crossing the Bay of Biscay With swells exceeding five metres, crossing the Bay of Biscay was anything but comfortable. Continuous warnings throughout the ship advised passengers to wear flat shoes, hold onto handrails where possible, and take extra care on stairs and in doorways, sensible advice under the circumstances. Sick bags had… Continue Reading
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17th February 2020 After a somewhat rocky night, we arrived at the port of Vigo in the province of Galicia, Spain, just as breakfast was being served. Vigo is home to Spain’s largest fishing fleet and a key industrial hub for car manufacturing and shipbuilding. History hasn’t always been kind to this city. Sir Francis… Continue Reading
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15th February 2020 Ponta Delgada is the capital of the Azores and its largest municipality. Here, we docked early on the morning of Valentine’s Day. The day began on a gloomy note; the volcanic highlands were shrouded in grey mist, thick rolling clouds swept across the sky, and there was a hint of rain in… Continue Reading
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14th February 2020 Since leaving Antigua, nestled serenely in the warm, calm Caribbean Sea, we have been making steady progress northeast through the cooler, choppier waters of the Atlantic Ocean. With each passing day, the outside temperature has dropped from a fatigue-inducing mid-30s to a far more comfortable mid-20s, at times, even lower. Heading into… Continue Reading
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8th February 2020 Antigua is one of the smaller Leeward Islands, and it was here, in its capital, St. John’s, that we berthed alongside three other large cruise ships, just as we sat down to breakfast. Columbus named the island Santa María la Antigua as he sailed past in 1493, but it has been under… Continue Reading
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7th February 2020 As usual, the Magellan docked at breakfast time in the port of Castries, joining two other cruise ships that had already secured their moorings. It was set to be a busy day for the inhabitants of the second-largest island in the Windward chain. St. Lucia was discovered by Juan de Cosa, who… Continue Reading
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