The Hague.

The seat of the Dutch Parliament.The permanent home of the United Nations'International Court of Justice, of the International Criminal Court, of the Court of Arbitration. I wanted to see it all.

The tour started well. Then the bus broke down.It was freezing inside waiting for a replacement, the heating was not working. The tour guide did not stop talking.

At the end of the 3 hour misery I lost the will to live.And I have 4 photographs to show for it.

The photograph is I think that of the Criminal court, the tour guide could barely be understood.

The Dam on The River Rotte-Rotterdam

Is the second largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam.In May 1940 the city was heavily bombarded by the Luftwaffe and during the four days of the Rotterdam blitz the entire historic centre, much of it dating to the 13th century,was destroyed.This is one of the reasons Rotterdam has co many skyscrapers, as do many other European cities,that suffered the same fate in the war.

But Rotterdam is not a concrete jungle, all towers are well designed and well looked after. The city grows on you.

There are the cube houses, 38 regular size and 2 super-cubes, designed by Piet Blom and built in 1982-1984.They are yellow and tilted by a 45 degrees angle.Someone has described them as "mind - boggling optical illusion" and they are indeed quite extraordinary.

But some other buildings are tilted, too, Pisa has nothing on Rotterdam!

The Maritime Museum is rather special,you can watch engineers at work.

And the cruise port is  right in the centre of the city. How wonderful is that.

The Dam on The River Rotte-Rotterdam

Is the second largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam.In May 1940 the city was heavily bombarded by the Luftwaffe ( "air weapon") and during the four days of the Rotterdam blitz the entire historic centre, much of it dating to the 13th Century,was destroyed.This is one of the reasons Rotterdam has co many skyscrapers, as do many other European cities,that suffered the same fate in the war.

But Rotterdam is not a concrete jungle, all towers are well looked after. The city grows on you.

Today we had a sea day and a black tie evening.

I keep an Instagram account

and  now and then am asked what to pack on a cruise.

I travel light and often vety light, like now.

Yes, this is all I have packed for a five night cruise.

An oversize shirt and shorts, jeans for the evening(yes, I dress up my pale blue Marks & Spencer jeans in the evening), white blouse, sexy throw, dark grey top and sweater cashmere set, joggers, short sleeve t - shirt, silk lingerie set, a  pair of white socks, green sandals and a green evening bag, swimming costume.

And that's it.

Ventura, 5 night cruise 19-24 September 2023 to France and Holland.

Le Havre, our first stop,is just hop, skip and jump away from Southampton.

Even though I am on the 9th floor, I can hear the old girl's engines rattle when getting ready to sail or deploying stabilizers in strong winds as there were last night.

This is my very first time in Le Havre and I have not planned a tour. Two thousand people had the same idea. A shuttle bus was provided and I took the advantage of it to and from the town centre.

Le Havre was largely destroyed during World War II, it was rebuilt by Auguste Perret and thanks to him the town is Unesco World Heritage site for its "outstanding example of modernist architecture".

Le Havre is the ugliest European  city I have ever been to.

It has no character, all historic, old and beautiful was destroyed by the Germans, but it is scruffy and dirty and that is solely the responsibility of the French. I walked the steeets looking for a coffee shop and found none and then, when I thought nope, not today, Josephine, there it was on Rue de Paris - an absolutely wonderful boulangerie and I was served a plain croissant and a delicious fruit tart by a delightful almost beautiful girl,

but they do not serve coffee.

Next door there is a shoe shop I never wanted to leave.

No, I did not buy anything, my flat is on the market and I have masses of shoes to move, but if I ever come to Le Havre again, La P'tite Dockee will be my first stop.

So in that dowdy unattractive town there is hidden beauty and I am sure I would have found more, but it was cloudy and I did not want to be caught in the rain, so returned to the ship.

Ventura, 19- 24 September 2023

Last Friday evening I was so tired,I knew I had to go somewhere, anywhere.As always,my first thoughts were ships.Ventura had a 5 night cruise to France and Holland from coming Tuesday. Would I be able to get everything ready in just 3 days ? Would I get a stateroom with a balcony?  Yes and yes!  When I opened the door to my room D723, 9th floor, my heart jumped with joy.  Oh, there is nothing spectacular or fancy here, (I do not think the cabins have  been refurbished from the day  the ship was launched in 2008, even though some work was done in 2013 and again in March 2023), but the bed is massive, towels large  and soft, comfy slippers, roomy dressing gown, sitting area has a second TV- cabin is Superior Deluxe, after all. Heaven.

But  the moment I stepped on board, I knew the communal areas of Ventura have been  revamped, and beautifully so,

in a  classy, understated kind of way, and I love it.The 4 week refit was done in March 2023 at the Blohm& Voss shipyard in Hamburg.