Transatlantic from Montreal to Liverpool and Antwerp September 2008
When planning a voyage, I not only want to relax, sleep long, enjoy good weather but as well I want to see something of our planet, I want to get a feeling for the distances, and the beauty of the nature.
For this, I had booked a very special trip on autumn 2008:
A voyage across the Atlantic, from Montreal to Liverpool and Antwerp.
Getting there, meant to take a high-speed train (TGV) to Paris, and fly to Montreal. There were a few days for exploring the city of Montreal before boarding the German built (Sietas Shipyard) "Jonni Ritscher", built in 2006, 178 m long, 26 m wide.
Unfortunately the flight to Montreal was overbooked, so I got money offered plus free stay at the hotel, for flying next day. A chance to take the suburban train from airport "Charles de Gaulle" to Paris city center and have a stroll on a warm summer evening.
Basic details of the voyage:
The ship voyage did start on 24 th September at the port of Montreal, prior to this two nights were spent in a hotel.
Arrived at Liverpool 1 st October, stayed until 2nd
Arrived at Antwerp 6 th October.
I will here share some photos with you, but alot of experiences are hard to tell, so if you have some questions, please ask and I will get very talkative, no doubt ! As well comments are welcome, and best of all, if this report awakens your mood for travelling. Then, this report has solely done its job.
The two days prior to the trip, I strolled along the city, walked up to the Mount Royal in Montreal, enjoyed the autumn nature, took photos of the nature as well of buildings. Here you can see some of these. The city is very clean, with old and new buildings very close together.
It is said, that people in French Canada do not speak English, or do not like to. No, this was not the case, the people were very friendly and DID speak English. I as well ate one of the best burgers there ever, fresh made, and it was possible to choose the ingredients.
After two wonderful days in Montreal, it was time to get to the port and onboard the ship „Jonni Ritscher“. It was dark, so I didn‘t see much of the ship.
Onboard I went straight to my cabin, and were supposed to leave in the morning 08.00, but when I looked out of my cabin-window I saw what was behind us. I had a cabin facing stern, so I did not have to fear that a container could block my view. Anyways, here are some views of Montreal harbour!
The trip was leading us down the River ST. Lawrence into the North Atlantic, which could sometimes bit a "bit" rough in autumn. Along the river, many beautiful bridges were seen and ships, that I never saw before. Also the famous Castle Frontenac at Quebec I saw. But I was not very impressed because it looked sort of dark and depressing.
These were the last photos taken of Canadian territory, it was the end of the 24 th. September 2008. There would not be so much to see after this, as we were heading towards the Atlantic and there were not any other ships seen. I think, there could have been some, but these were to far away to be seen.
There was not much happening during the Atlantic crossing. I had a few books with me, my laptop and I did use the time to sleep alot, and just watch how the weather and the sky have changed. It was not very cold, so I still could walk to the bow, and sit down there and get some warm October-sun, as well watch various seabirds flying around. Being used to routes that follow very close the European coasts with almost every day another harbour, I was impressed by the vast size of the Atlantic and the sheer mass of water and the fact, that any land was far far away.
Although, the most impressive view - and one that I won't forget all my life long, was a star clear night. Far away from any light pollution by cities etc. looking up to the sky full of stars, that was feeling almost as if we were in space, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. This can't be compared with anything else.
The best thing have been the sunsets, it is not like some people say, that if you have seen one, you have seen all. Each one is different, and especially at sea, there is not anything in the way. Let‘s see, whether you can agree… The weather has mostly been nice, apart from a rough part starting in the Irish Sea. Apart from the Steward, nobody got seasick, though.
It was impossible to get into Liverpool locks because the wind was too strong, so we had to wait one night on the sheltered side of Isle of Man.
Also some traffic on the way to Liverpool, taken out of my cabin-window. while We were anchored off the Isle of Man.
We saw alot of old rotten stuff laying around in the port. As well some old floating sort of old stuff. An MSC ship, built 1977 and looking quite rusty and dented.
Such is as well always interesting to see for me, as this way I could see, how they used to build ships in the past and you can compare with some of the new stuff around. So, me and the other passengers have been standing on the deck, making comments and pointing with the finger towards the old rustbucket, which actually turned out to be the ex. "Frankfurt Express" of Hapag-Lloyd, built 1977.
For us passengers it was enough time to explore the city of Liverpool and we were very happy, to see a famous guest there: The cruiseliner "Queen Elizabeth 2". It was one of the last journeys of this ship, so we were especially happy to see it.
Unfortunatelly the food onboard "Jonni Ritscher" was not very good, it simply was not very spicy. So once on land we were looking for an Indian restaurant, to order something hot and spicy to compensate this.
As well slowly it came to my mind, that the voyage will last only short time, and that Antwerp - the destination of this trip - is close.
The weather started to be dark, foggy and not very nice. Only few photos were made, due to this. The pilot for River Scheldt was coming onboard and we were arriving in the very late evening in darkness in Antwerp. There, I spent one night in a hotel near the railway station and after this, I went home by train, taking with me all these impressionos of a voyage across the Atlantic.
For this, I had booked a very special trip on autumn 2008:
A voyage across the Atlantic, from Montreal to Liverpool and Antwerp.
Getting there, meant to take a high-speed train (TGV) to Paris, and fly to Montreal. There were a few days for exploring the city of Montreal before boarding the German built (Sietas Shipyard) "Jonni Ritscher", built in 2006, 178 m long, 26 m wide.
Unfortunately the flight to Montreal was overbooked, so I got money offered plus free stay at the hotel, for flying next day. A chance to take the suburban train from airport "Charles de Gaulle" to Paris city center and have a stroll on a warm summer evening.
Basic details of the voyage:
The ship voyage did start on 24 th September at the port of Montreal, prior to this two nights were spent in a hotel.
Arrived at Liverpool 1 st October, stayed until 2nd
Arrived at Antwerp 6 th October.
I will here share some photos with you, but alot of experiences are hard to tell, so if you have some questions, please ask and I will get very talkative, no doubt ! As well comments are welcome, and best of all, if this report awakens your mood for travelling. Then, this report has solely done its job.
The two days prior to the trip, I strolled along the city, walked up to the Mount Royal in Montreal, enjoyed the autumn nature, took photos of the nature as well of buildings. Here you can see some of these. The city is very clean, with old and new buildings very close together.
It is said, that people in French Canada do not speak English, or do not like to. No, this was not the case, the people were very friendly and DID speak English. I as well ate one of the best burgers there ever, fresh made, and it was possible to choose the ingredients.
After two wonderful days in Montreal, it was time to get to the port and onboard the ship „Jonni Ritscher“. It was dark, so I didn‘t see much of the ship.
Onboard I went straight to my cabin, and were supposed to leave in the morning 08.00, but when I looked out of my cabin-window I saw what was behind us. I had a cabin facing stern, so I did not have to fear that a container could block my view. Anyways, here are some views of Montreal harbour!
The trip was leading us down the River ST. Lawrence into the North Atlantic, which could sometimes bit a "bit" rough in autumn. Along the river, many beautiful bridges were seen and ships, that I never saw before. Also the famous Castle Frontenac at Quebec I saw. But I was not very impressed because it looked sort of dark and depressing.
These were the last photos taken of Canadian territory, it was the end of the 24 th. September 2008. There would not be so much to see after this, as we were heading towards the Atlantic and there were not any other ships seen. I think, there could have been some, but these were to far away to be seen.
There was not much happening during the Atlantic crossing. I had a few books with me, my laptop and I did use the time to sleep alot, and just watch how the weather and the sky have changed. It was not very cold, so I still could walk to the bow, and sit down there and get some warm October-sun, as well watch various seabirds flying around. Being used to routes that follow very close the European coasts with almost every day another harbour, I was impressed by the vast size of the Atlantic and the sheer mass of water and the fact, that any land was far far away.
Although, the most impressive view - and one that I won't forget all my life long, was a star clear night. Far away from any light pollution by cities etc. looking up to the sky full of stars, that was feeling almost as if we were in space, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. This can't be compared with anything else.
The best thing have been the sunsets, it is not like some people say, that if you have seen one, you have seen all. Each one is different, and especially at sea, there is not anything in the way. Let‘s see, whether you can agree… The weather has mostly been nice, apart from a rough part starting in the Irish Sea. Apart from the Steward, nobody got seasick, though.
It was impossible to get into Liverpool locks because the wind was too strong, so we had to wait one night on the sheltered side of Isle of Man.
Also some traffic on the way to Liverpool, taken out of my cabin-window. while We were anchored off the Isle of Man.
We saw alot of old rotten stuff laying around in the port. As well some old floating sort of old stuff. An MSC ship, built 1977 and looking quite rusty and dented.
Such is as well always interesting to see for me, as this way I could see, how they used to build ships in the past and you can compare with some of the new stuff around. So, me and the other passengers have been standing on the deck, making comments and pointing with the finger towards the old rustbucket, which actually turned out to be the ex. "Frankfurt Express" of Hapag-Lloyd, built 1977.
For us passengers it was enough time to explore the city of Liverpool and we were very happy, to see a famous guest there: The cruiseliner "Queen Elizabeth 2". It was one of the last journeys of this ship, so we were especially happy to see it.
Unfortunatelly the food onboard "Jonni Ritscher" was not very good, it simply was not very spicy. So once on land we were looking for an Indian restaurant, to order something hot and spicy to compensate this.
As well slowly it came to my mind, that the voyage will last only short time, and that Antwerp - the destination of this trip - is close.
The weather started to be dark, foggy and not very nice. Only few photos were made, due to this. The pilot for River Scheldt was coming onboard and we were arriving in the very late evening in darkness in Antwerp. There, I spent one night in a hotel near the railway station and after this, I went home by train, taking with me all these impressionos of a voyage across the Atlantic.