The RMS St Helena proved more pleasant than I had expected from a dual-purpose passenger and cargo ship. Our cabin was roomy, the food good without being exceptional, and the service friendly. The crew tried hard to provide amusements—shuffleboard, trivia contests, movies—throughout each day. Mostly, I read on deck or talked with other travelers. I […]
On Board the RMS St Helena Read More »
Today my husband Bert and I board the RMS St Helena for the five-day voyage to the island. Since the ship doesn’t offer internet to its passengers, this is my final blog until we disembark on May 16th. No internet for five days might feel like a hardship, but I expect our cruise will be
On the way to St Helena Read More »
. . . to the king on land! South Africa is full of wonderful sights and experiences. We’re on safari today and tomorrow, then back to Cape Town for one day sightseeing before boarding the RMS St Helena.
From the King of the Ocean . . . Read More »
No Napoleon today—we went Great White Shark cage-diving instead. Here’s one of the seventeen friends we made. He’s about twelve feet long, and looked mighty hungry, although thousands of seals were raising pups on a nearby island. I figured they’d probably be much tastier than me.
Great White Sharks! Read More »
Today, the 190th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s death on St Helena, was our first day in South Africa. We commemorated the occasion with a visit to Groot (Estate) Constantia, just outside of Cape Town. One of the few pleasures Napoleon experienced during his six-year exile on St Helena was the Grand Constance sweet white wine
190th Anniversary of Napoleon’s Death Read More »
It’s the tiny white speck in the south Atlantic. Few places on this planet become more remote over time, but St Helena has. In 1816, when Napoleon was exiled there, as many as a thousand ships a year called at the island. Back then, before the Suez Canal, it was a stopover for ships from
When I was in fourth grade, I had to do a project on my home state, which my teacher, the ever-rigid Mrs. Wall, defined as a person’s birthplace. I was annoyed: I had been born in Maryland because that’s where Bethesda Naval Hospital is. At the time my Navy family lived in Virginia. I felt
I’ve been thinking back about my visit to Brienne, the French country town where Napoleon attended his first military school from age nine to fifteen. By all accounts he grew up isolated, mocked for his accent and poverty. Even his politics brought derision as this drawing—the earliest known Napoleonic caricature—shows. In it, a fellow student
Symmetry at Brienne Read More »
We Americans think the French don’t like us, and, in turn, we portray them as ungrateful for our aid during the World Wars. Remember Freedom Fries in 2003? Perhaps, we should apologize for that one since sadly they were right about Iraqi WMDs. A quick look around Paris tells you the French find kinship in
