It is official! After a four-month break, we are off again. Believe it or not it began at the United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco. Richard and Susan Wright invited us to hear Freddie White in concert, Friday, August 16th. Turns out Richard and Susan were hosting Freddie at their home. None of which is really important because it was both fun and interesting. Clearly not something we would normally do.
So many, like myself, will want to know who is Freddie White. He was born in Cobh, County Cork, by age thirteen Freddie was playing in school bands and by seventeen playing professionally. At nineteen, he moved to London, where he busked in subways, and developed his unique voice and guitar style. Yea, I had to look up busked as well. It means to preform in public, like a subway, for money.
In 1974, he was a founding member of ‘Scullion’, together with Philip King and Sonny Condell. Later he formed ‘The Fake’, regarded as one of the seminal Irish bands of the late ‘70’s. Next came The Freddie White Band formed in 1978, which toured with Eric Clapton that year.
His first album, Live on Tour, recorded by Nicky Ryan while touring with Clannad, brought him national attention. His second album, Do You Do, was the biggest selling Mulligan Label album of 1981. With these early albums, Freddie introduced an eclectic repertoire of music, which spanned musical genres and eras, to an Irish audience.Long Distance Runner was launched in 1985, and it featured original songs such as ‘Goodbye This Time’, ‘Down Without A Fight’, and the hit single ‘Frozen Heart’, which was co-written with Johnny Duhan. His fourth album, ‘Close To You’ continued this trend, with most of the songs self-penned. In 1994, he released Straight Up, a collection of fourteen songs recorded live.
My Country was released in Ireland in May 1999. A collection of eleven songs co-written with Ann O’Sullivan and based on the poetry of Don O’Sullivan. The album was co-produced by Freddie and Declan Sinnott, renowned for his work as producer and arranger with Sinead Lohan, Frances Black and Mary Black and as lead guitarist with Horslips and Moving Hearts.
In May 2002 the 2-CD set Lost and Found was released, comprising digitally re-mastered versions of two of Freddie’s best-selling early albums, albums, namely, Live on Tour and Do You Do, under the watchful eye of original producer PJ Curtis. The re-release was warmly welcomed not only by the many whose original vinyl copies had long since worn out, but also by those who delighted in discovering these classic recordings.
Released in 2008, Stormy Lullaby, is a stunning collection of moody tracks in which Freddie White’s musicianship and voice shine through. The album has an acoustic feel thanks to the input of a small, tight group of musicians from his native Cork.‘Stormy Lullaby’ is a collection of eleven songs. Some tracks are newly written, while others (not previously recorded by Freddie) have proven their worth by becoming firm favorites with his live audiences.
‘Stormy Lullaby’ showcases what Freddie does best – that is ‘get inside’ and deliver heartrending, troubled love songs in a manner guaranteed to stop you in your tracks. It is often said of Freddie that he does not merely ‘cover’ great songs; more often than not he improves on the originals.
In 2012, the album Here With You was released. It introduces Trish Hickey, now Trish White, and is a collection of songs from some of their favorite writers. The album was recorded in Ireland and Australia
Freddie’s 2014 album, Better Days, is a collection of 10 original songs, all but one written by Freddie and his wife Trish. The exception “Down Without a Fight” also written by Freddie, appeared on the album “Long Distance Runner” 1985.The album was recorded in Sydney, Australia where Freddie and Trish now live.
Anyone who knows me, knows, I don’t go to concerts because I can’t hear anything. Well, it is true, however the experience was enjoyable. While I maybe got 10% - 20% of the words in the songs, the guitar playing was audible and very good. Trish sang two songs. Her voice was amazing and I could understand what she sang. The most difficult part of the evening is the doors opening at 7:30 and the concert was two hours beginning at 8 and ending at 10. Which means driving back to Sonoma between 10 and 11:30. We managed to do it and it was worth it.
Saturday, was spend packing and repacking. We were lugging five suitcases each on the world cruise. We brought a lot of things because we didn’t know what to expect. We still don’t know exactly what to expect but this adventure is mostly in Europe so most everything we could need, consumables like toothpaste, can be found. So, we have continued learning what to pack. There are still a few things to work out. We are both down to the prescribed three suitcases. One mid-sized bag, on hard sided carryon, and one soft sided carryon. The world cruise really helped us to set limits on exactly what you need. Honestly, if it weren’t for the heavy winter jacket and long-John’s we could probably get by with two suitcases.
This adventure is no shorter than the world cruise. We won’t be back in Sonoma until early January. In the meantime, however, we will visit, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, then back to Italy before heading off to see the northern-lights in Iceland. After Iceland it ill be back to Kansas City for Christmas, then New York City for New Years, back to Kansas City, then finally off to Sonoma. The world cruise ended up being about 140 days, and this adventure will also be about 140 to 150 days.
In the afternoon on Saturday Damilia came by. Mary had picked up some Romano beans at Bianchini’s Market in San Carlos. Apparently Damilia’s father loves them but they can’t find them north of San Francisco. We worked on our plans for late September, the grape harvest, and the olive harvest. We are going to meet up in Milano on the 23rd. Yes, we are working on the next adventure even while on this one. We will travel up to Berbenno together for the grape harvest. We are going to stay at Le Corti Dei Sassi in Berbenno.
Seven or eight years ago while out walking one morning Mattia pointed out Palazzo dei Sassi on the way to Café Dakota. Luigi Marchionni was working on restoring the palazzo and turning it into a B&B. Seven years later it is finally done! Mattia, has contacted Luigi and made arrangements for us to stay there. So be on the look out for a description in October. We played a couple games of canasta and had dinner before Damilia left of the night.
Sunday, we continued packing and repacking. We tidied up the cottage, making it really for our five-month absence. Spent part of the time composing emails to Jody at Asilia about the African Safari next March, just before we go off to Morocco. By late afternoon it was clear that the three-suitcase goal was going to be easily met.
We arranged to have Grand Napa Valley Chauffeurs pick us up at 11 on Monday and take us to the airport. It is less expensive than staying the night near the airport. The flight is at 4:00. Boarding begins at 3:15. Two hours prior is 1:15. It is a 90 minute drive, allowing for lots of congestion. However, we will sleep well tonight knowing there is lots of cushion. Bags are packed and locked, except for the medical bag which still needs the refrigerated items, and up the main house by the door ready to go.
I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep. Mary managed to stay in bed until 8. We cleaned out the refrigerator, dumped the trash, cleaned the stove top, closed down all the electronics. Just before 11 German showed up to take us to SFO. I slept all the way down to the airport.
Check-in was really simple. Probably because I had done some of it on-line. Got our bag tags at the automated kiosk. Took the bags to bag drop. Then walked to TSA Pre-Check. No one in line anywhere. If we weren’t so early, there would probably have been a lot of congestion at each pinch point.
Walked to the Polaris Lounge and checked myself in. Mary went for a walk. Did my Italian lesson, need to do it now because I am not buying internet on the plane. Once we land it will be Tuesday. With 2501 days of lessons you would think I would be proficient by now. Just a slow learner. Don’t want to miss a day.
Mary joined me for a while in the lounge. Then we walked to the gate. It couldn’t have been further away from the lounge. It is clear that the plane wouldn’t be full, just by the lack of people at the gate. Boarding began at 3:15 and was complete by 3:40. I was asleep by 4:15.
I woke up about an hour outside London. I understood we were delayed in getting off the ground, but that we had made up most of the time lost. We landed at Terminal 2, The Queen’s Terminal, and were deplaned and off to immigration with a great deal of efficiency. The boarder and immigration process is completely automated and very easy. Although there were a few technology challenged individuals who had trouble operating the equipment. Even Mary managed to get through with no problems. We proceeded to baggage claim. The bags arrived quickly. Of course, the two-mile walk did give them some time to get the bags to the kiosk.
Again, not a single issue. We exited the baggage claim area and standing just outside the door was a young woman with a Regent sign. She was there to meet us and one other couple. We all connected very quickly. She called for our bus to take us to Southampton to board the ship. It took a few minutes for the bus to arrive, but it was a 30-40 passenger bus for four people. The ride to Southampton was just over an hour.
We arrived dock side just after it had gone one. Our ship for this cruise is the Seven Seas Splendor. The Splendor is a Vision Class vessel and along with the Grandeur is one of the newer ships is the Regent family. She was launched in 2020, during the height of the COVID epidemic. She is also 20 years newer than the Seven Seas Mariner, the ship used for the World Cruise, which was launched in 2000.
However, they are basically the same “size” ships. The difference is how they are configured. The Mariner has 8 guest decks and the Splendor has 10. This has been accomplished by decreasing the ceiling height on each deck. The rooms have been configured differently.
The suite on the Mariner was 376 sq. feet with 73 sq feet of balcony. The Splendor suite is 332 sq feet with about the same balcony. However, it “feels” a lot smaller then just 44 sq feet less, or 44 sq feet is really a lot of room. The bathroom is much larger!. Two sinks, and a bath tub and a shower. The closet is also about twice the size of that on the Mariner.
Everything on the Splendor is very clean and modern, perhaps more so than the Mariner. It feels a little cramped. Maybe just because of what we were used to. We went up to the pool grill for lunch. The layout of the facilities is different but the food is the same as on the Mariner. Exactly the same.
Mike and Maddie were due at 2:30. We texted them a little before that and let them know we were on board. We connected a little bit later while we were taking a tour of the ship. Oh, Francesco from the Mariner is here. He has the same position as on the Mariner – Restaurant Manager.
We met Mike and Maddie for dinner. We went to Sette Mari, surprise right?. The biggest surprise was that Jason is the maître d’! He was the maître d’ for Sette Mari on the Mariner! It took him a minute to recognize us, but he remembered table ten! Later Jason brought the head chef for Sette Mari by the table for an introduction. The menu hasn’t changed from that of the world cruise, although Jason indicated that they were going to have a couple “special” nights. Tomorrow, keeping with the French Theme, we’ll be in France, we are going to Chartreuse for dinner.
It has been a long two days. Hopefully we’ll get some sleep tonight.
Buonanotte, Enrico e Maria
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