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Showing posts from November, 2016

Thank You 500,000 readers

F&B, Style - A Beautiful Jug, a Cup and a Bucket

About a jug, a cup, a champagne bucket. by Richard Arebalo for the Texas Wine and Food Foundation editing by Earl of Cruise I’ve collected antique silver for many years, but lately the pace has accelerated and the size of the collection has grown the more I am inspired by the beautiful scenes in Downton Abbey. While watching my guilty pleasure, I am particularly drawn to the details of preparing, presenting and serving the food and wine. In every kitchen scene depicting frantic food preparation, there is always a gallery of beautiful copper pots and dessert molds in the background. In the dining room, be it breakfast or dinner, table settings and service pieces are stunning and, thanks to the show’s historical advisor, Alastair Bruce, meticulously accurate for the period. top and below, Tastevin - courtesy TEXAS WINE & FOOD I can definitely imagine seeing Mr. Carson, the butler, using a couple of my recent wine-related purchases--an Edwardian wine ewer fr...

HISTORY - Portugals Presidential Yacht FUNCHALs future is questioned as of heritage and preservation

Portugal’s liner FUNCHAL´s future in question of heritage and preservation.   FUNCHAL´s heritage is not only being once used as the the presidential yacht of President Thomaz, but too for its nice exterior style and human dimensions. Was FUNCHAL used as a state yacht when the President was traveling on board?  The again laid up vessel is for sale again. by Earl of Cruise The FUNCHAL in Lisboa - courtesy by Luis Miguel Correia B etween 1961 and 1974, FUNCHAL was owned by EMPRESA INSULANA de NAVEGACAO, part of the Bensaude dynasty business, the wealthiest and most influential family in the Azores, and hence was commissioned by Presidente Americo Thomaz for state occasions when on longer journeys abraod. FUNCHAL was build for the Portugal mainland to Azores service and sailed too to the Madeiras and underwent cruises for the British and German market in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Promoted as a small ship, in human dimensions, even back then. Construction of FU...

HISTORY - the ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET COMPANY sailing the South Atlantic

While on research for an article published in print in Jan/Feb 2017 eventually, about the CAP Express steamers of HAMBURG-SÜD (Wikipedia) HAMBURG SÜDAMERIKANISCHEDAMPFSCHIFFFAHRTSGESELLSCHAFT I had to look into the competitors and took advantage of creating seperate articles about. by Earl of Cruises ROYAL MAIL LINE cruise broshure of 1959 - own collection The first of these South America or Rio de la Plata route related articles is about the ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET COMPANY which was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by the Scottisch business entrepreneur James MacQueen. The line's motto was ` Per Mare Ubique´ (everywhere by sea) - nobody ever should argue about the motto of Albert Ballin `Mein Feld ist die Welt´, both mottos are not ostentatious they express the same: I don´t want to be hindered by frontiers and my limit is the other shore or the sky. After good and bad times ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET COMPANY became the largest shipping group in...

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HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

HISTORY - The Monster-ships that changed how we Travel at Sea

Our present days sea travel, with its `luxuries´ started with the Monster-ships after the turn from 19th to 20th century, and technical progress and innovations made us think "unbeatable" at sea ... This hybris and belive in the technological progress was destroyed when the TITANIC sank after its encounter off Newfoundland with an iceberg. The beauty salons, fitness rooms, swimming pools, firsts on German liners, and even wireless communications of today’s huge cruise ships all got their start with the `floating palaces´ of a century and a bit ago.   by Earl of Cruise ss GREAT WESTERN, of GREAT WESTERN STEAMSHIP COMPANY, constructed by genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel - Sourece: Engineers Walk ss GREAT BRITAIN of GREAT WESTERN STEAMSHIP COMPANY, constructed by genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel - Sourece: ART UK In the first half of 19th century steam started powering ships. No longer tedious and unpredictable voyages at sea. And with the groundbreaking game chan...

Liners - Can classic ocean liners make a comeback

Classic ocean liners, crossing the oceans, had been for long time the only way to cross the seas. A comeback of ocean liners for real? When in 2010 the Islandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull did errupt, and all flights that would come near his ash-clouds had to be cancelled, people had been trapped on each side of the pond ... And immidiately all available cabins on containerships had been booked, cruise vessels sailing either to the Americas or Europe had been flodded by desperate travellers to get to their destination ... Going by ship was in those days the only way to cross. It did show a certain, but temporary neccessity of liner traffic. But unfortunately we did not have any longer a frequent crossing possibility by ship - Transatlantic liners, liners per se had gone, gone with the wind of history and technical progress in air flight. Is an ocean liner comeback possible? by Earl of Cruise rms QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 © Beken - own collection, copy from a postcard CUNARD held the ...

Destination - Capri, Dolce Vita and Legends - a cruise on board ANDREA

Capri filled with legends, over boarding beauty and Italian `dolce vita´ More than 190 years after the German painter August Kopisch's `discovery´ of the Grotta Azzurra in 1826, Capri ( it is pronounced `KAH pree´, with an accent on the first syllable ) is the most sophisticated island in the Mediterranean. The sound of its name evokes nostalgia, beauty and enthusiasm. And more so, each one of us can and will find its `own´ Capri. by Earl of Cruise Grotta Azzura on Capri - Source: Atlantide Phototravel © Corbis During a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venezia on board the yacht like ANDREA of ELEGANT CRUISES & TOURS one of the beautiful destinations has been Capri ... Early morning, approaching Capri - © Earl of Cruise Capri smells of sweet life, light moments, riches and pomp. It is the island of love and happiness. Capri is the place for yearning, dreams and wonderful craziness. Capri is a myths in the Mediterranean Sea, unique and tender,...

Heritage - UNITED STATES LINES - a review

In my UNITED STATES LINES historic review I want to show the rise and fall of the last national shipping and post line of the United States of America. by Earl of Cruise © UNITED STATES LINES The UNITED STATES LINES has been at first a transatlantic shipping company that operated passenger, mail and cargo services from 1921 to 1989. The passenger service with oceanliners was offered until 1969 - most famously by ss  UNITED STATES . The line became well known in the 1920s, when two valiant rescues were made. These ships involved have been the ss PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT in 1926, and the ss AMERICA in 1929 both under the command by Captain George Fried . 19th Century Since the dramatic ending of the COLLINS LINE in mid 19th century, after successfully crossing the North Atlantic, there has not been any major US American steamship line. The congress was not able giving a push to any new entrepreneur to come. So foreign companies got the main share in post trading and pas...

Panama Papers - Caribbean Billions And a German yard group

The Panama Papers focus again dubios Caribbean Billions by Earl of Cruise The new GENTING purchase NORDIC YARDS, source wikipedia Panama Papers and a German Shipbuilder Not since the publication of the Panama Papers, a German yard group got dubios money transfers - the WADAN YARDS and his former owner the Russian Billionaire Andrei Burlakow got into sight of the German tax police. Burlakow, with connections to the Russian Maffia died by the bullets of a hitman. Prior to his shooting Bulakow sold his German entity, the WADAN GROUP, in 2009 to Igor Yusufov - his investment company FLC West.  Vitaly Yusufov, courtsey from ex NORDIC YARDS Jussufow is an e x minister and GASPROM board member. WADAN became NORDIC YARDS and would be run by the son Vitaly Yusufov . It had been haggled, money shifted and cashed ... employees had the dead end - unemploy ment. in June 2015, the HypoVereinsbank reported in a money laundering display flashy money flows in favor of NORDIC...

Thank You 500,000 readers

HISTORY - FRENCH LINE - COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, a review - Part II Belle Epoque

The COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, known since the Belle Epoque as FRENCH LINE in the English speaking world (or TRANSAT or CGT), had its origins in 1861.  by Earl of Cruise E mperor Napoléon III. wanted strengthening the French primacy on the oceans and an adequate mail line for the French mail. The 1855 established COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE MARITIME of the Péreire brothers was the core for the new company. This company´s headquarter was, as any major business in France, situated in Paris, while the homeport of the vessels had been Le Havre for the North Atlantic and Marseille for the route to the Orient and Africa. Houseflag of COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE S.A. - soure: ebay "On   limited space, we put our country on display", a crewmember declared once. And no other line put in more of its national personality into its product than COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE . After the French - Prussian/German war of 1870/71 France had to sig...

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five...

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...