Troubadours Tales

And so we debarked from the RSS Navigator in San Francisco.  We were picked up by friend Dick, to stay a night with him and his wife Dianne in San Rafael – including a trip to Sonoma, lunch, a winery visit and a tour of their side of the Bay. It was a great way to ‘come down’ from the cruise, which had been excellent, with many visits to places of great interest – Cartagena, the Panama Canal, Costa Rica and many stops in Mexico and thence to San Diego and finally under the Golden Gate Bridge at 5.30 in the morning! It was a busy cruise, with 8 lectures, 4 cabaret shows and 2 ‘Liars Clubs’, and few other bits and pieces…but Navigator is a great little ship and very friendly, with great food and wine!

And now it’s back to the UK to visit, for the first time, Samuel, the first grandchild, in Rochester. I then go to Spain to prepare for the next trip – a Saga cruise around the UK including Iceland, and Julie will visit her father in Cornwall.

Our plans look like changing, or being changed as we should be joining a special cruise in Italy at the beginning of July….so that will mean some alterations further into the year…probably missing Alaska, and re-joining a ship (Oceania Regatta) again in San Francisco to cruise to Montreal, again via the Canal.

We’ll see, but first some family business to attend too!!

It seems we’ve been here only for a few days. The seven weeks around South America, from Miami to Rio are so recent and yet so far away! And so, after 36 hours of continuous rain, here in the hills above Velez Malaga, the morning arose to sunshine and clear skies. Three eagles glided in the heavens above as they wheeled and circled in the warm air, no doubt drying out their feathers from the deluge of the past two days. As the eagles screeched to each other, so Manchester Uniteds’ Sir Alec screeched at the reporters at his press conference oblivious to all the necessities of ‘sportsmanship’ and honourable conduct. Refuge was found on the patio, in shorts and t-shirt, and some classical music. The bags are nearly packed for the next adventure – In Search of the Northern Lights – with the Saga Sapphire, and good friend Jim Weston. Together we hope to entertain the guests with stories (Jim will be doing the natural history stuff, and I will stick to the straight history stuff), and I will perform a couple of cabaret shows. Last year this trip was excellent with 3 days of resplendent celestial entertainment as the solar flares (yes, I did buy a pair back in the 60’s!), lit up the freezing skies. The Norwegian towns, fjords and scenery are a delight and apart from the price of a beer and the temperatures, it seems a very nice place to live. But it’s a visit of 16 days or so, and then back to Spain to prepare for the next trip. This current cruise will be my 41^st , and whilst that does not seem possible in such a short time, I hope to be asked to do many more before I run out of things to talk about (currently 82 stories ‘in the can’) or songs to sing.

Last night we sailed passed the Falkland Islands – about 70 miles east of us. A visit to Stanley had been on the original itinerary of this cruise. In arranging a tour to San Carlos and the landing beaches of 1982 we learned through our contacts on the island that perhaps we were not calling in there. I checked with Oceania and found it to be true. The visit had been cancelled, with an additional day at sea and an overnight stay in Buenos Aires as the ‘compensation’. In my talk about the conflict of ’82, delivered to a full house as we approached Ushuaia in Argentina, I had outlined the historic issues and the current problems facing the islanders and their future. The new President of Argentina, Christina Kirchner has brought the issue of ‘sovereignty’ once again in the public arena. Last year, at a G20 meeting she tried to present David Cameron with a letter demanding negotiations about the transfer of sovereignty to Argentina. Cameron refused to even touch the envelope. His view is that until the islanders have something they want to discuss, he has nothing to discuss with Argentina. Within days of that ‘impasse’, the UK announced that oil was likely to begin to be pumped to surface from the new fields around the islands by 2017. Cynics and realists together will not miss the question of the timing of the renewed interest in the islands by the Argentines, together with the ‘state’ of that nation in terms of its own economy and its record of corruption and mismanagement. In an attempt to divert attention away from her own failings, Mrs Kirchner has excited the diplomatic world with her claims for the islands – and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as well.

The Pope, in 1493, had divided up the world in terms of Spanish and Portuguese ownership – omitting to remember that he had no rights to give away what he did not own or his failure to consult with the current residents of the lands of which he was as yet totally ignorant. But the Argentine claim to these islands in the south Atlantic still rests on issues such as these. The islands were first ‘claimed’ by Britain in 1690 and whilst they had various temporary occupants over the centuries since, the British were the first to establish a proper settlement in 1833. This seemed to be accepted by the Argentines in 1850 in the ‘Convention of Settlement’. Nothing more was heard from them on the subject for 91 years! Galtieri’s attempt to invade and assimilate the islands in 1982 met with a swift and overwhelming response from Margaret Thatcher and the combined forces of the UK. For the past 30 years the islanders have gone about their business and the Argentine inspired referendum in 1994 showed that 87% of the islands population wanted no discussions regarding sovereignty.

Once again we have the diplomatic sabre-rattling and the poker faced response from the British government – ‘nothing to discuss’. The islanders go to the polls in March on a referendum again on the issue of sovereignty. The Argentines have claimed this referendum is illegal and worthless. The Argentine Foreign Minister visiting London in the past few days has gone further. He has stated that as far as Buenos Aires is concerned the islands will be under Argentine control within 20 years and that the Falkland islanders “do not exist”. A statement not designed to curry favour from those who will vote in a few weeks time. Whilst the islands were being developed and settled by immigrants from the UK and beyond, the Argentines were busy eradicating the indigenous natives of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Not a record to be proud of.

Perhaps the same fate awaits the islanders should the Argentines ever get to be the owners of these beautiful, but remote bastions of Britishness.