DONE AND

Dusted. Well we are off the ship into the welcoming arms of SW train strike (again) and signal failure at Woking. Still, we got a much earlier train & are on route. 

Two sea days - got struck by lightning - force 7 again in Biscay, but all good. The vivid colours of the food were startling, guess it was full of E numbers to keep the elderly clientele buzzing. They needed it. More people taken to sick bay, someone said 3 deaths. Lin got frightened by the 'phantom flush'. I pressed the toilet flush several times to no effect. It eventually flushed 1 hour later when Lin was in the loo. The comedian said he flushed the same time as his neighbour & they swapped cabins. The ship really suffered from vibration, in the aft lift it bounced so much that no matter how tight the bra straps, the ladies couldn't stop excessive movement. Perhaps that's what caused all the medical problems with the old men.

GIB

Left Corfu for an eventful 2 sea day trip to Gib. BTW, did you know Corfu was really close to Albania. You could get a 60mph hydrofoil ferry ticket very cheaply. Dunno if I want to visit unless my name was Wisdom.

On 2nd sea day ship changed course & Captain said we were doing a helievac for a sick passenger. They were winched off causing a 2 hour delay. Suited us as we didn't have to get up so early. Run in to Gib good as about 100 dolphins performed for us at breakfast.

I think Lin's trying to get rid of me as she put a snack in my ruck sack that the ape fancied, mugged me & ate my lunch. That's following the scissor episode with Italian security. The tour was good, up the rock, in the natural caves now used for concerts, the 1790 drive caves & the WW2 tunnels. It's Trafalgar day so the the RN is put in force, very patriotic here. Cheapest duty free - litre of scotch £7.

Lin's birthday so off to nice restaurant tonight before the show. 2 more seadays, then Southampton.

Signing off from Jabil Tariq.

CORFU, CORF, CORF

Lots of people are doing it & now Lin's at it - cough, cough, cough. Here we are in Corfu. It's a bit of dump in Corfu town to be honest, every corner is an excuse to throw your rubbish, makes London look like a palace. Very hot here today, took a stroll into town but didn't stay long. Took to the pool and hot tub and now chilling with drinks on the back deck. I am stealing myself for a thrashing at cards, where's Paul when I need him.

IN WITH ROYALTY

Kotor in Montenegro today, that's the country that always votes for Greece in EuroSong. Lovely morning run into port through narrow, steep sides valleys - very picturesque. Docked in port with royalty, the Queen Victoria & a Thompson boat. Thompson don't pay enough & the Queen has a fat backside, so we got the prime spot on the quayside. They both had to tender & Thomson was probably a mile away. Kotor is a tiny walled city so was heaving with 3000 visitors. Nice place & beer is pretty cheap. Saw dolphins feeding in the harbour, lots of fish around. Apparently there's a nice castle & church about a mile away, trouble is it's straight up 45 degree hill. You can see some intrepid travellers on the hillside in one of the photies. Not for us today in 27 celsius. But it is dinner on the deck under the stars tonight as we leave tonight. 

ZADAR

Where? Did I hear you say. It's a coastal town in Croatia, quite built up along the coast & has a small walled historic town that goes back to Roman towns. It's been extensively rebuilt over the years because of wars with the Venetians, and loads of other local tiffs. Most recently WW2 & then Yugoslav independence caused much destruction.

Nevertheless, it's a nice town, very clean & looks prosperous. What do you think Lin is sitting on in the picture?

M

VENICE, ONLY IN ITALY

Another smart dress sea day, murder lecture by Set Super - Hanratty was hanged, but did he do it?

Took Lin on Hidden Venice tour - the bridge is the new constitution bridge erected against strong public opinion & uproar. It joins the main railway station to the car hire centre & the cruise terminal. Never mind the design, would you like to drag your cases up and down all those steps - only in Italy! We found the dipping pen & quill pen centre, not on most itineraries, the First. Never got to the Church of the Curvaceous Mary, but did solve the gelato mystery. Next stop Zadar.

DU AVE DUBROVNIK

Here in Croatia after nil nil in empty stadium. What is going on - it was only a small swastika. Lovely little city and we were impressed with how clean everything was. Walking only town with no traffic. We got on & off by tender today, which was great, avoiding the shuttle bus from the new cruise port. Not so good for the oldest passenger list I have ever seen. Yesterday I had to help offload 2 ancients with rollators from the bus & today you should have seen the struggle getting back on the boat with only a small swell going. Ah well, we all have to get old sometime!

Who was Ron Brown anyway?

CORIGLIANO CALABRO

Nice day here, apart from sudden torrential downpour & mum had removed brollie from back pack. Jumped into cafe for Cappuccino's. Bought some of the stuff piled in piccie 1. Let you try some when we get back. Tour round Norman castle in the mountains. Turned out when we set sail round heel of Italy. Next stop Dubrovnik.

NEARLY IN JAIL

Couple of sea days, formal do, Mum got the bling out. Went out for a stroll in Catania in Sicily. Visited the highlights, Benedictine monastery, now a university, St Francis Sq, where we had a few beers & of course the elephants bum. Not sure what it's doing there, rumour has it there used to be a herd of dwarf elephants roaming the foothills of Etna. Not sure that's right but did glimpse Warwick Davis with a turban. We had to go through security to re-board. The rucksack went through & next minute I was surrounded by security people and given the full treatment. Unbeknown to me I had mum's 8 inch hair scissors. When I got out & told her what had happened, she said - that's good I need to cut my fringe.

Not all bad tho, got an email for a free birthday dinner at the pub.

CADIZ 2

After the horses, we toured the sherry bodega that made Tio Pepe, Croft and brandy. Nice relaxed visit that ended with 3 glasses of sherry, Pepe, Croft & nectar. Followed that up with a walk around town in the squares, cathedral, Admiral's house, Roman ruin followed by a couple of beers in a bar. Boy are we chilled now! Sitting on balcony with Yorkshire tea followed by G&T & Famous Grouse.

ONE FOR CAT & THE GIRLS

We went to the Jerez Spanish riding school today. They specialise in dressage, winning silver in Athens and part of the Spanish team at London Olympics. You get one-to-one tuition with a professional rider and have the use of Spanish Andalusian pure breds or Arabian crosses. All stallions. 4 year course, tuition fees 2000 Euro per year & you have to find accommodation. Two probs before Cat & girls apply, they only take on about 6 pupils per year, and you need to speak Spanish.  Get the night school language course booked.

SICK BAGS ON THE BANNISTERS

It's Friday, must be the Bay of Biscay & it's force 7. Misty, galloping white horses & the ship is rocking 'n rolling & rattling away. Nice comfortable cabin, oldest ship in P&O, ditto passengers. Food good, curry in the Sindhi. Entertainment good, 5 murders by the lecturer, pop opera singers, too rough to dance.

Sunday now beautiful, Linda's doing a step, ballroom fitness combo designed by strictly dancer. Still too rough for me to dance, so practising scotch drinking on the balcony, spilt some so obviously need more practice. Too much food, as usual & too busy. Need more chill time. Black tie tonight,  meet captain Sarah. Tomorrow, Cadiz.

AT LAST, WERE OFF

to the Med that is. So far, some good, some bad; tweaked back Wednesday -bad - loads of ice and hot baths -  good. SW trains & central line on strike - bad. Bought insurance of coach ticket - good. 'cos of bad back & mum's mega case, booked cab to Waterloo- good. Breakfast at Carluccios - good. Train on time & empty - good. Wasted coach ticket - bad. Mum knocked tea all over table - bad. Needed cash, half mile walk to ATM - bad. Got on boat early, nice lunch - good. Early in cabin - good. No luggage - bad.

Loads of WhatsApp in from Cyprus, Des's daughter getting married in mountains this afternoon, reception on yacht.