Diva takes the biscuit

Whilst docked in Laverno, the tour was to Florence, which Diva had never visited before. She was impressed with the marble churches and the other massive buildings. It was not possible to go inside any of them, as the queues were extremely long, but they walked most of the main streets, either with the guide or during 'free time' afterwards.

TSH bought three silk ties (they were on offer at 15 Euro for three) from a stall on the market. There were no ties on sale as colourful as the one he bought in Florence in 1994 - Diva thinks this is a good thing.

The tour was well organised and the weather not too hot, so the day was not as strenuous as feared.

TSH also treated himself to an Italian ice-cream. Diva is not a great ice-cream fan, but was offered a small sample on a small piece of wafer. She ate the ice-cream and the biscuit  (both very good) before TSH pointed out that he had handed her the whole biscuit and was expecting some back. It was a very small biscuit!! TST was told that the biscuit was very good.

Dinner was taken on deck at night - pizza with the backdrop of a spectacular sunset and a few glasses of wine.

The next day was much easier - a tender to Portofino, followed by a stroll around the town. Everything seemed very over-priced, but this is a millionaires' Paradise.

It is true that irony does not travel. Hearing a group of American women discussing past and future holiday 'shapping', Diva said to them that she was aware that there were no shops in the USA. One of the women kindly took the time to explain that there were lots of shops and went on to describe the variety of goods on offer.

The show given by the cruise director himself - singing and comedy - is one of the best on Silversea.

Another change

During the day at sea, the Captain announced that due to the significant sea swell, the Silver Spirit would not be anchoring off Alghero but would instead dock at Porto Torres. This provided the opportunity to walk to the beach, where TSH went to examine the rock pools but they showed no signs of life. Similarly, the only sea creature seen was a statue depicting a dolphin jumping over a rock in the sea - perhaps a local answer to the little mermaid.

Diva and TSH proved the local tourist representative wrong. She said that you could not miss the archaeological museum - they did. In truth, they found the site itself but not the way in and considered that the odd signpost might have helped. They also went to the interesting 12th century basilica, with its gruesome tales of martyrdom. They later viewed the town from the comfort of the Arts Café on the Silver Spirit.

TSH and Diva were invited to Venetian night this time and afterwards dined with the guest relations manager, who admitted that Silversea keep records about the preferences of all guests. He was non-committal about whether this included details of past complaints. TSH and Diva are not very important on this voyage, although they are experiencing excellent service and a lot of recognition by name. On both legs so far, the top cruisers have done over 1400 days. It puts their own 400 into the shade!!

No visible parrots in Porto Torres. Nobody is talking about Brexit - the subject is just too toxic. TSH is still 'playing nicely' but finds it hard going.

Local colour

After dinner with the Hotel Director, the show was, unusually, given by local performers, who sang and danced in local Italian style. An enjoyable experience.

The butler has now introduced herself. She is from Zimbabwe and has just joined the ship. She appears to be suffering from a cold but is soldiering on.

This cruise is intended as a reunion cruise for Venetian Society members, although  TSH and Diva have not met any old friends. The legendary Fernando, a one-time cruise director who is spoken of in hushed tones, is onboard. TSH and Diva have never met him before and have still not seen him in action, as he is taking no apparent part in directing the cruise.

Every Venetian Society member has been presented with a beautiful box containing toiletries and a candle. There was also a special event at a Sicilian farm (the Silver Spirit is docked in Palermo), consisting of cookery demonstrations, a puppet show, singers and dancers and a local-style lunch. TSH spotted a couple of raptors during the drive.

Dinner will be a snack affair from Room Service.

Still no butler!

The first evening meal in La Terrazza and the first lunch-time burgers have been consumed and are as good as ever.

The Silver Spirit is anchored off Sorrento in the Bay of Naples - an extremely scenic spot. Early breakfast delivered by Room Service - the new butler was reportedly  'busy'. TSH and Diva went to Pompeii by a tortuous route involving the tender, a shuttle bus and a tour bus, followed by a walk to reach the site. All in reverse to get back, so lunch was at the unseemly time of 14:30.

But walking in the steps of people who perished (or fled) almost 2000 years ago is quite an experience. More of the site can be visited than either TSH or Diva remembered from their visits long ago.

Pompeii was built on the site of a prehistoric lave flow from a previous eruption. Which should have given them a clue about what could happen.

At the time of writing, there is no sign of the new butler but there are now 3 bottles of champagne in the fridge.

Taking a parrot for a walk

The last call of the first cruise was to Livorno, from where TSH and Diva took an excursion to Lucca - a town inhabited at least since Roman times. Lots of very narrow streets, shops and churches. Perhaps the most notable feature was the Roman amphitheatre, which had shops and offices in its perimeter walls and a circular open space in its centre.

Goodbye to Bright, who is taking 2 months leave. After a contract of 7 months, that does not seem unreasonable.

While waiting for disembarkation, the faces of the leavers were classic - miserable because they were leaving, tense because they were travelling, anxious because the food and drink bonanza was over.

The morning was spent walking along the waterside at Civitavecchia, in a freshly landscaped area. Nearby ferries were painted all over with characters such as Batman.

TSH has been asked to do something outrageously bloggable without embarrassing Diva in public too much. So far, he has not obliged.

Oh, yes, the parrot. Sitting by the waterside at Civitavecchia was a man with what was initially assumed to be a toy parrot on his shoulder. However, this was not a dead parrot!! After a few movements of the head and ruffling of the feathers, TSH and Diva realised that it was real, that it was sitting there voluntarily and that it was acting like a pet. The man and his female companion were dressed more like tourists than locals.  Do people take parrots on holiday? Can you get a passport for a parrot? No idea of the back-story here.

From Monaco to the Italian Riviera

The ports in this region mostly require tender operation, which is difficult when the sea has a high swell as a left-over from a recent storm. The weather is good (apart from a sharp shower in Portofino) and there is nothing about the sea which troubles the Silver Spirit. But transfer from ship to tender is difficult and, at Monaco, had to be suspended for a while during the afternoon - fortunately after TSH and Diva were back on board. The visit to Portofino did eventually go ahead but at one point it seemed likely that the day would be spent in Genoa instead.

They have had dinner with the Cruise Director but were appalled that they were not invited to Venetian night (for guests who have cruised with Silversea before). An oversight which as yet no-one has explained or apologised for.

The arrival in Monaco was to the old port, which meant that they decided to go into the old town and view the outside of the royal Palace. Different from central Monte Carlo, where they usually go, but there are still defibrillators at regular intervals to assist the wealthy residents who cannot manage the hills.  There were many helicopters overhead - obviously a standard mode of transport locally.

From Portofino, TSH and Diva boarded a local boat, which took them to visit the picturesque towns of  Santa Margherita & Sestri Levante.

For the first time, TSH and Diva have met a crew member from Kazakhstan - the waitress in Indochine was from there.  
They have an invitation for later to a 'bloody mary and mimosa party' in honour of guests like them who are staying on for the next cruise. 

Superb

A tender ride to Antibes passed closed by Dilbar, a massive super yacht belonging to a Russian man. The town presented an opportunity for TSH to stock up on Strepsils and Fisherman's Friends. He and Diva also saw the market, full of lavender, oils, spices and an array of fresh fruit and vegetables. They then made their way to the Picasso museum, where Picasso produced a lot of his works, some of which remain in situ.

A passer-by told TSH that his t-shirt was 'superb'.