Bikes and a baby

 All of the Scandinavian towns are, as usual, full of tall athletic people riding bikes at speed through crowds of pedestrians. TSH and Diva are unscathed so far. There are some very good features - Diva walked past a bench where a young man was sitting and he leapt up and offered her his seat. She thanked him, refused the offer and wondered quite how decrepit she must now appear to be.

On one of TSH's excursions a young man stood up on the bus and announced that they had a baby with them and that anyone who objected should move to a different bus. TSH stayed put but was aware of a level of noise and disruption. There have been a small number of children on this cruise, which is very unusual for Silversea.

One evening the sail away was quite late, so they decided on pizzas for dinner in the open air restaurant. This proved to be a mistake, as the chill wind made them cold despite the overhead heaters and the M&S thermal vests. The pizzas were excellent.

ER, TSH and Paddington Bear

 The catering crew have made great efforts and produced an impressive chocolate buffet one evening, followed by a magnificent brunch the following morning. Some of them probably had little or no sleep. 

The brunch had all the usual breakfast items as well as a seafood selection, an ice sculpture and, of course Bloody Marys. 

TSH ate his usual fruit and then made himself a marmalade sandwich. He is in good company with the late Queen and Paddington Bear. They revisited the brunch at lunch time.

Technical triumphs

 TSH has now been on a number of excursions alone and has always returned safely. There are always clear instructions about whether to take each guest's personal 'Quietbox', which is a system for hearing the guide as the group moves around outdoors. There are always guests who turn up without them and no spares are carried.  On one outing, there were guests at the front of the bus who were talking loudly at the same time as the guide. She told them sternly to either keep quiet or to move to the back of the bus!! 

In Norway, public toilets are usually chargeable, so TSH was proud of finding free ones on two occasions. And they were clean! In Oslo, both TSH and Diva went out for a short walk and were surprised to see local bathers in the fjord, close to the Silver Spirit and other vessels and in spite of the distinctly chilly temperature.

There were two technical problems. TSH's camera persisted into going into 'flash' mode even when lighting conditions were bright. An online consultation with the manual resolved the issue. More seriously, his laptop refused to connect to the Silver Spirit wifi. They tried several options but nothing worked and it was beginning to look like faulty hardware. Diva asked AI what they could do and was impressed when it gave her precise instructions for modifying Device Manager (who knew?) to resolve the issue. Success!

In which TSH deserts his dessert

 TSH and Diva are in a very complicated part of the world, where Denmark, Sweden and Norway meet across a complicated system of waterways. Diva has never got it into her head and this was not helped by her telephone welcoming her to Sweden as Silver Spirit approached Skagen in Denmark.

It is a very long time since TSH and Diva were on the agenda at the daily crew briefing. In La Terrazza in the evening, they were seated next to people who made a series of phone calls on speaker phone. Loudly. All the way through dinner. TSH ordered a dessert but decided he could not bear the noise any more and they left the restaurant. Not before exchanging words with the culprits and informing the Maitre d' of the transgression. The Maitre d' said he would talk to the culprits. All the crew know of the incident, are supportive of TSH and Diva and are taking even greater care of them.

There are currently 11 surplus coat hangers in their suite.

Formal Optional

On this leg of the cruise - Amsterdam to Copenhagen - more people are wearing formal clothes on the 'Formal Optional' nights than on the first leg - Southampton to Amsterdam, where only about 4 men were wearing dinner jackets and bow ties. Including TSH. But it is still a minority and many people are dressing quite casually. If Silversea listen to the majority of their guests, it will not be long before formal wear is banned and denims and fleeces compulsory. Sad.

During the journey so far, there have been many 'white nights' when there has been little or no darkness. There have been 2 Venetian nights, when members of the loyalty club are invited to a cocktail party. The host reads the names of the guests who have sailed with Silversea for the most number of nights. On both occasions, TSH and Diva have been 5th. Their 700 odd nights will never compare with the people who were given 25 roses to celebrate 2,500 days of Silversea travel!

On his excursion in Kristiansand, TSH had his picture taken (with his consent) by another guest who wanted to show it to TSH's doppelganger back home.

TSH and Diva usually take their phones and kindles with them as they move around the bars and lounges. On leaving the Dolce Vita bar, TSH also scooped up the drinks menu, which is in a similar case. They kept it in the suite overnight and returned it surreptitiously the next morning.

No pictures, please

 So far on this voyage, the waters have been smooth but the weather cold and sometimes rainy. Patches of snow are visible on the hills surrounding the fjords. Another guest was unsure what a fjord is and thought it might refer to one of the many waterfalls.

TSH went on an excursion alone in Vik, experiencing even more snow as the bus went higher into the hinterland. He used a (clean) tissue attached to the seat in front to help him find his place after the photostops. No problem that cannot be solved with the use of tissues!! Diva worked on her U3A AI presentation which is due to be delivered later in the year. 

In the Arts Cafe aboard the Silver Spirit, another guest recorded a video, including pointing his camera directly at TSH and Diva. She pointed out that it was illegal to film people without consent.  Another woman supported her. The cameraman glared at Diva and said she had also caused trouble in the theatre that morning. As she had not been in the theatre that morning, she concluded that he had upset at least 3 women that day.

Some of the coat hangers have been taken away. 

An age thing?

 When TSH and Diva started sailing with Silversea 20 years ago, they were among the younger guests on board. 

In the lift on the way to dinner, other guests assured TSH and Diva that they looked 'spiffy'. They were pleased with this, as both take pride in their appearance. They are often complemented. But is this  because they are now among the older guests, from whom little elegance is expected?

Later, Diva wondered if she had misheard. Had they said 'spivvy'? Or 'squiffy'?