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.