Drinking in the morning

During the night, TSH and Diva experienced the first choppy sea of this voyage. They had been warned about it by the Captain of the Silver Moon but decided to risk it without Stugeron. They were proved right.

On arrival in Malaga, TSH and Diva took an excursion which included a walk around part of the city, including a view of the Roman theatre. They went into the house where Picasso was born and then into the gallery holding many of his works. The guide explained aspects of the which they were not previously aware of. The final call – just before midday- was to a bodega for tapas and wine. Although Silversea provides complementary alcohol on demand at all hours of the day and night, TSH and Diva rarely touch a drop until at least 18:30. TSH needed to rehydrate and he drank 4 glasses of water in quick succession when he returned to the Silver Moon.

TSH has discovered that the menus of the day are all accessible via the TV, so he is now able to choose his food before entering the restaurants. He also spotted a strange beetle when he was walking around the outside deck and will try to identify it.

Silver Moon docked in Malaga close to her Royal Caribbean cousin, the Odyssey of the Seas. The latter is much bigger.

Quote of the day spotted on a guest’s t-shirt: ‘Every box of raisins is the tragic story of grapes that could have been wine.’

Malaga and Cadiz

Both cities were explored on foot without benefit of a guide. Malaga has a lot of interesting-looking museums which would be useful on a re-visit. TSH forget to put an SD card in his camera so the earliest Malaga photos had to be retaken using his emergency spare. Cadiz has a very enjoyable sea front walk. The market in Cadiz was extremely impressive. Four long aisles of fish and shellfish which would put anywhere in current Britain to shame. It is difficult to believe that one city eats so much fish. The market also had several kinds of snail and one place selling live insects.  In both cases, the weather was pleasant without being too hot but in Cadiz TSH and Diva were very lucky to return to the ship just before the torrential downpour.

In Malaga, Silversea held an evening reception for the 50 or so guests who are staying on until London (rather than disembarking at Lisbon). Diva met another writer – a self-published writer of children’s books from Chester.

Diva’s smartphone has set her a target (without any consultation with her at all) of how many steps she should walk in a day. Every day on this holiday has reached the target and in Cadiz twice the target was achieved.

In Cadiz, there were also present the Regent Voyager and the Costa Magico

Referendum notes: The most recent lecture was: ‘Portugal from empire to EU’. At the reception, a guest was heard stating that the UK is the only place in Europe which follows the rules properly.