5th

Dinner in Indochine was not looking good when the waiter handed TSH and Diva menu folders which turned out to be empty. No food? Fortunately it was a mistake and Diva was able to order sweet and sour prawns, and TSH a Thai curry.

Venetian night is when anybody who has travelled with Silversea before is invited to a cocktail party where achievements are lauded. Achievements take the form of ‘days spent on board’. On this occasion, TSH and Diva were 5^th in the league table with 685. The ‘winners’ had over 2000 days!! At a dinner table hosted by the Guest Relations Manager, TSH and Diva were able to join with two other British guests to take the opportunity to explain that there was a large market for UK-UK cruises, as many people no longer wish to fly at the beginning or end of a cruise.

The highlight of the short excursion in Kirkwall, Orkney, was the Italian Chapel, built by Italian Prisoners of War during the 2^nd World War. The weather was extremely cold and partly wet – difficult even for the hardy Northern British like TSH and Diva. They were also disappointed in having to tender ashore – on previous occasions they have docked in Kirkwall, which is far more convenient.

Volcanic ventures

Herculaneum, destroyed in the Vesuvius eruption of 79AD along with Pompeii, was a small but very prosperous town. It is a much smaller site than Pompeii and more of the buildings, along with some of their decoration, are still standing. An excellent guide really helped the visitors to understand what life was like. The visit is much easier than Pompeii because of the smaller size and the greater number of recognisable houses.

The Silver Spirit then anchored off Taormina in Sicily, providing excellent views of an erupting Etna. Intrepid TSH took the tender ashore to visit the volcano at close quarters, whilst Diva stayed on board. The tender ride was notable for being smooth.


He went to the Silvestri craters which are at 5,700 feet above sea level. The highest point of Etna is at nearly 11,000 feet but to progress any further up required a cable car ride and a further road trip which could not be completed in the time available. During the bus drive, he saw ash and lava  from many eruptions, including some this century. The walk round the extinct craters was interesting and provided views over a number of other craters and lava fields.


One enterprising “shepherd” was sitting by the path with a goat, posing for photographs – he appeared to be making quite a bit of money.


The drive up and down Etna was also interesting as a study of the behaviour of Italian drivers. The  road was very narrow in parts and one town was very busy because there was a festival.  At one stage the bus driver needed to ask a policeman for directions because of road closures. TSH learnt that rude gestures are universal.


Surprisingly, TSH saw at least one ladybird high up on Etna.

Magnificent sunset over Etna before an Indochine dinner.

France is not as it should be

The Welcome dinner was hosted by Cara, the cruise consultant. Unusually, she had invited a mixture of 'high Venetians' (our 2 Brits) with a lot of days and four people (USA and Australia) who had never cruised before. The mixture worked well, the only problem being that the tables in Indochine are rectangular rather than round, which makes it difficult to conduct a general conversation. The subject of Brexit was raised but fortunately everybody was sympathetic.

TSH and Diva spent a pleasant morning wandering the streets of Marseilles, finishing along the side of the Marina, before returning to the Silver Spirit for lunch.

The captain announced that because of rough seas to come, it would not be possible to run the tender service to St Tropez. The call was therefore cancelled and the new destination was to be Cannes. 24 hours later, the forecast has worsened, Cannes is cancelled and the call will be to Antibes.

All hail to Lady Hale and her colleagues!!!

Gaudi

TSH and Diva had pre-booked tickets for two of the Gaudi-designed houses - La Pedrera and Casa Batllo. The first of these was the most enjoyable, as the visit was early in the day, whereas Casa Batllo was very crowded and the stairs very steep. The roof-top on La Pedrera must be one of the most spectacular in the world, with its spooky chimneys which look like alien beings.  They certainly felt that they had made the most of their morning and visited two of the city's most famous buildings.

The metro was easy to navigate and the journeys not long.

Lunch provided a magnificent seafood buffet, more excellent salads and a frangipane for Diva. TSH had gorgonzola cheese.

Invitation for tonight for a Venetian Society dinner in Indochine.

Almost back

The meals are now being counted down, each approved restaurant is being revisited for the last time and TSH and Diva are both ordering all their favourites. Dinner was taken in the Indochine - Asian soup for both, chicken curry for Diva, red snapper wrapped in banana leaves for TSH. With the day's special cocktail and Indonesian beer.

The next day, the cooking demonstration was British Pub Classics -  a good demo as ever. But the 'mushy peas' were crushed and he put cream in the Cornish pasty. Who knew?

Sitting in the lounge, TSH was presented with a signed portrait of himself by a fellow guest who had been studying him intently. He was so astonished that he did not ask whether the artist was famous and the portrait valuable.

The sea is now much calmer, the wind has largely abated, the sun put in a very brief appearance and all the elevators are back on. No word on the vibrations.

All tours for next cruise now booked.