Diva takes instruction

 In Skagen for the second time on this cruise, TSH and Diva once again took the shuttle bus and walked around the pleasant town. TSH was eager to take a picture of the church but when they reached it, most of the building was wrapped in plastic as repairs were undertaken. 

There are coincidences onboard - two sets of unrelated guests from Wisconsin USA and another set of guests who live only about 5 miles from TSH and Diva's home.

When Diva uses the guest laundry, she is accustomed to providing technical advice to people who cannot operate unfamiliar washing machines (any washing machines?). On this occasion, another guest advised her on setting a suitable program and clearing the lint from the tumble dryer. She enquired if he was an engineer but he replied that he was an Australian banker.

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.

a or u

Because of Storm Floris, it would not be safe to berth at Skagen, the next port on the itinerary. The captain announced the name of the replacement port and TSH and Diva heard it as Kristiansund. a port they are familiar with, but which is north of Bergen. Diva became concerned that the return journey would be long and that the Spirit of Discovery would arrive late in Dover, with consequences for their arrival time at home. When the written program arrived, they discovered that the call would be to Kristiansand, which is on the outskirts of Oslo and not a huge diversion for the return to Dover. 

For most of the journey, the seas have been so calm that it was not always obvious that the ship was moving. That all changed on the rocky journey to Kristiansand, so they took precautionary stugeron and the steward tied down the balcony chairs. The sail past 'Hamlet's castle' was just before dinner, so Diva was able to recite part of Horatio's speech, with TSH playing the minor role of Hamlet. 

The shower door failed again. Fortunately TSH is a keen observer and a quick learner, so he was able to perform the trick with the door seal without involving the steward. 

In Kristiansand, they intended to go into the town on the shuttle bus but because there were no tours at this hastily arranged stop, the queues were very long and they decided to stay onboard the Spirit of Discovery. 

Mistakes

The excursion in Skagen was interesting for being full of the unexpected. The first visit was to a falconry display. It was partly performed on horseback, which neither TSH or Diva had witnessed before. To the consternation of the falconers, the golden eagle dived into the thick vegetation surrounding the pond. Knowing that it would not be able to take off from such a position, all of the falconers raced to the spot. One of them eventually emerged holding the bird, which appeared slightly less drenched than he did himself.

The next part of the unexpected was caused by Diva speed reading the excursion description. It was advertised as the Råbjerg Mile, and she picked out words like 'birds', 'dune' and 'migratory'. So she was all ready for a mile of sand dunes named after someone called Råbjerg and full of migrating birds. Turns out 'Råbjerg Mile' is Danish for 'migrating sand dune', it is the sand dune itself which is changing position because of the wind and there are no migrating birds at this time of year. TSH climbed the dune to see more sand.

TSH, the retired super-accountant, caused great consternation for the laundry master by putting one number of shirts in the bag and another number on the paperwork. Creative accountancy habits die hard! His excuse is that he is very busy booking excursions for the cruise in September. And somebody in India emails him most days to try to get him to buy a steam engine!!