A Poorly Sailor

Wednesday 28 March

During the night the boat seemed to rock much more, giving sudden shudders from side to side as we ploughed through what must have been increasing waves. I didn’t have such a good night, but by morning felt a lot of better. I listened to Rob – Cruise Director – on the television, who asked the trivia question of the day “ Which is the largest lake in the world?” That is a question that has been asked at many quizzes I have been to, particularly at the Plume and Feathers at Greenwich, and I could actually remember the answer - the Caspian Sea! The first person to find Rob and tell him the correct answer would get points and a drinks token.

Colin meanwhile was still feeling very delicate, but thought he should try and eat a “little” breakfast – how many courses less than ten is “little”?. Porridge sounded like good comfort food, together with a soft boiled egg and soldiers. We had not rushed up this morning, so it was almost time for me to visit the hairdressers by the time we had finished, but we did just have time to make a reservation for the Toscana restaurant for this evening’s meal. I bumped into Rob on the pool deck on my way to the spa, and told him the answer to his question, and surprisingly – even at around 10.15 - I was the first person with the correct answer! A free drinks voucher and points were my reward! We have not been taking part in the sports competitions – like onboard olympics, shuffleboard and ping pong, so did not understand the object of points – but apparently ‘points means prizes’ at the end of the cruise! The teams placed first or second in the trivia quizzes in the evening get points, so maybe I will be able to accumulate a few more in the next few days..

Mark was waiting for me when I arrived at the spa – he is a small man from the Philippines, around 30 years old, with dark Japanese looks, and terribly “nice”. He explained that he would be using foils for my highlights – not the comb method used in Argentina. He took over an hour to cover my whole head in the little packages, and I began to wonder just how long this visit would take. But I was then placed under a drier – with hot air to encourage the tint to take – one of those old fashioned all-encompassing hoods that usually have grey haired grannies sitting under to roast their perms. After just a quarter of an hour, Mark announced the highlights were cooked – well the back ones maybe, but surely not those at the front – the time difference the tint was on must have some effect. But, even though not as light as I had requested, the ”stripes” were there. After that it was cutting time – I thought going back to short hair would be easier, but I am not so sure now as those wretched curls were all in the wrong places. Mark kept chopping and chopping to try and eradicate the wayward tresses, to no avail. This definitely was not the best cut I have ever had, but was probably the most expensive. (I later discovered that the sides did not match in length, so I will have to revisit Mark and get it sorted.)

It was then time to go back to the cabin to see how Colin was faring. He said he felt a little better, and his stomach was feeling a lot easier, so much so that he fancied some fruit to eat, such as an apple. I went and to collect it for him but they only had Granny Smiths apples, so selected a Williams pear too. He munched the pear, just before it was time to go to computer classes – we were studying Adobe Photoshop II, to learn how to enhance our photos. But we hadn’t been in class very long, when Colin had to leave, feeling really poorly again. He did try to come back, but it seemed that sitting at the computer screen, made him feel worse, so he gave up and returned to the cabin to try and rest. I learnt a bit about contrast, moving images and merging photos, and crib sheets were supplied to ensure we remembered all that we were taught. It was then time for today’s bridge lesson – in fact I was a little late as the computer class had run over time. I joined Colin and Maureen, and we learnt some more about making the second and third bids, before playing a few hands. In the absence of my Colin I partnered Inez, an American lady aged about 75, who had definitely played the game before, and had some set ideas about bidding and leading – that I didn’t always conform to! But it was good fun,

Time now to find my trivia team, who seemed quite pleased to welcome me back into their midst. The series of questions was just as taxing as yesterday. We mentioned the correct answers to several questions before rejecting them in favour of wrong suggestions, but still managed to accumulate twelve points and came fourth. Question today: according to US statistics, what is the most claustrophobic job in US? At the end of the quiz I checked on Colin again – he had managed to sleep most of the afternoon, but still felt poorly. It was definitely time to consult the onboard doctor. The medical centre opened at 18.00 and we were first in line for treatment. After filling out several medical history forms, Colin was ushered into the examination room – I was asked if I wanted to accompany him – just like taking your child to the doctors – but I declined. He emerged about fifteen minutes later, having had two injections for sickness and fatigue, and armed with a supply of pills. We are really hoping these will make him feel a lot better. It probably is the motion of the boat that is upsetting his equilibrium, so it looks as if this may be our first and last cruise.

I decided it was time to do my exercises – must start as I mean to go on – and Colin decided to go to the Library and read – he needed to do something else than lay down and sleep. I was the only person in the exercise area – there was a Cole Porter concert taking place on the top deck, but I still expected to see a few others on the machines. I managed to do the warm up exercises and the ones with the ball, but had forgotten most of what to do with the weights! So I settled for pedaling the bike for the prescribed twenty five minutes and then walked the treadmill for ten. I am not sure I am going to be able to keep up these exercises when I get home – they take up so much time – but Colin says he will encourage me! He, meanwhile, had found that reading in the library was a bit like reading in a car – it is definitely a motion thing - so had spent his time glancing through the wide variety of magazines on offer. He is really disappointed at not being able to read, as he has now become quite an avid reader, and has mastered more tomes than me. He will have to return to his MP4 player and Pickwick Papers.

Although he began to feel really poorly again, Colin decided that he should try and eat something – he always feels ill if he is hungry. We had a reservation for the Toscana restaurant, the speciality Italian which made fresh pasta daily – he should have been in heaven. Perusing the menu, we found that most of the pastas had rich sauces to accompany them, so he ordered the minestrone soup and the sea bass without the associated sauce of lemon, capers and garlic, but with the new potatoes sprinkled with parsley and grilled vegetables. I opted for a Caesar salad to start, which was mixed at the table to my order – with lots of anchovies – followed by a whole male lobster – complete with silver scissors and crochet hook – served with vine tomato sauce and linguine. The waiter came and took the meat out of the body shell which he then removed from the table, and the two large claws had been previously cracked – so I just had to “dig” the meat out. It was plain as lobster dishes go, but all the more delicious for it, as you could really taste the shellfish. Colin managed to eat a small amount of each choice, which would hopefully keep him going till morning.

To relax after dinner we went to catch the end of the comedy/magic show starring a husband and wife team. He was a “stand-up comic” who, with his wife did some illusions, and she danced around a bit in between acts. He was quite amusing and the magic was fine - joining and separating silver rings probably being preferable to cutting his wife’s head off! She was a very thin lady – not young – but who was obviously an excellent contortionist. At the end of the show we returned to the room as Colin was feeling quite exhausted again by now and needed more sleep. Tonight we lost an hour and had to move our clocks on – but I think England did that last weekend too, so we are still catching up with home, and stay three hours behind. I think Barcelona time may be ahead of London, so we will probably still be changing our clocks when we arrive at Waterloo.