This week saw my cruise come to an end & me spend the rest of the week in pain, resting in front of the television.
Week 10 of 2023.
Monday, 6th March.
I woke up this morning in another port, this time in Malaga, Spain, another first for me as I had never been to Malaga before.
Tuesday, 7th March.
Today I woke up back in Alicante at the end of my cruise. After leaving the ship I spend the day with Helen. We had a walk around & some lunch before I caught a bus back to Los Alcazares & Helen went to the airport for her flight back to Scotland.
Wednesday, 8th March.
I woke up this morning in a lot of pain, my legs have become very swollen over the last week. I had noticed that the longer the cruise went on the worse my legs got but not wanting to miss seeing any of the places I visited I persevered with a mix of painkillers & cocktails to assist with the pain.
Now I am home, I still have painkillers but the cocktails have disappeared. I will have to lose some of the weight I put on whilst away. I certainly didn't go hungry whilst away, enjoying a cooked breakfast nearly every day, having a nice lunch on all days at sea & great dinners every day.
I spend a few hours sorting through the photos I took on holiday, but most of the day is spent in front of the television with my feet up. My knees are having trouble supporting me at all. Luckily I have my disability scooter to take me to the chicken shop around the corner from my house, I get myself some lunch & stop off at Mercadonna supermarket for a couple of rolls & a few bits to make sure I have food for the rest of the week.
Thursday, 9th March.
Today is once again spent with my feet up & resting. My legs are both still swollen & my dodgy ankle is still clicking & making scraping sounds as I walk, they are all very painful. There is no point in going to see a doctor about it as he will tell me to rest until the swelling at least has gone down a little & he can see it.
As if the bad legs weren't bad enough I seem to have caught a bug of some sort. This causes me to shuffle as quickly as possible in the direction of the toilet more times than my legs would like me to. This evening I watch the Sporting Lisbon v Arsenal game in the Europa League. It was a topsy-turvey, edge-of-the-seat game. Arsenal went 0-1 in front, only to go 2-1 behind before finally getting a 2-2 draw to leave the return game at Emirates Stadium next week finely balanced.
Still, in pain, I take some painkillers & go to bed early.
Friday, 10th March.
I woke around 9 am today after sleeping very well last night. The swelling in my legs has gone down quite a lot & my stomach is settling down but I do not want to risk doing too much. I reluctantly decide to let my friend Kate know that I won't be able to go to Martin's birthday meal tomorrow night. It would be painful for me to be sat in a cramped restaurant for a long period & unfair to the restaurant if I pass on a stomach bug to other people there.
The day passes slowly whilst I watch some films on television before going to bed early.
Saturday, 11th March.
I remained indoors all day again today apart from a visit to the local chicken shop on my disability scooter to get some lunch. Today's most exciting news was that my stomach bug seems to have disappeared & the swelling in my legs has once again gone down.
I finally have the energy to unpack my suitcase this evening & sort my washing into piles ready to put in the washing machine tomorrow.
Sunday, 12th March.
The day is spent washing all my dirty clothes & watching films before watching football in the afternoon. The strangest film I saw was Operation Fortune. It had a few big stars in it & was a bit of a spoof film. It took me a long time to work out if the arms dealer in it was really being played by Hugh Grant. It was such a different role for him, humorous but funny, & I wondered if the voice had been dubbed, it definitely won't be what you are expecting from him but Jason Statham is Jason Statham in whatever film he is in. Good entertainment film worth taking a look at.
The Arsenal game finished, Arsenal 3, Fulham 0. The game was over by halftime & could of & maybe should have been a much bigger score. Arsenal was brilliant & Fulham didn't have an answer to Arsenal's slick passing. The match was won before half time but Fulham did make a game of the 2nd half with a much-improved performance. The win meant Arsenal kept the 5-point gap between them & second-placed Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Although most Arsenal fans will by now be dreaming of the first Arsenal Premier League win in 19 years I am still remaining a little cautious & hoping there is no fall in performance in the remaining games. It was great however to see Gabriel Jesus make his return from a knee operation & I am hoping that he can spur us on to a Premier League Title & maybe even win the Europa League as well.
On a side note, I wonder if the surgeon who operated on Gabriel Jesus´s knee would be interested in coming to Spain to do some work on my knee. I could be fit to start in the opening game of next season if I get the operation done quickly.