Today we sailed south on the Mediterranean towards Cadiz.
Sailing the Mediterranean.
I slept very well last night as I always seem to do onboard ship, I think it is the gentle rocking that sends me off to sleep. I woke around 6 am to use the bathroom but went back to sleep after. I awoke again at around 7 am & eventually got out of bed, showered & went for breakfast at 7:45 am.
I was very disappointed to find the advertised fixed seating & breakfast menu did not exist & that the seating was a free for all & the restaurant was only serving a small buffet. Because the restaurant was set on a couple of levels it meant that carrying food up & down different levels on a tray to find a table was difficult for me so I went to the buffet on one of the upper floors for breakfast.
The buffet selection was a bit better, there was better seating near the windows available & it was all on one level. I got myself a tray of assorted foods & sat down to eat breakfast. As I sat there my new friend Mal, walked past & joined me for breakfast. I got myself a glass of orange juice & then got a coffee, which, after being told last night I couldn't have, I can have on my drinks plan. We sat chatting until around 9:30 am & then walked down to one of the bars to take part in the music quiz.
Just to show off I ordered another coffee from the waiter & we sat talking until the quiz started. We thought we had done quite well but we were wrong getting only 4 out of 10. After the quiz, we walked to the pool deck at the back of the ship & sat talking. I checked where we were on my phone & found we were directly East of La Manga on the Mediterranean. I took a selfie with the Spanish coast in the background before we left the deck.
I went back to my cabin to rest my leg for a bit as it still ached a bit but arranged to meet Mal for the 11:30 quiz in the bar. I rested my leg & typed up some notes on my laptop before going back out to meet Mal.
The quiz was another music quiz which we did slightly better at this time, scoring 6 out of 10, but I think there were around 5 teams with 10 out of 10 who then took part in a tiebreak.
At noon we walked down to the restaurant to sit at our assigned table for lunch. We were told that it would be free seating again but were directed to a table with other people. It was at least table service at lunch & after scanning the code on my phone I was able to order what I wanted for lunch.
For my starter, I had what was described as marinated prawns in Carpione with polenta crouton. It was a posh name for 4 small frozen prawns on something very bland but palatable. My first course was mushroom soup with bread floating in it, again okay but quite bland, not as good as my homemade soup. My main course was described as a grilled pork neck with chimichurri sauce. I did enjoy this but it was just a thin pork fillet with chips. My dessert was described as Pear Toffee, milk chocolate mouse, caramelized pears, pear brunoise & honey cream. It was very nice but in my world, it would have been called chocolate mouse with a pear slice in it & a small drop of cream on top.
After dinner I went back to my cabin for a couple of hours rest, to give my legs time to recover from all the walking the past few days.
In the afternoon I met Mal at the main bar & did a couple of quizzes, we were joined by Gail for the second one & in a tie break we did win. The prize was an ice cream to share between us. After the quiz, I finished my beer & then returned to my cabin to put my feet up.
At 7 pm I went down to the restaurant. Gail & some other guests had invited me to join them for dinner but there was no one there when I arrived so I sat at my assigned table. Just after I sat down two ladies who were at the large table I was seated at moved up to sit with me. They were mother, Ann & her daughter Rosalea. I was happy to have such lovely ladies join me. A short time later Mal joined us & we sat chatting throughout dinner.
For dinner, I had seafood salad as my starter, followed by black bean soup. My main course was also very nice, it was veal in a mushroom sauce. The meal was followed by a dessert called Smeraldo, a pistachio cake with lemon curd, mascarpone cream & pistachio mousse. The meal was washed down by continually topped-up red wine.
During my conversation with Rosalea, it seemed we would be going on a couple of the same excursions & that I would have a beautiful companion when I went ashore in Tenerife & Brazil.
After dinner, I returned to my cabin briefly & found out that once again the excursion to the National Park that had been changed & then re-booked had been cancelled. This time they did explain why though. Because of the wildfires a short time ago the whole park has been closed down for safety reasons. I later learned that this was again untrue & that the excursion was cancelled for other reasons that I was never given.
I go along to the theatre to see the Flamenco show at around 8:45 pm & when I arrive a wonderful violin player is entertaining the gathering people. She was wonderful & I hoped to hear her play again before I left the ship. I was soon joined by Gail, Dwight, Tessa & Mal. I loved the flamenco it was a very good show & I had a great view of it from my seat near the front of the stage.
When the show finished I went to the Moliere lounge bar at the back of the ship on deck 5 to listen to the music there. As I arrived I was joined by the people I had been sitting at the theatre with & as I looked for a seat I saw Rosa & Ann waving to me & I joined them. I enjoyed the music with a cocktail & a couple of beers & sat chatting with Rosa & Ann until about 12:30 am when they retired to their cabin & I moved to the piano bar & listened to a Brazillian pianist singing. He was very good & the only other person there was an entertainer onboard. She sat close to him with a drink but was singing along with him & she had a wonderful voice. I finished my beer, went back to my cabin & went to bed.