Continued from last Week (Monday 28) - (and 7, 14 and 21 Nov)

Monday Day at Sea I had tea and toast in bed because I had an invite to the Captains Brunch at 9.30.am. It was a very lavish affair with every delicacy you can think of. I had Spanish omelette, peppered mackerel, smoked salmon, cheese and croissants it was all so delicious. One of the ships officers chatted with me for a long time because he has tried to get his grandmother who is a little older than me to have some cruises but all she does is languish at home although she is fit and well.

Apparently a lot of the officers and cruise Director saw me return to the ship yesterday like a drowned rat and wanted to know about my escapade.

I must add here that the whole crew of Brilliance of the Seas were fantastic and helped me incessantly yes friends were around but the freedom I felt by having a stateroom to myself was absolutely wonderful. Shella my stewardess could not do enough to help me.

There were a couple of American men three cabins away from mine one was very extrovert and had bought a Turkish Sultan’s robe and hat while in Istanbul so he cam e to my cabin to show himself off/ The hilarity was so great that the other guests on our deck came to see what it was going on. I took photos and the Sultans friend also took some. I was still suffering from cold and chill so just had some soup for lunch then had a nap before it was time for a game of bingo. I didn’t win but decided not to continue paying 30$ a time for the privilege when the winnings were so poor in my opinion it was definitely not a fair deal. I did play a few times on the slot machines but again the chance of winning had diminished greatly since my last cruise.

Tuesday morning saw us docked in Athens. I had a disabled friendly two and a half hour tour booked so after breakfast in the dining room I went to the dock gates to find the mini bus. The tour was very educating and we were taken to various points of interest including the Metropolis and we saw all the buildings that were used for the Athens Olympic Games. Our lady guide and man driver were very helpful indeed. The following day a huge Industrial Strike had been organised involving the euro and several of the street we tried to access were blocked because of large groups of people collecting to demonstrate ready for the next day. I took quite a few photos one of an old Roman Bath encased in glass. My cold and sore throat was really bad today so rested as much as possible between visits to the dining room.

Wednesday October 19 we had another day at sea with a chance to rest and try and get rid of my cold. Dinner was another formal event so we all had to put our finery on again and I took pictures of our waiters and my fellow table companions.