Published: 30/07/2010 09:00 -
Updated: 30/07/2010 16:12
Ships Blog – day five – Athens to Heraklion, Crete
It was all going so well but deep down I knew it was too good to last. Buying fake designer goods is nothing to the present Mrs Lowe compared to buying the real thing.
It was all going so well but deep down I knew it was too good to last. Buying fake designer goods is nothing to the present Mrs Lowe compared to buying the real thing.
We were up surprisingly early as though Michele could sniff something in the air other than the usual when three people are confined in a small space overnight – well me anyway.
We arrived in Heraklion, capital of Crete at 6am; and by 8am we were down the gangplank and off having left Lizzie once again in the ‘groovy gang’. The sky was clear blue, the sun hot, the sea azure and the desire to take advantage of the 50 per cent off in designer shops overwhelming.
Michele is now the proud owner of a ridiculous pair of shoes made by a bloke called Valentino. They were reduced from 600 euros to a mere 250 which still makes them 10 times the price that I have ever paid for a pair of shoes. But it has made her happy even if they never actually leave the glamorous box!
Once again Heraklion is a beautiful town and we would have liked to have delayed our stay but could not bear the thought of the ship sailing off without us, but with Lizzie on board, well I couldn’t but Michele was torn between the daughter and more shoes. As an aside I notice that all the taxis we take have sat navs and cannot help wondering whether people who want to be London taxi drivers still need to learn ‘The Knowledge’.
We once again decided to forego queuing for the buffet lunch on the ship and had a beautiful meal of Tzatziki, stuffed vine leaves, pureed fava beans and fresh bread all washed down with a Mythos beer overlooking the harbour.
Tonight we have decided to pay extra and go ‘off piste’ for dinner. As I have said, the people we have met so far at dinner have without exception been delightful but I am small talked out. I need to have a meal where I don’t have to restrain both my drinking and language.
Also tonight is one of the dreaded ‘formal nights. Now I accept this is a good opportunity for people to dress up. But for me and Michele, who spend most of our days in suits and are obliged to attend more formal functions than either of us would like, this is a bit of a busman’s holiday.
I don’t get many opportunities to show off my legs especially at dinner. So tonight we are paying a supplement and are off to the diner, eschewing a three course chef’s dinner, waiter served for a self service burger and fries that we have to pay for, who says I have no class?
This decision was also part made by the fact that the ship is running out of reasonably priced bottles of wine. No doubt the rest of the passengers discovered the $18 Pinot Grigio hidden at the back of the wine list, resulting in a mad rush. So we are back to being offered Chianti at $40 a bottle as a fair priced alternative. Perhaps in future they should add Calais to the port calls so that they can stock up.
Last night Michele (an avid quizzer) spotted a ‘Name that Tune’ competition in the Sky bar and so off we went en famille to take up the musical challenge. Talk about a rigged competition. all the tunes were theme tunes from American TV shows. But for Lizzie spotting Sponge Bob Square Pants and Family Guy, it would have been a complete disaster.
Michele called for a steward’s enquiry over the theme to ‘The Office’ when they played a different tune to Handbags and Glad rags but the Americans (as with all things including the English language) couldn’t understand that it wasn’t devised by them in the first place.
One thing about this ship that is like home is that I cannot understand a word that is said on the tannoy system.
If I find myself sitting alone I will at least know that the last announcement must have been abandon ship.
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