In the cold light of day, I can reflect on last night with pride, albeit laced with a modicum of embarrassment. Mrs Dave had no idea that I had volunteered for the music quiz, as she had popped to the loo, when one of the entertainment team, seeing me enjoy the band that was on, sidled up and asked if I wanted to be in the quiz. Even affirming the question, by saying "are you sure?" Thus giving me ample time to reconsider my initial positive reaction - perhaps it was my inner narcissist, or more likely it was the wine, but I confirmed - I was in!
Anyway, the room was virtually empty, there was only a few dimly lit faces between me and the bar, so just me the room and a quiz. No problem. However, as the band went into another murderous melody of hits of yesteryear, the room slowly began to fill. By the time the clock had got around to nine thirty, my stomach began to churn and the room was full, or that's what it looked like to me, passengers laughing, joking, drinking and waiting for a music quiz.The band bowed out and the quiz was being prepared, two stools and a big buzzer on a pedestal were bought to the centre of the dance floor, in front of the stage. A girl from the entertainment team took to the microphone and announced that the quiz was starting shortly and could the two team captains make their way to the stage. At this point, I got up, held my stomach, took a deep breath and walked towards the stage. Through the noisy buzz of the crowd I heard Mrs Dave enquire; "Where the bloody hell are you going?"
Luckily I needn't have worried, as we; my opposing captain and I, waited, they explained that it was basically a team game, they will split the room in half and we each captain a side. We had our own cheesey compere in Jake, who was a great laugh and we both played off each other with jokes and quips. The quiz itself was about five rounds of visual or audio questions and it was the team captain's role to garner the right answer from the crowd, shouting for help and taking the consensus of opinions. It was a bit silly, but fun, everyone seemed to have a laugh, the crowd enjoyed it. Oh and we won!!
That TUI Discovery leatherette notepad and pen, plus the keyring will come in handy!
Anyway, back to today. We have anchored off the coast of France at a port called St. Raphael, not far from Cannes and St. Tropez. In fact our first organised excursion was to Cannes. We had to take a tender from ship to shore, as the port was too shallow for our ship to dock. From the dockside we boarded our coach to Cannes. We had a guide on board to give us the lowdown on Cannes and it's history. We had a couple of hours to wander the streets and beaches of Cannes, before popping back to the coach and the return trip to St. Raphael, where there was more wandering and the obligatory holiday ice cream.
Then it was back to the tender and the short sail back to the ship, accompanied by various boat related songs played over the speakers. It's all a bit surreal when 60 odd (very odd in some cases) passengers start singing "We all live in a yellow submarine!"Later on we have the strange juxtaposition, when bingo was followed by drinks with the captain. From crossing off numbers to hob-nobbing with the uniformed officers.
More on this later...
Day 4 - Florence & Pisa
So we finished day three with bingo in the bar, followed by a quick change in to our best bib-and-tucker for the "Dress to Impress" night.Well you have never seen so many ballgowns and tuxedos in your life! Everyone was dressed up to the nines, hoping for a picture with the captain and then pay through the nose for a print of it! We never bothered, I was feeling a little out of my depth, so we people watched from a balcony overlooking the Atrium. Just a word on the Atrium; it is huge! About five decks high with two glass lifts serving all floors, with bars and restaurants leading off. It is very bright, shiny and gold. Lots of bling. It's probably what the inside of the White House looks like, now Trump has moved in!Anyway we rounded off the evening in the Italian restaurant, with a lovely meal with exquisite service.
Back to Day 4 proper; another early breakfast and then off to the quayside to pick up our coach to Florence. It was very hot and sticky, and very, very busy in Florence, but our tour guide took us safely to the main sites of interest, filling us in on the history of this beautiful city, with lots of photo opportunities, the cathedral, the Baptistry, Piazza del Duomo, Santa Croce, the Ponte Vecchio and the (replica) statue of David by the Palazzo Vecchio.
All very beautiful, but very warm walking around the Florentine streets, so a quick stop for a drink and we were heading back to the air conditioned luxury of the coach and the trip to Pisa.
There is something quite surreal about seeing an incredibly famous, historical building for the first time, especially one as iconic as the Leaning Tower. It was a remarkable sight! As were all the tourists posing with their arms up in the air, in a faux "holding up the tower" pose. Yes, we did it too! However, the serene majestic beauty of seeing the tower, in the beautiful surroundings of the Piazza del Duomo, will stay with me forever.Only a short hour in Pisa, but it was sufficient to get the requisite photos and a quick bite to eat, but definitely on the list of places to visit again and spend some more time in and around the tower.
One downside to Pisa, was the proliferation of "Looky, looky" men, who seemed to be everywhere. As soon as a coach pulled into the car park, they seemed to descend in hordes, intent on selling you an umbrella. An umbrella!! It's not going to rain!! They also had sunglasses, watches, handbags and the ubiquitous selfie-sticks! You do have to run the gauntlet of these fellows, just don't engage them, otherwise they'll be upon you! An undesirable side to holidays it seems now. Also pick-pockets are rife. We were targeted by a group of girls posing as tourists, but I soon put myself firmly in the way of them and Mrs Dave's handbag and they soon dispersed. Keep 'em peeled!
More in the next part...
Part 3
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