We wake in yet another port, this time; Ajaccio on the beautiful island of Corsica. Today's excursion is a half day run up a mountain in the ubiquitous air-conditioned coach. The village of Bastelica nestles near the top of one of the many Corsican mountains, that cater for skiing in the winter months, It is a typical village, very rustic, quaint and certainly not spoilt by the tourists that make their regular way up the winding mountain roads to visit. The only concession to this is the little tourist train that rattles around the streets, showing tourists the rustic charm of Bastelica and it's environs.
I have to admit, I envisaged a little narrow gauge train chugging through the woods, so was slightly disappointed to find a seaside "Noddy" train, which would have been more at home in Weston-Super-Mare. Matters not, we were booked on it and enjoyed the twenty minutes or so it took to travel around.. After which we had some free time to do as we pleased, so we headed for the church to take some photos and a quick visit to what seemed to be, the only bar in the village, not for a drink, but a quick toilet stop! You have to take advantage whenever you can, when you reach a certain age. After wandering around some more, it was soon time to depart the mountain and head back to the port and the waiting ship.
As we had an all inclusive deal, it seemed appropriate to jump back on board ship and have a quick bite to eat, before disembarking again and spending some time in Ajaccio town, wandering around the shops and streets. Ajaccio was a lovely place to be, sandy beaches, promenades and shops, a bit like Blackpool, without the bling, the tower, the illuminations. Actually it was nothing like Blackpool at all! Corsica is another place on the list of places to visit again.
As I am writing this - (at sea, in a journal, with a pen, not on the internet blog site, like now, are you with me?) - anyway as I write this, tomorrow is our last full day of the cruise, a day we shall spend at sea, heading back to Palma and the flight home on Saturday. It is 5 o'clock on Thursday and I've tried to find a quiet corner of the ship to write, but I can still hear one of the ship's popular beat combos, having a good go at some modern classics. They are entertaining and deafening the masses, who are sunning themselves around the main pool. If it wasn't for the view and the fact that we are going to depart very soon, this could be any Spanish seaside resort, when we are really alongside a lovely port in Corsica.Day 7 - All At Sea
It is probably true of most holidays that the one thing you cannot prepare for is your fellow holiday makers. You can check out the resorts, you can read through hotel reviews, you can research excursions and places to visit, but you cannot predict the nature of your fellow passengers - they are the unknown, although you can have a good guess at the stereotypical demographic.
Mind you, we have met some amazing passengers / holiday makers in previous years, some we are still in touch with. It seems to me, and perhaps I am over thinking this, but there is a huge and diverse range of people on a cruise; from the laddish "Brits abroad" types, to the quiet, reserved, more upper class types. That strikes me as a huge juxtaposition, normally a hotel would cater for certain types of tourist, but it seems with a cruise, those dividing lines are blurred somewhat. As I mentioned before, on the Captain's "Dress to Impress" night, the amount of ball gowns and suits was incredible - where were these people during the day? Certainly not on the main pool deck, which seemed to be home of the sun worshipping, lazy loungers, who also liked the fact that beer and burgers were literally on tap, all day. Who also got louder and louder by the pint. I guess that is one of the downsides to an all inclusive package, some might see it as a comfort when it comes to budgeting for their time away, others consider it a challenge and try to drink the bar dry!
Luckily, this element is limited, however they seem to be the loudest and certainly like the sound of their own voices! I only say that, as there is now a group on the other side of this once quiet lounge, that are consistently talking in a loud and opinionated manner!! They are currently discussing how much they drank last night.
I know this makes me sound very snobby, but I just like the quieter more genteel side of life and not have the air punctuated with loud expletives,from a bunch of brash layabouts!
I am clearly getting old!
I know it takes all sorts to make this diverse world we live in, but do we really need to keep turning the volume up with every pint?
I don't think I have done myself any favours in this blog, but I hope I have captured some of the highs of our time on the high seas, catalogued our adventure, with a modicum of levity and described what it was like for us on our first cruise. Re-reading my journal, which I wrote whilst on the cruise, it seems like I was somewhat obsessed with the clientele, I hope that hasn't marred the overall narrative of the blog, I tried to include my thoughts and feelings of the places we visited, but sometimes it is very hard to describe exactly what you see, when a few well chosen photographs could describe the same. Perhaps I should be more at ease with the inevitable mixture of people we share our experiences with and concentrate more on what we did and what we saw. We certainly did a lot more than what I have described in the last few pages, but would you necessarily be interested in the minutiae of our holiday? Hence the descriptive prose of the our fellow passengers. Maybe I should take sometime and describe a few highlights, right here, right now; for me Pisa was incredible, literally breathtaking, rounding each corner as we walked into the town centre, stealing glimpses of the top of the tower and then it coming into full view was indeed magical. Eating very well in the onboard restaurants with the most attentive service was also a highlight. Not having to pay for such service was also a bonus. Trying something new and enjoying it, getting the cruising bug? Maybe. And, as always spending quality time with the family will always be there as a very treasured moment.
Those of you who have read my previous blogs will know that I don't write these out of some narcissistic desire to be noticed, I write them to remind ourselves of what we did, share with friends and strangers our little adventures and hope that my waffle brings some joy to whoever reads them.
Bon voyage!
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