Year: 2018

We docked in Funchal, Madeira. Having been on holiday here in May, we knew the place quite well. We have also been on another cruise which came into Funchal on New Years Eve and suffice to say, it was the best NYE ever with fireworks coming from every house and boat, for over an hour long display and also champagne on deck.

Not only NYE but they also know how to “do” Christmas, the decorations were really first class. We spent the day walking around and it was actually warmer than when we holidayed in May! We returned to the ship for dinner and then back out to see all the lights coming on. It was magical.

We left Funchal in the evening, leaving the amazing lights behind.

Later in the evening we went to the on board show with the singer Benjamin Moss. We were not that impressed!
We had some good news, Tariq has been accepted for the Mountain Leaders training in the marines. He is so happy as that is what he has wanted to do.

Day 3 we sailed towards La Gomera and as we were up early we watched the most beautiful sunrise over the sea.

We had an early breakfast and then off the ship and we walked into town. We went to see a lovely church, walked around the craft stalls, then watched some dancers and also had a demonstration of their whistling (Silbo Gomera). Silbo Gomero, also known as el silbo, is a whistled register of Spanish used by inhabitants of La Gomera in the Canary Islands to communicate across the deep ravines and narrow valleys that radiate through the island. It enables messages to be exchanged over a distance of up to 5 kilometres.
It really is a lovely island.

We were also able to watch some of the rowers practising for the Talisker Whiskey Challenge. The rowers will row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic!

It was a shame we didn’t have longer on the island as we set sail at 2pm.

In the evening it was the Captains Gala Night. We were all welcomed into the theatre and handed a glass of champagne and lots of photos were taken on entering. Which of course were on sale later at a price of £15 and they didn’t even come with a mount!

The captain then went on stage and introduced all his senior officers. This was all followed by the gala dinner in the Orion restaurant. I had the lobster and it was delicious.

After dinner we went to see the show which was songs from the musicals and they were excellent at the Les Mis numbers.

Day 2 of cruise – We arrived at Gran Canaria, Las Palmas. The captain announces where we are and what time you need to return to the ship. We had tea and coffee making facilities in our cabin and a fridge and also Mehrus was our cabin steward and was very good.

We had breakfast and then walked into town. There was a massive Artisan craft fair on with goods from all over the Canary Islands. It was really interesting seeing all the crafts.

There was also a lot of dancing and music in the streets. We went along to the beach too. So, we had a pretty full day. I must say although we didn’t travel too far on to the island we did think it was really nice.

When we eventually returned to the ship we had dinner and then went in to watch the Moulin Rouge show.

Thought for the Day – “Sunsets are proof that endings can often be beautiful too.” ~ Beau Taplin

Rhys drove us to Gatwick for the first part of our journey to our cruise. We were quite early and so we had booked into “My Lounge”. It was very good, we had fast track security check and had nice sofas in the lounge, breakfast and any drinks you wanted. It was a bit too early for us to indulge in alcohol! The flight was OK to Tenerife and then we were driven to the port to board our cruise liner Marella Dream. Our cases arrived within about 10 minutes and I have to say our cabin was much bigger than we imagined.

We ate our lunch by the pool and then in the evening we ate in the Orion restaurant (waiter service up there). The food was excellent in this restaurant. We were on all inclusive but in spite of this they kept trying to sell us an upgrade package for drinks. At £100 we declined, we certainly weren’t going to drink that much that we needed an upgrade! They did say it included better coffee so Mal asked the waiter what the problem was with the normal coffee. He then gave up on his sales pitch and walked away!

Following dinner we went into the theatre and watched an Abba and Queen show.  It was a really lovely theatre.

At 11.00pm we went outside to watch us leaving the port.

Late to bed as we ended up back in the Medusa Lounge. It seems weird the wobble during the night as we were sailing.

Thought for the Day – “We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us.”

I think I am glad we are not in Cyprus now. The weather really does look bad with so much rain. I remember it well the winter rains! These were taken in Lapta this morning! And it was still raining when I contacted David and Kenny and Margaretha. They are all fine but the roads are in a terrible mess and according to David the mains water has burst in front of our villa and is pouring out down the road. Three people have died.

We heard back from the second stonemason who has been really good, unlike the first one we went to.  They have already sent a layout which we have now agreed to and paid the deposit.

We packed in the evening, off on our travels again.

Thought for the Day – “Never blame anyone in your life. Good people give you happiness. Bad people give you experience. Worst people give you a lesson and best people give you memories.”

It was the Ramsgate Red Hatters Christmas lunch at The Crispin. I organised it all and I am pleased to say it all went off well. We all had Christmas decorated red hats.

We had Secret Santa presents and also Jackie, our queen made each of us a Christmas cake (she made TEN!!) and gave us each an extra Christmas present.

Such good friends and a good time was had by all.

Thought for the Day – “Use your smile to change the world. Don’t let the world change your smile.”

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The sun was out and so we took Ellie to Gazen Salts and then along the river. From there we walked through town to add Torin’s name to the Memory Tree. It really is a lovely community here.

In the afternoon we went to see about headstones again. The first place, I can’t say we really liked the man and he was contradicting himself about lettering and cost, not a good start. It’s expensive enough as it is without someone changing the pricing mid sentence! Gut feeling was not to use him. Plus we have to pay another £190 to the cemetery. I thought we had already paid them enough. It’s an expensive business but I am pleased to hear they are now going to look into the pricing of funerals.

We then went to another stonemason, much better and we are waiting to get their pricing.

We then went to Toby carvery as it was getting quite late and we had another offer…2 carveries for £10!

We have had no internet all day and it is still not fixed, Mal had to call them again when we arrived home. They are coming to the house on Thursday!

Thought for the Day – “Take life day by day and be grateful for the little things. Don’t get stressed over what you can’t control.”

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