Lazy, lazy, lazy, the alarm went off as usual, at 06.50 and being a bad person I just rolled over and went back to sleep for half an hour. My first day off from running. We have arrived in Piraeus, and I now have internet access on my MIFI, so I did some housekeeping on the blog. It has really eaten up my free minutes on the ship’s internet.  Breakfast was taken before leaving the ship and heading off for the Piraeus Metro station. It was a simple operation to get a day ticket (4.50 Euro) and since there is

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I’ve just turned on the ships TV channel to see where we are on the map, we’ve transited the Straits of Messina during the night, and rounded the toe of Italy, we have travelled exactly 2400 nautical miles. The clocks went forward another hour last night, so getting out of bed for my 7am run was difficult. (It’s actually 04.50 in real money). The run was hard, really hard but I managed to grind out 5km, stretch out, and do a few weights, before heading back to the room with a cup of tea for Jane. On our way down

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Nigel Vardy’s insights lecture was very interesting, it covered his failed attempt at the Himalayas and his misreported demise. During his attempt at the Himalayas, he and his climbing companions were reported missing after being incommunicado during a spell of severe weather. Obviously this was much exaggerated, he failed on his attempt to scale the mountains after contracting frostbite, and discovered the kerfuffle an his return to civilization. Once the lecture was over, it was time for sunbathing on the sun decks, that, and a spot of clothes washing, before heading to the MDR for lunch. I had a seafood

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I’m aching this morning after the Palma bike ride, but I did sleep like a baby which was good. It was all a bit of a rush this morning because the fencing classes were at 08.45, so I was in the gym nice and early and did my 5km, I must be getting better at it as I didn’t bang my head today. I got down to breakfast after a quick shower to find it wasn’t open yet. How sad is that? You should be too late for breakfast when on holiday, but too early……Anyway I ended up in the

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Even though I had sorted out the Three data sim, the internet was bloody slow, I only had a 3G connection and it took ages to upload the photo to the previous blog. It took that long, that I had to order another drink, Pedigree for me this time and a Black Bellini for Jane. We sae the first bad weather of the cruise, a squall passed over while we were docked, and it bucketed down for about 5 minutes, the proverbial stair rods. But as soon as it started, it was over and we were blessed with blue skys

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I had a good sleep, waking about 20 minutes before my alarm. After puffing my way up 6 decks, I got to the gym to find two old boys on the treadmills having a walk. Surely  it’d be a damned sight more interesting walking around deck 3 (three laps is 0.9 miles) than walking on a treadmill. Running is bad enough, but I’m not allowed to run on deck 3 before 8am and after 8am, dodging the mobile chicanes is hard work. Anyhow, I was doing quite well, but must have been getting tired as at about 5km, there was

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Two of our dinner companions turned up in the Commodore Club, Pat and Gina, so we chatted with them while dolphin spotting out over the bow of the ship, we were rewarded with our first sighting of bone fide dolphins, proper jumping out of the water ones. The previous sightings we’d had on this trip were so far away they could have been anything. Anyway, dolphin spotting is thirsty work, so Jane needed a refresher, Rhubarb Daiquiri this time. We had another full house for dinner tonight, and the chatter around the table was lively and interesting. I had Pea

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I had set my alarm for a hour earlier today, to avoid the missed breakfast fiasco from yesterday. I hopped out of bed at 06.50 and set off for the gym. The climb up to the Spa on deck 9 isn’t getting any easier, so I was puffing again when I got to the treadmill. There was an old boy having a play on the running machine I’d used on my previous two visits, so I chose one nearer the middle. This highlighted a flaw in the setup of the gym. There is a low ceiling above the treadmills, and

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Jane has spent the afternoon on the balcony, sunning herself. I know the balconies on deck 4 are metal fronted, but they are huge. Much bigger than the balconies we had on deck 8 on the Victoria. I don’t see any reason to be put off by not having a glass one, it’s not as if there’s anything to see except for sea, sea and more sea! We’ve migrated from lounging on the balcony, to lounging in the Commodore Club. Today’s cocktail of choice is a Dark ‘N Stormy. Gosling’s Black Seal rum, freshly squeezed lime juice, Syrop de Gomme

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