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When trying to think of a novel start to this blog (or
should that be ‘start of a novel…!!!) Roisin suggested that we begin our
journey from work. If it wasn’t for my bad back I would have jumped up and down
with glee for this was a splendid idea. (5 lines in and I’ve started to write
in the style of Enid Blyton!!!)
Due to my bad back, Roisin packed both cases and dragged
them down stairs and loaded them in to the car. On the morning of our
departure, my back was giving me problems so she drove the car to work.
It transpired that in her haste, Roisin had forgot to pack
my black dickie and my cuff links. Disaster!! This meant that, in spite of my
bad back (I think it is a trapped nerve!), I would have to walk to M & S,
all of 400m, to see if I could find cheap replacements. The cruising clientele
don’t seem to notice such things. I’ve been walking around in a Primark pair of
patent leather shoes I bought for £10, 4 years ago. No-one gives a second
glance.
Some colleagues
weren’t aware that we were travelling straight from work and made such
comments as ‘Oh! I couldn’t go on my holidays straight from work. I much
prefer to go from home!!’ I can see
the point if you have to leave at 3am in the morning. Unless you worked in an
all night takeaway, then I agree, it would be pointless but our plan was to
leave work at about 3pm, drive down to Gatwick where we would stay overnight
for our flight to Genoa tomorrow at 10am. I can’t see the difference if we
leave from work or from home!
As it turned out, Roisin didn’t only forget a few of my
favourite things (oh no, now I’m starting to quote ‘the Sound of Music!!’) but
she forgot something much more precious…her mobile phone!!
We brought our departure time forward to 2:30pm, said our
farewells to those colleagues who knew we were off on our travels once more
whilst shouts of ‘Blimey, you have more trips abroad than a Blue Peter
presenter!!!’ could be heard as we
made our way through the revolving doors and across the tarmac to the waiting
car. We agreed to head back to pick up Roisin’s phone and my dickie etc…thus
saving both my bad back and wallet the shared pain of having to buy new stuff!!
So I guess technically, we did start the journey from home rather than work!!!
Have I mentioned my recent ailment??!! Now you may have an
inkling that I am starting this holiday with a less than 100% fit back. In the
time honoured fashion of TV movies, when the show is running short of ideas
they tend to start off with a situation then flash back to how the said
situation arose.
2 DAYS EARLIER….
…. On a national conference in the heart of Lincolnshire, a
brisk stroll in the surrounding countryside in the late afternoon sun,
clambering over farmer Giles’ 5 bar gate, my trailing leg got left behind as it
whacked against the top bar of the obstacle. I attempted to leap the gate with
an agility of a spring lamb instead I managed to ‘slam dunk’ with the
grace of a leg of roast lamb!! If it wasn’t for landing flat on my back, the
pike tuck with 2-½ twist was something Tom Daly would have been proud of!!
Whilst laying on the gravelled ground writhing in agony, one
of my caring colleagues told me not to move. ‘That’s sensible advice’, I
thought. ‘Until I have been checked over I don’t know what damage I may have
sustained.’
I soon learned that that the reason I was told not to move
was that she could run and fetch her camera!!!
Fortunately the biggest thing to take a fall that evening
was my pride. No bones were broken but I had been left with a back spasm and
this has now led to a trapped nerve. There are those that say, that evening, I
was touched by the hand of God. But the only two witnesses are sticking to
their version of events so the question still remains…’Did he jump or was he
pushed!!??’ The word on the Street is that it is Karma as I was heard to say,
on approaching the offending obstacle, ‘That looks like one b****** of a
gate!!’
That was then and a little ‘shove’ wasn’t going to let it
stop me enjoying cruise number 9!!
We arrived at the Menzies Chequers hotel in Crawley just
before 8:30 pm after a very uneventful but pleasingly (for a change)
road-incident free decongested journey (OK, I know it is not the opposite of
congested as in the context of ‘traffic’ but its late and its my first day on
the job!!), the painkillers have kicked in and whilst only half of us are
looking forward to the flight to Genoa, I know for sure that 100% of us is
looking forward to being reacquainted with our old friend the MSC Lirica in a
few days time Friday - 26.04.2013
The flight from Gatwick went as smooth as could be expected.
There were no queues at the security point and I wasn’t even asked to take my
shoes off. Just as well really as later that evening I realised I had a huge
hole in one of my socks. Despite me putting forward an argument that there was
still some life left in them, when I woke up the following morning they were
not where I’d taken them off. They had found their way to the bin. I wonder how
they got there??! Unfortunately, the bin is where they stayed. Never mind. I’m sure
I brought another pair with we somewhere!!!
While sitting adjacent to the flight gate after having
passed through the ticket collection waiting for the shuttle to take us to the
aircraft, a lady approached and asked us if we were on ‘the cruise’.
‘Yes’, Roisin replied.
‘Can you tell us what happens?’ asked the lady
‘Did you book your flight through MSC?’
‘Yes’, she confirmed.
‘You should be met by an MSC rep. Where are you staying?’
Roisin asked.
‘Nowhere. Came the reply. ‘We go straight to the
ship’
You’ll have a job’, started Roisin, ‘the ship
doesn’t come in until tomorrow!!’
At this stage, I
interrupted. ‘Which ship are you on?’
‘The Orchestra’, was the response.
‘Ah, that explains it.’ We both sang in unison. ‘In
that case’, began Roisin. ‘You’ll be met by somewhere at the airport.
‘What about our luggage’, asked the lady. ‘do we
need to collect it?’
‘From the carousel, yes,’ I said. Then continued, ‘but
once it is on the coach, you should not see it again until it is outside your
cabin.’
Thank you’, said the lady and headed back to her
companion.
Spooky!! How did she know? It wasn’t as if we were the only
ones waiting for the aeroplane. There were a few hundred people in the same
situation. How did she know? I checked in case there was an obvious ‘tell’.
Nothing! Nada! No MSC tag hanging from our hand luggage. No MSC pen stuck
behind my ear!! No ‘his’ and ‘hers’ MSC shell suits! Why us?? What did she see that stood out from the crowd?? Maybe
she recognised us from one of the cruise forums? Or perhaps she’s a reader of
the ‘blog’. If you’re reading this, lady….How DID you know??
Whilst these thoughts were whirling through my mind, a few
hairy biker types had appeared….then a few more. Soon we were in the midst of a
hairy biker convention. Zippers and leather filled the waiting area. I don’t
understand how half of them successfully passed through the security scanners
without setting the alarms off. Maybe there is a special dispensation for hairy
bikers! Not that I have anything against hairy bikers but I hope our cruise
isn’t a themed cruise, that MSC stage from time to time. If it does happen to
be themed, I hope it is not a hairy bike theme for 2 reasons. Firstly, beard
apart, I’m not hairy and secondly I’m not a biker!! Now if it was a Tellytubbies
theme!!! I certainly like watching the telly…!!! Tinkie Winkie and I both came
to the conclusion that there must be a Moto GP in town!
The flight took 2 hours and the next stage is to take the
bus to Ferrovia Piazza Principe, the main railway station in Genoa.
Walking in to Genoa arrivals hall we saw the lady who only a
few hours before had singled out Roisin and I as cruise types. She was being
led across the hall by a smartly dressed rep holding a bat aloft with the
letters ‘MSC’ blazed across it. I overheard the lady as we passed within
earshot. She did not see us, as she was deep in conversation with an elderly
gentleman. She said that immortal icebreaker: ‘Is this your first cruise?’
I guarantee, it doesn’t matter whom and where you meet someone. This question
will be asked at some stage of the conversion.
Bus tickets in to the city centre are either purchased from
the driver or in advance from a machine.
Have you ever been abroad and trying to queue for something
while the locals just seem to be surrounding the thing you are trying to queue
for? Do not be alarmed. This is quite natural, especially in Europe. It is not
in their psyche to form an orderly queue. However, they are not trying to push
in either. Europeans, and in our case, Italians, seem to have a heightened
sense or awareness and know where they stand in the ‘pecking order’. This was
the case whilst queuing for the bus tickets. My awareness was not as
heightened. I was now in the front row of this ‘unorderly queue’ when a smartly
dressed gentleman signalled me to advance with a wave of his hand and said ‘Prego’.
I am not use to someone giving me this kind of hand gesture!! I moved to the
pole position and swiftly followed the on-line instructions. **Word of
warning**: Do not try to buy 2 tickets at the same time as this has a
tendency to b***** up the machine. It took longer than expected and I was now
starting to be the recipient of other types of hand gestures from the on
looking crowd!!
The bus took us past the MSC cruise terminal where we saw,
not only the MSC Orchestra but also our first ever cruise ship, the MSC Opera.
The beauty of Genoa airport is that it is only a 20-minute
journey in to the city centre. A 5-minute walk from the terminal and we were
checking in to The Comfort Inn, Europa.
Time to freshen up before heading out back to the main train
station. Having been to Genoa twice before, we decided to take a trip to the
outskirts of the city. A place called Nervi. While doing our customary research
prior to this vacation, I stumbled on this hidden gem. The seafront promenade, in
Nervi, is known as the Passeggiata Anita Garibaldi and
is built into the rocks that drop dramatically into the sea. The 34 minute
train journey only cost €3 return and having checked with Trip Advisor,
discovered out of 300 comments, 199 had marked this attraction as excellent
while 88 had marked Nervi as very good. This left 13 who only felt the
experience was average! There
is no pleasing some people. Even if Doctor Who himself personally chauffeured
them to watch a plasma storm in a spiral planetary Nebula from the highest
mountain on Androzami Major they would probably say it was just ‘alright’!!
The weather. since our arrival has been thinly overcast
but not grey and a fairly mild 18C
(66F) with a light breeze.
Despite there being a distinct lack of tourists, the
hawkers were still out in force along the Passeggiata stopping anyone they
heard speaking a foreign language. The usual array of Gucci and Ray-ban were on
display as well of an assortment of beads and bangles.
Whilst sitting at a promenade café watching the MSC
Orchestra as it sailed in to the distance, a persistent hawker
tried to peddle his tatty jewellery in our direction. He started at €25 for one
piece of crap. If the entire world were a stage as it was in the eyes of one
Bart (Shakespeare not Simpson!!), these vendors would definitely be the
proverbial villains. As he wouldn’t take no for an answer, I found myself
starting to haggle. I managed to get him down to €6.75. Just when he thought
he’d make a sale (it was still way overpriced…by about €6!!) I told him to piss
off! You wanted to stay to play your stupid game. I played your stupid game.
NOW DO ONE!! I didn't catch what he muttered as he walked away (although I did
recognise the hand gesture as similar to those made at the bus ticket machine!)
but I’m sure it wasn’t ‘Bah, foiled again!!
It had been another long day. We ate dinner at a restaurant
called Trieste opposite our hotel; the same restaurant, 14 months earlier that
was a pre theatre meal to an Andrea Bocelli production.
My back was still tender but I felt there was more movement
than I had recently experienced. At least if I’m still hobbling or shuffling
along after boarding the ship tomorrow, I will just merge in to the background
as this sort of movement becomes commonplace among the majority of cruise
guests!!!
- comments
cheis http://www.ostellingenova.it/en/palazzi-rolli-genova-unesco/