Cadiz

Saturday 2nd December

It was a noisy morning, with the arrival announcement followed by crew drills. I didn’t sleep past about 8.30 and got up an hour later. I ate breakfast with Andrea and Roy (Dance Hosts), and discovered that Roy was from Chadwell Heath in Essex, just down the road from Ilford where I lived as a child. No wonder his accent seemed familiar.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining and life on my balcony felt warm so I changed from a thick woollen top to a thin woollen top to explore Cadiz. I froze! 

I walked around the outskirts of the city, remembering my time there with Helen some years ago. I walked past the beach where she had swum. It was certainly too cold for swimming this day! The sea was lovely and the walls are very picturesque. However, it was certainly the long way to the Cathedral! Once I reached the Cathedral square I visited a church and then sat down for coffee. It was cold, no one came to serve me and I was not sure that the wifi would be reliable out in the sun, at a distance from the café. I gave up. A busker was playing pan pipes, a wonderful Salsa tune. I regretted having no one there to dance with. I would have danced in the paved square with any encouragement. I walked back to the ship. It was a short walk through narrow alleys. I really had gone the long way to reach the square, but I had enjoyed it.














I joined Hazel for lunch and then went back to my room to read and complete my diary before afternoon tea. It started feeling a bit chilly in my room. With the ship open to let in passengers, the heating does not cope well.

Frank at our table was celebrating his birthday. Catherine and Philip organised a card for him. After trying all around Cadiz, only to find shops shut for siesta, they arranged for Reception to print one off for him. We all somehow managed to sign the card without them seeing it and then presented it to Frank.

The early dance session had sequence dancing, so Frank and Mavis wanted to come along and dance. Catherine came to watch. The other couple turned up for the late session so we had a good group of dancers. I arranged for the singer to wish Frank happy birthday. He stood up to leave before that happened so I had to tell him what was planned and get him to stay. I think he was delighted by the attention.


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