As predicted, I didn’t feel well at all when I woke up this morning, with a thick head and a sore throat, so I decided not to go up for breakfast. Instead, Trevor brought a cup of coffee back for me and I drank it sitting up in bed. Then I shakily got washed and dressed and we decided to go to the shops and buy some paracetamol and cough drops.
We took a slow stroll around the decks, taking in the fresh sea air, as I tried my best to fight off the effects of the cold. I was glad it was a sea day because I could then spend the day relaxing in the sun or just sitting out on our balcony. As we walked along and looked at the incredibly flat Arabian Sea, we could see flying fish skimming their way over the calm surface; we nearly always see them in the tropics.
At 10 o’clock we attended a talk given by a guest professor Rod Jory who, by his accent, came from Australia; in fact he told us he was from Canberra. His talk was all about fresh water, and how it is the earth’s most valuable commodity. In fact, less than 2% of all the water on the earth is actual natural fresh water; the rest is either sea water (undrinkable) or ice (undrinkable). So he gave a very interesting lecture about glaciers and icebergs and rivers and waterfalls; it was fascinating stuff.
Afterwards we spent some time sitting out on deck, enjoying the sunshine. By now I’d taken my second lot of Advil so I’d perked up a bit, and I enjoyed a couple of bottles of freezing cold Budweiser. 😊
I didn’t really want to eat a lot of lunch; in fact I just picked at my food, then decided to go back to the cabin for an afternoon sleep, as I was feeling a bit shivery and achey. ☹ Trevor went along to a presentation about humpback whales.
Then it was just a case of pottering around the ship and passing the time pleasantly until was time to go to dinner. I had a long, hot shower and did my hair, then we went to the San Marco restaurant where we requested a table for two for two reasons; firstly, because I didn’t want to pass my germs on and secondly, because I wouldn’t have been particularly good company.
I enjoyed a hot bowl of traditional French onion soup to start with, followed by a steak Béarnaise with vegetables, washed down with a glass of Prosecco. I was glad I’d brought my pink alpaca wrap with me as it felt cold in the restaurant; in fact, it feels cold all over the ship as they have the air-conditioning blasting away.
Afterwards all I wanted to do was return to our cabin and go to bed, as I really didn’t feel well at all. Tonight’s performance in the theatre was a classical crossover violinist and normally I would have loved a show like that, but I really didn’t feel up to it.
So I went back to the cabin and got into my pyjamas and went to bed. There was a good black-and-white movie on the TV, a seafaring yarn called Billy Budd, which was based on the 1924 Herman Melville novel.
Once Trevor got back to the cabin I took another couple of Advil and settled down as best I could for the night. A bit of a waste of a day really; no-one wants to be ill on holiday. ☹