Cruising the Three Seas, part 2

Sicily & Kefalonia 

Messina wasn't meant to be on our schedule originally, but there wasn't a berth available in Catania so our destination in Sicily was swapped. We decided to forego the planned excursion to Mount Etna, as it would be a very long bus trip to get there for minimal time at the volcano, and instead decided to do our own thing and wander into Messina itself. 

Mum ticked off one of her bucket list items from the trip - eat Italian gelato in Italy. It was a Sunday and several businesses were closed, but around the main cathedral square most of the cafes were open, including one that served coffee and gelato. 

The cafe had an external stall with hot roasted nuts being turned into brittle in a hot mixer full of molten sugar as people watched. It smelled amazing, and not just to us humans. At one point the guy manning the stand went into the cafe to discuss something and two alert pigeons took the opportunity to land on the nuts and start wolfing them down. The fellow returned and gave them a half hearted shoo away with his nut scoop which implied this was not an unusual event, and then carried on selling the nuts and making brittle. 

The secret ingredient is pigeon feet

We were offered some samples of the nuts shortly afterwards. We declined. 

Next to Messina square is a tower with an animated astronomical clock. At noon the various animatronics put on quite a show. The cathedral rises from the waves, Jesus exits the tomb, various saints parade past the Virgin Mary and bow their heads in obeisance, a cockerel crows, a lion roars and Ave Maria gets played at very high volume. Quite a clockwork show. 

With Mum safely parked on a bench, we three sibs climbed the tower. We got great views of the city rooftops and our cruise liner in port just beyond. 

We could just about keep an eye on Mum from the tower!

We also went into the Cathedral. I took a few photos, but then a mass was starting and it felt disrespectful to the worshippers to be taking photos during the service. 

On the way back to the ship, we found a gelato shop that had confirmed gluten free options. As my sister Sarah is coeliac and needs to avoid gluten at all costs, we stopped so she could have an ice cream. I'd had an espresso and no ice cream at our previous stop, so I got one this time. It came with a cone hat.

Overnight the ship rounded Italy and sailed to Argostoli in Kefalonia. Here our party split ways. Dave and Sarah went on a boat trip to beaches only accessible by jumping off the boat. Mum and I went on the "Legends and Landscapes" tour that started with a visit to the Odysseus theme park. 

This was probably the lowest tech theme park I have ever been to, but it was quirky and charming and a whole lot of fun. The set up was a number of different statues showing scenes from the Odyssey and then various animal pens related to the story. "This is Circe, the witch, who turned Odysseus's men into sheep... and here are some sheep." You could buy carrots to feed to the various animals. 

Cyclops in his cave

Various monsters

I sat in Odysseus's vacant throne

"Psst! Got any carrots??"

After the theme park, our next stop was a small village called Efima. It was stunningly beautiful and much less touristy than the village we went to on Malta. 

It also had a small supermarket and I bought some cookies and a chocolate bar to share with Mum. 

The final stop on our tour was an overlook high above Myrtos Beach. The sea was turquoise. No filter required! It was an incredible view.  

We were back on the ship in time to see Dave and Sarah's boat coming back.

Our first day in the Ionian islands had been wonderful. Next we were off to Corfu!

Cruising the Three Seas, part 1

Dubrovnik ~ Day at Sea ~ Malta

Back in January my Mum turned 80. She said for her 80th birthday she would like to go on a cruise with her three children. We settled on the Tui Three Seas cruise on the Marella Explorer 2, which would take us to destinations in the Adriatic, Mediterranean and Ionian seas. 

And so it came to pass on the 14th May that the four of us headed to our embarkation port of Dubrovnik. Technically we hadn't set sail yet, so I'm not sure if it counts as day 1 of the cruise or not. However, we arrived at the ship, dropped off our stuff and then had some free time to take a taxi ride into Dubrovnik and visit the old city. 

Our first view of the old city was
from the bus to the port!

First ice creams of the holiday

It's a proper 'wow' experience; a heavily fortified city that oozes history. Much is made of it being a primary filming location for Game of Thrones, but as I haven't seen Game of Thrones, I just appreciated it in its own right. There is a weighty depth to the place, with the sense that those streets have seen some things, including not too long ago, a bombardment during the Balkan wars of the mid-90s. There are plaques up highlighting places of interest related to that recent, bloody history. 

After wandering around the old city for an hour or so, we went back to the port and started to explore the ship, ready for day 2, which was a day of sailing. Our luggage had been delivered to our room by the time we got back, just one aspect of a very smooth functioning system that took incredible care of us throughout. I really can't praise the service enough. 

Our sea day started with a mini-golf tournament up on the highest deck of the ship. It's the first time I have played mini-golf at sea.

It was a clever little course, and the wind added to the challenge. I also met Niamh, the member of the entertainment team managing the tournament. Niamh is from Swansea originally, and she was also running the afternoon activity that I went to with Mum - a beginner's guide to Welsh!

19 people turned up for the session, which Niamh said was a record. Most were from Wales, turning out in Cymric solidarity. There were some interesting reasons given for attending. One chap from Aberdare said his grandmother spoke Welsh but his mother wouldn't let his gran teach him Welsh because it would "hold him back". A couple from Newport said they were made to learn it in school and didn't like it, but now feel they have missed out. Another couple from Menai Bridge said their translators - their grandchildren - had left to go to university so they needed to learn a few words themselves. Another couple, from Wigan, had grandchildren growing up in Wales who now spoke Welsh, which they approved of - "as they should!", said the grandma - and they wanted to know a few words. And there was a guy who now lives in Colwyn Bay who came along because "my wife's in the spa!" A short session of Welsh clearly the more preferable option!

The evening of 'sea day' was 'Dress to Impress' night, and we so we did. Here's us looking smarter than normal! 

We then went to dinner at the Latitude restaurant and were seated at the perfect table number. (If you know, you know!)

After dinner, we went to watch the evening entertainment, a show called Musicals featuring various songs from musicals. Mum ducked the evening entertainment as she was a bit tired, so it was just us sibs. All the evening entertainment was delivered to a high standard. 

We rounded off the night at the silent disco. It was 60s,70s and 80s versus 90s, 00s, and 10s. It didn't matter which channel we were on, the songs were all bangers and it was fun switching between the channels.

FYI: Alleged footage of me dancing is a deep fake

The next day we called into our first port of call - Malta. I expected great things from Malta as people I know who have been there have raved about it. However, our excursion - a bus trip of 'Panoramic Malta' - was a bit disappointing. We went to the 'three cities', but honestly had better views of them from on board ship, we went to a very touristy 'picturesque fishing village' that we had to walk to along a road that was distinctly unpicturesque, and we went to see a very large church but weren't given time to go inside.

Three cities backdrop

The eye on the prow is a good luck charm dating
from Phoenician times

Red phone box - legacy of British government

Although the tour was disappointing we arrived back at the port with enough time to take the incongruously modern elevator up to the main part of Valletta. 

Big chrome and glass elevator!

The priest behind us was rushing to church

Playmobil did a model of a Knight of St John,
the crusader order that effectively founded Malta

We had been told that Valletta only really had two streets, so we walked a loop of them both and then headed back via the cannonade.

The crowds were too large to see the 4pm firing of the cannon, so we took advantage of the lack of queues for the elevator and headed back on board in good time for the evening sailing. On the way out I saw a crane in the port painted like a giraffe!

Next stop, Sicily!

Book of the Month: Hooked

I was in W H Smiths at Paddington Station back in March and the fish on the cover of this book caught my eye. The book was half price that week so I thought I would give it a go.

Asako Yuzuki's novel, Butter, was a breakthrough hit in its English translation last year. This is the English language follow up, although it was published in Japan two years before Butter. 

The book's Japanese title is The Nile Perch Women's Club, as the titular fish plays a pivotal role as a metaphor for predatory activity that destroys ecosystems. The Nile perch is also the focus for the main character, Eriko, who works in a major fish-importing company that is trying to introduce Nile perch into the fussy Japanese market. 'Hooked' is less relevant as a title and doesn't really fit. 

Beyond the fish metaphor, the book is really about loneliness and the struggle some people have to make friends. Eriko becomes obsessed with a blogger and engineers a friendship with her, which quickly becomes a stalking style relationship. 

Except, told from Eriko's point of view, it's not stalking, it's all a misunderstanding, that could easily be explained if only she could get her new, but distancing, friend to talk to her. The sympathetic presentation of the situation from the point of view of the obsessed stalker keeps the story fresh and helps the author avoid clichés.

The Nile perch was accidentally introduced into a new ecosystem where it was the apex predator and a hungry one at that. As it wiped out the other species of fish it encountered, it gradually destroyed the ecosystem it was thriving in. Similarly, Eriko's behaviour destroys the new ecosystem she finds herself in, and creates problems in her career and family, areas she had been thriving in. 

My only negative comment on the book is the directness of the direct speech. Conversations are more like two characters monologuing at each other, in some detail. That may reflect Japanese culture, or it may be down to the translation. Early on, there was a jarring choice of word that may have been an accurate translation of the Japanese, but just felt wrong. (Annoyingly, I can't remember the word that jarred with me!) Overall, it's a small quibble though.

Hooked is my first foray into Japanese contemporary novels. I liked it and will probably try to read Butter at some point too. 

Eat more fruit before the fruit eats you

While generally I applaud Tesco's decision to provide free fruit in-store for kids, I am unnerved by this giant fruit golem they have created to promote it:

He's obviously meant to be a big, friendly pile of fruit, brought to life by a desire to help kids snack healthier. I wonder what kids think about it. I find it uncanny enough as an adult.

Next to the giant cardboard golem you can see another part of the campaign, cute little plushies of fruit and veg. (I almost bought a mushroom.) They are both adorable and affordable, and seem a bit out of kilter with the animated fruit harvest next to them.

Like many examples I find of odd products and strange marketing, I would love to have been in the concept meeting and heard the discussions about this one. 

Another election reflection: yn dathlu yr enill

On Saturday I went down to Cardiff Bay as I heard there was a celebratory photo planned on the steps of the Senedd. You'll have seen better photos than this, but here's mine

I got there early. So did the media.

It was great being there and meeting so many people I campaigned with. It was selfie time!

A decent-sized crowd had gathered by the time the new Senedd members came out. There were loud cheers. Rhun ap Iorweth made a speech. He then spoke to the media but had to stop because the crowd started singing the anthem. 

After the big official photo and the speech, I got some photos with sparkly new Senators! (Justin took these)

Sara was soon doing a media interview.

Later that day I was very lucky to be in the Siambr when Sara took her oath and officially became a member of the Senedd. 

The celebrating wasn't over - in the evening the campaigners in Sara's constituency were having a gathering, and I was invited along.

Heledd Fychan gave the opening thank you speech and made the astute observation that "there are no 'Plaid Cymru heartlands' any more. That really struck me as a great summary of how big the victory was.

Sara also spoke and read a slightly updated version post-win version of her poem that featured on a Plaid Cymru advert during the campaign.

Looking back, a couple of days later, it's almost hard to believe I was there watching such special moments. As a way of marking the end of such a busy and unusual week, it was immense.