Universal post office experiences

On the recent cruise I tried to send postcards home at every stop (see the picture above for me posting a postcard in Corfu). I had a couple of visits to post offices that made me aware of the universality of some experiences - particularly unhelpful customer service!

In Dubrovnik I went into a post office to buy stamps and bought them with no trouble at all. It was about 1.58pm. After purchasing the stamps I saw the post office had some unusual and interesting looking souvenirs opposite the counter. 

As I looked at the souvenirs one of the clock-watching staff suddenly announced "sorry we are closed" and tapped her watch to tell me it was 2pm. They literally turned the latch to lock the door after I exited. 

In Kotor, Montenegro, I had another universal post office experienece. There was a queue and only one person serving. There was another staff member sat at the desk, with a little notice saying 'closed' (I presume) while she did something important, counting what looked like receipts. 

The queue stretched to the door as the person at the front of the queue was made to fill out various forms that would be attached to their parcel. The guy behind me huffed and tapped his foot. My brother appeared at the door peering over the shoulder of the last queuer wondering what the hell had happened to me. Meanwhile, the second cashier carried on with her important task, oblivious.

I was bemused and amused. Why are so many post offices like this, wherever you go in the world?  It reminded me of the post office in Taff's Well that used to close for lunch, despite that being the most convenient time for people working nearby to use their services. I asked the postmistress why they did that and she brusquely told me "we need to eat lunch too!" Which is fair, but, you know, customers... 

I have to say here that our local post office in Holmesdale Street is the exception. The counter is open every day of the week. The staff are helpful and friendly. They move the queue through quickly. It's a great little shop. Sometimes, you have to travel the world to be reminded of what a gem you have at home. 

Post-script

Even if you have a good post office experience, your item is still at the mercy of the delivery agency. One of my postcards didn't make it back unscathed.

I'm not sure if this damage was done to the postcard on the Dubrovnik end or back here in the UK. I wouldn't put it past Royal Mail. And, naturally, the rip damaged the stamp!

My stamp-collecting Dad would have ranted about this for hours. Honestly, I just laughed.

Post-post-script

Now that all five postcards I was able to send have arrived, I can tell you the Montenegro post office redeemed itself, with the post card arriving much sooner than the two cards I posted in the Greek islands. The card from Kefalonia was the last to arrive and literally landed on the mat this morning.

My May 2026 round up

Well, May has gone by fast and finished as a very hot one, setting new temperature records. I was hotter in Cardiff than in Kefalonia the week before!

Cooler in Kefalonia 

I have blogged multiple times about the two big events in May: the Senedd election and my Three Seas Cruise. You can catch up here:

Election

• Senedd Election post
• Celebrating the election win (and seeing my friend Sara get sworn in as member of the Senedd)
• Plus, if you're nerdy, my updated election leaflets graph

Cruise

• Dubrovnik to Malta
• Sicily and Kefalonia
• Corfu and Kotor
• The Red Museum in Dubrovnik

I also had a cinema trip to see The Mandalorian and Grogu with Cathy, and posted a Japanese novel as my Book of the Month.

I had a fun return to work after the cruise. On my first day back I drove to the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford to learn about how the team there are using a natural protein that dampens inflammation to protect insulin-producing cells, which could potentially open a door for a cure for type 1 diabetes. 

It's very early days in the science, with loads more work to do. I put on a white coat to lend a hand.

Towards the end of the month the time had also come round for another diabetes check up. My blood test was booked for the week after the cruise.  I will find out in June how much high seas living has affected me.

(Funny note - when I checked in for my blood test the screen told me I was booked in with "Mrs Phlebotamist", which is a very odd case of nominative determinism!)

I was unable to attend the Keep Grangetown Tidy litter pick this month as I was away that weekend. But the local church, St Dyfrig's and St Sansom's invited KGT volunteers along for a special environment-focused service on 31st May. I heard Fr Richard talk about the history of the church at Grangetown Historical Society last month and it piqued my interest.

The service was high church anglo-Catholic with lots of incense and some of the liturgy was sung. Fiona from KGT did one of the Scripture readings. It was also Trinity Sunday and Fr Richard admitted he was going to dodge the question of explaining how the Trinity works in his sermon. Sensible move there. 

After the service we were invited to proceed outside for an additional prayer for the environment by the statue of St Francis of Assisi. It felt like a post-credits scene in a movie.

Later, Cathy and I took advantage of the good weather to visit The Meadows Wildlife Park. Back in November we went there for Cathy's birthday and met Roly the armadillo. It was nice to go back when it wasn't so cold. 

We didn't see Roly, but I got to pat some friendly pigs and goats.

And I met a fabulous chicken!

Sports-wise it was a football-free month. I did get some free football stickers, despite my personal World Cup boycott. I drew my monthly Blood Bowl game with Bryan. And I played some rounds of mini-golf on the cruise ship. 

I can't promise these will be the last photos from the cruise I post on my blog, but they are the last ones in this blog post!

Cruising the Three Seas, part 4 (finale)

Our cruise ended where it began, in Dubrovnik.

Because we had a late flight home, this turned into a bonus day of exploration. Sarah and I went for a little wander into the port, where we found giant pencils and a Pope.

But the real highlight was discovering the uanassuming-from-the-outside, very-cool-on-the-inside Red Museum, chronicling the history of communist Yugoslavia.

Not much to look at from the outside 

The museum is a mix of history detailing how Yugoslavia came into being and artefacts from the communist era, which began in armed struggle against the Nazi occupiers in World War 2.

I kind of knew that Marshall Tito broke with Stalin and kept Yugoslavia independently communist. It allowed for a more consumer-focused state with promoting tourism as official policy.

Remember Yugo cars? I do!

The Sarajevo Olympics were the first winter Olympics held in a communist country. I liked their wolf mascot!

It was a fantastic, interactive museum with the opportunity to listen to top Yugoslavian tunes of the era.

It turns out this was the only museum I made it to on the cruise holiday, but I would rate it 10/10. And it had a fun little gift shop too. (Even the communist museums make you exit through the gift shop!)

So that was the final bonus morning of the cruise. We were able to have lunch on board the ship before getting in the coach for a very scenic ride back to the airport. 

Cruise whimsy

The crew of the Marella Explorer 2 were all lovely and some had a real gift for whimsy. The cabin stewards on the turn-down service amused themselves with crafting animals out of towels. It was always fun heading back from the evening entertainment and wondering what towelimals would be waiting for us.

There were some other quirky touches on board as well. Nobody ever explained the fibreglass cows.

I think I saw a blue cow too, but I didn't take a picture. 

Here's a top tip - magnetic hooks to hang stuff on the walls. Dave had done his pre-cruise research and bought a really useful set. I ended up with a cap rack at my end of our cabin.

Speaking of cabins, this signage amused me. Signs don't just get put up for no reason. I suspect some buffoon has hung his suit from a fire sprinkler in the past!

I was impressed by how well oiled the various processes were. On our last night we left our hold luggage outside our room and it was whisked away and sorted out. We didn't see it again until it appeared on the carousel in Birmingham Airport. Things like that made the trip very easy. 

We had one minor issue when my sister got glutened by one of the restaurants. I've learned that customer service is judged best when something has gone wrong and people try to set it right. At our next mealtime the head waiter hovered over us to make sure everything was OK and extra care was taken to make sure my sister's plates were absolutely gluten-free.

A side effect of studying business psychology is looking at workplaces and trying to ascertain the culture. The crew vibe seemed very positive, professional and yet informal. The captain introduced himself as Captain Richard in his announcements and stood on the quayside saying hi to passengers as they disembarked. All the staff were happy to chat and answer questions about ship life. They were friendly without being false and I can't commend them highly enough.

On our last evening on board, after the entertainment show concluded, members of the crew were all invited up onto the stage to receive a round of applause too. It was a lovely way to recognise the whole team, and the whole team deserved to be thanked for making our trip so brilliant. 

Cruising the Three Seas, part 3

Corfu & Kotor, Montenegro

I wasn't sure what to expect of Corfu. I had a preconception of package holiday hotels and concrete beaches. I was not expecting it to be so green and relatively unspoiled. 

Our excursion for the day was "Caves, cliffs and culture" which started with a boat trip from Paleokastritsa, a sheltered cove with glorious white beaches and azure water. 

The boat trip took us to visit three sea caves, including one that included the "blue eye", an effect caused by sunlight going through an underwater rock arch. 

Rock "face" next to St Nicholas's Cave

The blue eye

The local shop had some amusing products on sale. I was tempted to buy some and plant them in my brother's case to see what happened at the airport. 

Our coach then took us up to a restaurant overlooking Paleokastrita. They are big on kumquats on Corfu and we shared a piece of kumquat cake. 

Niamh, the staff member who hosted the introduction to Cymraeg session on our sea day was on our excursion so I asked her if we could take a selfie.

Cymro a Cymraes yn Corfu

The coach wound it's way onward up some very narrow lanes. One village was entirely traffic light controlled, which meant we had a long wait outside. But that was just as well because our bus literally had a few centimetres clearance on either side as we crept through the tight streets. 

We stopped at an Orthodox church that was part of a convent. It was a shrine for healing with it's own well with magical healing properties. However, we were also advised not to drink the water.

The magic healing well - don't drink the water!

The shrine with healing requests

Our guide gave us a brief explanation of the Great Schism between the Roman and Eastern churches. I then had a chat with her about the Cappadocian Fathers, the great saints of the Eastern Church, that I studied back in university. I don't think many tourists name drop St Gregory of Nazianzus while on these tours as she seemed a bit surprised,. 

The gift shop was full of icons. Sarah bought some candied kumquats instead. They have a very strong and lasting bitter orange flavour. It's not unpleasant, but it is persistent. 

Our final stop for the day was Corfu old town. We found a bakery selling amazing doughnuts.

Doughnuts!

There is an impressive solid stump of a castle built by the Venetians when they controlled Corfu. It's another solid-looking fortress. 

Corfu old town is a mix of Venetian, French and Victorian British architecture. Which is why they had a bandstand that reminded me of Grange Gardens!

We didn't have too long in Corfu old town and soon had to head back to our boat, which was now sharing a jetty with three other liners!

Our boat was the small one!

Back on the boat, the evening entertainment was a show called "Forever Country", a medley mix of country songs. I enjoyed it so much I went to watch both showings! (And sang along!)

Our final full day of the cruise was in Kotor, Montenegro. We got up early as we were told that the sail in to Kotor was worth watching. It was impressive as we headed up a very narrow inlet towards the port (it's actually a flooded river valley rather than a true glacier-carved fjord). However, we were up an hour earlier than we needed to be because the ship was delayed after a passenger had to be evacuated to hospital in Albania during the night. (There had been some rough swell at about 2am - it transpired that was the patient transfer.)

Sunrise over Montenegro

Cold enough for a coat!

The delayed arrival meant our boat had been overtaken by another cruise ship that had nicked our anchoring point so we had to anchor further out. This meant the small boat transfer to Kotor was longer than expected, but only a few minutes longer. All the people going on excursions waited in the show lounge auditorium until we were dispatched coachload by coachload. 

Our excursion started at the very new and shiny cable car that goes up over 1,300 metres into Lovcen National Park. 

And in the far distance, our boat!

At the top, Sarah and I rode the alpine coaster, which is like a mini bobsled that swings you over some significant drops. It was great fun.

Victorious alpine coaster riders

We didn't have very long at the top of the mountain before we had to catch the cable car back down. 

The cable car is emblematic of a country that is rapidly modernising. We passed the shiniest petrol station I have ever seen, complete with gleaming banks of post lockers outside. It felt like Kotor Old Town has had some subtle facelift work done too. It was an incredible jumble of buildings and narrow alleys, with history steeped into its stones. But it felt like the patina had been washed off recently giving it a film set feel. I loved it, but I can imagine a few years ago it would have been more grimy and weathered. 

We were hungry and used our tracking skills to follow the trail of people who appeared with large slices of pizza. It turned out there was a little hole in the wall place doing a bustling trade. 

Our return trip to the Marella Explorer 2 was on one of the ship's lifeboats that had been put into service as a shuttle boat. I suppose lifeboats need to be tested occasionally, so it made sense to use them for this purpose. It was another unusual experience to add to an epic day. 

And so that evening we set sail and headed back to where our adventure started, Dubrovnik!