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.

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!