John Edward Cooper’s Notes
Sunday 12 June 2016
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[2016] [Saturday 11 June 2016] At sea Iceland, Faroes and Northern Isles Cruise “Your daily programme”     Because it was a day at sea we had a lie-in, getting up when we did in order to have breakfast before Marco’s Restaurant would stop serving it. Marco’s was heaving with people when we went a little after 9.30am for breakfast, and it was with difficulty that we found a table only occupied by two, i.e. that would accommodate a further two. Then we returned to the cabin; Janet updated her journal and from till receipts added up our expenditure to date. I meanwhile went up for a number of turns of Deck 10, braving the cold blast when rounding the bow. Janet and I went to the Captain’s Club, where Janet had two Coca Cola Light served at the same time and one later, and I had three “American” coffees served separately (11:13, 11:43, 12:02). We went for lunch to Marco’s Restaurant, then back to the Captain’s Club where I had a 40cl glass of Bitburger draught beer and Janet a Coca Cola Light (12:57). Janet and I returned to the cabin, then I had a turn of Deck 10. Returned to the cabin, and went out with the camera to video the birds keeping pace with the ship (13:42, 13:47). Fulmars flying over the North Atlantic Ocean Janet went for her 2.00pm appointment at the hairdresser’s.… Transferred two videos from the camera to the WD Elements HDD (14:13). I was dozing on the bed when Janet came back. Ca.2.45pm we went to the Marco Polo Show Lounge for another lecture on the unlikely-seeming successes of forensic science.
We went to the Captain’s Club; she had two Coca Cola Light; I had an “American” coffee and later a Bushmills whiskey (it took very little persuasion from the waitress Alona for me to have a double measure!) (15:53, 16:10). Then we went back to the cabin. We’d been taking it in turns to go for dinner to the waiter-service, table d’hôte Waldorf Restaurant one evening and the serve-yourself, buffet Marco’s Restaurant the next evening. Up till now I’d expressed a preference for the former and Janet for the latter, which was why we took turns. Today it was the turn of the Waldorf, so at 5.30pm I went down and looked at the menu. The evening before last “I managed unenthusiastically to chose something from just about every course on the menu”, but this evening I didn’t fancy anything it offered at all. I told Janet, who was usually of the opinion that I hadn’t given all the items due consideration, but when she went down and checked the menu herself she agreed with me. So we decided to go to Marco’s; and, in fact, we never went to the Waldorf again. After returning to the cabin we went up to the Captain’s Club. I had a Campari and soda as “aperativo” and Janet had a Coca Cola Light (17:44), then I took advantage of “Happy Hour” there to order a glass of house red wine (17:44) to take through to Marco’s Restaurant when we went for dinner there. After dinner we went back to the Captain’s Club.
—only, for us it was “a relaxing post-dinner set”. I had a glass of Grappa, then a second one, then an “American” coffee, while
Janet had two Coca Cola Light (19:26, 19:56, 20:21). Back in the cabin, we were in bed just after 9.30pm.
Janet set the alarm clock for 6 o’clock; although the walking tour of Lerwick wasn’t scheduled to start till 8.45am, transfer to shore would be by tender, and the instructions in tomorrow’s Your daily programme said, “Meet in the Marco Polo lounge at 08:00.” |
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