By ‘eck it got bumpy when we left Catania. We were fine during dinner, but not long after first sitting ended, we hit a LOT of potholes.

Cartagena

This was a weird one. We don’t often arrive somewhere after lunch! Very civilised! We like Cartagena. There is a lot of Roman stuff, but we like to shop here, which we duly did. Not really a lot else to say! Weather: hot. Sun: shiny. Sky: blue. Clear blue. Not a cloud init. Surfaces: smooth. Dipped kerbs: plentiful. Prices: pretty reasonable. The end! We only had half a day, after all.

Gibraltar

We had a half day in the morning here. We got off at 9 and I had booked breakfast at The Rock Hotel for 9.30. Easy peasy, you might think. However, Gibraltar has one of the meanest, most vicious taxi cartels in the world. They have the whole thing sown up and you are utterly at their mercy. We had to wait 15 minutes for a cab to deign to come for us, which annoyed us exceedingly. It doesn’t take that long to drive the entire circuit of the damn colony! Anyway, when we got there, it was wonderful. They treated us like royalty, and put on a beautiful buffet. I got gluten free cereal and toast, there was fruit and the most perfectly poached eggs I may ever have eaten. Utterly brilliant. We then shopped our way back down the hill/rock towards the ship. The queue for the shuttle bus was ludicrous, so we tried to get another taxi. Queue another row with a bolshy taxi driver. Eventually we found one willing to take our money and we were back on board in time for bob. Only I forgot to swipe my cruise card. Which meant that, half an hour later, my name came over the tannoy and I had to ring Reception to (a) confirm I was, indeed, on board and (b) apologise for being a numpty. They were very nice about it, considering they must be sick to the back teeth of idiots doing the same thing at every port they visit.

Sea Day

A restful day. AT LAST. Spent the day packing, so all I have to do on Monday is the formalwear and pyjamas and bathroom stuff. Most of it fits… Today we are on the home straight. Literally. Have you noticed just how very straight Portugal is?! Our heading was 003 degrees. That as near due north as makes no difference.

This might be the end, unless something monstrously fascinating happens tomorrow. Photos will follow. Only a short cruise, and not the most relaxing of holiday options, but it has certainly been fun, and we have seen LOTS of new places, which was nice.