Although there was supposed to be a pharmacy in the seaside area, I couldn't see it so I decided that I would go to the onboard clinic in search of ibuprofen (the recommended treatment for gout). As the clinic only opened at 4 pm, I had to wait some time, but eventually I got the desired pills and immediately took one.
Then my wife and I disembarked; I thought that at 4:30 pm the heat would be less than at 2 pm but I was proved wrong. Outside the port was one of those 'trains' that take people around the town; this one was full and when I enquired about buying tickets, I was told that both this train and the next (the last, at 6 pm) were sold out. Obviously people had bought the tickets in advance (i.e. earlier in the day) instead of waiting until the last minute.
We hadn't walked much further before a young couple approached us and asked in English for directions to 'the supermarket'. As it happens, I had seen a mini-market from our cabin so I could direct them to it, although I had to admit that I was surprised that they were asking us. Then my wife said to the man "You're the singer from the entertainment" and I said to the girl "and you're one of the dancers". They acknowledged this and we talked a little (although in retrospect, maybe not enough); we weren't too sure whether we would catch their show at 8 pm and they said that there would be a repeat performance at 9:30 pm. "But that's after my bedtime", I said; they weren't too sure whether I was joking or being serious. In person, they look smaller than they do on stage.
We then proceeded to buy various bits and bobs in one of the shops. There was another shop (in which we bumped into but did not talk with three other members of the entertainment group) with plenty of goods for sale, including wines and ouzo, but the ship has a strict policy of not allowing liquids onto the ship. I don't know whether this is from a security point of view or an attempt to enforce a monopoly of alcohol purchases; probably both. When I came back from my first visit to the town, I saw that each person returning to the ship was subject to a shakedown – there was a woman in front of me complaining about having her water bottle confiscated; she said that the water was from the ship, but the guard said that he didn't care if the water was old (i.e. from the ship) or new (bought on land). I didn't have a bag, so I wasn't checked and so the water bottle in my pocket got through. There was a perfunctory check made when we came back to the boat with a bag full of packages; we probably could have got away with smuggling a small bottle, but anything larger would have been discovered.
After a cold shower (it was really hot outside) and a short rest, it was time for dinner. Following this we went to see the evening show, missing the first few minutes. Through a port hole by the side of the stage, I could see that we were underway. Then I hopped down to our cabin and had another ibuprofen pill.
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 364 | Aftermath | TV series, DCI Banks, Peter Robinson | |
| 365 | Human resources management | MBA, HRM | |
| 1139 | Italy 2018 - Pisa | Holiday, Pisa, Italy | |
| 1230 | Diet, part three | Health | |
| 1506 | Senecio walks up the rear garden stairs | Personal | |
| 1507 | Italy 2022: Travelling low-cost | Holiday, Italy, Bari | |
| 1624 | Standing in the shadows | DCI Banks, Kindle, Peter Robinson |
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