Back to civilisation

Last night we rather “went for it”. We went to the bar for a sparkle and received the statutory amount. Everything is served as a 125ml which makes life very easy and it feels as though you’re having a taster, as opposed to a session. However, the downside to a small portion is that we get through them a little bit too quickly and with another 20 mins until our allotted dinner time, what could we do but have another? There was nothing to see outside…literally, we were back in the land of the Midnight Murk with some serious mist around us. That sort of weather where the sky meets the sea but without any delineation.

Nick was in the chair and when he came back, he could hardly contain his amusement. “Blimey mate, what did you have to do to get glasses full to over-flowing?” I asked as my eyes popped out on stalks. “I just asked him how he was” came back Nick’s innocent response. “Well let’s not be doing that too often then eh love!?”

We had a bit of a strange one last night. Super dinner, as per. However, we were just sipping on our aprés dinner Port when we were requested to leave the restaurant as they needed to sanitise it. This was a weird one and we wondered if it had anything to do with a bit of a “to do” between our server and another server. It’s always hard to understand what’s going on when you don’t understand the lingo, but it seemed evident our server had done something wrong. Not to us I hasten to add.

However, this morning she was serving breakfast, so she can’t have committed too serious a crime. We have been very good on this trip and have restrained ourselves from drinking the sparkling wine in the morning and have also not had a lunchtime pink either for several days. I guess when it’s on tap, you know you can have it whenever you want it and maybe the novelty wears off. I say this with hope, rather than conviction.

Drink or no drink, I finally had the best night’s sleep last night. In the actual bed rather than trying to find somewhere in our cabin that wasn’t rattling with Nick’s snores. The other strange thing that has happened whilst on this trip is that my breaths per minute have gone from 14.5 down to 11.4. What’s that about and should I be pleased or concerned? Why do I even know such stuff? Because my watch tells me.

Over the last two days, we’ve gone from the extremes of 2 degrees and thoroughly bundled up to 22 degrees wearing shorts and t-shirts again. Also, over the last two days, we’ve gone from the end of the world back to civilisation. Nick is particularly happy as he now has GMS back again. I’m not entirely sure why he was so twitchy not having the variety of comms we’re used to on a daily basis, but he’s back to being a happy chappie and is chuntering less than he was, which has to be good for all concerned.

This morning we did some sunbathing on the top deck overlooking mountains, still sprinkled with snow. We were back in the Fjords and the scenery was on a par with Scotland, but on steroids. However, when we set off from our brief stop at Tromsø, although it was 22 degrees, the wind chill was too strong for us to stay outside.

Our proper stop of the day was Finnsnes, later in the afternoon. The last time we came here (2014) the place was covered in snow. A compare and contrast to today, a lovely 24 degrees and sunny. We’d chosen not to do any trips today. Seriously, one of the trips was an eye-watering £300 for a bus tour. We’re planning on venturing to Arran tonight as the menu for the main restaurant doesn’t really appeal to either of us. There’s a surfeit of artichokes on board currently. Best avoided!