Come what may, April would be late or go in the wrong direction – she was delightlfully ditzy and I felt I had found my kindred spirit.
April may have had an excuse on account of her diabetes which made her drowsy but she never used it as an excuse.
It all came to a head when we went out on the pedalloes in Majorca.
On my first cruise, from Nice to Palma, Majorca, via Barcelona.
When despite the huge expanse of the Mediterranean she almost bumped me (and others, mostly Scandinavian or German) in Soller in the north of the island.
We played it safe and gave her a story when we got invited to the bridge to see the captain and play with his wheel.
Majorca is much, much more than Magaluf and TUI know it.
They have Hidden Gems, seven nights all-inclusive Cork to Majorca on June 23 on Marella Dream from €11149pps.
To Book: Visit https://www.tuiholidays.ie. Call 1850 45 35 45 or visit a TUI Store / travel agent.
A Grandiosa old ship to sail with
Hamburg is one of the world’s great port cities… it’s where the Beatles grew up after all, and don’t just take my word for it. John Lennon said that.
The German city on the Elbe was where it was at last weekend when Sophia Loren christened MSC Grandiosa to a lot of fanfare (it is Sophia after all).
I wasn’t on the 93m-long Mediterranean prom deck (the Scary One had chores for me at home) but many of my colleagues were.
This being MSC though they like to include everyone even if they aren’t there.
And this being Hamburg, the Hamburgers love a ship (and I know from having been on MSC that their ships love hamburgers and their passengers too).
So the locals 5,000 of them, celebrated too in the MSC Village on the banks off the river.
The main event was the special blue lightshow and fireworks as Grandiosa passed by the Elbphilharmonie.
It’s got me all nostalgic for our unforgettable trip up the fjords https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/the-call-of-the-fjords/
And our stop-off when we decided to take in Hamburg… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/hamburgers-and-ships/. And https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/09/the-beatles-in-hamburg-with-stefanie-hempel/
The MSC Grandiosa starts her seven-night programme in the Western Mediterranean on November 26 with six embarkation ports.
Calling Genoa, Civitavecchia, Italy; Palermo, Sicily; Valetta, Malta; Barcelona, Spain and Marseille, France. Visit http://www.msccruises.ie
MEET YOU ON THE SEAS
