A rovin' we did go!

Finally got my head stuck into 'the accounts' and made good headway. Haven't totally finished the year up yet but should do, over the next couple of days. I had a deadline for Wednesday, early afternoon since CB and I were due to catch the 9pm sailing to Amsterdam, from Hull. Went to have my hair snipped and Claire told me she had just returned, the day before, from a similar trip, to Bruges. She regaled me with tales of sea-sickness and old people with cases full of ciggies. Well, bless the old people if they're still active enough to drag caseload's of ciggies around capital cities of Europe, let 'em do it, at least they still have the freedom to buy ciggies, even if any place to smoke 'em is fast disappearing in the UK! One lady took her little pavement scooter with her. I wondered if she'd have been able to walk if she didn't smoke quite so much though! I'm saying no more on the smoking subject cos I was guilty of buying a few packs of tobacco and some (not many) ciggies. The tales of sea sickness did worry me though. I got some tablets to combat it but then found they wouldn't 'go' with my medication so went for natural methods by buying crystalized ginger and a tin of Altoids, a great little hot peppermint. I know they're big ships and generally speaking one doesn't feel the ups and downs of the sea so badly in them but even so, Claire said the 8-10 knot winds meant people were confined (by the captain) to their cabins. At least lying down one has less chance of FALLING down, I suppose! Personally, I'm haunted by a trip over the North Sea to the Ise of Man, from Morecambe, almost 30 years ago! The ship was soooo rolly that the minute it got out of the lee of the harbour I started feeling ill and spent almost the whole of the journey lying flat in a 'ladies lounge', apart from frequent trips to the loo to be ill. On arrival in the IOM I refused to go back by boat and we had, despite having little money, to buy air tickets to fly back. It was only a day trip and I spent the remainder of the day recovering from the journey. Anyhow, hum, though we had force 5-8 ish winds, all went well. Awaking about 3am this morning and CB saying "Have we stopped moving?" did worry me a little. Had visions of being tossed on the sea in a non-functioning ship! A very gentle 'bing bong Irishy' tune awakens passengers from their slumbers and a time check, at 6am, followed by others half an hour later and then with increasing frequency until one finds oneself saying to the invisible lady, "Shut the **** up!" This phrase also sprang to mind last evening in Langans Restaurant, on board ship (The Pride of Hull) over dinner. On the outward journey we ate in the Four Seasons Restaurant, a buffet meal with quite a wide choice of dishes but I do worry a little about 'buffet' food. I mean, catering for 100s, SOME of it has to have been sitting around for a while, somewhere or other! For my main course I had a curry and maybe it was that which assailed me the following day? However, the Langans Restaurant meals were cooked to order and last night we upgraded for a treat, also thinking we'd not be in earshot of the likes who used ***k and other four letter words as every other word in their conversation. We got, instead, a guy with a male eating companion, who used 'bloody', instead. Not sooo bad? However, he talked incessantly. It was interesting watching his companion's body language, he physically distanced himself from the 'talker' though he had to appear to be listening. I wondered if he was an employee, or an exceptionally good friend cos I'd have been forced to 'do a Peter' and tell the guy how rude he was in that he talked non-stop and boringly and mainly about himself. You may think that I shouldn't have listened to his private conversation? I agree but he also spoke so loudly that one had no option. About his diebetes, operation, prostitutes and finally it became so wearisome that I think I actually managed to stop listening, as did the guy's dining pal; a glazed looked came over him! As to Amsterdam, it was a taster day, really. We docked an hour late and then had to queue for some time before disembarking, with only two immigration chappies on arrival and then we were bussed into the city, from Europort, which took a couple of hours so we arrived in the centre of Amsterdam at 11.30. We had already agreed that we'd like a canal cruise tour because despite several trips to the city I'd never used this mode of transport and I do like a 'sight seeing' trip in a city, to give one a general overview of the place. First I had to find a loo and kindly the captain consented to allow me to nip on his boat before boarding time, for a wee! In the loo, of course. There's an awful lot of 'social' housing, thousands of flats. I'd forgotten that the 'continentals' do 'do' apartment-living. In one housing 'project', where individual architects had been given a free rein, the original people who had moved to the island just a short ferry hop from the city were called 'pioneers' by our guide. It was hardly a move to the new world though! However, it was all very interesting and quite enjoyable. We sat at the back of the cruise boat, for a good all round view (I led the way to the seating) to find the noise of the engine could drown conversation when the captain 'put his foot down', it was next to the loos and every now and again there'd be the loud 'schuuuup' sound of the flushing toilet like those on aeroplanes, and opening the window to cool down (sun beating on glass above) the smell of diesel fuel was quite strong! I also led the way to the coach seat on the return journey which had a broken switch and the air blower thingy was blasting cold air, mainly on CB, but of course we didn't discover that until the coach was moving and all the seats were filled! Perhaps I'm not a very good seat-selector? The cruise was followed by a meander thro the streets of Amsterdam, which became a faster and faster walk as I got hungrier and more desperate for the loo! Also had forgotten those toilets were one's 'doings' sit on a sort of 'shelf' for examination (if one wishes to examine!) before being flushed away! Having eaten and cheered up (me), we were to walk off the meal with more sight-seeing and CB, bless 'im was not too upset at my dragging him toward the red-light district, well, 'Chinatown' and other bustling areas. However, the streets where the ladies displayed their wares (some with 'considerable' wares but one would have needed a caseload of paper bags, had one consumed the wares, if one gets my meaning!) in the windows had some pretty shady characters hanging around and I had my handbag very firmly tucked under my arm, though CB said he was keeping an eye on me, walking in front of him and he was carrying a substantial umbrella, truncheon-style, ready for use! That walk also became a quest for a loo (me again!). Yes, we could have stopped in a bar again but then I'd only have filled up and probably needed a loo on the return coach journey! So, we had a flavour of the city, a day of loo hunting and some fun and were back at the coach stop at 4pm. OH, nooooo, didn't visit a 'coffee shop', having experienced the weed on a previous trip and not having particularly enjoyed the experience but one street we walked down I became decidedly 'heady' as the smell of the 'grass' wafted into the street! It was interesting getting off the ship, at the bottom of the lift were all the people with their cases full and trolley loads of booze and cigs. The 'two for one' offers have finished now, until next September. Maybe Bruges next time?? OK, back to the accounts.