The cases had been packed with fine precision, having borrowed a set of bathroom scales from our kind neighbours Mike and Lee, to allow for astronomical and photographic equipment, formal, semi-formal and casual wear, plus the usual holiday necessities.
With one last glance at the airline website to check the flight was on time, we were horrified to discover that luggage had to be evenly divided between passengers! We had less than one hour to redistribute everything, weighing in pounds and ounces with our kitchen scales. It’s funny now. It wasn’t then! We reached the airport car park not quite in the nick of time. Fortunately the shuttle driver was an absolute maniac and, despite demands from the back seat passengers for him to slow down or let them out, he continued to cut corners and burn rubber. We were so grateful to have sat just behind him so that we were able to provide encouragement.
The plane was more like an old, uncomfortable bus and we were glad to touch down in Genoa, even if the pilot did nearly tip us on landing.
The bus went from immediately outside arrivals and we were lucky to enjoy a full tour of the city thanks to our not realising to disembark twenty minutes in and taking an eighty minute circular tour. We were so excited to catch sight of the Sinfonia, our ship, as we passed the harbour… both times!
p for over thirty hours (will we ever get a night’s sleep before a flight?!). We ‘relaxed’ for an hour in the lobby before taking to the streets of Genoa. A short distance from the hotel was a fantastic back street filled with unusual stores run by people from around the world. There was a bit of a muddle when Gain mistook a shop window for a door, but we ran pretty fast and decided to return later and spend our money there, buying plenty of water for our trip.
Dinner was easy as we had already mapped out the Genoa McDonalds back home in Huddersfield! We had a lovely, romantic walk past the riot police in the city square and took in the beauty of old buildings as well as the artistry of new graffiti. A stroll down by the harbour was cut short by security, but it was breathtaking to see the boat close up for the first time.
Whilst queuing to register and embark, we met with a group of people who were to become good friends; Frank, Maria, Phyllis, Bernadette, Chris, Lynette, Tony, Khahn and (wandering about somewhere) Ralph. Aboard ship and we dumped everything in our lovely cabin ready to go exploring. Almost the entire ship was travelling to see the eclipse in Libya so the atmosphere was great, with astronomers setting up on top deck and associated talks being held in the theatres. There were plenty of parties, some organised and some spontaneous.
Dinner time was our daily party as we got on famously with our meal time companions; Jay and Claudia were from San Diego, although Claudia was originally Chilean. Greg and Ailsa were American (Greg surprised us all on the last evening by declaring that he had a secret double identity!). Marie-Lou and Arturo lived in Quito, Ecuador. We had such a great time and had a wonderful waiter. It can’t have been so good for him as we were always one of the first tables to arrive and certainly the last to leave!
We enjoyed all that the ship had to offer in evening entertainment. There was magic, opera, circus, comedy. It was all brilliant.
Of course there were also the bars, where we met the lovely Puerto Ricans Margi, Jose, Raffy and Julie. Raffy led an interesting life; a gynaecologist by day and a sculptor of naked women in his spare time! Jose was the spitting image of Alec Baldwin. And we swear that Margi and Julie have the secret elixir of youth... you have to meet them to understand how fantastic they look!
We spent many happy hours in their company. And the disco was great fun. One night we walked out on deck for a breath of fresh air, hot and sticky from dancing. Everybody was stood around watching the darkness, waiting for a splash of red to appear in the distance. We were watching volcanic emissions from Stromboli!
Back to the itinerary and our first stop was the bay of Naples and an excursion to Pompeii. We spent much of the tour with Jay and Claudia, being particularly creeped out by the casts of perished souls. Much amusement was had at the little green guy's expense...
Sicily was our next stop, coming to port in Syracuse. We had to take a little boat from ship to shore, which was a wonderful treat. Although we did not have enough time to make the drive to Mount Etna, we did get a good view from the ship.
We toured part of the city with Arturo, Marielou, Ralph, Khahn, Lynette and Tony. Adele was keen to see the Greek and Roman amphitheatres. We had Marielou and Arturo for company and, armed with a picture postcard for directions from the locals, reached our destination via foot, bus and taxi.
We had two days at sea on the journey to Egypt and took in some activities, notably crazy golf on the top deck. Eight foot waves rocked us into the party mood on the night of the Captain's welcome and the first gala night. If every evening on board was a rollercoaster of dressing up, dinner, show, bar, disco and late night partying, gala nights were more so. Dinner was especially delicious and everybody looked at their most elegant.
Of course, no dinnner matched the humour of our first, when Gain had observed that his fillet steak meal was missing a little bundle of carrots (to be seen on everybody elses plate). The waiter was obliging enough to bring a dinner plate piled high with a veritable mountain of carrots. When he returned to clear the tables in preparation for dessert, our waiter asked if Gain had enjoyed his extra helping. Gain joked that it was all well and good, but that he would have preffered a plate filled with steak. And so, just before desserts were served, our kind waiter brought a fully plated fillet steak meal. Of course Gain feigned being too full to eat and politely shared the meat amongst the menfolk, but not a scrap was left uneaten!
On the day of our visit to Cairo, we awoke to find that we had already come to port in Alexandria. There was a significant waiting period where sniffer dogs were sent through our fleet of over forty coaches, checking for bombs. Assuredly this does nothing for one's confidence when arriving in a new country! There was an impressive security operation which closed off all the surrounding roads in Alexandria to allow for our safe passage to the highway. The journey took approximately three hours, coming to a stop at the stepped pyramid of Saqqara, Memphis on our arrival in Cairo.
This was to be our favourite pyramid. Perhaps it was the solitary location, the age, the unusual structure, or simply the lack of heckling, but this site felt very spiritual. From here Gain captured a view of the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid in the distance.
From Saqqara we were taken to visit the statue of King Ramses II. This was really impressive! An enormous and ancient figure, laid in the sheltered protection of a one-room, two-storey building.
We were taken for a sumptuous feast at a grand hotel in downtown Cairo before being shown the real meat and potato of the trip - the pyramids of Giza. They were as impressive as had been imagined, although rather difficult to view without disturbance from police or tradesmen.
Next stop had to be the Sphinx - of course! Looking majestic against the dramatic backdrop of the Giza pyramids, we were grateful to have seen it before the current project to re-clad had progressed beyond the hind leg and tail.
Just time for a little more heckling and we were on our way back to the ship. Next stop Libya!
On the morning of our arrival in Tobruk we watched from our cabin as the Libyan ships brought us in to port. There we were to be the first passenger ship to have visited in over 25 years. As such, the local people were very excited to greet us and we were met by a troop of brownies, along with the usual dignitaries. The local workers had erected a large sign in the dockyard welcoming us to Tobruk, and had decorated it with their own fairy lights. Young men and boys waved from every embankment and railing. It was the most heartfelt welcome you could imagine and everybody felt comfortable to wander into town that night in groups of two and three to explore this mysterious town.
Our comfortable bubble of safety lasted through to the early hours when we took our now customary wander to the top deck. Being true Brit, we had been thrilled to discover a hot water dispenser and assortment of teas in the upper buffet restaurant. This was accessible through the night and made our perfect, moonlit, ocean stroll complete. On this first night in Libya however, our eyes were drawn upwards to a moving shadow that emerged as the figure of a man dressed head to foot in black, from balaclava to boots, with a rifle held at the ready. We watched as he patrolled one side of the upmost deck, appearing to be checking the side of the ship for possible invasion. He was supported by a couple of speed-boats perpetually riding tight figure-of-eights on either side of the ship. All this unexpected action encouraged us back to our beds a little earlier than usual, the duvet seeming to be the safest place!
All this excitement did nothing to induce sleep before eclipse day, but all fears were quashed when we were loaded onto coaches in good time and without being separated from our 'eclipse buddies'. It was a glorious morning as we drove through the streets of Tobruk, thrilled to pass large and imposing images of Colonel Gadafi. Such thrills were quickly vanquished when a sudden and thick pea-souper descended upon us. The next hour had everybody's senses piqued, and some tempers frayed. Had we really travelled over land, sea and air only to be defeated by a desert fog? What the hell was desert fog anyway? Was that even allowed to exist in real life?!!! Every breath was heard and not a word spoken as we strained our eyes in a desparate hope to sight even the kerb at the side of the road, but nothing! And then, all at once, after over an hour of cruel trickery, the fog disappeared in a moment and the morning's glorious blue returned, the sun beating high in the sky as noon approached.
The coach drove off the desert road over sands and came to a stop at a camp set up on the line of totality. Everybody poured out of the coach in the flow of excitement and dragged picnic chairs further into the desert, setting
up small encampments. Ours was a group of around 25 friends that we had gathered during our time aboard ship. We were sure to supply our coach driver with a pair of protective glasses before joining them. There was a flurry of activity as equipment was set up, and we all went to explore the duty free tents that had been set up so far from civilisation! A group of many men in scout uniforms sang traditional songs, dancing with arms around one another's shoulders, forming an enormous circle and pulling in tourists to join their festivities. A Lexus four wheel drive kept doing the circuit of our encampment with some rich, Libyan, chav equivalents blasting out Nelly at his most profound/profane! It all added to a general atmosphere of celebration.
At first contact the magic was tangible, with singing, laughter and conversation suddenly reduced to a buzz of busyness as people bustled into position. Totality was greeted with immense cheering and jubilation. With our clear, desert, 360 degree horizon, we watched the shadow sweep towards us before enjoying a little over four minutes of totality. Gain and his camera clicked to the bitter end as others sweltered in the high noon desert sun, some taking walks into the desert to avoid the hour long queue for the portable toilets. It was bizarre to watch from a distance as they marched on the spot, presumably thinking that onlookers would be fooled into thinking they were still walking away and not actually relieving themselves. It was not an effective illusion!
Back on the coach and all was happiness, with everybody having been rewarded for travelling many thousands of miles with expensive and heavy equipment. All was happiness, that is, until we suddenly and unexpectedly began to bounce uncontrollably in our seats. The coach made a few shocking noises before our bounces reduced to bobs and all became still. It now transpired that all other traffic on our desert road was part of the troupe. Several cars and a coach stopped with us and a group of men brought large rocks from the sands with which to strike the faulty wheel. We saw strips of rubber torn away and discarded and then, miraculously, the bus was made driveable. Our journey was more than a little bouncy, but we reached Tobruk with time to spare and were able to wander the streets of Tobruk, meeting with the local people, before returning in time to dress for dinner.
There followed two days at sea, with a 'no alcohol' policy until our ship had left Libyan waters. This did not affect us English tea-drinkers, but it was strange to find our cabin fridge locked, and to see the bars and restaurants serving only soft drinks.
We spent the days on board dancing, dining and meeting with friends. Afternoons could be whiled away at the back of the ship on a couple of loungers, watching the patterns in the sea as we moved from nowhere to nowhere. Evenings turned to all night socialising, which in turn crept into early morning sunrise watches on top deck. By the time we reached land again we were exhausted!
Valetta harbour looked spectacular on our approach and Malta proved to be a very relaxing day out. We booked a driver and, accompanied by Marilou and Arturo, toured the island in comfort. Most of our time was spent in the cool streets of the Mdina and, more specifically, on the terrace of a pretty cafe displaying a stunning panoramic of the area.
That night we sailed towards Italy and the Amalfi Coast. Dancing the night away in the disco, a spell on the balcony was needed for a breath of fresh air. Outside, where it was not possible to distinguish sea from sky through the darkness, the contrast of sudden, red ejections every ten minutes or so were truly thrilling. Our map told us that this had been Stromboli in action!
The morning found us at our penultimate stop with just a tinge of sadness; Salerno was viewed from a little cafe on the main street in the company of Marielou, Arturo, Jay and Claudia. We visited the impressive Cathedral of Saint Matthew and perused a little market set up in the park.
Before boarding ship for the final time, we were happy to put all our eating to good use by playing 'anchor' for a short time.
Every second was stuffed full of fun on our last night. Dinner was rounded off with the Baked Alaska festivities, after which all of our new friends gathered in the bar for one last evening of laughter.
Back in Genoa and we had two days of touring before our return flight to England. This gave us chance to visit some of the beautiful buildings we had previously passed in the night.
The bus journey back to the airport was much shorter now that we understood it was a circular route! The flight was just as uncomfortable as we had remembered, but the trip was a memorable, extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime affair. Cruise, eclipse, Libya, the pyramids, Pompeii, volcanoes, and - of course - each other... spectacular!
