Kusadasi - or not?

Tuesday 3^rd December

As I had not gone to bed until 2am, I put up the ‘Do not disturb’ notice and slept and rested until 11.30. My throat was sore and I definitely felt under the weather. In other words, it felt like a slightly bad day with CFS! I’m on paracetamol but I think I will take up the offer of another passenger and take some of her soluble aspirin to gargle with. They don’t sell the soluble aspirin on the ship and Doctor Trevor says that’s the best!

As I write this, we are sitting outside Kusadasi harbour, waiting for the weather to behave as forecast. It is now 2.30 and the Captain has been giving us updates since midday. The pilot has finally managed to get onto our ship, but the waves are washing over the harbour in Kusadasi and the wind is too high. We have made an approach to the harbour but it was unsuccessful. This is definitely a Magical Mystery Tour. We were due to land here at 1pm and stay until tomorrow evening. Meanwhile the entertainment director is rushing around organising events to keep us happy.

Unfortunately my entertainment involved washing underwear to see me through the rest of the cruise! It has to be done some time so this seemed as good as ever.

This cruise is unlike any other I’ve ever been on. Because of past experiences of needing lots of rest, I brought along about 15 books. I haven’t even finished the second one and it’s Day 13! I also brought along lots of chocolate (which I need when I get overtired) and I’m not getting through that at the same rate. Perhaps the morning phenylalanine tablets (an amino acid found in chocolate) are providing a substitute for me. The chocolate doesn’t even taste as good now that I no longer crave it for its effects on my system.

We finally pulled into the harbour around 3pm. It’s a slow business and I watched much of it from my balcony, seeing we were mooring on my starboard side (that’s the blue carpet side, for those who know the ship – port side has red carpets).

 Unfortunately I went inside for a drink during the 5 minutes when we magically moved sideways a metre or two. Do they pull us in by ropes, like on the narrow boat holiday I had on the Thames? I had only seen ropes at the front of the ship, not at the back. (Photo taken before my drink)

The waves were still interesting to watch. I can only imagine what they had been like before, when we could not get into the harbour.

My only visit to Kusadasi for this day involved over 2 hours in Starbucks checking emails and posting my blog on their free wifi. I bought a cup of coffee for 5 and gave them the change so I could sit without guilt for such a long time.

I rushed back to the ship late for my 6pm dinner session, but I knew I had to get there as I had ordered grilled salmon. It would not have been polite if I had not turned up for my special order! I got to my room by 6.20, changed, and was in the dining room by 6.30. Phew!

The evening followed its usual pattern of dinner and dancing, though I skipped the show. With the loud band music it was a bit difficult talking with a sore throat. I was surviving on Strepsils and aspirin.