Piraeus (for Athens)

Thursday 6th December

What a day to land in Greece: St Nicholas’ Day when all the shops are shut! The tours went ahead, of course, but I’m told there was no one around in the shopping areas. Those who like to shop must have been disappointed.

I spent the day resting. Cough mixture does not agree with me! I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. I did not know if it was my body battling the infection, or my systems depressed from the cough mixture, or if the infection had triggered a bout of CFS. (A week earier, Trevor had reminded me that although doctors don’t know what causes CFS, they do know that it can be triggered by a simple infection. That’s why it’s so important to rest, even if the infection is a minor one.)

I had room service lunch. I sat in the sun on my balcony. I read. (I have now finished 4 books. It took me 12 days to get through the first one and a half books, but 2 days of illness and I’d read two and a half more books! I think that shows a little of the change in me during this cruise.) Trevor phoned at 4 to check up on me. Bless him. He can’t stop being a doctor even when he’s on holiday!

I briefly visited the sale of latest season Radley handbags (50% off) but did not fall for any of them, and felt the prices were too high. I’m used to buying them from an outlet centre.

Once again I felt impelled to go to dinner as I’d been asking the Head Waiter when we would be having empanadas for dinner, and the night before he’d pointed out that they would be on tonight’s menu, and implied that they were there because he’d asked for them. I didn’t like to point out that they were the vegetarian option, while I like the spicy meat version! I arranged to have my main course while everyone else had starters, and then went back to my room to rest and have an early night.