The ferry

The ferry eventually pulled in at 12.30 Monday morning. Boarding was quick and easy and we were up to our cabin in no time. Felt a bit like a prison cell to be honest, two single beds with nasty itchy blankets on them and not much else really, although there were 2 towels each to use in the tiny bathroom with the tiniest shower I have ever had to fit myself into.

W

We had a look around the ship and then had a glass of wine and went to bed. Woke up this morning at 8.30am got dressed and went to the restaurant for a coffee and discovered it was 7.30 am so had an extra hour of life to enjoy. The ship is pretty boring and so is the landscape, just sea sea and more sea not a bit of land anywhere and guess what else there isn’t, Internet.

I asked Clive, ‘ Why do men walk around with their collars up’. He replied ‘they are real men, especially if they have a football logo or an advert under their collar when in the upright position’ I said ‘Well all these years and I didnt realise, why didnt I find this out before’. There were two real men on our ferry, I managed to get a pic of one before a hoard of 10,000 women carried him off

We have discovered that there are many strange people on ferry boats not to mention a number of celebrities too. We saw Coco the clown, Mark knoffler, Francis Rossi, Madonna and if you remember the the coastguard advert from years ago where husband and wife Petunia looking out to sea waving to drowning man, the husband was here also my favourite of all Jiminey Cricket from Pinoccio, he posed for a photo but I resisted asking for an autograph. He was about 5 inches long.

FRANCIS

Petunia’s husband Joe

Please click for original below

COCO

Highlight of day on board was the lunch experience, we asked if there was vegan or vegetarian and he said no and walked off, lovely. We did find a really nice salad and a plate of chips though so made do with them. We then sat in the lounge and watched the antic of some twins learning to walk it was delightful, falling over, standing up and wobbling then falling over again their parents were ecstatic cheering them on a clapping and laughing. They were about 17 and must have been on the Raz the night before God knows what sort of bruising they must have.

I have discovered that along with my extensive driving knowledge skills I am proficient in Italian. I have been listening intently to the Italians in the supermarket and realise I am fluent. The secret is to add an A E I or O to every word and there you have it, I will give you all a short lesson so you get the hang of it. I asked the guy in the supermarket this question.

Canna youa passa mea thea pasta froma thea topa shelfa and he did, he gave me a bit of a funny look I think I haven’t quite perfected the accent yet but I’m getting there, amazing here are some words you must learn I must emphasise it is imperative you speak with an Italian accent or it will not work

Margarita (this is a type of pizza with cheesea and tomatoa)

Pizza (this is a pizza)

Towera ova pizza (this a famous place)

Maria this is my name and you must pronounce it as follows Mar ree arr

Tossa this is Clives name you can try this with your own.

Mamma this is your mother

Pappa this is your dad

Cuppa coffee this is similar to Welsh

Aero Porto this means airport but they put 2 O’s in it this time

Restaurante this is where you find food possibly a Margarita pizza (did you see what I did there)

Any word though just add a vowel and you have it

So there you have it fluency in a nutshell, I will teach you French next week, missed the Greek as were having trouble with the spelling

We reached Ancona at 6 o clocka, it looks like a city worth visiting, beautiful buildings, clocktowers and castles maybe one day in the future, today though, sadly, just passing through.

Four hours later we get to the campsite to be greeted by Rob and Sue, they got us in and the tent up in record time and before we knew we had been served a cold beer and a spaghetti bolognese, wonderful. Thank you to them both x

Some more pics, look at this dogs face I love it