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Thanks so much for your regular updates Bob, so interesting for me as I've visited many of the places mentioned on a cruise many years ago. Its lovely to see the photos too, enjoy your last few days.

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OldGreyFox is back in the building.....'Hooray' I hear you say.....got loads to tell you....After I've attended to the mountain of mail on the doormat....And caught up with two pages of e-mails......And kept out of the way while other half attacks the washing....Although she's not happy cos it's raining.

It's a long way from Southampton to Doncaster, and it was an easy and enjoyable drive when I was a courier, but something seems to have happened, has England got longer? or is it just me getting older?

Thanks Val, appreciate the comments.

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Welcome back Bob, glad you enjoyed your cruise. I hope you will have more holiday pics to show us when you settle back in.

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Welcome home Bob, I'm glad you had a great time.

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Welcome back Bob you have clearly had a very busy time I hope you enjoyed it.

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Thanks for the welcome home Meg, Mags and Jem.
So soon holidays become a memory, with just the photos and suntan to remind me. Back to normal with a five mile run on Friday morning and an eight mile run yesterday, they were both slow and hard going, so I've got some work to do now. Maybe the half a stone I seem to have collected might be responsible. It was nice though.
This was a blog I wrote last Sunday, I had run out of credit on the Internet [It cost about fifty quid thus far] so was unable to post it.

The Cruise – Day Eleven – Sunday
After leaving Ajaccio in the afternoon on Saturday, we steamed through the night and all of today. We would reach our final port of call [Cadiz] on Monday morning. So today being what’s called a ‘Sea Day’ we would relax around the ship and probably visit the café on more occasions to avoid malnutrition. One of my favourite pastimes on ship is leaning on the rail or sat on our balcony staring out to sea and wondering what mysteries lie beneath the waves, hoping for a glimpse of some undersea dweller being curious of my world. Apart from some discarded man made items floating past the ship [especially in the Med] some interesting observations have been made: My first sighting was of a turtle flailing around as it passed by the ship, probably disorientated after being pushed aside by a hundred and sixteen thousand ton floating island of steel, travelling at 23 knots [about thirty miles an hour] – A small squid – A couple of Minky Whales and the fleeting glimpse of about a dozen Porpoises off to the rear of the Port Side of the ship while eating in the restaurant one evening.
Later in the day the Captain [in broken English because he was Italian] issued a statement over the tannoy stating that:- ‘We would be making a detour to Malaga due to another medical emergency’ Although there are a few young people on board, there is a large proportion of the older generation [the only people who can afford a cruise] and at times the ship looks more like a nursing home than a travelling hotel, so medical emergencies are part of everyday life on board ship. So today’s entertainment was provided by Ventura sailing as close to the rocky coast of Spain as possible, while a small craft arrived to take off the ailing passenger assisted by a couple of medics. We drifted around until the small craft returned with the ships medical staff, and at full speed, set about regaining lost time, the Captain assured us that he would do his best to arrive in Cadiz next morning on schedule. After making several enquiries [Gossip] in the lifts, toilets and restaurants to fellow passengers, the details of the sick passenger could not be established, so I’ve declined from making anything up.

Cooling off after Sunday's run around the deck...



My running track for the last couple of weeks....



My favourite part of the ship.

Re: Bob's Bits.

It must have been exhilarating running next to the sea Bob

Oh dear, it always seems to take a lot longer to take it off than it did to put it on doesn't it
Never mind Bob you have the memories of a lovely holiday to think about when you are running at home and the weather this week seems set to be fair which is a bonus too.

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Mmm... I can almost smell that sea air, Bob

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Robert, sounds like you had a brill holiday. Hope you feel refreshed by it.

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Thanks Meg, Mags and Myra....
It was very nice running round the deck, and the scenery was superb, but it's not the freedom of the open road. Small changes in training can have large effects on the body, especially as you get older, and I was always apprehensive about running while on a cruise. It was nice, at the time, to be able to stretch the legs, but since coming home Myra, I feel far from 'Refreshed' in fact, it's been hard to pick up where I left off with my running, and I feel so tired most of the time....Must be 'Ship Lag'

But it was a great holiday, and I leave you with Day Eight - The visit to Florence...

The Cruise – Day Eight – Thursday
Just as the sun rose we entered the enormous port of Liverno, there were already two large cruise ships tied up in the harbour [Equinox and Epic] with a sprinkling of container ships and ferries coming and going, some being assisted by tugs front and rear. One such ferry, [Moby] was about half the size of Ventura and brightly painted with a selection of Disney characters. Liverno is the nearest port to Florence, which is about an hour and a half away by coach.
With no time for a run, [we barely had time for breakfast] at eight thirty we made our way to the dockside where the coaches were waiting. A numbered sticker was attached to my shirt and we boarded the coach. As we sped through the Italian countryside it looked no different to the English countryside, except for the Electricity Pylons that spanned the hills and fields; there were some very interesting shapes, and quite different to those at home.
Florence was clogged with early morning traffic and going was slow, but we eventually found our guide for the day and departed for a swift ‘on foot’ tour of the city. Some less able members of the party were struggling under the hot sun and frequent ‘re-grouping’ stops had to be taken. Florence has many places of interest tightly packed around the city centre, so tourists were congregated in a small area, which made for very busy streets. It was a relief to be told that the tour had ended and we could wander around by ourselves. The wives disappeared into the shops, while Michael and I did a quick traverse of the riverside walks over the various bridges, finally meeting up on the steps of the Cathedral trying to find some shade until the return of the transport. More traffic as we slowly made our way out of the city and towards Pisa. Although it was late afternoon when we arrived at Pisa, the sun was still as hot as it had been in Florence, and the half mile walk from the coach park to the leaning tower was energy sapping. It was worth the walk though, the domed church and tower were magnificent, despite the thousands of tourists who flocked like ants around the ancient monuments trying to perfect a photograph of companions appearing to hold up the tower. We were soon winding our way back through the Italian countryside back to Ventura. It was only about an hour from Pisa back to the ship, but despite that it was still quite a rush to be dressed and down for dinner by six thirty.

A ferry entering the port of Liverno, featuring all of the Disney Characters.



Sunrise over Liverno, our early morning visit.... Just got to find a parking spot for a 116,000 ton liner...



The Cathedral in Florence...



Neptune.....



Looking back to Florence as we wind our way up the hill to Pisa...



I don't think this tower needs any introduction....



Bob the builder...Can I fix it? No sorry....