The Little Land Of Me: Erica - Not quite to Plan

So day 3 arrived, Monday – Sicily! And as we took one look out of the window from the ship all we could see was….. grey, clouds and rain! WHAT?!?!?!?!

It turned out that the weather was going to be a little less than perfect, but with an hour to go before we docked, we had our fingers crossed that the weather was going to clear. We headed up to breakfast to the cheery good mornings off the team and settled down for some food. The only problem was that food after the night before was not what my body wanted. So having struggled to eat a small piece of toast and received a few enquiries as to why I looked so pale – which I laughed off as a hangover (although I didn’t feel like I had one) Claire and headed back to the cabin to stare at the wardrobe and figure out exactly how many layers we could put on to stay warm and dry.

5 layers later and a serious regret at not having packed my waterproof – we headed off ship to our coach. We laughed at the weather and the grumbles of fellow passengers – after all, we are British! Rain is our summer weather and yes, whilst we didn’t really want it in the Med, ce la vie! It really wasn’t going to dampen our spirits. However, as we set off the clouds seem to clear and we hoped that things would clear up as we headed to the cable car to take us up to Erica, a walled settlement at the top of a mountain (oh yes, you can already imagine it) we kept our fingers crossed. With luck, the winds had died down and the weather had eased off enough for us to use the carts to get up to the top of the mountain and whilst in theory we should have had spectacular views back over Sicily and down to the harbour, the reality was – we didn’t!

The Cable Car's

The view we should have had - but didn't get! (it's a postcard)

As we slowly climbed up the mountain side, Claire gave me a strange look and asked if I felt ok? Well, other than feeling a tad cold – yes, why? Apparently I’d gone from looking pale to grey with a green tinge…… hmmm ok, maybe I did have a hangover – well in that case, it was nothing some water and fresh air wouldn’t fix and reassured Claire I felt ok, really.

After we reached the top of the mountain, we realised that we’d gone past the clear sky and back into the land of mist and fog and what should have been a picturesque views and an appealing historic town looked more like something out of Dickens novel in the Victorian ages. Never to be put down on our holiday though, Claire and I set of with the rest of the group and soon settled in next to two members of staff that we hadn’t yet met; Clare – who was the future cruises director and Pip – another member of the sound and lighting team, who mainly worked in the Oklahoma lounge on the late night disco. Busy chatting to them, we didn’t pay attention to the weather until our guide stopped us to give the history of the town and the ‘Mother Church’ which we stood outside of. Having come to a stop, the cold hit suddenly and I began to feel quite strange. Putting it down to the need to warm up again I didn’t say anything and headed into the church with Claire to admire the splendour inside.

The view that greated us as we got of the cable cars - the wall to the city

The Mother Church

The roof inside the church - it's all plasterwork

However, by the time we’d finished looking at the church and headed up to the old nunnery and orphanage which had made the town famous I couldn’t deny that I felt very weird and whilst I knew that outwardly I was shivering, internally I was beginning to heat up. Hmmmm, maybe this wasn’t quite a straightforward hangover. Deciding to play it by ear and see what happened I kept quiet and carried on with the group to the castle at the very top of the mountain. Unable to hide from the weather I did my best to stay warm by keeping moving and was relieved when the guide told us we had 45 minutes to shop and meet back at the coach which should, by now, be in the car park just outside the walls. With a new spring on my step, Claire and I went mooching round the shops and whilst nothing screamed – ‘buy me’ it was nice to hide out for a while in the shops away from the rain.

The Castle at the top - sadly we didn't get anything like this view

A typical little street in the town

Nevertheless, by the time we made it back to the coach – there was nothing I could do to deny I was feeling less than human and it wasn’t only Claire that had noticed and so as we made our way to the restaurant for lunch, the two members of staff on the trip were trying to persuade me to go back to the ship and see the doctor. Well, I’m if nothing stubborn and whilst I finally conceded that going back to the ship might be the best idea, there was no way I was seeing the doctor unless I things got significantly worse! And so began the beginning of the bad joke – how many people does it take to get a taxi from the mountain to the ship? In this case – 7! I kid you not, 2 translators included in that…… well! 20 minutes later and my whole body shaking, I was bundled into a taxi with Clare (the future cruise director) arguing with Claire (my best friend) that she shouldn’t miss the rest of the trip because I was ill and I headed back to the ship.

My arrival back at the ship raised a few eyebrows – especially as I wasn’t with Claire, but as I headed back to the cabin for a hot shower, sleep and the promise of hot honey and lemon water to be delivered to my room I have to admit it took a lot not to sink into a depression – this was not how I anticipated spending my holiday and the knowledge that Claire was worried about me was making the whole thing worse. However, before I reached my cabin I ran into (literally) Kane, who was coming round the corner the other way. Concerned by the state I was in and the lack of Claire’s presence he pressed to find out what was wrong – so I explained that I had come down suddenly very ill and returned from the trip for a hot shower and sleep. He didn’t seem convinced that rest was going to be cure enough and he too then tried to talk me into the ships doctor. By this point my head was pounding and all I wanted to do was hide and I told him that if I got any worse I would see the ships doctor but could I please be allowed to get a hot shower now?

Needless to say, a hot shower and sleep seemingly sorted me out and upon Claire’s return I felt much better and decided to try a little food to revive me. Once again dressed to impress we made our way to the restaurant – passing Clare en route who asked how I was feeling, telling her I felt much better and thanking her for all her help we went to sit down – only for our waiters and Alex (yup, the one who wanted to know if I was wearing shoes) to ask if I was feeling better…. Ummm, well yes but how did they know I’d been unwell to start with? – evidently the staff talk and when I jokingly accused them of gossiping behind our backs, they simply told me to take up the issue with Kane. Ha! I did, just not that night.

Sadly, dinner did not agree with me and half way through I started to feel achey, tired and mildly sick again and before dinner was over I was heading back to the cabin to lie down again, much to my upset and the worry of Claire.

Well the night carried on much as the afternoon – sleep, a raised temperature and as much honey water as I could keep down to keep hydrated, meanwhile above decks – everyone was accosting Claire to find out what was wrong and when she told Buster she was going to have to miss his show to keep an eye on me, everyone suddenly leaped in to play ‘knight in shining armour’, well sort of.

Kane and Nick were, as usual propping up the bar with Neil (Buster) when Claire went to see him. Kane told her that he was sure the last thing I’d want is her missing out on the fun and I was probably just sleeping anyway, Nick then promptly informed her that he had no intent of propping up the bar and the back of the show lounge alone and would, if necessary, tie her to the stool next to him in a pretence of keeping him company and Neil – well Neil pulled the sad puppy dog eyes apparently and Claire relented but said she wasn’t staying out past the show and no, they wouldn’t be able to change her mind.

After Buster's set (which was apparently brilliant and i'm gutted at having missed - even though I got to see him later in the week in his late night set) Claire went to make her goodnights and was just about back at the cabin when she ran into some of the show team - who, having had the night off from doing a show were going to the bar for a couple of drinks. Asking how her day had been and where I was, she gave them a brief overview of the day's events and explained she was going to retire for the night and keep an eye on me. After a brief attempt at trying to get her to stay out and realising she wasn't going to be persuaded otherwise, they wished her a good night .

Reaching the cabin and finding I was dead to the world, but seemingly ok, she decided to call it a night (it was about 11pm at this point - the earliest either of us saw bed when we both fine).

I wish I could say there was an amusing twist to the end of the night, but sadly there wasn't - but for what the night lacked in entertainment, it made up for in healing properties and whilst I was anything but 100% bouncy the following morning, there was nothing stopping me enjoying the rest of the holiday and dealing with the aftermath of a gossiping crew!