"Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else" - Lawrence Block
Thursday morning saw us docked in the Latvian capital of Riga. One of many cities in the Baltic famed for it's architecture, this was the first of two UNESCO world heritage sites we would see on this cruise (yay! Slowly ticking them off, just another thousand or so to go). The weather was overcast and certainly the worst we'd seen since leaving England, but nevertheless, it looked like it would hold out long enough for us to enjoy the city in the dry.
We rolled out of bed, showered, dressed and were at breakfast in a respectful half an hour after waking; 50 minutes later we were off the ship and making our own way into the city, which was a mere 10 minutes walk away. Although, you'd have been forgiven to think that the captain was trying to dock on dry land in the centre when you saw that less then 15 metres away was the main road into the city!
As we continued down the old streets, we stopped off to look at some of the many, many churches and cathedrals in the city - it felt like there was one on every corner and their churches - some of our cathedrals here in the UK would be jealous of their size and architecture! Clearly Europe still has a stronger practising Christian faith than the UK does!
Walking out of the oldest part of the town we rounded inwards to the centre of the city, housing the opera house, gardens and the Freedom Monument. However, before we could take in these splendours we came across a bizarre, but exceptionally fun sight, of cows made of wooden blocks! there was no explanation and the locals were all clearly used to them - how bizarre! we left the cows to walk round and admire the opera house, take in some of the grounds and finally make our way to the Freedom Monument Statue. The statue is beautiful and imposing; commemorating soldiers killed during the Latvin War of Independence it was unveiled in 1935 and is a focal point of the city - much like the Cenotaph is in London.
Our final stretch back to the ship took us through another open park area where we were just admiring a water feature that had its own light house, when the rain clouds which had been threatening decided to break open. Heading back to the ship, almost 3 hours after we left it, we were able to avoid getting too wet before we back on board. 
Once back on board, we dropped everything off in the cabin, washed up and headed for lunch. We chose to eat in the Compass Rose as they had a really tempting pitta filled with spiced lamb and mint yogurt - one of my all time favourite combinations (and we'd eaten this exact meal on board the Celebration in Egypt!). As we ordered and sat chatting to the couple we were with, our conversation was interrupted by a tannoy call for a couple to make themselves known at reception.... it was 12:30 and we were due to sale at 1:00...oh dear, someone was running late! 10 minutes later the call went out again, and again 5 minutes after that. Still no sign of the missing passengers. We were just finishing lunch when the captain came on asking that the couple in question kindly make themselves known at reception. The over emphasised patience in his voice would have been entertaining if it weren't for the fact the ship was now late departing and it would appear we were two passengers still down.
We finished our cup of tea and said goodbye to the couple we'd dined with and were making our way back to the cabin to check the cruise news when we noticed Alistair was in the office. We snuck round the corner for a quick word to make sure he was still OK for dinner, which he said should be fine he just had to clear it with the the Thomson Manager on board and he would see us at 6:30 outside the restaurant. Not wanting to get caught by Richard again and knowing he probably had a pile of work to get on with we left quickly and went to the cabin to eye up the rest of the afternoons activities.
Not really in the mood for the lecture on Russian Lacquer, we grabbed our books and the playing cards again and headed up to the deck to read. The weather was starting to clear and as the ship finally set sail, nearly 30 minutes late (the missing couple we hoped had made it back on board), the sun started to break through the clouds and warm up. We took up residence at a table and started to read the afternoon away. A few hours and a several mugs of tea later, we roused ourselves to take a walk as we were both feeling stiff from the chairs. We wandered through the ship, stopping briefly to watch the show team rehearse for the evening performance and to chat with other passengers we'd dined with so far. By 5:00, we'd made our way back to the cabin to get ready for dinner.
Claire's hair for the evening was an experiment. Having never attempted to do anything like it before, and not even being sure it her hair was long enough to do it, the outcome was many, many hairgrips, a few pokes in the head and half a bottle of hairspray. Crazy thing was that all it really boiled down to was a bun - certainly not the most dramatic or complex hair style of the holiday by any stretch of the imagination! I chose to keep my hair fairly simple that night and left most of it down to give it a break. Besides, what's the point of having long hair if you never wear it loose?!
We'd made a strategic decision the night before on which dresses we were going to wear. After all, going to dinner with the Assistant Cruise Director was going to raise eyebrows (not that there weren't already comments being made) and frankly, if you're going to make people talk, then you best look good whilst you do so. Claire had settled on one of her two black dresses, a stunning little halterneck number whilst I opted for a 1960's styled mauve silk printed dress which I'd yet to wear, even though I'd purchased it in the January Sales - ooops! We were ready with 10 minutes to spare and as it took less than a minute to walk to the doors of the restaurant, we spent a few minutes tidying up the cabin and double checking our appearances. With nothing left to do and almost 5 minutes to go, we headed out of the cabin, figuring we could at least study the menu whilst we waited for Alistair.
As we crossed the atrium the Maitre De spotted us and tried to sweep us in and get us seated. When we explained we were waiting for someone he looked mildly puzzled but said nothing and left us studying the menu. We had just moved to the seats, allowing several other couples to study the menu when we saw Alistair come down the corridor and dive into the office, assuming he needed to finish something off before he came to dinner we carried on with our discussion about what order we wanted to see the shows that night. Less than a minute had passed when Alistair joined us and we made our way in for dinner. Seeing who it was that was joining us for dinner that night the Maitre De raised an eyebrow, but said nothing beyond his usual warm welcome. He hailed a waiter and in hushed tones indicated a table towards the back, so as the three of us followed him, causing more than a few passengers to turn and look, we came to the very last table in the back corner. We quickly dubbed it the naughty table as we sat and joked that we'd obviously upset someone. Not that we were really complaining, the further we were away from other passengers, the more open and honest the conversation could be, as there would be no looks of disapproval if Alistair gave a less than Thomson approved response, or if we said something that would be considered improper if it was in anyone elses company - and trust me, there were a few comments made throughout the course of dinner.
It was nice being able to sit and talk without curfews or another quiz that needed hosting cutting conversation short and although we set more than a few tongues wagging - frankly, who cares?! Unlike most nights we were in the restaurant, this time the conversation never stopped flowing; from me calling Claire out on having four courses, to which Alistair promptly joined her on - goodness only knows where she puts it all! hollow legs I guess, to what the future had in store for all of us and everything in between, including several Saga cruise jokes and the knowledge that we were 1 passenger shorter than we started out with and no, it wasn't because they'd been left behind. At the end of dessert we had to let Alistair escape to prepare to do some work, whilst Claire and I finished our coffee's.
As we left, we noted once again more than a few people turn to look and comment - our notoriety had increased - or they were just all eyeing up Claire (entirely possible). Whatever the reason we shrugged it off, let people talk! We hadn't done anything wrong and if we had, we were sure we'd get called up on it quick enough. We popped back to the cabin to touch up the makeup and check the hair before wandering up to pull faces at Alistair whilst he delivered the game show in High Spirits. We were killing time until the cabaret, which was early that night, taking place before the second sitting of the show - as the main event of the evening was late and live with Maurice Grumbleweed. We'd already decided that we were going to see the second show in order to secure seats for the comedy straight after.
Quiz done, Lee - one of the ships entertainment hosts - took to the stage for his cabaret; singing his favourite songs, which for the life of me I cannot think what they included *looks sheepish as brain fails to recall information*. I do remember it was a great set and at the time I commented to Claire how much I like the song choice, but the problem is the thing that has stuck with me above all else from that cabaret was Lauren pulling Claire and I up to dance and turning us into this mad, impromptu group of back up dancers. It was great fun, if not somewhat embarrassing. Oh well! It kept people entertained..... some more than others!
Lee's set over, we made a quick exit back down the stairs to the show lounge for the second performance of You Can't Stop The Beat; a show very, very loosely based on the hit Musical and Movie - Hairspray. We had just ordered a drink when Richard made an announcement that the show would be about 10 minutes late starting as there had been an accident in the first performance and Rob and gone over on his ankle and would be unable to perform again, so the team was quickly re-assigning parts and reformatting dance routines. Blimey! drama on the high seas! As promised though the show did start ten minutes later than scheduled and the team did an incredible job - seriously, if you hadn't known they were a man down you wouldn't have thought the show was meant to go any differently. That's truly what is meant by 'the show must go on'.
After things had settled down again after the show Maurice came on to do his set - opening with a dig at the couple who had delayed the ship earlier that day. His late night act was much like his previous show with a great mix of gags and music, the language wasn't any bluer but there was a notable increase in innuendo's and suggestive comments. Having said that, if you didn't understand where he was going, you really weren't going to get what he was implying either. It was a refreshing change after seeing so many so-called comics on TV who spend an hour being crass. I think the whole ship appreciated the clean humour and he had everyone laughing from start to finish and our appreciation was shown with a rousing cheer of encore! which was speedily and happily delivered.
The night ended, like all the others, with a nightcap on the deck with Alistair and passing conversation with other members of the show team and a few of the passengers we had come to be more talkative with. We said goodnight relatively early that night and made our way back to the cabin to be refreshed for our next day in Tallinn, but before we turned in for good for the night we settled that we would have to ask Alistair for dinner again the following week, gossip and looks that could kill be damned!
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wow, i never would have guessed that cruise passengers would be so prudish! I am not usually one to utter such sentiments, but, you go girls
ReplyDeletelol. we will!! don't you worry. hehe
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