FINAL LEG + ART & CRAFT EXHIBITION

It’s been a long, occasionally arduous, month, with many sea days and classes, a few minor ups and downs, and now a rather persistent, and particularly virulent, stinking cold. On the first of our final three days at sea, I woke up without any voice at all. Fortunately, Tracey stepped in and did an excellent job of helping me in the class and speaking for me when all I could do was squeak a bit pathetically.
This was also the day that I walked into the kitchen of the Amalfi restaurant with two buckets to collect water for the class, as I have done many times since leaving Portsmouth, and many times over the previous four cruises, without any problem at all. On this day, however, I walked straight into what appeared to be some sort of an official, ongoing assessment populated by a small group of important-looking men with stripes on their shoulders, one of whom glared at me like I’d just crawled out of the drainhole. He demanded to know who I was and why I was lurking around his kitchen, a place he was insistent that I should definitely not be. I continued to fill the buckets while explaining in my squeaky little voice that I was the art tutor and that I had always got the water from there, straight in and out, not touching anything. But he wasn’t having any of it, and persisted in being quite aggressive and pompous about it all. Within minutes of me emerging back into the Amalfi with my filled-up buckets, he’d sent a message to the entertainments department and, in what seemed like no time at all after that, Grethe promptly turned up with the bad news that we would no longer be allowed in the kitchen. Instead, we should have to ask a member of crew to fill up, or empty, the buckets for us. Huh.
We did this for the rest of that day, and part of the next, intending to make life as difficult as possible, in the hope that the order might be overturned, but then getting the water from the nearby toilet turned out to be much easier (if a little slower – the taps are slow and only run for a short time. Moving the bucket slightly is enough to restart it, though).
In an attempt to stay away from guests and risk passing on infection, feeling as grotty as I did, we had room service for a couple of nights, but then I managed to drag myself up to the Grill for final formal night. It was tough, but it had to be done.
On the morning of our last sea day, I held a session which I like to describe as a drop-in centre, where folks could come and finish off paintings or ask me questions and request short demonstrations of techniques. It was probably the quietest last morning we’ve ever had in all the years of doing cruises, but the art and craft exhibition in the afternoon – in the Supper Club – didn’t disappoint.


In a surprise departure from previous exhibitions on the Spirit of Adventure, we were actually allowed to attach paintings to vertical surfaces with Blu Tak – which would have been great if Grethe had remembered to turn up with the Blu Tak on time. Fortunately, we had enough spare masking tape to do the job. Hey ho… despite the chaos of getting everything set up within 30 minutes, it all went ahead without a hitch. For exactly one hour, the room buzzed with proud artists and crafters showing off the work they had accumulated throughout the month to their fellow guests. The turnout was good, and lots of mingling is what it’s all about; at the end of the hour it was all taken down again in double-quick time and the Supper Club looked like we’d never been there at all.
At which point, I still felt like death warmed up, and all I could think about was curling up in bed. For now, though, my work here was done.
ADDENDUM ONE
We arrived back to Portsmouth as per the schedule. We’d also arrived back to a country in the grip of winter. The weather in Portsmouth was cold, windy and wet, but as we headed North, so things deteriorated, with the rain turning to snow – heavy snow. Fortunately, the roads were generally clear and driveable; it was only on the very – very – last section – we’re talking a block from home – that we were met with real challenging conditions…
That’s another story though. Needless to say, we did finally get home, and the first thing to do was light the woodburner and put pizzas in the oven.
In five weeks, we’ll be returning to the Spirit od Adventure and the Canary Islands. In the meantime, this was the end of another adventure.
ADDITIONAL TWO
One week on, I’m still feeling poorly and battling the bug. I’m a little tired of it now…