The old and the new

Sunday 2 November 2008 - Messina

Messina on a Sunday is not the greatest place in the world. Sunday in a Catholic country means everything is closed and not much is happening.

Our resident explorer, Campbell, was not about to sit down and watch the world go by. So as I was posting the last blog to you, he, Agnes and Evie, dragged a rather hesitant Nana off to visit the mainland of Italy by rail ferry.  Nana is the sort of person (a bit like myself) who is not in the least bit adventurous, but once you have shown her the way, she knows it all. Well, it was Nana who tried to communicate with Italians who couldn't speak English with a series of hand-gestures, and Nana who got them on the right ferry home! So much for not wanting to go!

After I had written the blog, I wandered off to look at the ship berthed in front of us... Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. I reckon she is about 100,000 gross registered tonnes. I think she has flume rides and an ice rink. She will certainly have a rock climbing wall that you can hang hundreds of feet over the sea. Unfortunately she is not the biggest - like Independence of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas, where they have flume rides.

Anyway, my Sunday consisted of taking lots of photos of this ship. I am one of the few people who can appreciate all cruise ships. We really had a meeting of the old and the new in Messina - the old being QE2 at 41 and the new being Navigator at about 5 years (or there abouts).

I went swimming in QE2's indoor pool for the first time. Its full of salty water which makes you incredibly boyant. In fact, Evie can swim very well in this pool. She will sink like a lead balloon when she gets home to Gloucester!