PORT MAHON MANORCA

Sunday, 16 October 2011: CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS

Lovely day today in the sun. Although the temp was 15C when we went ashore at 0900, with a sharp wind blowing, making us glad we had taken our windcheaters, the sun came out and in the shelter of the town we felt quite warm. I have to admit I left pretty grim when we set off. I had a bad night. My throat was raw and although I dosed myself up with everything I had – I often get a bad throat and bronchitis when we travel – nothing helped very much. The usual cause is getting chilled and that is why normally I ensure that I don’t let my body get cold. But with a forecast of 30C in Tangier I didn’t bother to take my backpack and windcheater. Who knew that the sea mist would drop the temperature by about 15 degrees when the wind chill factor was taken into account? As we did some last minute shopping on the quayside, I could feel the wind biting and this is the result.

It is rather amusing in some ways because of the focus on the prevention of germs being passed around among us on board the ship. As you come aboard there are big notices saying “Sanitize Your Hands” above a machine that dispenses surgical spirit with which you rub your hands.

These machines are also at the doorway of every eating area and there is also a crew member standing by with a bottle to dispense a dose of the mixture to anyone who doesn’t use the machine. Passengers are invited to politely remind any other passengers who they may notice not using the machines. A rather nice feature of these dispensers is that the trays below the nozzles to catch the drips are prettily decorated – each one is different.

This focus on cleanliness is because of all the problems with food poisoning and bacterial infections that have arisen on cruise liners in the past few years, or should I say that have been focussed on? I mention that because I am pretty certain, if my memory is correct that Mark Twain commented on the issue in his reports from the very first cruise out of New York to the Mediterranean. I believe at that time there were even deaths on board. With the litigious nature of life now, no shipping line can afford to be casual in trying to prevent these kind of events. There are also notices in appropriate places, like the toilet, urging anyone with a cold to use tissues, to dispose of them rapidly and to wash their hands. This is in line with a recent newspaper article that suggested that the passing of cold infections would be drastically reduced if we stopped shaking hands and touched elbows in greeting. I’d like to see the details of the study that came to that conclusion – and to compare it with a similar study from, say, France, where the Continental kiss of greeting surely must spread more germs than the manly handshake.

This focus on cleanliness is because of all the problems with food poisoning and bacterial infections that have arisen on cruise liners in the past few years, or should I say that have been focussed on? I mention that because I am pretty certain, if my memory is correct that Mark Twain commented on the issue in his reports from the very first cruise out of New York to the Mediterranean. I believe at that time there were even deaths on board. With the litigious nature of life now, no shipping line can afford to be casual in trying to prevent these kind of events. There are also notices in appropriate places, like the toilet, urging anyone with a cold to use tissues, to dispose of them rapidly and to wash their hands. This is in line with a recent newspaper article that suggested that the passing of cold infections would be drastically reduced if we stopped shaking hands and touched elbows in greeting. I’d like to see the details of the study that came to that conclusion – and to compare it with a similar study from, say, France, where the Continental kiss of greeting surely must spread more germs than the manly handshake.

commented on the issue in his reports from the very first cruise out of New York to the Mediterranean. I believe at that time there were even deaths on board. With the litigious nature of life now, no shipping line can afford to be casual in trying to prevent these kind of events. There are also notices in appropriate places, like the toilet, urging anyone with a cold to use tissues, to dispose of them rapidly and to wash their hands. This is in line with a recent newspaper article that suggested that the passing of cold infections would be drastically reduced if we stopped shaking hands and touched elbows in greeting. I’d like to see the details of the study that came to that conclusion – and to compare it with a similar study from, say, France, where the Continental kiss of greeting surely must spread more germs than the manly handshake.

With all this focus on attacking germs, one would think that the ship would be disease free, but far from it. People have been sniffling snorting and coughing since we set out from Tilbury nearly two weeks ago and only yesterday we were talking to Rohanca, the South African tour guide who was really crook. Maybe her germs got up close and personal to me in my receptive state and it’s all her fault? Anyhow, the walk this morning, sitting in the sun and having a beer all contributed to a feeling of wellbeing and I’m hoping that with a good night’s sleep tonight I’ll be better prepared for the big day that faces us the day after tomorrow when we are setting off to see Florence on our own.

At sea yesterday we had the kind of day I really enjoy and was looking forward to. With nothing to do – none of the activities on offer appealed – we just loafed around, reading, writing, sorting pictures, snoozing. Just what is needed to relax us. This was not good enough for some of the whingers we met during the breakfast and lunch meals. “Too much time at sea.” they said and “I don’t know why it took two days to get to Lisbon.” I felt like saying to the latter “It’s not too complicated. Take the distance from London to Lisbon, divide that by the speed of the ship and you’ll find out exactly why it took two days. IT’S A LONG WAY, STUPID!” but I didn’t. Another complaint was that there was not enough choice on the menu. At lunch and dinner there are three starters, two soups, a salad selection, three main courses, cheese and biscuits and three sweets to choose from, plus the vegetarian options and the standing orders of grilled chicken, steak or salmon. How much more choice do these drooling mindless whiners want – do they have more choice at home? Do they serve up multi choice menus to their loved ones? At times like these I realise I am becoming more and more. like a Grumpy Old Man.

Talking of food, I decided three or four days back to reduce my intake for the rest of the voyage. The temptation to eat your way through the menu is difficult to resist if you like food as much as I do, but must be done. So far I have done well, and even today when we stopped off at a bakery from which the most delicious smells of goods fresh from the oven was emanating, we limited our purchases to a cheese bread stick and a pig’s ear, which was our lunch with a glass of beer while sitting on the quayside. We had a light breakfast too and had a snack in the bistro – named Marco’s incidentally, not Mario’s as earlier reported - after we sailed out this evening. There were some wonderful views and an incredible sunset.

We were off the ship quite early this morning. The traders were just setting up their stalls on the quayside near the ship and after picking up a newspaper and a postcard for the girls we headed up the long stairway to the town. The steps were a nice height for easy ascension, but there were a lot of them – a couple of hundred I think, but we took it slowly and knees and feet stood up quite well, with pauses for some deep breathing.

Because it was Sunday, there were few people about and no shops open, so we had the town to ourselves initially, which gave me some good photo opportunities. As we walked through the town, which was impressively clean, locals gradually emerged from their houses, often with their dogs who certainly seemed to be happy creatures and enjoying their outing. One of them, Iris by name reminded us of dear little Axel, Lars and Gerd’s granddog; we also met up with an old Giant Schnauzer who seemed glad to meet us. snooze.

Some of the shops started opening too and gradually the town stretched itself and became half awake. Tables and chairs were set out in the morning sun, soon occupied by folk sipping a morning coffee. On one corner men and women clustered around a fuit and vegetable stall. There were some massive apples on sale on the one side and wizened ones, with misshapen potatoes and wrinkled spinach around the corner in the organic section. A young girl jumped across to a statue of a woman and I just missed an excellent photo opportunity – must sharpen my reflexes.

We drifted on where the alleys and narrow roads took us, gradually heading up hill and coming across some lovely views and sights, including some very good archways, my weakness, together with sunsets. I can’t resist trying to get good shots of both. At one point a parade of old Fiat 500 motor cars – the ones they called Toppogigio, the Italian equivalent of Mickey Mouse, drove by. All shiny and looking as if hey had just come out of the showroom, but any years old. They hooted and waved as they passed us by. We found a lovely square where the children were playing and sat nd had an excellent cappuccino while watching the word go by – and another parade, this time of Harley Davidson motor cycles, their unmistakable exhaust notes echoing between the buildings.

Finishing our coffee we headed back to the dockside, taking a different route. It wasn’t hard not to get lost – we knew we just had to keep heading on down to the duomo. Back at the quay, the stalls were all up and selling and I picked up a nice souvenir belt to replace the one which is giving way. We sat outside a small cafe in the pleasantly warm sunshine watching the crowds, sipping a couple of ice cold beers – like the pubs in Queensland, the glasses are kept refrigerated and eating our cheese stick, which made our lunch. Later we had a couple more cappuccinos with our pigs ears and then headed back on board to our cabin.

That’s the kind of visit we like best. We may not have learned when the local Cathedral was built or who the men were whose effigies are on show, or who carved the statue of the woman in the square, but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

I wrote most of this and having gone as far as I could, I had a little afternoon nap before heading out to watch our departure. Now we’re off to bed. Good night one and all.