4. Oh La La Palma!

 

We were woken rather rudely this morning, before 7am, by a loud message over the tannoy, asking Teagan to report to Reception, or to check in via any of the ship’s telephones.  Blearily hoping that Teagan was just up early to be first in the breakfast queue, rather than inadvertently jumping overboard, I then speculated that she might have spent the night in someone else’s cabin… Perhaps at that very moment she was running to a phone, frantically wondering what she could tell her parents. Go Teagan!

D & I had our usually leisurely start to the day – quick glance out of the balcony door to spot La Palma on the left, looks pleasant enough – then a stoke up breakfast before leaving the ship at 11.00. We plan our days around our food intake now, avoiding spending much money by only partaking of the free nosh on the ship. Eat, leave ship, 4 euros on coffee, back to ship, eat.

Disembarkation was a trifle easier today, owing partly to the shorter gangplank on Deck 4, but also because we listened more carefully than yesterday and knew that we had to be ‘midships’, which means finding a central lift. Yesterday we got lost and were standing hopefully outside the kids’ club, until a kindly veteran pointed out that we were aft rather than midships. D says it’s ridiculous and they should talk normally.

The lifts require a detailed strategy, as they are in great demand; this involves pressing the buttons of every single one, racing to the one that pings and out manouevering those with walking aids (they take up too much room), then being prepared to go a long way up or down before getting to the required floor. One chap said he’d been in there three weeks waiting to hit the right floor, causing much merriment from the crowd of packed in pensioners. 

La Palma is a nice little place, bit like a Canary Island in training, everything you expect, but on a small scale. Volcanic beach (dirty black sand), the Avenida Maritime promenade that’s being developed, cobbled streets with some quaint wooden balconied buildings, a town hall, an art gallery, a Renaissance church and boutiquey type shops full of woven baskets, hand painted pots and silk. We elected not to book any excursions on this cruise, partly because D said the prices were ridiculous and partly because we really didn’t fancy any of them. Some people have gone off to ‘Explore the Volcanic History of the Island’ today and others have elected to trek through the mountains searching out the fascinating flora. No thanks, we just wandered about and had a coffee.

                                                             

Back on board with the required 2 hour margin; hit the bun fight in the buffet (scones flying everywhere), then found two loungers by the pool, under the opened sun roof. Fat bellied bliss.

Later D plans to position himself, as he did yesterday, hanging over the rail directly above the gangplank, just before deadline, to watch for latecomers. Knowing he’s safe himself, he enjoys the vicarious thrill and horror of almost not making it back in time. Apparently, two women ran the last few metres and boarded at 4.31; another four people boarded - quite nonchalantly - just as the gangplank was being moved at 4.40. D said his heart was thumping for them.

No more news of Teagan, so hopefully she made it back to her cabin with a good excuse - and will set her bloody alarm tonight.