Life on the ocean wave (2)

Life on the ocean wave

Monday 12th Oct

Today sees us heading north along, but out of sight of, Boston. I guess the shore is out there somewhere over the horizon I can see as I type this in our state room, but all I can see is a calm sea stretching out to infinity. From what I can gather we go north to the edge of the ice line and then turn East following the old trade route which tracks the Gulf Stream all the way to Europe 2500 miles away.

Life on board is punctuated by mealtimes, each one marking the passage of time. In between there is as much or as little you like to take part in, which this morning is not a lot! 

Helen is a bit of a research freak, a habit which can pay dividends. As we boarded she insisted that we seek out the launderette and wash the stuff we had worn in New York, as the facilities are usually very busy. Sure enough to there was no one there so we loaded up and went to the explore. 45 mins later we returned to find a queue - good call Mrs T!

Helen is loaded with Cunard paper and has embarked on an epic letter writing spree ( I think Bones is the first beneficiary)  and devoid of acceptably priced Internet access am writing up the blog off line for publication on our return.

After a genteel breakfast in the Britannia Restaurant we explored some of the ship, taking in the library and bookshop where additional reading matter was sourced. Ship board routine includes a one hour time change every day at noon so suddenly 12.00 became 1.00 and time for lunch - our waistlines are going to suffer!

After the hustle of New York, the sedate pace of life on the boat takes a bit of adjustment. There is little we have to do except amuse ourselves and be ready for the next main event, which usually involves food. Tonight it was the 175 Ball preceded by the first formal dinner but disaster struck in the shape of a chipped toenail! Oh no.... Who you gonna call? That's right, nail busters or to be more accurate the health spa who soon diagnosed a full pedicure before reaching for the nail varnish match pots and repairing the damage! Let's not even mention the fee they charged but I understand that there was a 5 percent uptick on the Cunard share price....

Whilst Helen was being pampered I took myself off to the cinema located in the bows, killing a couple of hours watching the new Jurassic Park film (complete re run of the original) before returning to find Helen fully decked out in her glorious red ball gown. She looked stunning, more beautiful than I had ever seen her before so I jumped into my dinner jacket and looking like aristocracy, we made our way to Deck 2 where the social action happens. We imbibed in cocktails, taking in the ballroom which is set into the stern before joining our allotted table at 8.30pm for another great meal which stretched out for a leisurely two hours before Helen's cold caught up with her and it was time to retire for the night.

It's a tough life, innit?