Family reunion

My very first pair of Jimmy Choos! To someone that loves shoes as much as I do, this is - of course - a must. My husband bought me these during one of our dirty weekends in Stockholm.

Disembarkation time. Ship is docked in Civitavecchia, outside Rome. The hallways are full of suitcases packed with dirty underwear and silly souvenirs. There is a bit of a sad athmosphere during breakfast. The fairytale is over, everybody is going home. Some are staying for a few days in Rome, the rest are flying straight home.

Well. Not everybody. We were talking to this nice lady during breakfast, and she was telling us how upset she felt about her vacation being over. My dear husband responded: "Oh, I feel quite good actually. Because we are staying on for another week." He sure is emphatic.

There are quite a few great things about staying on the ship for more than one cruise, or "back-to-back" as it is called. On embarkation day, you have the whole ship - or in this case - yacht - pretty much to yourself. We spent our time on the top deck Balinese beds sunbathing, before being served a lunch specially cooked for us by the chef according to our wishes. I guess you could say that you have been fed well over the last week, when the chef asks you what you would like for lunch, and say that you can have ANYTHING you like. And you take the club sandwich.

Embarkation day is very different when you have stayed on the ship for a week, and is well settled. Everybody else is a newcomer, so this day it does not matter what you wear, because you are now "at home", while the others are not. Embarkation starts at 1400 in the afternoon. A brand new group of passengers. This time it was particularly exciting, as the new group included four very special guests: my parents and my in-laws. As they all have turned or will turn 60 in about a year, we invited them along on the ship for a week as a birthday present.

Finally, the fabulous four arrived - and we could go straight to the caviar buffet. Yummy. Then a new life-boat drill. Rumrunners and champagne on the upper deck. And then a quiet dinner in the downstairs dining room. I think everyone were quite excied about the whole week ahead of us, so we made it an early night. My husband and I rented the Monty Python classic about the Holy Grail to watch in bed. After a week onboard with a group of a few quite rude French people, we needed a re-run of the scene where King Arthur approaches the French castle to unwind. You silly French Kniggets, I fart in your general direction!