Sunday 9th July 2023
This morning I woke to the swaying of the bed, after having crazy dreams of revving a superfast car, and my phone alarm was set to Norwegian time. After brushing my teeth and waking Angie, I looked at the different clocks and realised I'd made a mistake. I giggled and switched off the light confusing Angie completely. A brief 58 minutes later it was really time to get up.
The ship was buzzing and everyone seemed rushed and harried in contrast to yesterday's laid back sun lounger style. Breakfast was awfully bad, with the cups smelling of bleach and eggs cleared away before 7am. I felt sorry for the cruisers (can I call them that? Haha) who are remaining on the ship over to Iceland.
The customs people at Dover harbour were unlike any other customs people. These people smiled, asked after our trip, welcomed us back, it was really pleasant being welcomed back instead of glared at accusingly. The only unwelcoming thing was the rain. I've been so spoiled with sunshine on travelling days. We rushed to load our bags in Angie's car and then try to figure out what to do for the day until we could check in our hotel at 3pm.
We ended up seeing a Tall Ship at Folkestone harbour which I was excited to see, because I missed them in Hartlepool this year. The repurposed train station at the harbour was encouraging to see too, even if I paid R60 for an hours parking. Haha, I don't think I'm going to get a car for myself here, parking is ridiculously expensive, and I discovered today that air for the tyres cost £1- too!! Plus Angie did it all herself. My spoiled lifestyle of South African garage attendants makes me reluctant to get out in the pouring rain to do all this kind of stuff.
We did a lunch at a small Cafe in Dover, and I loved tasting the food compared to the cruise ship buffet. We eventually found the Dover Museum which has free entrance and a great exhibit of a bronze age boat. I'm fascinated by the old history after years of ignoring it all. The thought of having to build a cold sea faring boat without metal or nylon ropes, especially after a massive floating motel that we'd just spent a fortnight on, is just amazing. Again I'm grateful to be living in this century with fresh water and creature comforts.
We got to our hotel 10 minutes before check-in time and were told really firmly that they would have to wait till 3pm or charge us £10 for early check-in. It's weird having a bed that isn't rocking, although I keep stubbing my toes on the damn bed feet. But it's great having iffy wifi!
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