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A ferry to Spain

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View of Portsmouth harbour as we left on the ferry.
The weather was lovely as we left Portsmouth

As I wrote last week, we’re off to Spain and then France for a few weeks. I wrote this yesterday while somewhere off the coast of Spain.

This ferry trip from Portsmouth to Bilbao offers something of normality during abnormal times. It’s only the mask wearing when moving around the ship that suggests anything is wrong. There are fewer passengers, which is actually quite nice and the wonderful buffet we enjoyed at dinner time 2 years ago isn’t allowed still.

We boarded at about 4pm yesterday for our 5pm sailing. The crossing takes about 23.5 hours. Our cabin is small, but I think a little less cramped than last time. It’s nearly impossible to get one of the large ones with a balcony.

Dinner was really nice and as I mention below couldn’t be a buffet so was table service. I had French onion soup, a braised lamb casserole and a selection of French cheese, washed down with some rather lovely wine. Afterwards we retired to the bar and listened (and I sang along) to some live music. A talented couple sang and he played keyboard. They were good, but the main thing was that it was live music. It’s been a long time since we heard any.

Too much wine helped me sleep like a log. Graeme didn’t sleep so well, of course the beds are single sized so I knew nothing of that.

The weather this morning (11am) is pretty cloudy, but it’s meant to be hot went we arrive in Bilbao at 5.30 pm local time (they are an hour ahead of us). We brought lunch with us in our cool box so it will be something of a picnic for us. Then it will be off to our Airbnb, home for a couple of nights.

The back of the ferry, land only just visible.
Land recedes

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