Page 40 of Old Girls on Deck

We watched him hurry off, and Diana turned to me, her expression anguished.

I clapped my hands. ‘Fantastic! Are you excited?’

‘No. Did I actually agree? I’m not sure I did. What on earth am I going to talk about? And why did you say all that stuff about the Bermuda Triangle…’

‘Well, it’s true, you know all about that. How you used to prepare the talks and Casper used to give them. And you’ve actually been there. I’ll help. We can pull something together, and you said you had all the photos on your laptop, so I bet there are some there you can use.’

‘Do you think I can?’

‘Yes. I do.’

She stopped and looked off into the far distance for a few moments.

‘Oh, great, now I have Barry Manilow going round my head again.’

We arrived in Cadiz on a beautiful morning. Waking up, we found the ship had already docked and we had a view out of our window of an unremarkable concrete building and a lot of trucks unloading cardboard and loading more provisions.

‘The sun is shining, and the sky is blue,’ I said happily, ‘let’s go for a walk through the old town. And see the cathedral. My guidebook says it’s worth seeing, and there are lots of cafes there too.’

‘You don’t want to book an excursion?’

‘I went down to the purser’s desk yesterday and they are all full, even the escorted tour which takes nearly eight hours. And I don’t really want to get a bus to Seville, that tour takes ten hours, and I could just do with some gentle wandering about. This is supposed to be fun, not a job of work.’

‘Then let’s get some breakfast and go,’ Diana said.

We had such a nice time, walking through plazas and little cobbled streets, stopping briefly for coffee where we had a lovely view of a statue of some long-dead king, then finding the Plaza Catedral where there were several enticing-looking restaurants and wine bars waiting for us to choose one.

Eventually we decided on one with huge white parasols which gave some welcome shade from the heat of the day, and immediately a waiter came to bring us bread and a chilled bottle of water. After a lot of deliberation, we both chose Ensaladilla de langostinos which was a creamy potato and prawn salad and a carafe of local white wine. Sitting under our parasol with a wonderful view of the cathedral, it was the perfect place to people watch and relax.

‘There go Ken and Thelma, and Derek and Dorothy,’ I said, as a crocodile of our fellow travellers walked past at a brisk pace, following a young woman who was carrying a red umbrella above her head as a marker.

‘I’d rather be doing this,’ Diana said, ‘but I have to get back to the ship soon, so I can spend some more time getting ready for my talk. I’ve decided it would be easier to do the Bermuda Triangle talk than ramble on about myself. I have all the stuff I need on my laptop and if it’s not good enough then I’ll just remind him I haven’t had any notice and I’m doing him a favour.’

‘Gosh, I’m impressed. You sound really chilled,’ I said, topping up our glasses.

‘I’m not,’ she said. ‘I’m talking myself into it. I’m terrified.’

‘Oh come on, you could tell them anything and they would believe you.’

‘Trust me, there is always one expert lurking at the back of the room ready to ask awkward questions.’

‘I’ll stick up for you. I’ll pretend I am an oceanographer with decades of experience in the Bermuda Triangle,’ I said.

‘But what if there really is an oceanographer with decades of experience in the Bermuda Triangle too?’

‘There won’t be,’ I said confidently.

‘Oh dear, why did I agree to do this? Now I am getting nervous. I feel quite jittery.’

‘Come on, let’s have some dessert, that will take your mind off things. There is a place around here that Alfred said sells the best ice cream ever.’

We paid the bill and went further along the square and joined the queue for ice cream. Eventually after a lot of indecision because there were so many flavours. Jill chose fig and honey, and I had hazelnut. They really were worth the wait.

‘Now then, let’s wander back to the boat and call into that lovely souvenir shop we passed. They had some local pottery there, and perhaps we can find something small,’ Diana said.

‘I’m always a sucker for blue and white china,’ I agreed, ‘and I can never resist a dinky little milk jug. I have dozens. I’ll have to sneak it in so Eddy doesn’t see it.’

Diana laughed. ‘And what would Eddy do if he knew?’

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