Steamy

Tuesday 7 February Another good night's sleep. Nothing planned for today, so we had a slow start. Ambled off to Orquidea for breakfast. My current favourite breakfast is cheese & onion omelette, from the egg station prepared at your request. Followed by one pancake covered in syrup. After breakfast we went through the reception area. The second week of our cruise would have started today. The ship is back in operation and some people are transferring to the ship. This is not an option for us due to us cancelling the whole thing and taking a different holiday. A guy in the bar last night, who had done the same as us, said they had spoken to TUI to try and get back on the cruise, but TUI said No. Then off to the beach to ... read more

Sunday 29 January Pat had spent the day packing and sorting things out in the house, for our imminent departure tomorrow morning. We had a meal deal from M&S for our lunch. We needed some bits and pieces, so headed out for a quick visit to Morrisons supermarket before it closed at 4 pm. Just as we were passing through the check out at 3.30 pm my phone rang. It was TUI, after a security check to confirm who I was, she told me that the cruise was cancelled. That got my attention. There was an issue with Food & beverage on board. After, I confirmed what she had told me, she asked if we wanted a full refund or to try and book another holiday. Pat was obviously with me and we said to give ... read more

Wednesday, 11 March, 2020, cont'd After a slow start we headed off at 10.45 am, simply walking North. Bought water from the supermarket, that we call fat man's, for obvious reasons. He told us the first corona virus had been found in Sri Lanka, yesterday. Looked in souvenir/craft shops on the way up to foodcity. We have a small list of things needed presently, but didn't find anything on the list. We bought other things instead. Then over to Tecso and found one item that we were looking for. Time for refreshment. The coffee bean & tea leaf cafe provided us with an ice blended hazelnut and an ice blended black forest drink. They claim to have invented ice blended drinks in 1963 in California and are world famous for them! Anyway it was something different. ... read more

Saturday 7 March, 2020 A good nights sleep. Plan for today, try to find a cricket stadium. The England cricket team are playing two test matches against Sri Lanka in late March just after we leave. However, they are playing two warm up matches, one not to far from Negombo and the other in Colombo, while we are still here. After doing some research, we have been able to find out some details and the first game is at Katunayake stadium near the airport. The information is sketchy and not wholly encouraging me as how accurate it might be. However we thought we would at least try to find it. Stirred at 6.50 am. Left at 9.50 am. The first step was to get to Negombo. So we went to the bus stop and a blue ... read more

Saturday 29, February, 2020 cont'd At 7.00 pm we went down to get some dinner. Pat ordered grilled chicken and I ordered chicken fried rice. As usual here it all took a little while. Pat's was a little spicy but ok. The hotel has a Chinese connection and last night in the restaurant of about 15 people, we were the only non-Chinese. Most of them seem to be into scuba diving. Back to the room for 8.30 pm and lights out 10.00 pm. Sunday 1 March, 2020. Another good nights sleep, woke at 6.30 am, stirred at 7.00 am. Down to breakfast at 8.00 am. Sliced fruits, omelette, bacon, sausages, French toast, toast, fruit juice, tea and coffee. You order breakfast from a menu. The waiter is a softly spoken young man, who gets most things ... read more