A family day out

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Geo: 28.2893, -16.5557

No official tours booked today as we had docked at Santa Cruz in Tenerife and had arranged to meet Wanda, Stefan's sister. We walked the long walk from the ship into town and went round the side streets and main street looking for a restaurant to book for lunch. All we could find initially were little cafes. Eventually back on the front we found a nice one. Wanda and friend James who had driven her up arrived at the War Memorial where we had arranged to meet and off we went to "Olympo" a restaurant on Plaza Candelaria. The staff are friendly, prices reasonable and food good but not as good as on the ship. We opted for Paella as that is one thing we haven't had on the ship so far. The rain came down while we were at lunch. Later we were glad we were not on any of the tours as they experienced lots of cloud and rain, which is the one thing we had not expected this far south. We have had only one time to sit on the sun deck and sunbathe which is a shame. After a long leisurely lunch we found a bar on the front for a final drink before they went back home to the south of the island. Back on the ship I was just in time for the Trivia quiz and we came 2nd again by just one point. Stefan forgot to come otherwise we might have won.

The best part of this trip so far has been having dinner with our table crowd. They are a laugh a minute. Indeed we have had complaints from other tables that we are too noisy and we laugh too much! It is now a standing joke that if you eat in the buffet restaurant down stairs you eat with the” poor people”. We have eaten in the Queen's Grill for both lunch and dinner and have skipped breakfast on the whole. Why wander around with a tray when you can have service? We did look at the Brittania restaurant menu and it looks pretty similar to ours. I think the only benefit of booking the Queen's Grill is that you get a bigger cabin and the restaurant is smaller so the service is excellent. There is also a private sundeck with nice padded loungers. However as the weather has not been good that has only been used the once. I did sit on our balcony for a short while when the sun peeped out as we have two loungers on there as well as a table and two chairs. Ted spends most of the day sitting out there wrapped in a blanket! It is another formal night tonight – meant to be Ascot night but I haven't brought a hat.

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