After lunch I decided to join in on the Watercolour Class, since the last time I painted anything in watercolours was so long ago I've almost forgotten the techniques required! The title of the lesson today was "Wisteria & Blossom" so I was really looking forward to having a go. The onboard tutor was a lady named Marjorie Bishop, and she has been teaching watercolour classes for many years. As I arrived in the Britannia Lounge I noticed that most of the other people assembled were already sitting down painting so I was worried that I'd got the time wrong! I got chatting to another man who was obviously new and soon after that Marjorie arrived. However, what I didn't realise was that we had to buy all the equipment needed for the class - only £15, but I really didn't see the point in buying even more watercolour paints, brushes, a watercolour pad and pencil when I've got more than enough at home already! I told Marjorie this and decided to just watch her demonstration instead. I sat next to my new "friend", Michael and another lady whose name I didn't manage to get. We spent the first 10 minutes just trying to take the paper off Michael's paints so that he could use them! The lesson itself was a bit rushed for my liking - most of the people were working on other paintings anyway, but at least I had a laugh chatting to Michael and watching him describe his efforts as "really bad wallpaper". He also had this habit of making involuntary noises as he painted each stroke - a sort of squeaky "mnnmnmn" here and there, which seemed to go with the flow of the paint!
The brush-strokes required for this lesson were carried over from the previous lesson on Oriental brush paintings of bamboo. I found it interesting just watching and Marjorie did take the time to go to each pupil once she had demonstrated how to do it - when she came to Michael's work, she realised he'd run out of water (he must have only put a small amount in the bottom of the cup to begin with) so I offered to go and fill it up. They were using paper cups and as I carried it back across the dance floor of the lounge, I realised there was a hole in the bottom of mine so I had to quickly run back to the bucket and get another one! It amused me, anyway! Michael let me have a go with his brush and paints, which I was glad to do but it just made me wish I'd known there would be a painting class onboard, then I could've brought my own watercolour paints and brushes with me.
This evening we went to the Welcome Cocktail Party which was held for all the new arrivals. We met several members of the crew, including the Cruise Manager, Jo Boase, or JoBo as she is affectionately known. The Captain, Neil Broomhall, was on "Pirate Watch" so arrived at the party late, but still managed to speak to every one there, and he is a very likeable, approachable man ( even though Keith thought he looked like he should still be in school!).
Unfortunately, Keith was feeling unwell during the Cocktail Party - he had a Crohn's flare-up which invariably means a lot of pain and definitely no appetite. I didn't want to go to dinner without him so I ordered room service instead.
Tonight I decided to use the telephone in our cabin to call my parents. I spoke with my Mum for a few minutes just to let her know that we aren't able to text for the next few days but that we are OK. Even though technology is advanced these days, it's still impossible to get a mobile phone signal at sea!
We had an early night tonight after trying to watch a DVD in the cabin but giving up as the DVD player kept sticking. Looking forward to our first port of call tomorrow in Oman!
Here you can see the Shuffleboard area on the Bridge Deck. We never actually had a go but it was very popular with a lot of guests.
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