{"id":12324,"date":"2025-10-08T16:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T16:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12324"},"modified":"2025-10-08T19:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T19:06:09","slug":"wednesday-october-8-gatwick-sofitel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/wednesday-october-8-gatwick-sofitel\/","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday October 8 Gatwick Sofitel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last show of our cruise was an all singing all dancing extravaganza. Terrific, it made me tired just watching it.<\/p>\n

After the show, members of the cast stand around the exits to chat to people as they leave, I\u2019m not really sure why? It takes me by surprise every time. I always say how much I have enjoyed the show and how talented they are but my comments are usually fairly inane. Ideally they should stop standing there, or I should stop talking to them, but I suppose it\u2019s not doing any harm.<\/p>\n

Our dinner companions seem to think it\u2019s strange that I always go alone to the shows, Simon preferring reading a book and drinking negronis to joining me. However, they were all planning on going to the 10:30 pm show by the four Ds, who were performing again, and also to a repeat show by the nonswearing comedian who was performing at 11:45 pm. They couldn\u2019t believe it when I said that was way past my bedtime. I was thinking that perhaps we should have struck up a closer relationship with these people, but then the conversation turned to politics and the lady next to me was bemoaning how England had gone to the dogs ever since the wonderful Margaret Thatcher had left office, so perhaps it wasn\u2019t such a bad thing after all.
\nWent to bed after dinner and watched the final spy talk on trade craft which was excellent. Lots of tips but if you\u2019re forced into a fight, make sure you do it in a kitchen. He also emphasised the importance of self defence lessons. I\u2019ve been looking into classes available in Wellington already. I am going to be busy!<\/p>\n

My friend has accused me that my enthusiasm for Zumba is due in a large part to the young handsome Portuguese instructor but I\u2019m almost entirely certain that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n

Simon and I had been trying to work out how to spend our last day in the UK. We toyed with the idea of ditching our luggage and exploring Southampton or spending more time in London, but in the end, seeing the hour long taxi queue outside the cruise ship terminal this morning, we decided just to take an uber all the way to Gatwick. It took a couple of hours and cost several \u00a0hundred dollars, but it saved us a full day of travel and faff with lots of luggage.<\/p>\n

Have repacked my suitcase, had a nap, and am now ready to go for a walk to try and find a pub for our last dinner here. Of course there are plenty of eating places in the airport terminal but somehow it\u2019s not an inviting prospect.<\/p>\n

\"\"
View from our hotel window<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2026.<\/p>\n

Having dinner at a lovely tiny old country pub. Here is Simon looking like a giant.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I have been feeling the ground lurching ever since I got off the ship. It was the same in Stavanger. Apparently I have my sea legs, which is nice but now I need to lose them.<\/p>\n

I meant to say, the cruise was fabulous and a great success in terms of aurora spotting, but it was a dead loss for actually exploring Norway. We spent less than 12 hours in total on Norwegian soil, I spoke less than fifty words in Norwegian, and we never even saw a fjord. Ironically, because of Norway\u2019s fabulous infrastructure, the best way to travel the country would be by car. We may return.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last show of our cruise was an all singing all dancing extravaganza. Terrific, it made me tired just watching it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3cM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6644,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/29\/a-puppet-of-the-left\/","url_meta":{"origin":12324,"position":0},"title":"A puppet of the left","author":"Interloper11","date":"June 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"One of our local hostelries is the Backbencher Gastropub, just across the road from parliament. 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