Days Like This by Oliver Smalley
This was the first I had been on a cruise and the first time I had been out of Europe. I woke up as the boat was docking in Tunis, North Africa at about 6:30 am in British time. I was on the Cruise with my Nana and Granddad with my little sister. We got up, dressed then went on to top deck to get a good look of the docks and the country. After looking through my Granddad's binoculars we decided we should go and get some breakfast before going ashore. Breakfast was good again since there was a massive choice and ended up having sausages and bacon.
We filled up our water bottles then made our way to the bottom of the ship, where we had to get off if we wanted to look around Tunis. As soon as we get off the boat, even though it was still only about 9am local time we got hit by a massive heat wave. It was way over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We stepped out the gates of the dock and got swarmed by taxi drivers trying to take us around to shops and landmarks because I didn't realise how poor the country was and everybody was trying to get any kind of money they could. My Granddad made a deal with one o the taxi drivers to take us to some shops and back for only 5 euros there and back, but as soon as we got in the car the taxi driver tried changing the deal and wanted us to go on a tour of Tunis for 40 euros! We decided we didn't want to take a tour, because we were only interested in the shops but he refused to take us to the shops until he got more money than he'd agreed to in the first place. We started to get scared and thought that he wouldn't let us go until we paid him money. Luckily my Granddad said he would pay him to just drop us back at the ship for 5 euros and the taxi driver accepted his offer because he didn't have to do very much to get 5 euros. We got back to the ship safely and were relived that we hadn't been kidnapped! As the taxi was taking us back, he drove past the shops so all we had to do was remember where he went and walked up the road. We had a look round and the prices were really high because people really needed money here. Just for a normal magnum ice cream it was over 5 euro. There was a fish market near by and that attracted MILLIONS of flies. There was one man who was trying to sell real and alive baby turtles on a market! I felt sorry for the turtles because if no-one bought them I was sure that they would die pretty soon with all the bad smelling fish and flies. We walked a bit further up the street and I seen a nice pair of swimming shorts I wanted. We asked the shop owner of the price and he just stared at us in shock. He didn't answer so we just held up the shorts and a 10 euro note and the man gave us the thumbs up. I seemed like he had never sold anything before and if we had given him monopoly money instead of euros he would of noticed!
We made it back to the ship around lunch time so we grabbed a quick bite then went back to our cabin. I quickly changed into my new swimming shorts and was eager to see what the on-board pool was like. It didn't seem as busy today as I had seen it but I guessed that was because most people would still be ashore or having their own taxi problems! The pool was small but deep. I could only just reach the bottom flat footed with only my eyes above the water, which meant I couldn't breath so I didn't stay flat footed for long! It was warm in the water but since we were on the top deck it was open air which meant even though it was so hot outside when you got out the air felt cold.
I had a couple of games of chess with my Granddad on the giant chess board. I beat him another 3 times in a row. I was clearly better than him even though he was the one who taught me how to play the game in the first place, but I could tell he was secretly proud of me!
We went to a pub quiz later on at 5pm and the main category was sport, which was a good thing for us since I know lots about football and he knows lots about Snooker, Cricket and Football. Overall we placed in 2nd and won ourselves a giant cocktail, although it was alcoholic I was allowed some since it was so big but we still couldn't drink it all between us it was so big so we gave it to a few men at a table near us.
We had some tea and had pasta with rice, a strange mix but still tasty and healthy with a bowl of fresh fruit for desert. Not soon after Tea I went to bed being tired from getting up so early and I would have to get up early in the morning. As we were going to Naples in Italy!
