CRUISE COMPASS
Today we are in: Santorini, Greece
Sunrise: 6.34 am
Sunset: 8.11 pm
Ship's arrival: 7.00 am
Today's forecast
Sunny
83°F (28°C)
Humidity: 58%
Wind: 15 - 25 mph
UV index: 10 high
Tonight's Dinner Dress Suggestion: Smart Casual
The Sunken City?
You may be wondering what the title means. You have probably heard of the Sunken City. Santorini is considered one of the possibilities, if the myth is actually true. Santorini is a volcanic island some distance away from mainland Greece - despite being a Greek island. The volcano erupted relatively regularly and ferociously. About 3000 years ago, there was one particular eruption that was so strong that the entire volcano collapsed in on itself. Leaving the island in a rather bizarre crescent shape. Hence the Sunken City of Atlantis.
I really enjoyed the tour in Santorini. We learnt a lot about the history of the island, and am quite proud to say that I saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's new house. We visited the main town of Santorini, and I must admit, I did a little bit of shopping, and we went to a winery, where we all tasted some wines which had rather a rather interesting palette - putting it politely. To get down the hill back to the harbour, we rode a donkey part way, and then took a cable car down the particularly steep bit. Again, we did more shopping along the harbour, before catching a tender boat back to the ship. That's 4 methods of transport in 2 sentences.
This was most probably the best night for entertainment. Two words. Chris Hamilton. The greatest musician that ever lived. He has seemed to have already made quite a name for himself, having written a musical that was performed at the Edinburgh festival last year, and got extremely good reviews. It is going to be performed in Holland in October, and auditions are being carried out for a production of it in the West End. He predominantly a pianist, but he also sings and is generally a good entertainer.
Having played us a variety of different pieces, both classical and modern, major and minor, his own composition or the work of others, he spoke a lot about how he admired Liberace. He particularly admired how Liberace would end each performance. He would get up from the piano and talk to the audience. He would ask them to shout out any pieces they wanted him to play. He would write them all down and sit back at the piano. And then, he would play this beautifully arranged piece including all the pieces written down on this list. Chris then mentioned that a friend recently bought him a DVD of one of Liberace's performances, as a birthday present. He played it through, and realised, that this supposedly extraordinary piece of arrangement had in fact not included any of the audience preferences. It had been arranged previously.
Chris Hamilton then announced that, as he was on a cruise ship, and would probably never see any of us again, he was willing to make a complete fool out of himself and so would try, and probably fail at what Liberace never truly attempted. He got out a pen and paper and asked for requests. There was a ridiculous variety of songs. Clare De Lune. Great Balls of Fire. The Entertainer. Elvis songs. The Beatles. Abba. Bohemian Rhapsody. Various songs from musicals and other songs which I have regrettably forgotten. Overall there were about 20 songs. And he played them. All of them. The links between one piece and the next were so seamless that the applause was not sounded until the main motif of the next piece was played. No breaks. No pauses. No stumbles. He even sang at times. Absolutely unbelievable. And I am proud to say: he is English. I really recommend looking him up, he will probably be on tour in England soon and will probably make an appearance at the first performance of his musical in the West End. A truly amazing musician. I should really practice more.
