Seeing how the other half live!!!

So after a great lunch and many a laugh over several glasses of vino bianca and some home made lemonchello and sitting back under the vine cover deck looking through the Italian villas arches rustically made of local rock over the valley below .... bliss.... We are then ready for some one else to drive us down the mountain to the port below.

Penny has invited us to (her place of work) the sailing boat....... As we don't set sail ourselves till 7pm tonight but will need to be boarded by 5pm why not have a look into another world, and what a world it is.

We arrive to the private dock and as we take our shoes off preparing to step aboard. Penny makes her way around the tops deck to the back of the boat to come in through and open up the front guests automatic opening doors ... impressive. It is a huge sailing boat 49m long with pristine decks hence no land shoes. So to give scale our gallery at The Retreat is 11m long x 8m wide so this is 1m wider and 4 and 1/2 time the galleries length and over 2 levels so about 600m/2 in all it's huge... The masks stretch high into the sky it would a be magnificent sight with all the sails up.

We step up onto a narrow stainless steel gangplank to the open front deck of soft timber with the black rubber lines all so beautifully nordicial ?????? looking into the undercover entertaining area with outdoor seating and more beautiful timber tables. The maintenance is incredible thanks to one of the guys that we meet at lunch. Thought into the bridge all again in the most amazingly maintained timber cabinetry and where the captain sits with it's huge steering wheel and computer screens galore, it looks like a space ship.

Heading down to the lounge and dining areas via carpeted stairs with clear plastic covering all the carpets, even the plastic is made to clip on to all the floor areas and around the fitted furniture, as the boat is unattended by the family at the moment all is covered to keep it pristine for the arrival of owners and real guests and not just us freeloader with eyes open into this opulent world. Here the timber cabinetry steps up several levels in style to the extent that the walls are now also clad in the most exquisite timbers and detailed panelling, mouldings and trims. The timber dining table has seating for nine, 5 in Louis 15th style chairs and the rest a wall mounted padded bench seating. To the other side is a lounge area and a glass topped trophies coffee table with a collection of carved ivory. Off to the corner a marjon playing board and beautiful art works lining the walls.

The boat is on split levels and down a few more steps into the private sleeping cabins for the family and guests, it's like walking into a mini 5 star hotel with all 5 rooms having ensuites and sleeping a total nine boat guest. The master suite with the main bed sitting up on a central platform and a lounge area,  them main suite has it's own his and hers ensuites one on each side of the bed.

Crossing over to the staff section there is again all private cabins with ensuites for all the 7 full time staff who live on the boat 24-7 to maintain it and sail it from port to port picking up family and lucky guest all over the world. The boats engine room down on the basement level and down narrow steep steps was also a sight to see with its own desalination and black waste water plants so high tech. The boat only sails in summer waters so Penny and the rest of the staff only see a winter if they go home.
What a life for the staff but you would have to be a certain sort of person that could handle the closeness and the solitude on board. Penny tells me she only has 50 days a year off and is well paid but you have to love the life style to be a staff member. The boat sees at lot of action with many a family member holidaying as the owners are now in there 80's have children in the 50's and now a new generation of grandkids in there 20's so it's a very busy place to work.

But I have a big question of Penny because you all know me ... what's does this all cost.
Well just to be docked at this wolf is $1,200.00 a night and we are here for 4 days, then we set sail for France and won't be picking up the next Family and guest till the end of the month so we need to float around and dock at different ports till then. The boat is worth about 20mil and about 2mil a year to keep it on the water, it's just another world... Don't ya think!!!!