There are many qualities about Maria that one could highlight, among them her professionalism, her kindness, her sense of fun and her love for her family. These were apparent whenever you met her. One abiding memory I have is of a gala dinner in Southampton on a new cruise ship (I think the Queen Victoria) when I had the pleasure of sharing a table with Maria and Takis. One of the films showing on the ship's in-house system was the Spartan epic 300. We spent lot of time discussing the unlikely behaviour and attitude of the women in the film, not to mention the equally unlikely muscles of some of the men. It was a fantastic evening and I can still hear Maria laughing.

Sandra