April 29, 2018
First, a correction from yesterday. One of the readers of this nightly rambling asked if we were planning a move since I wrote that I hoped the ship’s laundry people would come with us and give me a hand during those chores at “117.” My correspondent suggested that I must have been thinking about Skinny Granny and Skinny Pappy. I allowed as how they do wander through my mind, from time to time.
It was our second gala night tonight, and I put on the old tuxedo. Been wearing those glad rags for 30 years and they still fit. Mom had on a black outfit with a white shawl we bought in one of our stops in Spain (we can’t remember the city). She was quite fetching. We both had surf and turf tonight – filet mignon and lobster tail. She was a trooper and sampled a small bite of the lobster, and then shared the rest with me. Her generosity was appreciated. The lobster was very good the filet was okay. Give me a rib eye anytime. Filet mignon is just not my favorite. Complain. Complain. Complain.
We go ashore tomorrow for the first of two consecutive Portugese islands. Did anyone guess the name of it based on my clue from classic Star Trek: “Devil in the Dark.”? The name of the island, for those of you who missed that episode, is Horta. It is a tender stop that will let us out right downtown. We have not purchased a ship’s excursion for Horta or Ponta del Gotta, but my traveling companion went to the talks and took notes, so we will strike out exploring on our own.
I haven’t gotten any Pirates scores from any of my readers. I would appreciate an update. Are the Bucs still above 500? I know we dropped out of first place. Have we regained the Central Division lead? Catch me up, please.
My banana talk was well received and the Minions were a big hit – if you don’t understand that reference, stop by the house and I will plug the computer into the Big Screen and do it for you. The afternoon speaker was at my talk and when he went on stage for his presentation, he asked how many had heard it. He told them it was an excellent talk, full of humor, and he hoped the ship would have me repeat it so everyone could catch it. How nice! And how big my head!
And on that note, I will let She Who Must Be Obeyed take over. Oh, she won this afternoon’s card game and the score is now 5-2 in favor of me.
TTFN
My watch shot off fireworks as I walked to the computer. I made my 10,000 steps for the day. I walked 7 times around the promenade today that is 2 + miles. Today was a strange day. We got up at 7 after I had a very restless night of sleep. W e showered, dressed and went to breakfast. Nothing tasted good. I had a glass of tomato juice and half of a muffin. He went back to the room and I headed out to walk around the deck. When I got back I was so very tired. I laid down in the bed and slept right through his talk that was at 11.
After he returned from his talk we headed to Lido for lunch. Nothing looked good. I had a salad. Then, we went to the crows nest for a game of cards. After cards he went to the afternoon talk and I went back to the room. I rested and when he returned I went out for a second walk. When I got back to the room I tried to rest till it was time for supper.
We dressed and headed to supper at 5:30. We sat with a couple that we had dined with before. Nice people and we had good service tonight. Supper was okay. I ate some of my rice and some of the steak. I had a shrimp cocktail and cheesecake too.
The show was the 4 tenors and it was good. They sang several songs in Italian etc. they even sang Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way” in Italian. I would have preferred English. They did Michael Jackson’s song, “Thriller” and John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Both very good. They also sang a Bon Jovi song, have no idea what it was called. They ended the show with Frankie Valle’s song “Oh What a Night”. That was my favorite.
Well, we are back in the room and I am looking forward to our tender ride into Horta tomorrow. New place to see. It is supposed to be a beautiful volcanic island.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Saturday, April 28, 2018
CRAB CAKES AND CHEESE GRITS
April 28, 2018
You read that title correctly. My supper tonight was Crab Cakes and Cheese Grits, and my only complaint was that the grits were too thick, kind of a grits cake. I started off with a seafood chowder which featured black mussels, shrimp, crab meat, and scallops. And the diet buster of the evening – and I’ve been very good trying to keep up with Weight Watchers, but not tonight – was a butterscotch sundae. The appetizer and main course were both hot and the dessert was cold. Excellent. And did you ever wonder if you could have one grit?
As I blogged last night (at least I think I did) I had room service deliver breakfast this morning at 6:30 so I could rehearse for a 9 a.m. talk. The EXC director apologized to me for scheduling it so early – he forgot that we were turning our clocks ahead another hour last night (we are 4 hours ahead of you right now). But there were about 75 hearty souls out with coffee and sweet rolls in hand as we did, “Raise A Glass.” Tomorrow at the more sane hour of 11 a.m. will be “Yes, We May Have No Bananas.” It is one of my favorites.
Speaking of forgetting about changing clocks, one of my regulars came up at the conclusion and asked what was the time. It seems she forgot to make the change. Bless her heart, but she go an extra hour of sleep.
As we were coming to our stateroom following this evening’s excellent variety show (excellent is the repeatable word for tonight) a couple stopped me and commented favorably on “Raise A Glass.” I told them tomorrow is about bananas, and he had a photo on his cellphone of the record that gives the talk its title. And a photo of a restored Victrola – that’s iTunes of the 1920s. And we had one when I was a kid at 117 Shenandoah Avenue. Actually we HAD one because we took it back to the cabin along with a stack of records because there was no TV reception out there and we never took a radio. One weekend we went out and discovered that a nere-do-well had broken in and stolen the record player and the records – that was all he, or she, took.
As I mentioned above we thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s variety show. The comedian did an all new stand-up routine and the harpist was back with a totally different selection. He closed with a Frank Sinatra parody (I wish I had recorded it for you). She closed with “Mamma Mia.” Which reminded me that MM2 is coming out soon. We will be at the first show. Anyone joining us?
My obsessive exercise partner went out for a walk this morning at 6:30 as I was consuming breakfast and she reported back that at 7 a.m. here in the north Atlantic, the moon was still up. And as I type this at 9 p.m. our time (5 yours) the sun is still out. It reminds me kind-a-sort-a of Samara in 1993. It got dark at 11 p.m. and light about 4 a.m. Dark in Moscow at midnight. That was in June and July. White Nights would have been the situation had we gone up to St. Petersburg. This cruise is continuing to St. Pete, and we’d like to see it, but we’ll be home to do laundry while they sail on.
Speaking of laundry, we sent our dirties out to be cared for this morning, expecting them back tomorrow or the next day and as we came back from the show, a steward was walking to our door with our clean clothes. Great service. I wonder if they’d come to 117 and help me when we get home.
Well, Bon Bon has given me charge of the keyboard tonight, so I will wrap it up with a mystery blog title. I won’t use it tomorrow (Sunday), but I will save if for Monday. With the title “Devil in the Dark” where will we be landing Monday?
For now, TTFN
You read that title correctly. My supper tonight was Crab Cakes and Cheese Grits, and my only complaint was that the grits were too thick, kind of a grits cake. I started off with a seafood chowder which featured black mussels, shrimp, crab meat, and scallops. And the diet buster of the evening – and I’ve been very good trying to keep up with Weight Watchers, but not tonight – was a butterscotch sundae. The appetizer and main course were both hot and the dessert was cold. Excellent. And did you ever wonder if you could have one grit?
As I blogged last night (at least I think I did) I had room service deliver breakfast this morning at 6:30 so I could rehearse for a 9 a.m. talk. The EXC director apologized to me for scheduling it so early – he forgot that we were turning our clocks ahead another hour last night (we are 4 hours ahead of you right now). But there were about 75 hearty souls out with coffee and sweet rolls in hand as we did, “Raise A Glass.” Tomorrow at the more sane hour of 11 a.m. will be “Yes, We May Have No Bananas.” It is one of my favorites.
Speaking of forgetting about changing clocks, one of my regulars came up at the conclusion and asked what was the time. It seems she forgot to make the change. Bless her heart, but she go an extra hour of sleep.
As we were coming to our stateroom following this evening’s excellent variety show (excellent is the repeatable word for tonight) a couple stopped me and commented favorably on “Raise A Glass.” I told them tomorrow is about bananas, and he had a photo on his cellphone of the record that gives the talk its title. And a photo of a restored Victrola – that’s iTunes of the 1920s. And we had one when I was a kid at 117 Shenandoah Avenue. Actually we HAD one because we took it back to the cabin along with a stack of records because there was no TV reception out there and we never took a radio. One weekend we went out and discovered that a nere-do-well had broken in and stolen the record player and the records – that was all he, or she, took.
As I mentioned above we thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s variety show. The comedian did an all new stand-up routine and the harpist was back with a totally different selection. He closed with a Frank Sinatra parody (I wish I had recorded it for you). She closed with “Mamma Mia.” Which reminded me that MM2 is coming out soon. We will be at the first show. Anyone joining us?
My obsessive exercise partner went out for a walk this morning at 6:30 as I was consuming breakfast and she reported back that at 7 a.m. here in the north Atlantic, the moon was still up. And as I type this at 9 p.m. our time (5 yours) the sun is still out. It reminds me kind-a-sort-a of Samara in 1993. It got dark at 11 p.m. and light about 4 a.m. Dark in Moscow at midnight. That was in June and July. White Nights would have been the situation had we gone up to St. Petersburg. This cruise is continuing to St. Pete, and we’d like to see it, but we’ll be home to do laundry while they sail on.
Speaking of laundry, we sent our dirties out to be cared for this morning, expecting them back tomorrow or the next day and as we came back from the show, a steward was walking to our door with our clean clothes. Great service. I wonder if they’d come to 117 and help me when we get home.
Well, Bon Bon has given me charge of the keyboard tonight, so I will wrap it up with a mystery blog title. I won’t use it tomorrow (Sunday), but I will save if for Monday. With the title “Devil in the Dark” where will we be landing Monday?
For now, TTFN
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
A FUN DAY ON BERMUDA
April 25, 2018
It was a wee bit windy, and I don’t think the early part of the day hit the 70s, but it was a fun day ashore.
We started with the Dockyard Pharmacy where we picked up a bag of pretzels, which my room mate pronounced as delicious (those of you who knew Pappy Carter know how to say “delicious”), and some of her floss – which was $7.05. Everything is more expensive on Bermuda because it has to be floated in or flown in. But she needed it, so, there you go.
We think that the price of the ferry to Hamilton has increased since last we were here, but only by 50 cents each way. Our favorite sandwich shop was either shut down or we were too early, so we kept walking. The museum was closed. Again. So we kept walking. The Anglican Church of Bermuda was open and it is a beautiful place to stop. I picked up the order of service from last Sunday, and UK and AC, it is a whole lot like the new Presbyterian church you are attending – at least the way the service is presented, in booklet form. I’ll save it for you.
As we usually, do we lit a prayer candle, or rather as Bonnie usually does, she lit a prayer candle. Recently the candles have all been electronic and you drop a coin in a slot and the candle comes on. This church has real candles, placed in a tray filled with sand. She lit one, and put a donation in the collection box by the door.
Just up the street in the next block is a Wesley Methodist Church that we didn’t know was there. But all the doors were locked! There was a kindergarten or a play school going on behind a large gate, but no way to enter the sanctuary. And I didn’t see any adults with the kids so I couldn’t ask for pastor’s privilege.
So back down the street to a store we know which stocks Diet Coke and Mountain Dew. One bottle of each was purchased.
And our last stop out of town was our old favorite. Jennifer and Ivy, I know you would have enjoyed the Bermuda Book Store. I bought “The Illuminated Life of Christ: The Gospels and Great Master Paintings.” Fascinating, and beautiful book that I am going to use in a new series that is still in the thinking stage – art, artists, museums and colors.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. When I went into the Anglican Church, I popped into the gift shop just to have a look around and struck up a conversation with the proprietor. I asked her about a book I had flipped through called “The Servant Queen and the King She Serves.” It is a book that was produced as a tribute for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday. I turned it over to check the price and there was a notice which read: “Not For Resale.” I asked the lady about that curious note and she said, “That is our last copy and you may have it.” So I took it. It seems they were produced as a give away for the congregation and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Well, my typing fingers are not cooperating tonight. My 100 words per minute are diminished by strange patterns my fingers are producing. So I will stop and let She Who Must Be Obeyed give you her spin on things.
TTFN
I woke early, about 7 am. He was sleeping away so I decided to get dressed and go get the papers. So I got my shower and dressed. He was up and awake by the time I finished. So while he got ready I headed to Deck 1 and the paper stand. Only the Australian paper was there. So I took a copy and headed back upstairs. It was after 7:30 and we were getting into the dock, so I stepped out on the promenade deck to watch the docking. We were very slowly headed to the dock and off in the distance I could see another ship headed into port. We would have to dock before they could come into the dock area. I didn’t realize it at the time but we were actually backing into the channel. We started to move sideways to get next to the pier when I decided I had better go back.
Well, he had gotten ready and we headed up for breakfast. I got a blueberry bagel and a cup of mixed fruit and my chocolate milk. It wasn’t too crowded this morning. While we were at breakfast they announced you could go ashore on Deck A, below deck 1, midship. So after going to the room and getting our hats, jackets, and dollars we headed off the ship.
We went to the tent beside the ferry landing to get our tokens, cost $18, for our ferry ride to and from Hamilton. It is the shopping area of Bermuda. We didn’t visit the shopping mall in the dockyard area but rode up to Hamilton on the ferry. Short ride.
We didn’t do much but walk around and look in a few stores after visiting the museum, which except for a small part devoted to local artists, was closed again. They were changing their exhibits. We stopped in the beautiful cathedral and admired their beautiful stained glass windows and the massive pipe organ. The booklet that David got is a very interesting discussion of the Queen’s life and role as the English monarch. It is very fascinating reading. Lots of great pictures and facts about her life and reign. It is quite interesting the number of quotes and comments she has made about her belief in salvation through the belief in Jesus. It says she attends church every week. If you watch the series “The Crown” you would enjoy reading this and seeing all the neat pictures.
Across the street is their main post office and we went in to look at some of the Bermudian stamps. Then, headed back to find the drinks and visit the bookstore. There were several books I liked but they were all very expensive. Even the books setting outside on sale were high priced. But it is fun to look. He really wanted the book on Christian artwork, and it seemed to be an older book so he got it to maybe use for one of the new talks he is working on now. It was pricey, $26.
We were early when we went to catch the ferry and had about an hour wait. Boarding it was a little confusing this time. They told us to line up one place but then the ferry docked at the middle of the line not at the head so most of the people who got in line last got on the ferry first. They had a very narrow gangway. But we finally got on and headed home.
After getting back it was 2 pm and we were tired, my right leg had about all it could take so we got back on the ship and headed for lunch. They have a taco bar everyday outside the lido buffet and today I wanted a taco salad, some cheese dip and nachos.
I took my diet coke and splurged.
After lunch it was off to the crow’s next for a game of cards. Yeah I finally won a game. We headed back to the room because by now it was almost 4:30 and that was all aboard time. I watched the last passenger get on board at about 4:36. When they were waiting for the lady to get back I noticed an ambulance backed up to the gangway. They were just loading someone and leaving. Well, they finally raised the gangway and we were ready to leave. We had to push away from the dock and get out far enough so we could go by the Norwegian ship which was parked behind us.
It was now time to head for supper. We arrived a little early but were soon seated at a table for 4. Nice couple from Florida originally from Massachuset. He was a retired Baptist pastor, one who had only pastored 11 years and had entered the ministry late.
Enjoyable conversation over supper.
I tried a soft shelled crab for an appetizer. Bad mistake. They brought out the whole crab, legs and all, that had a bread crumb coating and had been deep fried. I tasted it but it was very fishy. Your Dad ate it. I ordered the turkey and dressing, it was okay but not very hot, just barely warm. I ordered the sugar free chocolate mousse for dessert and it was fantastic.
Then, off to the show. It was a comedienne juggler. He was funny and a very good juggler. Well, we are back in our room and soon it will be time for bed. Our clocks go up another hour so our 10 pm is now 11pm. He has a talk at 11 tomorrow so we need to get to bed. I want to get up at 6 to walk. We did 12,000 steps today.
They called and left a message today and asked him to do another talk on the 28th. They have some time they need to fill. So he still has 6 more talks. It will be at 9 am instead of the 11 am.
Well it is bedtime, I have taken my pills and all I need to do is floss and brush. Tate, hope you are feeling better. Granny loves you and misses you!!!
Love you all. Mom, Bonnie, Granny
It was a wee bit windy, and I don’t think the early part of the day hit the 70s, but it was a fun day ashore.
We started with the Dockyard Pharmacy where we picked up a bag of pretzels, which my room mate pronounced as delicious (those of you who knew Pappy Carter know how to say “delicious”), and some of her floss – which was $7.05. Everything is more expensive on Bermuda because it has to be floated in or flown in. But she needed it, so, there you go.
We think that the price of the ferry to Hamilton has increased since last we were here, but only by 50 cents each way. Our favorite sandwich shop was either shut down or we were too early, so we kept walking. The museum was closed. Again. So we kept walking. The Anglican Church of Bermuda was open and it is a beautiful place to stop. I picked up the order of service from last Sunday, and UK and AC, it is a whole lot like the new Presbyterian church you are attending – at least the way the service is presented, in booklet form. I’ll save it for you.
As we usually, do we lit a prayer candle, or rather as Bonnie usually does, she lit a prayer candle. Recently the candles have all been electronic and you drop a coin in a slot and the candle comes on. This church has real candles, placed in a tray filled with sand. She lit one, and put a donation in the collection box by the door.
Just up the street in the next block is a Wesley Methodist Church that we didn’t know was there. But all the doors were locked! There was a kindergarten or a play school going on behind a large gate, but no way to enter the sanctuary. And I didn’t see any adults with the kids so I couldn’t ask for pastor’s privilege.
So back down the street to a store we know which stocks Diet Coke and Mountain Dew. One bottle of each was purchased.
And our last stop out of town was our old favorite. Jennifer and Ivy, I know you would have enjoyed the Bermuda Book Store. I bought “The Illuminated Life of Christ: The Gospels and Great Master Paintings.” Fascinating, and beautiful book that I am going to use in a new series that is still in the thinking stage – art, artists, museums and colors.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. When I went into the Anglican Church, I popped into the gift shop just to have a look around and struck up a conversation with the proprietor. I asked her about a book I had flipped through called “The Servant Queen and the King She Serves.” It is a book that was produced as a tribute for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday. I turned it over to check the price and there was a notice which read: “Not For Resale.” I asked the lady about that curious note and she said, “That is our last copy and you may have it.” So I took it. It seems they were produced as a give away for the congregation and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Well, my typing fingers are not cooperating tonight. My 100 words per minute are diminished by strange patterns my fingers are producing. So I will stop and let She Who Must Be Obeyed give you her spin on things.
TTFN
I woke early, about 7 am. He was sleeping away so I decided to get dressed and go get the papers. So I got my shower and dressed. He was up and awake by the time I finished. So while he got ready I headed to Deck 1 and the paper stand. Only the Australian paper was there. So I took a copy and headed back upstairs. It was after 7:30 and we were getting into the dock, so I stepped out on the promenade deck to watch the docking. We were very slowly headed to the dock and off in the distance I could see another ship headed into port. We would have to dock before they could come into the dock area. I didn’t realize it at the time but we were actually backing into the channel. We started to move sideways to get next to the pier when I decided I had better go back.
Well, he had gotten ready and we headed up for breakfast. I got a blueberry bagel and a cup of mixed fruit and my chocolate milk. It wasn’t too crowded this morning. While we were at breakfast they announced you could go ashore on Deck A, below deck 1, midship. So after going to the room and getting our hats, jackets, and dollars we headed off the ship.
We went to the tent beside the ferry landing to get our tokens, cost $18, for our ferry ride to and from Hamilton. It is the shopping area of Bermuda. We didn’t visit the shopping mall in the dockyard area but rode up to Hamilton on the ferry. Short ride.
We didn’t do much but walk around and look in a few stores after visiting the museum, which except for a small part devoted to local artists, was closed again. They were changing their exhibits. We stopped in the beautiful cathedral and admired their beautiful stained glass windows and the massive pipe organ. The booklet that David got is a very interesting discussion of the Queen’s life and role as the English monarch. It is very fascinating reading. Lots of great pictures and facts about her life and reign. It is quite interesting the number of quotes and comments she has made about her belief in salvation through the belief in Jesus. It says she attends church every week. If you watch the series “The Crown” you would enjoy reading this and seeing all the neat pictures.
Across the street is their main post office and we went in to look at some of the Bermudian stamps. Then, headed back to find the drinks and visit the bookstore. There were several books I liked but they were all very expensive. Even the books setting outside on sale were high priced. But it is fun to look. He really wanted the book on Christian artwork, and it seemed to be an older book so he got it to maybe use for one of the new talks he is working on now. It was pricey, $26.
We were early when we went to catch the ferry and had about an hour wait. Boarding it was a little confusing this time. They told us to line up one place but then the ferry docked at the middle of the line not at the head so most of the people who got in line last got on the ferry first. They had a very narrow gangway. But we finally got on and headed home.
After getting back it was 2 pm and we were tired, my right leg had about all it could take so we got back on the ship and headed for lunch. They have a taco bar everyday outside the lido buffet and today I wanted a taco salad, some cheese dip and nachos.
I took my diet coke and splurged.
After lunch it was off to the crow’s next for a game of cards. Yeah I finally won a game. We headed back to the room because by now it was almost 4:30 and that was all aboard time. I watched the last passenger get on board at about 4:36. When they were waiting for the lady to get back I noticed an ambulance backed up to the gangway. They were just loading someone and leaving. Well, they finally raised the gangway and we were ready to leave. We had to push away from the dock and get out far enough so we could go by the Norwegian ship which was parked behind us.
It was now time to head for supper. We arrived a little early but were soon seated at a table for 4. Nice couple from Florida originally from Massachuset. He was a retired Baptist pastor, one who had only pastored 11 years and had entered the ministry late.
Enjoyable conversation over supper.
I tried a soft shelled crab for an appetizer. Bad mistake. They brought out the whole crab, legs and all, that had a bread crumb coating and had been deep fried. I tasted it but it was very fishy. Your Dad ate it. I ordered the turkey and dressing, it was okay but not very hot, just barely warm. I ordered the sugar free chocolate mousse for dessert and it was fantastic.
Then, off to the show. It was a comedienne juggler. He was funny and a very good juggler. Well, we are back in our room and soon it will be time for bed. Our clocks go up another hour so our 10 pm is now 11pm. He has a talk at 11 tomorrow so we need to get to bed. I want to get up at 6 to walk. We did 12,000 steps today.
They called and left a message today and asked him to do another talk on the 28th. They have some time they need to fill. So he still has 6 more talks. It will be at 9 am instead of the 11 am.
Well it is bedtime, I have taken my pills and all I need to do is floss and brush. Tate, hope you are feeling better. Granny loves you and misses you!!!
Love you all. Mom, Bonnie, Granny
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
I HATE WINDOWS 10!!
April 24, 2018
Let me remind you why I make that statement.
You may remember a couple of cruises ago when my Sony Vaio would not talk to the ship’s projectors and it was determined that an update to Windows 10 just before we sailed destroyed that ability.
Then the difficulty the Guest Relations agent had setting up my Internet account on zuiderdam-crew a couple of days ago (in spite of disparaging words from a reader of this blog).
And then this morning. I went on line before breakfast to check for any emails from home, but before I could do that, the computer was going through updates to Windows 10. I didn’t understand it because posting last night’s blog and checking your emails, I wasn’t on longer than about 3 minutes. But when the updates were finished and I signed on, imagine my surprise when my available remaining subscription after signing out had shrunk from 587 mb last night to 240 mb this morning! This frazzling operating system automatically updates itself, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. I had previously told the operating system that I had a limited account and it cannot do “major updates” (whatever that is). After searching this morning I learned a step where I can delay it – this computer now cannot update itself for 45 days.
So in all probability I will have to renew my subscription when the original should have been sufficient. Shame on you, Bill Gates!
Tomorrow is Bermuda and in addition to going to Hamilton to our favorite sandwich shop on the island, and playing a round at Fun Time Miniature Golf, we will go the drugstore at King’s Wharf to pick up dental floss, pretzels, snapping clothes pins, and duct tape. The latter is to secure the two extension cords which run from the desk, down the wall and across in front of the windows to activate Bonnie’s C-Pap machine. As it lays, they are just tucked up to the wall and I am afraid that in the night, a sleeper coming from the left side of the bed (as you face it – or the right side as you lay in it) might trip.
Ah, you who traveled to Russia with me, do you remember we always packed a roll of duct tape? It is now being added to the cruise list!
And now I will turn the keyboard over to your mother, Granny, sister-in-law, and friend.
TTFN
Land HO!!
Well up at 6 am our time, 5am your time this morning to walk. They were washing down the promenade again this morning so I walked inside. I walked till 7. Then, returned to the cabin. He was still in bed so I quietly got my stuff and took my shower and by the time I had finished he was up. He got ready and dressed and we went to breakfast. Sat with the couple from Ontario that we had supper with last night. I had an egg, muffin, sausage patty and chocolate milk.
After breakfast we since it was after nine we headed to the theater for the port talk followed by the other guest lecture talk. Port talk gave us some ideas for the ports to come and we bought another tour for the Belgium, Zeebrugge port. A bus ride, canal boat tour and some walking. This is a great stop for the famous Belgium chocolate of which I am sure I will get some. Then, the lecture. This guy is a retired professor who has more titles than would almost fit on the slide. His talk was way over my head. The slides were black screens with lots of words in yellow. Sometimes he read what was on the screen and sometimes he didn’t. At those times he didn’t leave it up long enough for you to even begin to read. Lots of dates and names of people you never heard of. His topic was whether the Atlantic Ocean had always been there or not. His conclusion was it had not. I was most unimpressed.
After the talk we headed up to Lido for lunch. I really wanted a bowl of soup but the only soup was cream of pumpkin, I passed. So it was a salad again. Then up to the Crows Nest for cards, Score David 2 , me 0.
Then, we headed back to the theater for a talk on touring Bermuda. If the guy was right it has gotten more expensive to use the buses and the ferries. Then, off for a nap.
Just after we finished our nap and before we were going to get dressed, the ships alarms sounded. One short, one long repeated 3 times and a response team was called to the galley lounge where there was smoke. Then, the Captain came on to tell us there was smoke and the crew was responding. After an evacuation of the area around the lounge and the Captain speaking a couple of times, he finally said all was okay. A dishwasher in the lounge had an electrical fire but all had been taken care of. No danger. Well, that was a new one.
We dressed for supper and made our way to Deck 2 dining. We sat at a table for four with a couple from Canada. Very nice. Tonight was Gala night and a supposedly fancy supper. I had a shrimp cocktail, it was good, a creamed soup that was not good and stuffed shells with a small amount of marinara sauce. It needed more sauce. I ordered a lemon meringue cheese cake. He ordered Romanoff strawberries. He thought it was a mousse. It wasn’t. It was just a small cup of warm strawberries and he doesn’t care for strawberries. So I gave him my cheese cake and ate the strawberries. Oh well!
Then, off to the theater. There was a champaign toast to the captain at 7:30. The Captain came into the theater and we did a toast. Let me tell you about this Captain. He is Dutch and from all appearances quite young. I wish I could have taken a picture of his hair do. It was a little strange. It was swooshed up on the sides, kind of looked like wings. Strange!!
Tonight’s entertainment were Voxx, the four urban tenors. Great voices and they sang some opera, a song from Les Miserables, a medley of James Bond songs, and other stuff. They were very good.
Well, we are back in our cabin looking forward to our port tomorrow, we arrive at about 8 am. The high is to be 71 and the chance of rain!! So the ponchos and umbrellas go out with us. Hopefully we won’t get wet.
Well, time for bed. Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Let me remind you why I make that statement.
You may remember a couple of cruises ago when my Sony Vaio would not talk to the ship’s projectors and it was determined that an update to Windows 10 just before we sailed destroyed that ability.
Then the difficulty the Guest Relations agent had setting up my Internet account on zuiderdam-crew a couple of days ago (in spite of disparaging words from a reader of this blog).
And then this morning. I went on line before breakfast to check for any emails from home, but before I could do that, the computer was going through updates to Windows 10. I didn’t understand it because posting last night’s blog and checking your emails, I wasn’t on longer than about 3 minutes. But when the updates were finished and I signed on, imagine my surprise when my available remaining subscription after signing out had shrunk from 587 mb last night to 240 mb this morning! This frazzling operating system automatically updates itself, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. I had previously told the operating system that I had a limited account and it cannot do “major updates” (whatever that is). After searching this morning I learned a step where I can delay it – this computer now cannot update itself for 45 days.
So in all probability I will have to renew my subscription when the original should have been sufficient. Shame on you, Bill Gates!
Tomorrow is Bermuda and in addition to going to Hamilton to our favorite sandwich shop on the island, and playing a round at Fun Time Miniature Golf, we will go the drugstore at King’s Wharf to pick up dental floss, pretzels, snapping clothes pins, and duct tape. The latter is to secure the two extension cords which run from the desk, down the wall and across in front of the windows to activate Bonnie’s C-Pap machine. As it lays, they are just tucked up to the wall and I am afraid that in the night, a sleeper coming from the left side of the bed (as you face it – or the right side as you lay in it) might trip.
Ah, you who traveled to Russia with me, do you remember we always packed a roll of duct tape? It is now being added to the cruise list!
And now I will turn the keyboard over to your mother, Granny, sister-in-law, and friend.
TTFN
Land HO!!
Well up at 6 am our time, 5am your time this morning to walk. They were washing down the promenade again this morning so I walked inside. I walked till 7. Then, returned to the cabin. He was still in bed so I quietly got my stuff and took my shower and by the time I had finished he was up. He got ready and dressed and we went to breakfast. Sat with the couple from Ontario that we had supper with last night. I had an egg, muffin, sausage patty and chocolate milk.
After breakfast we since it was after nine we headed to the theater for the port talk followed by the other guest lecture talk. Port talk gave us some ideas for the ports to come and we bought another tour for the Belgium, Zeebrugge port. A bus ride, canal boat tour and some walking. This is a great stop for the famous Belgium chocolate of which I am sure I will get some. Then, the lecture. This guy is a retired professor who has more titles than would almost fit on the slide. His talk was way over my head. The slides were black screens with lots of words in yellow. Sometimes he read what was on the screen and sometimes he didn’t. At those times he didn’t leave it up long enough for you to even begin to read. Lots of dates and names of people you never heard of. His topic was whether the Atlantic Ocean had always been there or not. His conclusion was it had not. I was most unimpressed.
After the talk we headed up to Lido for lunch. I really wanted a bowl of soup but the only soup was cream of pumpkin, I passed. So it was a salad again. Then up to the Crows Nest for cards, Score David 2 , me 0.
Then, we headed back to the theater for a talk on touring Bermuda. If the guy was right it has gotten more expensive to use the buses and the ferries. Then, off for a nap.
Just after we finished our nap and before we were going to get dressed, the ships alarms sounded. One short, one long repeated 3 times and a response team was called to the galley lounge where there was smoke. Then, the Captain came on to tell us there was smoke and the crew was responding. After an evacuation of the area around the lounge and the Captain speaking a couple of times, he finally said all was okay. A dishwasher in the lounge had an electrical fire but all had been taken care of. No danger. Well, that was a new one.
We dressed for supper and made our way to Deck 2 dining. We sat at a table for four with a couple from Canada. Very nice. Tonight was Gala night and a supposedly fancy supper. I had a shrimp cocktail, it was good, a creamed soup that was not good and stuffed shells with a small amount of marinara sauce. It needed more sauce. I ordered a lemon meringue cheese cake. He ordered Romanoff strawberries. He thought it was a mousse. It wasn’t. It was just a small cup of warm strawberries and he doesn’t care for strawberries. So I gave him my cheese cake and ate the strawberries. Oh well!
Then, off to the theater. There was a champaign toast to the captain at 7:30. The Captain came into the theater and we did a toast. Let me tell you about this Captain. He is Dutch and from all appearances quite young. I wish I could have taken a picture of his hair do. It was a little strange. It was swooshed up on the sides, kind of looked like wings. Strange!!
Tonight’s entertainment were Voxx, the four urban tenors. Great voices and they sang some opera, a song from Les Miserables, a medley of James Bond songs, and other stuff. They were very good.
Well, we are back in our cabin looking forward to our port tomorrow, we arrive at about 8 am. The high is to be 71 and the chance of rain!! So the ponchos and umbrellas go out with us. Hopefully we won’t get wet.
Well, time for bed. Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Monday, April 23, 2018
MY FIRST EX-BOYFRIEND
April 23, 2018
Today was my first talk, “Bermuda: Almost Heaven.” In preparation for my 11 o’clock appearance at The Main Stage, I arose from sleep at 6:30 and headed for the shower and my morning ablutions. My beloved was not in the room, having dismissed herself for her morning constitution. She the people returned as I was toweling dry and when she had showered we went to the Lido for breakfast.
Side note: I think the word “lido” means “food” because every cruise ship we’ve sailed on has a feeding trough named “Lido.”
We were served by a young lady from the Philippines named “Nita.” I couldn’t read her name tag because of the angle at which she was standing, mixed with the fact that Holland American Line name tags are shiny, and we were near the floor to ceiling windows. So I asked for her name and she inquired after ours. She had never heard the name Bonnie, but worked out a nemonic device to remember it. She said to me, “I will have no trouble with your name (and somewhere in her comment was an implied threat, “I will have no trouble with you”) because my FIRST EX-BOYFRIEND’S name was David.” Her first. Ex. Boyfriend. I’m guessing there are a string of them, and all her exs aren’t in Texas (that’s a song KW, you can’t write one about it).
The guess of the occupants of 4077 is that the theater holds about 700 folk. The further guess of said occupants is that about 80% of the seats were filled this morning for my talk. That fact does not make my head swell too much, because when you are on a ship at sea, you can’t get in your car and drive to Walmart. “What are we going to do today, Marge?” “Let’s go to the theater and take a nap.”
I mentioned breakfast above. Unlike the Crown Princess whose deck we most recently roamed, the Zuiderdam has a place which fries eggs to order. I got two almost perfect dippy eggs (Luke, you would have needed 3 pieces of toast!) to which I added toast and 2 sausage links. To make up for the extravagance of bread and pork, I had a great tossed salad for lunch and Asian noodles for supper. Supper’s appetizer, French Onion Soup, was not especially good since it was only luke warm. But the blueberry crisp with French vanilla ice cream (destroying the points earned by the salad) was warm and tasty. Creme brulee tomorrow night (it’s formal night).
I won the first game of Rummy for the cruise in a stunning, blasting, leveling, destroying come from behind victory. It was a see-saw battle for the first four hands, when the cards started falling my way. My bed buddy has demanded a rematch, so we’ll lay out the paste boards again tomorrow. Oh, by the way, the competition on the last cruise ended in a 5-5 tie (but I was ahead 375 to 335 when the game was called on account of something I don’t remember). She would not let me claim victory, but I told her when the game has gone 5 innings, it is a complete game. Oh well. This is a new cruise and a new competition.
Well, Bonnie is awake tonight and eager to pound the keys, so I will retire to the couch and my book on rocketry and rocket scientists. Until tomorrow, then.
TTFN
Well, I slept till 5 and got up at 5:45 to dress and head out for my walk. I dressed quietly and left the room to walk. I headed down to deck 3 to go out on the promenade and walk. I don’t understand why but on this ship and the last ship at 6 in the morning there were crew members out on the promenade with hoses spraying off the life boats and the decks. So I walked around the deck inside for awhile till they were finished with their cleaning and then got around the deck outside for 1 and ½ times before it was time to go back to the room. Oh, I should tell you as I was walking down the steps to deck three, my shoe caught on the next to last step and sent me sprawling onto the carpeted floor at the bottom of the steps. Cute. I managed to get up from laying flat on my face and continued to my walk. So far only a bruise on my left thumb has appeared but my right big toe feels like it is sprained and hurts. It does feel some better tonight. Of well. At least the floor was carpeted.
After showering and it is a honest to goodness shower in a bathtub, we dressed and went upstairs for breakfast. They had Borden’s chocolate milk and I enjoyed that for breakfast with my wheat toast and over easy egg. I did splurge with a powdered donut. So lunch was a salad.
After breakfast I went up to the crows nest, where there is a coffee bar and great lounge at the front of the ship at the very top on Deck 10. It was overcast, windy, cold and raining. But a great place to sit and crochet. I noticed several people had small newspapers and I vowed to find them when I went downstairs. I stayed till about 9:15 then headed to the theater for the port/excursion talk and then David’s talk. After I put my bag in my seat I went to look for the newspapers and found not only the Times, but the Canadian, British and Australian papers. I read them all!
David had completely rewritten the Bermuda talk so it was brand new. It was good. And he was done on time and the people sitting around me said they really enjoyed it.
Well, after the talk and lunch it was back to the crow’s nest for cards and then to the room for a nap. We slept till about 4:30 and got ready for supper. Supper is at 5:30, we have reservations each night and have sat at 2 different tables. The couples to night were from Vancouver and Ontario. Very nice and we had an enjoyable table and supper. I had chicken with green beans and carrots. The sugar free dessert tonight was a torte with hazelnuts and was dry and tasteless.
The show was a comedienne and he was okay. He did sing some songs he had written to Frank Sinatra tunes that were amusing. And one he had written using a Johnny Cash tune. They were different and interesting parodies. Not the funniest guy but okay. Our clocks are going forward 1 hour so though my watch says 9:56 it is 10:56. Well, not really, the change is not supposed to happen till 2am.
We have had 2 towel animals so far, tonight’s is an octopus. Our cabin steward must like my turtle because he places him on the bed every night some how and uses him on the bed when he makes it up in the morning. Cute.
Well, he doesn’t have to work tomorrow so we will be up and about doing whatever we want. We are going to go to the next port talk and the lecture by the other speaker also named David and maybe visit the shops. The weather tomorrow is much the same but a little colder.
Love to you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Today was my first talk, “Bermuda: Almost Heaven.” In preparation for my 11 o’clock appearance at The Main Stage, I arose from sleep at 6:30 and headed for the shower and my morning ablutions. My beloved was not in the room, having dismissed herself for her morning constitution. She the people returned as I was toweling dry and when she had showered we went to the Lido for breakfast.
Side note: I think the word “lido” means “food” because every cruise ship we’ve sailed on has a feeding trough named “Lido.”
We were served by a young lady from the Philippines named “Nita.” I couldn’t read her name tag because of the angle at which she was standing, mixed with the fact that Holland American Line name tags are shiny, and we were near the floor to ceiling windows. So I asked for her name and she inquired after ours. She had never heard the name Bonnie, but worked out a nemonic device to remember it. She said to me, “I will have no trouble with your name (and somewhere in her comment was an implied threat, “I will have no trouble with you”) because my FIRST EX-BOYFRIEND’S name was David.” Her first. Ex. Boyfriend. I’m guessing there are a string of them, and all her exs aren’t in Texas (that’s a song KW, you can’t write one about it).
The guess of the occupants of 4077 is that the theater holds about 700 folk. The further guess of said occupants is that about 80% of the seats were filled this morning for my talk. That fact does not make my head swell too much, because when you are on a ship at sea, you can’t get in your car and drive to Walmart. “What are we going to do today, Marge?” “Let’s go to the theater and take a nap.”
I mentioned breakfast above. Unlike the Crown Princess whose deck we most recently roamed, the Zuiderdam has a place which fries eggs to order. I got two almost perfect dippy eggs (Luke, you would have needed 3 pieces of toast!) to which I added toast and 2 sausage links. To make up for the extravagance of bread and pork, I had a great tossed salad for lunch and Asian noodles for supper. Supper’s appetizer, French Onion Soup, was not especially good since it was only luke warm. But the blueberry crisp with French vanilla ice cream (destroying the points earned by the salad) was warm and tasty. Creme brulee tomorrow night (it’s formal night).
I won the first game of Rummy for the cruise in a stunning, blasting, leveling, destroying come from behind victory. It was a see-saw battle for the first four hands, when the cards started falling my way. My bed buddy has demanded a rematch, so we’ll lay out the paste boards again tomorrow. Oh, by the way, the competition on the last cruise ended in a 5-5 tie (but I was ahead 375 to 335 when the game was called on account of something I don’t remember). She would not let me claim victory, but I told her when the game has gone 5 innings, it is a complete game. Oh well. This is a new cruise and a new competition.
Well, Bonnie is awake tonight and eager to pound the keys, so I will retire to the couch and my book on rocketry and rocket scientists. Until tomorrow, then.
TTFN
Well, I slept till 5 and got up at 5:45 to dress and head out for my walk. I dressed quietly and left the room to walk. I headed down to deck 3 to go out on the promenade and walk. I don’t understand why but on this ship and the last ship at 6 in the morning there were crew members out on the promenade with hoses spraying off the life boats and the decks. So I walked around the deck inside for awhile till they were finished with their cleaning and then got around the deck outside for 1 and ½ times before it was time to go back to the room. Oh, I should tell you as I was walking down the steps to deck three, my shoe caught on the next to last step and sent me sprawling onto the carpeted floor at the bottom of the steps. Cute. I managed to get up from laying flat on my face and continued to my walk. So far only a bruise on my left thumb has appeared but my right big toe feels like it is sprained and hurts. It does feel some better tonight. Of well. At least the floor was carpeted.
After showering and it is a honest to goodness shower in a bathtub, we dressed and went upstairs for breakfast. They had Borden’s chocolate milk and I enjoyed that for breakfast with my wheat toast and over easy egg. I did splurge with a powdered donut. So lunch was a salad.
After breakfast I went up to the crows nest, where there is a coffee bar and great lounge at the front of the ship at the very top on Deck 10. It was overcast, windy, cold and raining. But a great place to sit and crochet. I noticed several people had small newspapers and I vowed to find them when I went downstairs. I stayed till about 9:15 then headed to the theater for the port/excursion talk and then David’s talk. After I put my bag in my seat I went to look for the newspapers and found not only the Times, but the Canadian, British and Australian papers. I read them all!
David had completely rewritten the Bermuda talk so it was brand new. It was good. And he was done on time and the people sitting around me said they really enjoyed it.
Well, after the talk and lunch it was back to the crow’s nest for cards and then to the room for a nap. We slept till about 4:30 and got ready for supper. Supper is at 5:30, we have reservations each night and have sat at 2 different tables. The couples to night were from Vancouver and Ontario. Very nice and we had an enjoyable table and supper. I had chicken with green beans and carrots. The sugar free dessert tonight was a torte with hazelnuts and was dry and tasteless.
The show was a comedienne and he was okay. He did sing some songs he had written to Frank Sinatra tunes that were amusing. And one he had written using a Johnny Cash tune. They were different and interesting parodies. Not the funniest guy but okay. Our clocks are going forward 1 hour so though my watch says 9:56 it is 10:56. Well, not really, the change is not supposed to happen till 2am.
We have had 2 towel animals so far, tonight’s is an octopus. Our cabin steward must like my turtle because he places him on the bed every night some how and uses him on the bed when he makes it up in the morning. Cute.
Well, he doesn’t have to work tomorrow so we will be up and about doing whatever we want. We are going to go to the next port talk and the lecture by the other speaker also named David and maybe visit the shops. The weather tomorrow is much the same but a little colder.
Love to you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Sunday, April 22, 2018
WELL, SHE’S WORN OUT
April 22, 2018
It has been along day, and my beloved is worn slap out. As I write this, it is 8:28 p.m., and she is in bed and asleep. We went to the theater to cop-a-squat, found the seats we will claim for the entire cruise, and she said, “I don’t think I can stay awake for the show.” We were in the theater at 8 and the show starts at 9 and I said, “Let’s go back to the room. I can use the time for preparation for my talk.” There is a shore excursion talk at 10 a.m. tomorrow, telling what to do ashore in Bermuda, and since that was a large part of my first Bermuda talk, I am revising it with much of the history from what would have been my second Bermuda talk.
I am only doing 6 talks, at least that’s the coming on board schedule. My agent told me to bring 10, so there will be 4 sea days when I won’t have to work. I spoke Nicole in the entertainment department and she said the ship’s theater would be very full this cruise, which is why I only have 6 talks. And because of the tight schedule, there will be no Q&A after the talk – at least not in the theater.
Well, when we followed our GPS (using my cell phone, and the GPS has not yet been named) to where we were to drop off our rental car, there was no one there. We recognized the spot because we’ve dropped off at least one rental there, but after looking around, Bonnie spied a sign on a door that said, “We’ve moved.” I copied down the address and went to their new location where we left the rental and boarded a shuttle to the ship. The interesting thing about this address change is, I got the address from the Budget website, and when we picked up the car at the Augusta airport, the agent verified the address. On the shuttle to the ship was a couple who had booked through Travelocity, and they were given the same wrong address. Budget needs to change their website and let everyone know where they are. But we made it.
We had great help locating our cabin number (as you probably know, we are never given that information in advance and wait until we arrive at the pier – sometimes the process is painless, like today, and other times it is a pain in the wazoo) and joined the throng waiting to board the ship. I asked one of the local reps where we should go since I am the guest lecturer. He said to go with the Pink Card crowd. They are the which of which there is no whicher, and so we left the great unwashed for the private lounge.
Our key cards didn’t work when we checked in with security – so what else is new – and we went to Guest Relations to get the matter resolved. Marina said the reason they wouldn’t work was the “M” stamped on each of our cards which meant we were minors. She asked with a smile, “You are over 21 aren’t you?” I replied, “For the last 50 years.” But she got it worked out.
Then another of her fellow agents helped me get the computer set up for email. It took a while because she wasn’t used to working with Windows 10 (and I personally vote two thumbs down for Windows 10 – why did Bill Gates abandon Windows XP??). But I am signed on the crew internet for a substantial discount, and that’s good.
The only other thing of note today is we booked a ship’s excursion for when we get to France that will take us to the D-Day beaches. We are looking forward to that.
Well, I’m off to check email and post this blog.
TTFN
It has been along day, and my beloved is worn slap out. As I write this, it is 8:28 p.m., and she is in bed and asleep. We went to the theater to cop-a-squat, found the seats we will claim for the entire cruise, and she said, “I don’t think I can stay awake for the show.” We were in the theater at 8 and the show starts at 9 and I said, “Let’s go back to the room. I can use the time for preparation for my talk.” There is a shore excursion talk at 10 a.m. tomorrow, telling what to do ashore in Bermuda, and since that was a large part of my first Bermuda talk, I am revising it with much of the history from what would have been my second Bermuda talk.
I am only doing 6 talks, at least that’s the coming on board schedule. My agent told me to bring 10, so there will be 4 sea days when I won’t have to work. I spoke Nicole in the entertainment department and she said the ship’s theater would be very full this cruise, which is why I only have 6 talks. And because of the tight schedule, there will be no Q&A after the talk – at least not in the theater.
Well, when we followed our GPS (using my cell phone, and the GPS has not yet been named) to where we were to drop off our rental car, there was no one there. We recognized the spot because we’ve dropped off at least one rental there, but after looking around, Bonnie spied a sign on a door that said, “We’ve moved.” I copied down the address and went to their new location where we left the rental and boarded a shuttle to the ship. The interesting thing about this address change is, I got the address from the Budget website, and when we picked up the car at the Augusta airport, the agent verified the address. On the shuttle to the ship was a couple who had booked through Travelocity, and they were given the same wrong address. Budget needs to change their website and let everyone know where they are. But we made it.
We had great help locating our cabin number (as you probably know, we are never given that information in advance and wait until we arrive at the pier – sometimes the process is painless, like today, and other times it is a pain in the wazoo) and joined the throng waiting to board the ship. I asked one of the local reps where we should go since I am the guest lecturer. He said to go with the Pink Card crowd. They are the which of which there is no whicher, and so we left the great unwashed for the private lounge.
Our key cards didn’t work when we checked in with security – so what else is new – and we went to Guest Relations to get the matter resolved. Marina said the reason they wouldn’t work was the “M” stamped on each of our cards which meant we were minors. She asked with a smile, “You are over 21 aren’t you?” I replied, “For the last 50 years.” But she got it worked out.
Then another of her fellow agents helped me get the computer set up for email. It took a while because she wasn’t used to working with Windows 10 (and I personally vote two thumbs down for Windows 10 – why did Bill Gates abandon Windows XP??). But I am signed on the crew internet for a substantial discount, and that’s good.
The only other thing of note today is we booked a ship’s excursion for when we get to France that will take us to the D-Day beaches. We are looking forward to that.
Well, I’m off to check email and post this blog.
TTFN
Monday, April 16, 2018
FLAMENCO AIN’T MY THING!
April 16, 2018
Let’s get down to brass tacks. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the entertainers on this cruise (and I can’t always say that). The comedians, the performers, the musicians, the singers and dancers. All super. Tonight, since we are doing an overnight in Barcelona, Angela, the cruise director, announced that she was bringing on local talent, a Flamenco act – think hand clapping, foot stomping, a guitar player who sounds like he is using only 3 strings, and a singer who sounds like he is singing, “Ee-yi-ee-yi-oo” for every song. Flamenco ain’t my thing!
When Ronnie (Veronica) and Frank came into the theater to join us for an hour of great conversation before the performance started, Ronnie said, “I had to drag Frank here, telling him it will be out last time for the cruise to talk to David and Bonnie.” Bonnie assured them that the only reason she came was the same. And she described the singer as I listed it above. After the first song/dance Frank said, “Bonnie, you were exactly right! I didn’t know you speak Spanish.” God bless the F-Troop, they put their hearts in it!
We may have gotten on local television today. I’m not sure. But there is a chance. We took the ship’s shuttle to the main street, Las Ramblas (if you remember when a terrorist drove a van onto one of Barcelona’s streets running over people and killing several, it was that street). Then we followed the map (looking for two hump back whales named George and Gracie) to the Barcelona Cathedral – one we had never visited before. As we progressed along we noticed police vans, the kinds you see at protests and demonstrations to haul unruly folks away. And as we got closer we heard a man speechifying on a loud speaker system. And up closer there was a square full of people. We walked around the very outside and exited the square as quickly as possible. Bonnie was uneasy and the cameras were no longer pointed at us (when we entered the square I noticed the camera panning the crowd and seemed like they zoomed in on us – probably just my imagination) so we hustled on out.
The Cathedral was beautiful and I recorded 30 seconds of the huge pipe organ playing.
Getting into the Cathedral we had to stand on line (or in line) for 30 minutes (my beloved says 40) to get in. They were letting in groups of about 40 at a time (she says 30). First time we’ve experienced that. We were two groups from the front when four people – adults – walked to the front and tried to sneak in. An alert guard yelled at them and sent them to the back of the line where they belonged. Along with several of my fellow line standers, I applauded heartily!
Well, this is the last blog for this cruise. Turn in next week on Sunday night, and we’ll do this again. Different ship. Different route. Same satellite internet.
TTFN
He ate both of the chocolates that were on our pillows tonight!! I ate chocolate last night before I went to sleep and I think that is what caused me to be up at 4 am. So more sugar before bedtime. Just popcorn.
Well, as I said I was up at 4 but did manage to go back to sleep about 5:30. We got up about 7:30 and were just getting into the port area about 8:45 as we were having our breakfast. We have sailed out of this port before but never into it. Two ships were already docked a big Costa ship and another smaller ship. We backed up and passed the Costa ship and the captain moved our ship sideways in between the two ships. I predicted that he would do that. Go Bonnie. When we came back from our adventure there was a MSC ship and another costa ship docked. There were people everywhere.
We had a good walk and it would have been great but it rained. Fortunately I had brought the ponchos but no umbrellas. The first time it rained as we were walking to the church but stopped when we got there and stood in line to go into the church. It was beautiful inside. The organ was magnificent. The ceiling was at least 50 feet high.
In one part of the church on the outer walkway there were graves under the walkway. I heard someone comment on a grave marked from the 1600's. Wow! David said we were walking on top of peoples graves. Inside the church there were several coffins of saints and priests in some of the naves. So many beautiful statues and paintings. We had to potty when in the church and found their WC and spent .50 euros to use the facilities. We only had one .50 euro coin so we both went in at the same time, in the one marked “men” but it was a two potty one.
After the church which we had to exit out the back where we didn’t come into we had to figure out how to get back to the front and then what little alley did we come down to get there in the first place. We finally found our way back on to the street off of La Ramblas that we had walked up through the demonstration. I recognized a gelato store
that we had passed earlier and of course we had some. Then, we stopped in a huge pocketbook store just to smell the leather. Made me think of my Dad. Then, we browsed an art store and I bought two packs of colored pencils, one called metal colors and the other one florescent colors. Only 2.10 euros each.
Well went we got to the corner of La Ramblas and turned in the direction where we would find the shuttle it started to rain again and this time in earnest. By the time we got to the shuttle it was raining harder. We got on and were soon headed back to the port. The driver very kindly left us out under the covered area. We went through security, and I didn’t set off anything and then we went back on board. It was 3 pm so we found 2 seats in the café and stopped for a bite of lunch. I had a tasty tuna Panini. He had a beef and chili pie. Then we headed to our room.
After an short nap for him and a shower for me, we packed up our stuff. According to the Matt family scale we are both just at 20 kilos which is what we are allowed on Norwegian Airline. We dressed and headed for supper arriving just a couple of minutes late. I had watermelon for an appetizer and a chicken and leek pot pie with a sugar free chocolate tapioca pudding for dessert. The pudding I did not like so I didn’t eat it.
Then, it was off to the Flamenco show!! It was really not good at all. One guy playing the same 3 notes on the guitar for 45 minutes, one guy saying aiyee over and over again for 45 minutes with 3 women or one man or one woman stamping their feet on the floor. There was no tunes to the music just lots of hand clapping, stomping of feet and yelling.
We have put our luggage out and they have taken it. We have to be out of the room by 8 so we will be up early. We are to be in the fusion lounge to wait for our 9:45 departing and then, shuttle to the airport. Our flight is 9 hours and we leave here at 6:30 pm Barcelona time. See you all on Wednesday. I will text when we get to Ft Lauderdale.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Let’s get down to brass tacks. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the entertainers on this cruise (and I can’t always say that). The comedians, the performers, the musicians, the singers and dancers. All super. Tonight, since we are doing an overnight in Barcelona, Angela, the cruise director, announced that she was bringing on local talent, a Flamenco act – think hand clapping, foot stomping, a guitar player who sounds like he is using only 3 strings, and a singer who sounds like he is singing, “Ee-yi-ee-yi-oo” for every song. Flamenco ain’t my thing!
When Ronnie (Veronica) and Frank came into the theater to join us for an hour of great conversation before the performance started, Ronnie said, “I had to drag Frank here, telling him it will be out last time for the cruise to talk to David and Bonnie.” Bonnie assured them that the only reason she came was the same. And she described the singer as I listed it above. After the first song/dance Frank said, “Bonnie, you were exactly right! I didn’t know you speak Spanish.” God bless the F-Troop, they put their hearts in it!
We may have gotten on local television today. I’m not sure. But there is a chance. We took the ship’s shuttle to the main street, Las Ramblas (if you remember when a terrorist drove a van onto one of Barcelona’s streets running over people and killing several, it was that street). Then we followed the map (looking for two hump back whales named George and Gracie) to the Barcelona Cathedral – one we had never visited before. As we progressed along we noticed police vans, the kinds you see at protests and demonstrations to haul unruly folks away. And as we got closer we heard a man speechifying on a loud speaker system. And up closer there was a square full of people. We walked around the very outside and exited the square as quickly as possible. Bonnie was uneasy and the cameras were no longer pointed at us (when we entered the square I noticed the camera panning the crowd and seemed like they zoomed in on us – probably just my imagination) so we hustled on out.
The Cathedral was beautiful and I recorded 30 seconds of the huge pipe organ playing.
Getting into the Cathedral we had to stand on line (or in line) for 30 minutes (my beloved says 40) to get in. They were letting in groups of about 40 at a time (she says 30). First time we’ve experienced that. We were two groups from the front when four people – adults – walked to the front and tried to sneak in. An alert guard yelled at them and sent them to the back of the line where they belonged. Along with several of my fellow line standers, I applauded heartily!
Well, this is the last blog for this cruise. Turn in next week on Sunday night, and we’ll do this again. Different ship. Different route. Same satellite internet.
TTFN
He ate both of the chocolates that were on our pillows tonight!! I ate chocolate last night before I went to sleep and I think that is what caused me to be up at 4 am. So more sugar before bedtime. Just popcorn.
Well, as I said I was up at 4 but did manage to go back to sleep about 5:30. We got up about 7:30 and were just getting into the port area about 8:45 as we were having our breakfast. We have sailed out of this port before but never into it. Two ships were already docked a big Costa ship and another smaller ship. We backed up and passed the Costa ship and the captain moved our ship sideways in between the two ships. I predicted that he would do that. Go Bonnie. When we came back from our adventure there was a MSC ship and another costa ship docked. There were people everywhere.
We had a good walk and it would have been great but it rained. Fortunately I had brought the ponchos but no umbrellas. The first time it rained as we were walking to the church but stopped when we got there and stood in line to go into the church. It was beautiful inside. The organ was magnificent. The ceiling was at least 50 feet high.
In one part of the church on the outer walkway there were graves under the walkway. I heard someone comment on a grave marked from the 1600's. Wow! David said we were walking on top of peoples graves. Inside the church there were several coffins of saints and priests in some of the naves. So many beautiful statues and paintings. We had to potty when in the church and found their WC and spent .50 euros to use the facilities. We only had one .50 euro coin so we both went in at the same time, in the one marked “men” but it was a two potty one.
After the church which we had to exit out the back where we didn’t come into we had to figure out how to get back to the front and then what little alley did we come down to get there in the first place. We finally found our way back on to the street off of La Ramblas that we had walked up through the demonstration. I recognized a gelato store
that we had passed earlier and of course we had some. Then, we stopped in a huge pocketbook store just to smell the leather. Made me think of my Dad. Then, we browsed an art store and I bought two packs of colored pencils, one called metal colors and the other one florescent colors. Only 2.10 euros each.
Well went we got to the corner of La Ramblas and turned in the direction where we would find the shuttle it started to rain again and this time in earnest. By the time we got to the shuttle it was raining harder. We got on and were soon headed back to the port. The driver very kindly left us out under the covered area. We went through security, and I didn’t set off anything and then we went back on board. It was 3 pm so we found 2 seats in the café and stopped for a bite of lunch. I had a tasty tuna Panini. He had a beef and chili pie. Then we headed to our room.
After an short nap for him and a shower for me, we packed up our stuff. According to the Matt family scale we are both just at 20 kilos which is what we are allowed on Norwegian Airline. We dressed and headed for supper arriving just a couple of minutes late. I had watermelon for an appetizer and a chicken and leek pot pie with a sugar free chocolate tapioca pudding for dessert. The pudding I did not like so I didn’t eat it.
Then, it was off to the Flamenco show!! It was really not good at all. One guy playing the same 3 notes on the guitar for 45 minutes, one guy saying aiyee over and over again for 45 minutes with 3 women or one man or one woman stamping their feet on the floor. There was no tunes to the music just lots of hand clapping, stomping of feet and yelling.
We have put our luggage out and they have taken it. We have to be out of the room by 8 so we will be up early. We are to be in the fusion lounge to wait for our 9:45 departing and then, shuttle to the airport. Our flight is 9 hours and we leave here at 6:30 pm Barcelona time. See you all on Wednesday. I will text when we get to Ft Lauderdale.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Sunday, April 15, 2018
A NEW STOP, NEW ADVENTURES
April 15, 2018
First of all, I trust that your taxes are paid. I guess since today is Sunday you have tomorrow as a grace period to get them into the Infernal Revenue Service.
Palma is the capital of Mallorca. It is a Spanish island (we saw the castle where the King and Queen of Spain stay when they are here). And this is our first time to make this stop (the next cruise we will have several newbies – looking forward to those).
I had purchased tickets on the Hop On Hop Off bus before we left home, thinking I had gotten a good price, which included admission to a great Castle. I think it was $28 each for $56 total. We met up with our dinner friends, Dee and Dean, who also did the HOHO, and they told us they paid $9 each. And when we got to the Castle, we learned that admission is free on Sunday. Viator.com is going to hear from yours truly. You know how I love to tilt at windmills. At the very least I am going to leave a scathing review!
Anyway, we had a good time exploring the Castle and then getting back on the HOHO and going to a beautiful Cathedral. Its full name is the Cathedral of La Seu and it towers over the old town. It has a capacity for 18,000 visitors – there were maybe 300 in there when we visited. There are four large towers, exquisite stained glass windows, beautiful altarpieces, chapels, and a bell tower with 9 bells. I got some great pictures which I will post when we get home (if there is time between washing and repacking and shopping for things we forgot to take this time or ran out of). If I find another free wifi spot, I will email one or two.
The HOHOs were very crowded by the time we were finished at the Cathedral. We saw one pull up and only 6 people were allowed on – all the other seats were filled, no standing allowed. So I hired a taxi to take us back to the ship. Also the HOHO would have taken us around the route again – the Cathedral is stop # 1, the Castle is stop #9 (where we got off first) and the port is stop #14. I didn’t want to do the whole route again – an hour and 20 minutes – so for 10 euros (including the tip) we were at the ship in less than 15 minutes.
And now I will turn the keyboard over to my beloved who is under instructions tonight not to reproduce War and Peace. Yours truly is tired and is looking for some extra shut-eye tonight.
TTFN
Well, my morning started at 4 am. I couldn’t sleep so I played on my phone till about 5:30 and then went back to sleep till 7. We washed and dressed and went to breakfast. HoHum!! Again. Warm chocolate water. And Amy just so you know, the Princess ship has stopped putting out the packs of hot chocolate to make your own. If you want hot chocolate you have to purchase it or have a coffee card ( which you have to purchase) and you can have it for free. Dad has a coffee card purchased several cruises before and they are good on any Princess ship till it is all punched. So I get my hot chocolate but it is just been warm brown water the last 2 days.
We were told the Hop on Bus would be at the port. We thought at our ship, but oh no, it was at the end of the terminal and that was a mile a way. So we walked there and got on the bus. The first 2 seats we got in the headphone hook ups didn’t work so we quickly changed seats and found ones that did. Now this is Sunday and 90% of all the stores, shops, malls, etc are closed. Typical on a Sunday. The castle and the church (the church closed after 1 pm) were open. So they were pretty much the only two stops that people got off and on at. Hence, our deciding to ride a cab back. Also there were 3 ships in the port. A German, “Mein Schiff” (about 3-4 thousand passengers), the brand new Royal Carribean “Symphony of the Seas” (6,000 passengers) and our ship containing 3,000 passengers and that doesn’t include all the crews. So the few things that were open were crowded. We were back on board by 2:30. We didn’t set sail till around 9:30.
Supper was so so. I had a shrimp cocktail, salad and some chicken meal that only had chicken and spices (or so it said in the menu) and no vegetables. Pretty bad. I had a sugar free chocolate mousse cake for dessert. Not much.
Went to the show and it was very loud. My ears really hurt and it was very difficult for me to understand any of the words in the songs. Tomorrow on our overnight stay in Barcelona, they are bringing on a local Flaminco dance show. We have to pack and have our luggage out before 10 pm. Our shuttle to the airport is to leave at 9:30 am or so. We have to be out of the room by 8am. So we will up early on Tuesday morning and to breakfast and then head to Club Fusion on deck 7 to wait for our turn to leave the ship. It has been a great cruise and we have enjoyed it. Quick trip (plane flight of 9 hours) to Fort Lauderdale, pick up our car, stay overnight in Ft Lauderdale and then drive all the way home on Wed. Do laundry, pick up prescriptions , repack and head out on Saturday in a rented car for Ft Lauderdale and on Sunday board a Holland America ship whose first port is Bermuda and then across the ocean again. Whew.
Well, he is tired and I was told to keep it short. Only 10,300 steps and 4 miles today.
Love, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
First of all, I trust that your taxes are paid. I guess since today is Sunday you have tomorrow as a grace period to get them into the Infernal Revenue Service.
Palma is the capital of Mallorca. It is a Spanish island (we saw the castle where the King and Queen of Spain stay when they are here). And this is our first time to make this stop (the next cruise we will have several newbies – looking forward to those).
I had purchased tickets on the Hop On Hop Off bus before we left home, thinking I had gotten a good price, which included admission to a great Castle. I think it was $28 each for $56 total. We met up with our dinner friends, Dee and Dean, who also did the HOHO, and they told us they paid $9 each. And when we got to the Castle, we learned that admission is free on Sunday. Viator.com is going to hear from yours truly. You know how I love to tilt at windmills. At the very least I am going to leave a scathing review!
Anyway, we had a good time exploring the Castle and then getting back on the HOHO and going to a beautiful Cathedral. Its full name is the Cathedral of La Seu and it towers over the old town. It has a capacity for 18,000 visitors – there were maybe 300 in there when we visited. There are four large towers, exquisite stained glass windows, beautiful altarpieces, chapels, and a bell tower with 9 bells. I got some great pictures which I will post when we get home (if there is time between washing and repacking and shopping for things we forgot to take this time or ran out of). If I find another free wifi spot, I will email one or two.
The HOHOs were very crowded by the time we were finished at the Cathedral. We saw one pull up and only 6 people were allowed on – all the other seats were filled, no standing allowed. So I hired a taxi to take us back to the ship. Also the HOHO would have taken us around the route again – the Cathedral is stop # 1, the Castle is stop #9 (where we got off first) and the port is stop #14. I didn’t want to do the whole route again – an hour and 20 minutes – so for 10 euros (including the tip) we were at the ship in less than 15 minutes.
And now I will turn the keyboard over to my beloved who is under instructions tonight not to reproduce War and Peace. Yours truly is tired and is looking for some extra shut-eye tonight.
TTFN
Well, my morning started at 4 am. I couldn’t sleep so I played on my phone till about 5:30 and then went back to sleep till 7. We washed and dressed and went to breakfast. HoHum!! Again. Warm chocolate water. And Amy just so you know, the Princess ship has stopped putting out the packs of hot chocolate to make your own. If you want hot chocolate you have to purchase it or have a coffee card ( which you have to purchase) and you can have it for free. Dad has a coffee card purchased several cruises before and they are good on any Princess ship till it is all punched. So I get my hot chocolate but it is just been warm brown water the last 2 days.
We were told the Hop on Bus would be at the port. We thought at our ship, but oh no, it was at the end of the terminal and that was a mile a way. So we walked there and got on the bus. The first 2 seats we got in the headphone hook ups didn’t work so we quickly changed seats and found ones that did. Now this is Sunday and 90% of all the stores, shops, malls, etc are closed. Typical on a Sunday. The castle and the church (the church closed after 1 pm) were open. So they were pretty much the only two stops that people got off and on at. Hence, our deciding to ride a cab back. Also there were 3 ships in the port. A German, “Mein Schiff” (about 3-4 thousand passengers), the brand new Royal Carribean “Symphony of the Seas” (6,000 passengers) and our ship containing 3,000 passengers and that doesn’t include all the crews. So the few things that were open were crowded. We were back on board by 2:30. We didn’t set sail till around 9:30.
Supper was so so. I had a shrimp cocktail, salad and some chicken meal that only had chicken and spices (or so it said in the menu) and no vegetables. Pretty bad. I had a sugar free chocolate mousse cake for dessert. Not much.
Went to the show and it was very loud. My ears really hurt and it was very difficult for me to understand any of the words in the songs. Tomorrow on our overnight stay in Barcelona, they are bringing on a local Flaminco dance show. We have to pack and have our luggage out before 10 pm. Our shuttle to the airport is to leave at 9:30 am or so. We have to be out of the room by 8am. So we will up early on Tuesday morning and to breakfast and then head to Club Fusion on deck 7 to wait for our turn to leave the ship. It has been a great cruise and we have enjoyed it. Quick trip (plane flight of 9 hours) to Fort Lauderdale, pick up our car, stay overnight in Ft Lauderdale and then drive all the way home on Wed. Do laundry, pick up prescriptions , repack and head out on Saturday in a rented car for Ft Lauderdale and on Sunday board a Holland America ship whose first port is Bermuda and then across the ocean again. Whew.
Well, he is tired and I was told to keep it short. Only 10,300 steps and 4 miles today.
Love, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Saturday, April 14, 2018
UP PERISCOPE
April 14, 2018
When we first came to Cartagena a couple of years ago, I did a destination lecture about the history of the city. One of the interesting things was the life of Isaac Peral, who designed an advanced submarine that launched in 1887. His design was copied by both sides in World War I and was little changed until World War II (ain’t war grand – expands technology!). His original submarine is in a museum here and we searched the last two times and couldn’t find it. You know where this is going! We walked within 200 yards of it and never turned in the right direction. Today we found it, and it was worth the trouble to get there.
Some of the readers of this blog, or at least the parents of some young ones who may not read the blog, are familiar with our fascination with model building, namely Star Wars Legos. Well in this museum there are models of another kind – models of sailing ships, models of war vessels, models of submarines – all done in exacting detail. The sailing ships were particularly fascinating. Not only are all of the ropes for the rigging in place, at the spars the rigging runs through pulleys, and down near the deck, they are tied off with appropriate knots. Think sewing machine thread. I took a few photos. The incredible skill and patience to build such!
I’m using a lot of superlatives tonight, but this evening’s Headliner show – called “Encore” – was outstanding. Great singing and dance that was rewarded after the closing number, “You’ll never walk alone,” with a sustained standing ovation. There has really been excellent entertainment on this cruise.
And now with her own brand of entertainment, hereeeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
Well, at about 7 am ( I said 6:30 but your dad said it was 7) our phone rang as we were sound asleep in the bed. This is two days in a row we have been woken by a phone ringing and stopping before we could get to it. Well, we were awake now so we got up. He showered and dressed and I decided to wait till after our touring because tonight was formal night and I needed to wash my hair. So after dressing, up to breakfast. I had a cup of brown water “hot chocolate” an unripe slice of cantaloupe and banana bread. Oh well! After breakfast we walked outside on the Lido deck to look at a really strange ship in dock across from our ship. It was big and gray and had 4 huge masts that where probably 30 or more feet high and made of gray medal. Very strange indeed. They never did announce you could go off or where the ramps were but we eventually found it on deck 4 midship. We went to the cabin after breakfast, got our euros, and I got a sweater, light jacket and hat and headed out. We had been here before and knew where the shopping was but our goal was to find the naval museum. We found it in about 15 minutes but it did not open till 10 and it was about 9:30. So we decided to head up the shopping street. We stopped in a couple of souvenir stores we had visited before and he bought a little statue that looks like a KKK guy but isn’t for 7euros. Then, I found a newspaper stand and London paper for 5 euros, very expensive.
Then, we found a new store, which I liken to the states Dollar Store. This store had some of everything, craft stuff, even yarn, pens, pencils, crayons, coloring books, stickers, stuff for the kitchen, the yard, kids toys, etc. It even had a glass floor in part of the store where there were ancient Roman ruins under it. How cool. We bought a couple of things including a dot to dot book for 1 euro for me. It is really cute. Your Dad’s shoulder was hurting and he wanted to take some Tylenol, so we bought a bottle of coke. Well, while I am paying he gets out the Tylenol , opens the bottle and when attempting set it on the counter up dumps it over the stuff I am buying which is in a bag, the counter, the credit card machine and the display at the front. A big mess. I completed paying my 7 euros as they brought paper towels and they and he cleaned up the mess. The whole time the 2 employees were talking, I am sure not kind words about the crazy Americans. We were still wiping off stuff after we got outside. I am sure they won’t let us back in there.
Well, we walked a little farther then turned around and headed back to the museum, which was now open. We paid our 3 euros each and proceeded to walk around. There were ship models, cannon, guns, deep sea diving equipment, medical and kitchen equipment you could find on a ship. There were sextants and all kinds of navigational tools. Pretty impressive but no submarine. So he asked in the small gift shop where the submarine might be. It was in the next building to the right. So we headed there. Fortunately, the ticket you bought in the first building also got you into this building. And there it was. Quite impressive. They had a time line on the wall about the man who had designed and built it.
Well, when we finished and walked outside he took his sun glasses out of his pocket and they came out in 2 pieces. We usually bring 2 pairs but had not. So now what! I said let us go look in the souvenir shops. We returned to the first one we had been in and they had none, the second one had some for 39 euros, um no. Then, I noticed a small shop up the side street we had not been into earlier. Low and behold they had a rack of sunglasses, some for 6.95 euros, they had some more expensive ones also, but we bought the 6.95 euro pair. Hopefully, we make it home with these. As we had gone through the gate to get on the ship, there was an ambulance and a police car sitting beside the ramp onto the ship and they were loading someone covered with a sheet into the ambulance. As we were getting ready to go up the ramp they brought out a suitcase and put it into the ambulance. We have had medical emergencies on the cruise then any before.
Well, back on the ship, and I didn’t set off the alarms, go figure. We headed to Lido. We had decided to have hamburger and fries. Well, they were only luke warm and pink inside. Not good. Less then satisfactory. Then, we went down to Piazza, deck 5, to play cards. They have been having a do it yourself water color painting classes in the piazza, and they had it set up again today. They set up 4 easels, paints and brushes and if you want you can create a painting. Well, they must have been using turpentine because it smelled really bad. But we sat down and played some cards, score 5 to 4, I am winning.
After cards we went back to the room, he to nap, me to shower and wash my hair. I did so, then started to read my paper. But he wanted to sleep so I played on my phone and then, I fell asleep. He got up about 4:30 and tried to get on the internet but it said he was already on it on another device. So up he went to the internet desk. Turned out the internet was down and sending out phoney messages. There were 7 people(angry) in line in front of him with the same complaint.
He returned. We got dressed for supper in our best and headed out. We stepped out on to deck 7 to see if we were sailing off, but we were still tied up. All aboard was at 4:30 but at 5:15 we were not moving. They never did come on and say anything but eventually we were sailing.
Now tonight was escargot and lobster tail night. I had neither. I had tomato soup, and beef shot ribs and a sugar free cherry jello mousse. The ribs were not much.
Supper was great fun and we took pictures of our table mates and our waiters. Then, off to the show and an hour of conversation with our theater friends from Delaware. He does most of the talking and I listen. I hear about 75% of what is being said. Show was fantastic, some show tunes and several selections in other languages. Didn’t understand the words but the music and singers were great. There was a special featured soprano, in addition to the regular singer and dancers, who had a beautiful voice. Great show.
Well, tomorrow is Palma, and Majorca where we have never been. We have a hop on hop off bus and a visit to a castle. The weather is to be nice but only a high in mid 60's. Shall wear sweater and light jacket.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
When we first came to Cartagena a couple of years ago, I did a destination lecture about the history of the city. One of the interesting things was the life of Isaac Peral, who designed an advanced submarine that launched in 1887. His design was copied by both sides in World War I and was little changed until World War II (ain’t war grand – expands technology!). His original submarine is in a museum here and we searched the last two times and couldn’t find it. You know where this is going! We walked within 200 yards of it and never turned in the right direction. Today we found it, and it was worth the trouble to get there.
Some of the readers of this blog, or at least the parents of some young ones who may not read the blog, are familiar with our fascination with model building, namely Star Wars Legos. Well in this museum there are models of another kind – models of sailing ships, models of war vessels, models of submarines – all done in exacting detail. The sailing ships were particularly fascinating. Not only are all of the ropes for the rigging in place, at the spars the rigging runs through pulleys, and down near the deck, they are tied off with appropriate knots. Think sewing machine thread. I took a few photos. The incredible skill and patience to build such!
I’m using a lot of superlatives tonight, but this evening’s Headliner show – called “Encore” – was outstanding. Great singing and dance that was rewarded after the closing number, “You’ll never walk alone,” with a sustained standing ovation. There has really been excellent entertainment on this cruise.
And now with her own brand of entertainment, hereeeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
Well, at about 7 am ( I said 6:30 but your dad said it was 7) our phone rang as we were sound asleep in the bed. This is two days in a row we have been woken by a phone ringing and stopping before we could get to it. Well, we were awake now so we got up. He showered and dressed and I decided to wait till after our touring because tonight was formal night and I needed to wash my hair. So after dressing, up to breakfast. I had a cup of brown water “hot chocolate” an unripe slice of cantaloupe and banana bread. Oh well! After breakfast we walked outside on the Lido deck to look at a really strange ship in dock across from our ship. It was big and gray and had 4 huge masts that where probably 30 or more feet high and made of gray medal. Very strange indeed. They never did announce you could go off or where the ramps were but we eventually found it on deck 4 midship. We went to the cabin after breakfast, got our euros, and I got a sweater, light jacket and hat and headed out. We had been here before and knew where the shopping was but our goal was to find the naval museum. We found it in about 15 minutes but it did not open till 10 and it was about 9:30. So we decided to head up the shopping street. We stopped in a couple of souvenir stores we had visited before and he bought a little statue that looks like a KKK guy but isn’t for 7euros. Then, I found a newspaper stand and London paper for 5 euros, very expensive.
Then, we found a new store, which I liken to the states Dollar Store. This store had some of everything, craft stuff, even yarn, pens, pencils, crayons, coloring books, stickers, stuff for the kitchen, the yard, kids toys, etc. It even had a glass floor in part of the store where there were ancient Roman ruins under it. How cool. We bought a couple of things including a dot to dot book for 1 euro for me. It is really cute. Your Dad’s shoulder was hurting and he wanted to take some Tylenol, so we bought a bottle of coke. Well, while I am paying he gets out the Tylenol , opens the bottle and when attempting set it on the counter up dumps it over the stuff I am buying which is in a bag, the counter, the credit card machine and the display at the front. A big mess. I completed paying my 7 euros as they brought paper towels and they and he cleaned up the mess. The whole time the 2 employees were talking, I am sure not kind words about the crazy Americans. We were still wiping off stuff after we got outside. I am sure they won’t let us back in there.
Well, we walked a little farther then turned around and headed back to the museum, which was now open. We paid our 3 euros each and proceeded to walk around. There were ship models, cannon, guns, deep sea diving equipment, medical and kitchen equipment you could find on a ship. There were sextants and all kinds of navigational tools. Pretty impressive but no submarine. So he asked in the small gift shop where the submarine might be. It was in the next building to the right. So we headed there. Fortunately, the ticket you bought in the first building also got you into this building. And there it was. Quite impressive. They had a time line on the wall about the man who had designed and built it.
Well, when we finished and walked outside he took his sun glasses out of his pocket and they came out in 2 pieces. We usually bring 2 pairs but had not. So now what! I said let us go look in the souvenir shops. We returned to the first one we had been in and they had none, the second one had some for 39 euros, um no. Then, I noticed a small shop up the side street we had not been into earlier. Low and behold they had a rack of sunglasses, some for 6.95 euros, they had some more expensive ones also, but we bought the 6.95 euro pair. Hopefully, we make it home with these. As we had gone through the gate to get on the ship, there was an ambulance and a police car sitting beside the ramp onto the ship and they were loading someone covered with a sheet into the ambulance. As we were getting ready to go up the ramp they brought out a suitcase and put it into the ambulance. We have had medical emergencies on the cruise then any before.
Well, back on the ship, and I didn’t set off the alarms, go figure. We headed to Lido. We had decided to have hamburger and fries. Well, they were only luke warm and pink inside. Not good. Less then satisfactory. Then, we went down to Piazza, deck 5, to play cards. They have been having a do it yourself water color painting classes in the piazza, and they had it set up again today. They set up 4 easels, paints and brushes and if you want you can create a painting. Well, they must have been using turpentine because it smelled really bad. But we sat down and played some cards, score 5 to 4, I am winning.
After cards we went back to the room, he to nap, me to shower and wash my hair. I did so, then started to read my paper. But he wanted to sleep so I played on my phone and then, I fell asleep. He got up about 4:30 and tried to get on the internet but it said he was already on it on another device. So up he went to the internet desk. Turned out the internet was down and sending out phoney messages. There were 7 people(angry) in line in front of him with the same complaint.
He returned. We got dressed for supper in our best and headed out. We stepped out on to deck 7 to see if we were sailing off, but we were still tied up. All aboard was at 4:30 but at 5:15 we were not moving. They never did come on and say anything but eventually we were sailing.
Now tonight was escargot and lobster tail night. I had neither. I had tomato soup, and beef shot ribs and a sugar free cherry jello mousse. The ribs were not much.
Supper was great fun and we took pictures of our table mates and our waiters. Then, off to the show and an hour of conversation with our theater friends from Delaware. He does most of the talking and I listen. I hear about 75% of what is being said. Show was fantastic, some show tunes and several selections in other languages. Didn’t understand the words but the music and singers were great. There was a special featured soprano, in addition to the regular singer and dancers, who had a beautiful voice. Great show.
Well, tomorrow is Palma, and Majorca where we have never been. We have a hop on hop off bus and a visit to a castle. The weather is to be nice but only a high in mid 60's. Shall wear sweater and light jacket.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Friday, April 13, 2018
DOUBLE HEADER TOMORROW
April 13, 2018
Hello all you Triskadekaphobians! And a Happy Friday the 13th!
We slept in until 7:30, took care of our morning ablutions and went up to the Horizon Court for breakfast. Then we packed up our old kit bag and headed for the outside. The kit bag was packed, but there would be very little smile, smile, smile.
The day started overcast and cold. After we walked a half mile or so it began to sprinkle rain. Then it began to drizzle rain. Then it began to pour rain. Then it began to POUR rain. Midway between pour and POUR we turned around and headed back to the ship where we arrived damp and dripping. My cruising partner went to Guest Relations and purchased a bronze coin so she could go the laundromat and dry our jackets, slacks, and socks. My shoes went in, too. Hers did not because of the type of construction, they will come apart – she knows from experience.
Well it is a good day to play cards, read, and nap.
Not all that good a day to play cards, because she beat me. That evens the score for the cruise at 4 games to 4 – she has won the last two. Time to put on a devastating attack and stomp a mud hole in her.
I wanted a V-neck, pull over sweater for the next cruise, and the couple of places we looked since sailing had nothing I liked. So I went on Amazon to check it out (if it isn’t on Amazon, you don’t need it). Well, Amazon has a new security procedure, at least when it doesn’t recognize the device and the URL from which you are surfing. A three step procedure. Two of which I did with no problem. The third requires them sending you an email with a code. As you know, I use a spam blocker and Amazon was evidently using an email different from any I had already approved. Thanks to Michael stopping by 233 and approving it, I was able to order one which will arrive at the house Sunday. Hopefully I will like it! It is amazing to order a sweater while in Gibraltar that will be delivered to Augusta in two days.
Tonight’s Variety Showtime was awesome! We have seen “Yury and Nato” before, but they have added some new pieces to the show. To explain it as simply as I can, they do elegant feats of power and strength, and dance, and hula hooping, and costume changing, and large object twirling. Check it out online. The audience started to applaud when Nato did quick costume changes on stage, in front of our very eyes, and hardly stopped until the standing ovation. Absolutely great!
Each evening, just before sail away, the Captain comes on and gives us a report, weather, arrival time tomorrow, etc. Tonight he gave us a report that I have never heard before in all of our (thank you Lord for all of them!) cruises. He said we could not cast off and begin our journey to Cartagena until an airplane on approach for the Gibraltar airport had landed. The glide path for the jet plane is on the path that the cruise ship travels. It is an incredible landing strip which juts out on a narrow strip of land, and the road that runs from Gibraltar to Spain crosses it. There are times when airplanes are landing that traffic has to be stopped. We’ve never experienced a delay in sail away cause by a plane before.
Well, it’s Bonnie blogging time, so I will see you tomorrow.
TTFN
Well, at 1:30 I woke because the mask wouldn’t stay on my face. UGGH! So I took it off and then laid down and did go back to sleep. In spite of all the LOUD banging from the ship which we have had every night for the last 3 or 4. At 4:30 our phone rings and before Dad can get up and get to it, 4 rings I think, it stops. Needless to say we are awake. I decide to but my mask on and try again and it stays tight this time and I go back to sleep. We sleep to 7:30. We get up shower and dress and head up to Lido for breakfast. It is cold!!! In the 50's and very cloudy. We eat our breakfast go to the room and dress warmly. Because it is cloudy I take our ponchos and umbrellas. Good thing I did. Because by the time we have walked a mile or little more and dodged huge puddles from earlier rain, the rain is pouring. We had stopped when it started and put on the ponchos and got out the umbrellas. We should have turned around then but we kept going. Until, I said ENOUGH!! I am wet and I want to go back. So we turned around and headed back. The closer we got to the ship the harder it rained. We did stop in the little grocery store we had passed earlier and purchased 3 newspaper for me and one coke and one diet coke, 5euros total.
On arriving at the ship, and after going through security and setting off the alarms and then being wanded , I headed to guest relations to buy a $3 bronze coin to dry our clothes. I joined him in the room, we took off everything , I redressed and headed to the laundromat. Fortunately, the dryer was available and I threw the stuff in to dry. I had to lean against the dryer door to keep it closed because your Dad’s shoes kept popping open the door. After completing the drying and returning to our room we headed up to Lido where we ate lunch, cup of white bean minestrone soup, a tiny turkey sandwich, and sugar free key lime mousse, we played cards and I won tying up the score.
He wanted to nap and I wanted to walk. So I went to the room and dressed appropriately and headed to deck 7 to walk. Well, they had both ends of the starboard side blocked so you couldn’t walk around. Very frustrating. So I came in and said I am going to do something I have only done once before on a cruise. I went off the ship by myself. I only went into the terminal area where there were 3 little shops. One had liquor and cigarettes, one had typical tourist stuff and the other had handcrafted items from the locals. The last 2 stores were both very small, but I found some handcrafted items that I liked and I spent 20 euros. I got 4 items. Two for me and 2 for others. I was gone about 30 minutes. Of course when I returned to the ship I set off all the alarms again and was given the once over search again. Traveling with artificial body parts is so much fun!!
Well, when I got to the cabin he was just ready for a nap so we laid down for a few minutes. We got up and he wasn’t ready to go and I didn’t want to stay in the cabin so I got ready and went up on deck to watch the sailing off. They were just getting ready to take up the gangway so I watched the last few people get on and the removing of the gangway. About 5:15 he joined me and we headed to supper. We were dining alone because our table mates said they had a late lunch and were not coming. I had a small chicken salad with salsa and black beans, a “cowboy” strip-loin steak, potatoes and carrots and ketchup. For dessert we both splurged and had warm chocolate cake.
After supper we headed to the theater. We got our seats and then a couple from Delaware, who we have met and enjoy talking with, soon joined us and we spent the next hour sharing traveling stories. They are a real fun couple. On this cruise they have the second highest most cruise days and are high up in the Captain’s circle. Really nice people.
The show was great and we are now in the cabin. He has said he is tired so as soon as I finish typing and he posts the blog, I will take my pills we will be off to the bed. We will wander around Cartagena tomorrow and dress in our formal clothes for supper tomorrow night. It should be lobster and baked Alaska night. We shall see.
12,698 steps and 5+ miles today!!
Love you all, enjoy the emails from Amy and Jennifer. Go Tate, keep PPPing in the potty. Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Hello all you Triskadekaphobians! And a Happy Friday the 13th!
We slept in until 7:30, took care of our morning ablutions and went up to the Horizon Court for breakfast. Then we packed up our old kit bag and headed for the outside. The kit bag was packed, but there would be very little smile, smile, smile.
The day started overcast and cold. After we walked a half mile or so it began to sprinkle rain. Then it began to drizzle rain. Then it began to pour rain. Then it began to POUR rain. Midway between pour and POUR we turned around and headed back to the ship where we arrived damp and dripping. My cruising partner went to Guest Relations and purchased a bronze coin so she could go the laundromat and dry our jackets, slacks, and socks. My shoes went in, too. Hers did not because of the type of construction, they will come apart – she knows from experience.
Well it is a good day to play cards, read, and nap.
Not all that good a day to play cards, because she beat me. That evens the score for the cruise at 4 games to 4 – she has won the last two. Time to put on a devastating attack and stomp a mud hole in her.
I wanted a V-neck, pull over sweater for the next cruise, and the couple of places we looked since sailing had nothing I liked. So I went on Amazon to check it out (if it isn’t on Amazon, you don’t need it). Well, Amazon has a new security procedure, at least when it doesn’t recognize the device and the URL from which you are surfing. A three step procedure. Two of which I did with no problem. The third requires them sending you an email with a code. As you know, I use a spam blocker and Amazon was evidently using an email different from any I had already approved. Thanks to Michael stopping by 233 and approving it, I was able to order one which will arrive at the house Sunday. Hopefully I will like it! It is amazing to order a sweater while in Gibraltar that will be delivered to Augusta in two days.
Tonight’s Variety Showtime was awesome! We have seen “Yury and Nato” before, but they have added some new pieces to the show. To explain it as simply as I can, they do elegant feats of power and strength, and dance, and hula hooping, and costume changing, and large object twirling. Check it out online. The audience started to applaud when Nato did quick costume changes on stage, in front of our very eyes, and hardly stopped until the standing ovation. Absolutely great!
Each evening, just before sail away, the Captain comes on and gives us a report, weather, arrival time tomorrow, etc. Tonight he gave us a report that I have never heard before in all of our (thank you Lord for all of them!) cruises. He said we could not cast off and begin our journey to Cartagena until an airplane on approach for the Gibraltar airport had landed. The glide path for the jet plane is on the path that the cruise ship travels. It is an incredible landing strip which juts out on a narrow strip of land, and the road that runs from Gibraltar to Spain crosses it. There are times when airplanes are landing that traffic has to be stopped. We’ve never experienced a delay in sail away cause by a plane before.
Well, it’s Bonnie blogging time, so I will see you tomorrow.
TTFN
Well, at 1:30 I woke because the mask wouldn’t stay on my face. UGGH! So I took it off and then laid down and did go back to sleep. In spite of all the LOUD banging from the ship which we have had every night for the last 3 or 4. At 4:30 our phone rings and before Dad can get up and get to it, 4 rings I think, it stops. Needless to say we are awake. I decide to but my mask on and try again and it stays tight this time and I go back to sleep. We sleep to 7:30. We get up shower and dress and head up to Lido for breakfast. It is cold!!! In the 50's and very cloudy. We eat our breakfast go to the room and dress warmly. Because it is cloudy I take our ponchos and umbrellas. Good thing I did. Because by the time we have walked a mile or little more and dodged huge puddles from earlier rain, the rain is pouring. We had stopped when it started and put on the ponchos and got out the umbrellas. We should have turned around then but we kept going. Until, I said ENOUGH!! I am wet and I want to go back. So we turned around and headed back. The closer we got to the ship the harder it rained. We did stop in the little grocery store we had passed earlier and purchased 3 newspaper for me and one coke and one diet coke, 5euros total.
On arriving at the ship, and after going through security and setting off the alarms and then being wanded , I headed to guest relations to buy a $3 bronze coin to dry our clothes. I joined him in the room, we took off everything , I redressed and headed to the laundromat. Fortunately, the dryer was available and I threw the stuff in to dry. I had to lean against the dryer door to keep it closed because your Dad’s shoes kept popping open the door. After completing the drying and returning to our room we headed up to Lido where we ate lunch, cup of white bean minestrone soup, a tiny turkey sandwich, and sugar free key lime mousse, we played cards and I won tying up the score.
He wanted to nap and I wanted to walk. So I went to the room and dressed appropriately and headed to deck 7 to walk. Well, they had both ends of the starboard side blocked so you couldn’t walk around. Very frustrating. So I came in and said I am going to do something I have only done once before on a cruise. I went off the ship by myself. I only went into the terminal area where there were 3 little shops. One had liquor and cigarettes, one had typical tourist stuff and the other had handcrafted items from the locals. The last 2 stores were both very small, but I found some handcrafted items that I liked and I spent 20 euros. I got 4 items. Two for me and 2 for others. I was gone about 30 minutes. Of course when I returned to the ship I set off all the alarms again and was given the once over search again. Traveling with artificial body parts is so much fun!!
Well, when I got to the cabin he was just ready for a nap so we laid down for a few minutes. We got up and he wasn’t ready to go and I didn’t want to stay in the cabin so I got ready and went up on deck to watch the sailing off. They were just getting ready to take up the gangway so I watched the last few people get on and the removing of the gangway. About 5:15 he joined me and we headed to supper. We were dining alone because our table mates said they had a late lunch and were not coming. I had a small chicken salad with salsa and black beans, a “cowboy” strip-loin steak, potatoes and carrots and ketchup. For dessert we both splurged and had warm chocolate cake.
After supper we headed to the theater. We got our seats and then a couple from Delaware, who we have met and enjoy talking with, soon joined us and we spent the next hour sharing traveling stories. They are a real fun couple. On this cruise they have the second highest most cruise days and are high up in the Captain’s circle. Really nice people.
The show was great and we are now in the cabin. He has said he is tired so as soon as I finish typing and he posts the blog, I will take my pills we will be off to the bed. We will wander around Cartagena tomorrow and dress in our formal clothes for supper tomorrow night. It should be lobster and baked Alaska night. We shall see.
12,698 steps and 5+ miles today!!
Love you all, enjoy the emails from Amy and Jennifer. Go Tate, keep PPPing in the potty. Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Thursday, April 12, 2018
GIBRALTAR HERE WE COME
April 12, 2018
Finally, we are coming back to the Rock!
Had to say it. Had to.
Mom went to the port lecture on Gibraltar and has found some new things for us to do, so we will strike out on our own. I had wanted to go to the caverns, but she read about them in one of the ship’s papers and they are caverns for more mobile persons, so that won’t be one of the stops. Check back tomorrow for a report on our doings.
My last talk was today and I was moved from the Theater to the Explorers Lounge, a smaller, but more intimate venue. There was a culinary arts show in the Theater. We’ve seen them before on other ships – always a good time, and large audiences. The only bad thing about being in the Explorers today was the last art auction of the cruise was scheduled for there at 1 p.m. They started setting up at 6 a.m. and took the entire back of the theater to set up their stuff. Some people walked away because the theater was full and they couldn’t get a seat. We went back to the Explorers to play cards and sat in the back while the last hour of the auction was in progress. There weren’t 20 people in there and they sold fewer than 6 paintings. Oh well. It makes money for the ship, and so they get the space. But as one person said to me, “The passengers bring in more money than the art people.” Go figure.
We’ve had rough seas since yesterday as we sailed away from Madeira, some real rocking and rolling. Down here on Deck 5 the waves slap against the ship and makes some very loud noise. It has made it hard for my beloved to sleep, but fortunately, I’ve been able to nod off and stay with it. Last night she took a sleeping pill, but still didn’t sleep soundly. The seas are smoothing out as we get closer to Gibraltar, so hopefully a good night’s sleep will be enjoyed by all.
Tonight’s headline entertainer was a fantastic singer, Christina Bianco. In addition to having a beautiful and powerful voice she does impressions of lady singers, pop stars, old fashioned divas, and more. The cruise director said Christina has a YouTube channel with over 24 million hits, so check it out. Some good stuff.
Well, it’s time for blogging by Bonnie so I will see you tomorrow.
TTFN
Well, no walking today. I was thrown from side to side in the halls because the ship was rocking so bad, so it wasn’t safe for me to walk. Only about 5000 steps today.
The day started about 7. We were up and dressed and at breakfast by 8. I tried an omelet today with my hot chocolate. After breakfast I went to the Explorers lounge to wait for his talk at 10:30. They were doing trivia at 9 and then, the video lady for the ship came in to show here latest, the tour of the bridge, the laundry room and the engine room. It was okay and she at least finished in time for David to be set up and ready to go at 10:30. The room was small and soon there were no seats. Oh well. The officer of the day came on at 11 to announce the clock change and give the noon report. The temp tomorrow is to be high 57 degrees, cloudy and possible showers. That figures it is British. After his talk they had only recorded the audio part so we had to put the PowerPoint part on a flash drive and take it to the production guy so they could show his talk on TV. Then it was almost 1 as your Dad had stopped to talk after his lecture. Lots of nice people. This couple wanted to know when were sailing again and said they weren’t doing anything in December and might try to get that cruise. Cool.
At lunch, a cup of soup, steamed vegetables and sugar free mousse. A young lady crew worker in the Lido deck said she remembered us from the Pacific Princess last year. Wow. Had a nice chat. After lunch we went back to the Explorers lounge and played some cards, yeah I won a game. Then, off to the cabin and nap. I was snoring, I woke myself so I put on my mask and went off to a good sleep. He woke me at 5 to get ready and go to supper.
Hey, tonight was Italian night so I had minestrone soup and spaghetti with meat balls and tomato sauce. Then a sugar free dessert of some kind. Then, it was off to the show. Really good female singer. She impersonated all kinds of female divas as she sang. She had a beautiful voice all her own. She is real short, Dad said he had passed her on the steps earlier and she is shorter than me. Enjoyed her singing.
Well, we are back in the cabin and the noise is just as bad as last night. I have never before heard such loud banging and crashing of waves and ship before. And we have been on lower decks before and on rough seas. But this is really LOUD!! It really sounds like your are crashing into something.
Hey, Tate, love the big boy underwear. You looked really cute. Miss you all.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Finally, we are coming back to the Rock!
Had to say it. Had to.
Mom went to the port lecture on Gibraltar and has found some new things for us to do, so we will strike out on our own. I had wanted to go to the caverns, but she read about them in one of the ship’s papers and they are caverns for more mobile persons, so that won’t be one of the stops. Check back tomorrow for a report on our doings.
My last talk was today and I was moved from the Theater to the Explorers Lounge, a smaller, but more intimate venue. There was a culinary arts show in the Theater. We’ve seen them before on other ships – always a good time, and large audiences. The only bad thing about being in the Explorers today was the last art auction of the cruise was scheduled for there at 1 p.m. They started setting up at 6 a.m. and took the entire back of the theater to set up their stuff. Some people walked away because the theater was full and they couldn’t get a seat. We went back to the Explorers to play cards and sat in the back while the last hour of the auction was in progress. There weren’t 20 people in there and they sold fewer than 6 paintings. Oh well. It makes money for the ship, and so they get the space. But as one person said to me, “The passengers bring in more money than the art people.” Go figure.
We’ve had rough seas since yesterday as we sailed away from Madeira, some real rocking and rolling. Down here on Deck 5 the waves slap against the ship and makes some very loud noise. It has made it hard for my beloved to sleep, but fortunately, I’ve been able to nod off and stay with it. Last night she took a sleeping pill, but still didn’t sleep soundly. The seas are smoothing out as we get closer to Gibraltar, so hopefully a good night’s sleep will be enjoyed by all.
Tonight’s headline entertainer was a fantastic singer, Christina Bianco. In addition to having a beautiful and powerful voice she does impressions of lady singers, pop stars, old fashioned divas, and more. The cruise director said Christina has a YouTube channel with over 24 million hits, so check it out. Some good stuff.
Well, it’s time for blogging by Bonnie so I will see you tomorrow.
TTFN
Well, no walking today. I was thrown from side to side in the halls because the ship was rocking so bad, so it wasn’t safe for me to walk. Only about 5000 steps today.
The day started about 7. We were up and dressed and at breakfast by 8. I tried an omelet today with my hot chocolate. After breakfast I went to the Explorers lounge to wait for his talk at 10:30. They were doing trivia at 9 and then, the video lady for the ship came in to show here latest, the tour of the bridge, the laundry room and the engine room. It was okay and she at least finished in time for David to be set up and ready to go at 10:30. The room was small and soon there were no seats. Oh well. The officer of the day came on at 11 to announce the clock change and give the noon report. The temp tomorrow is to be high 57 degrees, cloudy and possible showers. That figures it is British. After his talk they had only recorded the audio part so we had to put the PowerPoint part on a flash drive and take it to the production guy so they could show his talk on TV. Then it was almost 1 as your Dad had stopped to talk after his lecture. Lots of nice people. This couple wanted to know when were sailing again and said they weren’t doing anything in December and might try to get that cruise. Cool.
At lunch, a cup of soup, steamed vegetables and sugar free mousse. A young lady crew worker in the Lido deck said she remembered us from the Pacific Princess last year. Wow. Had a nice chat. After lunch we went back to the Explorers lounge and played some cards, yeah I won a game. Then, off to the cabin and nap. I was snoring, I woke myself so I put on my mask and went off to a good sleep. He woke me at 5 to get ready and go to supper.
Hey, tonight was Italian night so I had minestrone soup and spaghetti with meat balls and tomato sauce. Then a sugar free dessert of some kind. Then, it was off to the show. Really good female singer. She impersonated all kinds of female divas as she sang. She had a beautiful voice all her own. She is real short, Dad said he had passed her on the steps earlier and she is shorter than me. Enjoyed her singing.
Well, we are back in the cabin and the noise is just as bad as last night. I have never before heard such loud banging and crashing of waves and ship before. And we have been on lower decks before and on rough seas. But this is really LOUD!! It really sounds like your are crashing into something.
Hey, Tate, love the big boy underwear. You looked really cute. Miss you all.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
HAVE SOME MADEIRA, MY DEAR
April 11, 2018
The title of tonight’s blog is from a song about Madeira’s wine. It is on YouTube.
She woke me up this morning at 7:15 saying, “We are at the dock,” when we really weren’t, and it didn’t matter anyway because we had purchased shuttle tickets and the first shuttle wasn’t until 9:15. But when we got to the dining room, everyone was there. The breakfast crowd has been slim during the sea days – you don’t have to get up to do an excursion, so you sleep in. It was difficult finding a table, but at last we sat with two singles, two guys sitting a chair apart at a table for 6. They weren’t together and didn’t want anyone to think they were.
I had done some Googling before we left to find some new things to do because this is our 5th visit to Madeira. I located an Optical Museum which featured cameras and projectors (did I just hear someone yawn) and a Sacred Art Museum – which I particularly wanted to see. I had printed out a map from Google and the ship gave us a map as well, and using the two of them we went right to it, paid our 5 euros each and went in. Beautiful things, all from one Cathedral in Madeira. Beautiful things. There is a lot of silver – staffs to carry in processions (I guess they are called processional staffs) and chests to keep communion elements in (I guess they are called Eucharist chests) and incense swingers (I guess they are called incense swingers, or maybe they are called something that starts with a “C” and I forget what it is). I picked up one of the processional staffs, solid silver, and very heavy. Wow! A rich cathedral, and these are the things that are no longer used in the services and are now only on display.
The Museum is across the street from a church we haven’t visited before and we went in. Another incredibly beautiful house of worship. There are stairs that lead up 3 floors where you can to go the top of the church tower and look over the city. The roofs are mainly red tiles – they look like 12 inch drain pipes cut in half lengthwise. Years of rain and sun have faded them different shades. And from the tower we could see back to the harbor. We were the only ship in port today.
Speaking of the only ship in port today, we are still the only cruise ship in port and it is after 9:30 our time as I write this. We were scheduled to sail at 5:30. The captain came on while we were at supper and said that there were divers in the water inspecting the ship before we sailed. Something about valves that were worked on during the recent dry dock. I didn’t catch all of it. He predicted that we would sail between 8 and 9. Take all the time you need, O Captain my Captain because my wife’s husband is on this ship.
The Captain also said that we would experience heavy seas and high winds tonight and in the morning as we sail toward Gibraltar (Interruption: we are now underway). 5-6 meter high waves – that’s approaching 20 feet – and 45 mile an hour winds. Batten down the hatches, me hearties!
Well, I will let She Who Must Be Obeyed tell you about the gelato, the bookstore, the school supply store, and the Presidential Gardens. And what she had for dinner. And anything else her little ole’ heart desires.
TTFN
Well, last night was an interesting sleeping time. I spent from 11:30 to 3 with a pillow over my ears to try and deafen the horrible sound that was outside and under our room. Woke up at 3 and set in the bathroom for a while and then on the chair. I debated about going up to deck 7 and sleeping on one of the couches. The sound probably wasn’t up there. But finally about 4 I went back to the bed, put my mask back on and willed my self to sleep. I did pretty good until about 7. I woke him at 7:30 and yes were already in dock. We just hadn’t cleared the customs.
Breakfast was consumed and we got out euros, jackets, hats and my backpack and headed to the exit. It was on our deck so we didn’t have to go far. A short walk to the shuttles and we were off to a city we have explored often. A beautiful city and the weather was perfect. He got warm and removed his jacket before we hardly got started. After leaving the shuttle, we followed his map and soon found a church that was a college of the Jesuits. The church was beautiful. Still full of the flowers from their Easter celebration. The wooden ceiling was painted and just unbelievable. It was at least 30 feet high. There was a sign saying you could visit the tower and see the city. So we paid a euro each and headed up 4 flights of beautiful old wooden stairs. On each floor as you went up they had exhibits and pictures and stories about the church. On the first floor before we went up they had a model of the church made of legos. How cool. On the very top floor you could go out and see all around the city. A nice couple took our picture for us with the city in the background.
As we left the church we asked about the museum and the young lady said it was the white building across the street. We soon found it and paid our 5 euros each to tour the museum. I never saw so much silver, floor after floor of it. And the art work, pictures, wooden statues dating back to 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The silver was that old also. One of the priests from early on had researched and catalogued everything as to where it came from. David saw a video about the altar piece in the other church we had seen on previous visits and he wanted to know the history of it. So he asked at the desk if they had a book on it. They did not but said the bookstore might. Well, before we went looking for the bookstore, there was a school supply store across the way that I just had to look into. It had a massive amount of stuff. Pens, pencils, notebooks, stamps, just to much to say. We bought a feel small notebooks, and I got some cool wrapping paper for Tate’s birthday present.
Well, then we went looking for the bookstore. The first one we found did not have what we wanted, but the lady told us where to find one. It was turn left at the church we had visited earlier and go UP the street. I mean almost straight up. The lady said it was on the right side of the street. So off we went. We saw a sign in a window telling where it was and we had passed it so we went back down the to the building. It actually was in a 16th century old house. And it was unbelievable. There were 3 floors of books all displayed individually hanging from the walls and shelves. I went up to the second floor while your Dad was on the first looking at some books the lady had found for him. There were so many shelves and stacks I got lost and couldn’t find the steps to go back down. I thought I might be up there forever but finally figured out the word for exit, salat, and followed the signs. Scarey. The lady said that this is the biggest bookstore in Europe that displays all the books with the cover facing you. And they still have at least two floors they haven’t yet used. There must have been a million books.
Well, we spent 30 euros there. Needless to say he found some books. After the bookstore he wanted to go to the Governors flower garden which is just pass the shuttle stop and UP the hill. About 4 blocks UP. We stopped in a store on our way and got some gelato. He had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of peanut and I had mango and chocolate. It was quite good. After consuming our gelato we were on our way to the garden. We paid our one euro each and wandered around. Mainly he wandered and I sat after I got to the back of the garden and could sit and see the ocean. I was pooped. We then headed back and rode the shuttle to the ship. We got back on board about 2. After dropping our stuff in the room, we headed to the Lido and each had a bowl of soup and a sugar free dessert. Then, off for some cards, he is winning, then to the room for a nap.
At supper tonight we were by ourselves. I had a shrimp cocktail, beef stroganoff with noodles and cheese cake. Then, we headed to the theater. On the way we went out on deck and stood and watched the divers who were working on the bottom of the ship. Whatever they were doing certainly didn’t help the noise we had last night. Because it is even louder than it was last night. I am taking sleeping pills tonight. It can’t hurt!
The show tonight was a ventriloquist. I am sure we have seen him before. He was good and we had a fun time.
When we got back to the room we were still in the dock. But now have started on our way. It is very LOUD!!
I walked 13,000 steps and over 5 miles!
Well, that is all for now.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
The title of tonight’s blog is from a song about Madeira’s wine. It is on YouTube.
She woke me up this morning at 7:15 saying, “We are at the dock,” when we really weren’t, and it didn’t matter anyway because we had purchased shuttle tickets and the first shuttle wasn’t until 9:15. But when we got to the dining room, everyone was there. The breakfast crowd has been slim during the sea days – you don’t have to get up to do an excursion, so you sleep in. It was difficult finding a table, but at last we sat with two singles, two guys sitting a chair apart at a table for 6. They weren’t together and didn’t want anyone to think they were.
I had done some Googling before we left to find some new things to do because this is our 5th visit to Madeira. I located an Optical Museum which featured cameras and projectors (did I just hear someone yawn) and a Sacred Art Museum – which I particularly wanted to see. I had printed out a map from Google and the ship gave us a map as well, and using the two of them we went right to it, paid our 5 euros each and went in. Beautiful things, all from one Cathedral in Madeira. Beautiful things. There is a lot of silver – staffs to carry in processions (I guess they are called processional staffs) and chests to keep communion elements in (I guess they are called Eucharist chests) and incense swingers (I guess they are called incense swingers, or maybe they are called something that starts with a “C” and I forget what it is). I picked up one of the processional staffs, solid silver, and very heavy. Wow! A rich cathedral, and these are the things that are no longer used in the services and are now only on display.
The Museum is across the street from a church we haven’t visited before and we went in. Another incredibly beautiful house of worship. There are stairs that lead up 3 floors where you can to go the top of the church tower and look over the city. The roofs are mainly red tiles – they look like 12 inch drain pipes cut in half lengthwise. Years of rain and sun have faded them different shades. And from the tower we could see back to the harbor. We were the only ship in port today.
Speaking of the only ship in port today, we are still the only cruise ship in port and it is after 9:30 our time as I write this. We were scheduled to sail at 5:30. The captain came on while we were at supper and said that there were divers in the water inspecting the ship before we sailed. Something about valves that were worked on during the recent dry dock. I didn’t catch all of it. He predicted that we would sail between 8 and 9. Take all the time you need, O Captain my Captain because my wife’s husband is on this ship.
The Captain also said that we would experience heavy seas and high winds tonight and in the morning as we sail toward Gibraltar (Interruption: we are now underway). 5-6 meter high waves – that’s approaching 20 feet – and 45 mile an hour winds. Batten down the hatches, me hearties!
Well, I will let She Who Must Be Obeyed tell you about the gelato, the bookstore, the school supply store, and the Presidential Gardens. And what she had for dinner. And anything else her little ole’ heart desires.
TTFN
Well, last night was an interesting sleeping time. I spent from 11:30 to 3 with a pillow over my ears to try and deafen the horrible sound that was outside and under our room. Woke up at 3 and set in the bathroom for a while and then on the chair. I debated about going up to deck 7 and sleeping on one of the couches. The sound probably wasn’t up there. But finally about 4 I went back to the bed, put my mask back on and willed my self to sleep. I did pretty good until about 7. I woke him at 7:30 and yes were already in dock. We just hadn’t cleared the customs.
Breakfast was consumed and we got out euros, jackets, hats and my backpack and headed to the exit. It was on our deck so we didn’t have to go far. A short walk to the shuttles and we were off to a city we have explored often. A beautiful city and the weather was perfect. He got warm and removed his jacket before we hardly got started. After leaving the shuttle, we followed his map and soon found a church that was a college of the Jesuits. The church was beautiful. Still full of the flowers from their Easter celebration. The wooden ceiling was painted and just unbelievable. It was at least 30 feet high. There was a sign saying you could visit the tower and see the city. So we paid a euro each and headed up 4 flights of beautiful old wooden stairs. On each floor as you went up they had exhibits and pictures and stories about the church. On the first floor before we went up they had a model of the church made of legos. How cool. On the very top floor you could go out and see all around the city. A nice couple took our picture for us with the city in the background.
As we left the church we asked about the museum and the young lady said it was the white building across the street. We soon found it and paid our 5 euros each to tour the museum. I never saw so much silver, floor after floor of it. And the art work, pictures, wooden statues dating back to 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The silver was that old also. One of the priests from early on had researched and catalogued everything as to where it came from. David saw a video about the altar piece in the other church we had seen on previous visits and he wanted to know the history of it. So he asked at the desk if they had a book on it. They did not but said the bookstore might. Well, before we went looking for the bookstore, there was a school supply store across the way that I just had to look into. It had a massive amount of stuff. Pens, pencils, notebooks, stamps, just to much to say. We bought a feel small notebooks, and I got some cool wrapping paper for Tate’s birthday present.
Well, then we went looking for the bookstore. The first one we found did not have what we wanted, but the lady told us where to find one. It was turn left at the church we had visited earlier and go UP the street. I mean almost straight up. The lady said it was on the right side of the street. So off we went. We saw a sign in a window telling where it was and we had passed it so we went back down the to the building. It actually was in a 16th century old house. And it was unbelievable. There were 3 floors of books all displayed individually hanging from the walls and shelves. I went up to the second floor while your Dad was on the first looking at some books the lady had found for him. There were so many shelves and stacks I got lost and couldn’t find the steps to go back down. I thought I might be up there forever but finally figured out the word for exit, salat, and followed the signs. Scarey. The lady said that this is the biggest bookstore in Europe that displays all the books with the cover facing you. And they still have at least two floors they haven’t yet used. There must have been a million books.
Well, we spent 30 euros there. Needless to say he found some books. After the bookstore he wanted to go to the Governors flower garden which is just pass the shuttle stop and UP the hill. About 4 blocks UP. We stopped in a store on our way and got some gelato. He had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of peanut and I had mango and chocolate. It was quite good. After consuming our gelato we were on our way to the garden. We paid our one euro each and wandered around. Mainly he wandered and I sat after I got to the back of the garden and could sit and see the ocean. I was pooped. We then headed back and rode the shuttle to the ship. We got back on board about 2. After dropping our stuff in the room, we headed to the Lido and each had a bowl of soup and a sugar free dessert. Then, off for some cards, he is winning, then to the room for a nap.
At supper tonight we were by ourselves. I had a shrimp cocktail, beef stroganoff with noodles and cheese cake. Then, we headed to the theater. On the way we went out on deck and stood and watched the divers who were working on the bottom of the ship. Whatever they were doing certainly didn’t help the noise we had last night. Because it is even louder than it was last night. I am taking sleeping pills tonight. It can’t hurt!
The show tonight was a ventriloquist. I am sure we have seen him before. He was good and we had a fun time.
When we got back to the room we were still in the dock. But now have started on our way. It is very LOUD!!
I walked 13,000 steps and over 5 miles!
Well, that is all for now.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
BOOGIE NIGHTS
April 10, 2018
It was amusing watching the singers and dancers put on a disco show when not a one of them was alive when disco was the thing. And the clothes – especially the men’s – I know they looked like exhibits out of a museum to them. But they can move to the rapid beat and I cannot. Not my favorite show, and judging by the polite applause, I’m pretty sure others thought the same. But you can’t please everyone.
I did my potato talk today amidst some confusion. There was a video being shown in the theater of the recent dry dock of the Crown Princess, explaining and showing what was done – new PVC pipes, and stuff like that. Academy Award stuff.
Anyway (boy I’ve got a grouch on tonight) the video ran late and so I was late starting. When I was practicing back in our stateroom, I realized that I had not converted one of the videos from MP4 to WMV (ask tech support) and so it would not play on my backup laptop (which is running Windows XP). Fortunately I have the converter program on the traveling laptop and was able to make the switch and copy it onto my flash drive to move it to the other computer.
So I get the computer set up in the theater and go to test the audio, and wouldn’t ya know it, the afore mentioned video wouldn’t play. Guess why. I still had it on the flash drive and hadn’t copied it to the hard drive. So I ran the program from the flash drive and couldn’t use my clicker. But you can push the arrow keys to change the slides, so all was well.
When the talk was over and Bonnie and I were walking out of the theater she said, “Do you know how long that talk was?” I said, “No, because I didn’t have my clicker which has the timer on it.” She allowed as how it was an hour and 10 minutes. I remember preaching one time for an hour and 15 minutes, but I’ve never done a talk past 50 minutes. No one got up and left so it must not have been too bad. There was one man sleeping in the front row, however. After lunch I went back through and edited some stuff out. I’ll time it during my next rehearsal for the upcoming HAL cruise.
After all of the above, I can hear one of my readers saying, “Yes, but you are on a cruise! How bad can it be?”
We have found some rough water and down here on Deck 5 when the ship hits a wave there is a large KERTHUMP. Most entertaining. It is either a wave of we are murdering whales. It is ear plugs tonight at bedtime.
And now hereeeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
Yes, up at 6 am and out for my walk. Walking inside because it is cold and windy outside. Lots of people walking with me or against me. But I got in my steps. I have over 10,000 steps today. I did not get to go out after lunch because the Captain had come on during the other guys talk and said we were experiencing rough seas and waves and wind. So to much rocking for me to safely walk around the deck. I have enough trouble walking on dry land. Well, after walking in the morning, I came back to the room and he was just getting up. After he finished showering, I got ready and we went to breakfast. Just some cantelope and banana bread and hot chocolate. After breakfast he headed to the room to study and I headed to the theater. The early talk was to start at 9:15. It was on Barcelona and I got some ideas of what we can do when we get there, since we have a whole day there and then fly to Ft Lauderdale on the next day. The ship is doing an over night before it takes on new passengers and sails on to its next port. During the early talk the captain comes on with his announcement about the weather. So the speaker does not quite finish his talk because the ships video person wants to show her video about dry dock. Not very interesting. And of course during David’s talk the clocks are turned ahead an hour , so by the time he finishes it is 12:40 not 11:40.
We go back to the room and swap stuff and head to the Lido for lunch. We get a slice of pizza today and it is very good. We will do that again. After lunch we go looking for a place to play cards. We wind up in the Explorer’s lounge where they are doing their art auction. What a farcical thing. If those people actually buy that stuff they must need their head examined. And it is high pressure selling. Well, we played a few hands and headed to the room. He worked on editing his talk and I took a nap. I am not sure how with as loud as the waves hitting the ship were.
Supper was formal night but their food was not exciting. I had a goat cheese tart (it was good but not as good as some I have had before), filet mignon and a small dish of ice cream. The steak was cut up on a skewer with sweet potato squares and there was a rice pilaf under it. The pilaf was disgusting. I ate 2 small pieces of the steak , it was okay.
Then off to the show. There was a full house but the show was just soso. The 4 lead singers are not near as good as some we have seen before. A lot of lip singing goes on. Their lips are moving to a recording and it is sometimes obvious.
Well, we are back in our room. The noise outside is horrendous. I am not sure how I am going to go to sleep. There will be a big bang followed by a loud noise like someone scraping metal against metal. I am not exaggerating. Sometimes the bottom of the whole ship literally vibrates under our feet. Well, hopefully my brain will shut it out.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny with a high of 64 degrees. We will wear a sweater and a jacket. We got our shuttle tickets and I have packed my bag and am ready to go whenever we finish breakfast and get the all ashore call. Funchal is a fun island to visit. We have always had a good time here.
How was school Mac? And everybody else, too. Jen, how is the class going?
Well, love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie
It was amusing watching the singers and dancers put on a disco show when not a one of them was alive when disco was the thing. And the clothes – especially the men’s – I know they looked like exhibits out of a museum to them. But they can move to the rapid beat and I cannot. Not my favorite show, and judging by the polite applause, I’m pretty sure others thought the same. But you can’t please everyone.
I did my potato talk today amidst some confusion. There was a video being shown in the theater of the recent dry dock of the Crown Princess, explaining and showing what was done – new PVC pipes, and stuff like that. Academy Award stuff.
Anyway (boy I’ve got a grouch on tonight) the video ran late and so I was late starting. When I was practicing back in our stateroom, I realized that I had not converted one of the videos from MP4 to WMV (ask tech support) and so it would not play on my backup laptop (which is running Windows XP). Fortunately I have the converter program on the traveling laptop and was able to make the switch and copy it onto my flash drive to move it to the other computer.
So I get the computer set up in the theater and go to test the audio, and wouldn’t ya know it, the afore mentioned video wouldn’t play. Guess why. I still had it on the flash drive and hadn’t copied it to the hard drive. So I ran the program from the flash drive and couldn’t use my clicker. But you can push the arrow keys to change the slides, so all was well.
When the talk was over and Bonnie and I were walking out of the theater she said, “Do you know how long that talk was?” I said, “No, because I didn’t have my clicker which has the timer on it.” She allowed as how it was an hour and 10 minutes. I remember preaching one time for an hour and 15 minutes, but I’ve never done a talk past 50 minutes. No one got up and left so it must not have been too bad. There was one man sleeping in the front row, however. After lunch I went back through and edited some stuff out. I’ll time it during my next rehearsal for the upcoming HAL cruise.
After all of the above, I can hear one of my readers saying, “Yes, but you are on a cruise! How bad can it be?”
We have found some rough water and down here on Deck 5 when the ship hits a wave there is a large KERTHUMP. Most entertaining. It is either a wave of we are murdering whales. It is ear plugs tonight at bedtime.
And now hereeeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
Yes, up at 6 am and out for my walk. Walking inside because it is cold and windy outside. Lots of people walking with me or against me. But I got in my steps. I have over 10,000 steps today. I did not get to go out after lunch because the Captain had come on during the other guys talk and said we were experiencing rough seas and waves and wind. So to much rocking for me to safely walk around the deck. I have enough trouble walking on dry land. Well, after walking in the morning, I came back to the room and he was just getting up. After he finished showering, I got ready and we went to breakfast. Just some cantelope and banana bread and hot chocolate. After breakfast he headed to the room to study and I headed to the theater. The early talk was to start at 9:15. It was on Barcelona and I got some ideas of what we can do when we get there, since we have a whole day there and then fly to Ft Lauderdale on the next day. The ship is doing an over night before it takes on new passengers and sails on to its next port. During the early talk the captain comes on with his announcement about the weather. So the speaker does not quite finish his talk because the ships video person wants to show her video about dry dock. Not very interesting. And of course during David’s talk the clocks are turned ahead an hour , so by the time he finishes it is 12:40 not 11:40.
We go back to the room and swap stuff and head to the Lido for lunch. We get a slice of pizza today and it is very good. We will do that again. After lunch we go looking for a place to play cards. We wind up in the Explorer’s lounge where they are doing their art auction. What a farcical thing. If those people actually buy that stuff they must need their head examined. And it is high pressure selling. Well, we played a few hands and headed to the room. He worked on editing his talk and I took a nap. I am not sure how with as loud as the waves hitting the ship were.
Supper was formal night but their food was not exciting. I had a goat cheese tart (it was good but not as good as some I have had before), filet mignon and a small dish of ice cream. The steak was cut up on a skewer with sweet potato squares and there was a rice pilaf under it. The pilaf was disgusting. I ate 2 small pieces of the steak , it was okay.
Then off to the show. There was a full house but the show was just soso. The 4 lead singers are not near as good as some we have seen before. A lot of lip singing goes on. Their lips are moving to a recording and it is sometimes obvious.
Well, we are back in our room. The noise outside is horrendous. I am not sure how I am going to go to sleep. There will be a big bang followed by a loud noise like someone scraping metal against metal. I am not exaggerating. Sometimes the bottom of the whole ship literally vibrates under our feet. Well, hopefully my brain will shut it out.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny with a high of 64 degrees. We will wear a sweater and a jacket. We got our shuttle tickets and I have packed my bag and am ready to go whenever we finish breakfast and get the all ashore call. Funchal is a fun island to visit. We have always had a good time here.
How was school Mac? And everybody else, too. Jen, how is the class going?
Well, love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Monday, April 9, 2018
ED AND LENORE
April 9, 2018
This morning I was on stage at 9 a.m. for “Atlantic Cod.” It required a 6 a.m. alarm to shower, shave, shampoo, and have room service, then the final rehearsal. I redid that talk in the last two days. I almost always fiddle with them, changing something here or there, but I did a major make over for this one. I think it went well. Tonight as we were going to the theater a man stopped me and asked me if I had Cod for supper. I told him, no, but I did have the seafood pot pie (shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, crayfish, and scallops, plus a spicy rice – excellent).
I will be doing the Potato talk tomorrow (one of the two new ones I wrote for this cruise), then we are at Funchal Madeira, and then a sea day with “Raise a Glass,” the other new one. Then 3 stops and the big bird for Fort Lauderdale.
I received an email today from one of my agents offering a half-price deal on a 14 day Transatlantic from Cadiz to Fort Lauderdale leaving on April 16. The sailing is on the Pacific Princess – the ship we are going on in December. Would have loved to do it, but we will be on Holland America’s Zuiderdam. Maybe next time. But a Transatlantic for $350 for the two of us would have been awesome!
But enough about me. This morning after my talk, my Beloved and I went out into the Piazza where she had banana bread and hot chocolate and I had decaf coffee and a good book. She had done laundry and not had breakfast (I’ll let her tell the story. It is a doozy). We were sitting alone at a table for 4 when a couple walked up. I started to say Older Couple, but then we are O.C. as is most everyone on board. Ed is 91 and Lenore (as in Quote the Raven, never more) is catching up to him. She is Jewish. He is a German Catholic. And they are a hoot! I laughed for the 30 or 40 minutes they sat with us. It started with Lenore’s costume. A Goofy t-shirt. Goofy’s body is on the shirt, but there is no head. Lenore’s head is Goofy’s head. And she had on a purple aviator-like hat with long black, floppy, Goofy ears. Bonnie says it is a Goofy hat. She regaled us with story after story. I wish you had been there.
Well, it is time for BBB – Blogging By Bonnie. Ask her about the laundry day!
TTFN
Okay, so I get up with him at 6am. Slept pretty good. I had planned to do laundry but had said I would wait till tomorrow since I had to be in the room when his breakfast arrived in case he was in the shower. Well, he finished showering before it came so he said I could go ahead and do the laundry. So I had it already mostly loaded in the suitcase. I added a few more things, made sure I had my key and the soap. It is about 6:45. I knew you needed your key to pay for the laundry. Well, I walked to the end of our hall where the laundry was located and went in and it said you needed bronze coins to run the machines. FOOT! So I drug the suitcase back to the room and headed up to the desk. Well, the guy at the desk said, “there machine to get coins from in laundry room”. So back to the room, get the laundry and head to the laundry room. Get there load the laundry and soap. Go to machine hanging on the wall, how did I miss it. I touch the screen and follow the directions. I need 4 coins to wash and dry, $3 per coin, I press ready to pay and slide my card, wait for it! There is a malfunction with my card. The message says call 6000. I pick up the phone and dial 6000, I get the dude I had just talked to at the desk. He say, I send some one. In the meantime another lady enters the room with her laundry. She has no coins either and the machine won’t work for her. I am not taking my laundry out of the washers, even when a 3 rd lady enters with her laundry and she has already purchased coins from the desk yesterday. Well, a young man, who spoke very little English and understood even less arrived about 10 minutes after I had called the desk. He said who knows what but said he would be right back, HA! 40 minutes later, 3 more calls to 6000, and I was a little less friendly each time, I said enough is enough. Asked the first lady who had come in if she would watch my laundry, I was going to the desk. She said yes. I walked to the desk. By this time there were 3 people behind the counter all on the phone. I am positive the young man who I had seen earlier delayed getting off his phone so he didn’t have to deal with this angry laundry lady. One young man got off the phone, I said I had been waiting almost an hour for someone to come to the laundry room to bring coins, I was tired and I wanted to buy some from him. No problem, gave him my card and he gave me 4 bronze coins costing $12. I proceeded back to the laundry room. Deposited said coins ran the washers, it takes 40 minutes to wash, then moved clothes to the dryer, it takes 40 minutes to dry. The other lady who had also gone upstairs and bought her coins put here wash in when my loads were finished. By the time I returned to the room it was after 9 am. I put the clothes away and took my bath and then went to the talk arriving about 9:25. If the dude had just sold me coins when I went up and asked all of this could have been avoided. I was not a happy camper.
I finally got some breakfast and took my morning pills about 10:15. Today the time was changed at 11 am again so it was soon. Noon.
Lunch wasn’t much at about 1. I tried some cream of broccoli soup, it was yucky. I tried a small salad and the vinegarette dressing was way to oily. So I gave up on lunch.
So I decided to go for my walk. It was very windy outside and cool, 66 I think. I went around the deck 4 times since I hadn’t walked earlier. There are some really crazy people on this ship. One guy in a very wide wheelchair was wheeling himself around the deck on the promenade. Really. He was so wide you had to stop and let him go by because there was no room to walk beside him. Then, there are all the little oriental ladies, bundled up like it is freezing, moving their little bodies around flying rudely by you. At least no one was flat out running. In order to go all the way around the deck there are two flights of long high stairs you must climb at the front of the ship. You walk up on one side of the bow and then down on the other side. It takes me a minute or two to walk the stairs so I usually will stop and wait if there are people directly behind me or in front coming down or up when I am trying to go up or down. But some are really rude pushing past you and not waiting for me to go. Well, the trials of walking. I did get my 10,000 steps in today.
After walking I took a 2 hour nap before supper. Supper saw no improvement on eating. The watermelon appetizer was good, the soap ( soup) was okay. But the Austrian whatever which was supposed to be sirloin steak with red cabbage and potatoes was not. The meat was grizzle and I only ate about 2 or 3 bites of it. The cabbage was kind of tasteless and the potatoes weren’t much either. I tried cherries jubilee for dessert but it was only okay. So eating today has not been good. Maybe better tomorrow.
The show tonight was good. A singer originally was Sydney who now lives in London. He has had lead roles in Westside story, Les Miserable, and Phantom of the Opera. He sang songs from each. Absolutely beautiful voice and nice to look at, too.
Well, my tale is done. We have one more day to turn our clocks forward and tomorrow is another formal night. The Captain has the hammer down, traveling at 20 knots or more and you can hear the waves crashing against the hull. It is time to try and go to sleep.
Well, kids it is off to school tomorrow. Sorry Mac.
Love, Mom , Granny and Bonnie
This morning I was on stage at 9 a.m. for “Atlantic Cod.” It required a 6 a.m. alarm to shower, shave, shampoo, and have room service, then the final rehearsal. I redid that talk in the last two days. I almost always fiddle with them, changing something here or there, but I did a major make over for this one. I think it went well. Tonight as we were going to the theater a man stopped me and asked me if I had Cod for supper. I told him, no, but I did have the seafood pot pie (shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, crayfish, and scallops, plus a spicy rice – excellent).
I will be doing the Potato talk tomorrow (one of the two new ones I wrote for this cruise), then we are at Funchal Madeira, and then a sea day with “Raise a Glass,” the other new one. Then 3 stops and the big bird for Fort Lauderdale.
I received an email today from one of my agents offering a half-price deal on a 14 day Transatlantic from Cadiz to Fort Lauderdale leaving on April 16. The sailing is on the Pacific Princess – the ship we are going on in December. Would have loved to do it, but we will be on Holland America’s Zuiderdam. Maybe next time. But a Transatlantic for $350 for the two of us would have been awesome!
But enough about me. This morning after my talk, my Beloved and I went out into the Piazza where she had banana bread and hot chocolate and I had decaf coffee and a good book. She had done laundry and not had breakfast (I’ll let her tell the story. It is a doozy). We were sitting alone at a table for 4 when a couple walked up. I started to say Older Couple, but then we are O.C. as is most everyone on board. Ed is 91 and Lenore (as in Quote the Raven, never more) is catching up to him. She is Jewish. He is a German Catholic. And they are a hoot! I laughed for the 30 or 40 minutes they sat with us. It started with Lenore’s costume. A Goofy t-shirt. Goofy’s body is on the shirt, but there is no head. Lenore’s head is Goofy’s head. And she had on a purple aviator-like hat with long black, floppy, Goofy ears. Bonnie says it is a Goofy hat. She regaled us with story after story. I wish you had been there.
Well, it is time for BBB – Blogging By Bonnie. Ask her about the laundry day!
TTFN
Okay, so I get up with him at 6am. Slept pretty good. I had planned to do laundry but had said I would wait till tomorrow since I had to be in the room when his breakfast arrived in case he was in the shower. Well, he finished showering before it came so he said I could go ahead and do the laundry. So I had it already mostly loaded in the suitcase. I added a few more things, made sure I had my key and the soap. It is about 6:45. I knew you needed your key to pay for the laundry. Well, I walked to the end of our hall where the laundry was located and went in and it said you needed bronze coins to run the machines. FOOT! So I drug the suitcase back to the room and headed up to the desk. Well, the guy at the desk said, “there machine to get coins from in laundry room”. So back to the room, get the laundry and head to the laundry room. Get there load the laundry and soap. Go to machine hanging on the wall, how did I miss it. I touch the screen and follow the directions. I need 4 coins to wash and dry, $3 per coin, I press ready to pay and slide my card, wait for it! There is a malfunction with my card. The message says call 6000. I pick up the phone and dial 6000, I get the dude I had just talked to at the desk. He say, I send some one. In the meantime another lady enters the room with her laundry. She has no coins either and the machine won’t work for her. I am not taking my laundry out of the washers, even when a 3 rd lady enters with her laundry and she has already purchased coins from the desk yesterday. Well, a young man, who spoke very little English and understood even less arrived about 10 minutes after I had called the desk. He said who knows what but said he would be right back, HA! 40 minutes later, 3 more calls to 6000, and I was a little less friendly each time, I said enough is enough. Asked the first lady who had come in if she would watch my laundry, I was going to the desk. She said yes. I walked to the desk. By this time there were 3 people behind the counter all on the phone. I am positive the young man who I had seen earlier delayed getting off his phone so he didn’t have to deal with this angry laundry lady. One young man got off the phone, I said I had been waiting almost an hour for someone to come to the laundry room to bring coins, I was tired and I wanted to buy some from him. No problem, gave him my card and he gave me 4 bronze coins costing $12. I proceeded back to the laundry room. Deposited said coins ran the washers, it takes 40 minutes to wash, then moved clothes to the dryer, it takes 40 minutes to dry. The other lady who had also gone upstairs and bought her coins put here wash in when my loads were finished. By the time I returned to the room it was after 9 am. I put the clothes away and took my bath and then went to the talk arriving about 9:25. If the dude had just sold me coins when I went up and asked all of this could have been avoided. I was not a happy camper.
I finally got some breakfast and took my morning pills about 10:15. Today the time was changed at 11 am again so it was soon. Noon.
Lunch wasn’t much at about 1. I tried some cream of broccoli soup, it was yucky. I tried a small salad and the vinegarette dressing was way to oily. So I gave up on lunch.
So I decided to go for my walk. It was very windy outside and cool, 66 I think. I went around the deck 4 times since I hadn’t walked earlier. There are some really crazy people on this ship. One guy in a very wide wheelchair was wheeling himself around the deck on the promenade. Really. He was so wide you had to stop and let him go by because there was no room to walk beside him. Then, there are all the little oriental ladies, bundled up like it is freezing, moving their little bodies around flying rudely by you. At least no one was flat out running. In order to go all the way around the deck there are two flights of long high stairs you must climb at the front of the ship. You walk up on one side of the bow and then down on the other side. It takes me a minute or two to walk the stairs so I usually will stop and wait if there are people directly behind me or in front coming down or up when I am trying to go up or down. But some are really rude pushing past you and not waiting for me to go. Well, the trials of walking. I did get my 10,000 steps in today.
After walking I took a 2 hour nap before supper. Supper saw no improvement on eating. The watermelon appetizer was good, the soap ( soup) was okay. But the Austrian whatever which was supposed to be sirloin steak with red cabbage and potatoes was not. The meat was grizzle and I only ate about 2 or 3 bites of it. The cabbage was kind of tasteless and the potatoes weren’t much either. I tried cherries jubilee for dessert but it was only okay. So eating today has not been good. Maybe better tomorrow.
The show tonight was good. A singer originally was Sydney who now lives in London. He has had lead roles in Westside story, Les Miserable, and Phantom of the Opera. He sang songs from each. Absolutely beautiful voice and nice to look at, too.
Well, my tale is done. We have one more day to turn our clocks forward and tomorrow is another formal night. The Captain has the hammer down, traveling at 20 knots or more and you can hear the waves crashing against the hull. It is time to try and go to sleep.
Well, kids it is off to school tomorrow. Sorry Mac.
Love, Mom , Granny and Bonnie
Sunday, April 8, 2018
BLOG BY BONNIE
April 8, 2018
Dear Blogging Buddies,
I have relinquished the blog to my beloved tonight because my talk was moved from 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., and I am rehearsing.
See you tomorrow night.
TTFN
Let’s see where shall I start!! Well, 6am actually. Up and out to walk. Still dark and cold, so I walked inside again. For some strange reason every morning there are crew people out on the promenade using a hose and washing down the deck, the walls and the bottom of the life boats. Then, vacuuming up the water. Crazy! Then, back to the room and a shower with the washing of the hair. Did I tell you our shower is SMALL!! You should try and wash your hair. OH my. An another thing there is only one chair in our room. So I usually have to sit on the bed. Not always the most comfortable for just sitting. But otherwise this is a nice room. Just very compact. No drawer space just shelves and a bar with hangers.
Today they had their “Huge 75% off sale” in the one dining room. I actually did not see anything that was 75% off. But I did splurge and buy and lite weight jacket. Oh well. I sat in the Piazza for a while this morning till time for his talk while he rehearsed. After his talk we went upstairs for some cards and lunch. I had some steamed vegetables, cauliflower, applesauce and a small salad.
Then, he went to the room to work on tomorrow’s talk and I did 3 laps around the deck. It was cool and pretty windy. It got to 70 today and is to be about 67 tomorrow.
After my walk I came back to the room to try and nap but every time I started to doze off someone outside was banging on metal with a hammer. Soon it was time to dress for supper. Supper wasn’t much. He ordered a pasta dish that was to have mussels in it, but when it came there were only 2 mussels and one wasn’t open, which means don’t eat it, and the other shell appeared to be empty. He asked them to take it back and bring him the short rib dinner which was much better. I ordered the jerk chicken with red beans and rice. The chicken was just chicken and really didn’t have any spicy taste. The rice and beans were not good. We both ordered the hazelnut pumpkin sugar free dessert, he liked it, I did not.
After supper it was off to the show with the comedian from the other night. New show and he was again very funny.
Tomorrow night is to be a singer who will sing stuff from the “Sydney Opera House to London’s glittering West End”. He was supposed to have been on earlier but has had laryngitis but is better now.
We got a paper in our room for ordering shuttle tickets for Funchal and Palma. Both are a pretty long hike, over 2 miles and 4miles, into the town. But the shuttles are really expensive. Usually the one in Funchal is free but it is $8 per person round trip and Palma is $16 per person round trip. We already have transportation for Palma so we are just ordering the Funchal tickets. We have walked it before, but it can be a long haul.
Well, nothing much exciting happening here. I was going to do laundry tomorrow morning but since his talk is so early, I need to be here to answer the room service knock while he is getting ready. I will wash the clothes on Tuesday morning. We turn our clocks up another hour tomorrow at 11am and will do it again on Tuesday. And Tuesday night is our second formal night. I have one formal outfit and I get to wear it 3 times this trip.
I walked 14,478 steps, 5.75 miles and 146 flights of stairs.
He has only two more talks after tomorrow. The other speaker had today off and has tomorrow off. He only has one more talk.
Well, good night all. They were making some kind of racket outside but it has quieted down and I hope it stays that way.
Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Dear Blogging Buddies,
I have relinquished the blog to my beloved tonight because my talk was moved from 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., and I am rehearsing.
See you tomorrow night.
TTFN
Let’s see where shall I start!! Well, 6am actually. Up and out to walk. Still dark and cold, so I walked inside again. For some strange reason every morning there are crew people out on the promenade using a hose and washing down the deck, the walls and the bottom of the life boats. Then, vacuuming up the water. Crazy! Then, back to the room and a shower with the washing of the hair. Did I tell you our shower is SMALL!! You should try and wash your hair. OH my. An another thing there is only one chair in our room. So I usually have to sit on the bed. Not always the most comfortable for just sitting. But otherwise this is a nice room. Just very compact. No drawer space just shelves and a bar with hangers.
Today they had their “Huge 75% off sale” in the one dining room. I actually did not see anything that was 75% off. But I did splurge and buy and lite weight jacket. Oh well. I sat in the Piazza for a while this morning till time for his talk while he rehearsed. After his talk we went upstairs for some cards and lunch. I had some steamed vegetables, cauliflower, applesauce and a small salad.
Then, he went to the room to work on tomorrow’s talk and I did 3 laps around the deck. It was cool and pretty windy. It got to 70 today and is to be about 67 tomorrow.
After my walk I came back to the room to try and nap but every time I started to doze off someone outside was banging on metal with a hammer. Soon it was time to dress for supper. Supper wasn’t much. He ordered a pasta dish that was to have mussels in it, but when it came there were only 2 mussels and one wasn’t open, which means don’t eat it, and the other shell appeared to be empty. He asked them to take it back and bring him the short rib dinner which was much better. I ordered the jerk chicken with red beans and rice. The chicken was just chicken and really didn’t have any spicy taste. The rice and beans were not good. We both ordered the hazelnut pumpkin sugar free dessert, he liked it, I did not.
After supper it was off to the show with the comedian from the other night. New show and he was again very funny.
Tomorrow night is to be a singer who will sing stuff from the “Sydney Opera House to London’s glittering West End”. He was supposed to have been on earlier but has had laryngitis but is better now.
We got a paper in our room for ordering shuttle tickets for Funchal and Palma. Both are a pretty long hike, over 2 miles and 4miles, into the town. But the shuttles are really expensive. Usually the one in Funchal is free but it is $8 per person round trip and Palma is $16 per person round trip. We already have transportation for Palma so we are just ordering the Funchal tickets. We have walked it before, but it can be a long haul.
Well, nothing much exciting happening here. I was going to do laundry tomorrow morning but since his talk is so early, I need to be here to answer the room service knock while he is getting ready. I will wash the clothes on Tuesday morning. We turn our clocks up another hour tomorrow at 11am and will do it again on Tuesday. And Tuesday night is our second formal night. I have one formal outfit and I get to wear it 3 times this trip.
I walked 14,478 steps, 5.75 miles and 146 flights of stairs.
He has only two more talks after tomorrow. The other speaker had today off and has tomorrow off. He only has one more talk.
Well, good night all. They were making some kind of racket outside but it has quieted down and I hope it stays that way.
Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Saturday, April 7, 2018
POT ROAST
April 7, 2018
I don’t think there has been an evening meal where the participants at Table 107 have duplicated one another’s meals. Until tonight. We all got different appetizers, but each of us got the pot roast with mashed potatoes and red cabbage. Excellent!
Dee and Dean are trivia people. They play several times a day. There is a continuing trivia that plays throughout the cruise and it is at 10:30 in the morning so they never see my talks, unless they turn on the TV. And they don’t eat dessert so they can go to the 7:15 p.m. trivia. I thought about going tonight and missing the show because it was “Space Trivia.” I asked them to remember a few questions for me.
We only played 3 hands of rummy today. We sat down to play after lunch and because we change our clocks at 11 a.m. it was 2 p.m. when we first shuffled up and dealt. I wanted to start rehearsal on “Spice,” tomorrow’s talk, and She Who Must Be Obeyed wanted to do another walk. So that ended Game 3 with me ahead by 100 points. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
We shared a table at lunch today with a couple from Quebec. Actually they shared our table because we were there first. She only “parley vous” and he speaks French and English. So there were only three of us talking. He translated once or twice, but she only spoke to him. When he told us she speaks no English, she asked, “Parley vous Francais,” and I replied with a line from 10th grade French when Terry Palmer and I were doing a dialogue: “No, j’nai pas mon kiyah.” (I’m not sure about that last word. Or the second one for that matter). Translated it means: “No, I do not have my notebook.” It was funny in 10th grade, and got a laugh at the Horizon Court today. I still got it. And it’s not contagious.
Okay. BonBon’s turn.
TTFN
Well, my alarm went off at 6 am and I hurried to turn it off before it woke my sleeping buddy. I got up went to the bathroom, turned on its light, which doesn’t show into the room, and found my walking clothes and stuff and crept out the door. It was again to cold and windy to walk around outside so I wandered around inside till I had my mile. Then headed to the room where he was still in the bed. It was 2 minutes till seven. I got out of my sweaty clothes and waited till he finished in the bathroom then, I got my turn in the bathroom and I got ready. This is by far the smallest shower ever. I t is 29 inches by 26 inches, I measured it!! It is impossible for me to wash my lower legs and feet unless I turn off the water and open the curtain. Then, after soaping up the lower part of my body, turn on the water and rinse. When I have to shave my legs it is going to be an adventure. This is truly a shower where you could attach a sponge to the wall and spin around to wash yourself. Even Kyle and Cathy would find it very small.
After getting dressed we headed to breakfast and then, he went back to study and I went to the theater. I listened to the talk about Palma, Mallorca, a place we have not been before. He has bought a hop on hop off bus ticket for us which includes a visit to a castle. It sounds like a really nice place to visit. It is a place where the Europeans would come for sun and fun. Chopin, in the company of his mistress George Sands ( can’t remember her actual name this is her pen name) and her 2 children came for a retreat for rest and relaxation. None of which Chopin got because the locals didn’t like the fact he came with his mistress and not his wife.
David’s talk was salt and it was good. It was a good thing nothing was after his talk because he took almost an hour. Backup computer is doing a good job. The time changed again at 11 am in the middle of his talk so by the time he was finished it was almost 12:30. We headed for lunch after taking our stuff to the room. I had a cup of a cream vegetable soup and a small salad. I splurged today and had an ice cream cone though it was still pretty cool outside. After lunch and our hand of cards I went for my second walk. This time I walked outside. It was cool and windy. After walking I returned to the cabin and had a 2 hour nap.
The show tonight was the pianist again with a new program. He is very good. He is the size of Flavis( kids remember him) or Cesar Brooks. A very large man. But he can make that piano sing. And sometimes he sings the song he is playing. He played stuff from the Phantom of the Opera, Cats, The Little Mermaid, E.T., some classical and finished with several pieces from Liberace. Very good.
We have sat beside the same couple in the theater for 2 nights. Very nice and have had some great conversations. They are in the elite circle on Princess, in fact on this cruise they are the second highest travelers. The top 40 people get to go to a special dinner with the Captain tomorrow night and your ranking determines how close you get to set to the Captain. They get to set at his table beside him. How cool.
Well, tonight when we returned to the cabin, I took a pillow case off a pillow so David could see what kind of pillow it is. He loves the pillow and wants to buy some. He said we would look when they strip the bed at the end of the cruise but I told him we would never remember so we did it tonight. He made a note in his little book.
Well, I have my pills to take, my teeth to floss and brush, and then it will be off to bed. Loved the picture from Amy of the boys cruising. Glad you are all back safely. Mac enjoy your last days of vacation. Hey Tate you can hold Mommy’s hand in bed at night now!!
12,907 steps, 5.13 miles and 86 flights of stairs according to my fitbit watch.
Love, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
I don’t think there has been an evening meal where the participants at Table 107 have duplicated one another’s meals. Until tonight. We all got different appetizers, but each of us got the pot roast with mashed potatoes and red cabbage. Excellent!
Dee and Dean are trivia people. They play several times a day. There is a continuing trivia that plays throughout the cruise and it is at 10:30 in the morning so they never see my talks, unless they turn on the TV. And they don’t eat dessert so they can go to the 7:15 p.m. trivia. I thought about going tonight and missing the show because it was “Space Trivia.” I asked them to remember a few questions for me.
We only played 3 hands of rummy today. We sat down to play after lunch and because we change our clocks at 11 a.m. it was 2 p.m. when we first shuffled up and dealt. I wanted to start rehearsal on “Spice,” tomorrow’s talk, and She Who Must Be Obeyed wanted to do another walk. So that ended Game 3 with me ahead by 100 points. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
We shared a table at lunch today with a couple from Quebec. Actually they shared our table because we were there first. She only “parley vous” and he speaks French and English. So there were only three of us talking. He translated once or twice, but she only spoke to him. When he told us she speaks no English, she asked, “Parley vous Francais,” and I replied with a line from 10th grade French when Terry Palmer and I were doing a dialogue: “No, j’nai pas mon kiyah.” (I’m not sure about that last word. Or the second one for that matter). Translated it means: “No, I do not have my notebook.” It was funny in 10th grade, and got a laugh at the Horizon Court today. I still got it. And it’s not contagious.
Okay. BonBon’s turn.
TTFN
Well, my alarm went off at 6 am and I hurried to turn it off before it woke my sleeping buddy. I got up went to the bathroom, turned on its light, which doesn’t show into the room, and found my walking clothes and stuff and crept out the door. It was again to cold and windy to walk around outside so I wandered around inside till I had my mile. Then headed to the room where he was still in the bed. It was 2 minutes till seven. I got out of my sweaty clothes and waited till he finished in the bathroom then, I got my turn in the bathroom and I got ready. This is by far the smallest shower ever. I t is 29 inches by 26 inches, I measured it!! It is impossible for me to wash my lower legs and feet unless I turn off the water and open the curtain. Then, after soaping up the lower part of my body, turn on the water and rinse. When I have to shave my legs it is going to be an adventure. This is truly a shower where you could attach a sponge to the wall and spin around to wash yourself. Even Kyle and Cathy would find it very small.
After getting dressed we headed to breakfast and then, he went back to study and I went to the theater. I listened to the talk about Palma, Mallorca, a place we have not been before. He has bought a hop on hop off bus ticket for us which includes a visit to a castle. It sounds like a really nice place to visit. It is a place where the Europeans would come for sun and fun. Chopin, in the company of his mistress George Sands ( can’t remember her actual name this is her pen name) and her 2 children came for a retreat for rest and relaxation. None of which Chopin got because the locals didn’t like the fact he came with his mistress and not his wife.
David’s talk was salt and it was good. It was a good thing nothing was after his talk because he took almost an hour. Backup computer is doing a good job. The time changed again at 11 am in the middle of his talk so by the time he was finished it was almost 12:30. We headed for lunch after taking our stuff to the room. I had a cup of a cream vegetable soup and a small salad. I splurged today and had an ice cream cone though it was still pretty cool outside. After lunch and our hand of cards I went for my second walk. This time I walked outside. It was cool and windy. After walking I returned to the cabin and had a 2 hour nap.
The show tonight was the pianist again with a new program. He is very good. He is the size of Flavis( kids remember him) or Cesar Brooks. A very large man. But he can make that piano sing. And sometimes he sings the song he is playing. He played stuff from the Phantom of the Opera, Cats, The Little Mermaid, E.T., some classical and finished with several pieces from Liberace. Very good.
We have sat beside the same couple in the theater for 2 nights. Very nice and have had some great conversations. They are in the elite circle on Princess, in fact on this cruise they are the second highest travelers. The top 40 people get to go to a special dinner with the Captain tomorrow night and your ranking determines how close you get to set to the Captain. They get to set at his table beside him. How cool.
Well, tonight when we returned to the cabin, I took a pillow case off a pillow so David could see what kind of pillow it is. He loves the pillow and wants to buy some. He said we would look when they strip the bed at the end of the cruise but I told him we would never remember so we did it tonight. He made a note in his little book.
Well, I have my pills to take, my teeth to floss and brush, and then it will be off to bed. Loved the picture from Amy of the boys cruising. Glad you are all back safely. Mac enjoy your last days of vacation. Hey Tate you can hold Mommy’s hand in bed at night now!!
12,907 steps, 5.13 miles and 86 flights of stairs according to my fitbit watch.
Love, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)