BLOG, THE SIXTH

November 16, 2018

Why do people who are so overweight that they have to ride on scooters order two appetizers, two entrees and two desserts?  Just saying.

Why do people who are not vision impaired bring dogs on cruise ships?  Just saying.

Why do cruise ships allow people who are not vision impaired to bring dogs on board?  Just saying.

If I had a dog, I would name him “Shashleek.”  Just saying.

But enough of that.

Well, I have another day off tomorrow.  I have been pre-empted by Chef Dino.  So there will be no Celestial Navigation talk this cruise.  My companion is fussing up a storm, but it’s their ship and they can do what they want.  If they want to do all they do for us financially and only work me four times, it’s okay by me.  Have cruise ship.  Will travel.

But, I still got it!  You will remember I blogged recently that I was speaking Russian with Elena at the Guest Relations desk.  Tonight when we returned to our stateroom, having had our ear drums pierced at “America Rocks!” (the production show by “the kids” – very, very loud) and hearing the PG comedian repeat his show from an earlier night (reruns of Midsomer Murders is fun; reruns of Star Trek is fun; reruns of Star Wars is fun; reruns of comedians is not fun – but as I said above, it’s their ship) there was a bottle of champagne and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us.  Elena thanked me for speaking Russian with her, and said, “Spacebo. Minyeah oychen narivitsa.”  I still got it!  And it is not contagious.

We had a good day ashore in Curacao, one of our favorite Caribbean islands.  One of our favorite Caribbean islands – how blessed to have a “favorite” Caribbean island.

The ship docks out in the ocean.  It is too large to sail up into the bay – the first time we saw the HAL Zuiderdam, she was docked up in the bay – so there is a special dock for ships of our size.  We walked through the shopping area, picked up a few souvenirs and then went out into the Otrabando, wandered around for a while, and then went over to the Punda.  If your Dutch is a little rusty, the Punda is “the point,” and the Otrabando is “the other side.”  I love that – the other side.

We discovered a church on the Otrabando that we had never noticed before and walked back to it – the Basilica of Saint Ann.  We enjoyed the quiet of the sanctuary and I took photographs of the altar and of a series of mosaics that circles the sanctuary.  They are beautiful scenes from Jesus’ final hours leading up to the crucifixion.  Before we left, I lit a candle and said a prayer for the safety of our kids with all of the shenanigans going on at the Lakeside educational complex.  There have been way too many days of lockdowns, but we are glad for the diligence of the law enforcement community.

After shopping around for a while we stopped for some ice cream, and when we had finished and walked away, just down the street was a gellato stand.  The ice cream was good, but I wish we had waited.

Back at the bay we had to wait for the Queen Wilhimena Bridge to close.  It is a pontoon bridge built in the late 1800s to allow pedestrians to cross from the Otrabando to the Punda and visa versa.  Originally it was a toll bridge.  The rich paid, and the poor got to cross for free.  The determination for paying the toll was whether or not you had shoes.  If you had shoes, you were rich and you had to pay.  So the rich loaned their shoes to the poor and crossed barefooted to beat the toll and the poor wore the shoes and gladly paid the toll to be thought rich.  Go figure.  Anyway, the bridge opens to let oil ships in and out – there is a large refinery back up the bay.  When the bridge is open there is a ferry that ferries pedestrians, but today it was on the opposite side.  It was neat watching two oil tankers and their accompanying pilot ships go out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Bonnie and I had a disagreement about whether the bridge was open or closed.  I said it was open to allow ships to pass.  She said it was closed to pedestrians.  It was one of those times when we were both right, but neither one of us would admit it.  Don’t tell her I said she was right.

Well, that’s enough for tonight.

TTFN