THE FIRST WHALE OF THE EVENING

April 22, 2019


We have sailed away from the Azores on our way to the Straits of Gibraltar and Malaga.  The Captain came on just before sail away and told us that the storm that he has been outrunning by increasing speed and changing our route has stalled in front of us and there will be no avoiding it for the next day or two.  Mom and I just got back to the room and there was a “thump”.  On a cruise a while back the cruise director said that was the sound of the ship hitting a whale.  So, we’ve gotten our first whale of the evening.  Well, in the last 3.5 hours, the sea has picked up.  We will be rocked to sleep tonight.

Tonight we set our clocks ahead one hour, so tomorrow we will be 5 hours ahead of you with one more hour to go before Rome.  Each time change so far I have had the 10 a.m. talk, which means when we get up at 6:30 (so we can shower, do breakfast and I can rehearse) we’ve lost an hour.  Back in the room tonight we checked the daily program, the “When and Where,” and the times of our talks have been switched.  Robin will be talking about Lisbon Off the Beaten Track at 10 and I’ll be searching for El Dorado at 2.  It’s about time (pun intended) because turn about is fair play.

There was no show in the theater tonight because the entertainer who was to fly in (we call them “fly ins”) did not fly in because of health reasons.  So they put a movie up in the theater called “Green Book.”  It won the Academy Award for best picture and when it was announced yesterday a bunch of folks oooed and ahhhhed like it was something great.  We decided to go to the computer class instead and learned how to make 3D postcards.  Oh the tricks you can do with Windows 10.

I said above the ship was rolling a bit.  There is a drawer under my side of the bed that is sliding in and out in and out as the ship moves.  I’ll have to put something in it or under it to stop it so I don’t trip over it in the night and Bonnie has to call for a tow truck.

We had a good day ashore today.  I’m sure my cruise buddy will give you more details, but my version is, we walked for 4 hours in the sunshine and into the shadow, in and out of souvenir stands (I bought a refrigerator magnet for Tate to move around – I don’t think Mayleigh plays with them much anymore), into one old church, and into one yarn shop. 

Yes, indeedy-do!  We found a yarn shop on Ponta del Gotta (and we know where there is one in Funchal, Madeira, and I think in Malaga, too).  Following in Skinny Granny’s footsteps, she said, “I don’t need this, do I darling?”  And bought five skeins of yarn for a project to be announced.  We added 14 euros to the economy of the town.  It was a fun stroll.  A different view of the city this time – last time it was later in the year and there were beautiful flower beds and all the trees in leaves.  Today, some pansies on their last legs and a tree bud here and there.

Oh, I forgot to tell you – when were eating last night with the LDSs she asked what I had done before retiring and I said I was a United Methodist pastor.  She said, “I thought it was something like that.  Your voice is so soothing.  Like Mr. Rogers.”  I said, “Thank you” (although I don’t detect any similarity in our voices, Fred Rogers was a tremendous minister, and that was a neat compliment).

Now that I’ve patted myself on the back, with no injury, I shall turn this over to (Mary Booth this is for you) She Who Must Be Obeyed.

TTFN

Okay, here we go again. If I am going to walk like this, I am going to start to drink. I already look like I have had to much.

The walk today was very nice after getting up at about 7:15 and getting ready and going to breakfast, we headed to our room to collect our stuff and head out. As we were coming into port the cruise director said it had been raining and there was a rainbow over the sky as we came into dock. So cool. I t was misting as we were getting ready to go off so we took our ponchos and an umbrella in the backpack. But as we left the terminal out onto the sidewalk the rain had stopped. Yeah!  As we walked up the steps to the street above the port and headed up the street, the sun came out and was out for the rest of the day. Before we got off the ship I went back to the room and added a layer by putting my sweater on under my jacket. Glad I did because though the sun was shining there was a breeze and it was chilly especially in the shade. Of course as we got off we stopped for the camera people to take our picture. It was really cold where they were standing and we know they have a quota of pictures to take. We don’t ever buy. We walked along the main drag and passed a few shops stopping to browse as we went. One was a small market where we spied cokes for .65 euros. We would come back for those when on our way back to the ship.

Most of the shops we visited we had visited the last time we were here. The big church was open and we visited it again. It was still decorated with many beautiful Easter flowers.  We walked up and down small narrow streets with sidewalks for just one or two to walk and with cars speeding along side usually in only one direction. We found the exit door for a supermarket and wanted to go into it. But we had to walk all the way around a whole block and back before we could find the entrance. It was through another store. Strange.

The yarn shop was fabulous. They had thousands of skeins of yarn. I bought some that was, of course, on sale! The store was called Libola, and is on R.A.J. Almeida (editor’s note: across the bay, in Almeida?) street.  They gave me one of their cards. The back of the card has a map of the streets to show where it is. How cool. They have an email and a facebook page.

After walking for about 4 hours and heading back to the ship we stopped and picked up our cokes and headed on board. Going through security we went up the stairs from deck 3 to 4 and to our room.  The room beside ours where a lady had her TV loud last night until after midnight while I was trying to sleep had out a do not disturb sign. UGH! Oh well. We headed to the Lido and we had spaghetti with marinara sauce. He had meat balls, I did not.  It was very good. Then it was off to the cabin and naptime. I slept till about quarter to 4. All aboard was 4:30 so I quietly dressed for supper (he was still asleep) and went to deck 6 on the port side to watch.  The wind was blowing really hard and the sun was on the other side of the ship so it was quite chilly. But I stayed for about 20 minutes to watch. I saw a sailboat, about 60 or 70 feet long and with a mast that was about a hundred feet tall . It was something to see it sail away from the port. It wasn’t using sails. We had seen it earlier when we got off the ship. Neat to watch it sail out into the ocean. Right across the water from the dock where our ship was there is a local swimming area. Now remember the temperature is about 60 degrees and the wind is blowing. There were a group and adults and children in bathing suits sun bathing and swimming. Yes swimming. The kids probably about Mac’s age were running and jumping in the water swimming around then getting out and jumping back into the water. I got cold just watching. But they were having a great time. We saw people there last year when the temperature was much warmer.

Well, after I got cold I headed to the room to crochet till he was ready to go to dinner. There was almost no one in the dining room. But we had a table with 5 at it. A lady we had eaten with before and a new couple from Austen Texas. Nice couple. You won’t believe this but I got the haddock for supper. It would probably have been good if it had been warmer but I ate some of it. There was sugar free cheesecake for dessert. Where we were sitting I could see out the windows on the side of the ship and the back of the ship. The Captain said it was going to get rough and as we ate I watched the waves and rolls of waves get bigger and bigger. By the time we finished eating it was pretty rocky and right now we are rocking back and forth pretty big. It will be good sleeping.

He went to the computer class with me and there were only 5 people who came. We had a good time and I enjoyed the class. We asked what kind of lap tops they were using and she said it was a “surface laptop II”. Really cool computer. It is about a fourth of an inch thick and weighs about 2 pounds. Really neat. Probably costs a lot.

Well, I am in my night clothes, have had my snack, thanks Herringtons, and will take my pills soon. Since we don’t have to get up early I can play some more games and read before bedtime.

Mac Granny will be praying for you tomorrow. We left you a present for after the surgery. Love you very much!!! I pray it doesn’t hurt. You definitely deserve a Polar Pop tomorrow!!

Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie