May 5, 2023

Happy Birthday Rachel Marie (as of this writing, not Aunt Rachel).

After breakfast, and hugs from our friend Leezamit (from two cruises) we were off to 7513 to collect our going ashore stuff – today a water bottle, an old Pirates backpack giveaway and the usual walking stick.  We caught the free shuttle from the working dock area where the ship was docked and headed into La Spezia for a couple hours of strolling.

At first I was like an alligator – dragging my derriere.  We strolled down a street with typical shops, clothiers, bookstore, hardware, drugstore, pastry, coffee, etc., then made the turn back towards the shuttle.  We stopped into one patisserie (watching all of those episodes of British Baking paid off – Paul and Prue probably wouldn’t have been impressed) and ordered two chocolate cream filled canole, one for each of us, and an espresso for me.  After consuming same, I felt some better and ordered another espresso.  That got my battery charged up and I was able to shop with my cruise buddy in two stationary stores and one clothing store.  I will let her tell you about the purchases.

Back on board in time for lunch and a nap and then it was time to pack which we did in record time, and without any weeping, wailing, or gnashing of teeth.  And the suitcases are now – after supper and two more hands of cards, one of which I won, one of which I lost bringing the cruise total to 4-9, her favor – sitting outside our door, having beaten the 10 p.m. requirement by more than an hour.

Tomorrow it’s up at 6, a quick shower and off the ship somewhere around 8:30.  We’ll meet our driver and go to the Rome Airport where we’ll check into our hotel and hang out until our flight Sunday morning on Turkish Airlines to Istanbul and then Atlanta.  Scheduled arrival time in Atlanta is 6:30 p.m., Groome Shuttle to Augusta and then 233 Woodland Drive.  Laundry on Monday.

And now final blog words for this cruise from She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Oh, but first, I agree with her rating of supper which will appear below.  But my appetizer of Seafood Cake was excellent.

Now, Blogging Bonnie.

Well, we got back in the room for the last time this evening and I discovered I had packed my nightshirt. My PJs which I had brought had gotten dirty and impossible to wear anymore, another sad story. So I had to open a suitcase and find another t shirt that was long enough to cover the derriere. 

Well, we docked at 7 and the captain announced going off by 7:15. I had  a so-so night and was up at 6 when he started his docking stuff. I had taken my bath last night to wash my hair so I had to just wash up. So off to breakfast. Then, by 9:30 we were on the free shuttle to go into town. We were parked in a cargo area, again, and you were not allowed to walk through it. Nice shuttle only about a 10 minutes ride and we were at the cruise terminal. We started out walking heading toward where there looked like there were some stores. It was about 3 or 4 blocks. The first store we went in was a book store. Of course they were all in Italian. He was kind of dragging alone as we walked a couple more blocks so we had turned around to head back. Not too many interesting stores on the first side of the street we walked five or six blocks along. We did pass some banks and the post office. So after we crossed the street and started back we decided to get the cannolies. Very good. Little tiny café. We sat at a small table inside. They had a small plastic enclosed area outside for more seating.  After his coffees and Tylenol he had more energy. I had noticed a small shop on the corner opposite the cannolies shop that was really different. It contained all kinds of homemade crocheted things. WOW! Unfortunately it was closed and I couldn’t read the note (of course it was in Italian) on the door to see when it was to be open. Really nice stuff in the window. 

But as we walked down the street we came to a store I guess you would call it a stationary/ kids store.  All kinds of pens, pencils notebooks and toys. I had a great time looking and picked up a couple of souvenirs.  A little farther down we came upon a smaller one and I had a great time looking in it and brought some more stuff. 

After we got to where we would turn to head to the shuttle we decided we would walk a little farther. We found a couple of nice vegetable and fruit stands. The one had the most beautiful baskets of strawberries, yum. I would loved to have bought some but you would have to eat them before you got back on the bus.  There was a store after we crossed back over to head back that had some nice pants hanging outside for 9 euros but none my size, sad. So we finished our walk back to the crossing to go to the terminal. The polizia were having demonstrations of different kinds of stuff for young people. We found our way to the shuttle loading zone. Then boarding the shuttle we entered the port area and arrived back at local security. Of course I set it off but for the first time the gentleman said I was okay because my watch probably set it off and he let me go, hooray.  Then back on the ship and went to Sorrentos for pizza. After lunch we went to the room and took a short nap and then packed. Everything is dirty! I wore every shirt 2 or 3 times and all my pants 3 or 4 times. The only thing that did not get re worn were my underwear. 

After packing I took a shower and washed my hair again. Then I put on the clothes that I am planning on wearing off. We re packed our toilet kits so we only have to keep one out for tomorrow. I have my baby Yoda bag to carry off the clothes we wear tonight and the toilet kit and other suff. 

Supper was a D+. The only thing that was really good was the shrimp cocktail. My dessert was to be a warm brownie with whip cream and ice cream on the side. The brownie was dried out and hard. Sad!

After supper we went to the 270 to play cards. The orchestra was setting up for a concert at 7. When they started they turned out all the house lights and they played VERY LOUD. We finally moved our card game to the Sorrentos. Then, after finishing headed for the room to put out the suitcases. 

We must be out of the room by 8 and be in the theater before 8:15 on deck 5. 

Well, it will be time for bed soon. So I will say goodnight for the last time. See you all soon. Please pray for safe travel to Rome and then, to Atlanta and finally off to Augusta.

Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie

Hug each other.

TTFN 

May 4, 2023

Dear beloved readers, this is the blog from the bus window.

We docked in Marseille, France at 9 o’clock.  I was awakened from a good night’s sleep at 8:15, and followed my bride to the shower – no one should throw up in their mouths because it is a one person shower and I got in when she was finished.  

Refreshed and dressed we went to the Windjammer for breakfast.  It was very busy with folks scurry to stuff and then go ashore.  Our plans were a shuttle ride to wherever the shuttle went and wander for a while, so we were in no hurry.  Yesterday at breakfast one of the servers, Ellison, said he hoped to go to the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca and get a picture.  While we were there, Bonnie found a great postcard of the Cathedral and we bought it for him. When we gave it to him you would have thought we gave him a bucket of money instead of a one Euro postcard.  He tried to give it back several times, but we told him we had bought it for him – in case he couldn’t get off.  He had us write our names on the back and invited us to his home in India (he has been trying to get my cruise buddy to add spice to her breakfast and one morning he brought her a mug of Musalla tea – she didn’t like it; I did).

After breakfast I visited with Leezamit, a server from an earlier sailing.  She is also from India.  This morning she told me that after she flies to Mombai at the end of her contract, she will have a 3 day journey to her house.  When we walk into the buffet, she points to the cook and gives me a quizzical look.  It is her way to ask if I want two cracked eggs with bacon, and then she brings it to our table, getting drinks for both Bonnie and I.   Great kid.

Well, somewhere around 10 we went outside to get on the shuttle and I didn’t really want to get on.  I said nothing, but after a 20-30 minute ride to the drop-off point, with all of the things we would want to see a long walk away and up steep hillsides, Bonnie said, “I don’t want to get off the bus.  I don’t have a good feeling about this.”  I said, “Okay,” and we stayed in our seats and rode back to the ship.  No idea what those feelings were, but you are all Believers and you know when you get one of those nudges, you listen.

Out the window I took two pictures: one of two Samurai holding a shipping container (neat sculpture) and the other of one of the cathedrals.

Tomorrow is the port for Florence and Pisa, and I think I told you we had booked a 10 hour excursion before we left home, but after the 7 hour one a few days ago decided to cancel it.  There is a little place to explore off of the ship and that will be our adventure.  Then it’s back to pack and put the luggage out before disembarking on Saturday, meeting Pino, and going to Rome to spend the night and then fly home.

And here’s Blogging Bonnie.

Unlike my husband I was out of bed at 4 am, 6am and then stayed up. For some reason last night I got really shivering cold at about 4 and covered with my little sleeping blanket. At 6 I tried to go back to bed but could not so I listened to my sleeping husband till he got up at 8:15. The ship docked at 9. I had a cup of hot chocolate and a bacon sandwich for breakfast.  After breakfast it was after 10 so we headed out to the shuttle. 

Like him I was uneasy about getting off. There were a total of 6 cruise ships in dock. Five where we were docked and an Azamara a little farther in. That means there were over 20,000 people in town!  We had pre bought out shuttle tickets so we got in that line, though at first it was tough to tell which line that was. We waited about 15 minutes to get on a shuttle. They had said shuttles would leave every 20 minutes or when it was full. There were different shuttles for each ship. They were everywhere. As we started out of the port I noticed there was a free shuttle a little way down. It would have been almost impossible to walk to town. We drove almost 30 minutes to get to where stuff was. The traffic was terrible. The Azamara was parked at a dock about 15 minutes away from where we were parked. It looked like an area that had once been the dock area.  When we got to the drop off point I said I want to go back. So after everyone got off we told the driver we wanted to go back. She only spoke French! But she understood and told us we could get back on the bus. I thought we might have to wait till it was full but with us and 2 other passengers she headed back. It was a little strange because the sign on the bus said Symphony of the Seas not Odyssey. But she took us back and the ride back didn’t take as long.

Then of course it was through customs and metal detector. Yes I set it off and this time the woman was even rougher and touched my back, front, arms between legs and more. It gets really tiring to be touched like this.

Well, it was almost lunchtime so we took our 2 bags of chips from our last stop and headed upstairs to get a hamburger. Then, back to the 270 for cards. The violinist for tonight’s performance of The Book was practicing in the 270. They had the volume up on the sound tract and her violin as far as it would go. It was deafening. We finished our game and went to the room. By now it was 2 pm. I wanted to sleep till 4.

I needed to wash my hair and dress for formal night. After 4 days with a hat on my head, I had serious hat hair. And I don’t like cute like Mac does with hat hair. Tomorrow I will do the same thing take a bath about 4 so I can dress in what I plan to wear off on Saturday and pack all the rest of our stuff. We put our suitcases out by 10 pm tomorrow night. We have ticket 37 for getting off. We have to be out of our room by 8 am. We go to deck 5 theater to wait till they call our number. Then pick up the luggage and meet our driver. 

Not sure what we will do tomorrow yet. We shall see. We get home Sunday after about 20 hours traveling. We will be tired.

Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie

And now:

TTFN

Hug each other.

May 3, 2023

Today we lead off with Blogging Bonnie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAC!!!!!

Our room is at the front of the ship and right over all the equipment for docking. Our cabin literally shakes when the ship starts docking. The noise etc continues for about 45 minutes.  I awoke this morning to my bed rattling, haha! It also does this when we leave. Great noises. My  bed buddy with his ear plugs sleeps through it all.

We had our 7 hour tour to Valencia and Albufera with lunch yesterday. I gave it a one star. We first rode for 30 minutes to get out of the port docking area which is miles from the city, actually in the cargo area. They have moved all their cruise ships docking to that area. Then, we drove through a small part of the new area with museums, opera building, aquarium etc. Then, we went to the city of Albufera which was about a 45 minute drive past 30 or 40 miles of plowed fields where in about a month will be the rice fields, lush and green. The town of Albufera , which buses cannot drive into, is a town of nothing but restaurants. Probably 50 or 60 or more. Literally, I am not kidding. We were served a family style lunch with a salad of tomato and lettuce, small potatoes, and a hush puppy kind of thing, a huge plate of mussels, then a large plate of paella. The paella consists of their famous rice, chicken, green beans, lima beans and seasonings. The paella was tasty. Dessert was tiramisu. There was one glass of wine per person and one large bottle of water for a table of 4. Lunch was okay. I ate the salad and dessert and a little of the huge serving of paella that they gave each person.  Any other drinks were extra. David got a cup of espresso which was 2 euros and he said it was excellent. Then, we were told to either stand on the corner or somewhere for 45 minutes till we would take the boat ride. The guide disappeared back into the restaurant. Really. David sat at one of the tables outside and was told he needed to order a drink or something He said no and continued to sit. There was absolutely nothing to do. All the restaurants were basically closing and you just found some shade and stood! Until it was time for the boat ride.

The boat ride was on a large flat bottom boat that held about 25 people and there were two of the boats that took us out on a large lake with green water surrounded by long reeds. It isn't fresh water and its not salt water but something in between. This is all in some kind of national park of Valencia. Nice ride, cool refreshing breeze but very hard on the bottom and the back while riding. After the boat we walked back to where there was a different bus. Boarded the bus and traversed back the way we came to Valencia. By now very heavy traffic in the town. We were headed to the old city center for a 2 hour walking tour. This was my favorite part of the trip except for the fact they did not provide head sets so you could hear the guide. You could not hear at all because of the traffic and crowd noise and the size of the group. We got 30 minutes of free time in the end. We used our time to visit a beautiful church and get gelato. Then, back to the bus and the ship. About an hour ride. The port was really very far from the town. We got on board the ship at 9:20, both exhausted. 

Today we are in Mallorca. There is a local shuttle for 10 euros each and we are going to do that. We have been here before. But again we are going to be at least 30 minutes from the town. All the ports are parking the cruise ships far away from the towns. We also have a $19 each way in Marseille. We cancelled our tour in Florence and Pisa because it was to be 10 hours and that is the day before we get off. We decided we were not up to it. So we will try and get a shuttle into the port city where  you go from to Florence. Florence is a long way from the port so we will try and visit the small city where the port is if there is anything to see. 

Now for our day in Mallorca. We caught the shuttle about 10am  for a 20 minute ride to town. From where the shuttle stops is you could see the Cathedral de Palma Mallorca just across the road and up the hill. So off we set toward it. We have been here before. It is a massive structure and beautiful inside. So we walked up the steps and to what looked like the entrance. This town is plagued with the same thing as Rome. There are street sellers galore. They have there blankets spread out on the ground and their wares that are for sale. There is blanket after blanket with knock of LV, MK, Gucci and any  high end purses you can name. There also are hats, or sunglasses or magnets, paintings, pictures and I could go on and on. The problem is they blocked the places where it is designed for you to walk. 

So after getting around all of this stuff and by them, we get to the door and find it is for pre-purchased online tickets only. UGGGH!  We ask a young man at the door and he says go down the street we just navigated and make two right turns and we will find a ticket place and entrance. So off we go passing by a number of horse and buggy rides that are also sitting up here. There is a lengthy line of people waiting to buy tickets. So we queue up and make our way to the ticket window inside. The cost is 9 euros each but we pay only 7 because we are old. As we are in the queue line we notice there is a gelato place just to the left of the line. YUM! So into the church we go and it is very crowded. I rest on one of the benches while he gets his pictures. Then, we find the WC (for all of you non world travelers that is the water closest or bathroom) because mother nature is calling. Of course the exit leads you into the gift shop. We make a few purchases. Then out into the street to find the gelato. He finally decides which way we should go and after 3 left turns, aha, there it is. We make our purchase (me: amarillo and nutella and he: oreo and amarillo). I had seen some souvenir shops and after looking into several of them I found one that I wanted to visit. I made a few purchases. 

Then it was back down the hill and off to the shuttle. The last shuttle was to be at 2:45 since all aboard was 3:30. We got on about 12:20 and got back at the ship about 25 minutes later. It would have been a very longggg walk to have made. It was a well spent 10 euro ride. Arriving back at the ship of course it was through local security. AH, my favorite thing. As usual I set the thing off. And as what has become the custom they had to pat down my chest. I am buying a sports bra that has no hooks!! I got patted and massaged and patted again on my boobs. I sure hope they enjoy it, I don’t!!!

Back on the ship we went to the Windjammer and had some lunch. The salad that I made was not very good but I ate some of it anyway. We then went to 270 and played cards. After one game he was ready for a nap. So he went to nap and I went to watch sail away. It was interesting because about 3:40 the captain announced he was waiting for the pilot and longshoremen to arrive so we could leave. Strange. It was 3:55 before they arrived and only 2 longshoremen came to release a total of 4 sets of lines. It was after 4:15 before we actually started to move. 

So I watched for a while then at 4:30 I came to the cabin. He was sound asleep though I don’t know how. He had his ear plugs in and didn’t hear me come into the room. I let him sleep to 4:45 and then woke him to get ready to go to supper at 5.

Supper was bowtie pasta with a tasteless tomato sauce. Of for some good Italian spaghetti sauce. The have an excellent Italian specialty restaurant which costs $59 per person, where they serve you a humongous amount of food all of which you can not possibly eat. We had a substitute waiter tonight because the usual waiter was “sea sick” we were told. He was a lot of fun to kid. It was his first time in the dining room I think. Dessert was a panna cottee and appetizer was shrimp cocktail. Not much on the menu I liked.

Tomorrow night is to be “formal night” “dress classy”. I am not. I did the first time and almost nobody else did. They are having surf and turf (lobster) but I am only going to eat turf. David can have my lobster.

We played another game of cards after supper and he won!! No show for us tonight. Now in our room. Oh one of our purchases was two bags of potato chips. There are none to be had on the ship! We will have them maybe tomorrow.

Well, goodnight for now!!

Love you all Mom, Granny and Bonnie

* * * * *

Okay.  Let me tell you what really happened.

First, I don’t sleep with earplugs unless there are loud noises when getting ready to sleep, or unless I am awakened to loud noises, or unless it is naptime.  I guess I was extra tired for the scene described above, because I missed it.

The lunch at Albufera was excellent.  Most of the 12 people at our table picked at it.  I counted when it was over and only 4 of us cleaned our plates of the delicious paella.  The dessert – tiramisu – was a curious choice I thought for such an obvious Spanish meal.  I was glad that the 3 other people at our section didn’t like mussels, because I helped myself.

And the espresso was excellent!  Would that I could drink so fine a coffee every day.  We used to have an espresso maker, but I think it went into a yard sale.

Let me amen the part about not being able to hear Edgar, our host and tour guide.  When the bus stopped at the ship, I asked the Entertainment Director, who was the Royal Caribbean person charged with herding cats, to wait for me off the bus.  I’d introduced myself to him earlier, and he was waiting.  I told him about the missing earphones and he said 4 other people had mentioned it, and he would talk to someone about it.  Whoopeee!  Well, maybe it will help the next excursion to Valencia and Albufera (with Lunch).

No offense to the salespeople with the counterfeit purses, sports wear, sports cap, etc., but they are a tribe of folk from North Africa that you see all over southern Europe, at least the parts where we’ve been.  Evidently they are legal, or tolerated, in Mallorca because they set up boldly and have lots of wears on their blankets.  In Rome, the blankets are smaller, the goods fewer, and at a signal of the approaching Carbonarii, they are invisible.  Not so today.  I watched one young woman start haggling at 35 euros and bought the MK for 22 euros.  On our way back to the shuttle a man was being accosted by the seller who cut the price automatically to 22 euros.  Must be the going rate.  First price, Mister.  Not last price.  Your price, Mister.

My blog buddy said she is not formal – true – and not classy – false.

The cruise card competition is now 3-7 her favor.  I led this afternoon and lost, but won tonight with a score on my last hand of 345.  I don’t think I have enough time to get even.

Bonnie told you about finding two ducks hidden on the ship.  A couple days ago she found two more.  We happened to be following the lady who hides them, and picked them up as she passed by.  Here is our growing collection of ducks – two towels and 4 rubber duckies.

As she said, the best part of yesterday was the half hour in the old town square, going into another beautiful old church.  This one is actually a continuing house of worship.  As we were leaving the priest went to a small chapel on the side of the main sanctuary to hold vespers, or perhaps with the hour, complin.

And views inside the Cathedral de Palma Mallorca.

Well, that’s it for now.  Looking forward to the lobster tomorrow.

And one more time, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAC!

May 1, 2023

Ah May First.  In many countries there is a May Day celebration.  It is a celebration of spring at its height, a day of unity and togetherness, a day for people to come together and celebrate life.  But this year climate activist spray painted a Louis Vuitton museum in Paris.  What kind of life is that?

But here on board the Odyssey of the Seas we docked at Malaga with no protests.  Your favorite cruisers had planned to walk into town and wander around.  We’ve been privileged to have visited here before, exploring La Alcazaba – a huge fort – and the Picasso Museum.  Nice streets to stroll and old churches to visit.  But we decided to stay on board because the shuttle into the city was $25 each.  Instead I slept late (8 a.m.) while my cruise buddy was awake at 6 (bless her heart – she played scrabble while I slept).  We went to the Windjammer for breakfast and then gathered our cards and drinks and went to the 270 where we snacked, played cards, had lunch, and came back to our room 4 hours later for a good 90 minute nap.

The day was very foggy – either that or very low lying clouds.  For a few minutes at breakfast (on deck 14) we could see into town and see the huge cathedral in the middle of the city and then it was gone, hidden by an opaque white stuff.  Down on the 270 it came and went and we could see another cruise ship docked near us and the cargo vessels being loaded across from us, and then they were gone, only to return in a few minutes, linger and then disappear again.  

More and more it seems cruise ships dock in working dock areas instead of a special tourist dock.  I remember in Cartagena walking off the ship and being in town in 5 minutes.  Oh well.

We were standing in line waiting to go into supper, just chatting, when our tablemate, Bill, came up and said, we’re up here.  We are enjoying our evening meals with them.  Every evening they raise their glasses of wine, we raise our glasses of water, click them and say, “Cheers!”  Then we hold hands and pray.

Tonight, one of the appetizers was corn cakes.  I photographed them, and include it below just for The Bro.  One winter back in Loch Lynn when we were snowed in for a week or so, we had corn cakes every day – I wanted them, no one else offered a suggestion (corn cakes are pancakes made with corn meal).  Finally Kyle protested and no more corn cakes.  The meal was a Mexican menu and I chose salmon with Mexican stuff – delicious (JAMM Kids, say it like Pappy Carter), perhaps the best entre of the cruise.

A good show tonight in the Royal Theater, the ship’s orchestra and the featured singers from the ship’s cast.  A good show.

Well, tomorrow we go ashore on a tour to Valencia and Albufera.  It leaves at 2 and is a 7 hour tour.  Ship sails at 9:30.  The tour includes lunch.  That means pizza at Sorrento once we are back on board.

Oh, and I finally won a game of Auction Rummy.  Score 1-5.  Coming back!

And now, here she is, the bloggeress extraordinare, Bonnie!

And at naptime I only got 45 minutes!  

Anyway. It was a lazy day. He took a bath this morning I did not. Didn’t want to. I will take a bath in the morning. I brought enough underwear (panties) for one pair for each day, so I am fresh :). I brought 6 pair of everyday pants to wear at least twice each. Socks are worn for two days. And shirts for 2 days each. There are a couple of dressy shirts and two pair of dress pants for suppers. So there you have my wardrobe for the cruise. Packing less! 

Anyway, the Windjammer was really crowded this morning. Of course it was almost 9 when we got there. It was really foggy outside, reminded me of our trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway when we drove in the clouds that covered the road. There was another ship parked just at right angles to us. We couldn’t tell what cruise line till during supper when it was leaving. It was a Costa ship. Not quite as big as ours. When we sailed away we saw that there was a second Costa ship in port.

Breakfast was one of those where I didn’t want anything. I had half a English muffin, a potato triangle and some tomato juice. After breakfast we both filled our drink cups and headed for the 270 lounge. It was almost entirely empty all day. We found a table and sat down and played cards. It was strange because we could see the container dock and the one Costa ship. The fog rolled in and out all day. Except for the crummy music that they play it was a nice place to relax and enjoy. 

For lunch I had a small salad with lettuce, tomatoes, orange slices, and croutons with honey mustard dressing. It was very good I shall do that again. I had a petite Reuben sandwich. There sandwiches are little half sandwiches. We had a caramel flan but it tasted like instant jello pudding, blah! 

The worm has turned in the card games and he won his first game. I think I am a goner. 

We got back to the room and napped. Then, we got up and dressed for supper. I had been looking at the RC app, which is finally working on my phone and now not working on his, that to go into Marseilles you had to buy shuttle tickets. We haven’t been here before so we will buy some after supper.

At supper it was Mexican night. I had poblano corn soup, it was luke warm and not good and a shrimp cocktail for appetizers. My main course was a pulled pork stuffed enchilada. There were beans and rice also on the plate. It was okay. Way too much wrap. Dessert was coconut cake. It was fair.

Now it was off to the excursions office to get those shuttle tickets. Long line. At first there were 2 people working. One couple was having a conversation not related to excursions and talked on and on with the one young lady. Eventually 2 other people came out to help and we got a pair of shuttle tickets for $19 each. It took about 20 or 25 minutes. 

Now it was time to head to the theater for the 4 singers and the orchestra show. They actually opened the doors 10 minutes early. There really wasn’t a crowd of people outside waiting due to the people who had been out. Eventually the theater was almost full at the 8 pm show time. It was a good show. Each of the singers sang at least 2 solo numbers. Some were songs you knew and could follow and others were things I had never heard and it was almost impossible to understand the words because the orchestra was too loud and you couldn’t hear or understand what the singers were saying.

We headed back to the room after the show and noticed that none of the shops were open. Usually when the ship leaves the port they open but today they were opening at 9:30 and would be open to midnight. I guess because we have a late arrival tomorrow. They are closed all day tomorrow. 

Part of our tour includes a bus ride, a boat ride ( weather permitting) ,a walking part of about 2 hours, and lunch. There are also snacks provided on the boat ride, yippee!

We have to remember to takes our Euros! We have a shopping list but the things on it  (baby powder, pringles, life savers and a deck of cards) will have to wait for another port. I did manage to get a deck of cards today at guest service. So we can take that off the list.

Well, we are back in our room. I have on my PJs and am doing crossword puzzles. We will go to bed shortly. We still have the wonderful nightly pills to take!

Love you all. 

P.S: Thanks Jen for putting some of the strawberries in the freezer. And Matt I told you no family dinners till May 15 [ we interrupt this email for words from her Lord and Master – there is take-out pizza for the 8th ] and that will be Mac and Tate’s birthday dinner. Mike and Matt’s dinner is the next Monday on the 22nd.

Mom, Granny and Bonnie

* * * * *

Stay safe.  Hug each other.

TTFN