It's late and I haven't got anything in particular to write about, but I wanted to pop in and give the answers to yesterday's trivia questions. Ethel Merman was known as the Golden Foghorn. A man named E.J. Smith said "I never had an accident worth talking about ." He's better known as the captain of the Titanic. He said that in an interview in 1907. Perhaps he jinxed himself by saying that.
I'll write more tomorrow. It's been a totally lazy sea day.
Have you ever had one of those days when you just feel tired and like doing absolutely nothing? Well, that’s me today. I slept well but I’m dragging. I guess if it had to be at any one of our stops, this probably was the best for it to happen. This is one of the British Virgin islands and it’s only a little over 3 square miles in area. Like many of the neighboring islands it is volcanic in origin and mountainous; because of the latter there was not a lot of farming, specifically sugar plantations, done on Jost van Dyke.
The Dutch were early settlers and it’s possible it was used as a pirates’ hideout. The British captured the BVI’s in the latter part of the 17th century, but this island was largely ignored until the middle of the next century. We know that because on a map of the British Virgins drawn up in 1717, Jost van Dyke isn’t even shown nor is the little island next door, Little Jost van Dyke (poor island – it didn’t even merit a unique name).
This island is mainly a sailor’s destination. There are a few nice beaches and bars and stores which cater to sailboats which come here. Some of my fellow shipmates went ashore to go to a beach, but I had enough sun and sand yesterday. Maybe that’s why I’m bushed today.
In September 2017 Hurricane Irma, a category 5, came through here and destroyed the island. Much of the vegetation was stripped. The school, almost all the houses and the only health clinic were destroyed. The island had about 300 residents and for the first week after the storm they received little help from Britain. The people pooled their remaining resources at a place called Foxy’s Tamarind Bar and Restaurant because it had the only generator and refrigerator left on the island. They cobbled together a chainsaw to work on clearing the roads to get to the more remote parts of the island. Isn’t that what we see so often when a catastrophic event occurs and people pull together to get through it?
We had trivia late this afternoon and we broke our winning streak; we tied for third because two teams had been the only ones to get a correct answer on a couple of questions and they got double points. That gives you a big advantage. Here are two trivia questions for you to ponder. 1) What singer was known as "The Golden Foghorn?" 2) Who said I've never had an accident worth talking about? I'll tell you the answers tomorrow. No cheating.
Tonight we’ll have our second formal night. I don’t know how I did it, but somehow I missed seeing that we were having the first one on our second day on the ship. I just didn’t see it when I looked at the daily program. Fortunately, people don’t get as dressed up as they did in the past, so I didn’t look too out of place. I brought something glitzy so I’ll dress up tonight.
As we sailed away at 2 PM out by the pool they had another event I've seen on every Seabourn cruise, the classical sailaway party. The ship's singers serenade us with a mixture of classical arias and show music. All four of the singers are leaving when we get to Miami since it's the end of their contract on this ship, so this was their farewell performance. I'll try my hand at attaching another video here of part of one song they always include (and one of my favorites).
This has been an absolutely gorgeous day! We are lying off Carambola Beach on the island of St. Kitts. Seabourn did one of their signature events today – a beach barbecue and caviar in the surf. They also had all the water toys out, but I didn’t try them this time.
St. Kitts is officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis and it’s a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. If you guessed that the first Europeans to find these two islands were Columbus and his crew, you would be right. That was in 1493 but the islands weren’t settled until the early 17th century. The first settlement was British, but during the next century, Britain, France and Spain all fought over St. Kitts and Nevis. In the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 France renounced all claims to the islands and the Spanish empire was in decline so they no longer had a stake; thus Britain maintained control. Just as an added piece of trivia a pretty famous founding father of the United States was born on the island of Nevis. Can you guess who that was? I’ll tell you later.
Back to the day. This morning the ship began tendering loads of things to the Carambola Beach Club. Seabourn books the club for the day and we are treated to a barbecue and beach day. There’s a covered pavilion where tables, bars, and buffet lines are set up. Chefs from the ship come ashore and grill lobsters, ribs, burgers and hot dogs, and of course they also have all the salads and veggies to go with them. The beach is lined with lounge chairs and umbrellas and caviar and champagne are served in waist deep water right off the beach. It’s a wonderful, relaxing day for the passengers, but a really busy one for the crew since they have to ferry everything back in the late afternoon.
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| Carambola from the ship |
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| Look at how clear the water is |
I met friends ashore and after lunch we went and floated in the water for a while. The water is crystal clear and cool, but not cold, so it was delightful. This year I was a little smarter than I was last time I came. I think I managed not to burn the front of my legs and tops of my feet as I did last year. I saw some of my fellow passengers who perhaps had too much rum punch or champagne, because they looked a lot like the lobsters coming off the grill. They’ll be sorry tomorrow!
I’m on my veranda now and they are raising the tenders so we’ll be sailing shortly. Tomorrow we’ll be at our last island, Jost van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. This week has flown by.
I know this has been a kind of boring post, but it’s just one of those lazy, sunny days. Tonight I’m meeting friends for drinks and then we’ll have to figure out where to eat (again). Decisions, decisions. It’s no wonder cruisers always complain that the sea air shrinks clothing.
The famous American born in these parts was Alexander Hamilton. He and his older brother were born out of wedlock to a married half British, half French woman and a Scotsman. He went on to fame in the Revolutionary War and subsequently as an author of some of the Federalist Papers and a Treasury Secretary.
Happy Thanksgiving from Antigua! This is the capital of the nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which has been an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1981. As with so many of the islands in the Caribbean, this one was discovered by Columbus in 1493. On that voyage he had made a vow to honor the Virgin Mary so he named this place after La Virgen de la Antigua in Spanish, meaning the Virgin of the Old Cathedral in Sevilla, Spain. In 1632 a group of English settlers established a colony on Antigua and it quickly became a very profitable sugar colony.
Between 1784 and 1787, a very famous British naval officer was assigned here and was charged with enforcing the Navigation Acts which Britain had enacted to prevent trade between the islands and the newly born United States of America. The man was Horatio Nelson, the hero of the battle of Trafalgar about 20 years later. Unfortunately, Antigua depended on trade with the US so Nelson was hated by the local merchants. Because of his lack of success, Nelson was denied a promotion for a period of time after his service here.
I was here exactly one year ago today and the difference between now and then is very obvious. Last year we were the only ship here (with about 290 passengers) and tourism had just opened up. This year there are two ships here, one Celebrity ship that’s much larger than the Sojourn and we’re pretty full. I don’t know about the other ship, but there were many more people ashore. I’ve done tours here in the past and everything offered this time involved beaches and sun which are not my thing anymore. Instead, I walked ashore and took some photos. I think I lost my sunglasses on my day in San Juan with Juanito, so I bought a new pair. Tomorrow we’re having our beach barbecue and “caviar in the surf” event on St. Kitts and I know I’ll need them then. That will be my one beach foray on this trip because it’s such fun and really shouldn’t be missed.
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| Main shopping street 11/24/21 - Do you see any people? |
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| Roughly the same place today. There aren't mobs of people but at least there are some. |
Rain, rain, go away! Today we’re at Terre-de-Haut, Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe, which is an overseas department of France. This island is one of eight major ones, 6 inhabited and two uninhabited, which form the archipelago of Guadeloupe. The islands were discovered by Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. When the Spanish determined that the islands had no gold or silver, they abandoned them. In subsequent centuries both the French and the British laid claim to the islands and battles were fought but the ultimate victors were the French, and so today Guadeloupe has the same status as a department in France on the European mainland.
Terre-de-Haut is small, only about 5.5 km long and half as wide. It wasn’t found to be suitable for much agriculture including growing sugarcane, so few slaves were brought here. Instead this island was more of a fortress from which the country controlling it could try to command the surrounding Caribbean waters. At one point the French used the fort as a prison for convicts being sent to the penal colony in French Guiana.
While first thing this morning the sun was out, about 11 AM the clouds rolled in and a series of squalls has been coming through ever since. I took the tender in to the little town, the only one on the island in between showers. It is very French. As I walked around the little streets a group of schoolgirls in their uniforms passed me jabbering away in French. The stores use Euros as their currency. I passed a store that was an ice cream shop and bakery. The smells coming out the open door were heavenly! A man came out carrying a bag with a fresh baguette and I was sorely tempted to go in and get one. I thought back on the ship people would think I was nuts so I didn’t.
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| The island in the morning. The beautiful sky was gone soon |
It began to rain again and this time it wasn’t just sprinkles. A tender was at the dock nearby, so I decided the best thing to do was come back to the ship. Friends took one of the few tours offered that went to the fort on top of one of the hills, Fort Napoleon. To see the major attraction there one had to climb some old stone steps in the rain. My friends didn’t do it nor would I have, so I’m glad I didn’t book it.
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| The first three photos above are street scenes and the main plaza; the last is the little boat beach near the tender dock. |
The island looks very lush and laid back and is not overwhelmed with tourists. There is evidently a short runway on which small planes can come and go. Big ships can’t come because there’s no infrastructure to accommodate thousands of passengers. There was another little ship anchored here. It was from a cruise company called Ponant, which is a French cruise line. I think this place gives one a feeling of how it was on many of the Caribbean islands decades ago. I don’t think Terre-de-Haut will be over-developed because among other things they don’t have their own water source or power plant. Evidently there was a desalinization plant which was abandoned and now the island has undersea conduits bringing water and power from Guadeloupe.
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| Sorry it's so hard to see but my ship is the white speck on the left while the one on the right is the Ponant ship |
I guess that’s it for now. It’s a lazy, relaxing day with nothing really scheduled for this afternoon. Have you figured out where a scouser comes from? That’s another name for someone from Liverpool. The more common name is a Liverpudlian, but I sort of like scouser.
It's later and we've left Terre-de-Haut. As we sailed away we passed this little island freighter. Down here you see lots of them carrying goods between the smaller islands. On my second cruise very long ago we were docked in Grenada. We were sitting at a bar on the ship and a freighter about this size but much older and rustier tied up next to us. As we watched they unloaded some goats, a couple of cows and a few chicken coops complete with chickens, so these inter-island ships carry all sorts of stuff.
If you've read my blog before you'll know that I'm a sunset lover. Naturally after we sailed away the skies began to clear and I had to take a few photos of the sunset. Here are a couple to say farewell to Terre-de-Haut.
For those of you to whom I sent my itinerary you must be wondering why I’m here today. I was supposed to be at St. Barts. Yesterday afternoon the captain came on the PA system and told us that the fishermen at St. Barts are staging a protest over fuel prices and have blockaded the harbor at Gustavia. We could anchor but we couldn’t send tenders back and forth to get us ashore. So, rather than have us all just wave at the island, he managed to get us a dock here in Sint Maarten, which we more commonly call St. Maarten.
The island is divided between France and the Netherlands and we’re on the Dutch side today. In the 17th century those two countries were fighting a war in Europe. In 1648 a peace agreement was made and in that document the island was divided. I told the story of how the division was made when I came here last year, but here it is again. The two countries selected a representative to walk the shoreline beginning at one point going in opposite directions. They were not allowed to run and when they met each other at a second point a line was then drawn between the two points. The Frenchman had covered more ground so the French got a larger portion of the island, roughly 60% to 40 %. Today the same boundaries are in place.
I’ve been here many times, but I still remember coming here with my husband on our very first cruise 49 years ago. At that time there was no dock and only a sleepy, tiny town and a few beach resorts. Boy, has it grown! There are three ships docked here, with room for another couple, and lots more stores, mainly jewelry.
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| Sorry it's not a good picture but we were bobbing around. There are 3 ships in the photo and mine is the closest and smallest |
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| The shopping plaza built by the dock with no shade. It felt like a concrete frying pan. |
I didn’t go ashore until around 11 AM (we’re here until 8 PM) and took a water taxi across the harbor to Phillipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side. This island is very arid compared to some of the others in the Caribbean. In fact the big attraction to the Europeans who first settled here were the salt ponds where they could “mine” salt, which of course was extremely important for preserving foods, not just for seasoning. There are some houses scattered on the hillsides and some resorts along the seaside but the main thing is Phillipsburg. It’s pretty much one long street with one jewelry store after another with some liquor and trash and trinket tourist stores mixed in. There is a nice looking beach with chairs for rent and some seaside bars, but I’m not a beach and sun person anymore. The water is the kind of crystal-clear water you see on most of these islands. I walked the length of the street and looked in a few shops but nothing really caught my eye. It was very hot and humid and there were a few sprinkles but no gully washers. After I’d looked around I decided to head back to the ship.
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| The beach right by the main street in Phillipsburg |
When I got off the water taxi I saw people bending down to take photos of something on the rocks. Of course I had to see what was there and I got a picture of this fine fellow.
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| Mr. Iguana enjoying the hot rocks |
I have a completely irrelevant story to tell about the first time we came here. Al and I were much younger and much more fit, and I can say now we were kind of foolish. We liked to play tennis back then and when I had researched before going on our first big cruise I read that there was a resort where we could play tennis. So we packed our tennis rackets and when we got to St. Maarten we tendered ashore with them and took a taxi to play tennis. I remember it was a hot, humid day just like today with absolutely no shade and after 15 or 20 minutes we both thought we would die. That was the last time we ever carted rackets or tried anything like that.
I think some enterprising person could start a money-making business here on the island. The walk down the dock, through the shopping area that's been built here and the walk to the water taxi dock is long and with no shade at all. Judging by the people I saw coming from the three ships here today, if someone ran a golf cart shuttle service back and forth between the ship docks and the water taxi one, I think he could make a lot of money, certainly a better investment than FTX proved to be.
Tonight I went to a pre-dinner show by the Assistant Cruise Director James with whom I dined the first night. He is a scouser (that's today's trivia challenge to figure out what that is). Anyway, he did a rather nice show with some songs related to where he's from in England. I'll give you a clue (actually a pretty big one) one song was "Ferry across the Mersey." I had dinner with friends and then we went to the show put on by the Sojourn singers and dancers and they were fabulous. They did a lot of 70's through 90's rock and despite the demographics of the passengers there was a lot of clapping and singing along from the audience.
Now it's time to get to sleep. I thought I'd been to our next stop, but it turns out I haven't. Instead of the big island of Guadeloupe we're stopping at one of the little islands that is part of the territory. The captain told us during his evening address that he thinks it's one of the prettiest in the Caribbean so it should be fun.
Oh, I have to tell you yesterday's trivia answer. The two things 700 3rd class passengers on the Titanic shared were 2 bathrooms. Imagine the queue, especially if one was a ladies room and one for gentlemen!
And with that I'll say Bon Soir since I'm on my way to France.
Hello from San Juan, the capital city of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. We arrived around 10 AM and made our way past the fort of El Morro on the promontory at the harbor entrance. I’ve written about El Morro before but here’s a little refresher. The fortress was built by the Spanish in the 16th century. The island was first settled by the Spanish on Columbus’ second voyage in November 1493. What would become San Juan was founded by Juan Ponce de Leon, famous for being the person who looked for the fountain of youth. Ponce de Leon is buried in the cathedral here in San Juan.
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| El Morro |
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| Old San Juan from the harbor - the bright white building on the left is a prison |
I’ve been here many times before and we even stayed in hotels a couple of times on vacations. I can’t remember exactly but I think the first time we came was close to 45 years ago. I can tell you that new San Juan has really grown. Old San Juan looks much the same as it did the first time I came except there are so many empty store fronts. The island has suffered tremendously from the pandemic shutdowns and the lack of tourism.
When I got off the ship and left the terminal I did what I’ve done many times in the last few cruises; I found a taxi driver and we negotiated a price for a tour around town. I wasn’t up for a hike up the hill in the heat and humidity. So on to my trip. My driver was an older gentleman who said his name was Johnny. I asked if he was really Juan and he said his friends called him Juanito, so that’s what I called him. I sat in the front with him and we had a nice trip around town. To most visitors there are two San Juans, the old colonial one with cobblestone streets and buildings with wrought iron balconies and colonial architecture, and then there is the modern one with high rise buildings. There are really three cities though. There is a highway that runs out from the harbor area past the modern area with condos, hotels, and some luxury stores. On the other side of the highway there is the place where ordinary, working class Puerto Ricans live. We drove through some narrow streets in that part of town past a local market that was about to close. There were little cafés which were closed but which Juanito told me would be busy in the evening.
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| A building across from the market in the working class part of San Juan |
We drove under the highway and found a different world. The main street is lined with modern condo buildings and hotels, all painted a brilliant white. One building we passed Juanito pointed out was where Ricky Martin has a condo. I only know that that singer sang “Living la vida Loca” and I think Katie and Stan went to a concert of his one year in Boston. (Katie likes salsa music.) I don’t know if he was accurate but Juanito told me that the prices of the condos have dropped in the last couple of years and he said one can now buy a pretty decent one for $75 K. That sounds pretty inexpensive, but I’m not in the market anyway. That area is called the Condado area and they have lovely beaches facing the Atlantic since this is the north side of the island.
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| A little beach in Condado |
We drove back into old San Juan and passed a lot of places I remember going when I came here with Al years ago. We stopped briefly at the two forts, San Cristobal and El Morro. On one of the streets we passed a restaurant, El Patio de Sam, which I went to many years ago. If it had been open I would have asked Juanito to park so we could go in and have a drink and a snack, but sadly it only opens in the evening. We stopped briefly at the cathedral but I didn’t go in. Strung across all the streets were Christmas lights and we passed multiple big signs wishing people Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas) and Feliz dia de los Reyes (Three Kings Day). They are definitely gearing up for Christmas.
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| Casa de España, a club for people of pure Spanish descent |
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| A street in old San Juan. If you look you can see the Christmas lights strung from the wrought iron brackets |
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| Another street in old San Juan. I think they have a traffic problem! |
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| If you've ever enjoyed a piña colada, this is where the drink was born |
I asked Juanito if the island has recovered from Hurricane Maria which hit a few years ago and he said they haven’t on some parts of the island. He told me that a lot of the aid that came was side-tracked by a very corrupt government; in fact one governor had to resign because of corruption. Just a month or so ago another hurricane hit and there are still parts of the island that don’t have power. It’s very sad, especially since billions of dollars were spent to modernize the electric grid. In fact I remember that Dominion Energy from Virginia sent some crews to help with that.
We eventually got back to the dock and I said good-bye. Juanito gave me his card and said if I come again to call him in advance and he’ll meet me at the pier and take me home to meet his wife and have lunch. He was a nice man and I had a lovely trip around the city. I have to say that I’ve been a very lucky person to find the delightful people I’ve encountered to take me around.
Back on the ship after a salad for lunch we had a third session of trivia and we tied for first place again. Three days in a row we’ve won. We would have won outright, but the majority overruled the answer I and another lady said. Here’s the question. What two things did the 700 third class passengers on the Titanic share? Yesterday’s answers were Bermuda is the country with a shipwreck on its flag and the Danube flows through four capitals (Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade). Aren’t you glad I’m sharing some probably useless information with you?
We sailed away shortly after trivia and I sat out on deck with a nice couple from Sweden and we talked for a while. Dinner was at the cruise director’s table tonight and I sat between my new friend from Mississippi and a lovely lady from England. The latter and I found we had a lot in common. Her husband is an accountant as was Al and while they have two children, they had their first after they’d been married as long as we were and they’ve been married as many years as we would have been. I hope I encounter some of these people on future cruises because it’s great fun learning about different styles and customs of living. Once again I’ve very fortunate to encounter such a diverse and pleasant bunch of people.
Well, it’s late and I’ve rambled on a lot but it’s been such a good day. So for now nighty-night..
Another glorious day at sea on our way to San Juan. We’re sailing along the north coast of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), It doesn’t feel quite as humid as yesterday, but the sun is very intense. Our course heading is 101.5° and we’re traveling at 16 knots.
Of course we had trivia today and, wonder of wonders, we won again! We’re officially on a roll. Here are a couple of questions to test your minds. 1) What nation has a shipwreck on its flag? 2) Through how many capital cities does the Danube flow? We got one right and one wrong. See how you do and no cheating.
You can tell I don’t have any really exciting things to write about today. I suppose I could make up a story but instead I’ll repeat something I wrote last year when in roughly the same place. We’re approaching a place in the Atlantic called the Puerto Rico Trench. These waters are some of the deepest in the Atlantic and at its deepest point the trench is over 27,000 feet deep! The trench is formed where two tectonic plates pass by one another. The Caribbean plate is moving east and the North American one is moving west. As these two plates move along they cause many quakes, most of them minor. If you ever look at the US Geological Service website you will usually see lots of little quakes around Puerto Rico and Hispaniola and the sea around them. I just looked now and counted seven in the last 24 hours. The land mass around this trench is so dense that NASA has found that it actually has a gravitational pull on the water causing a measurable dip in the sea level. I’m sure it must be miniscule and of course we can’t see it or feel it, but I think that’s really something that it can be measured.
I considered going to the pool again but there is absolutely no shade. I finally found a table and chairs near one of the bars that was undercover so I sat there with a nice couple from South Carolina. Of course, since I was next to the bar it was time for a frozen margarita. As the sun shifted I think I may have gotten a little tan on one side so I’ll look kind of half and half.
I met a couple from my trivia team for drinks and dinner. They are from Lincoln in the UK. I had so much fun talking with them. The man Mark reminded me of the quintessential English gentleman with a little mustache and a droll sense of humor. Once again we were among the last to leave the restaurant.
I’m sorry that I haven’t any photos to attach but if you’ve seen one ocean picture you’ve kind of seen them all. Just to upload one here’s a photo of the flower arrangement from the cruise director that appeared in my room the first evening. The red rose in the middle was one that I was given when I went in to dine and I just stuck it in so it would have some moisture.
Tomorrow is San Juan and I haven’t anything planned; I’ll play it by ear.
We’re somewhere off the northern coast of Cuba and it is very hot and humid outside. I thought about going to the pool but when I looked out there I couldn’t see a single lounger in the shade and I surely don’t need to get barbecued on the first day. Instead I’ve decided to sit on my veranda which is on the shady side of the ship this afternoon.
At 11:30 AM I went to the lounge for Trivia. They’ve moved the time up a half hour from what it has always been to try to keep there from being a rush of people for lunch at 1 PM. The Club where they hold the game was full and I think there must have been 14 teams. Our team included my American friends from my spring cruise, three people I met yesterday and a British couple who were alone so they joined us. We chose as our name the “Busted Flush,” which was the name given to a boat some character in a novel won in a poker game. It must have been lucky because WE WON, commandingly I might add. And our prize was (drum roll) a converter plug.
This morning at breakfast I saw something one rarely sees on Seabourn, a family with a little girl. She and her family were also one of the teams competing in Trivia. She looks around four years old and is one of the most well-behaved children I’ve ever seen. She was wearing a cute little dress and a tiara when she walked past me and I asked if she was a princess and with a big grin she told me she was. There are probably some other passengers who don’t like the idea she’s onboard, but one hardly knows she’s here.
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What a long day it’s been. I got up at 2:45 AM to get ready for my 4 AM pick-up to take me to Richmond for my 6:10 flight. I didn’t originally book a flight leaving that early, but nowadays schedules seem to go through multiple changes between the time you book and the time you actually fly. Oh well, it was a nonstop to Miami and it was a nice flight. After I made my way to the baggage claim carousel the first thing I saw even before my bags came out was my driver with my name on his iPad. My luggage was about the first to come out and Ender, my driver, led me out to my ride. Traffic was horrendous, but he was a great driver. He told me he came here from Venezuela more than 20 years ago, and a prouder American I haven’t met in a long time.
There were eight ships here at the port of Miami today. My ship looked tiny next to the behemoths docked fore and aft. I had a long wait on a bench outside the terminal, but it was an absolutely gorgeous day here so it wasn’t bad. There was a nice breeze and no humidity. A few other early birds came along and I had a very lovely conversation with an English couple. Eventually we were told we could come inside and shortly thereafter we were onboard. I found out later that part of the delay was that today was the first time the Sojourn had been to the US in a couple of years. Therefore they had to undergo a complete inspection by Customs and Border Enforcement and the US Coast Guard. The captain made an announcement sometime in the afternoon about the process and proudly informed us that the ship had passed all inspections with zero deficiencies, flying colors!
My cabin is exactly the same as the one I had last month, albeit an older version because this is Seabourn’s oldest ship (it’s 11 years old). I liked the color scheme on the newer ships a little better I think, but that’s just an unimportant cosmetic thing. My luggage came quickly and there’s more than adequate room for everything.
Around 6:30 PM I went to a get-together for solo travelers in one of the lounges. The assistant cruise director always hosts that and I had been invited to dine with him afterwards. Only one other lady showed up and we had a nice conversation and then we all went to dinner in the restaurant. There were two other people at the table when we got there. We had a pretty lively conversation and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
This afternoon as I was going into the Colonnade to have lunch I ran into a couple I sailed with back in the spring. In fact, they were on my trivia team and they’re the ones I spent my birthday with in Ephesus. I even posted a picture of us on my blog back in May. What a nice surprise it was! You really can make lasting friends on cruises.
We were the last to leave the dining room and by then I was so tired that I couldn’t even read before turning off the lights. It’s Saturday morning as I write this and I feel so much better after a good night’s sleep. There’s something about hearing the thrum of the engines and feeling the gentle rocking that really helps me sleep well. So that’s all for the moment. I’ll write about today later.
