September 3

After some long and hot days of touring, it is nice to relax at sea.  We moved the clocks forward again – 1 hour so now we are 7 hours ahead of PA time at home.

What to do on a sea day?  You have read about a typical day in previous posts – today is much the same.  After breakfast, one hour walk on the deck. And for those who wonder, I did weigh myself for the first time in the gym a couple of days ago and have lost 4 pounds on the cruise. I am enjoying myself, but really choose discriminately about the food (well, I can always try that next month), eat the same breakfast and lunch as at home with a couple of exceptions.

For instance, they make all their own bread and pastries on the ship and they beckon to be tried.  I walk past those sticky buns every day…  one day, I had to try one and it was delicious.  I bet there will be one more before we depart (at least).

Today the cruise critic group I post to had a lunch for the 32 couples aboard who are members.  It was in the grand dining room where we have only had one other lunch because we prefer the terrace for lunch.  It was a Mexican lunch and Norm and I both had the sampler platter – delicious – and not my normal salad.

We also do plenty of walking, in port and on the fitness track.  So I guess that is all what’s needed. I have to admit I won’t look forward to cooking again, even though I love to cook.

I went to a cooking demonstration with the new chef on board – Jorg Becker, who replaced Mario while he is on his 6 week vacation from the ship.  Jorg is from Germany and oh my, is he ever funny!  He drank champagne through the whole demo and the other chef that worked with him prepared 3 greek dishes (moussaka, stuffed calamari and spanokopita) while Jorg just made the greek salad.  I am looking forward to the rest of his demos on the sea days later in this segment of the cruise.

A couple of facts or noticings that I didn’t post before:

• When you see a country flag flying that is like a long triangle instead of the typical rectangle, that is because those are not subject to the usual flag protocol (take down at night, or light it up)
• In Vernazza, Cinque Terre, each person is allowed a parking space for a boat.  So you don’t only see them anchored in the harbor, you see them parked along the streets as well.
• Many European cities were pretty much destroyed by bombing in WWII and it is a tribute to them that they are rebuilt and the character of the cities is maintained so wonderfully. So much rich history to preserve.
• A lot of the cities have American shops and almost all have McDonalds.
• People are generally friendly and helpful no matter where you go.
• We walked on a street in Malta that was being prepared for a movie set, made to look like Turkey.
• If you have a chance to hear a pianist from Russia who now lives in the US, take it… or look her up on youtube.  Liana Forest. She performed twice and was simply amazing.
• The ocean in this part of the world is clear and amazingly blue. And we have seen some flying fish!

Ok, that’s all for today, looking forward to Rhodes, Greece tomorrow.