Brief Respite

I am so out of travel practice! Not only did I overpack and pack badly, I was glad when 5 consecutive port days ended. My favorite cruises have only one or two days on land between sea days and this originally was scheduled that way. Due to changes made to gain us better weather we had two in Bora Bora, two in Tahiti, and one in Moorea with no chance to catch our breath. That was seven excursions lasting as much as four hours each. A lot of time on the water not counting this ship, of course. A lot of pre-scheduled speacialty dinners. Just a lot of a lot! BTW - Moorea is pronounced in the island way of saying each vowel as Mo-o-re-a. A leisurely breakfast out on the back deck with lots of conversation was greatly enjoyed. We didn't even go to the early presentation on Forests of the World. I had some time to catch up with you here. Time to swim where I met several people who are extending this cruise to sail through the Panama Canal and flying home from Ft. Lauderdale. The main pool had an open roof today and very hot tile and hot metal handrails. Maybe they could rethink the railings! Ouch! There was no escaping the idea of Carol and I discussing future cruises. We have already extended our Norway cruise and while onboard upgraded our cabin for that. As I mentioned, we browsed the offerings on TV where I found the Istanbul trip. Last night's Daily for today sent a complete list and we reviewed our possible choice. We made an appointment with Laura, the Cruise Consultant - that must be a great job - and met with her. She is holding cabins for us on two dates for that trip to the Iconic Shores of the Med. The date may depend on which category of cabin we decide on. And on which bank I can rob! Our big appointment of the day, other than Trivia, is to hear Dr. Sherry tell us the stories behind the disputes over the cultural treasures of the Ivory Chessmen and the Golden Adele. I had not known about either but will be looking for a small version of the Lewis Chess Set to give as gift to my grandson when I visit Scotland next year. The Golden Adele had a good outcome as far as returning to the private owner after Nazi confiscation. Apparently there is a movie about this. We had dinner one deck above us in the World Cafe with our friends. The more we get together the more we laugh. We are a little rowdy and just have a good time together. We did not go to hear the cellist play as the evening performance. Carol and I watched a movie I can not even telll you the title of, but it was strangely funny. But predictable. Susan Sarandon played a dead mother who left a video to teach her son lessons she hadn't bothered to teach him when he was alive. J.K. Simmons had a strange part in it as well. We started off our second sea day by Sailing the Seas with Herman Melville and Dr. Sherry Hutt. I had slept particularly late, 8:00, so only a quick breakfast before that. She is always so informative and I learned a lot. He was a serial mutineer and took his tales from his South Pacific adventures and expanded them greatly with fiction. Another author I thought I knew but have to read up on. We did pretty good at trivia today. Sometimes things are really out of left field. Again, playing more often would help. The four o'clock talk by Russell Lee was an excellent disection of the movie The Godfather. Everything from why Francis Ford Coppella was chosen to be the director and how Marlon Brando got the part to a critical analysis of specific scenes. What did Parmesan - Reggiano have to do with anything and why did actors have cue cards under their jackets? I wish I had a recording of that lecture! Dinner was at Manfredi's and delicious as always. Our friends seem to enjoy Chef's Table more but Carol and I really like the Italian restaurant on board. Our cruise director, Brian Rodriguez from, as he says, the small North Cuban town of Miami Beach, Florida had a solo show. He does not hesitate to admit he is only 5' 3 1/2" tall but he unpacks a tenor voice that would be the envy of many a professional stage performer. His show, Bel Canto, was a powerhouse showing of multi-genre music. The house was packed and the applause was surely what a performer dreams of. Straight to bed as tomorrow is another day with an early start ashore!