System Error - Not me being dumb!

Please note that part way through this last trip the sysstem apparently changed servers and no longer recognizes paragraphs! Sorry. I am still working to find a way to correct this for you in some way other than sending you an individual email! I may end up changing systems completely but that is a difficult thing to do. I - and you - would lose all my posted insights to travel. Thanks for understanding!

Lost at Sea!

This journey has become a little like being lost at sea. We have been having very rough seas for a few days to the point of the Promenade Deck – Deck 2 – being closed for walking although the Sun Deck on 8 was mostly open. Any of our comfy verandah cushions that were not buckled to the chair were brought in so they wouldn’t blow away. It was still pretty warm even though we have re-crossed the equator heading north. But each day felt a little colder and rain was more often than not. And day follows day with no land in sight. BUT there is no bad day at sea. That is a given fact – at least for my friends and I who love to cruise. The food is still good, the indoor pool was open as was the main one. It has a sliding glass roof so actually, whenever the sun is shining, for at least a little while, the area becomes really warm. Waiters still pass frosty slushies concocted from fresh fruit when you are here. People still read and doze tucked around the pool in the lounges facing out to sea. The food is still good, most every meal ends with discussing plans on where and when to meet for the next one. The conversation turns to what will you be doing next week when you are home? Trivia still happens and we even win or come in second again. Each speaker has a last talk that sort of summarizes the gist of their course in Viking University. We raise our glass, or fist, again when Russell Lee begins his lecture with a Viking toast – Skoal, and so we wish each other “Good Health!” And we continue to have this in our Corona free environment. Movies are under the stars in the evening and nightly shows feature the guitarist and singer again. Then it happens. The last show is the farewell and safe travels home toast with the Captain and officers. A video of the entire crew, by department, is shown and the vocalists have a rousing send off with The Beatles Songbook. Granted, that is a little different with two guys and two girls in the cast. On the day before the last sea day I pack. Yes, it has to be done. I don’t like to do it on the last day because then I feel like I might miss out on something. No matter how long a trip is, the last day I feel there is something I didn’t get around to doing. It was true on this Friday. Carol and I breakfasted at Mamsen’s for the Norwegian Waffles. We had not had them often enough. Then we settled in the Living Room where Carol had the truly delicious Cappuccino and I had yet another pot of English Breakfast tea. And yes, even though we had just eaten we could not pass up the Almond Croissant or Chocolate Twist. Sue was passing by on her way from her ritual Spa day-starter and joined us. Sea friendships always seem like they will last forever, and for me, some have. Sue and Carol went off to pack while I wandered through all the public spaces. I met crew that I had come to know and said goodbye, see you on the next ship. Indeed, some will be on the Viking Star next April when we sail to Istanbul! Several passengers and I hugged goodbye as well. Veronica and Wayne, Carol and I will meet again in August to sail to Iceland on Holland America. Carol has not sailed with them but we are always looking at itinerary first and HAL has a great one. We had a last dinner at which we all chipped in – The Six – to tip our bar waiter and Café Czar, Igor. He always had a table waiting for us and drinks on the way. Carol and I also tipped our steward Sebastian and assistant Zak extra as well. As they took our bags to offload in the morning we said goodbye. Wonderful service and such nice guys. For our last night in our cabin we finished stuffing odds and ends into our carry-ons and settled in to watch “Tulip Mania: The Bulb that Sprouted the First Stock Market Bubble” with Russell Lee. Fascinating story but I struggled to stay awake knowing that we would be off the ship in just a few hours!

The Long Ride Home - Redux

Have you ever been on a car trip? Anticipation fuels the energy before the trip, the packing, the planning, the driving. Of course the vacation itself is fun and seems to fly by too quickly. Packing up again and heading home can be almost a relief and time is spent remembering all that went before. But if the drive is long enough you begin to just wish you were home, unpacked and resettled into your everyday life. Your brain starts skipping ahead to all you have to do upon your return. We are there now! 

Saturday did bring sunny skies. Since I was not interested in the morning lecture on the History of Wine, Beer, and Spirits I went swimming instead. Love the thermal pool but the bubbles were not working. It The warm water felt great though and swimming is easier without all the bubbling actually.

Oh, an we did watch the lecture in the evening on the TV. Pretty interesting from and archeological point of view. Of course, we met our friends for 112:15 trivia and are maintaining our record befitting our team name – Mediocrity. Lunch at the pool grill under the open roof was delightful as always. A cheese dog with bacon suited me just fine. 

 I am finally really getting into my third book of the trip. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Loving short chapters. Loving character development. Loving how it is visually coming to life. Love reading it on my wide, comfy, padded lounge tucked around the corner from the rest of the world. Me, my book, my iced tea, and the sea! 

At 4:00 was Russell Lee’s excellent, as always, talk on the Bridge on the River Kwai. Movie vs. Reality. The reality makes the movie seem more interesting to me so I may have to watch it when I get home. Russell and his wife were going to join us for dinner but he wasn’t feeling great so the six of us had dinner together with our bar waiter, Igor, hovering over us as always! 

Tonight's show was called Walking on Sunshine. The two lady vocalists sang sort of pop songs quite loudly but I am sure they were good. Keri did perform a lovely rendition of Danny Boy. Sunday, the 30th of January. 

While Atlanta and the rest of the East Coast recover from the “bombogenesis” we continued sailing closer and closer to home and further and further from our war but very rainy South Pacific. It was again a slow day. Carol and I started with her Latte and my English Breakfast tea in the Living Room. This area on deck is furnished with comfortable chairs, elegant art and carefully curated books. Then again, there is the Book Exchange credenza for those not into elegant picture books, and atlases, and important works of literature. 

Another beautifully decorated reading room area separates it from the small table seating area and bar where coffee, tea, green drinks and bar drinks are always available. The sparkling glass case has sandwiches, cookies, and cakes later in the day but now features delicious sweet rolls,, croissants and muffins. Carol had an almond croissant and I chose the Danish with the fresh, kiwi, blueberries, and strawberries sliced on top of the custard. 

We attended Michael Ryan’s program on the Pacific Rim or Ring of Fire – Trade, Treaties or Tempest? Quite a thematic way to approach the importance of the Pacific countries and why we, as a country, need to be included in critical policy decisions. These particularly concerning China and the New Silk Road. 

Dinner in the Café, again. Just is easier and the same food basically. And we do not need to be as constrained or adultish as we feel we must be in the restaurant. Carol and I skipped Wendy Law and her Cello concert. Instead we watched another funny movie on our big screen TV. I am surprised how many things came out in 2021! I didn’t realize production was going forward then. Maybe they were already filmed and just edited and released in 20 21.That wouldn’t have involved a social distancing issue. Monday and January ends. 

Guest lecturer, Kelly Walsh, was the morning education. His father is who first explored Challenger Deep in a sort of bathysphere/submarine. 50 years later, Kelly was privileged to follow in his Dad’s ‘footsteps’ and repeat the journey to the bottom of the sea. He told lots of stories of his growing up years. Kind of not the best student but still became a successful man thanks to his parents understanding. They did not hesitate to have him miss school to travel with his Dad to conferences and meetings around the world. Kelly’s interests are broad, mostly scientific, and were fueled by boyish curiosity. 

I had time to swim again, bubbles working, because trivia was moved to 5 p.m. We speculated that perhaps Michael, Assistant Cruise Director and Trivia host, was involved in a rehearsal for one of the shows. Or maybe it was just a team meeting. Interesting people to talk to at the Spa. The population of the area is strictly controlled and you know why. I had forgotten to make a reservation but there were only three others so no problem. At the beginning of the trip it was more popular I think because of the novelty of it being both excellent and free. Unlike other ships where you might have an opportunity for a free day on a port day, this is open to everyone all the time. 

Dr. Fuller gave the afternoon program about The Vikings. I had talked with Nancy to meet for tea at four but with both wanted to hear about this topic. Dr. Fuller always give a great lecture with lots of carefully selected audio- visual material and a lively presentation. Those Vikings were real rascals. And since Carol and I next travel to their stomping grounds it was extra good to be reminded of Viking exploits. 

Team Trivia was, as usual, fun and a terrific learning experience for Jan, Ron, Jim, Maureen, Deene, Carol and I. We have expanded the six person team allowed and added our alternating player full time. We discovered two other teams always had seven players. Since there is no prize given and no accumulating score, why not! We still are mediocre! 

From five o’clock Trivia we raced to our cabin to change for six o’clock dinner which turned out to be at 6:30 so we relaxed in our room with a cocktail. Not much though as when you are dining at Manfredi’s you want to have plenty of appetite. And we did. Carol had Veal Saltimbocca while I had Veal Milanese. She had some sort of dense chocolate – nut cake that was as thick as and similar to fudge, I had Zabaglione, yes, again. 

A duo called Matt and Lanie were our guest entertainers. Matt is a virtuoso guitarist and she a Broadway singer. We really liked his playing. He played music that was very familiar to our generation and featured guitar solos. The onboard guitarists supported some of his playing with perfect blending of the three instruments. Matt played a Stratocaster at one point and another of Jimmy Hendrix’. He somehow inherited it from someone who bought it at one time. Another guitar was pink with either a clear or a non-existent body to it! That was an amazing piece. Would love something like that for my granddaughter Maddie. Lanie was a very proud of herself and her fiancé singer whose dancing mainly consisted of wagging her encased in black leather butt at us. 

Tuesday – February already. We better get busy enjoying this cruise as it is almost over! I fly home on the 6th! We had a leisurely breakfast on the Aquavit Terrace with Adrienne. Chatted with Nancy and Lou who were at the next table.

Back at our cabin I settled in the wide blue lounge on our verandah. The warmth of the sun was quickly interfering with my reading. I was getting very dozy so came in just in time to hear more about the Vikings. 

Today was Vikings on the Move. The colorful maps and even more colorful stories make that kind of history stick in my brain! Some of the places he talked about I have visited before and even some of the pictures were of places I have been. I did a North Atlantic Crossing which made stops in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and the Maritimes. Here you see the low wooden homes with green grass roofs. Longhouses which were used for meetings and for hiding your boat. We heard more about the Lewis Ivory Chessmen. All in all a refresher and also a prep for our August trip. 

I had pepperoni pizza at lunch. The feature today was a Greek Buffet. I am not crazy about Greek food so opted for the always present freshly baked pizza! It was just Carol and I who landed here after Trivia. From Trivia we had zipped straight to the Torshavn Lounge to catch the Tips and Tricks talk given by Laura, who we now refer to as Red Soles. The Lounge is a very small room used mostly for late night music and drinking. It is also used for small group activities such as Origami Class or a Forum with one of the Guest Lecturers. At these there is an opportunity to ask questions and have a more personal chat about topics of interest. Seating is extra limited because of social distancing. Since we had done this our usual gang had gone on to their afternoon Bridge game. 

Bill and Nancy, competitors at Trivia, came in even later than us. They had been looking for the last Scavenger Hunt item and had found it. Russell and his wife had put together a 50 item photo hunt. You had to take a picture of yourself with the item to show you weren’t just using their photos that you had been given. They had found everything and also had the tiebreaker. This was the name of the two crows shown in the replication of the Bayeux Tapestry. This tapestry beautifully decorates the stairwells at either end of the ship. I may yet take advantage of the offered tour explaining the meaning of all of it. 

I did some shopping in the afternoon because I still have quite a bit of onboard credit to use up. Viking was very generous with it when the itinerary changed. But it stays with the ship if I don’t use it. I wouldn’t want to appear ungrateful by leaving it behind! 

I then met Sue at Tea Time. Nancy did not come. But a woman named Mary, also traveling alone, joined us. I am glad I only met her yesterday. I do not think she would have enjoyed our rather relaxed and rowdy mafia. She was very well dressed, spoke very quietly, and managed to fit in all her travels with Lindblad! 

After a dinner with lots of laughter and the sharing of the tips and tricks with those who were not there it was time for a return performance by Brian Rodriquez. Titled Il Sogno the music he picked and the stories he shared all spoke to his reaching his dream of being a professional singer. I am sure he is hoping that some day some producer will need a 5’ 3 ½ “ tall singer with a very strong Tenor voice. He describes the roles normally sung by tenors are be big, strong, powerful men not someone “pocket sized” like himself. 

And so now we are living our Wednesday with just a few more days to go. Talk to you later!