Wanderung 14

The Plane to Spain replaced by the Bounding Main!

April-May 2007

Day 6: Saturday April 21 2007, At Sea

Noon position: 34 degrees 34.933' N latitude, 035 degrees 53.750' W longitude. Course 069 degrees true, speed 28.2 mph

Bob:

After a light breakfast we walked our normal two miles in some wildly gusting winds around the jogging track. At two points in each circuit we were almost blown off our feet by severe wind eddies. We countered that by joining hands for stability at that corner and came out OK. The poolside Fun and Fitness session was lead by Efkahn, a young Turkish guy with a terrific sense of humor. Some of the humor on our trip, however, came from entirely unexpected sources. We were traveling on an elevator to the upper decks when a middle-aged woman complained that the ship's casino didn't have enough penny slot machines. She informed us that there were only three penny slot machines and often a queue of people waiting to use them, which quite apparently frustrated her. And when she used the nickel slot machines, she complained, the money went too fast because she had to use three, four, or even five nickels at a time. "But," interjected one of the other passengers, "You don't have to use so many nickels at once; you can play with just one nickel at a time." She wailed, "But then I don't win very much!" Fortunately the woman got off at the next stop, because Monika was really having trouble not breaking up in laughter.

Since Ken and Marion, our dance instructor team, had begun to give morning and afternoon sessions, we rode the elevators to the Starquest Disco on the 13th floor and spent an hour refreshing our waltz skills. We were only practicing the most basic steps, but I was trying to get proficient enough to actually listen to the rhythm of the music while doing the steps. In fact, we had so much fun that we returned after lunch to their afternoon session followed by the destination lecture for Malaga on the Costa del Sol. Clearly it was an area with pretty beaches and a lot of sunshine, but suffering from being extremely popular with European tourists. For the last 20 minutes, the wife of the presenter lectured us on Picasso, the great modern Spanish artist. The content of her talk was quite good, but the pictures of his artwork on the slides were too small to really see and she had a very soothing, monotone voice. The triple whammy of lunch followed by mild exercise in the dance class followed by a comfortable seat and with her soothing voice turned out to be an irresistible soporific. After she completed her dissection of Picasso's work, I simply staggered back to our cabin and fell into bed for yet another 2-hour nap!

Monika:

Walking the mile at 9 was a challenge since the wind had freshened and there were times we were wind propelled whereas at other times on the circuit we had to fight against it. Interesting combination. It also was colder so our Fun Fitness class poolside moved rather briskly since the instructor came in shorts and a T-shirt. We added a second dance class in the morning to our routine today; so that by mid afternoon we had practiced waltz for two hours and we could feel the improvement.

We ate lunch at the Seaview Cafe, where you could order grilled Panini, pasta, or pizza. We both had a panini and found it excellent. After that it was off to more dancing and a destination lecture on Malaga. It ended on a lecture on Picasso with pictures so small it was hard to see and a voice that was sleep-inducing. So we went back to the cabin where Bob napped and I read. First, however, I went back to the Windjammer cafe where they serve food all the time and got a cup of coffee and a scone. After all, I am on a ship, I have to eat.

Bob:

But that evening we had another enjoyable dinner with Dave, Rick, and Brigitte, after which we listened to Renato Pagliari the tenor singing in the atrium. He had a nice set of pipes and could fill the atrium without amplification, which I enjoyed very much. I couldn't help thinking about Laurie, our voice teacher, and how she could have also filled that atrium with her fine soprano voice. In some sense, Laurie's ability to sing every genre from classical to pop in different languages would have been ideal for that kind of varied audience. After Renato finished, we returned to our cabin where we found our first towel animal, an elephant I think. Anyway, it was cute. I brought the journal up to date and we read a bit before retiring for the night.

Monika:

And, of course, another excellent evening meal followed, after which we listened for a while to the Tenor singing in the Atrium, an open area in the middle of the ship that goes from Deck 4 to Deck 11.


 


 

Copyright 2007 by R. W. Holt and E. M. Holt
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