Wanderung 27

Bob:

We awoke to see the perfect, Mt. Fuji-like cone of the volcanic island of Stromboli floating by outside our stateroom window; a rather surprising way to awaken I can tell you! But we leaped out of bed to run out on our balcony and take pictures just as the sun was rising and painting the clouds floating over the island in a pink blush. How pretty!

After breakfast we perambulated around the upper deck a bit while the Crown Princess approached the straights that lie between Sicily and mainland Italy. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we had a ringside seat, so to speak, as Pilot boat dropped off a local pilot and our ship slowly steamed into the narrow channel. The pilot was mainly, Captain Nash assured us, to communicate with the ferries and other local craft that abound in the straights.

We went into the Princess Theater at 10:15 to listen port lecturer (Debbie) gave a talk on Santorini, our next port of call. We paid close attention as we were planning to walk to Oia on the North end of the crescent of Santorini and then take the bus back to Fira, the main city, which she said would be about a 10-kilometer but 3-hour walk, which was THE PLAN.

Since today was Thanksgiving in America, a table in the Atrium paid tribute to the day with Happy Thanksgiving and a bald eagle looking over the pretty arrangements.

As the Crown Princess headed out into the Ionian Sea, we just relaxed, albeit in different ways. Monika went to the champagne art auction and spent a few bucks gambling in the Casino. I have had way too much experience with "real" gambling such as riding a motorcycle, flying airplanes, driving on the wrong side of the road in foreign countries, and so forth to have any interest in "artificial" gambling such as one finds in a Casino. But to each his or her own, and Monika had fun in the Casino although the art auction was a bust as they ran out of champagne before it ever got back to her! The nerve!

We both, however, do enjoy reading and writing our journal. Since we have only 1 computer and 1 Kindle, we kind of swap them off as writing takes a lot more mental energy than reading and you can only do so much at one go. We also brought along paperbacks to trade in at the ship's library so that we can take some other passenger's cast-off paperbacks without feeling guilty. At the end of each cruise we turn in all the paperbacks, keeping only the Kindle and computer, which gives us a wee bit more space in our luggage for packing for the trip home. I spent the afternoon writing, reading, and napping until it was time to dress in our formal wear for dinner. Fortunately, "formal" for me just means black suit and pants, which is a lot easier than those coordinated outfits that Monika has to keep coming up with!

We had a pleasant dinner alone because as it transpired, Will had not brought a suit and was refused entry into the regular dining room! That actually was the first time I have heard of that actually happening. Poor Will! Will really is such a nice guy that I decided right then and there to loan him one of my ties and formal shirts so that he would not miss the next formal night--you see, the menu on formal nights typically has really nice entres and it's just a shame to have to miss a really nice meal like that. Although it turned out to be just the two of us, we had a very nice, quiet meal together and then attended the evening show, "Destination Anywhere", which was a pleasant pastiche of song, dance routines, and fancy costumes.