We arrived in Hamilton Bermuda this morning around 8:30 am local
time, the clocks went ahead an hour during the day yesterday and we were off
the ship by 10 after a nice leisurely breakfast in the dining room. We snagged
a $50 taxi tour of the island, and the rate and guided tour was worth it. We
followed it by a walk around town and a visit to the Bermuda National Art
Gallery and a stop at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral for a few prayers and
a candle for safe travels.
We returned to the ship for lunch and a short nap before
departing Hamilton around 5:30pm and scenic sail-out to the ocean. We head
north to the Azores and although tonight will be smooth they expect 9-foot seas
and rain tomorrow.
On a sad note, we spoke to long time close friends by phone and
discovered that the wife had a small stroke yesterday afternoon and is in a
medical center in New Jersey. They have family up in the Jersey and Long Island
area and were there visiting from Florida for a few grandchildren graduations.
The prognosis is good but we are concerned due to their advanced ages.
Dinner was good but our table companions were not at all
talkative and it was like pulling teeth from an orangutan getting them to
contribute to the conversation. He was an AFL-CIO executive and the discussion
could have been interesting but alas he contributed only one or two syllable
answers! His wife spoke even less. Was it their mid-west life style from
Springfield, Illinois? We'll never know. The evening entertainment was quite
pleasant with a trombone virtuoso who had a full range of music from the Big
Band era, early Blues and Jazz as well as some Dixieland arrangements. His
tributes to Hoagie Carmichael's Stardust and Louie Armstrong's A Wonderful
World were moving and most enjoyable.
Well my prayers to St. Christopher (yes, I know the Roman
Catholics don't consider him a saint anymore, but I do) seem to be working and
the low-pressure system seems to be dissipating. Today's weather has been very
good with moderate seas and plenty of sunshine and temps in the 70's.
A nice breakfast and conversation with a retired business teacher
and avid sports fan, he works part time for the Chicago Cubs giving tours of
Wrigley Field, and then a lecture on tsunamis and the devastating consequences.
We did our usual 1-mile walk-about and then lunch in the dining room for a
change. We'll lose another hour shortly and I'm determined to finish a novel I
bought along and start the next in the series. A WWII spy thriller by one of my
favorite authors, WEB Griffin. I also have an interesting non-fiction work
called "Conversations with God" which I have started but only read
the preface and part of the first chapter. Intriguing subject and treatise.
I hope to get this up on my blog page in the next few days rather
than waiting till we return but perhaps at the high cost of internet time I may
have to wait till Amsterdam. We'll see.
Dinner was interesting on Wednesday night. We joined friends
Henry & Marge again and a gentleman named John who had foot surgery by Dr.
Wapner in Philadelphia. Same surgeon who worked on Laurie's feet. Small world.
Henry & Marge are also from Florida and have a home in Winter Park, a very
upscale suburb of Orlando. He is the retired CFO of the Board of Internal Medicine
Examination and has his MBA from Wharton. She worked for AT&T in computer
programming. They are avid travelers and will be visiting their daughter and
grandchildren in Amsterdam.
The evening entertainment was a 5 member "boy band"
from Liverpool who all play Ukuleles, sing and dance and proved to be quite
engaging. A fun evening. The seas continue to remain relatively calm and the
weather is getting a bit cooler but still in the low 70's.
Thursday morning was grey and overcast and we slept in with breakfast
in the room. I'm a bit tired today and we only walked a half-mile. It was windy
but the ship is steady and the ride is comfortable. Some breaks of sun. Our
morning lecture by Dr. Southerland was on undersea mountains and the origins of
life in discovered organisms. Somewhat interesting.
We had a table of eight for dinner with Henry & Marge, Jenny
& Roger (the Swiss chef and Elvis fan) and Tom & Susan from Naples.
Eclectic conversations and good food, including Quail.
The ship's singers and dancers returned for an evening of song
and interpretive dance with a spectacular performance of song from Les Mis and
Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. A talented group of young performers. Laurie
returned to the room and I donated some funds to the casino slot machines.
Laurie slept in on Friday morning and I enjoyed a big breakfast
on The Lido. We matched up later for some serious reading time while skipping
our walk. The winds have picked up and the temps are in the high 60's. The ship
is handling it well. Surprise! We are skipping Horta in the Azores. The Captain
announced that a storm had formed just south and west of us and he has altered
course to "run away" from what is expected to be 18-foot seas and 40
knot gale force winds. He would not be able to dock in Horta. We are heading
for Brest in northwest France on the Brittany coast. Unfortunately, it will
take several days to get there and we won't arrive until next Wednesday, May
17th. Four more days at sea.
We called and spoke with our longtime friends and she seems to be
doing better but there were the obvious signs and she will be in rehab for a
long period of time. We are saddened by this news.
Our lecture on Volcano's timed to be just prior to our arrival in
Horta, a volcanic island was still interesting and we learned intriguing facts
about the search for Atlantis. We were invited to join Marge & Henry at the
specialty restaurant, Canneletto. An Italian smorgasbord of small plates,
antipasto, meats and pastas. Our evening was capped off by a piano virtuoso and
performer who is quite talented and entertaining. He was due to disembark in
Horta but will be arranging another new performance next Tuesday before he
returns to Branson, MO.
I sent an email update to family and friends and will await their
replies.
Saturday morning and we had breakfast in our room and then walked
our 4 laps. A fun lecture on dinosaurs was followed by a serious lecture on how
Europe’s demand for sugar made many people wealthy from the slave trade. Last year’s
fact of Brazil being the largest importer of slaves was again confirmed in this
year’s lecture. The US was only a minor player in the slave trade until the
invention of the cotton gin increased the demand for labor in the south.
Catholic mass at 5 pm by Fr. Steve. He was an Anglican priest
from Australia who converted to Roman Catholicism. Have not had the opportunity
to explore that subject with him.
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