Cruising 29 April 2009

   Heading north to Ireland, the British Isles, Old Blarney, Home of the Shamrock, etc.  This was a cooler day at sea with rain clouds all about us  but we were not actually in the rain. Up and to our first event of the day, an enrichment lecture about the Vikings.  There is an interesting bunch and advanced in many areas, of course extinct now I guess.  He never did say why they died out.  I saw something on the Discovery channel once with the idea that it was climate change that basically destroyed their civilization, not sure of the facts of course.  

  We did a  bit more than two miles of walking today, with the wind resistance I am sure it counted for MUCH more and burned many calories!  After lunch I did a bit of laundry and we watched a movie on TV. We are thinking a lot about the next phase of our trip while still enjoying this stage. 

   About 3:45 we headed to the "special" Ice Odyssey show put on for people who are Platinum members (us) and above.  What a spectacular ice show it was.  The extra part was bringing out a few of the performers to do some particular movement or feat, complementary appetizers, wine and drinks, plus a brief address from the Captain at the end.  The performers are from all over the world and really do a fabulous job.  My pictures do not do it justice, it is so well done and really worth going to see. 

  Formal night, the final formal night.  I was sure I would have a large plastic bag for things to send home by now but I don't.  We are considering a $15 gift shop bag to put our things in for Emma at West Quay Cars to mail home for us.  I decided I will have her mail it to Deb's house so it won't be sitting at the Post Office for weeks.  Anyway, now we can pack those things and have them out of the way.  So far washing a few things every few days has worked out well. 

Temperature:  57*  8:30 pm

Sea:  Moderate 4-7.5 ft.

Nautical miles from Galveston 4319, from Ponta Delgada 489, and 659 to Cohb, Ireland.    

  

Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal 28 April 2009

   This morning we are trying to get back on track with getting up earlier.  Even with the time change being gradual it has been somewhat challenging.  There has been a "one hour forward" several nights in a row.  That would be fine if one can just drift off anytime they choose but that is not so easy for some of us.  Today I have vowed to avoid excessive carbs to have a better sense of well being. 

   First thing this morning we could see some island in the Azores chain off to the port side.  We got ready and went to a lecture about the Portuguese - "They Were Everywhere" and it was interesting.  Next we went to trivia, which was fit for snoozing so we left, walked, and went to lunch.  I had salad and a small steak for lunch.  John has a salad and corn cakes (like corn fritters more or less).   

   We planned a ship excursion in this port of call; Furnas Valley, meeting first in the LaScala Theater at 2:15, scheduled to return at 7pm.  We will miss dinner in the dining room but that is fine with us.  After a week+ of cruise food the novelty tends to wear off.  Of course it is still delicious but just not as exciting.  Whoever was in charge of dispersing numbers for the tours really failed.  Instead of calling each group to get there numbers they just had everyone show up in the theater, what a fiasco.  I am sure it ruined the day trip for several people and at one point cussing with an impending fight seemed on the way.  That is when I left.  John went back in and eventually got our numbers and we did take the tour.  Most of the time was on the bus but we did have 20-30 minutes in four different places.  The first stop was Parque Terra Nostra, which was lovely and lush.  Stop two was the Hot Springs, the water tasted really bad.  I didn't swallow mine since no one was looking I spat it out!  From there we drove and then walked up a trail to look down on Furnas Valley, inside the crater where there is a lake, two villages, and more.  Just breathtaking views.  The last stop was a city center with a lovely old Baroque church and simple park.  We saw a Brazilian store there.  I asked the guide about the relationship of the Azores with Brazil and she stated there are a lot of Azorean's in Campo Grande a state in southern Brazil. John had a cup of cafezinho,  I would have but I know it would keep me awake.  We were one  of the last buses to depart the ship and next to the last to return.  We had a quick bite in the Windjammer and then to our room. The ship departed as we were eating.  They keep calling for one couple to check in, perhaps they were left behind?

Temperature:  62.6*  9:00pm   

Sea:  Moderate 4-7.5 ft

Nautical miles from Galveston 3836, from Ponta Delgada 6, to Cohb, Ireland  1142.  

Cruising 27 April 2009

    John was sick in the night, must have been something he ate because he was fine when we got up very late this am.  I awoke with a headache.  I guess the easy living and FOOD is getting to us.  In addition John "wore" a whole cup of vanilla latte the is morning too.  Poor guy, at least it did not burn him.  Needless to say I spent some time doing laundry.  Hopefully all the mishaps are behind us now! 

   We got a detailed letter from the captain today stating that due to very strong westbound surface currents in the Mid Atlantic they have had to slow down and we will have a late arrival into Ponta Delgada. Therefore we will arrive at 2pm and stay until 8pm instead of the planned 12 noon to 7pm.  The are listing new times for all excursions and slightly changing the dinner hours tomorrow also.  None of this really concerns us and we are flexible. 

   Today we did a couple of fun activities.  One was a slot pull organized by the Meet & Mingle group.  Everyone who wants to play uses $20 and has 4 $5 pulls on the slot machine.  What the balance is at the end is divided amongst the participants.  It was fun and we each got $12. back from our $20.  Quite a bit of fun for only  $8! 

   Our big event of the day was the Mystery Dinner in Portofino Restaurant.  We attended this with some friends from our group so that part was fun too.  We met in one of the lounges and the actors/characters began their play in there.  It was very entertaining and I did guess the right person as the murderer.  The food was delicious and included wine.  The served a Pinot Grigio or Cabernet.   We both had the shrimp, appetizer, salad or soup, and a unique version of Tiramisu for dessert.  We had a great time.

 

  

   Thanks to Cheryl I have a photo of how my banana plant is doing at home! Thank you Cheryl!!!  We will be having a "Banana Harvest" party when we get home if they are not gone before then.  I am not really sure how long it takes for them to mature.

11 :30 pm

Temperature:  66.2*

Sea:  Rough 7.5 - 12 (we feel little)

Nautical Miles from Galveston 3516, from Bermuda 1630, to Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal 315. 

 

Cruising 26 April 2009

     I spoke too soon about that weather!  We woke to gray skies and more wind, 35 knots across the bridge this morning as compared to 10-15 other days.  Seas were stated as moderate when we got up but I suspect that must be the high end of moderate.  Since we have been sleeping with our balcony door open we noticed this first thing in the early morning hours, even before dawn.  No rain yet but with the wind our balcony is quite damp. 

   We passed customs today, which took all of five minutes.  A British customs officer came on  board in Bermuda to complete this so we will have an easy and fast departure.  He was funny saying that is was such painful duty with a big smile on his face.  Looks like he will do this for just three days for a total of 18 hours.  Meanwhile he can enjoy the ship and all the amenities. 

   I had a minor mishap today, John stepped on the back of my sandal and that broke the plastic clasp. Janice you like my newer style as compared to the lace up sandals, but this point is a definite draw back.  Laces would not have broken.  I did manage to sew the strap onto the other side and I hope they will hold up.  Maybe I can find a place in Europe with Keen sandals and get a new clasp I can simply put back on them.  If not, then I will just have the one pair of shoes that I must wear socks with and that will be more difficult if the weather turns hot. Such is life and the well made plans for footwear!  

   John's knee is sore, thankfully it is not worse.  It was a quiet day for us and we decided to lay low after the recent mishaps.  We are missing everyone today as well.  It took four tries and 20+ minutes just to read five emails and reply briefly to two of those.  Not sure when I can even post the blog.  Tomorrow will be a better day!   Perhaps prayer will hold the "Eash Factor" at bay for us! 

Temperature:  60.8* 

Sea:  Moderate 4-7.5 (more movement on the ship perhaps due to the increased speed and/or wind conditions, but still so little movement, I am surprised)

Nautical Miles to Ponta Delgada: 888, from Galveston: 2943, from Kings Wharf: 1057

Wind is 28 knots across the deck tonight.  The report states it is raining but we can't really see it.  Outside areas are damp but it is hard to know if this is from rain or simply mist from the sea blowing in the wind.  I guess we will sleep with the door closed tonight to be sure the carpet does not get damp. 

          

 

 

 

Cruising 25 April 2009

   Today it is starting to cloud up a bit.  Temperature dropped to 64* but it is by no means cold or horrid.  Coffee for breakfast adding pastry and a banana for John.  For lunch we went to the dining room again.  We didn't want anything on the menu but they have a beautiful salad bar and we each got a huge salad.  The choices are almost endless, including: Shrimp and Prosciutto sliced right from the whole, cured leg.  It would appear that they have just three rotating menus for dining room lunch service, which is of course more than adequate for us.  For dessert we had sugar free pineapple upside down cake, which might have been my most favorite dessert thus far.  We have yet to eat in the Windjammer buffet area for anything but breakfast, and then just John did. 

   John had a slight mishap today.  He tripped or slipped or ??? on the last step and fell down onto his knee.  He told me after the fact as I was not with him at the time.  When I did know we went back to the room and put ice in a Ziplock so he can ice it.  It doesn't look bad and it is only sore, so hopefully it will be fine 

   Wine tasting with the Meet & Mingle group today at 4pm.  This is a nice group of people; friendly, outgoing, and a pleasure to get acquainted with.  There were so many bottles of wine we could not possibly taste all of them!  We bought some Pinot Grigio in  Galveston and put it in our luggage, which arrived unnoticed.  The event was held in two cabins that were side by side aft cabin balconies, very nice and really huge.  I am sure the one balcony is at least six times the size of ours.  It was a D1 category, so basically the same price as ours but we did get a senior price and those particular cabins were probably not offered for senior pricing.

   From there it was time for dinner again; mushroom tart, cream of asparagus soup, Caesar salad, fisherman's plate with lobster and shrimp, and for dessert sugar free berry tart, which was simply delicious.  The show tonight was a comedian, he was very entertaining and also sang songs from the 50's and 60's.  We received gifts of two Crown and Anchor caps on our bed tonight, another perk from RCI for us, how nice.   

   Oh, we did receive a credit back for Internet time, of course from a handsome Brasileiro from Sao Paulo no less! It was good to talk to you today Mom!  I was glad Deb and I could exchange a couple of text messages, though she did not reply to the last one, maybe she did not receive it.  Verizon works just fine on the ship but will not work without their phone connections at sea.  We will have the World phone after that time.   

Temperature: 10pm 64.4*

Sea:  Moderate 4-7.5 ft (but seems slight!)

Just 1358 Nautical Miles to Ponta Delgada, we are now 2473 Nautical miles from Galveston, and 587 Nautical miles from Kings Wharf, Bermuda.

  About the weather, it is so calm and beautiful one can really call this crossing the "pond" ~ certainly nice and we are not complaining but it is much less adventurous than crossing last year with my mom and sister.  The captain said earlier he would avoid bad weather when possible and we can see rain and dark clouds in the distance in almost every direction.  I suspect the temperature will drop further as we go on but one never knows.  CNN has switched from TV to a radio version since as suspected we have lost some TV channels but there is little time or desire for such things anyway!      

Kings Wharf, Bermuda 24 April 2009

Our first port of call!  What a beautiful day, we could not have imagined anything better.  We arrived at the expected time of 8 am and left at 16:00 (4pm).While I have  always wanted to see Bermuda we are only in port for eight hours and we decided to walk about the dock area and see the sights there.  The Royal Naval Museum is a short walk from where we were docked.  There is a ferry terminal that many of or shipmates went on to different areas of the island. Also the Clocktower Mall, Rumcake Factory, Bermuda Maritime Museum, Dockyard Glassworks, and a number of restaurants.  We had a bite to eat at the Bonefish Bar & Grill.  It was good but expensive for what we got.  Anyway, we helped their economy a bit.  We went to the Bermuda Maritime Museum for the majority of our visit.  Not the typical museum, though we did not see all of the inside.  Mostly we wandered around the outside where some cannons have been restored and other interesting places such a light tunnels, magazine holes, meandering over turrets, and over the limestone walls, steps,  and some unrecognizable rubble, dodging sheep dung as we went; we had a great time.  The sheep keep the grass surrounding the area looking very nice.  As we explored I found an old shell casing amongst the rubble. I turned it in and it will no doubt be put on display as they continue to dig up artifacts from the period of time this area was inhabited by various groups; soldiers, prisoners, slave, and others.  There is a Dolphin Experience to visit as well, included in the $8. or $10. admission to the museum, but we didn't even go look at it.  No Pink sand beaches for us this time either.  I think the ideal cruise for Bermuda would be one of them from either NY or Philadelphia that sails directly to Bermuda and spends two days in two different ports then sails back.  You would then have plenty of time to see everything.  The ferry and bus service seems to be very efficient. 

Interesting facts:  Bermuda has more vehicles per square mile than anywhere else in the world, but you can't rent a car there, Bermuda has the highest per capita income in the world, 138 islands totally less than 21 sq miles, the 6th largest population per sq mile in the world (higher than Bangladesh or Bahrain).

Dinner was the usual delicious feast in the regular dining room: Between us we had appetizers of shrimp cocktail, scallops with risotto, creamy garlic soup, and chilled strawberry soup. Entrees were lamb shank, grilled tiger shrimp, and chicken Marsala.  Dessert was Tiramisu  for me, that plus ice cream for John.

A brief walk on the deck and we are calling it a night. 

Temperature: 68*

Sea:  Slight 1.0 to 4.5 ft (but it looks moderate)  Incidentally the sea temperature is 77*!

Next stop:  Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal-1890 Nautical miles. From Galveston 1941 Nautical miles.

I will leave you with this picture of the sky as we departed Bermuda, the photo does not do the majestic sky justice, it was magnificent. 

Cruising 23 April 2009

There are a lot of swells in the ocean today  but we barely feel anything. There was a bit more swaying last night as I bet they turn the stabilizers off at night.  Coffee on our balcony again, the sky was a mellow orange color though the ship is sailing at such degree that we did not see the sunrise today.  Sparse clouds float past but no threat of rain, certainly idyllic.  After coffee in our room I had a coupon for speciality coffee on the Promenade, which was delicious, the coffee they serve routinely is not very strong or full bodied. 

Our first event of the day was a lecture "Cruising Victorian Ladies" and the speaker had on the full garb and explained all of it as she took it off to a modest degree.  Then it was off for our walk but the deck 4-5 walk we like was partitioned off up the stairs so we improvised.  Some folks are complaining about the wind but we find it refreshing!  The Internet was down when we checked so we went on to lunch in the dining room.  Caesar salad with shrimp for me and beef fajitas for John; salad was good but fajitas not so much.  We don't want to eat too much anyway as we have our fancy "Portofino Wine Dinner Series" tonight (menu and wines listed below) at 7:45pm.

Cabin Crawl from 2-4pm; this was a small event another woman and I put together.  One is able to view others  cabins, two groupings of cabins, for one hour each.  No set times, just within that hour set aside for it.  Of most interest was the Grand Suite and Jr. Suite.  The aft balcony was really big also.  Of course all of these categories come at a higher rate than our balcony cabin.  Looks like they are replacing the older TVs as they die out with flat screen types.  We are thrilled with what we have!  After the crawl some of us met at the Viking Crown Lounge for a drink.  It has been interesting to meet so many people who are almost "professional" cruisers.  Within the group there is so much knowledge that I suppose any question we had could be answered. 

Crown & Anchor Welcome Back Party at 4:30; typical welcome party serving 3-4 drinks to choose from, wine, and champagne.  No appetizers but that is fine as we have the big dinner tonight. 

The show tonight was 6:30 pm for us since we had the later dinner plans. It was the typical Broadway presentation, nicely done with a couple of excellent singers. We slipped out early to our special dinner.  It was remarkable, just fantastic, we really enjoyed it.  Here is the menu with photos:         

PORTOFINO WINE DINNER SERIES

~~~

Antipasto Freddo

Tuna Carpaccio and Tomato Tartare~with Kalamata olives, crispy lettuce and herb oil

Danzante Pino Grigio

Veneto, Italy

Antipasto Caldo

Pan seared  bay scallops and lobster~In basil seafood nage with double whipped mashed potatoes

Il Ducale Sanjiovese, Ruffino

Tuscany, Italy

Insalata Della Casa

House Salad-Radicchio, arugula, Romaine, Belgium endive, tomatoes, olives, fennel with crispy Prosciutto, Feta cheese and chive dressing (no additional wine)

Piatto Principale

"Creazione Dello Chef Marco"-Roasted Beef Medallions, Parmesan custard, asparagus, sweet corn puree and golden shallot reduction

La Vite Lucente Sanjiovese/Merlot Blend

Tuscany, Italy

Dolce con Sapori Toscani

Mascarpone and Strawberry crepes-Citrus scented Galliano syrup, candied orange peel and almond Florentine

Errazwriz Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc

Casablanca Valley, Chile

I really don't know what else I can say about this meal that you cannot see with the photos.  One thing, we could not even drink all the wine they gave us, a full glass of each type!  We did finish the first and last ones, the second red wine with the beef was just wonderful.  I was surprised at the alcohol content of that wine also, 20.5 percent.  That is very high for wine.  The Maitre' d gave a wonderful presentation telling us of each course and each wine as we went along.  This is certainly not something one would want to do often, but it was a great experience for a foodie!

Temperature:  68* (11:00 pm)

Sea: Moderate 4-7.5 ft. Gentle breeze.

Miles from Galveston:  1,763, to Bermuda 122 (nautical miles)

 

 

One Frustration~

I do feel frustrated with the Internet on board!  I have journaled each night for the blog but we have been unable to publish this most days.  The service on board is very expensive, unreliable, temperamental, and quite slow even when it does work. Several times we have spent many minutes signed on but wondering if it is working or not.  We did purchase a package of minutes, which brought the price down to .37 per minute from the standard fee of .55 per minute.  Now I really don't mind paying for this IF it worked, even if it worked slowly.  We spent at least 15 minutes trying to publish the blog for both the 23rd and 24th to no avail.  Hopefully we can publish today.  You know John, more than once he went down to guest relations and had them reverse the charges we wasted while trying.  However, last night they would not reverse the charges saying that our website was down.  We will address this issue today as well.  I seriously doubt Google websites are/were down, especially since the woman sitting next to me could not get to her desired websites either!  It is not a huge deal nor does it overshadow our enjoyment of the cruise, but it is frustrating as the representation is "Stay Connected" to share your cruise with friends and family at home.  Certainly the idea is nice but the reality of this is different.  Just a tidbit of information to know before one decides to keep in touch by email or blog.      

Cruising 22 April 2009

A quiet day at sea for us.  Turning the clock forward everyday has caught up with us and we did sleep in.  I was ready and left first to go to a digital camera talk graciously provided by a photographer in our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle group.  I learn something new all the time and  this time it was how to take multiple photos and "stitch" them together forming a panoramic photo.  I hope I can actually do this when I get home!  I  visited with a few people from the group, which was nice. 

Today they had a Caribbean Food Festival and we went to that at 11:30 for lunch.  There were lots of things  but we didn't eat all of them!  Just some delicious ribs, coleslaw, and salad.  I think John had a few other things.  We had a delicious Sangria punch with the meal. A brief breeze through the $10. item sales and back to our cabin via the library to send an email and pick up the Sudoku of the day.

When we got back to our room the movie Doubt was just beginning on TV so we watched that and relaxed.  Time for dinner.  The days are passing so quickly!

Dinner:  Mozzarella, tomato basil salad, scallop and muscle gratin, perch for Sharon with creme Catalan for dessert but it was not that good so I only had a few bites.   Scallop/muscle gratin, vichyssoise, sirloin steak for John, with too many desserts to mention!  The captain came around to all of the tables in our area.  He is so young, such a nice man from Sweden.

Wine for today:  Caliterra, Sauvignon Blanc.  

Sea:  Moderate 4-7.5 ft waves (we feel little to no movement)

Temperature:  73* 10 pm 

They aren't stating the miles but we have gone around the tip of Florida, a bit north, and then headed East to Bermuda. 

I commented to John we haven't seen a single being of sea life except seaweed.  However, some friends saw flying fish today so I will continue to keep my eyes open to see something out there.

Cruising 21-April-2009

Sunrise:

Sunset:

Another beautiful day cruising in the Gulf of Mexico.   Up at 7am John went to the dining room for his breakfast having eggs Benedict. He liked it but it is not "fast food"-However, he met his ping pong buddy after that and they had a good time playing.  When I was dressed I went to see an historic interpreter.  She was fairly interesting and the talk was about pirates.  She will be giving a variety of talks on each sea day.  I had to leave early to meet John at the Rumba dance class.  That was fun too and we felt quite accomplished since we learned so much already in our classes from Ted.  We also walked our mile+ and took a million stairs again.  My calves feel this so that shows me it is firming and strengthening some. We also took a little French class, didn't learn much as we can already say Bonjour, Bonsoir and Je m' appelle... LOL Peaked in at the art auction (don't worry June, no more photos), watched the comedy headliner show that was rather ho-hum.  We had such a nice time visiting with Clem and Jackie at dinner they have become good friends.    

10:00 PM

Miles from Galveston: 880 Nautical

Miles to Bermuda:  1006 Nautical

Temperature:  69*

Sea:  Slight, 1.5 to 4 ft.

Wine for today, a standard favorite, Mount St. Michelle Riesling.

Lunch:  Spinach salad with feta and roasted pumpkin, grilled herb encrusted shrimp, sugar free Key Lime pie.  John had the same  but peanut butter chocolate pie.  I might add feta is not my fav but this was delicious as it was infused with herbs.

Dinner:  Shrimp cocktail, crab cake, grilled cod with cauliflower and spinach, sugar free fruit pillow. John had pork instead of cod, and a variety of desserts!  Table mate Clem is a dessert junkie too so he and John have a lot in common to talk about! 

Cruising 20 April 2009

  We got up at 7:00 am since we pretty much decided to do this every day as at home (for Sharon, not John) so we will not be used to sleeping in late and staying up later when we begin the Rick Steves portion of our vacation.    

We had coffee delivered and a somewhat lukewarm breakfast for John.  After he was ready John headed out for a real breakfast and a ping pong tournament, but lost the first round.  I got ready and walked down to deck 5 to check out the promenade, then back to the room to meet John for the 10:00 am Muster Drill.  This was the first time we ever did this after sailing.  (quick and more or less painless)

From there we went to the Meet and Mingle in Cleopatra's Needle (a large lounge).  We met some of the people we have been "talking" to on the board.  Interesting... We saw Bob and Bette H. who we met for lunch in Napa a few weeks ago.  Everyone had varying stories of the flight adventures of yesterday or the day before. 

There was a Caribbean Line Dance class that was to follow but we were hungry and staff was not ready yet so we went up to use our free coupons for Johnny Rockets.   The 50's Diner experience is normally $4.95 but at Platinum members we have a free coupon each.  It was quite delicious and a great fun.  They have music of the period and the waiters.  John had an Oreo Sundae along with our delicious burgers, fries, and onion rings.  They also have other sandwich items, chili, shakes, malts, floats, apple pie, etc. I believe the experience is worth the $4.95.  After this heavy food we walked a mile on the track and went to the gym.  Since we are on deck 9 we have been getting a lot of stair time.  Up to 14 for cards, gym, and open spaces then down to 5 for most things, and 3 for dining...of course what goes down must go up...and so on...

We came back from all of the above to "freshen up" and put a few things away.  However, I feel asleep and John "dosed" as he watched TV.  This was our first formal night but we didn't go.  I hope it was not lobster but really I was just too full to eat again anyway.

Jeff:  No wine report for today as we didn't have any, missing dinner and all.

Clocks forward one hour tonight. 

8:00pm temp is 70* degrees.  Lovely weather and sea conditions.  427 Nautical miles from Galveston.

John went out now to see about Wi-Fi and sending this. 

 

Sail Away! 19-April-2009

Wow, what a breakfast we were served, three courses to be exact.  What a wonderful start to the day.  I have my short hair cut, which is quite curly now due to the humidity!  This am we walked to CVS and bought a few things in bigger sizes to take on board.  We decided to smuggle a bottle of wine on board for the wine tasting then we discovered one cannot buy alcohol of any sort before NOON in Texas.  In addition one can only buy wine or beer on Sunday, no hard liquor.  Pretty good idea really.  After the walk there we were really hot so Linda (B&B owner) gave us a ride to the pier.  She was so gracious and took us on a drive all along the seawall.  It was interesting but sad t o see the devastation that still remains after hurricane Ike.  It appears that many of the places will not be rebuilt and Linda said that FEMA has not come through in promised relief for rebuilding in some areas.

We timed our arrival at the port to avoid the first rush of passengers but that was not to be.  Apparently the ship arrived three hours late, so everything was delayed.  What long lines but we are grateful we are here and not still waiting in Dallas at the airport.  We met a couple at IAH yesterday that missed their cruise~now that would be bad!  Just a two hour wait and we were on board around 4:00 pm.  When we got to our room our bags were there so we unpacked.  Our cabin is so nice and spacious!  A three cushion sofa and our bed is larger than queen size but probably not as large as a king.  It is nice and very comfortable.  Our extra bag of formal wear and supplies had not arrived but by the time we were done with dinner it as here. 

Dinner was very nice, table for six, just four of us tonight.  Service was impeccable, We immediately hit it off with our table mates Clem and Jackie from Dallas, TX.  A lovely Christian Catholic couple celebrating their 40th anniversary today!  What a privilege to dine with then and learn all about their family.  Please pray for their son Gregory who is undergoing chemo for leukemia.  He just graduated from college and was diagnosed.  The prognoses is good but he still has further treatments to endure.  Clem is a retired pilot and Jackie was a stewardess.  Our wine with dinner was Beaujolais Villages, Laboure-Rio (French).

Shortly after dinner and our walk we sailed away!  Yes, we were to leave hours before this but it really didn't matter since we were on board and enjoying the ship already.  We may have found our favorite walking path already:  Deck 4, covered but a terrific view about 3/4 of the way around, then up stairs, around the front of the ship, down the stairs and back on deck 4.  A complete loop with several shuffle board stops along the way if we decide to do that. 

Next stop~Bermuda!

Galveston At Last! 18-April-2009

It has been a long day but we are finally in Galveston, time 9:30 pm.  We got up at 4:00 am and Deb arrived to take us to the airport early, I wasn't ready yet!  Even though we left FAT only1 hour late we would have made our other plan because it was late too.  However, it never left and was finally canceled about 4:30 PM.  What an unfriendly crowd at the airport when they are tired of waiting.  When the flight was canceled everyone ran to the counter to rebook.  After waiting in the horrendous line for about 20 minutes they only helped one person.  I then recalled the Amazing Race and how some people swooped in and booked flights by phone.  So, while standing in line I called American and rebooked on the ONLY flight left with room today to IAH (Bush).  We were supposed to go to HOU (Hobby) and had a paid transfer BUT that was not to be!  Anyway we rush by Sky Train from B terminal to A terminal and made the flight!  After arrival at IAH we had to purchase a Super Shuttle ride for a total of $145...BUT we are  here!  We missed the Meet & Greet dinner at Gaido's, but we are here!  We are here drinking a delightful bottle of New Zealand wine; Nobilo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008.  Fruity with a citrus finish, very good.-plus this plus a plate of cheese, meats,toasts, veggies, and cream cheese with Jezebel sauce.  This is an interesting little sauce that looks like thin apricot jam, but there is horseradish in it!  I will find out the ingredients. It was a welcome treat since we just had a small bite to eat about 2:00. 

Jezebel Sauce

(Combine all, cover and chill)

1 jar 16-18 oz. pineapple or apricot preserves 

1 jar 16-18 oz. apple jelly

1/2 cup (8 oz. bottle) prepared horseradish drained, (not cream style)

3 Tablespoon dry mustard

2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

"Leav'n on a jet plane...."  Boarding passes are printed, the bags are packed, and as far as we can see things are in place for our absence!  Is it really happening?  All the planning, reading, saving, dreaming...Is it really going to take place? John is confident, I am not convinced it will really happen!

THREE Days until departure!

We are packed and all but the final details are in place (stopping mail, paper, and turning off the hot water heater!).  It is hard to believe we even managed to fit in our "formal wear" for the cruise in the simple, carry on suitcase!  We sent Rick Steves ETBD our final questions, which have to do with Metro and Museum passes in Paris.  There are so many varied "perks" with the Rail Pass we have and other offers that it is confusing to know what is the best options.  For instance, since we can get a FREE trip from Gare de Nord in Paris out to Charles De Gaulle (CDG) Airport on departure, is it worth the extra day of Metro Pass to do that or just go from were we are staying at the Royal Regency, Vincennes.  Hopefully with the experienced folks at Rich Steves they have already determined the cost effectiveness of the various options and we won't need to figure that all out.  There is no need to spend money where it is not necessary!  Best to save to have it to spend on French wine! 

Speaking of money.  The exchange rate has become quite favorable since we booked our trip.  EUR$1.32 to USD$1.00 and GBP$1.48 to USD$1.00.  It was much closer to 2:1 when we booked.  So, our USD will go father than we thought it would initially. 

5 DAYS! YES, JUST 5 DAYS!!!

9 ~ Yes just 9 days until we leave for EUROPE!

How did the time pass so quickly?  Today I made our rail pass reservations.  We should have those in the mail in 3-4 days.  We have all the trips we planned with just a slight variation in schedule.  Our clothing is laid out, checked and double checked, and we will be putting it in our bags ONE WEEK ahead as suggested and testing to see if it fits and what we might change our minds about and leave behind.  We are checking things off our "to do" list as we go.  I am trying to stay calm as I tend to get a bit anxious before a trip and wonder what I am missing and what could go wrong!