Happy Birthday Mama--From Malta to Venice with the Family Day 7--The Hammonds, Watkins, Steinbergs, Wade and Elgert and the Very Blustery Day

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We woke up at about 8:30 for our glorious day at sea. We knew we wanted to go to the lecture at 10:30 but beyond that, the day was blank. We went up to breakfast and Sara Katherine had also just arrived so we got to visit with her. We asked her about her plans for the day—a little napping, a little reading, a little pool. Sounds perfect!

We went to the lecture which was mostly about The Odyssey and the technology of the ships. Scholars believe that the place where Calypso kept Odysseus captive was the island of Gozo in Malta. We actually saw the cave when we were on Gozo so it must be true. Janet, the lecturer, was just saying how we had passed through the Straights of Messina overnight and the captain and crew kept us safe from the whirlpools and the multi-headed monster. About 3 minutes later, the captain came on and said, “We are about to head into the Straights of Messina and because of the high wind, we have to have a pilot on board. In order for him to board, we need to turn the boat so you will feel a list for a few minutes, about 5 minutes.” So we WEREN’T safely through the Straights of Messina. Watch out for the whirlpools, not to mention the multi-headed monsters!



The lecture finished and the ship did indeed list. Another announcement came on that due to the high winds, the fish al fresco lunch was being moved into the Veranda dining room. Then another announcement came on that due to the high winds, the decks were closed for a time. There goes the pool.



On our way back to our cabin, I saw Jack sitting in the card room and I opened the door and kissed him on the cheek and said, “Good morning.” This room full of bridge players laughed and said, “That was sweet.” Mark said, “You made his day!” We got back to the cabin and I started to catch the blog up and Mark laid down to take a nap. In very little time, I decided he had the better idea so I joined him. When I woke up, he was gone (off to lunch, it turns out) and I finished the blog. They had reopened the pool deck but all other decks were closed. Mark tried to get online but the Wi-Fi is really bad. I did manage to get my blog uploaded, though I could never get the picture on the blog site to be right-side up.



There was a block party at 6:00 but we missed that because I was fighting with the internet. Went to meet the family at Galileo’s at 6:30 but Brian was posted at the door to say there was a private party going on so we should go straight to dinner. Did that. Dinner was wonderful again. I had melon balls with port wine, cream of parsnip soup with truffle oil, mixed green salad, and pork loin with a blood orange sauce and sweet potato dauphine. I hope Mark is not thinking he is going to get food like this when he gets home!



We went to the show—a fabulous Vegas review of music and artists from the 50s and 60s. Very talented singers and dancers. We went back up to Galileo’s and danced for a time. Even Jack got out on the floor. It was fun to see him rested and refreshed.



The best thing about the day is it gave us a chance to really rest and kind of get caught up. The ship did indeed rock and roll but not too badly. No sea sickness in our group. Even Sara Katherine joined us for the show and in the club—a first. Overall fun and relaxing day. Tomorrow—Greece!

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