Let me first start out by saying that today is already a
WAAAY better day, and it’s only 2:00. Also we looked up what was going on in
Barcelona yesterday, and our hotel was perfectly situated between the 100,000
Catalonians protesting Madrid’s decision not to allow a vote on secession
(yellow shirts), and an equally huge breast cancer awareness walk (pink
shirts). Also Dave and I can’t stop looking at each other and saying oh no in
the way our cabdriver did when the places he wanted to go were blockaded. For
example, the store we are in doesn’t have sandals: oh no. Also while the cab
driver was taking us to the ship we went right past the Olympic stadium and
torch, which I was too disappointed to remember last night.
I ended up staying up until about 1:30, coming down from the
combination of dancing and the chocolate cake I had for dessert. So when my
alarm went off at 6:40 it wasn’t the happiest sound I’ve ever heard, but I love
the early morning stretch and abs classes on the ships, so I got up and went.
There will be time for naps later. Jesse,
the teacher, is not as good at the stretch class as Mark, the now-beatified
instructor from our Hawai’s cruise, but he’s better than many. During abs class
he tried to make me give up during a low plank by holding it for a very long
time, but no hotshot boy is going to see me crumble. After class I stopped at
the front desk and asked about liberating our Beaujolais. It’s unlikely, but it
could happen.
Dave was up when I got back to the cabin because the cruise
director’s announcement that we’d cleared customs & could get off the ship
had woken him up. We showered and then went to the Lido for breakfast, where I
had oatmeal (oatmeal! How I have missed it!) and Dave had eggs benedict, which
are actually better in the Lido than in the dining room because they are served
more quickly. We stopped briefly at the cabin afterwards, then got off the ship
(yes, we had our pictures taken with the Noordam dancer in the fake flamenco
dress) and took the shuttle in to town.
We ended up going to the same store – Corte Ingles – that
I’d been to in Barcelona, but having huge success – three dresses and a shiny
top. (And cat ears for Halloween in a different store). We also found a black
dress and shoes that were way too expensive that I will remember – they were
some awesome shoes, although Dave insists they would have been very uncomfortable.
I should have taken a picture! It was fun walking around Valencia, which is
less trendy that Barcelona. Really the only things in the lost bag (which has
left the post office in Spain, whatever and wherever that is) that we haven’t
been able to replace are our birkenstocks and my dressy purse, which is pretty
good. On the way back the bus was a double-decker and we got the front seats up
top so we had a great view of the city on the way back to the ship, and the
very impressive timed stoplights on the main road back.
We did miss lunch in the dining room by a few minutes, but
had a quick and enjoyable lunch up in the Lido, and then walked around to
figure out where our room is in relation to other things on the ship. It is one
floor down and just aft of the ping pong table on the Lido deck, the 4th
room from the corner. It is also on the shady side of the ship, so it is a
perfect temperature for sitting outside and writing (me) or reading (Dave). The
other side of the ship, where we usually are, is in the sun and would be very
uncomfortable. See, things are better already!
After a while Dave headed up to the gym to work out and I
went to the nightclub where I’ll be teaching –I wanted to dance through Feeling
one time in that space with the video to set it up in my head. It turns out
they play music in there even when there’s nobody there, so that was not going
to work out. I ended up in the Loft, which is where the teenagers hang out,
except there are no teenagers on this ship. I had a good time and a good dance.
I came back to the cabin for a shower before heading off to
my next event, the book club meeting in the explorers lounge (deck 2, port
side, forward) (not to be confused with the explorations café, which is
somewhere else). The book is The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and we’re
supposed to read 150 pages of it in 5 days. We’ll see. But while everybody was
standing in line to get their books (there were 25 people there and 25 books –
phew) I made an announcement about my class, and several people said they would
come. I still don’t know if it will be in the program or announced anywhere. Afterwards
I went to 9-forward to watch us leave port. Meanwhile Dave had finished his
workout, had a beer, and watched us leave as well. We met in the cabin to get
dressed for the first formal night – I got my dresses just in time! I must say
we looked good in our Euro-wear.
Dinner at our table continues to be a good time, and the food
continues to be better than we expected. We really did get lucky there. After dinner we
rushed over to the Vista Lounge for the Captain’s champagne toast. Our Captain
is Jeroen van Donselaar and he’s pretty funny. Then we headed up to the crow’s
nest, and I liked the guitar player and will go back for sure. Then down to the
Queen’s Lounge for B.B. King’s blues club, an absolutely fabulous band. Both
the male and female lead singers are great, and the keyboard player makes some
of the best jazz faces we’ve ever seen. We stayed through two full 45 minute
sets, they were that good. Then Dave went to wander the ship and I hit the
nightclub for Abba night. Hoping to get a little more sleep tonight – I might
be asleep before Dave, who is on the verandah looking at stars through the mist
and listening to the ocean go by – our very favorite place with our very
favorite music.
Tonight’s towel animal (yes!): stingray.
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