Today was our last day at sea for nearly a week and tomorrow we begin our visits to various ports. We thought we would record our activities of the day and we hope this doesn’t put anyone to sleep. Just how do we while away an entire day?
Believe it or not, we set a wake up call for this morning so we could go to the fitness center and work out. Each morning I check the weather out the balcony and we had the greyest day yet today. We may have seen the last of the sun.
The night before getting to Ponta Delgada we watched The Artist out on deck. This is called the Movies Under the Stars. It is a fun way to spend an evening. They serve popcorn and you curl up under a blanket.They even come around with milk and cookies during the show. May not be doing this again as it is getting cooler as we head north towards Ireland.
As we were walking around town we say this great mural down by the industrial part of the waterfront. There were cars parked in front so it was hard to take pictures of more than just parts of the mural, but this is one of my favorite scenes. The whole style of the mural is just to strange for words, which is of course why I liked it so much. In the part you can’t see there are more fish coming to eat the fish hamburger.
Finally, I saw this on a wall on a street we were walking down. I have no idea what it means. It was in a shopping area so it may have had something to do with a shop, but I’m not sure what. Doggie lingerie?
Tami got a bad case of the tired feet soon after (can you believe she plays that much soccer?), so we went and had a beer and checked email.
-M
Yesterday we finally made landfall! I don’t know when we first were able to see land, and I was undoubtedly either eating or sleeping when we could, but it was exciting to see the island looming quite large as we approached. We pulled into Ponta Delgada at noon and were soon off the ship to explore the town. It is full of cobbled streets and sidewalk cafes, and lots and lots of cruisers. At least it was yesterday!
I have been quite struck by the color of the water as we cross the Atlantic. It is the most gorgeous deep, deep blue. The color varies depending on the skies, but when it is sunny, it is a beautiful blue that cannot be caught on film (or computer chip).
The ship’s navigator posts the chart with our course and it is fun to see our progress. This picture is quite fuzzy since it was shot through glass, but you can see our route across the Atlantic. They pointed out early on that we had passed through part of the Bermuda Triangle, but we exited unscathed and I don’t recall seeing any UFO’s.
Following our series of astronomy lectures, we had an evening of stargazing on one of the top decks the other night. They turned off the upper lights of the ship for it, so we got a great view of the stars and planets. Unfortunately, there were broken clouds, so we had an added challenge. Of course, about 10 seconds after the bridge turned the lights back on, the clouds cleared up completely! No matter, even with the lights we were able to see Venus, Mars, Saturn, and lots and lots of stars. Very cool.
On our last sea day as we headed towards Ponta Delgada in the Azores, we finally picked up a little more chop and swell, but the ship’s stabilizers really give a pretty smooth ride. The night before we pulled into Ponta Delgada, though, we hit even more swell and we could really feel the difference. Rather than long, wallowing rolls, however, the motion is a little more jerky and unpredictable. That probably helps with seasickness, and I assume that is what the stabilizers are doing. It kind of reminds me of how it feels when you are in bed and there is a small earthquake. Sometimes it goes on for a bit, other times it is quite brief. I don’t mind it at all, but it can make things creak in the cabin a lot! And you want to move the hangers so they don’t rattle all night.
Sperm whales are regular residents of the area around the Azores, so I have been on whale watch on and off for the last couple of days. It’s hard to fit that in, though, between sleeping, eating, reading, etc, etc. I did, however, spot two small spouts in the water two days ago and I am sticking to my story that it was a small whale. Had to be!
-T
