Day at sea and Oslo, Norway

Yesterday was a day at sea. We did our usual - played cards, read and played bingo - and ate, of course. Didn't win at bingo, but will have one last chance to win $2000 this afternoon. We also were part of the audience that watched the live taping of the Wakey Wakey show which runs from 6am to 11am every day. I even got my name mentioned because I knew the answer to the daily question. Yesterday's question was how many nautical miles did we sail from Ft. Lauderdale to Rotterdam. If you are wondering it was 4902.5! At noon we went to a weightloss by hypnotism for about and hour. I was so hungry by he time it was over, the first thing I said was, "Now, let's go eat!"

Today we went on a bus tour around the city of Oslo and out in the beautiful country to Hageland where there is a glass blowing factory. We watched a demonstration and bought souveniers and gifts. Then we headed back to Oslo where we visted the Viking Museum. It was very interesting. We got back on the ship at 1:30 and set sail for Copenhagen at 2:00. We spent the afternoon packing since our luggage has to be outside our room by 6pm (before dinner). But first we will play bingo at 4:30!

Tomorrow we will dock at 5am at Copenhagen where we will disembark to the airport at 8:30am. Our flight is not until 3:35pm. I just love sitting in airports all day! We will arrive at DFW at 10:34pm!

I will say that this has seemed like a long trip, mainly because of the number of sea days (10). We had one extra day at sea b/c we couldn't dock in Dover, England. We have enjoyed our ports of call, meeting SOME of the passengers (some I could live a lifetime without ever having met!), all the activities on board and the entertainment.

All in all, we had a good time. But I can't wait to see my kids, grandkids, dog, cat and kittens (in that order, Amy:)

Rotterdam

We opted to stay on board the ship while in port today. We've been to Amsterdam a few times before and there wasn't much to do in Rotterdam except shop in their expensive shops and pay 20% sales tax! We played gin ALL DAY - just the two of us. We would play a while in one lounge then go somewhere else and play there. That way we could do more people watching. We also played trivia with one of the crew staff and other passengers who opted to stay on board. We had a relaxing day. BTW - Holly beat the pants off Larry playing gin! We set sail from the port at 7pm and will be at sea all day tomorrow arriving in Oslo Norway Friday morning.

At sea yesterday and Belgium today

Yesterday was a rather boring day, although I must say that the cruise director and his staff did an amazing job of coming up with things to do. We had to toodle around the English Channel all day and were able to get the Belgium Port pilot on board about 20 miles out. He safely guided us into port where we docked about 8:30 last night. Before I tell you about Belgium, let me just say that it is amazing to me how safe they build these huge floating hotels. We were in 60-80mph gales and the water was very rough, but we hardly noticed at all. They have the stablizer things that go out from the ship under the water that keeps it stable as we move along. I am more convinced now that sailing is safer than flying and driving on the highways! Another aside - we weren't able to play bingo yesterday b/c England has this regulation that you cannot gamble while you are in their channel! Prudes!

This morning we took a tour bus to Bruges Belgium. Another surprise. A small old village that has canals running all throughout it. VEry picturesque. We walked the cobblestone streets for about 4 hours, watched a chocolate making demonstration, and Belgium chocolates - yummy!, and shopped. Can't wait to share pictures. When we got back to the ship at 1:30, we had a sandwich down in the International Cafe and rested up for dinner and the "I've Got Music" show in the theater. A lovely evening. We've been out on the balcony watching the other ships go by and we even saw an oil platform way out there.

Don't know what we'll do tomorrow since we did not book a tour. Will let you know.

Girls, how are my animals?

I hope we get to play bingo!

Well, it looks like we might have at least 2 more days at sea. Our port today was to be Dover, England (we were going to Canterbury). However, the seas are rough and winds are expected to get up to gale force (60 - 70 mph). Yikes! Our next port of call is Brussells Belgium and the port authority there said they will not allow their pilots to board our ship to lead us in there. So right now, we are circling the English Channel with no wear to go! That's why I hope we aleast get to play bingo! Will report more later.

Normandy

Well, we are ready to go home. We've seen what we came to see and the rest will be gravy. Normandy is a beautiful part of France. We traveled quaint country roads to get to the beaches.
And once we were there, we were in awe of it all. We saw Pont deHoc beach where the soldiers ad to scale a 100+ foot muddy cliff to attack the Germans. However, the Germans saw them coming and many were killed. We saw bomb craters and bunkers. We then went to the American Cemetary. Just standing in the midst of all those marble crosses (and stars of David) was a sobering time. I still get chills thinking of it. Next we went to Omaha Beach where we were able to walk on the beach and look at the monuments that were erected as a memorial. We had lunch on a farm - it was great. Then we went to a little village called Combano ( I hope I spelled that correctly). We visit the war museum and took many pictures of the remains of the artificial water breaks and bridge pieces. The entire event was just so minding numbing. This is something we have wanted to do for a long time and we are so happy we came here. We will return some day! The negative about the whole day was that our bus broke down while we were in Combano and we all had to find empty seats on one of the other 3 buses. Then when we started out there was an auto accident on the freeway so our bus driver decided to go a different way. Well - every Frenchman in France must have taken a holiday to this area b/c they were on their way home and jammed up the little country roads. We were late getting back to the ship, but luckily the captain decided to wait on us! How nice!

Our next stop is Dover England tomorrow. We get to set our clocks back an hour tonight! I'm telling ya, my body doesn't know what to do with all the time changing!

Another night at sea

The seas have calmed down significantly! It's about time! Tonight after our formal dinner we went to the Princess Theater. The show was The Backbeat Beatles, a group that did all Beatles numbers. They were awesome. Took us back quite a few years, though! I had to laugh at the fact that after it got started several of the "older" couples got up and left. I told Larry that the parents of old were still the parents of old. All us "younger" generation were standing, clapping and singing!

Another day at sea!

We left Vigo Spain yesterday around 6ish and immediately hit "rough"waters. It was the worst yet. They whole ship was swaying and creeking loudly. However, we weren't worried. All the crew and passengers say it would take something catostrophic to turn a ship over. We wre still able to walk about the ship, but we all looked like we were on a 7 day drunk! Today was about the same but fortunately we got used to it. It's not so bad. We didn't do much today. Went to an English Country Fair on the ship. It was lot's of fun. We played cards, went to an art auction, played bingo and now it is time to get ready for formal night. We will be in France tomorrow.

Day something or another!

Gee, I wish I had a calendar! I am totally lost. Anyway, I just found out it is May 8th. Today we toured the wine country near Vigo Spain. It is quite unlike Napa or Sonoma. A winery will have a few acres of vines, but most people have their entire (small) back yards full of vines. The wineries will buy their grapes from these "farmers" to make the table wines, but will use their own for the more expensive wines. We had a wine tasting and I must say I was less than impressed. Then we went to a small hotel in Combanos, Spain and had Tapas, which are small bites of this and that (mostly sweets). We returned to Vigo and to our ship around 4pm and went immediately to the pizza parlor to eat something we were familiar with! Then we went down to the International deli and had some straight-from-the-oven peanut butter cookies. We will skip dinner tonight to say the least. We sail at 6:00 and will have another wonderful day at sea. I hope we don't have to lose another hour. I think we are now 7 hrs ahead of home.

A half day in Lisbon

We arrived at Lisbon at noon today and went on a 3 1/2 hr tour around the city. We toured the new parts of the city as well as the old parts. It's amazing how hilly and narrow the streets are in the old part. Wish I could show you pictures of what we saw. One of these days I'll learn how to do that. We visited the maritime museum and Jeronimo's Monestary, the monument to Henry the Navigator who never navigated anything. He did form the school for navigation though. We saw the monument to the Discoveries and the 25th of April Bridge. Weird name, but it was built by Salizar, the dictator and when he was ousted, they changed the name of the bridge to commemorate the Revolution of the Red Carnations (which happened on April 25, 1974). All sounds so interesting, doesn't it?

We were back on board the ship in time for dinner. I must say that I haven't been all that impressed with the dinner menus this cruise. However, last night I had my best meal so far.
We set sail at 6pm for Vigo, Spain.

I've lost track!

We've been at sea for so long that I have completely lost track of time, days and dates. My watch can't even keep up with the date! Today is another sea day. Yipee, more water! It's been a rather lazy day. We got up early and went up to the buffet area where it was real quiet and did our BSF lessons. We get up there before anyone else gets out of bed! Larry took a couple of computer courses this morning, then we played bingo before lunch. Didn't win anything. We watched a movie and red this afternoon until it was time to go to dinner. Each night we get to sit with different people and tonight we sat with a couple that we've sat with before. They are a lovely Norwegian couple in their 80's. They live most of the year in Florida and have two homes in Oslo Norway where they spend about 5 months out of the year. They take this transition cruise every year and get off the ship when we get to Oslo. They are such a sweet couple and she was very informative about Norway, mostly Oslo. Their names are Tovie (her) and Arvid (him). Don't know their last names.



We played bingo again tonight to win a 7 day cruise but didn't win. Came close, though!

Tomorrow we will dock in Lisbon Portugal at noonish. We will go on an excursion that covers the highlights of Lisbon. Will blog more about that tomorrow.



Sure am missing home but looking forward to the rest of the cruise.

Land, Ho!

We finally made it across the pond and planted our feet on solid ground today. Of course, you wouldn't know we were on solid ground the way we were swaying to and fro when we got on shore. It was funny! We toured the island ,went to the top of the mountain to the big volcano crater that is the home of the Green and Blue lakes. It was a beautiful ride with lots of lush green scenery. Hills and valleys, farmland divided by low stone walls, lots of cattle. (Sara, they were black and white!). At the end of the 4 hr tour we had a wine and cheese tasting at a hotel across the street from the ship. Good thing we didn't have far to walk. Of course, we could always use the excuse that we were swaying from being on the ship so long.

Tomorrow is another day at sea! Yea! More bingo!

Day 4

Man - this ship is rocking this morning! I believe we could call this rough seas. I wore a patch behind my ear for the 1st 3 days, but I'm not wearing one now. May have to put one on today. I find they make my mouth dry and I'm thirsty all the time. That's why I don't want to wear one.

I know Sara knows this and probably Amy, but thought the rest would like to know - WE HAVE KITTENS. Sassy had 4 kittens, 2 yellow and 2 dark colored. Sara and Matt said Sassy is being a good mamma. Thanks Sara for taking care of them.

Well, since we changed the clock last night, I'm running a bit late. Must get ready to go to bingo! I can miss b'fst, but not bingo!

Day 3 continued

No luck at bingo today. Will try again tomorrow. Dinner mates tonight were the worst yet. 2 very strong type A personalities (women) trying to outdo each other in where they've been and who they know. One of them even had the audacity to tell me (b/c my dinner came with 2 filet mignons and I only ate one) that next time I need to find out how many come on the plate and tell the waiter I only want one! Do you know how hard it is to smile while gritting your teeth! Will try to avoid them in the future.

Day 3

I forgot to say that as of noon yesterday we had safely navigated across the Bermuda Triangle. I didn't even know that we were going to do that. I might have otherwise not gone on this trip! Not really. We keep having to advance our clocks as we make this trip. I think we are now 3 hrs ahead of you. We advance again tonight, then somewhere along the way we go back 1 hr, then ahead 1 hr. I'll be so confused by the time we get home.

Day 2 continued

We had a very relaxing day at sea. Nothing really exciting happened - EXCEPT Larry won $100 at Bingo this morning. Can't think of a better way to spend our time at sea. The food is great and so is the entertainment. Wish you all were here!

Day 2

Another beautiful morning at sea! We got up at 6am; went to the Horizon Cafe for coffee. Larry read a book while Holly worked on her BSF lesson. When the buffet opened we ate b'fst. At 10 we will go to a Bridge lecture- Bridge the card game, that is; not the bridge where the navigation takes place. At 11:15 Holly will try to win more money at Bingo.

BTW we are 2 hrs ahead of you now, but we have to set our clocks ahead tonight.