I usually try to find a theme for my shipboard photographs. On the ms Zaandam to Hawaii, for example, I took a series of the chairs, sofas, and lounges in all the public spaces—they were really quite interesting. While the décor of the Eurodam is elegant and tasteful, I haven’t found any one item particularly intriguing. I thought doorknobs and handles might work, but turns out there is not much variation on that theme. Perhaps flower arrangements . . .
Last night’s dinner highlight was sauerbraten with red cabbage, boiled potatoes, and spätzle. Although I was hard-pressed to finish it all, I did force myself to eat all the meat. After dinner the entertainment in the main theatre was the “new-style” acrobatic team of Ilia and Valerie (think of Cirque de Soleil). They are an elegant and beautiful young couple doing some incredible feats of balance and strength. Ilia was a pentathelete in the Russian Army and was quite impressive in the second part of the act when he performed in only white spandex shorts. I have since seen Valerie and their son (so there is a child on board; see earlier blog) around the ship; perhaps I’ll bump into Ilia too.
After this morning’s breakfast I spent some time in the sun by the aft deck pool. The captain’s noon announcement indicated that the weather is unusually good and warm—in the upper 60’s today, perhaps a little cooler tomorrow—with no rain in the forecast. Rough weather has moved down to the Caribbean where the folks are not enjoying pleasant cruises. The captain than gave a lengthy discourse on all the different kinds of measurements, from nautical and statute miles to furlongs and German miles. All I can remember is that we are 1,242 nautical miles from the Azores.
While at lunch I overheard a white-haired lady at the next table, probably in her 70’s, say she had been on six cruises—and that was in 2008 alone! This is already her second cruise for this year.
At 3:15 I joined a tour of the navigation bridge. This is a very rare occurrence; never had one offered on the other cruises I’ve been on. It was just a short walk through the bridge, but there were officers available to answer questions and the electronics were impressive.
There is no longer satellite TV until we reach Lisbon, although internet service continues to be available. Several shipboard channels show films and informative programming. Of course, as you might guess, I brought along my own supply of CDs and DVDs. I re-watched L.A. Confidential, with very young Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, and am halfway through Last Orders, based on the Booker Prize novel by Graham Swift. The film is, so far, very faithful to my memory of the novel and a tour-de-force of British actors: Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Tom Wilkenson, Tom Courteny, Helen Mirren. I’m also well into a contemporary novel about two post-adolescent friends in war-torn Beirut, DeNiro’s Game, by Rawis Hage, who currently lives in Canada.
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