Sleep was terrible last night.
Both my knee and my back were bothering me, and I knew it was all that
walking without my cane yesterday. I was up at 3 but decided it was
too early to go out into the lounge and read, so forced myself back to
sleep, for another 45 minutes. I crashed around trying to find
something to wear other than shorts and an Obama t-shirt and finally did.
Not sure whom my propaganda shirt would offend, so best to keep it in the
privacy of my cabin! (But I wear it to sleep most nights, since he's
not going to run again and I might as well get some use out of it!)
At 7, we went to breakfast,
before which Walt and I both looked through the cabin for my cane again.
I was trying to decide if I felt brave enough to go out onto the dock and
into the shops close to the ship and look for some place that might sell
something that would work (but then we changed docks are are now on the
opposite side of the water here)
Because of the walking and the
problems from yesterday, I had decided not to go on either of the excursions
today, so I was saying goodbye to Walt when he leaned down and when he
turned around he had my cane in his hand! It had gotten to where it
was lying parallel with and touching the wall, and the curtains covered it
up. But it's back and I am once again a happy camper.
But I still decided not to go on
the excursions, figuring I could use some free hours (if for no other reason
than to write yesterday's journal entry!). There is at least one other
man on the ship with me, a guy from So. Australia, whose back and knees are
hurting him too and who also gave up the excursions.
So, since I'm not going anywhere
and won't have a bunch of photos today, I thought I would write about our
fellow passengers, those whom we are getting to know. In past cruises
we have had nodding acquaintances with familiar faces, but this time we seem
to know more people, to nod to more people. and to chat with more people.
It is delightful that there isn't anybody from whom I want to hide.
Everyone seems so friendly.
We don't really know "day glow"
guy, but nod at him I heard him on a Skype call yesterday and I guess
he's of some Slavic ethnicity. Probably Russian. He looks like a
weight lifter and his muscles bulge out of his sleeveless shirts. He
usually wears some eye-blinding color combinations. It was electric
orange and red yesterday, it has been yellow and green and I can't remember
the others. Today he's in white and black, which seems startlingly out
of character!
We had a fun lunch with the 4
sisters one day. They are four out of 7 in the family and realized
that they aren't getting any younger and if they want to spend time
together, they needed to do it now. Delightful women and seem
to be devoted to each other. I don't know their age range, but the
oldest may be pushing 80.
We seem to spend most time with
Bob and Linda from Dallas, a delightful pair of newly weds (3 yrs now), both
on their second marriages after the death(s) of the original spouses.
I think Linda said that Bob was 10 yrs her senior and he's senior to all of
the rest of us, but a very nice guy. He and Mike have good
conversations together.
There is also a young couple we
ate with, who are sorely missing the ability to go to the gym and exercise.
They do laps around the deck. I was sitting with Linda and Bob one day
when they breezed past us and Bob, leaning on his cane, growled, good naturedly, "I hate those
people."
Yesterday we had lunch with Ann,
who has lived in the US for 45 yrs, but is originally from France. In
fact, she will leave this cruise and fly to Paris to celebrate her 55th
anniversary with her husband, who is flying over to meet her. She
reminds me of my mother's friend Paula, who is French-Canadian. You
never have to worry about filling any awkward gaps in the conversation.
She asked me what Mike did for a living and said that he "seems scholarly."
When she finishes her dinner, she
cuts her leftovers into tiny pieces to wrap in paper and keep for excursions
because she "always finds dogs" whenever she goes out.
B and C had lunch with us one day
and I enjoyed them very much, though they seem to have found other more
desirable lunch partners. I think B said it was their first cruise,
but she seems to be working very hard at being likeable...and succeeding.
Lorraine and her friend Barbara
are, I think, from New Orleans...or not. Somewhere southern any way.
Lorraine is the one for whom a trip to Russia has been a lifelong dream, so
they toured some places in Russia before joining this cruise. She's
having the time of her life, wringing every drop of experience she can from
this trip.
I didn't get the name of the
English guy and his wife. He's the one who said that they had parks
where he lives, but they had grass in them. His wife reminds me
very much of a friend of ours, who is the mother of the mayor of Emeryville
(California). They are both very likeable people.
Then there is Owen and his wife
Margo, who were the first people we met in Kiev. Owen is amazing.
Hunched over, clutching his cane and determined not to miss a thing.
He barrels off down the street and I have to rush to keep up with him.
We had dinner tonight with a
couple of women who are making their 23rd cruise, though mostly not on
Viking. Amazing.
The morning's excursion was to a
sultan's palace that I have no information about, but en route they passed
through the site of the Charge of the Light Brigade, in the 1854 Battle of
Balaclava, during the Crimean War. I imagine the experience is kind of
like looking at the site of any of the Civil War battles. Tennyson
wrote his poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" just a few weeks after the
battle (Half a league, half a league / Half a league onward / All in the
valley of Death / Rode the six hundred...), and 40 years later Kipling
wrote a moving poem trying to shame the British into acknowledging the aging
survivors of the battle. Like Tennyson's poem, it, too, was largely
ignored.
- There were thirty million English who talked of England's might,
- There were twenty broken troopers who lacked a bed for the night.
- They had neither food nor money, they had neither service nor trade;
- They were only shiftless soldiers, the last of the Light Brigade.
They returned home about time for dinner, which was an International menu.
I started in the top left with
Baba Ghanoush, an eggplant spread that I've heard of forever, but don't know
that I've ever had. It was served with a chick pea mousse. Then
there was a cabbage soup and the main course for me was Weiner Schnitzel
(Austrian). Walt had Chinese noodles, which may have been a mistake to
order for someone who is so familiar with Chinese food. It was too
bland. We both had German Chocolate Cake ice cream for dessert, which
tasted as good as it looks here.
- After dinner was the vodka tasting. I remember our vodka tasting in Russia as being a raucous affair with the guy leading it quite a showman. This was quite different. Frank is a sommelier and so took a more scholarly approach to the tasting, though after 4 shots, his stories got funnier.
I don't know what is going on
with the ship right now. It's rocking a lot and there is a lot of
banging. It's the sort of thing that I would sleep peacefully through
if I were in bed, but I'm awake, so I'm worrying instead. I think I'll
post this and see if I can get to that peaceful blissful state or if I'll
wrap myself in a lifejacket before hand!
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