At Sea today 12/1

Relaxing at sea today.  Sitting on our balcony looking out over the Mediterranean Sea.

It is warm, in the 70s today and the sea is lovely and calm, partly cloudy.  We are just enjoying a great music concert and reading also getting caught up with collecting passports (for Egypt tomorrow) and odds and ends.  I took line dancing lessons today but Don had to quit as his hip was a problem.  We have both done well pain wise - especially with all the stairs on our excursions.

I thought I might tell you about some people we have met.  We are eating dinner each night with a mother from OK(80) and her two daughters (from TX and FL) (Beverly, Linda and Sheryl), a couple from Australia (John and Liz) and their friend Pat (female).  John and Liz will be with us all the way to Puerto Rico so we have asked to be seated together.  We have met a couple from Ireland, Gordon and Lynn, he was a 32 year retired police officer and was the chief of West Belfast (Northern Ireland) during all  the IRA struggles - great stories, Rene'.  Our next door neighbors, Dennis and Margaret. are from Australia and we have met another couple from FL (Robin and Ken) - he works for a company that makes avionics for F-18 Jets.  They are all great fun and we are enjoying our time together.  Beverly and daughters are in a suite and have invited us fo cocktails and snacks Monday night.  Our waiter is from Turkey and is a riot keeping us in stickes each night.  There are several Puerto Rican families on the ship as they are close to home when we end our cruise.

In general our impressions of Greece and Turkey were very favorable - we didn't expect both places to be as comfortable as they were and we wouldn't mind visiting either again (except Athens - too much traffic - Istanbul has alot too but that should be alleviated next year when their metro tunnel under the Bosphorous is finished.  We have not sensed any negative feelings about Americans but just gracious people.

We are looking forward to Egypt, we have heard we can not buy food or drinks there (we have lunch at a country club) and if we get on a camel we will have to pay 2 Euros to get off.  Our camels are included but I'm sure we'll have to tip.  There are only two souvenirs they suggest buying but the ship's shopper hasn't explained either so I'll track him down tonight.

The pace of the cruise will slow down now as we will have at least one sea day between each port except in the Canary's.  We are thinking about renting a 4x4 in the Canary's (Lanzarote and LaPalma).  Any ideas Aric/Tammy?

I did use a public toliet in Istanbul that was in the floor - my first experience.  It wasn't too bad.  Several of the women prefered to wait in line longer but it wasn't worth it to me.

Excuse my spelling in this blog - there is no spell check and with the cost of the time online on the ship I don't want to take the time to fix it so bear with me.

We are having a great time and are amazed at the places we've seen and have yet to see especially Egypt tomorow.

More later!