Oh, No, Not Lisbon Again - OH YES!

Yesterday, we were back in Lisbon after an absence of almost 6 months.  It was wonderful to be back.  After getting off the ship and touching land for the first time in 8 days, we headed up the hill to Alfama for one of our favorite spots to grab our first Pastel de Nata.  It's not the best, but the views are great.

It is always interesting to walk around Alfama to see the tiled buildings and the photos of the old residents posted in the walls.

And, to maybe take a motorcycle ride!

We then walked down to the main part of the city where we walked the pedestrian street and then up a wide boulevard.  The trees were just coming alive for Spring, showing off their new green leaves.

That took us to lunch and our next favorite Lisbon eating experience - Bacalou and port!

                                                    

After a bit of shopping, we were ready to indulge in our favorite location for Pastel de Nata and it was as good as we remembered it! We even brought some back to the ship to share with a few members of the crew.

      

                              

                                           

After returning to the ship, we had a wonderful 3+ hour dinner in Toscana with our new friends, Kim and Walter.  All and all, a great day before we headed out for yet another day at sea.  Then we'll be in Malaga for a string of port days (ports, as in places the ship stops rather than Port, the drink!).

Someone pointed out that I neglected to include a Rule of Civility in my last post, so I'll throw in 2 today.  Actually, make that 3 since these all follow a theme and certainly apply to cruise ship behavior:

Rule #51. Wear not your cloths, foul, ripped or dusty but see they be brushed once every day at least and take heed that you approach not to any uncleanness. 

Rule #52. In your apparel be modest and endeavor to accommodate nature, rather than to procure admiration keep to the fashion of your equals such as are civil and orderly with respect to times and places.

Rule #54. Play not the peacock, looking everywhere about you, to see if you be well decked, if your shoes fit well if your stockings sit neatly, and cloths handsomely. 

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Our 8th Day at Sea - Lisbon is on the Horizon

We're wrapping up the crossing - getting so close to Lisbon that we can practically taste it (the 'it' being the pastel de nata)!

Yesterday was a more eventful day.  The morning started as the past few have - extremely windy.  I tried to do my morning walk out on deck but it was impossible so I succumbed to the treadmill.  We're talking about 40 knot winds here.  The wind becomes important when I tell you "the rest of the story" (does anyone out there remember Paul Harvey?).

Then it was good news as we passed our required Covid test to get into Europe - phew!

 At about 9 am the Captain announced that we would not be stopping in Funchal and that they would be doing a helicopter evacuation of the ill passenger.  At 10 am the interesting procedure began.  First we saw a couple of planes circling the ship.

Apparently, one of the planes was there to refuel the helicopter, if needed.  Then the helicopter arrived and this is where the wind came into play.  As some of you know, the Riviera has a fitness track that circles the stack at the stern.  The ship was positioned so that the stack blocked the wind and they used the fitness track as the deck for performing the evacuation.  A couple of people were lowered onto the deck, the patient was brought out, secured to a stretcher and then brought up to the fitness track.  And then, of course, the harrowing thing was watching her being hoisted up to the chopper.  We're sure that she must have been heavily sedated.

That was the excitement for the morning.  Linda had a small win at bingo which was the excitement for the early afternoon.  Then we took a pasta cooking class in the Culinary Center.  We've cooked lots of pasta but you always learn something in these classes.

Today is another windy, cloudy day.  Let's hope for better weather tomorrow in Lisbon.  On a sunnier note, Linda had a good win in bingo today, allowing us to launder some more of our nonrefundable shipboard credit!

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Where's Waldo - or Linda and Larry

 It's been another largely uneventful couple of days as we make our way across the Atlantic.  We must be getting closer to Europe as the weather has cooled and today is a day of overcast skies and rain.

We will be making an unplanned stop in Funchal tomorrow evening due to a medical issue with a guest.  It will be a quick one and the captain has said that it should not affect our arrival time into Lisbon.  At least the 40 knot wind continues to push us along and the sailing has been relatively smooth despite the 3 meter swells.

Today's Rule of Civility seems appropriate for these Covid times in places like cruise ships: Rule #5. If you cough, sneeze, sigh, or yawn, do it not loud but privately; and speak not in your yawning, but put your handkerchief or hand before your face and turn aside.  

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

From Somewhere in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean

 Today, Wednesday, we pass a couple of markers on our journey.  First, it's been one week since we left home.  Second, it's the fourth of our eight days crossing the Atlantic.  Half way, baby!!!

The time has passed quickly.  Monday started off nice but then we had a very rainy afternoon.  That put a damper on things (pun intended).  The last two days have been beautiful - mostly sunny and warmer than expected.  And, most importantly, the sailing has been smooth.  While the swell had picked up some, it's still fairly flat and coming from our stern so, as one captain told us, we are surfing the waves which makes for smooth sailing.  The wind is coming from behind us also which makes conditions on deck superb - almost no noticeable wind!  Things are supposed to deteriorate some in the next few days but it should still be pushing us along.

We've been playing bingo everyday and the money laundering machine is working well.  We have won two of the four games in each of the last two sessions.  We use shipboard credit to purchase the cards and the winnings come as refundable credits to our account.  It's a thing of beauty!

The dining has, of course, been superb.  Lots of plant based and vegetarian options and good fish.  It works well for pescatarian which I am attempting to be on this journey.  And then there is the 7-layer cake for dessert - one of our favorites.

Today's most important Rule of Civility for interacting with people on a cruise ship (or anywhere!): Rule #12. Shake not the head, feet, or legs roll not the eyes lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your spittle, by approaching too near him when you speak. 

Peace and blessings:

Linda and Larry

Day 1 At Sea

 Just a quick update from our first day at sea.  On this southerly route the weather is warm and the seas are calm so life is good!  And the forecast seems to show that the weather system that might have caused some rough seas is clearing up.  We hope it holds!

Going back to last night, the weather was perfect for an outdoor dinner so we ate at the Terrace Cafe out back.  Good seafood and a good sunset (and, oh, yes, good company) what more could you ask?

Although, one discussion put things in perspective for us.  Alan, the Restaurant Manager, stopped by to chat with us as we dined.  We got to talking about his home and, though he is originally from Serbia, he now lives in Ukraine.  His wife, their 6 year old son and his 21 year old step son are Odessa.  They are okay for now but the 21 year old can't leave so they are remaining.  It almost makes me feel guilty about enjoying the good life on a cruise ship while the Ukrainians are suffering so much.  Linda felt compelled to give Alan a hug as we were leaving the restaurant just to give him some comfort.

Today was a typical relaxing day at sea - a little exercise first thing, breakfast, coffee, puzzles, bingo (no win), lunch and then some editing.  As some of you know, our son, David, is a finance professor at Loyola Marymount specializing in entertainment finance.  While on sabbatical he wrote a book about producing movies and he asked me to help edit it.  So I spent a couple of hours this afternoon doing that.  With all of these days at sea I should be able to make good progress.

That's it for now, but first, of course there is the Rule of Civility of the day, yet another reminder of how to behave on a cruise ship: Rule #97. Put not another bit into your mouth till the former is swallowed. Let not your morsels be too big for the jowls.

Peace and blessings and let's pray to whatever god we have for the people of Ukraine,

Linda and Larry

Greetings from Nassau, Bahamas - Wait, What???

 This morning we sailed into Nassau at the break of dawn.

If you remember from my last post, we were supposed to have 2 days at sea before arriving in Bermuda.  Well, before we left Miami yesterday they announced that, due to some rough weather along the northerly route of the original itinerary we would be following a more southerly route.  So, today we are in Nassau and then it will be eight, count 'm 8, days at sea before we get to Lisbon.  And we're okay with that and hopeful that the stormy weather will be gone before we get to the other side of the Atlantic.

This morning we spent a couple of hours walking around Nassau.  It was quite crowded as there are 5 ships in port today.  It looks like pre-Covid days!

Later this afternoon, as we are sailing away, we will both be getting massages.  That will be sure to relax us before the excitement of the crossing!  We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Today's Rule of Civility are words to the wise for cruisers: #91. Make no show of taking great delight in your victuals, feed not with greediness; cut your bread with a knife, lean not on the table neither find fault with what you eat.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Hello From Miami

We're here in Miami to start our next adventure - and what an adventure it will be.  Fifty days (yes, that's 50; FIVE-ZERO) days on board the Oceania Riviera starting in Miami tomorrow and ending in Ravenna, Italy on May 7th!  It won't be our longest cruise ever - that was 54 days from Sydney to Miami in 2015.  But 50 days should help ease our cruising withdrawal that resulted from Covid.  We start with 2 days at sea before a day in Bermuda and then it's 6 days at sea before we arrive in Lisbon.  So there might not be much exciting blogging going on during that leg of the trip but we are very excited to be getting on board and hopefully being able to ignore the lousy news that is so prevalent due to that monster Putin.

We were able to fly out of Long Beach which is always a good way to start a trip rather than flying out of LAX.

We came to Miami a day early to see Linda's cousins, Jerry and Terry.  Hey, everybody's got a cousin in Miami (thank you Jimmy Buffet).  Unfortunately, Terry was unable to join us for lunch as he's been struggling through a health issue but we were surprised by having Linda's brother show up for lunch.  And a fine 2-1/2 hour waterside lunch.  Get well Terry!

The other milestone for today was successfully passing our Covid tests and filling out the authorization form needed for Bermuda.  What a relief!  I'll try to give an update from the ship before we depart tomorrow.  If not, we'll blog you from Bermuda!

This time around, I am going to end each blog post with a quip.  The source of these quips is the 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior that were composed by French Jesuits in 1595 and that George Washington copied out by hand at the age of sixteen.  I discovered these rules in reading the novel Rules of Civility by the excellent author Amor Towles.  Thanks to my dear friend Charlie Slater for introducing me to Towles. I definitely recommend his other 2 novels - A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway.

So, for today's rule and this is a particularly good one for a cruise passenger!  Rule #7: Put not off your cloths in the presence of others, nor go out your chamber half dressed.  I continually have to remind Linda of that rule!  You would think that she would understand that after seeing this one evening on a ship:

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry