At Sea
Well…..sleep did not come easy. I don’t know if it was because I was overly tired or because the bed was hard (any bed is harder than mine at home). I couldn’t get to sleep; I tossed; I had bad dreams; I ached from my legs up to my head. And I felt like I’d been hit by a mack truck when I got up (for the last time). It was amazingly quiet on this corridor; I had my sound machine set on white noise just in case. I wallowed w/ the TV on til about 10. I scared myself when I looked in the mirror; but I threw on a muumuu & went out amongst the masses anyway. I headed down to the Bistro for my first cup of cappuccino (triple shot, skinny). I was surprised that the Bistro waiters recognized me in my state of disarray. I picked up a little fruit, cheese, smoked salmon, & proscuitto; & brought it back to the cabin. I got undressed again; & the “hibernation” started.
I took 2 Advil to ease my back & head aches; & settled in on the sofa w/ yesterdays Naples newspaper & the laptop. There is no word to describe the speed of AOL on this ship. (Maybe 100 times slower than dial up???) It’s only adding to my stress level at this point. So, I did “my business” as quickly as possible (maybe an hour-I can just see the dollar signs as my internet minutes are ticking away). It’s a good thing I’ve got all this shipboard credit to burn.
Speaking of “ticking”. Some maintenance was done right outside my window on the promenade deck this morning. Ever since the guy finished, there has been this clanking sound. Sounds like horse hooves (clop, clop). After about 2 hrs. I couldn’t stand it any more. When my darling stewardess, Catherine, brought my lunch, I had her go outside to check it out. It was a chain flapping in the wind. She studied the situation for a few mins. Trying to decide how she was going to “hitch it up” some way. God bless her. (Remind me to give her a super big tip.)
Since I’m not stepping out again until the (formal) Capt’s dinner tonight, I ordered lunch from the D.R. menu (man I love this). In about 20 mins., Catherine brought several luscious items. Started w/ a small salad of grilled sliced zucchini, grilled peppers & baby eggplant w/ a mint-red onion relish. I also had a small red leaf lettuce salad w/ marinated black beans & hearts of palm. I brought my trusty bottle of Walden Farms balsamic vinaigrette (completely void of fat, sugar, calories, gluten, well everything). Then I had a small portion of spaghetti & meatballs. All served w/ finesse & white table cloth on my cabin’s coffee table. Ahhh…….life is good!
By mid afternoon, it’s gotta be nap time. Got a book & back to bed I go. I only read a short while, then napped until about 5. More time on the computer (slowly). Not having the energy to put forth that much effort into glamming it up; time to test the new wig. Not too bad; my hair was so squeaky clean that I could feel the wig slipping back on my head. I’m going to have to perfect a technique for discretely pulling it back down. Black sequin cocktail dress & panty hose for the first time in years. (My legs have never been this white.)
New faces at the table tonight. I guess Pearl & Leonard decided they’d rather eat elsewhere. In fact, they turned up at the Capt’s table. Ren was gone too (too bad; I think the older couples scared him off. It certainly wasn‘t ME!!). But we have the political lecturer, David Davenport & his daughter, Kate joining us. Very nice conversationalists. And of course, our host, Chief Engineer Ioannis Adelfoulakos was present. A lovely man from Rhodes, Greece. He managed to keep us entertained although I wonder if he "gets" everything we're saying in our American slang. He has dark, laughing eyes; longer, curly, salt & pepper hair slicked back with a little pomade.
Since I had the time to peruse the dinner menu beforehand, I knew what I wanted. I started w/ the most awesome wild forest mushroom soup (as I’ve said so many times, Crystal has cream soups down to a science). I wasn’t in the mood for lobster, chateubriand, quail or halibut. But the featured vegetables were some of my favorites. I had a double order of the champagne-honey braised cabbage (to die for); steamed asparagus & truffled leek risotto. I couldn’t say no to the “salt sticks”, the highly addictive breadsticks that are coated w/ coarse sea salt (yum). I did have several sips of the chardonnay that Ioannis (pronounced Eye-Yonnis) ordered (I didn’t want to appear rude). For dessert I had raspberry bellini sherbet w/ decaf.
Straight home to get out of those pantyhose. They felt like being in a straight jacket. We run our clocks forward an hour tonight. And since I had a 2 hr. nap this afternoon, I may read half the night. Why not….nothing else pressing on the agenda.
PS: I am feeling “slightly” more human again.
Clockwise from lower left: Seymour, Kate (daughter), Joan, David (dad/guest lecturer), Becky, Ioannis Adelfoulakos (Chief Engineer) & Harriet
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