Today began, literally with me thinking, almost out loud “Now THIS is the way to begin a day!”
The sun was pouring through the crack between the curtains, and I knew instantly that the weather was sensational. Pulling on shorts and Capetown T shirt, went and brought back two mugs of coffee, and finishing them, stuck toe into swimming pool on deck 7, and minutes later, stuck the entire rest of self in there, as the temp was bathtub warm, and the decks are literally awash in sunshine, mystifying the crew who have described Falklands wx as England-like. I swam perhaps a dozen lengths of the pool shared by two old ladies and an old man who were quiet and kept out of my way. Sunned myself dry and stopped by internet café for a tip on how to send pix on the hotmail.
//it is now quarter after one in the afternoon, and my day might as well have been spent in Aruba as down below latitude South 46. One of the best kept secrets of the ship so far, is that the swimming pool is about bathtub temperature and nobody much was in it. There is little smoking, little drinking and no loud obtrusive music surrounding the old people surrounding the pool, speaking in Russian, German and Spanish as well as English. OK, girl watching is a bit grim, but there is no sexy legs contest at full volume a la Ecstasy, and I prefer it this way. Most of the guests are quiet, polite and have good situational awareness and apologize when they are discovered wanting in same. One downside, is that if you DO get behind a couple on a line, it can take them five minutes to decide whether they want white or black coffee…..
I went swimming twice, basically had the pool to myself, and tho it is small, I bet I got a decent workout both times, and lay in the sun on the deck chair for two hours waiting for the noon announcement from the captain, which included wx in the Falklands today being basically as it was on deck…clear, warm and sunny. Not necessarily so for tomorrow, but I have good foul wx gear, and in a way, seeing the Falklands in the rain is more appropriate.
I took a minute to go sign up for the choo choo ride in Ushiaia which does not go ALL the way to the tip of the continent. Was explained the difference between the Chilian and Argentian viewpoints of southernmost city is because Punta Arenas is on the mainland and Ushiaia is on an island. Well, I had wondered. I had decided to have a light lunch, and so I had three ice creams, and was going to quit there, till came the announcement that there was a brbq on deck ten (which I had frankly been smelling) and so I got there just ahead of the line (before the German and Spanish versions were complete) and ended up with 2 cookies, pizza, mashed potatoes, & a hotdog. And in inedible hamburg…far cry from those on the Ecstasy.
Still no popcorn seen, but damn, I’ll ask Hannah about that when I talk to her, as well as cockpit visits about the antartic flight, which I am still desperately hoping will not be weathered out. Six laps makes one mile. I got onto the ex bike barefoot (shoot me now) and did 105 calories, over six miles in twenty minutes, but the really good news is that my weight was 152. From 166, this is one HELLUVA improvement. I can feel the difference.
Made my way up to the top of the crown to see the prize for the raffle, and the chirpy said that it hadn’t been picked yet, leaving unanswered how she could know it’s value. Returned to my same deck chair by the pool and swam a third time, and this time, if possible, it was TOO warm. It had also become a bit more crowded and I didn’t stay long. But if I didn’t fall asleep by the edge of the pool, I almost did. It was about 1530 when they began playing music just after I had written how nice it is that they don’t.. This then was followed by another energetic fun person doing trivia about commercials, but by then I had vacated the seventh deck for the eighth. From there I shouted answer that got me a nice leather NCL bookmark.
Next I connected (on the phone anyhow) with Hannah and asked about popcorn and cockpit visits while flying over south pole. And this in turn was followed by a trip to the library with the puter where I finished the download of the photos from the Valdez Peninsula trip to the Puerto Madryn folder and then put same in the Argentina one (ok, that makes sense, but the Uruguay one is in there as well). Then, for the first time since boarding this craft, was able to get onto the internet from the library without the help of the internet dude.
I quick checked mail etc. What I am NOT in the mood to do is return to the casino, although I would love to try out the piano I saw down near there. Guess I’ll return to try to suss out the gym once again, and maybe walk the decks some more – am still barefoot and wearing bathing suit, but have shorts atop it. //1700 Which got me into the deck ten hot tub for a half hour before supper.
--menu redacted—patently boring.
The sunburn was a little different, and unexpected.
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