Sunday, August 08, 2010

Things That Go Bump in the Sea

We continued heading south today. Temperatures hovered around 60F and we are looking forward to warmer [or warm-ish] weather in Bergen tomorrow and Tuesday.
Since it was a sea day, we relaxed and ate breakfast in the MDR at a table for two. Quite cozy. While we ate, we watched a large group of passengers circle the deck as part of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The HAL Race has become a tradition in the past several years; in fact, D almost took part on the Grand Med last year. He paid the money and was in the group photo but didn’t actually walk.

We were due to cross the Arctic Circle this morning. As the captain put it, “It’s that dotted line near the top of the map. I will try to put the ship between the lines.” Sure enough, just as the walk began, the ship crossed “the line” with a little bump; he must have been steering from the wrong side of the boat on the wrong side of the Norwegian Sea. Okay, there was not really a bump, but the Susie G. walk started as we left the Land of the Midnight Sun. Of course, Thom was out there walking in a jacket and shorts.

We read until lunch time when we went to the MDR. We again were seated at a two-top and had just ordered when Ed and Roxanne were seated at the two-fer next to us. For those who keep track, M had chicken korma and D had a Mediterranean salad. It was almost 1:00 by the time we finished and trivia was set for 1:30. It is amazing how avid the participants are. By 1:00, many of the tables were filling up, but Ed had left the table early to get our regular place. We actually switched tables last week so Barbara, who uses hearing aids, could take a more active role. Oh, we won again today but gave one of the picture frames which were awarded to Hernelia, the waitress in the Ocean Bar. She appreciates being part of the team and we’re grateful not to have to shlep more stuff home, especially picture frames. [What is the name of the tree which connects Heaven and Hell in Norse mythology? What singer was the first to have five top-ten hits on one album and what was the name of that album?]

After trivia, D tried unsuccessfully for half an hour to post the blog and gave up in despair. We did check D’s e-mail and MA’s Facebook [loved the new pictures, B!] but blew almost 40 minutes of airtime. Back in the room, we read before MA’s manicure. D finally got the blog to post from the beauty salon.

Dinner with the regular gang tonight [vegetarian spring rolls/veal cordon bleu] although we are discussing going to the hoity-toity steakhouse before Marvin and Barbara leave Saturday because Marvin has given up on puffin and now wants lamb chops.

Tomorrow we have an exhausting day planned in Bergen so will go to bed early.

We have been warned that there is very poor internet access in Bergen, so we’ll post again
Tuesday night or Wednesday.

Tomorrow – Bergen in a Nutshell