Tuesday, April 24th, 2018 Ponta Delgada …. The Azores Islands – Portugal
We slept in and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast as we were
only going into the port town to visit.
We were actually awakened by the going ashore announcement for those leaving
on land tours. We left the ship at 10
am, Shirley with her walker, joined us as we all took the free tram to the end
of the pier. From there we strolled
about the town. First stop was in a beautiful church. Unusual statue of Joseph with a “five” year
old boy. The sanctuary and much of the walls were finished in gold. Brilliant.
There was another church on the other side of the square but we didn’t
realize it was a church; instead we were busy admiring the multitude of lights
that they were busy changing on the designs on the outside of the church
walls.
We found the pharmacy for some medical items for Shirley and
myself; and then the ATM. I was able to
use my card, Mary’s worked fine but Shirley could not get it to accept her
card. She’ll be able to get some at the
purser’s office on the ship.
We continued to slowly walk the nearby streets, admiring the
vividly painted buildings, lavender was a favorite color, and the multitude of
flowers We
decided to return to the ship for our lunch and the afternoon. Many were gone for up to eight hours on tours
that were arranged by the ship. Most had
to do with volcanoes and resulting landscapes on this island made of volcanic
rock.
While on land, Jim used his T-Mobile to access the internet
and check his investment account.
Oops! Suddenly it showed a zero
balance in his account. Needless to say,
he was panic stricken! He continued to
worry all the way back to the ship and through lunch. We finally agreed to buy some time and go on
the web to check his account. It took
an hour to get connected to the internet; it is famously slow and unpredictable
on cruise ships, as well as expensive.
But for a small fee and assistance from three different crew members; we
were able to connect and show Jim that everything was OK!
Our evening meal went well except Shirley had not arrived
when they starting serving us so I went to find her. As I opened the door on the elevator on
their floor; she stood there are dressed for dinner. She is so good and changes every evening
where the rest of go with our daytime outfits on “Casual Dining” night. And on the Gala Nights she is truly
perfection! And she had her walker
which makes us all happy.
After dinner six of us went to the Ocean Bar to listen to
Gabriel play the piano and do some dancing.
Mary was exhausted and went to bed.
Shirley went to the Casino. We were
all delighted when Shirley came to the Bar and joined us for the music. And she danced several dances. She is a beautiful dancer and lovely to
watch her gracefulness on the dance floor.
She and Larry were avid dancers for seven years and it shows! Jim so enjoyed spinning her around the dance
floor.
My exercise today was 6,557 steps, 2.8 miles, but no
elliptical machine. The steps were from
walking in the town and the stairs most of the time.
Wednesday, April 25th, 2018 DAY AT SEA
I awoke to the alarm early this morning and managed to walk
a mile on deck three before Mass. I’d
worn my warmer jacket for the first time this morning. So glad I did as it was a cold wind but a
beautiful sunrise. Mary was not at
church, just Al, Nancy and myself. The room was back to only half full as
usual; but it was rocky enough that Father Mike had us sit throughout the
Mass.
Picked up Jim in the room and then off to breakfast. Karen stopped to say hello and tell us about
her adventure on the island yesterday.
But, she said, she missed walking the port town. Mary showed up as we were reading our daily
newspaper and then we were off to our various classes. I went to a lecture on using Cortona on
Windows 10. I’m looking forward to
giving her a try when I have the internet in Amsterdam. Jim and Mary are at a lecture on Mars right
now as I use this time before lunch to catch up on my journal. I keep daily notes in a small notebook and
then when I can put them into the computer.
It’s now May 1st and I’m finally catching up on
the computer. I’ve been good about
writing daily in I’ve always neglecting my elliptical
machine! But, I have been doing some
miles but not enough.
This afternoon we sat through the Bruges talk by the tour
directors. We’ve agreed to rent a taxi
to go into the city. We watched the movie about Billy Jean King and
Bobbie Riggs. We also all discovered
the tool Navigator on our cell phones that the ship provides free. We have to have our phones on airplane mode
and Wi-Fi on so that we can pick up the free Wi-Fi on the ship. Once we’ve signed on we can “chat” with each
other with text messages and check out all of the activities on the ship on our
cell phones at no additional cost. A
very nice feature!
I’m trying to read my book on Medjourje to prepare for the
upcoming pilgrimage with Mary Bender in June.
I read a bit every night before turning off the light.
Dinner tonight was Smart Casual and I had a very different
“fish and chips” along with a salad and fudge Sunday for dessert. Shirley has been sharing some of her wine
with me at dinner. After dinner Mary and
Jim went to hear the violins play and I went to my room to read.
My steps for the day:
8,400 3.67 miles no elliptical
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