Today we depart Venice and begin our cruise. Here’s our goodbye to a great and beautiful city. The ship travels right along the coast of the island and all the great sights of the city are there for us to enjoy.
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| Some assistance from a tug |
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| Oh, boy. Look familiar? It’s the Costa Magica, the sister ship of the fated Costa Concordia, the ship that sunk off the island on the western Italian coast last year. Later in the cruise we’ll sail by that island. At night. Spoiler alert: we have a better outcome. |
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| We sail by the neighborhood where we stayed |
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| This church was right down the “block” from us |
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| Pisa doesn’t have a monopoly on leaning towers |
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| The busy Grand Canal |
Our first day out of Venice is a day at sea. This is when we all roam around the ship, trying out all the restaurants, all 3,500 passengers go to the gym, and we cap off the day with Dress Up Night! Yes, all our fellow geezers have brought their gowns and tuxedos and everyone is lining up to have their portrait taken! Yay! The four of us are completely out of place dressing “casual” so we are relegated to buffet dining tonight. I think the crew mistakes us for steerage passengers. I refuse the tuxedo since I’ve worn a tux more than every other male passenger on the ship combined, so that’s out of my system. Beside, have I mentioned that I’m retired? And Ted, well, I guess there’s a reason we’ve been friends for 40 years. He’s also having none of it. And we married well because our wives could care less. Thanks ladies. That’s the thing about aging, we’ve done dress up enough; but I am surprised at how the rest of the passengers are really into it.
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| Goodbye St Mark’s! |
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| Bye again! |
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| And goodbye Venice |
The other activity for me to do now is to sit and write, but I don’t have too much so I’ll leave you with some Random Facts!
- Our rooms are spacious with 2 tv’s, a large sofa and chair and a deck which connects to Ted and Nan’s deck.
- We have a bathtub!
- I can totally unpack my suiter in 20 seconds!
- We get Fox News and MSNBC on the tv.
- I glimpsed Croatia in the distance today as we steam down the Adriatic Sea.
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| Alright, you’ll have to squint a bit. I know it’s a reach but I was excited…. |
- The music on board is pretty weak so far. We are stuck in the 70’s and the worst of the 70’s at that. Even the classical guitarist begins with Pachabel Canon. John Denver, Niel Sedaka. Good god, give me a break!
- The Cruise Director does standup and he’s hysterical! Also Australian.
- The dining rooms feel like slightly updated versions of the old Concord Hotel in the Catskills (not sure if anyone will get that reference). That depresses me a bit but the food is certainly better.
- The hot tub was only mildly warm, but I met a nice couple there. They were from Las Vegas and he mentioned that he was retired. I don’t think he’s out of his 40’s yet and his wife might be in her late 30’s. I don’t know what business he was in but they’re certainly living the good life now. They do a lot of cruising.
- I’m feeling a bit intimidated with Greece and Turkey coming up. I’m really cognizant that I might look a bit out of place there. Ya think? I figure they’ll play me for an American sucker when we shop, especially in the Grand Bazaar. One is expected to bargain in the shops and I’m pretty weak at that.
- We’ll be having breakfast brought to our deck tomorrow! Still celebrating Nancy’s birthday!
- We move ahead another hour tomorrow. That makes 7 hours time difference from home. A first for me.
- Our trip so far from Iceland, to London, Paris, Venice and now Athens is pretty much a straight line on the map from northwest to southeast.
Tomorrow morning we awake in Athens!
