Ship and shipmates

Today is our at sea day. So far I have eaten breakfast, washed clothes, watched a cooking demo and ate lunch. We are about to go eat dinner in a few minutes.

At lunch, a lady asked if they could sit with us. Note: the dining room was only partially full...plenty of open tables. He looked ancient and she looked boring plus the other day I saw them kiss in a crowded elevator. Needless to say I didn’t want them to join us. Woody was still gathering his food so all I could say was of course you may join us.

They turned out to be quite interesting couple from California. He is a Pediatrician and computer scientist working with electronic medical record programming and she is a retired teacher and now tutors. We visited with these folks till the dining room closed. I enjoyed their company very much.

I am very guilty of sizing up people before I really know them. I also spent time in the laundry room this morning with a very nice couple from Georgia. He sounded very much like Keith Tinker plus his hair and mustache were dyed jet black (hers was gray). She was wearing lots of big diamonds. I probably would not have spent time with this couple either if i wouldn’t have had a sack of dirty clothes.

What I do know though is that I really dislike a loudmouth couple from New Jersey. She started telling me in the laundry room how FABULOUS her two day St. Petersburg tour was and how FABULOUS her tour director was and that she was on bus #1. I had to stop her and say I know, we were in your group (of 28 people). She said oh yes.

We spent 21 hours together, sat two rows behind her for two days. First stop, first day in line at Catherine’s palace, she told the tour guide that her daughter’s mother in law is from Russia but she has been in America long enough to loose her accent. I don’t think she tries. You speak good English. I think this lady could too if she tried.

Our outspoken tour guide (Helen) did not respond at all but I could read her mind. Helen told us a story at the beginning of our tour about sometimes having strange people in her groups. One time a lady asked her how long Russian women were pregnant. She said that upset her very much, like they were different animal species or something. I think Helen knew to not smart off to this lady at the beginning of our tour. She was also counting on nice tips.

So today since I don’t have any port pictures I’m sending you ship pictures. This is a very nice small ship for older folks, not hipster young people or people with young kids. There are no rock walls, pool slides, discos, casinos or anything like that. Just a whole bunch of different sitting areas, plenty of bars and lots of live classical music. If I was a drinker, I’d be very happy because they are pushing wine and different drinks all the time. Sadly, I’m more of a food person.

Anyway, here is our ship. It was built in 2015 so it is still new. Like the Golden Gate Bridge I think they paint something every day. It is sparkling clean and very tastefully decorated. Nothing over the top but very nice.

Tomorrow we dock in Poland then off to the spa in the evening. Good night!

Late breaking news...Princess Kate (the goat) had her baby. We don’t have a picture yet but mother and kid are fine. Wally really did a number on the lady goats of the Goodranch. I’m glad he is out of the picture now.