May 20- At Sea

Last evening we had a delightful dinner with 2 other most interesting couples- one from the Worcestershire area of England and one from the San Francisco area. As usual both couples had good travel stories to tell and we loved listening and sharing tales of our own. However we have not found a couple to replace our good traveling friends from previous Voyager trips, Kathy and Bos Irvine.

When we returned to the cabin we learned we were to advance the clock 30 minutes. Never have been able to figure why that happens but we experienced that in Australia and in India. As long as we awake at the right time!

We are at sea today on our journey toward Corner Brook, Newfoundland. The fog is very thick and the seas are rough…I know because Captain Mario told us in his noon briefing. The temperature outside is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit Yesterday we learned the simple conversion formula from Celsius to Fahrenheit…doubt the Celsius and then add 30 and you have the temperature scale we know.

Went to hear another PTV at Sea lecture. This time William Mann talked about Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn. He has written biographies about both of these film stars. Many things are/were similar in their lives. Elizabeth Taylor, he said, was always happiest and most productive when she was “in love” and he believed that contributed to her string of husbands. When asked why she chose to marry wealthy men she said, “Big girls need big diamond. Rich men can buy big diamonds.” When Katherine Hepburn was asked about marriage and her relationship with many men she said, “If you want to trade the adulation of many for the criticism of one then certainly get married.”

When he was asked why Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson were such good friends he replied that they bonded because they both were denied a childhood since they were pushed into the limelight at young ages by very aggressive parents. Said Elizabeth Taylor was always given a big piece of jewelry when she went to visit Michael Jackson. Once the two of them were seated at a table together at a big gala event and were observed drawing with crayons on the table cloth and giggling instead of watching the presentations. Sounds like two children to me.

The second enrichment lecture was Sandra Bowern talking about voyages in the Atlantic. We learned about St. Brendan, the Irish monk, who sailed to Newfoundland in 530AD. His boat, or so they believe, looked much like a bathtub with sails. Sure would have not been a fancy nor comfortable trip.She traced many voyages sponsored by almost all the countries of Europe. It does appear that the Vikings, among others, were here long before Christopher Columbus.

We think the afternoon will be spent quietly reading, watching the fog and hearing the fog horn- which seems to be sounding about once a minute.