May 23- At Sea

We sailed away from L’anse aux Meadows about an hour earlier than announced. We were leaving the dining room having had lunch with a really, really conservative couple. He writes a political blog. His wife kept trying to get him to stop talking after Jim had made it clear our political views….but the guy kept on. Wasn’t in favor of much- just against what’s happening in our national scene.

So we were leaving the dining room when the Captain came on the speaker to say we were leaving and we’d be sailing through ice fields and rough seas. His words were “If you are affected my the motion of the sea, this would be a good time to take appropriate actions.” Loved it!

From our balcony we saw this beautiful iceberg. Saw lots of big icebergs and the shapes were very interesting. It became a game like watching clouds and identifying their shapes. Off in the distance we saw an iceberg that looked for all the world like a big white airplane had landed in the sea.

We went to a terrific pre-dinner concert by one of the singers in the cast and then had a nice dinner with a couple that live in St. Pete. After dinner we went to the Atrium, got a couple bar stools from the casino and watched the folks gather for the Beetles Pub Night Party.

This party featured a lively performance by the cast including the wonderful cruise director, Lorraine Weimerskirch. Music, dancing, arm waving and cheers filled

the space for more than an hour. The cast danced with guests. Jim accepted the invitation of Lorraine, the cruise director, to dance. People were dancing on the stairs. People rode the glass elevators up and down and danced in the elevators. This is the 2^nd time we’ve been aboard when this happened and it is too fun!

Got back to our cabin and were able to have an iChat with Bill Barnett….from Sydney to the sea. The connection wasn’t bad and we were able to “see” their house as he walked through with his computer and showed us the beautiful and cool place they will be living in about 6 weeks.

After we set the clocks ahead 30 minutes- still strange to me- we went to bed at about midnight.

As we were leaving for breakfast this morning I looked out the door and it was snowing- nice small flakes falling into the sea. If you look closely at the rail in the first photo you will see the snow. In the Coffee Connection where we went for a roll and coffee there was a server from Manila who was so thrilled. It was his first time seeing snow.

Went to a lecture by David Lee, the Executive Producer/Writer and Director of the TV series Frasier. Using clips from the pilot of that series he illustrated decisions made by the creators- some decisions out of art, some out of panic, and some out of sheer luck. The series ran for 11 years. The filled Constellation Theater audience regaled in laughter. The PTV at Sea has added an interesting dimension to the cruise.

Next we heard a lecture on the history and culture of Iceland that was also quite interesting. Iceland is called The Land of Fire and Ice and you could certainly see why that is true. Soon we’ll be there- actually in another day and a half at sea we’ll arrive.