We are, like, nowhere

       So, where did I leave off? I think we were heading to the wine tasting yesterday. Turns out, it was the last of a 4 part series that the ship sommelier had been giving. The wines of Italy. It was a lovely tasting set up in the dining room for about 25 people. We got seated with 2 older gentleman – one from Canada and one from Australia.  We had 5 tastings that were each more like small pours. Generous helpings I really enjoyed the rose and the Valentino merlot. Yes, that Valentino. Apparently, his vineyard is in Sicily. Delicious. We were also served a Brunelo, which everyone went crazy for. I’m typically not a Sangiovese person so I thought it was decent but I wasn’t swooning. I was, however, swooning when he (Master Cellar JoJo, a funny Philipino man) said he was going to open an Opus One at his next sommelier series Consider me signed up!

We met a nice man from South Africa at lunch – he’s been on 16 cruises with Holland America Good heavens! Anyway, he’s a stock broker. He was very curious about Jason – leaving a 15 year finance career to become a farmer. Once he’s digested it, he said, “well, we need more people who want to do some good in this world!” I agree!

We are discovering a favorite hangout is the ocean bar. The quartet plays there several times an evening so we went to hear them before dinner…mostly to stall and not eat so early but also because we’d enjoyed them so much the night before. There are these 2 wonderful older women who dance together everywhere we go. They are clearly the best of friends and having a wonderful time. So much fun to watch them enjoying their golden years.

Because we ate dinner later, we managed to stay awake for the comedian! Feeling so proud of ourselves . I was a bit… apprehensive because I don’t think I’ve ever heard a comedian who wasn’t foul mouthed. And, I feel like I’m on this cruise with 2000 grandparents.  He did great – good, clean show with plenty of laughs. Afterward, we went to the BB King blues club – finally! It was awesome but packed and we had to stand. We know we want to go back and get in early enough to grab seats /

And, because we’d somehow managed to stay awake past 9 PM – we slept in till sunrise – which was glorious and unfolded directly in front of our balcony/ We called for room service coffee to stay and enjoy it/ That is a nice perk! Free room service! We prefer to just go eat in the dining room/ The portions are small and the service is wonderful/ But that coffee in the room during sunrise is hard to beat

This morning, October 8 – Sunday, we went to a talk on the agriculture of the south pacific islands/ Pretty cool/ We planned to do a few other things this afternoon – like going to the test kitchen to learn how to make some salmon dishes and attending another art auction – but then we happened by the sports bar and they had the cowboys game on!! WHATTTTTT??? So fun! Well, it was fun until we lost in the last minute/

We got our walk in down on deck 3 outside/ Lots of walkers here – a very active albeit older group on board/
Let’s see//oh, I went to the library and checked out the 9/11 report/ I know; I’m a total dork face/ Spent some time outside reading this afternoon/ These are the days I choose – exercise, learning, reading, being outside, cheering for a sports team/ nothing unique or special EXCEPT that it is exactly what I want to do and not a single thing I don’t want to do/ I feel extremely at peace/

We’re getting reading to head to a sip and savor pre dinner shindig because JoJo promised more Valentino merlot/ Carpe Diem!