Languid in the Meditteranean

We have just departed La Coruna, Espana. The ship's dock was right in town, and it was by far the prettiest docking of all.  So, of course, I didn't take a single photo of it.  La idiota, as I'm known in Spain.

We off-loaded our tired selves to the streets of La Coruna about 9:30 am.  It is a large City, maybe the size of Portand?  There has been a massive civic project to build a walkway and bicycle causeway all around the pensinsula, beginning at the ship's dock.  We walked a great portion of it. Our weather was the best yet.  It got up to 80 degrees today, bright sunshine and sparkling water.  Many many spaniards out walking their dogs.

We are certainly not in northern Europe anymore.  We have gone from 90% or more of the population fluent in English, to oh, I'd say...zero?  No one speaks English.  I wrangled up from the deep memories of twenty years ago the abilty to speak a childish, pantomimed spanish, enough to usually be understood.  However, I've lost much of the ability to comprehend.  I could ask a question, and sit there stunned at my inabilty to understand the majority of what was said back.  oh well.  It was fun to realize how much I remembered.

The people in La Coruna are some of the shortest people I've seen in the world.  They are tiny.  Roger was a giant, Sage would be a beautiful freak!

After our day in La Coruna, we returned to the ship fairly early. We poured our tired selves on a couple of upper level deck chairs like lizards on a hot stone. We failed to move for two hours, except the extreme exertion of turning from back to front to back again.  This travel, my dear readers, is not for the weak.

We have gone from a the very brisk, bracing, refreshing, northern fall air to a tropical, warm, sultry, caressing air.  It has changed the whole aura on the ship.  People walk slower, spend more time sitting, drink more, eat more, relax more.  We are languid.

I am very confused by the fact that as we sail further south, sunrise is later every day by 20 to 30 minutes.  In Copenhagen, sunrise was 6:30.  Now, a week later, sunrise is almost 8:30.  Wow, that late, really?  It's so crazy! In winter, the days get shorter in the north, but sunrise is so much earlier. who can google that for me and find out why?

We continue to be embarrassingly pampered. They clean our room twice a day (twice!), and they bring us fabulous food, whereever and whenever and however much we want. No matter how amazing it is, some of these f*ckers on this boat cannot be pleased. There are several nasty people that, if it were possible, should be given a sharp elbow over the side and left to

sink or float. The world would be a happier place.

today, we had a day at sea.  We slept in, went to the gym. (I had a great run - ran five miles and only stopped because it was time.  could have run further!)  We ate lunch, stopped back at the room for a few minutes, and promptly fell asleep for most of the afternoon.  We woke in time for dinner (shrimp cocktail in a spicy romanov sauce and pork medallions in a shiraz reduction, followed by white chocolate mousse cheesecake.)  Wandered the decks and watched the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean.  The Captain informs us that we will have to cruise at maximum cruising speed to be at our next port in time...tomorrow, we awake in the warm, blue Meditteranean and traipse through Malaga.

Thanks for reading, and thanks all for your comments!  We miss you all!  :)