Cruise day: 150/163Ports days: 79
Sea days: 71
Countries: 26
Continents: 5
Ports: 59
COVID Update
I spoke with Arlona this morning, and she sounded like...Arlona. There's still a little cough now and then, but she really sounded like her normal self. She is still scheduled to be sprung on the morning of May 24. In the Captain's sea day noon report, he said that there are 26 COVID active cases on the ship, so the isolation is working and no new cases have popped up. Five folks are scheduled to come out tomorrow, so that's good news as well. And I know of one good-looking one that is scheduled to get out the next day.
Let me also give a very heartfelt thank you to the scores of you - folks we know and many that we don't - that have expressed well-wishes and concern for Arlona's well-being. It is very humbling to feel that outpouring of kind words, and from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. 💓
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| Quarantine art multi-day project |
Arlona revealed her multi-day project today - a painting of the flags of all the countries we have visited or will visit on this trip. She took some liberties with "country" as she included a couple territorial flags for places like Gibraltar and Madeira. This is especially impressive when you realize that this is approximately only 7"x10".
From left to right and top to bottom:
- Row 1: USA, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay
- Row 2: Cape Verde, Madeira, Spain, Gibraltar, Italy. Malta
- Row 3: Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt
- Row 4: Israel, Turkey, Monaco, France, Portugal, United Kingdom
- Row 5: Norway, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Finland, Sweden
The flags are in the order we first visited each country on this trip. We only have two more countries to go - Finland in the form of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty, and Sweden.
She also painted a greeting card - another impressive job.
I attended trivia and paired up with a couple from Michigan. We netted 15/20 - close, but 19/20 won it decisively.
- David Robert Haywood Jones is better known as who? - We had no idea - it was David Bowie
- What is the capital city of the Faroe Islands? Hint - there is a place on the ship with the same name. - Torshavn
- Where would you find the Sea of Tranquility? The moon - it's where Apollo 11 landed
- Vandals painted what part of Michaelangelo's David red in protest in 1987? - We guessed face, but it was toenails
- Who was originally slated to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz? - Shirley Temple
- What do you call a group of crows? - Murder
- Who discovered Jupiter's moons? - Galileo
- What singer/songwriter was known as The Man in Black? - Johnny Cash
- Where was Napoleon born? - We went with the obvious, France, but it was Corsica
- What was the name of the monk who is credited with inventing champagne? - Dom Perignon
- In what movie did Humphrey Bogart say, "We'll always have Paris."? - Casablanca
- What country with a 90-man army claims the oldest armed forces formed in 1506? - Vatican City
- In the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's, what was the cat called? - We had no idea - and it was "cat"
- What shoe term is the Italian word for "little dagger"? - Stiletto
- What was the title of The Beatles' first released single? - Love Me Do - was my first thought but we talked ourselves into I Want to Hold Your Hand
- Hoover Dam is built on which river? - Colorado
- Viking warriors that die in battle are believed to go where? - Valhalla
- What children's book was written by James Bond author Ian Fleming and was turned into a 1960s musical movie? Hint - it involved a car. - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- What word was developed from the Swahili word meaning "journey"? - Safari
- What is the main mineral in bananas? - Potassium
He also brought a tiebreaker but it wasn't needed - how long is Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody? 5:55 - five minutes and fifty-five seconds.
On the way to lunch, I met up with a group of World Cruisers that were unloading some of the food and booze that they stashed during the cruise. International chips and chocolate were circulated, and an adult beverage or two (or three) were consumed.
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| Front: Lynne, Donna, Lynn Back: Larry, Dave, Jim, Cindy, Aleem, Garry We took the photo before Rob & Deb joined us |
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| Also briefly joining us was Uma, one of the stellar waitstaff supervisors |
It will be hard in three days to say goodbye to the remaining folks that have shared this adventure with us as we stay for ten more days.
After a low-key remainder of the afternoon and a quiet dinner, I was able to enjoy a lovely sunset, knowing that Arlona was watching the same thing, just 600 feet or so ahead of me.
Tomorrow, we'll be in the Åland Islands in Mariehamn.
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