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7:48 a.m. Usually we wake up
in our next port...this morning we're still at sea, though there is
an island off to the left. The ship rocked a lot last night, which I
enjoyed, and the seas are still a little rough. Apparently there is
some problem with getting into Lemnos, though I have no idea what it
might be. Getting sailors into and out of liberty boats in choppy
seas isn't a problem...getting a bunch of middle-to-old-age civilians
into a tender is. Well, we'll see what happens.
This morning for breakfast I
decided to have bacon and eggs. I love bacon; always have. However,
whenever I eat any “solid” foods, as I chew, most of it goes
between my cheek and gums and is almost impossible to dislodge, since
my tongue can't just scoop it out as yours can. Nor can I move small
particles to the front of my mouth with my tongue and “Ptttt!” it
out. Having almost no physical control over my mouth and tongue is a
real bitch. (Mentioned, yet again, not as a bid for sympathy but as a
strong reminder to you to be infinitely grateful for the totally
unnoticed little things you can do.)
Our last day aboard. I've
enjoyed it and seeing the places we've been, but it has all been
overshadowed, I fear, by the awareness of my increasing and totally
unacceptable. If hating/resenting/regretting something intensely
could change it, I would once again be...hell, I'd settle for 50!
Since we'll be in Istanbul
in the morning, that means we'll be passing through the Dardanelles
sometime during the night while we're sleeping. One of my fondest
memories of my first time through the Dardanelles was of its being a
moonless night and, while not being able to see much, there was the
almost palpable smell of...green. (Which leads to another thing I'd
really not noticed this time but commented on during my first trip to
Europe: the absence of wooden buildings. I can't recall seeing a
single one this trip.
8:26 Lemnos is out. Water
too rough to safely load and unload tenders. They'll be showing the
movie Topkapi...a movie from the 50s or 60s about a jewel heist in
Istanbul. (Istanbul...get the connection?)
However, looking out the
windows of the observation deck, we do not appear to be moving. If
we've anchored I didn't hear it drop. Perhaps we're just going to sit
here for the same length of time as we would have been in Lemnos, to
keep to the time schedule.
So this means no internet
until Istanbul, and I bought 2 more hours of extra internet service
than I'm going to be able to use.
Some people just walked by
on the outside the windows wearing sweaters, which were flapping
wildly in the wind.
8:35 Internet! I've got
internet! Just tried it on a whim and....
Adrian, one of the
Englishmen I've gotten to know, stopped by and we talked for nearly
an hour. I turned the internet off to save time.
10:30 Returned to my cabin,
which is close to water level. Spray from waves hitting the hull fly
by my little porthole. It is downright chilly in here, and I'm
sitting on the bed in my robe, propped up by the pillows, all but
shivering.
1:03 Just returned from
lunch. We've just entered the narrow stretch of water leading to the
even narrower Dardanelles—so narrow that shipping is strictly
controlled and ships are accompanied by pilot boats. So glad we're
going through during daylight, though! I think I'll spend the
afternoon in the Observation Lounge, since it's too windy-cold to
spend much time on deck. I brought a light jacket, and will take it
with me.
1:21 Tried to get out to the
deck to take a few photos but with the wind and the jiggling of the
ship, I doubt any will turn out.
1:52 Entering the
Dardanelles. Sit down, type, get up to go outside for a photo, sit
down, type...
(We'll be passing Gallipoli,
of WWI fame/notoriety)
5:45 Please tell me how I do
it. Please. I decided to organize my photos and cannot find any of
the photos I took in Taormina. Nowhere. I somehow deleted them. All
of them! And they are not in my trash bin, where they would be
retrievable. Since I use iPhoto, I can only pray that it has a
retrievable trash bin as well. I know they have a “Move to trash”
but I don't dare click on it for fear it will think I want to move
whatever photos I'm looking at to trash. Oh, Lord, but I am hopeless!
Note: Photos of the
entire journey can be seen on my Facebook page.
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