Mostly cloudy and only partly sunny, we doubt the temps ever rose much above 50 something. The further north we have sailed, the more light fog has developed, bringing a chill to the wind. We found one fellow on a lounge at the aft section of the promenade deck, but wrapped with blankets. Other walkers? Well you could count them on one hand this morning.
All the activities happening today inside the ship had to do with King’s Day….Happy Koningsdag to all. Everything “orange” was the theme as it is the official Dutch color we have been told. So things for King’s Day began with a street market, or Lido Poolside shop sales, King’s afternoon tea, King’s Day bar hop, Orange party in the Crow’s Nest, and the King’s Day Orange Dinner, gala, of course. You’ll never guess the suggested color to wear this evening? Orange of course, to match the orange seat covers and orange lights for special effects. All in good fun.
We spent the majority of the day catching up on three things………photos, reports, and relaxation. Also a good chance to listen to Ian talking about Copenhagen and Oslo, the next two ports coming up very soon. We have been to both fabulous cities at least twice, but it has a long time, and never on a world voyage. We needed some refresher info to stir the memories, and with his suggestions and maps, it did come back to us.
The current guest speaker, Brian Stoddart, lectured twice today about the Scandinavian, French and Dutch empires. Valerie Mock continued the theme with info on Vikings as raiders or traders. And to tie into yesterday’s “art day”, the movie, Girl with a Pearl Earring, was shown in the Wajang. Although there were a few Vermeer paintings in the collection at the museum, this particular painting was not there.
Lunch with Barb in the dining room was pleasant as always. The menu for lunch today had everything we liked…..hard to choose just a few items. We seem to talk well past the 1pm closing time, because we left the room around 2:15pm. Our most kind waiters had to set the tables for dinner and put on those orange chair covers before they could take a break. If we lingered much longer, we would have to help them.
As we mentioned, it was gala night, one of the last ones, and we had guest hosts. The new staff captain, Johan, and his wife, joined the five of us for this festive meal. They are both Dutch, and live close to Amsterdam, so we learned much more about living in the Netherlands. And they learned more about California and Sydney too. Most of the menu was geared to seafood, as you might expect, but there were some other choices. Dessert was a Dutch cream puff filled with whipped cream and covered with a rich chocolate frosting. Naturally, we shared it. Slam also brought four plates of small chocolate biscotti cookies. A wonderful evening was had by all.
The Flyrights did an encore show tonight in the Mainstage. Soul, Motown, and Swing were done with such high energy, they left the audience breathless, even more than they were. Songs and dances by the trio brought back tunes we know well……Nat King Cole, the Drifters, and twisting. Remember that dance? Probably contributed to the knee and hip problems some folks have these days. Not the Flyrights, as they appeared to be made of rubber with their gyrating dance routines. Very entertaining, and so not-the-usual singers we have been used to in the past. A big improvement.
Back in our room, we found some gifts of odd-looking plastic eye glasses and two tubes of something orange. What the straws were, we haven’t a clue?
Tomorrow we will be in a beautiful country – Denmark.
Bill & Mary Ann
