Monday, February 22, 2016 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Mostly Sunny – 80sF

It’s another beautiful day at sea…

Smooth seas and warm weather.

Because the Journey starts its breakfast buffets at 7:30 AM, the Windows Café is usually pretty crowded at the opening.  I was still able to get a seat on the back deck (right on the railing).  The usual breakfast of waffles and some scrambled eggs (for the second day in a row I also managed to get some sour cream brought up).  It was all good.

After breakfast, as I have done several times on this cruise, I did 14 laps around the track on Deck 10 – this is just over a mile and burns off about half of my breakfast.  This time, I documented the effort.

Lapping it up on Deck 10

I have the morning off but I did take a little time to go through my talk for this afternoon.  An iced decaf latte helped with the review process.  Captain Davidson stopped by to ask how yesterday’s session had gone and what was on for today – I invited him to attend but he might wind up watching on the TV.

The rest of the time was spent reading up on Deck 5 – I am making progress on Daniel Silva’s book “The Confessor” even though the page counter on my Kindle keeps going back to Page 1 (the book, however, continues).  This novel, about sneaky goings on in the Vatican, has certainly captured my interest – I only hope the novel is complete in its electronic form. 

We had lunch again in the Windows Café – the pretzels morphed about a day or so ago from the homemade yeasty variety to the more standard dark pretzels – I am hoping the original version returns.  A salad, scoop of tuna, and a prune laden soft serve waffle cone complete the lunch. 

Talk 3 - “Forensics and History: The Secret Identity of Christopher Columbus”  is scheduled today at 2 PM in the Cabaret Lounge.  For the first time, people arrived a little early and by the time I started (about 2-3 minutes late since I was chatting with passengers) the theater was about 70 percent full – approximately 200 people.  I did a better job of staying on my spot so I could be seen on the TV version.  The talk doesn’t resolve any mysteries but the audience seemed to appreciate the possibilities.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on Deck 5 – it was just wonderful out there – smooth and warm.

We didn’t change for dinner and tried the “Turkish Buffet” in the Windows Café.  I had a Cesar salad, Baba Ghanoush, Tabbouleh, and parmesan crusted snapper.  Pretty good, especially when eaten on the back deck.

We skipped the shows tonight (Garin Bader) and read and puzzled out on Deck 5 Port – we were all alone out there – very peaceful.

After a few hours, we went to the Mosaic for a nightcap Latte but since we were still in our very casual outfits, self consciousness drove us to our rooms.

A terrific relaxing day…seas are smooth.