DAY 123---AT SEA OFF THE COAST OF ANGOLA (DAY 2)

 

        Our position at noon is off the coast of Angola enroute to Sao Tome & Principe.  It is cloudy and 80 degrees.

LAST EVENING

               Formal optional dress night which we enjoy.  Drinks in the Mariner Lounge.

                                      Captain Abhi with Sharon at the table next to us.

        We both started with asparagus soup.  For our entrees we had this baked fresh hake fillet (fish) with lyonnaise potatoes, broccoli, and a crab hollandaise.

                            Dessert was a chocolate molten caramel cake with ice cream.

                      On the way to the theater for the show William made me a Happy Happy.

                                                         Ross was playing in the lounge.

    Lisa Marie's show was very good.  She has a great voice but talked too much between songs.

TODAY

        We went to the fitness center to do our treadmill time but it was too hot in the room for me to stay so I went out on deck 6 to do my hour fast walking.  The ship had been very cold in all over the ship for the past several days while rounding the southern tip of South Africa and Cape Town.  It is winter time there and outside temps were in 60's.  Apparently the chief engineer turned the heat on and now the ship is very warm everywhere.  Luckily we can control the temp in our suite.  As we are now heading north again it is warm outside.

        Also this morning I am watching yesterday's taped lectures before going down to CR for lunch.  Terry Bishop's lecture was on Napoleon.  Dr Michael Fopp's lecture was on our next stop at Sao Tome & Principe.  Both were very good and interesting.

        I had to try the Bun Cha soup off the lunch special menu.  Ok, but not great.  Rice noodles would not stay on my spoon so tried fork and no luck there either.  Now I know why the Vietnamese people are so thin.

                                                    With the soup I also had this empanada.

           For my entree I had the teriyaki chicken wrap off the special menu also.  Just ok.

        At 3pm in the theater there will be a "white elephant" sale.  This is an auction selling things that were donated by passengers who bought them on the cruise but no longer want to pack them to take home.  Also the Captain, General Manager, and Cruise Director have come up with unique things or things to experience which will be auctioned.  All the proceeds will be for the crew welfare fund.  We had a white elephant sale back on our 2010 WC and we bought dinner with 4 crew members of our choice.  Best money I have ever spent.  Problem was deciding on which 4 crew to invite.  When we did invite them everyone of them started crying with happiness.

             John, our cruise director, was the auctioneer and he was fantastic and very funny.

                                                            They actually sold 3 of these.

        A lot of other things were sold and several for $500.  I will let you know tomorrow how much money was raised for the Crew Welfare Fund.  This fund used for crew emergencies.

        Also in the afternoon I watched Terry Bishop's taped morning lecture on "The History of the Atlantic Ocean".  Very interesting indeed.

        This evening cocktail hour in Mariner Lounge followed by dinner in Compass Rose.  Bea, the cruise consultant, will be joining us for dinner tonight.  Rebecca and I have requested a special dinner with veal osso buco.  We asked Bea but she declined.  As you will see below on the menu there an entee with kudu loin.  You saw photos of kudus I took on the safari.  We will also try a little taste of it tonight.

        Tonight's headliner entertainer is a comedian from Ireland, William Caulfield.  Count us out.  Tonight we will be setting our clocks back another hour.  Another sea day tomorrow!