Day 5 - January 7, 2025 - Tuesday - Another Sea Day

Today promises to be a better day weatherwise!  Having set our clocks back an hour last night (we are now 4 hours behind Atlanta), we woke up early.  Before 6AM Kay headed to the gym and I headed to find some coffee.  We were both successful.  After my coffee, I also wander off to the gym for a short workout since we have been unable to walk the decks for two days.  

Following breakfast, we attended another lecture in the Star Theater.  This one was titled "The Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands presented by Captain Tom Anderson.  Anderson is a long term resident of the islands.  This was especially enjoyable for Kay and I because he had photos of so many out of the way places we have hiked in our visits to the Islands.  I look forward to his additional presentations.

Many friends as well as others who read my travel blogs often wonder how we manage so many sea days without becoming bored.  Below I have photographed the Viking Daily, the publication left in our cabin each night when we return from dinner and entertainment.  This is left along with a turned down bed, fresh linens and a restocked mini-frig.  I thought you might be interested in just how much is available to do on a typical day at sea.

For any of you who haven't already discovered, you can click on an image to enlarge it as well as scroll through the images.

The front cover always features something about the ship or our journey.  Todays was about the Bayeux Tapestry.  This large tapestry is almost 20 inches tall and 230 FEET in length  and depicts the Norman conquest of England in 1066.    What you ask does this have to do with a world cruise or a Norwegian  Ship?  The Viking Ocean Line prides themselves on displaying and promoting art.  In the stairwell on each level of the ship a huge reproduction of a section of the tapestry is displayed, see one below.

Our next "event" was another educational presentation.  This one was titled "Faith of Our Fathers" presented by Patrick Goodness (yes, that's his real name).  He discussed the many faiths which originated from the American experience (over 40 different Christian denominations alone).  

Patrick spent 8 years in seminary, training to be a Catholic Priest.  As he said, "as you can see it didn't take".  Patrick is recognized for his contributions to the study of ancient cultural anthropology, global mythology and comparative world religions. 

Between lectures, I made a few rounds on the promenade deck.  It was nice to finally have some good weather and a decent temperature.  The cooler weather should pretty much be behind us now.

After lunch I enjoyed time on our veranda.  It enjoyed absorbing some sun in only shorts!  Afterward, I spent some time working on this blog. 

We decided to get ready for dinner and then go attend ANOTHER lecture.  This one was  " The History of Navigation"  by Dr. Bryan Babcock.  It examined the scientific developments and tools of navigation through history.  I was looking forward to this lecture, Kay not so much.  After the lecture she admitted it was very much enjoyed.  Dr Babcock was a very good presenter.  He is another I look forward to hearing more presentations from.

After the lecture we went to enjoy the ships pianist for about 30 minutes until time for dinner.  It was during this time we learned of the fires today in the Malibu area of California.  This is the very area we were in only two days ago.  I understand that the Getty Villa, which we visited, had vegetation destroyed right up to the villa.  Fortunately, no artifacts were damaged.  They apparently have special fire protection including double walls, special ventilation and external water irrigation to help protect the collection.  

Following dinner we took in a show featuring singer Rachel Tyler.  She has performed on Broadway, in Vegas and all over Europe.  

So, what did I do on a sea day?  Well, I attended 2.25 hours of lectures, approximately 45 minutes exercising, one hour at a show, an hour sunning on the veranda and since we had all of our meals in the main dinning room (which takes longer, but we enjoy the attention) about 4.25 hours eating!  Yes, I said 4.25 hours.  45 minutes for breakfast, 1.5 hours for lunch and 2 hours for dinner.  The remainder of the time was spent reading, working on this blog and just wasted!  

The good thing about sea days are they are a luxurious leisure.  When we start reaching ports, the pace will pick up considerably.

Until tomorrow...