Today we say good-bye to Athens and hello to the Oosterdam, I.e., the ship that will be our home away from home for the next 19 days. This is a ship n the Holland America cruise line. Most importantly, today is our 51st wedding anniversary! In fact, the ship sails around the time (minus the time differences) when John and I officially said, I do.
This is another hot day, but it is partly sunny, and we are in and out of air conditioning as we travel to the pier in Piraeus, Greece and settle into our ship. On deck, it is hot and humid, but the breeze helps with how hot the temp actually feels. We were surprised at how spacious our room actually is, even the bathrooom, which has a full-size tub and shower!
After some exploration of the ship’s facilities, I was fortunate to be able to attend Sunday Mass on board! This is important to me, so the fact that Holland America provides a Priest on board for this (and other) purposes is a huge plus! Evidently, this is important to other people on board because the Mass was nicely attended. There is another Mass tomorrow morning for those who might have missed today. So, from my perspective, thank you, Holland America!
Sail Away is always a fun and exciting event! Other ships were departing from the same port around the same time, and we folks who had gathered on the Lido (a top open-air deck) to witness our departure and catch the beautiful views were matched by other departing ships’ passengers waving bon voyage to one another. Even the ships’ horns seemed to participate in the cacophony and festivities.
John had reserved a specialty fine dining restaurant for our anniversary dinner! Prosecco toasts, buratta and fresh vegetable appetizers, fresh bread and a variety of dips, short ribs and chicken parmigiana dinners, and gelato samplers, ricotta lemon cheesecake, and hazelnut tart PLUS the gentle rocking of the ship and a zen view from the full-surround windows composed our perfect anniversary meal! We are ever so thankful for the countless blessings that our marriage both is and has made possible and simultaneously hopeful that God will continue to take such good care of us for many, many years to come!
We attended an informational session with the raise Activities Director in preparation for our visit to Istanbul. Topics such as safety, currency, Sunday closure, mosque etiquette especially for women, must-dos, should not do, and what to eat were all discussed among a full conference room of people. We dock in Istanbul at 4:00 P.M. August 27 and depart at about the same time on August 28. Passengers can come and go as we please while docked in port. John and I will assess whether or not we will hop off and cross the Bosphorus Strait between the Asian side of Istanbul and the European-side attractions on August 27. We have The Best of Istanbul full-day excursion scheduled for August 28. Anyway, there will be a Turkish traditional feast and local Turkish musician and belly dancer/s on board the evening of August 27, so……
Today closed with an on-board performance called “Humanity.” This was performed by five talented dancers in celebration of human experiences and the use of computer-aided technology to enhance the stunning display of skill.
Tomorrow we are at sea until 4:00 P.M. The ship is hosting a plethora of activities for anyone interested beginning at 5:30 A.M.
Our Travels 