We are getting a little more used to the time, so getting up for breakfast in the Terrace Cafe seems pretty normal now. Not having any daylight in the cabin does force us to rely on our clocks, or sometimes turning on the TV to the channel that show views in front and behind the ship is helpful.
We've come to appreciate the days at sea from a rest standpoint, though it does reinforce that we like the cruising aspect for the moving hotel room and the wonderful food. The other ship activities aren't as enticing for us.
Daniel Ostler gave a lecture this morning on the convicts aspect of Australian settlement. He had some nice insights. First of all, he pointed out that about 25% of the 1700's immigrants to the US, or the American colonies at the time, were convicts. These were typically for more petty crimes rather than capital crimes, but getting the poor riff-raff out of England was the priority. When the American Revolution successfully ended (from our standpoint), England needed somewhere else to send their convicts, so Australia was the next destination. We were surprised to learn that these convicts main crimes were usually being poor, so our opinion about the forefathers in this country is a bit different now. Alan will have to do some more looking at our early family members to find out what they did wrong in England to end up in the US!
Daniel Ostler gave a lecture this morning on the convicts aspect of Australian settlement. He had some nice insights. First of all, he pointed out that about 25% of the 1700's immigrants to the US, or the American colonies at the time, were convicts. These were typically for more petty crimes rather than capital crimes, but getting the poor riff-raff out of England was the priority. When the American Revolution successfully ended (from our standpoint), England needed somewhere else to send their convicts, so Australia was the next destination. We were surprised to learn that these convicts main crimes were usually being poor, so our opinion about the forefathers in this country is a bit different now. Alan will have to do some more looking at our early family members to find out what they did wrong in England to end up in the US!
While the lecture was going on, Alan was again monitoring a Purdue basketball game, this time the Men vs. Nebraska. We were glad to see another Boiler victory, even if it was only through statistics.
We continue to try and keep up with the blog on these lazy days. Joyce found a spot on the 14th deck, a relatively short walk up the stairs from our cabin, that has small round tables with 4 chairs and nice views, but is fairly secluded. She can write, read, or just relax as she wants. Alan worked on pictures, which has pretty well required him to be in the cabin with the laptop and the electrical connection, since the battery is dying and doesn't last more than 20 or 30 minutes without juice.
We had lunch in Grand Dining Room today rather than in the Terrace Cafe. It's a scaled down version of dinner, but it is still elegant and very nice. We are getting used to the being waited on thing.
The afternoon was set aside for napping and more blogging.
It seems like we are running across a lots of doctors on the trip. We went up to the Horizons Lounge on the 15th deck for afternoon tea. This was a special tea with what we were told were more than 6,000 cupcakes. It was pretty popular, but we finally found a table to share with an Arizona radiologist and his wife. We had a chance to sample several different kinds of cupcakes, as well as sandwiches and tea. Nephew Stephan will be pleased with how much tea we are drinking. Alan has started taking his with milk, which seems to be the English way ding it. We're wondering who will bring us pots of hot water whenever we want it at home.
We had dinner in the Grand Dining room again. We will probably create a separate post of food pictures when we return.
Leo Ward, a magician from London, was the entertainment for the night. He did more magic and less talking than the first magician, but somehow wasn't quite as entertaining. We were sitting off to the side, so I could see some of the "behind the scenes" things that spoiled the tricks.
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