Sunday, August 24th, 2008
I was up at 8 am today and quickly got ready to go to the fitness center – I had to squeeze in my long run this morning and finish up before my massage appointment at 10:30. I toyed with the idea of running outside on the track (12 laps = 1 mile) but realized how hot it was already and opted for the treadmill in the fitness center instead. I ran 7 miles in 69 minutes today – a personal best. After cooling off for a bit, I returned to the cabin to shower and get ready for my appointment – there was no time to grab breakfast.
After a short wait and filling out the usual paperwork/release in the AquaSpa, I met with my masseuse and had a deep tissue massage. My calves were particularly sore today and, as usual, there were a couple of “knots” around my shoulders and scapula that always seem to be there. I was done in about an hour and went back to the cabin to get Seth for lunch – the Sunday brunch only ran until 1 pm and it was already past 11:30 am.
Brunch was held in the Orion restaurant – lower level. The buffet was huge with a pasta station, warm dishes including duck with a cherry sauce, eggs benedict, fresh fruit, a huge dessert area, ice cream, and various types of salads including cous cous, etc. The food was good but the service was awful. We wandered for a bit with our plates wondering where we should sit and several waiters pointed in a general direction but didn’t really go out of their way to get us seats. I had returned to our stateroom to get some Lactaid and when I got back to the dining room, we hadn’t even gotten any water yet. I flagged down a waiter for some water and asked for some coffee and ketchup as well. After a bit, I went over to the service station and helped myself to some ketchup and then asked a 2nd time for a cup of coffee. Even the clearing away of plates was a very very slow process. We chatted with a couple from Minnesota who were here on board as part of the cardiology CME seminar – he was a PhD in physiology lecturing during the conference. The other young couple was from Jersey City where he worked as financial trader.
After we finished lunch, Seth returned to the cabin and I headed to the Stratosphere lounge to work on my journal. At 3 pm, we attended the wines around the world event which Seth had reserved the evening before through our wine steward. This event was different than the previous wine events we’ve been to resembling a walk-around wine festival moreso than a wine tasting class. We were given a wine glass and a list of the wines that we would be sampling. 1-3 wines were available from each of the countries sampled including Spain, France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, and the USA. We tried a bit of each wine rinsing our glass out with water after each sampling. There were also various canapés available. We noted our favorites from this wine experience and left the event with Wade and Charlie who brought us up to the Sky Bar for a cocktail. They especially liked Tom, the bartender, who manned the Sky Bar and was very generous with the tequila and vodka. I had one of the pina colada specials in a souvenir glass.
It was very hot outside on the deck with very little wind so we soon headed back to the cabin for a rest before dinner. I ended up taking a 2.5 hour nap and then got ready for our first formal night. We skipped the formal portrait sessions and headed to the dining room noting the truly awful dresses/outfits that some were wearing as they headed to their table. I enjoyed the crab cocktail, French onion soup (delicious, not too salty as most usually are), sautéed shrimp with goose liver pate that Alexander brought to me as an extra side, and for dessert, the spring roll with coconut sorbet. I could easily make this spring roll dessert – stuffed with mangoes and pineapple, deep fried, then taken and rolled in sugar. We headed back to the cabin and I repeated what was to become a nightly ritual – downloading pictures, updating the journal, charging all the electronic accessories, etc. We have a very early morning where we will meet the rest of our tour group and leave for Athens by 7:45 am.
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