Day 3 "I'm King of the World"

From feeling a little seasick on Wednesday to a fantastic day It helped that the ocean was like a mirror all day, you could have skipped stones on it.  I never expected to see it like that in the middle of the ocean.  Also the sun was shining for most of the morning, so when I took my pot of coffee on my balcony and sipped it with just wearing a t-shirt, paying a little extra for the balcony was worth it.  After that, it was a tough day:

Lecture on the architecture of St. Petersburg given our professor at dinner.  He was good with some great photography.  Next,I went to the library which is an amazing room.  At the front of the ship, it has chairs in front of windows providing an amazing view.  I started to read my book but I just found myself staring straight ahead.  It was mesmerizing.

Captain's update at noon everyday is about the only time they bother you with the intercom.  He provides an update on position and weather forecast.  He was predicting smooth seas but fog (which sure enough came today, Friday). He also said they were going to slow down as they were making good progress.  Later in the day we went from 23 to 18 knts.

Went to lunch in the main Britania dining room.  Met some interesting people including a fellow from Italy who didn't speak much English but could tell me he was going to his daughter's wedding in Vermont.  He just didn't want to fly.  Turns out many people on here take the ship simply because they hate to fly.  Lunch again was fantastic and very relaxing.

But I guess I wasn't relaxed enough so went to the Canyon Ranch spa for a dip in their relaxation pool, followed by a steam in the hottest steam room I've ever been in.  It started to get a bit noisy when these middle aged women came in and were very loud...time to go!

I needed some exercise, so with the seas calm, and feeling better, went for a run/walk around the deck.  Ok, it was more walking than running but felt great.  Many people run but I think it actually was getting quite busy and I think the running isn't terribly considerate of the walkers, some of which were elderly.

What?  It's 5 pm?  Not sure where the time went.  Next stop was the Chart room for a glass of wine.  The best part of the ship, by far, are the public rooms.  The restaurants, bars, library are all spectacular.  They give you great views of the ocean and for the bars, they have great live music.  Classical, jazz, piano, and it's all very good.  It was the classical quartet last night.

Then the captain's cocktail party.  They force Purell on you before shaking his hand!  A nice party with a big band playing.

Another nice dinner after that.  This time, I offered wine to everyone at the table so that I wasn't the only one and all had some except for the woman from Paris!  She is just quite nervous and didn't want to get sick.  But even Joan, who has to be over 90, travelling by herself and very frail, had some.  Well maybe just a sip but she did say it went to her head!

Too many choices after dinner.  I started watching "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D but with the ship gently rolling, just as Alice falls down the rabbit hole, I thought that it might not be a good idea.  Instead I listened in on great female opera singer.  Amazing voice.  I hope she performs again. 

Went for a walk on deck around midnight.  It was warmer and very little wind and just a really calm environment.  I took some photos, hope they turn out.

Main event today: Roger Daltry is being interviewed by Chris Difford, I think it will be like Elvis Costello's TV show.  It's at 3 so will likely need to get there early.

All for now!