April 18th, 2023
At Sea
Gone were the ostrich feathers, but they were replaced by a beautiful display of strelitzias – birds of paradise.
Today was well spent going to the lectures, and craft class. Stephen Payne gave a very interesting talk on airships. Paul Fellows talked about how big the universe is, and started his talk with one of my favorite Douglas Adams quotes “ Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space” Indeed it is. The universe is large. Dave Wright then talked about Cleopatra, and I learned a whole lot about her and her siblings that I didn’t know before. Very diverse subjects, but all very interesting.
In the craft class we were painting fans. I painted mine red and gold, to take to the next formal night – the red and gold themed centenary gala evening. I did buy a red dress for this ball, but it needs to have the hem taken up, and this has been a daunting task for me as it involves trying to tame yards and yards of chiffon. I am considering abandoning the task, and taking it to a seamstress when I get home. That means wearing a black dress to the gala. Thus the need for a red and gold fan.
We had lunch in the Golden Lion and I was enjoying the atmosphere there so much that I forgot to go to the session of origami with Yumi which involved African elephant making apparently. Oh well, maybe next time.
The sky has been quite cloudy these past few nights, but tonight it was beautiful and clear. At 9:45 we headed up to deck 12 to join Paul Fellows in star gazing. You could take it in turns looking at the heavens through a telescope he set up, which was fun. But cold. We left after a while to head to the Commodore Club for a chocolate affair martini. A good way to end the day.
What a beautiful flower arrangement!
You have such great foresight to think of the fan accessory for the Red and Gold night. Could the seamstress onboard help with altering your dress?
I have always wanted to try the star gazing but never made it…maybe on our next cruise?
I never thought of the seamstress alas! Still we had a wonderful evening. Star gazing on the ship if fantastic, especially if the person doing it has a strong laser that he can use to clearly point out the constellations which I often struggle with. You just have to hope there are no planes flying overhead!