Friday - Amalfi

We woke up rather early this morning, before 8:00 am. We were still cruising the Mediterranean as an island appeared. We’re still not sure which one it was. It was such a gorgeous morning, much to our surprise. Last evening they had said we would be in store of more of the same as yesterday – cool with clouds. At 9:15 sharp our breakfast arrived, with an added treat – champagne! I had a smoked salmon omelet while Mom had her eggs over medium with sausage and toast. I left to go and listen to the destination briefing for Greece. They give a whole PowerPoint presentation on the ports of call so you can decide whether or not to book an excursion. I made it back to the room just in time to get Mom to go to the art auction. This is something that we saw on the QM2, but didn’t participate in at that point, but it seemed like a good idea. We received raffle tickets as we went in and we were supposed to go around and tag any works that we wanted to bid on. I had tagged 2 pieces, one for each of us. The process of the auction was interesting to watch. Some pieces were very expensive while others were more in our price range. I almost bid on one, but chickened out at the last minute. About half way through they were ready to do the raffle, a piece by Krasnyansky, very pretty. Next thing I knew they were calling out my number! I couldn’t believe it, nor could Mom. I’m not sure where I’m going to put it, but it was fun to win! After all of that excitement, we had arrived in Amalfi. Most of the tours were heading out and we headed up to the sun deck. It was so sunny and warm, hard to resist. We sunbathed for a few hours and went to the grill to get a bite of lunch. I decided I would head into Amalfi to see what town was like, but Mom opted to stay back. Today we are anchored so we had to be tendered into town. I managed to get on board, but we waited there a while for others to board. I started to get a little green as we bounced up and down in the sea. I was able to keep it together. The town was very cute with a ton of little shops and gelaterias, but some of the narrowest streets that were also used for driving and not just pedestrians. I spent about 2 ½ hours in town and wandered from shop to shop.

Every other store had Limoncella (mix of lemon juice, sugar, and water), and of course the ubiquitous pottery from this area. I tried without success to find internet. I am continually amazed at how scarce it is over here. I braved the tender again and made it back on board ship.

Mom and I called Dad and talked a good long while. We also just sat there and enjoyed the gorgeous view as the sun went down. Mom had to fill me in on all she accomplished while I was out and I had to fill her in on the town of Amalfi. I did bring back some candied oranges dipped in chocolate especially for her. She was so excited. We had to decide what to do for dinner, and neither of us were too excited about going to a big dinner, so we opted for Tapas on the Terrace. We had the sushi again and then Mom had the Chicken Chow Mein while I had the pasta with marinara sauce. The marinara sauce over here is so different from home – it is much much sweeter and not acidic at all. I really enjoy it. We finished it off with gelato and hot tea. Mom had the pina colada and I had the bonoffee (banana and caramel). Mine was the best I’ve had since being on board. We are now sitting down in the Upper Hall listening to our favorite string quartet who is featuring Mozart tonight. I have to meet with the art gallery at 21:00 to arrange to get my artwork home. We will then probably call it an early evening as tomorrow we are going to Pompeii!!!! I am truly excited about this; most of you know that I am an archaeology buff, so this is right up my alley. Mom is also going, even though it is rated as “strenuous”. I wish I could post photos and video, but that will have to wait at least until tomorrow. I may have internet in Sorrento, not sure. I wanted to at least get the text posted from the past 2 days so it doesn’t go from “Where is L” to “What Happened to L”!

Good evening to all…