Greetings from cloudy/rainy Tunisia!

We have experienced beautiful, sunny sea days and rainy, cloudy, cool port days on this trip. It’s fine, though, as we had no plans to get off the ship today anyway. I was planning to do some sunbathing today, but that’s not to be unless the weather completely changes. Normally I would say that the chances are slim, but we’ve seen so many days that started off with blue skies, quickly turned to rain and then ended up sunny and warm that I would not deign to predict the weather at this point.

We’ve been booted out of our cabin for a few hours since we’ve experienced two floods in two days. A seal failed on our plumbing two days ago and flooded our cabin and the cabin next door, and then the seal on their plumbing failed yesterday and flooded both our cabins again. The bad thing about yesterday is Ed was just about to lay down for a nap before getting ready for formal night, so it threw a monkey wrench into our plans. The standing water is gone but parts of the carpet are still damp, so they just sprayed the carpet with disinfectant and we were politely asked to make ourselves scarce for a while so they can turn on the high powered fans and turn up the heat to try to dry out the carpeting. Once it dries, they will shampoo it, but I have a feeling that won’t happen until we’re already on our way back home.

Other than the floods and several mishaps with the laundry service, we have had a wonderful vacation and can’t believe it’s almost over. We enjoyed most of the ports. In Naples we somehow managed to find a pizzeria recommended by the New York Times for its wood-fired, thin crust pizza. It wasn’t the one we were looking for, but somehow we stumbled across it. For 11 euros, we each had what I would call a medium-size pizza and a can of Coke and it was delicious. Well worth the effort of wandering around in a dirty, deserted (it was a national holiday), all stone city. No trees, signs of walked dogs everywhere, and graffiti, but surprisingly no piled garbage. We had been reading for months about the garbage problem, but there was no sign of it. Once we filled our bellies, we headed right back for the ship which was fortuitous as it began raining just as we got back onboard.

Venice was a bit of a disappointment. I don’t know what I expected, but I suppose something less dirty. The buildings in St. Mark’s Square are covered with soot and the area along the waterfront by the Doge’s Palace is littered with vendors. We found the boat traffic amazing, with boats of all sizes zipping around in the Grand Canal. Our private boat tour along a few of the smaller canals followed by the Grand Canal was interesting as we saw many buildings we otherwise would have missed, but it wasn’t worth what we paid for it. It was interesting to see all the algae that covers the foundations of the homes, and I find it difficult to believe that anyone lives on the ground floor. I would have liked to have seen a flood line, as I’m sure that the water level must get quite high at times.

After much searching and imploring a few locals to help us, we finally found the restaurant where I had made reservations. The appetizer was good, the entrée so-so, but the wine was fabulous and the dessert just as good. Of course, with a final bill of 130 euros, we were hoping for an excellent all around meal. I suppose that’s hard to find in Venice. We somehow found our way back to the ship through the maze of streets aided more by the signs for Piazzale Roma than by my map, which I couldn’t read in the dim light. On one street as I was struggling to decipher it, an old woman stopped in front of me and asked in Italian what I was looking for (at least I assumed that’s what she asked). When I answered, she responded in full Italian accompanied by hand gestures and head nods. I picked up a few words and got most of the rest through her motions, and we found our way back. We were surprised that there wasn’t more activity on the streets, but it was very quiet except for some sidewalk cafes that were full of 20-somethings. That was an experience we will forever remember.

We missed St. Mark’s Basilica as it was pouring Thursday morning (our reservation was for 9:45), but we got some extra sleep, which we needed, and then after the rain stopped headed into town for lunch and to find an ATM (not as easy as one would think). Food is very expensive in Venice, but it’s tough for us to pass up trying the local food. I’m glad we finally visited Venice, but I don’t think it’s a place I need to return to. Florence and Rome, on the other hand, are places I could see spending at least a week visiting.

Split, Croatia was a surprise. The morning started off sunny and warm, but a thunderstorm quickly arrived and the rain lasted for a few hours. When two of the crew members mentioned they hadn’t been to Split before and we knew they collected magnets from all the ports, we wanted to pick some up for them so off the ship we went. The sun soon came out and we discovered a charming and old town – with kiosks everywhere!! It wasn’t hard to find magnets, and if you were in the market for shoes or sunglasses, Split is apparently the place to go.

I had met Captain Lindegren when he attended our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle party, and we saw him again for photos at the Welcome Aboard party on the first formal night. He seemed to be a very kind and personable man, so I boldly invited him to have dinner with us one night in Chops, the steakhouse onboard. He told me he would have to check with Fabiana, the group coordinator, who handles his schedule and we never expected to hear from him again, so we were very surprised when we received a call inviting us for dinner Friday night. We enjoyed a three-hour dinner with the Captain and Fabiana, and I'm sure that anyone who saw us in the restaurant is wondering who the heck we are. We covered a wide range of subjects, and he is very interesting and has a great sense of humor. We would be happy to sail with him again.

Tomorrow is our last sea day, and I’m hoping we have some nice weather for the trip back to Barcelona. If we can get back into our cabin sometime soon, I’d like to start packing today so we can take advantage of the weather should it be better tomorrow. We haven’t bought too much since the candy debacle, so we don’t have to worry about our luggage being overweight on the way back. We, of course, would probably have to pay an extra charge if the airlines started weighing passengers in addition to the luggage.

I hope that you are having sunnier weather wherever you are and we are looking forward to catching up with everyone after we get settled back into real life.