Noon Report:

• Location: N 36° 04.54′, W 006° 35.59′
• Speed: 14.5 knots
• Course: 288º
• Weather: High Thin Clouds/low fog
• Temperature: 19º C; 66º F
• Wind: ESE 25 knots; 29 mph
• Sea: 8′ swell

We were scheduled to cross thru the Strait of Gibraltar at 9:30 this morning so we bounded out of bed early in order to get our walking in before grabbing a table in the Explorer’s Lounge for breakfast and shoreline watching.

While we were viewing the fog bank hiding the actual Rock of Gibraltar, Cheryl had a waffle. I, on the other hand waited until 9:30 when the Celebration Brunch opened on the pool deck where the hard-working staff had taken out all the sun beds and replaced them with various food stations and eating areas.

I grabbed an omelet and a few assorted accompaniments and called that round 1. Shortly thereafter Cheryl returned to the stateroom for a nap and I moved upstairs to blog a bit.

I broke for the 11:00 lecture “UNESCO – Why does it matter to travelers like us?” (protects sites and provides education of cultures so that the more we understand each other, the less likely we are to get into wars).

Then I dropped by the room to check on Cheryl (still napping) before returning to the Explorer’s upstairs to work until 12:15 trivia time. We had a respectable performance at trivia – even got the Shakespeare question right.

After trivia I returned to the room to roust Cheryl and we headed up to the pool deck for a bit of brunch (it was still going strong until 1:30.) Then it was back to the stateroom to spend the afternoon reading (much of the time on the veranda), napping, relaxing and watching the 3:00 lecture on “The Battle of Trafalgar” which we just passed! (This famous sea battle between Admiral Nelson versus a combined Spanish and French fleet took place just up the coast between Gibraltar and Cadiz).

We also watched the port talk on Dover (our port on Sunday). We broke for dinner and then returned to the room to finish up the day. The Theater entertainment tonight is our Cruise Director Bruce – He’s a concert pianist by training. We watched the livestream from the comfort of our bed.

Tomorrow is Lisbon and a bit of sightseeing.

Nite all,
R