Somewhere Beyond the Sea

Day Two - Brilliance of the Seas

We finally boarded the ship about 1PM.

Ruby is THRILLED

After a quick stroll around we headed up to the Windjammer to check out the lunch selection.

Strolling by the Lunch Selection

We were hungry, after all.

We checked on our dinner reservation, found our table in the dining room, met Mr. P, our favorite bartender,

Hello, We're Tanqueray & Tonic and Vodka & Water.
Nice to meet you.

and then grabbed a snack before the muster drill. We were hungry, after all.

As we sailed away from Venice, we enjoyed meeting up with some of the Cruise Critics and putting faces to the names we have come to know over the past few months. We also met Greig and Toria, who are now Honorary Women (and Man) Who Wine. While getting dressed for dinner, we snacked on goodies the captain sent. We were hungry, after all.

Too Pretty to Eat

Things get interesting here, folks.

A few of us got ready a bit more quickly than others, ahem, Q, are you ready yet?? The ready and raring to go ones headed back up to the Sky Bar to wait until our dinner time. At last, the late one finally arrived and was ready to eat. She was hungry, after all. However, one, and I am NOT mentioning any names, needed to make a pit stop along the way. What ever happened to Baby Jane, you ask?

Jeezy Pee - zy.

Guess who is not coming to dinner?

So, after much ado, the evening proceeded as planned. Some ate dinner, one ate humble pie. We were hungry, after all.

Not Humble Pie

Another unofficial Meet & Mingle at the Schooner Bar happened at about10PM. We met up with a few more folks, sipped a few cocktails, chatted, laughed, drank some adult beverages, listened to the piano player, met some more cruisers, and had a nightcap, or two.

The Camera is Straight...I Think I'm Crooked

Whew. Long day. Lots of new friends. A teensy bit of alcohol. A gazillion steps walked. Sure made us hungry. Good thing they were serving late night snacks in the Solarium. We were hungry, after all.

Who Says One Gains Weight on a Cruise?

Sailing Away

Day Two - Venice

Ughhh, what time is it? No way I'm gonna make the museum by 8AM. Shucks, I guess that means I will have to return to Venice to see the Vitruvian Man.

The Vitruvain Man Still Awaits Me

A hectic morning was had by all. Uschi and Gabi went exploring the city,

Even the Laundry in Venice is Pretty

chatting with the locals,

Luckily, This Multi-Lingual Dog Barks in both Italian and German

stopping at the market,

Berry Nice

visiting San Marco Square,

San Marco's Not Square as You Can See

and wandering along the Grand Canal.

Mickey, Ruby, and Q went shoe shopping.

Mickey's a Shoe Tease

SHOE SHOPPING? WITHOUT ME?

I can't believe I missed that. I could have gone one more day without a shower if I had known shoes were involved.

Anyhoo,

after all that fun, we packed up and waited on the terrace for our private water taxi to pick us up in front of the hotel. Bye, Alessandro, it was a pleasure looking at you, kid!

Day One - Venice

Ah well, all good thing must come to an end, eh? (You didn't know I could speak Canadian, didya?)

We had a great first day there riding into Venice in style in our private water taxi, exploring, getting over jet-lag, dealing with sassy Italian lunch waiters,

Home of Sassy Italian Lunch Waiter

cruising in water busses, enjoying Italian eye-candy,

Eye Candy

drinking aperitifs made especially for us by Alessandro,

Aperitivi di Alessandro

and eating delicious seafood at a delightful little place that was well worth the trouble it took us to find.

Who has the map?

The highlight of that first day was meeting and greeting our fellow Chickens (NOTE: Chickens with a Capital C), Gabi and Uschi. What a treat. We enjoyed a few cocktails (or more) on the terrace overlooking the Grand Canal while we all got better acquainted.

Quentin Misses Getting Better Acquainted

Don't know how the other room fared, but our room was kinda giggly late into the night. Lovely way to end our first day.

Just before the Giggles

During the Giggles

Trying not to Giggle

Only the Beginning