Barcelona

All Night Long

On the Good Ship

Get the Party Started

A Very Merry Unbirthday

It Started in Naples

"I sure am glad Mammy washed this purple dress."

"May I have this dance, Scarlett, er, I mean Ruby?"

"Fiddle dee dee. I thought we were going shopping in Atlanta!"

"I bet he can't tell I made my dress from the draperies."

"Mammy says I should eat like a bird."

"Frankly my dear, I do give a damn."

We did have a wonderful day in Naples and Pompeii. And I do think Clark Gable really was Italian.

Running Themes

Throughout the week we noticed a few themes taking hold.

"Has anyone seen..."

"... my toothbrush?"

"... my camera?"

"... my cell phone?

"... my earrings?"

"...my passport?"

"... my shoes?"

"... my brain cells?"

So in honor of all those things we lost, I give you...

Forget Me Nots

Another theme of the week was wine. Naturally, the wine tour in Messina was just up our alley. Sicily has some beautiful landscapes, delicious foods, and fabulous wines. We tried 5 different wines and we each ended up buying more than we could carry home. (How we got rid of it is a story for a later date...) Ruby even gave the Grappa a shot - I doubt she will shoot it again, though. Q learned that red wines are waay better than pink ones. Mickey found a white she liked that isn't named Santa Margherita. I found I just love me the red wine. IN A PROPER GLASS. Harrumph.

So, in honor of the wine theme...

Cheerio, Miss Sophie!

Another theme revolved around one of our Chicks and cameras. One of us, and I'm not mentioning any names, gets quite annoyed if she is photographed while she has food in her mouth. Our intrepid reporter and camerawoman, Gabriele Leica von Canon was able to snap this shot for the history books.

The Day of Wine and Roses

Port 2 - Corfu

Corfu was a happening place. Walking happened. Shopping happened. Coffee drinking happened. Gabi's haircut happened. It was exhausting.


So after all those happenings we did what normal people do. We ate. The Windjammer was our favorite afternoon spot, the perfect place to grab a bite to eat, rest a bit, enjoy the sea air, and to catch up with each other and share what we did in port.

Uschi enjoyed the windjammer while we took the photo

Dinner that night was great, as always. We enjoyed the company of Dick and Terri, had some lively conversation, admired Gabi's new hairdo, and planned our evening.

We weren't the only ones dressed like peacocks on the ship

Ruby and Mickey never found the two armed bandits

Quentin said, "Whew, that was a close one!"

Courtenay manned the helm at the Schooner Bar

Gabi fiddled around

A Girl's Best Friend

Port 1 - Dubrovnik

I could say we woke up with the sunrise. Heck, I could say anything. But to be honest, we awoke just in time to watch our approach into Dubrovnik. Upon seeing the bright sunshine, some of us opted to stay in the shadows until the hair of the dog took hold.

Cheerio, Miss Sophie!

A beverage or two later, we began to get ready to disembark.

Arghhhhhhhhhh. Help!

We've had a kidnapping? From our stateroom? Call 911! Call Svetlana! Call Ingrid!

"Hello. Emergency? We've had a kidnapping. Here, from 1600. Describe the victim? Tall, thin, white sticky-out hair. Last seen in the bathroom. What? Oh, lying on the sink. Yes, the sink. Huh? No, SHE wasn't. It was. Name? Oral-B. Stop laughing. I said stop that laughing. "

The Victim

Once the authorities had been informed, we decided there wasn't anything we could do for the moment, except comfort Q in her loss, so to off to Dubrovnik we went.

Dubrovnik. Breathtaking. This is a place we would all love to visit again.

Greetings from Croatia

The water was gorgeous, the buildings were amazing, the people were friendly, and the shops, well, the shops were everywhere.

Five Chickens Enjoying the Sights of Dubrovnik

But soon it was time to return to the ship to see if the "Case of the Kidnapped Oral-B" had been solved. By now our secret weapon had been deployed.

Inspector Q-seau

Quentin and Ruby Looked

High

and Low

But to no avail. Toothbrush schmoothbrush, it was time to get ready for our first formal dinner.

Ruby and Courtenay Thought About Getting Ready for Dinner

And Get Ready, We Did

Ruby and Katie Look-Alike, Alexsandra

Alexsandra Served Our Wonderful Dinner Companions
(Who, by the way, will be our legal team should we find the culprit)

After dinner some of the group enjoyed the show, some enjoyed the casino, and some just plain enjoyed. But the call never came. No ransom. No nothing.

Q Dreamt of One Day Being Reunited with Oral-B

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?

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