veni, vini, amavi

I can’t honestly say that I was thrilled to see land when I opened the curtains early Sunday morning. There was just the slightest bit of red on the horizon before we headed upstairs to the buffet for my last gorge of smoked salmon.

We had an early flight so chose to ‘walk off’ our own luggage which meant hefting 2 big suitcases, 2 carry on bags, 1 knapsack, and 1 pacsafe over the shoulder man bag, down a few flights of stairs. We’d planned an especially early departure so that the elevators wouldn’t be totally bogged down and were off the ship winding our way to customs with no problems. Customs was a breeze with our trusted traveller cards and soon so we were flagging down a cab to the airport.

Printed our boarding passes and got in line to check our bags. After a wait for the agents to get there we were on our way through security (again a breeze), and settled down for the long wait for our flight, which was longer than expected due to a delay. Cue the stress… with only a scant 2 hours in Montreal to make our flight home, we wondered if we’d make the connection. Finally, only 50 minutes late (yikes) we were in the air.

The Montreal airport is reasonably compact, unlike Toronto, so we were soon walking through the baggage claim area. We’d been told that our bags were checked through to Ottawa, but an announcement kept saying that travellers to Ottawa, etc. had to collect their bags before leaving the customs area. WTH. It was hard to find someone to ask but eventually we found an Air Canada agent who confirmed that our bags would indeed end up in Ottawa.

As it turns out, we had plenty of time to make our connection, especially considering that it was ½ hour late also...geesh. It seemed like we might never get home.

When we rolled to a stop at the gate in Ottawa I breathed a sigh of relief, just one more hurdle and we’d be home. Got our luggage - all of it! Carm got the car - it started! And had no snow on it! A good thing since we hadn’t prepared the car with scrapers and all that winter stuff.

We were home. Pat stood by as we gushed over the pets. We hadn’t eaten since 6:30 in the morning so were starving - a loaf of bread and a stack of cheese slices whipped up into the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever. We visited for ages, exchanging tales of adventure.

We were back to reality.

Adia woke us up at 7am which started another busy day. Unfortunately our first order of business was to attend Carm’s Aunt’s funeral, so we bustled into the city for 10am. A stop at Costco to stock up on food was next, and then the mundane really started. Stop for gas, to the drugstore… 

And now here I sit, on the sofa in my place in the sunspot. The house is strewn with the contents of our bags, a heap of laundry sits on the floor, the dogs are snoozing beside me, Carm is on his computer updating our records, there is no dining room to serve supper. We are home, the fantasia faded into a dim memory.

“Veni, Vini, Amavi. We came, we saw, we loved.”

~unknown

one more sleep

The seas quieted down overnight, leaving us to enjoy the gentle rocking that I’ve become accustomed to. It’s been mostly sunny and could have been a day at the pool.

After coffee in the Piazza, I started packing… yes, our vacation is almost over. Tomorrow we dock in Fort Lauderdale and fly home into the snow. It will be a real shock to get back to reality.

I had the suitcases flipped open on the bed and Carm folding - it was a feat of unbelievable proportion that everything fit - I think, tomorrow morning the last of the stuff goes into one carry on which hopefully has enough space.

We putzed around for a while, had lunch, and then stood in line at the theatre to get into the show that ‘sold out’ yesterday. We waited for ages but scored the perfect seats for the new production.

We managed to get seats in Hector’s section in the dining room. He has a cute helper who has a sweet shy smile. Hector is also one of the fastest servers - we always get out of the dining room in record time - no 2 hour suppers in his section.

Since we were skipping out on the singers tonight we grabbed seats in the piazza for the Captain’s cocktail party and to enjoy the band ‘Hot Tonic’. Lots of people were dancing, including us for one tear around the floor to ‘It’s a Wonderful World’. We sat with a nice couple from Niagara on the Lake. From there it was to Take 5 for our cranberry juice and a few bars of jazz.

One more sleep!

yet another lazy day

The sound of wind and waves battering against the side of the ship woke me up this morning. It was 6:30 am gmt-4. I opened the curtains. I shut the curtains and crawled back into bed for a bit. I opened them again and yanked open the balcony door… a big mistake as now it creaks and groans incessantly. Whitecaps topped the swell; I stepped outside onto the wet floor and took my photos.

I wouldn’t call the sea rough, but the floor does disappear out from under my feet now and then. It wouldn’t be a day for wearing heels! Carm figures the swells are about 8 feet high, enough for gentle rocking.

At breakfast, I decided to forego eggs and other North American fare, instead filling a bowl with rice, stir fry, and sauteed bok choy. It was a nice change!

The piazza had zumba and then a line dancing class while we had our coffee this morning. I could have joined, even with my 2 left feet, but I was more than happy to exert myself by tapping my foot while watching others sweat 😎

Only today (which by the time I post this will be almost gone) and tomorrow left for sea days and then we’ll disembark for our grueling trip home. I’ll be happy to see the dogs, and I’m already planning a visit to Kirsten, but honestly, I feel like I could stay here forever.

Aside from a short outing to have lunch at the buffet, we had a relaxing afternoon in the cabin watching the clouds play peek-a-boo with the sun as they race across the sky. We even skipped supper in the dining room for a picnic on the bed, complete with a bottle of bubbles that we bought in Genoa. It was nice to be far from the maddening crowd for a little while.

We did make an attempt at getting to the theatre tonight but it was sold out when we got there (45 minutes early!). There is a new production show so I guess everyone on the ship wants to go.

My head is spinning from all the movies we’ve watched today so it’s time to turn out the lights and close my eyes. Good night!