... there's a good chance this'll be my final shipboard entry ... even in the middle of the night the internet is excruciatingly slow, probably the result of work being performed by some of the many "repositioning crossing" maintenance crew members that joined us in spain ... so, at least for this hour on the calm surface of a darkened sea, here's a potpouri of photos from this wonderful experience ...
... in cadez, i believe, along what quickly became one of my all-time favorite streets ...
... as i walked through the town square i noticed a cart-guy and man-with-new-shoes in what appeared to be a most serious discussion ... right, probably about you-know-who—but in spanish ...
... while i was taking a little break on a bench in the azores i noticed this guy ... when we were kids, knowing we'd grow up to be smokers, this is how i practiced holding my candy lucky strike cigarettes ... sophisticatedly nonchalant, but never straying beyond the bounds of manliness ... thank goodness the world has moved on at least a tiny bit from that nonsense, but i still appreciate a good stance ...
... a church in the azores ... for the technical minded, 40 exposures hdr stacked, merged, color and contrast corrected, and finally, several painstaking hours, restored to geometric almost-perfection ... oh, right, did i mention the tourist wearing a flowered shirt standing dead center in the aisle—???—poof, gone (okay, amount of time it took there should be forty-fifty "o's" in that wood)...
... same church, different perspective ...
... the little lighthouse outside my window ...
... charming and charming, especially the random below-decks worker—i think he wanted his picture taking and was hiding behind the door waiting for me to walk down the corridor to my room so his friendly expression could join the rest of the crew's smiles ...
... a random guy, from the great city of ottawa, as i recall—or maybe it was oklahoma ... what counts is that no matter where he's from the shirt's cool ...
... in the next-to-poshest restaurant ...
... a moment in casablanca ...
... they're from england and he is named "william," or—well, they were very nice ...
... two of the ships parked near us in the azores ... the steamship is actually much, much older than the sailing vessel ...
... the "phillipine night" show ... we used to do this when we lived in guam ... my sister, sue, was wicked good at it, i usually ended up with bruised ankles ...
... it's quite obvious the crew is getting used to me ...
... especially dori ... when she meets passengers from past cruises she always seems to remember their names ... cool ...
... most of the passengers are already below decks playing cards, building puzzles, fiddling with their hand-held devices, or noddding off ...
... leaving the azores ...
... as we left italy on the second part of our wanderabout i couldn't help but think about the many ships that had navigated along these shores, perhaps even one upon which a young cabin boy looked out to the horizon and dreamed of one day becoming l. cincio ocanum maria ...
... soon i will be home, which is nice since i miss liz and adrien and my family and friends ... i know, however, that i am going to miss the nice people from all over the world who have been taking such wonderful care of my brother and me ... i believe this to be one of the most important parts of wanderabouting ...