Smart move by me to get ear plugs from the front desk. The snoring was in full force. I ran 3 miles to go with chin ups and dips before eating my typical huge main dining room breakfast. Then, time for the final excursion, this one to Cinque Terre and Portovenere.
This group was huge, 46 people. And there were four groups doing the dance tour so it was around 180 people total. We started by taking a bus ride to Portovenere, yet another beautiful town in the mountains. It seems I've been seeing towns like that all week. Alessandro dropped us off and we wouldn't see him or the bus again for about six hours.
We walked down a tight alley with lots of local businesses, another frequent find in Italy. One shop makes pesto and nothing else. We all got samples of their amazing pesto genovese, which used garlic and both Reggiano and pecorino cheeses. Just fresh and clean. Mom and I later went back to split a cup of their pesto pasta salad.
A lot of the churches in this region are black and white in color. I don't recall the exact reason, but it was definitely nodding to the abundance of marble in the area. Now I've seen a lot of magnificent churches in Europe this trip. They had classic statues, magnificent art work, and bright lights. This one felt like going into the catacombs. It was small, but tall with a tower overlooking the sea. Very dark inside, only about six rows of seats. But it felt very mystical at the same time and I think that appeals to man's natural sense of wonder about God.
We took an hour to explore the area and found a retreat area that the great poet Lord Byron used. The temperature was really starting to increase and all we really wanted was cold bottled water and a seat in the shade. We took a boat ride to Cinque Terre. But specifically, what we did was pass the five hillside/seaside village towns that comprise Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore, Manarola. Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso, which is the town where we spent two hours. The ride took maybe a half hour and I was just baking in the sun.
We all got a glass of local white wine and a bottle of water. Truth be told, I had no desire for alcohol in that moment. I just wanted to cool down. We grabbed a meal at a local restaurant, Caprese salad and octopus salad. I later got a cup of cherry swirl gelato, hey I was back in Italy, what else was there to do on a hot day?
We all took the train to the next western town on the line. Considering how remote these towns are and that the workers had to dig through miles of mountains to create this train line, I had quite an appreciation for this train ride that may have lasted only six or seven minutes but probably took months or years to complete.
The bus was waiting for us and I quickly fell asleep on board. We got back to the ship at 4:45, and it's funny because mom thought we'd get back around seven at night. To be honest, I thought it was an ok excursion, but not great, at least not compared to the others. I could have been totally content spending a half hour less in each town.
I immediately changed into my bathing suit and headed up to the 15th floor for pool volleyball. I played for 90 minutes and it was my moment of redemption God had for me. Not because I played on a team that won a game or because I played exceptionally well. Instead I got to focus on others, make sure they were included and they got chances to play. I guess I was at my best was when I wasn't focused on myself. There were a lot of kids playing too, and maybe that motivated me to behave a little bit better.
After I had my fill, it was over to the bar for two mojitos and one last Mediterranean sunset. It kind of became a ritual. Go on the 16th deck, drink a mojito, and look at the really cute mother and daughter that always tanned in the same chairs with the tops of their bikinis unstrapped. Hey I'm sorry and not sorry, I was merely admiring.
I returned to my room for my second shower of the day and to pack. Dang, my last full day on the cruise. So many moments in our lives we love as they happen, but in retrospect we struggle to recall the details. This is a time I really want to hold onto closely. We went to dinner and I had shrimp cocktail, steak Diane, and of course, the fantastic strawberry cheesecake. More than that, mom and I had a really good conversation about a lot of topics from her retirement to human interaction to our favorite cruise moments. I have to say the last 36 hours were productive in my eyes, but then again, it needs to be that way for both of us.
Over at Schooner's, I got to listen to Andrew play one more time. Much to my surprise, he saw me and played "How Deep Is Your Love." That was pretty freaking amazing. He then played "Always and Forever," my parents' wedding song. It's a very difficult song for me to hear. I don't cry or get emotional, but it does conjure great disappointment. I also chatted with an Indian couple from London for maybe ten minutes, which was quite pleasant. I think I was on my second Johnnie Walker Double Black. Anyway, I tipped Andrew and I later also tipped Stephen, the British guitar player who did an awesome job playing every kind of music on one acoustic guitar down in Copper and Fiddle.
The jazz club had a different band for the final night. Instead of the trio and vocalist, there was a five piece horn section accompanying a new quarter that also featured a guitar player. I stayed for a half hour, hoping to hear a guitar solo, but that didn't happen. But I did get to hear a Charlie Parker number. Then it was upstairs to the fifth floor for the Caribbean party. It had nowhere near the buzz or energy of the 80s party, but still kind of fun. After enough alcohol, I can make most dance parties fun. About fifteen of us danced just about every dance. It started with the electric slide, then went onto a bunch of other white people dances with fist pumps, grapevines, and quarter turns. I was just baffled to not hear any Buffet or Marley for the entire hour.
Then at midnight, it was Battle of the sexes. I never ever ever expected how that would go down and if I did, I would have had someone record it. So let me break this down. The host, a female, asked for five ladies and five gentlemen. I didn't intend to play, but when I saw four women and two dudes, I felt it was time to take a stand. I left my Johnnie Walker on the bar and walked up. The ten of us stood in a semi circle, alternating by gender. They had us sing lines of random songs, and if we hesitated or repeated a number, the crowd could vote us out. Thankfully I'm a big music guy, but not being a fan of pop, I had to think of songs that would surprise people and get a reaction, but they had to know the songs. I knew it wasn't going to work if I busted out Eddie Rabbitt and the Oak Ridge Boys. But they started on the opposite side of me so I had time to prepare. I definitely had variety between "Hotel California," "Jingle Bells," "Friends In Low Places," "If You Want To Be My Lover," and "Amazing Grace."
At the end of the music round, eight contestants were eliminated and two people survived: a long haired blonde named Jenny and me. I saw the staff bring out a ton of unblown balloons and my heart sank. I have no idea how to blow up a balloon. Next thing I know, I get a black t shirt handed to me. I put it on and figured out the next step in the game. The other guys in the room were going to charge the stage. They had to blow the balloons up and stuff as many of them as they could under my shirt. And the ladies would do the same to Jenny. Well as soon as the host said the word "Go!," at least 20 or 25 guys stormed the tiny stage like the bulls being released in Spain. At one point my head got banged against the back screen. After the 60 seconds were up, I started thinking that this was probably going to be on You Tube. The guys got a dozen balloons under my shirt compared to ten for the ladies. I figured we'd won at this point.
But then came the conga line. We each had to gather as many people of the same gender as we could and see who could form the longest conga line. In that tiny room, we were knocking into each other. I was literally pulling guys up by the arm to get them involved. I don't think that round was actually counted because it was so crowded.
The last part was the guys and girls throwing chants back and forth at each other. There was everything from "We Are the Champions" to "We Will Rock You" to "Who Let the Dogs Out" to "R-E-S-P-E-C-T." Tough to counter Aretha. I don't even remember who had the last chant or what it was. But they called the whole contest off right at that point.
The night was almost over but I listened to a little more music at Schooner's before turning in. Two of mom's favorites are "Close the Door" and "If You Don't Know Me By Now." And they got played back to back. I did get the latter on video with my assistance on vocals. I can't say I had much of a voice left after the contest though. Mr. Pendergrass and Mr. Melvin, forgive me.
No comments:
Post a Comment