DAY 119 - DAY 113 CRYSTAL SERENITY

ON THE ROAD TO CORFU GREECE - A DAY AT SEA

Some additional photos from yesterday's tour of the Amalfi Coast.
 
Although it was rainy during a good portion of our tour this didn’t damper our spirits.  We now have the experience of seeing the Amalfi Coast with full sun and also with overcast skies and rain.  It does give you different perspectives.  One of the advantages of the rain is that it cleared out the sky and there were times that we had very clear views of the coast and the sea.  
 
We are reminded that we have visited the lost city of Petra on two different occasions; one time sunny/hot/no clouds in the sky & the other time cooler temperature/overcast sky.  It gave us two different perspectives and it brought out a different look of the area in terms of colors of the city.

During the course of our tour we visited inside a couple of churches and also a museum.  We learned a great deal about the history of the area along with current day life from our tour guide.  We realized that there is so much to see and one could spend a week or more here to visit each town and spend lots more time exploring the area.

We also wanted to note how much we enjoyed the lunch experience at the restaurant.  We sat at a table overlooking the beautiful coast and enjoyed beautiful views.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch of close to two hours.  Service was truly impeccable.  There are two dining areas and they sat us at one with only one other person dining there and he left about the time we finished our first course so we had that portion of the dining venue all to ourselves.  This is the kind of restaurant that the service is professional/elegant but not obtrusive.  There were several people attending to our table.  One of the waiters has worked there for 42 years and is retiring shortly.

We also wanted to mention once again how much we enjoyed our tour guide.  She along with the tour guide we had when we toured Florence last September were represent some of the best tour guides we have ever had.  Maria shared a lot of information with us but did it in a manner that was not overwhelming as some guides can be.  She clearly knows her subject matter and it showed throughout the day.  She was also very attentive and willing to change things up to please us as after all as she noted it is our day and tour.  Towards the end of the tour she told us how much she loved the company she works for and being a tour guide and that was very evident throughout the day.  We both believe that being happy with one's profession has many benefits to ones health and makes for a successful career.

After along tour of the Amalfi Coast we decided to have dinner in our room.  

​These are the dinner menus from Waterside.

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We ordered in from the Prego Italian Restaurant and from Waterside.

We enjoyed Caesar salad from Prego and Swordfish from Waterside.

Butler Rao arranged everything for us.  

The Swordfish was prepared and came from the classic side of the menu.  It was very tasty along with the sides which came with it.

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There  were two sets of shows last evening.  Comedian John Joseph preformed his show at 7:45 and 9:45 PM and Curtis and Beverly performed Crystal Dance Stars at 8:45 and 10:45 PM.  On top of this was a mixer in the Crystal Cove called Dixie in the Cove with the Crystal Showband.

We set sail from Sorrento at 10:00 PM.  

The only downside to the evening was forwarding the clocks by  one hour as we sail into a new time zone.  The good news  is a few days  from now we will turn the clocks back one hour.

We began our day as we always do with an early morning workout for Keith followed by Coffee and Breakfast in our room.

Keith had a haircut appointment at the salon and Anne Marie walked inside the ship while he was having his haircut.

At 10:00 AM we transited the Straight  of Messina.  It is a narrow start between the eastern tip of Sicily and the western tip of Calabria in the south of Italy.  The transit took 45 minutes.

Today's program featured two lectures in the morning.  The first talk was given by Destination Lecturer Marcus Sherwood who spoke about upcoming ports of call of Corfu and Kotor.  Later in the morning World Affairs  Lecturer Ken Walsh spoke about the Trump Presidency and also spoke briefly about the 2020 election campaign.

In the afternoon there was a complimentary  wine tasting with Domincik and Glria Chirchillo.  Although this is not a wine themed cruise they are on-board with some members of their wine club.
 
We enjoyed lunch at Marketplace.
 
Sea days are always special and this one has been a great day. The weather turned out great with lots of sun, mild temperature and a lot of Paddle Tennis for me and a nice walk for Anne Marie.
 
Below is the daily Reflections Program from today.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith