Note 108 – Sea Day Lectures and a Progressive Dinner

Viking Ocean’s Mediterranean Odyssey Day 8 of 13

Weather Report

It was overcast and rainy for part of the day with a high expected around 70F/21C.

Today’s Plan

As it is a sea day, we will play this one by ear! Nothing specific was planned ahead of time.

Viking Daily

VOC-MO-Daily-20251015-Sea-Day Download

Sunrise in the Strait of Messina

I’m thankful for late sunrises – I’m not typically a “crack of dawn” person – but on this trip every sunrise is after 7am and in Barcelona it was almost 8am! Between Paula, Keith, and I, we got some nice pics today as we went through the Strait of Messina even though it was overcast – Paula and Keith were forward in the Explorer’s Lounge and I was in our aft cabin.

This was our only chance to view land today as we round the toe of Italy’s boot and head towards Greece.

Entering the Strait of Messina – Explorer’s Lounge View
Entering the Strait of Messina – Aft View
Sailing the Strait of Messina – Torre Faro
Sailing the Strait of Messina – Sicily (L), Mainland (R)
Sailing the Strait of Messina – Sicily
Sailing the Strait of Messina – Sicily
Sailing the Strait of Messina

Enrichment Lecture

At 9:30a.m., we attended the lecture by Professor Neill Slaughter entitled: “Leonardo da Vinci & Michelangelo – Quintessential Renaissance Men”.

My art history background is zero, nil, nada. And art museums are at the bottom of my list of things to do. Like most topics, however, your appreciation increases with knowledge. Professor Slaughter made me realize what I’d been missing as he explained and showed how both men contributed to new ways of presenting their sketches, paintings, and sculptures. I might have to add art museums to my future explorations – but it will need to be a guided tour to ensure that I “get it”!

I’ve always enjoyed the lecturers that Viking brings onboard and appreciate that most of the lectures can also be watched at your convenience on-demand on your stateroom TV. The problem is finding time to do that while taking advantage of everything else offered when in port and even around the ship on a sea day.

Sea Day Afternoon

Paula and I found a quiet place for the afternoon. She read and I managed to get 3 entries posted this afternoon to the blog – then unfortunately I couldn’t seem to find the time to continue until long after we returned. Here it is December and I’m still catching up from this October trip!

While we relaxed, our guys went to the Veterans’ Get Together in the Wintergarden. I think they said all the U.S. services were represented as well as some veterans from other countries. They all shared stories for a long time – Paula and I were beginning to wonder what happened to them!

In the late afternoon, the four of us gathered in the Explorer’s Lounge by Mamsen’s and found a table that worked well to play some cards.

Progressive Dinner

Tonight’s feature was a Poolside BBQ, so we started there and collected a variety of food items. Then, we headed into the World Café to eat and added additional items from the buffet there. For dessert, we had eyed the options on The Restaurant’s menu and decided to go there next. The wait staff laughed when we told them we were just there for dessert!

It was nice to have a Sea Day to relax and enjoy the ship as we still have four more ports to go!