This is day 38 at sea and it is overcast, 72 degrees and humid. We are on the long stint across the Atlantic to the West side of Africa and lose an hour every other day. It is not troublesome for me because they set the clock ahead at 2:00 pm so we lose that hour during the day rather than at night. We reach Walvis Bay, Namibia on February 18th and I am typing this on February 12th.

This is the first time I have crossed the Atlantic at this latitude and what a difference. Smooth sailing, warm, foggy and humid. Nothing like a crossing from New York to Southampton which is, of course, bumpy, cold to frigid, and stormy at times.

The florist on this ship create some really unique bouquets and I have included one of the bouquets leading up to Valentines Day. This ship is also filled with some wonderful art pieces but the Astrolabium is the centerpiece of the ship being three stories high. This photo is of the top on Deck 5 and the bottom portion is on Deck 3. This clock gives times of the world.

It seems there is always something special happening what with ccers, CSI, Mariners and HAL itself. Parties, meets, special dinners and luncheons. I don’t believe we had this many on the QE2 but I wasn’t part of CSI on that ship.

Finally ate at the Italian Restaurant with Barbara and Roger, two of my table mates and it was nice just talking and getting to know them. The other dinner mates seem to be a little more confrontational and talk often goes in disputable directions which can be entertaining but does not lend itself to learning about each other.

I’m not sure whether I have mentioned this before but I don’t feel like I want to go back to my old posts. So, if I have I am going to repeat myself here. Before boarding the ship I bought a package of ten dinners for the price of eight at the Pinnacle Grill. I just left the grill cancelling the Valentine dinner reservation as they are billing it as a romantic dinner for two. I certainly didn’t think it would be confortable sitting with another lady or even a man that I may not know for their romantic dinner.