Tuesday, September 13th, 2005

Lost At Sea

Know what being at sea on a cruise liner is like? It’s like Die Hard in a retirement home. Don’t ask me how, it just is

This was one of two travel days on the trip, which meant I had pretty much the whole day to kill, and ship programming considerately gave me the option of playing shuffleboard or bingo to while away the time. I spent a goodly amount of time wandering the ship, looking in vain for something interesting to do, but to little avail. I figured I could hit the casino and work on my gambling habit or maybe sit and contemplate my employment future (which could very well involve sitting in front of a slot machine for hours on end), but instead I opted to sit in the lounge chairs on the aft deck of the ship, reading Harry Potter, watching the wake of our passing and pondering the curvature of the Earth. Weighty stuff, I know, but come on – I’m on vacation. There wasn’t much in the way of scenery to enjoy – some transport ships off in the distance, some turbines as we pulled away from Denmark in the AM but mostly just water. Lots of water.

Otherwise, much of the day was spent waiting for meal times (the food here is pretty damn good) and avoiding spending too much time around the poolside (Consider what I’ve said about the passenger demographic. Now put them in swimsuits. Shudder). There was a presentation designed to whet our appetites about seeing St Petersburg in a couple days (which it did) but otherwise, it was pretty lazy.

But hey! Tomorrow is Sweden. I’m pretty excited about getting off the boat and checking out some local colour. It will be an early morning though, we are out of here at around 8:30 AM local time, which is about 2:30 AM back home. The jet lag isn’t quite as bad as I’d feared, but I will be turning in early tonight.

And that’s the day.

By : Frank Yang at 2:42 pm
Category: Uncategorized
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  1. 9/14/05 10:49 am

     Michael McD. says:

    Hey! When will you be in Helsinki? I know you said no coolio places, but just interested. I’m an american living in Helsinki, I live near where the big cruise ships dock, bringing in the retired people and taking them away again 6 hrs. later.

    I’m in a band here (Treeball), we did a split EP with Aaron Booth (you know him, supposedly) on Endearing Records last year, we even came and did a small Canadian "tour", and I was at the Crooked Fingers/Delgados gig (Oct.2004).

    I like your page and use it to keep me updated on the countless new releases and indie rock miscellany. Good work.

    By the way, if your cruise is going to Tallinn, Estonia, be on the look-out for the many wi-fi cafes around town, most are free.

    Enjoy your cruise!

  2. 9/14/05 2:19 pm

     Frank says:

    hi michael. I’m in Helsinki tomorrow. No idea what the plans are, but I expect I’ll stick out like a sore thumb amongst the bluehairs disembarking from the ship.

    I am going to Tallinn, but hadn’t planned on bringing the laptop along. Maybe I will…

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