Euro Journals - 6

I’ve always known that animals communicate with each other, however, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen quite so clear a display of that fact as the one I saw in Dubrovnik.

This walled city in Croatia has many, many cats. Big cats, small cats, white, black and multi-colored cats, striped cats, cats of all sizes, shapes, temperaments and size. At first you are surprised to notice so many felines, but as you see a mouse body here and a rat carcass there, you realize they have a job to do and it appears they do it very well. I think it is safe to say they are well fed. I saw no skinny cats in Dubrovnik.

However, even the finest of diets could do with an occasional change of pace.

As we walked down the alleyway to the next little shop, I suddenly heard a cat meowing very, very loudly. She was practically “screaming” and I peered down the next lane to see what the problem was. There she sat, about halfway down the lane with her paw proudly placed on the body of a dead pigeon. She had food! Fresh food! Different food! Not a mouse! And she was telling the world.

Suddenly from behind me, I heard an answering cry quite as loud as the first and I turned my head to see a second cat coming down the alley at a full gallop yelling his head off. He flew past us and skidded as he made the turn down the lane where his mate sat waiting with the pigeon.

He reached her, slowed to a stop and sat down looking at the pigeon. The meowing and calling stopped. The two bent their heads to their meal. He had been called home to dinner and he had answered with great alacrity.

**********
We continue cruising down the European coastline. Yesterday we had an at-sea day and it was so wonderful and relaxing. I had a massage in the spa and also some reflexology on my aching feet. (I am so spoiled in having had the best reflexologist in the world that all others seem to be doing nothing more than randomly poking at me! However, I continue to let them try.) Then I followed my spa time with some time in a hot whirlpool bath which did wonders for my aching knees. Then back to our lovely room where The Spouse had just awakened. We went out to lunch in the main dining room where we feasted on some excellent fare. Then back to our suite for a long afternoon nap.

When we awoke, we got up, bathed, dressed up beautifully for our first formal night and went off to meet our friends for dinner. After dinner we enjoyed the show in the 42nd Street Theater followed by a couple hours at the blackjack table. Life’s rough isn’t it????
*********************************************
We have a delightful group of dining companions and we truly feel blessed in that we have found some new and wonderful friends. Since we’ve been on cruises in the past where we got stuck with not-so-great tablemates, the pleasurable companionship of these folks is quite a joy.

At our table we have an incredibly wealthy couple who are in the Owner’s Suite and are on this cruise as they preferred not to sail their yacht in this area in the wintertime. Too much bad weather.

What’s amazing is despite their clear and obvious wealth, they are truly nice, pleasant and fun people. We really like them. She’s working on her 4th husband and he’s on his 3rd wife so I’m not sure if they’ll still be together should we see them in the future, but for now they are going strong.

She is arm candy to this wealthy older man, but she’s a very sharp mama and nobody’s “empty headed fool”. We really like her and he’s funny as hell. She says (privately to me) that if this 4th husband doesn’t work out, next time she’s going to try women. Why not? The 4 men she’s been married to have made her rich enough to live extremely comfortably for the rest of her life. Why shouldn’t she live anyway she wants?

The Spouse is keeping a comfortable hand on my thigh and a watchful eye on the flirtatious beauty. She wants to make quite sure that I’m not #5. She needn’t worry. Loyalty is my middle name.

For some inexplicable reason, they are just crazy about The Spouse and I. At least so they keep telling us. This is apparently the year that it is very chic to have lesbian friends. We are so “in”.

They live in Palm Beach, Florida and have summer homes in various other places in the world. These two remind us of the people you see on TV or in the movies. Who really lives like this? Apparently they do.

The other folks at our table are an older English couple. They are from Wales. They are quite staid and conservative and I think they are not quite sure what to think of the "arm candy". She overwhelms them. Ken just celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday and, I swear, that man doesn’t look a day over 65! He really holds his age well. Margaret is 78 and she too is very youthful looking. We are the first Americans they’ve ever talked to and they’ve decided if all “Yanks” are like us, then American’s aren’t as bad as they thought! Their English slang, heavy duty accent and dry sense of humor is truly enjoyable and they keep us all laughing. (I learned at dinner tonight that the "arm candy" really is too much for their conservative tastes. We think she's funny. They think she's vulgar. It's all in the perspective. The English couple are moving on to other pastures, so we're down to our foursome: the wealthy Dallas type J.R. and Sue Ellen and the oh so chic lesbians. What can I tell you? It's amusing to say the least!)

As I hope you can tell by my writing, we are having a truly wonderful time on this vacation. We spent today in Santorini, Greece and what a beautiful place that is! Santorini is a volcanic island and, as such, it is high and craggy and has homes and villages perched on the mountainsides. The village streets are steep and built with cobblestones and many steps up and down. Not an easy place for these arthritic knees to explore, however, we did our best.

We only had a few hours here so we were unable to truly explore the island. However, what little we did get to see was amazingly beautiful. The architecture is the classic Greek that you see in pictures with the white buildings and blue roofs. The scenery is incredible because of the height of the village placement. The people literally live at the top of a mountain on the remains of an ancient volcano. There is a mountaintop village at each end of the island as well as the small port town where we anchored just offshore. This island is a vacation destination for many Greeks and it is easy to see why. It is truly a beautiful place with black sand beaches and crystal clear water.

I rode a cable car up to the village and the panoramic view that spread out before me as the car climbed was truly awe inspiring. The crystal clear cove where our ship was anchored, the craggy coastline, jagged with the volcanic eruptions of centuries ago, the royal blue rooftops and white washed brilliance of some of the housing in the distance.

The Spouse opted to take a donkey ride to the village at the top. My cable car ride took 6 minutes. Her donkey ride took 1 ½ hours. The donkey ride didn’t take her all the way to the top. Why is not clear to me or her. Anyway she rode about 2/3 of the way up the mountain and then climbed the remaining one-third of the pathway literally on her hands and knees, stopping frequently to rest. I TOLD her the donkey thing was not a great idea, but if she wanted to do it, that it was fine with me. I’d meet her at the top. And so I did. She’s a bit fatigued this evening and I do believe it’s from more than just shopping.

Prices on all their “treasures” were amazingly low and we bought many Christmas gifts. What a fun way to go Christmas shopping!! For some inexplicable reason the merchants here prefer credit cards to cash. They told us on the ship that this was the case, but I still had difficulty believing it until I saw for myself. They really did prefer I use the credit card rather than pay cash. Why would any merchant not want cash in hand?? Hmmm….something to ponder.

Well, enough for tonight. We have just set sail and are heading for Tunisia. We have another at-sea day tomorrow so we can rest up and get ready for our next adventure.

To be continued…………………………..