Stick a pin in it ~~ June 25, 2017

Adriatic Cruise, Day 2

Today we docked in Vodice, Croatia. We did not disembark. The village looks quaint from the ship but sounds touristy in the write-ups and I was anxious to have a day not doing anything at all. So no sightseeing report today.

In fact, I spent so much time futzing around with my last blog post that we missed breakfast. The internet speeds on this ship, despite the fact that we bought the “extended Diamond package,” suck.

So having missed breakfast and it not yet being time for lunch, I skipped pastry and coffee with Jer and went up to the spa to talk wellness.

One of Seabourn’s big deals is to have the Spa and Wellness Center with Dr. Andrew Weil (although like the Thomas Keller restaurant and menus, it is with Dr. Weil only in a licensing/ branding sense as he is not physically present.). I know from a previous cruise on Encore that the spa is lovely and gets booked up pretty quick.

What I was interested in was abundantly available, however. I have never tried acupuncture before but I know many people swear by it and I thought I’d give it a go. (The acupuncturist is British. You end up talking like that.) I know there are claims that it aids healing issues, digestive issues and, my old nemesis, restless leg issues so I figured maybe I’d feel better by having needles stuck into me.

Acupuncture has been around for 3000 some years which must mean something. My acupuncturist Katey has been around for 26 of those years but she seemed to know her stuff. She inserted needles all over my legs and stomach and twirled and manipulated them at 15 minute intervals or so.

I took pictures of my legs and tummy looking like pin cushions and lord knows I have no pride but Jerry won’t let me post them. Sorry.

But my thoughts I can share. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to says acupuncture doesn’t. hurt. Well it bloody well does (See? Told you.) By the end of the treatment any movement of my legs shoved the needles into my tender skin a little more. I felt like Gulliver captured by sadistic Lilliputians.

But then out they came and all was well. I can’t tell if I feel any better, or different, or what. Let’s stay tuned. I did have lots of energy this afternoon. Had a nice appetite for lunch. Ate my first sweet since we got to Italy — a coconut cookie.

Gave myself permission to take a nap and could not go to sleep so I read. I’m about a quarter of the way through Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and while it is excellent and thought provoking, it is not exactly vacation reading or sleep inducing. I need to find a trashy romance. I spent part of the afternoon fantasizing about what an ideal nursing home should look like. Happy thoughts.

Tonight on the ship we had reservations at Thomas Keller’s Grill, and it was also formal night so we decked ourselves out in tux and gown and went to eat some old favorites from our last cruise.

We both had the marinated artichoke with aioli which is still one of the best things I’ve ever eaten (and I even skipped the aioli.) I love the tactile sensation of scraping the incredibly meaty artichoke from the leaves with my teeth.

Jerry had lamb medallions and I had eggplant Parmesan which in Keller-land is more like ratatouille which always reminds me that Keller’s kitchen was the model for the cartoonists who did the restaurant action in the movie Ratatouille. His ratatouille in the movie is more like confit biyaldi. Nothing is what is seems, but this was delish, which is enough.

Lamb Medallions, earning an A from my particular husband

The best thing was, as I knew it would be, the seven layer coconut cake. I craved it all through our last cruise and as I wasn’t having any tummy issues then I must have eaten five pieces (along with ice cream, multiple times a day, in addition to other assorted pastries and sweets.). This time I am being more careful of my diet and that cake was my prize. Moist, ethereal. A coconut cloud of a cake. Took a third pig pill to make sure I didn’t pay for it later.