Sea Day

 Today is Sea Day, so the pace slowed down and we caught our collective breath from all the sightseeing. No pressure no problem. 

I picked Mamsen's for breakfast. We had waffles, cinnamon roll, and oatmeal with coffee.

Most of the morning was consumed with laundry. I was definitely challenged by the process. Waiting for a machine to be available was the first hurdle. There were three machines for our entire deck. 

Then, I washed one load before I realized I forgot to dispense the detergent from their special dispensing machine mounted on the wall. So that load was washed twice,  once with detergent (but I had to wait for another machine.) I was an expert giving advice by the time I finally left the laundry room for good. 

Pardon me for a moment of triumph. I bought these high waisted jeans for this cruise, knowing full well I would have to lose weight to get them on. I was determined to wear them and today is the day! 

               A quick lunch in World Cafe. 

I balanced the calories in my salad with a piece of blueberry cheesecake. It was calling "eat me."

Back up to Explorer's Lounge to see our progress. We're sailing past the toe of the boot of Italy.

Coast of Italy in the distance to our right as we turn around the coast.

I spotted this on the coastline. It looks like a Roman ruin.

We claimed our seats on Explorer's Lounge to get a good look at Strait of Messina. This was our reward. The cheek seats! 😂

The coast of Sicily on the left and Italy on the right as we sail through the strait. 

In 1957 a 220 kilovolt power line was suspended from two pylons across the Strait of Messina. Electricity is now transmitted on a submerged line but the pylons remain as monuments. The are among the highest in the world. 

            It was really crowded on the deck.

                   Pylon on the mainland.

Pylon on the Sicilian side. This was the narrower end of the strait.

After the passing through the strait, we freshened up and went down to deck one to listen to classical music and wait for our reservation at Manfredi's. 

We really enjoyed Manfredi's ambience. I had the caprese salad and minestrone which were outstanding. Along with the bread basket. The sauce on my spaghetti was a little spicy for my taste. Ricky had an outstanding soup that was the highlight of his meal. He wasn't a fan of the mushroom coating on his ribeye steak. 

He ordered us a bottle of wine from a winery in California he purchased root sto k from back in the day, which was a walk down memory lane. 

We were both too full for dessert. That hasn't happened often on this cruise!