DAY FOUR

What a way to start the day!

---

Russell Lee’s unmissable lecture today was entitled “Out of the blue: the quest to capture the world’s most elusive colour”.

When I saw the title of the lecture I was immediately reminded of the absolutely wonderful book Sacré Bleu, by Christopher Moore, which was probably one of my favourite books of the past 5 or 6 years. I read it during our winter stay in Mérida Mexico in 2023, and went back to Episode 382 to revisit what I’d written about it. The cover blurb called it a “Comedy D’Art”, and it was at times laugh-out-loud funny, but you do have to be a bit of an art buff (or be Russell Lee) to really connect with some of the humour. Populated by Toulouse Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh, a who’s who of French Impressionists, a strange little dealer in pigments – specifically the “sacred blue” used for Saint Mary’s robes – and a phalanx of mysterious female muses, it was wonderfully amusing. I found myself bonding with baker-turned-painter Lucien Lessard’s mother, who tests the perfect crustiness of their shop’s baguettes by how they “bend” when used to bop Lucien over the head, and spouts hilarious pieces of wisdom at inopportune times. The bonus in the book was the colour illustrations of Impressionist paintings, with captions taken from the book’s dialogue.

After a lovely salad lunch, Linda and I accomplished our longest walk yet: 17 laps = 4.25 miles/6.8 km. We’re pretty darn proud of ourselves, even knowing that in a couple of days we’ll have an enforced 2-day break in our routine when we reach Cabo Verde.

All that exercise necessitated a shower, followed by changing for dinner and then heading up to the Explorers Lounge to rehydrate and read. I’m thoroughly enjoying Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time.

At 5:30 Resident Guitarist Alan arrived for his first set, which is always concurrent with lots more passengers coming in for pre-dinner drinks and to be entertained. That was a bonus, since we found friends with whom to chat.

After dinner we returned to the Explorers for a game of “Name That Tune” with Harry the Piano, then one more music set with Alan before calling it an early night.

DAY FIVE

I started the day with Dr. Caroline Malloy’s 9:00 a.m. lecture, which included some insights into how museums are changing.

Caroline began her lecture acknowledging that she believes looted and “collected” items taken by colonial powers in the 1800s should be returned.

That sent me to looking for what I’d read a few years ago about Germany agreeing to return their collection of Benin bronzes. https://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-return-looted-artifacts-to-africa/a-62300419 , and also reminded me of our visit to the Parthenon Museum in Athens (Episode 246) and how incensed I felt when realizing the hubris of the British Museum thinking that they are doing / can do a better job of preserving the Parthenon marbles than Greece.

After a cup of coffee, it was time for pampering: a fresh haircut, and a pedicure.

So much for my “eat healthy” plan for these sea days. Some things are just irresistible.

---

Linda and I did walk after lunch though, finishing in time for me to attend the late afternoon lecture on migration by Richard Lovelock. He talked about everything from whales and wildebeest, to birds, bats and Monarch butterflies, to spawning salmon, to zooplankton (which “migrate” daily!)… to “Snowbirds”.

Because Viking feels that there always “needs” to be a special event when we have a long stretch of sea days, tonight was Surf & Turf on the pool deck, accompanied by acoustic guitar melodies from Alan. Surf & turf can be problematic for Ted, since a large scale event makes it harder to avoid cross-contamination between the beef and shellfish, but this time all the components were being dished up separately, so there were no concerns.

Then, after dinner, our senior officers became cocktail shakers in a contest to see which team could serve the most popular drink, and our Executive Chef Alistair morphed into “DJ Ali”. We’d recently learned that he acts as the DJ for crew parties, and that the crew absolutely love it!

---

Ted pooped out early, but I stayed to boogie.

Tomorrow is our last sea day before 2 ports in Cabo Verde. We’re ready for solid land underfoot.

DAY SIX

I forced myself to get up early (for me – it’s a relative concept) in order to have breakfast before the 9:00 a.m. lecture by Laura Lovelock. The World Café had a breakfast event: warm stuffed croissants. As if a freshly baked croissant isn’t enough, why not stuff it with custard, or whipped cream, or Nutella and banana, or chopped nuts, or chocolate, or… good grief. I walked by, took pictures, and then had sous chef Anwar make me a masala omelette. A girl’s gotta demonstrate some willpower.

---

Laura’s lecture was called “Cape Verde Unveiled”. We’ve been here once before, but there’s always more to learn. This time, we’ll be visiting two of its ten islands: São Vicente and Ilha Santiago. These islands really were “discovered” by the Portuguese in 1456; we can say discovered because there were no native inhabitants – the islands were simply too remote and not lush enough to make them attractive to early migrants.

Cabo Verde, along with the Açores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, are part of Macaronesia. I actually thought that name was misspelled in Laura’s presentation (that it should be “macro” , similar to the “micro” in Micronesia), but it wasn’t. The name “Macaronesia” derives from the Ancient Greek words “makáron” (meaning “blessed” or “fortunate”) and “nēsoi” (meaning “islands”), which translates to “Islands of the Blessed” or “Fortunate Islands”.

We learned that the islands of Cabo Verde were important staging stops for ships travelling from Portugal around Africa to India (the spice route), until the Suez Canal was built. That canal was a huge boon to the profits of shipping companies, but had a hugely negative impact on all the African ports formerly home to a vibrant shipping trade. Cabo Verde was pretty much ignored from 1869 when the canal opened until World War II when its strategic location between Europe and Africa became key. Unfortunately, that location has in recent times made Cabo Verde a perfect staging point for the transatlantic cocaine trade.

Unlike the Canary Islands, which are part of Spain, and the Açores which are Portuguese, Cabo Verde is an independent republic.

We learned that the two islands of the Cabo Verde archipelago which are true tourist resort areas (mostly coming from Europe and the UK), Sal and Boa Vista, are not where we’ll be visiting. São Vicente and Ilha Santiago are where the “normal” Cabo Verdeans live. As was the case in Bali, Viking is taking us to see “real life” and not postcard tourist destinations. We’ll see street markets, favelas (shanty towns/slums), agricultural areas, and historic sites. We’ll also likely see the effects of a decades-long drought, which would be hidden in resort areas. Fresh water is the biggest issue for local residents. Second is food insecurity; 90% of their food is imported.

My friend Linda “gifted” me 2 extra laps of walking for my birthday today, which means we accomplished 4.5mi/7.25 km. Thankfully, it wasn’t crazily hot and there was a bit of a breeze. Today was our weekly crew drill day, which meant there were lots of both officers and crew members from every department on deck 2 as we walked – and apparently all of them knew that it was my birthday, and needed to say or sing it out. Ted and I really don’t celebrate birthdays beyond having a nice dinner (Manfredi’s tonight) or a theatre night, so it was a simultaneously embarrassing and delightful surprise to be recognized.

After tidying up a bit, it was time for lunch, which today featured a special soup station. Ted enjoyed his beef enchilada soup garnished with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and plenty of chopped jalapeños, and I equally enjoyed my bowl of French onion.

There was time to just sip a latte and read in the afternoon, so I started Richard Osman’s We Solve Murders. I’ve loved his Thursday Murder Club series, so have high hopes for this one.

After the port talk preparing us further for our visit to Cabo Verde, it was time for a lovely birthday dinner at Manfredi’s, with a bottle of Prosecco that our friends Don and Katherine had gifted us early on in the cruise. We were saving it for a special occasion.

---

---

We ended our evening listening to the soul and Motown vocals of Nate Simpson, followed by a set by the band in Torshavn, and another by resident guitarist Alan in the Explorers Lounge.

---

---

A quick birthday video chat with son # 1, our grandsons, and a friend in Ontario acapped the day.

We reach land tomorrow!