Day 99 April 12 (sea day)

Breakfast on Lido, Tai Chi at 9, Vantage Lecture at 10 (Russian History part III) and Trivia (we got 16/22 the winners had 19).

After lunch there was a lecture on the Age of Exploration. You know most of this if you paid attention in World History. One surprising fact was that they knew the world was round in about 400 BC! That means the impression that Columbus was really ahead of his time or courageous to risk sailing off the edge was not very accurate. I mean, 1900 years is a long time for the idea of a round earth to sink in don't you think? On the other hand I recently saw an accurate replica of his ship and going anywhere except to the neighborhood marina in anything that small had to take courage (or foolhardiness). We also learned that Columbus was V E R Y lucky! His estimate of the circumference of the earth was off by about 10,000 miles. If he hadn't bumped into an unknown continent he would have run out of food and water long before reaching Asia (He thought the world was about 15,000 miles around instead of the actual 25,000 or so miles. It is better to be lucky than good.

Took a nap, had a run, then got ready to celebrate Daphne's birthday (#79). We had cocktails and champagne in Jack and Anita's cabin and then went to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner. The Pinnacle is a smaller eating place with supposedly better food and service and a more intimate ambiance. You pay for the privilege. Dinner is $30 per person and lunch is $15. This might not seem too high until you remember that food on the rest of the ship is free. But it was a special occasion and oh, yes. I forgot to mention. Daphne invited all of us (our table of seven including her) to be her guests. We tried to talk her out of paying but she wouldn't hear of it. What a sweetie. I will say that I had the best steak since I left Texas. It was passable but not spectacular. Give me Cattleman's any time. We had a great time and spent about three hours there. We had all chipped in on a birthday present for Daphne.