Wednesday
Dear Elsie
Today it was 2 weeks since we got on the ship. It’s hard to believe it’s gone so fast. Our map location shows us off the coast of Morocco. The Ship’s captain in his 12 noon message said we are 22 nautical miles off the coast and at 4pm were due to pass Casablanca. In this map, we are headed towards the Straights of Gibraltar, then across the Mediterranean to Palermo which is on the Italian island of Sicily (far right in the middle). From there, it’s onto Rome on Sunday, which is where we disembark.
So here we are most recently.
Looking through our binoculars we can see the coast. We’ve seen signs of a city and we’ve also seen a bunch of windmills. There has also been a significant increase in the amount of passing sea traffic with lots of fishing boats, container ships and even a lovely yacht all going about their nautical business.
It’s been a good work day for me. I took some time off this afternoon to go to the spa. It was wonderful. I had a soak in the jacuzzi and then lay on the indoor sunbed and watched the world go by. This was that view…
One of the defining factors of today (which you cannot pick up from the seemingly flat sea in the photo above) is the size of the swell. It’s been quite high and this morning, the rocking of the ship was more significant that usual. It won’t last. Once we get past Gibraltar, it should be as flat and calm as a pond…well that’s the expectation. Tonight at midnight, the ship’s clock moves forward an hour so we will be back on SA time & stay there for the rest of this cruise. When we fly to Istanbul on Sunday, we’ll be an hour later than SA.
And so we bid April 2025 goodbye from (as the Captain says) “my little pretty ship the MSC Magnifica!”
Psalm 148:4-5
Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.
It’s not about now – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx 🙂