Tomorrow, Russia!...

Wednesday August 28. Mild seas. 13 C. Some fog then clearing.

Clocks go back another hour tonight. Now a total of five hours behind Vancouver, but a day ahead.
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My computer is acting up and even typing is behaving differently. This has happened to me before in China, it is almost as if something has changed. The only thing that has changed is 'Where we are in the world!' We are now in Russian Territorial waters, you tell me! But why do Chinese characters pop up in my computer when doing the blog?

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Easy living these sea days for sure. Awake at 5:30, coffee and plan the day best we can. Breakfast fit for a leisure day so no need to eat hearty for a day ashore.        After that  several turns around the promenade deck where there were more folks than previously as the weather warms up slightly.
  First talk of the day was on Space Tourism, given by our on-board astronaut/lecturer. Excellent.
     Later we attended a talk about Russia from the last Tsar to Putin. I find these talks of great interest and given by people very familiar with their subjects.
     Yesterday there was an excellent talk about the Decline of Europe and the Rise of China in the world. It is a bit reminiscent of Japan prior to WWII as Japan  started it's march through Manchuria, Malaysia, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong. We all know how that ended up!

     Tomorrow morning Russian officials will board the ship where all passengers will present themselves for inspection. During our stay here we can only go ashore if on an organized tour group unless you have a Russian Visa for this specific trip. Those are costly and very complicated to get.

    My thinking is that the two stops in Russia are just to give the passengers a break from the endless sea days between Dutch Harbour and Japan. [There would otherwise be seven sea days, and that is a lot to handle!]

   My expectations are low about Russia, I certainly hope that I am completely wrong in this!


All bundled up for a breath of air.
A mural of drying fish above a wash station upon entering the upstairs buffet.
A spectacular piece of carpentry and woodworking at a bar.
Four folks very comfortably settled in with Kindles, iPads, books and phones 
for an afternoon nap! A perfect sea day activity!!
An evening show of Abba favourites was fantastic. Only four singers and dancers but great talent. A nice way to end the day.







   

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