May 21 ,2024
A beautiful sunrise began the day Tuesday. The day ended up being a quiet at sea.day. To be honest I really needed it to recover from my crazy busy days in Istanbul. It was a typical sea day with lectures, bridge (really missing my bridge group, Lola and CA), and line dancing. I have a balcony so I sat out there and read. Rarely can I be quiet for long but the sea was calm and the view was incredible so I was truly at peace.
We are sailing into the Mediterranean via the Dardanelles Strait then into the Aegean Sea. The Dardanelles was the site of a substantial invasion by the Allies in WWI. The Turkish troops trapped the allies and there was substantial loss of life and the battle loss damaged the career of Winston Churchill who led the invasion for the allies. There is a memorial that we passed that honors the loss of life. The ship held a ceremony as we passed the memorial. The man who was next to me was opening crying, he explained that his grandfather was lost in that battle and is buried there.
Tomorrow we will be in Santorini and I will be sailing on a catamaran. and snorkeling by the red and white beachs.
Beautiful
There is so much knowledge to be gained through world travel, but I think we’ve all discovered that part of this gift is the awareness of pain and suffering of others. I want to hug that old man.