Day 30 - Sunday, 12/08/24 - Cagliari, Sardinia

 We woke up this morning to the alarm which we had set for a little bit later than normal. The ship was approaching Cagliari, Sardinia and we turned the TV on to watch the final approach. Since our excursion did not require us to meet until 9:45 AM we were able to enjoy a pretty leisurely breakfast and some conversation with the people seated at our table in the middle of the starboard Lido.

After gathering up our things for the day, we went down to deck A and scanned off the ship and were greeted by pretty intense wind, and it was really pretty chilly. As I looked back at the ship, I could see that we were tied to the birth with all the mooring lines and the right or starboard anchor was also deployed. That's the first time I've seen an anchor deployed when berthed at a port so the captain must have believed that there was risk for being dislodged from the berth.

Since we were on a Holland America shore excursion, we were able to simply walk to our tour bus, we were group green five. Those not on shore excursions needed to walk through the terminal and get on a shuttle that would take them off the pier to a drop off point in town. Vanessa was our guide and Robert was our driver and there were probably 35 people on the bus with a number of seats vacant. Of course we took our customary seats in the very back which we really enjoy.

Without the laboring over the details of the route, I would summarize the trip that we went to the center of the first hill that makes up the city and after leaving the bus at the top of the hill we scroll down through the town for about an hour. There were the typical things that one would see in an old city like churches and governmental buildings, the city wall and city gate, and the like. that's the bottom of the hill. We reboarded the bus at a major square which also had a Christmas market installed. However, we did not visit the Christmas market as it turned out to be too cold and windy for us to return to it later in the day.

Our drive then took us to another hill on the other side of town with a different set of views. This time we could see across the valley to the side we had just been on. Afterwards, we drove by some salt ponds that we could see from the top of the hill and the cool thing to see there were the pink flamingos. these salt ponds are home to a resident, flock of pink flamingos, and they also host some seasonal flamingos that fly in from elsewhere and then leave for Africa during the winter time. I really didn't have pink flamingos on my bingo card today so they were very cool to see. 

From there, we drove to a small village on the outskirts of town and went to Casa Azeri, a small sort of Hacienda although there were no animals around. Once you pass through the nondescript door, it opened up into a marvelous covered patio area and tables were set, and we were greeted by locals in traditional folk costume. It turned out that there were a number of tour groups that ended up there. I believe it was tour Groups 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. We were served a a nice meal of various cheeses and cold cuts and olives and green tomatoes and celery and radishes and olives. There was also water and water with gas to wash it down. In addition, there were a couple varieties of wine that were interesting tasting, and actually not too bad. While we were eating, the locals performed a number of dances and and sang, and were accompanied by a very good accordionist. Additionally, there was a demonstration of of small flutes. It was a very enjoyable show, although it was a bit crowded and the dancers were right up against the table when they did their maneuvers. Also, they encouraged audience participation, which the number of guest elected to participate in. Dancing is not my thing so I stayed seated and enjoyed the nice dessert and some dessert wine.

After the meal and show were over, we were then escorted back to our coaches and we returned to the ship arriving around 2:45 or so. It was possible to then take a shuttle back to town, but Angela and I decided, given the weather conditions of being pretty chilly and drizzly off and on that we would just return to the ship and warm up. On board we dropped our gear, took off our coats in the stateroom and then went to the Explorations Café at the library on deck five and enjoyed some nice hot chocolate while watching the storm pass by the ship.

I felt a bit tired and so I went back to the state room to take a short nap before church, which was scheduled for 6 PM. Around 5:30 I was awakened by the Captain coming through the PA system with an important update. He indicated that had we left at 5 o'clock as we were scheduled to we would've sailed into 15 foot plus seas, and 45 knot winds as we rounded the corner from the east side to the west side of Sardinia. It was that that caused him to extend our port stay from 5 PM to now midnight. Of course he'll reassess that situation and leave when he feels it's prudent to do so. The midnight departure will still project seas in the 10 to 12 feet range and the winds should then die down throughout the day. Of course, this will impact our arrival into Gibraltar, which is scheduled for the day after the sea day and we will not arrive until no earlier than 4 PM. It remains to be seen whether our short excursion will continue to be held or whether they will be canceled.

At 6 PM we attended the interdenominational Sunday evening service conducted by Pastor Dan in the Wajang Theater. The theater continues to be extremely cold, but I guess the side benefit of that is it keeps everybody alert. We sang Christmas carols and then he preached the first of probably two Christmas messages for this voyage. Afterwards, since we had eaten a fairly hefty lunch we went up to the Lido and had a very light dinner. By that I mean, I had one small piece of tandoori chicken.

Our evening entertainment on the main stage was Ruben Villagrand, the magician from Spain home we saw in one performance earlier in the voyage, and we have also seen him on other ships. He is really really good and very entertaining, and I have no clue how he accomplishes the tricks that he does.

We then adjourned to our stateroom for an early turn in as we have an 8 AM denominational devotional tomorrow morning. Also, we think that the Seattle Seahawks verses Arizona game might be on TV tonight starting at 10 o'clock our local time. I downloaded my pictures from my big camera to my phone and Angela wanted to watch the end of the Pittsburgh game.  So I left the room to dictate my blog in the third floor atrium where I wouldn't be disturbed by the voice from the television.

Finally, I would add that I have really come to like the dictation method of doing my blog as it allows me to more quickly get my thoughts down in printed form. The downside is it takes a lot more editing to clean up the grammar and spelling. 

We ended up watching the first half of the football game but called it a day just after 11pm.  At 11:30pm we began to hear and feel the noises of the deck machinery and then the thrusters as we left the dock and sailed out of the harbor into the dark open sea.