Karl’s Korner

Good afternoon, my freinds and family,
Yes, here we are in that town that starts with a V and ends in stock, which is so hard to pronounce.
We got off the ship early, about 9 a.m., and attempted to walk through town, but after an hour and a half of stumbling over broken curbs and cracked sidwalks with many out of alignment grates, manhole covers, etc., it was too much for Carol to navigate with her poor eyesight, so we came back to the ship, did a little shopping just outside the gate and then spent the rest of the morning and afternoon just relaxing on our balcony or looking at an overview of the city from the top of the ship.
The town seems fairly modern, lots of highrises, but it is dirty and the smog hangs over the horizon like a dirty blanket. They have a long ways to go to meet any “greenhouse” emissions standards.
We have had a ball with our little doll. She tried on Russian hats, said “Hello” to her Russian cousins (the many faceted dolls they make here), and even got to see the statue of Lenin in the park. We now have more than 50 pictures of her, and a few of us, but we have so many scrapbooks of pictures, this should be fun to make up a storybook of pictures of the doll.
Carol is doing find on the trip, but is cold all the time - What’s new??? LOL We think the food on board leaves much to be desired compared to other past cruises, but that’s just our opinion. We have only eaten in the dining room a few times, spend most of our dining time in the Lido buffet.
Another sea day tomorrow and then into Pusan, S. Korea.
Our book signing did not go well, and we think maybe our plans were not smart after all, as they have such a large library on board and most passengers bring their own books, but they do read. It seems everyone is reading during the day and evenings when there is nothing else to do.
It is very warm here this afternoon, so we may sit out on the deck and see if we can catch some rays.
The ship is practically deserted, as most are off on tours, but we decided not to do that here.
Dennis, if you see Steve, tell him I bought him some “rubles” for his coin collection.
Hope all is well with everyone back home and all over the country. We are getting hits from several countries while we are gone.
Hope you are enjoying our tales of our travels and our doll’s.
Come back often. We’ll let you know what Pusan looks like in a few days. The time is passing by fairly fast.
Until next time,
Via con Dias, my friends,
Karl & Carol

Good morning, my friends and family,
Yesterday was a beautiful day as far as the weather goes. Bright sunshine and clear skies. We actually took our jackets off for the first time.
We heard there wasn’t much to do around the port in Murano, so decided to take a tour, something we very seldom do any more. So, we bought two $86 tickets to take a bus to Saporo. We rode for 2 hours, then had 3 hours to walk around and see the very modern town. They had a festival going on in the center of town, so we bought the two beers and some pork and rice I spoke of. Today, the food is working well on our digestive systems - nothing more needs to be said about that!
I’ve been down with my sinus for a few days, but it seems to be breaking up now. I hope it will be gone before we reach Russia and that town I can’t pronouce tomorrow. Today is a day at sea.
We have been having a ball with our little Curves doll, taking pictures of her everywhere. I think we have at least 45 by now. She now sports a new red sash that says “Number 1″, the place she came in during the beauty contest held last night…LOL
I have a book signing scheduled at 1:30 this afternoon in the main shop area, so hope to unload some of the b ooks we still have left.
Wish us luck.
Not much else to report. We’ve been taking life easy, reading a lot and walking the decks when we can if the weather permits. Another cloudy day today, but fairly nice, probably around 70 at the most.
So, until next time, buy those books and make us happy!
Via con Dias, my friends,
Karl & Carol

Good afternoon, my friends and family,
We’re having a good time, but the five days at sea are getting to us, slowly. We missed Wednesday altogether, having crossed the International date line.
The food is not as good as usual, but the service is very good. We’ve had a ball with our little “Curves” doll, taking pictures of her everywhere. It will be fun making up a story of her travels when we get home.
I had my first and probably only lecture yesterday in the main lounge, the Princess Theater, with about 100 in attendance. Carol says the presentation was great, and I got a lot of good comments from the ones attending. We sold a few books at a book signing later, but hope to have another later in the evening when people are walking around more between dinner times.
So far, it has been cool and foggy at times. We should start to see warmer weather later in the trip. We did sign up for a tour in Saporo, Japan, as it is 2 hours from the port, and traffic is bad, so if we took a cab and got stuck in traffice and didn’t make it back to the ship, it would mean trouble. We will go into town and walk around on our own just to see what’s there.
Hope all is well with everyone everywhere and the orders are rolling in while we are gone.
Until next time,
Via con Dias, my friends,
Karl & Carol