DAYS 21-24: Our Cruise on the Norwegian Encore Continues

We have been at-sea heading for Southampton, UK,since leaving Miami on Sunday. Before bringing you up to day on our cruise, one item regarding Donald Trump. His re-election as president will definitely change our relationship with the world.

His stance has always been America first.
With Europe.

The Ukraine War will be probably be settled, with Russia gaining some territory. Interesting that Vladimir Putin has not yet congratulated Trump.

His view about NATO is clear. He wants every member to pay their share.
His "pal," Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, will hold a summit of 50 European leaders today in Budapest, which will be our final European Christmas River Cruise stop.

He identifies well with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and has had good relations with Saudi Arabia. Iran has tried to assassinate Trump, so there is a problem there.
China will also see some added tariffs, and there is that Taiwan matter.

Tensions between South and North Korea are at their highest point in years. He does have a decent personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Time magazine today had an article on What Trump's Win Means for the World,

This is Day 25 of our cruise, and it has been mostly fun. Day 21 saw arrival in Miami and end of the first phase, meaning we had to again go through customs and immigration. Took four hours of mostly waiting.

Dinner on Day 22 was at Onda, an Italian Restaurant. We get to pick three special restaurants on each of our two phases. Our choices from Seattle to Miami were French, Japanese and steak. We will for #2 in this second phase return to Le Bistro, and will have a third in our final week on board. The attraction is that these are all free, but otherwise would set you back about $100 each. As we purchased a beverage package, at our Onda dinnner we ordered free Italian Red and White wines.

Salad and spaghetti.

Pizza.

Veal scaloppini.

Then on to karaoke in The Cavern Club.

Ending with a midnight snack and cognac in the Atrium watching Haunted Mansion.

Worst walk day yet at 1579 steps for Day 22.

Day 23 lunch.

Dairy Queen cone.

Day 23 dinner. Cheese soup and salad, then New York Strip Steak.

Day 24 lunch. My usual noodle soup, with a beer and Chardonnay.

Sunset.

We had a full night out, starting with dinner at Taste, beginning with an Australian Shiraz.

Appetizers of Singapore Pork Pot Stickers with the Shiraz and Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch.

Caesar Salad, Pasta E Fagioli and BBQ Pork Belly.

Cannoli dessert.

Then karaoke in The Cavern Club.

Dancing in the Social Club.

Ending with Fish and Chips with scotch and cognac in The Local,

Took 2687 steps on Day 24,

Hurricane Rafael was at 115 MPH yesterday, is now down to 100 MPH and headed for Mexico,.

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These a...

OSAKA EXPO: Day One

Well, the day finally came for us to go to the Osaka Expo. We were told ahead of time that the long walks would be fearful, giant lines will need to be tolerated just to get into the Expo, with those ocean breezes, it would really be cold, and so forth. Maybe it was pure luck, but we avoided all the above warnings We had a grand day, and are looking forward to Sunday, our second day at the Expo. So come along for an enjoyable ride. Our hotel is adjacent to the Tennoji Station, a very large one with several lines. We upgraded our Suica card and caught the Misosuji red line towards Umeda. Transferred to the Chuo green line at the Hommachi Station. This Osaka Metro train took us to the Yumeshima Station at the Expo site. It was a very large mob leaving the train and heading to the entrance. Took only a few minutes to get to the entrance. This mob was multiplied by at least a factor of ten of those already waiting to enter. However...

WHY YOU SHOULD CONVERT TO A JAPANESE HIGH TECH TOILET

Did you know that Oktoberfest in Germany is mostly in September? The very first day of Oktoberfest 2021 was supposed to be today, September 18, extending into October 3. Well, as in 2020, Oktoberfest was cancelled. So why is it called by that month when it is held mostly in September? The first celebration in 1810 was in October. Did you also know that Oktoberfest is held only in Munich? These days seven million drink more than a liter ( about three typical cans ) of beer each, costing around $11. Except for my wife and I when we followed the crowd to board the S-Bahn to the fairgrounds near Old Town. It was drizzling a bit. We bought a large pretzel outside of a typical barn where beer is served. We did not know that you needed to get this inside the hall. So no one came to serve us beer. After a while we decided to have lunch, and the restaurant we settled on only served wine. Thus, we might have been the ...

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