Friendly competition, a rubber bandit, and fun entertainment on Brilliance of the Seas

I walked onto the balcony this morning and could not believe my eyes.  Was there a sun up high in the heavens?  Were the clouds parting hinting at a beautiful day?  Yes, the day was starting with blue skies, a few wispy clouds and beautiful sunshine.

With a bounce in our steps, Randy and I made our way to the lounge for breakfast and ran into Steve and Luann.  It is always such a good time when we get together and today was no different.  We chatted; we laughed, and agreed it was going to be a good day.

It was too nice a day to stay inside so off we went after breakfast to walk around outside.  As we were walking I remembered that there was a 9-hole golf course on deck 12.  Randy and I are very competitive especially when it comes to miniature golf so off we went to see who would win this game.

We have played miniature golf on many ships and it always fun especially if the wind is blowing.  While it might have been sunny, it was also very windy.  But that is what makes playing so much fun.  You absolutely never know where the ball is going to go.  You point the ball in one direction and it goes the opposite.

We laughed and giggled our way around the course engaging in some smack talk but in the end Randy won.

We continued our walk around the ship.  There were definitely more people out and about on the main pool deck this morning.  Not many going in the water though. And, every lounge chair in the Solarium pool was full and it was only 10am.  Again, there were no brave souls in the pool.

We walked down to the Promenade deck and spent some time just looking at the water as we made our way across the ocean.  Even the water looked brighter today.

Traveling Chair II by Lars Widenfalk

On our way up to deck 11 for lunch, I stop at one of my favorite pieces of art.  It is so much fun to walk up and down the staircases and discover sometimes beautiful, sometimes thought provoking and sometimes fanciful artwork.  Today I stopped to admire a piece of sculpture called The Traveling Chair II by Swedish sculpture Lars Widenfalk.   The piece was made of granite stone.  The accompanying plaque read:  The artist works in the classical and postmodern style, using a traditional and “eternal” material known as Nordic granite.

I stood there for the longest time trying to understand why it was a traveling chair.  Was the bird going to pick it up and carry it away?  Was it because the bird had laid an egg in the seat of the chair?  I really wasn’t sure but I enjoyed the piece.

We enjoyed a quick lunch at the Windjammer and returned to our cabin to sit out on the balcony and continue reading our books.  I finished the second in James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge’s Detective Michael Bennett series, Worst Case and loved it.  So today I would start the next in the series, Tick Tock.

Before we knew it, 3pm had rolled around and it was time for us to head to the theater for the next Christ West enrichment lecture, Not So Famous People Who Changed Our Lives.

This lecture was about explorer Henry Wickham and his exploits stealing 70,000 rubber tree seeds (Hevea Braziliensis) in 1876 from the Amazon and whisking them away to Kew Gardens in England.  West went on to explain how the British then sent the seedlings to Ceylon, Malaysia and other British Colonies.

What I found interesting is that at the time there was no law in Brazil forbidding anyone from taking the seeds out of the country.

There followed a really good question and answer period after which we  were off to get ready for cocktails, dinner and a fun evening at the theater.

Tonight was a variety show time featuring comedian Kelly McDonald and American’s Got Talent Finalist Thomas John. I really enjoyed Thomas John.

John did a little juggling, a little slight-of-hand and was very good at engaging with the audience.

It was absolutely a wonderful day but it was time to retire back to our cabin and rest up for tomorrow.

Enjoy,

Mary

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