Epilogue – All of the stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere

Honey Bee Buon Viaggio

There are several subspecies of honey bees. The Italian subspecies (Apis mellifera ligustica) is known to be the gentlest. For that reason American beekeepers favor Italians. When Stephen arrived to take us to the airport the Italian universe signaled. 20,000+ Italian girls arrived. to wish us Buon Viaggio! And then they moved into the empty bait hive that I’d set up weeks before. Before heading to the airport we had just enough time to watch them take up residence. I viewed their arrival as a decidedly good omen for our trip. 

Swarm-2019

Entertaining the neighbors with “House Check”

Carrboro’s Police Department offers a ‘house check’ service for vacationing Carrborites. They will visit houses of vacationing citizens on a daily basis to assure that the house is secure. When we travel we sign up for this service. The sign up process is an online affair where you give them the basic info about your travel plus info about cars that will be in the driveway, neighbors/family who may be stopping by to water plants, tend to pets, etc. We provided Stephen’s contact info as our local contact and provided them with license plate info on the cars that they might encounter on their visits. We warned them that they might find Stephen on our porch from time to time and asked that they not shoot him.

Day 1, Stephen was contacted by the police. Our house was unlocked. Stephen shrugged his shoulders and said, “Hmmm.” When we returned we heard from our neighbors that the Carrboro Police were not as sanguine. Two squad cars arrived with lights flashing. Four officers, guns drawn, moved through our house looking for potential bad guys. None were found. The cypher lock on our front door had simply failed to extend the deadbolt fully. It’s old. It doesn’t always lock with a single poke of a finger, sometimes it takes two. As we were leaving I only poked once. 

So now we know. The Carrboro Police are efficiently doing their job protecting us from theft even when we are half a globe away. They take our security seriously. And they provide this service for free. I love Carrboro!

Pilot Boats

The Captain of the Viking Star hosted a champagne farewell on the last day of the cruise. He recapped the trip for us. One of his more interesting remarks made me re-think the photos and videos that I’d made during the cruise. He noted that due to the narrow channel at the Strait of Messina the Italians were anxious to move large ships through the channel as fast as possible so as to keep traffic from backing up. They required ships entering the strait to maintain a speed of no less than 17 knots – even as the Italian pilot boarded the ship to guide it through the strait. 

This boat-to-ship transfer at 17 knots took place just below our stateroom. I photographed it without knowing the significance of what I was seeing. The pilot boat came alongside of the ship. Then the Messina Strait pilot jumped from the pilot boat onto the Viking Star. He then proceeded to the operations deck to take control of the ship as it navigated through the channel. Meanwhile, the pilot boat raced alongside the ship so that the pilot could return to the boat after the ship had cleared the Strait. So I was taking pictures of all of the action without knowing just how exciting the action really was.

Pilot Boat – Messina Strait

Pilot Boat - Messina Strait

John’s Final Verdict on Cruises

I know that you have been waiting for it. Here it is. Viking is a great way to cruise. Surprised me! There were 845 other passengers on the ship. Seems like a lot, but in Barcelona we saw a cruise ship in the harbor with 8,000 passengers! The difference is huge. 

My main concern about cruising has always been my fear of confined spaces surrounded by potential norovirus infected souls. On Viking every dining room, every hallway had a hand-sanitizing mister and/or a lavatory sink. As we entered a restaurant we were invited/encouraged/Catholic nun shamed into washing or at least sanitizing our hands before dining. Before we boarded the ship in Venice the boarding team ran through a brief health check with us to assure that all boarding passengers were well. “Oh, you have a fever! I’m so, so sorry! Step over there to the quarantine area while we sanitize the arrival area.  We’ll issue you a refund. We’d love to see you again when you’re healthy!”

Our ship had 5 or 6 restaurants to choose from. None of them were ever crowded. No fighting for or waiting for tables. The food was very good, but not as spectacular as all of the reviews. Yes, we’re spoiled by restaurants at home. The ship had more bars than I could keep track of. All of the staff were friendly, kind, helpful, near at hand, and ever ready to respond to our smallest need. Our stateroom was kept immaculate several times a day by Eric and Peter who picked up clothing slung over a chair, folded it neatly and placed it on the bed. They greeted us heartily whenever they saw us in the hallway. When Betty had trouble finding an unoccupied computer to print the boarding passes for our return flight, the Chief Financial Officer for the ship noticed her plight and invited her into her office to use her computer and printer. 

The only problem with the cruise was with some of our fellow travelers. We encountered several prissy, pampered, fussy people who seemed to be looking for something to complain about and quick to come to a boil if things didn’t go exactly as planned. But I’m used to ignoring those types, but unfortunately the crew couldn’t. 

A problem that I hadn’t anticipated is that we had essentially half a day in each port. That is not long enough to know a city, its people, or its cuisine – the fun part of traveling. But that is the nature of the cruise universe. So we took notes on the cities that held the most promise for a return visit. For me that’s Barcelona and Dubrovnik. I’m looking forward to return visits.