Thursday, October 11, 2007

Up and Down, Over and Out

I know just how she felt. Uggh. There isn't anything worse than that.

A long time ago I went on a cruise. I did fine the first night, probably because the ship sailed at midnight and I went to sleep, but oh the following morning. A battle-axe weilding nurse, who didn't speak any English (so god only knows what they gave me), shot me up with some drug. She should have halved the dose, I'm sure she didn't take into account my dimunitive status, and I slept for 24 hours. Well at least the vomiting stopped but the nausea lasted the entire rest of the week.

And then over Labor Day weekend, in Costa Rica, aboard a Catamarran on rocky seas, I felt the familiar edge of motion sickness. I didn't actually get sick, but felt awful for most of the ride.

Needless to say, when he told me he'd booked a 9 day luxury cruise, I was terrified. But it was his dream and I thought that I just had to ditch the whining and suck it up.

So I armed myself appropriately (or not) by bringing everything I could get my little hands on. Scopolamine Patches, Bonine, Magnets for the writst, Ginger Pills, Ginger Tea, and Nexium (because a friend who used to get sick, stopped when she began taking the little purple pill).

I wore the wrist bands, I took the Nexium and the Bonine and the Ginger Pills the first day. I had heard such awful things about the Scopolamine that I was going to hold that for a last resort. The first day on the ship, he asked me why I didn't seem my usual bubbly self :-). "I'm waiting to get sick", was my reply. (I am so my Mother's daughter).

The next day I dispensed with the Ginger but took the other two pills. I still wore the wrist bands. I was loosening up, beginning to enjoy myself, and the endless glasses of Champagne didn't hurt either. I started to smile, but secretly I still feared the worst.

Well the worst never came. I stopped wearing the wrist bands on the third day and although I could not let go of my addiction to my daily Nexium and Bonine cocktail, I was fine. Better than fine - I had a grand time.

My favorite times were when the ship sailed. Our room had a veranda and I loved to order room service and eat out on the veranda. I loved to relax there reading. I loved to walk about the ship to find the stern or bow, finally and get a view of the vast ocean. I just loved everything about it. I didn't want to leave.

But sorry to say, I didn't get to see any whales.

Labels: cruise, sea sickness, travel

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Leaving Lisbon

I returned last week from a European cruise. Two weeks vacation. 9 days on the water. I almost cried when I had to leave "my" ship.

Leaving Lisbon

The previous photo just didn't fit, in fact it looked downright crappy, so click the link for a view of Lisbon from the ship.

Labels: cruise, Europe, vacation