We enjoyed a precious day at sea. This gave us all time to rest and refresh from the excursions and enjoy the comforts of the ship. The day was beautiful. Carol and Wande relaxed in the afternoon on the sun deck, when something happened out of the unexpected: Seven or eight F-16 fighter jets roared above the ship, flying fairly low. Like boomerangs with jet engines, they looped back and flew over again and then disappeared. Where did they come from? Where were they going? What were they doing? Were they scaring off pirates? Was there trouble somewhere? We never knew.
There were two lectures today. Mary O’Neill from Smithsonian Journeys spoke on, “Citadels of Civilization – The Architecture of Istanbul.” She explained that architecture was the carrier of the Byzantine story, and discussed the structures, paintings and mosaics of the three main buildings we would see in Istanbul the next day: The Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace (of Sultan fame).
Another scholar, Dr. James Howard, lectured on “Battle of Western Civilization – Greece vs. Persia,” which dealt with the time of Xerxes and Darius, what caused the conflicts and the military engagements.
For some – Julie and Sheila specifically – the highlight of the day was approaching: The slots tournament. Since only luck is involved in playing slot machines, the tournament concept is pretty straightforward. For a $25 entry fee you play a specially configured slot machine for three minutes, punching buttons as quickly as you can while the reels spin wildly. Depending on your luck of how the reels align, you accumulate “money,” which counts as points. At the end of three minutes, whoever has the most points wins. The top winners advance to the second and final round, where the process is repeated.
Sheila and Julie roped Terry into playing (who was waiting for the Blackjack tournament later in the cruise). The three of them did well and advanced into the final round. The tension was palpable.
It was time and the countdown began: 3-2-1, and they were out the gate! Bam, bam, plink, plink, bam, bam, hands and fingers in frenzied motion, pounding, tapping and hitting those buttons for a seemingly interminable three minutes. (It’s harder than you think, folks.) Terry and Julie led at first, then Terry started falling behind; Sheila advanced on his left flank. Julie nosed past Terry, who pounded the buttons even more furiously, his eyes and neck veins bulging from the rush of adrenaline.
The pounding buttons, flashing lights, brightly colored images, dings and music from the payouts, screams and hoots created an air of excitement and uncompromising competition. And then it was over. Sheila placed second, losing by a length, but was in the money; Julie placed third and got nothing. Terry? He ignominiously placed 11th. It was exhausting, but Sheila, in the money, was exhilarated.
The rest of the day was uneventful until dinner, when began what we shall call The Caper of Table 435.
Julie, Carol and Terry decided to skip the dining room and instead get room service on their adjoining balconies. It was a warm and lovely evening at sea, with the moon shining brightly and the Mediterranean as smooth as glass. Sheila and Wande opted for the dining room and looked forward to visiting with the “Tones,” our dining companions.
The five of us had been assigned to table 435, which was closest to the window and the view of the sea. Table 434, which the Tones were assigned to, was at the farther end. Yet, Wande and Sheila arrived at dinner to find the Tones sitting next to the window. They didn’t think too much of it, since on cruises people often change seats on different nights to sit next to someone different and enjoy varied conversation.
And then they noticed something else different: Someone had switched the table cards. Our table card, 435, had been moved to where the Tones’s was, and their table card, 434, was now on our table next to the window. Wande and Sheila decided not to say anything, as this could have been a simple error by the staff. Time would tell.
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