John, my brother, got very, very ill two days ago. In fact he was just a few hours away from dieing. After being on the winning vollyball team the evening we left Gibralter, that night he began vomiting, etc. In the morning he began vomiting blood, his arms turned white, eyebrows puple, could not open his eyes, and was going fast. The ship’s doctor gave him a huge IV to rehydrate him, a few shots just for grins, and then after 24 hours of sleeping, John is up and about again. Some kind of virus we think…

The Apes on the rock were sooo funny. The most amazing thing to me was that there were no cages - no bars keeping you from the monkeys. If a monkey happened to need a stooping, camera-using tourist’s back as a stepping stone across a path, the ape would do so. We had laugh after laugh at their tourist scaring, food eating, lice picking antics.

Prices at the shops were outrageously high, running almost double what we have met elsewhere in southern europe. In the gift stores on the rock a t-shirt sells for $26, a book on the Great Siege for $45, and a magizine for $9. Eeep!

Despair Inc, has a great new calandar out. One of my favorite pages pretty much sums up playing any sort of game on the other team from my brother. (grin)

All day we have been sailing slowly within sight of the Spanish coast. The sea was without waves, but with inch high ripples across the entire surface. I’ve been doing almost nothing today. I read a book from the ship’s library about Charles Babbage and his mechanical computers this afternoon, and did nothing so effectively that I did nothing right on through time to go to formal dinner. Now I have to wait until late night Pizza becomes available in three hours….

The Alhambra met expectations - and my expectations were not small for the beautifual Moorish palace. (You can see my pictures here)

After spending a lazy morning, I made up for my inactivity in the afternoon. A family Monopoly game ( I was the first out ) was followed by a classical piano concert in the main theater, followed by a start at learning a new programing language, Ruby, followed by a formal dinner while the family watched a movie (and since two other tables full of people did not show up, there were two waiters serving my self and one couple at a smaller table - talk about personal service!), followed by a sunset over the Algerian hills, followed by more Ruby programming, followed by a concert by Doug Cameron, followed by a half hour of listening to a harp being played in the lobby. A great day!

It’s 8:30am, and almost no one is up yet - I guess the passengers like to sleep on sea days. As for me, sea days are my favorites. I’m up in front of the ship watching the sea go under the bow of the ship while I work on some software requirements.

Malta is worth coming back to. Most other cities are a cross between New York and Disney Land. Malta is real. Photos Here.

For the first time this trip we did not have to be up before dawn - our tour did not leave until noon - it really felt like were on vacation! After getting up when I felt like it, which was nine in morning, I had breafast in the open air on the back of the ship and watched the nearby tankers in the blue Mediteranean. After that I rejoined the rest of the family for some swimming. As we were in the pool, the beautiful harbor of Malta passed by the windows as we watched through the glass walls of the pool area. A nice lunch and off we went. A great morning.

Pompeii was not terribly impressive. It’s just like any other Roman ruins, since all the items and wall coverings have been carried off to museams. There is not really anthing to see but Roman streets and stray dogs (and a replica of a brothal, if you are that kind of person, and I’m not.)

[Update]

Here are some photos I took.

Some have wondered how I could be disappointed in Pompeii. Too high expectations from looking at photos of it is the most likely cause. (I went expecting a Roman city with no people, and bread still on the tables.) Either that our tour guide did not show us very much. Even my photos here show the fascinating details of the city that take some looking to discover. If you go to Pompeii, just plan on seeing a bombed out bunch of brick buildings. Then, the touches of ancient life that you do find will be impressive.