Finally Funchal!

Here we are in an Internet cafe in Funchal on the island of Madeira, wading through 250 emails each. As our cryptic text messages indicate, we were heading the same direction as a low pressure system from about one day out of Miami up until yesterday, and we could not really outrun it. Still, our seasick medication kept us happy and not missing a meal.

We have spent several hours daily learning beginning bridge and practicing with Bud and Jessie, our Toronto friends. We have stayed around for the intermediate classes and sometimes we gain glimmers of understanding here and there. Whether or not we proceed further with bridge, it has been a lot of fun and excellent mental exercise.

What a nice group of people aboard Regatta. The kinds of folks who sign up for Transatlantic cruises obviously enjoy the shipboard experience and we have had a lot of fun.We enjoyed our "Cruise Critic" get together and will be taking privately organized tours in Morocco and Spain with a number of them.

Another sea day tomorrow, stops at Casablanca and then Malaga before docking in Barcelona, and we then fly home after an overnight in London, straight to a few days of vegetable soup and long walks!