Somewhere in the Mediterranean, sailing towards our next landfall in Spain.
Ever advancing towards our next destination on the European landmass, southern Spain, we sailed across a quite smooth Mediterranean Ocean, just as the Phoenicians or Greek or Romans did before us. During the morning we watched dolphins riding the waves, and then some of them bow riding us! Fantastic animals that can deviate from their normal route and behaviour to play a few moments with a ship... A turtle was also seen at the surface. But our great moment came when the ship was completely stopped, a platform was situated in the immediate vicinity, and many of us had the opportunity of swimming a while in the Mare Nostrum of the Romans, in a huge swimming pool, 8,000 feet deep! The water was warm (79 degrees F), and smooth and clear as glass. For some of us it was the first time we had swum in this ocean.
We also were prepared with a lecture by David Barnes on the Muslim world, their way of history, their way of thinking, and the marvelous palaces they left behind in Spain after their 700-year sojourn in the Iberian Peninsula, before they were expelled, at last, in 1492.
And later, with another lecture on the “Great Columbian Exchange,” or what the Old World gave the New World, and vice versa.
Ever advancing towards our next destination on the European landmass, southern Spain, we sailed across a quite smooth Mediterranean Ocean, just as the Phoenicians or Greek or Romans did before us. During the morning we watched dolphins riding the waves, and then some of them bow riding us! Fantastic animals that can deviate from their normal route and behaviour to play a few moments with a ship... A turtle was also seen at the surface. But our great moment came when the ship was completely stopped, a platform was situated in the immediate vicinity, and many of us had the opportunity of swimming a while in the Mare Nostrum of the Romans, in a huge swimming pool, 8,000 feet deep! The water was warm (79 degrees F), and smooth and clear as glass. For some of us it was the first time we had swum in this ocean.
We also were prepared with a lecture by David Barnes on the Muslim world, their way of history, their way of thinking, and the marvelous palaces they left behind in Spain after their 700-year sojourn in the Iberian Peninsula, before they were expelled, at last, in 1492.
And later, with another lecture on the “Great Columbian Exchange,” or what the Old World gave the New World, and vice versa.
