After my excursion from yesterday, I woke up in pain and feeling quite beaten up. I broke my little toe the second day on the ship as I tripped over a chase lounge by the pool. After yesterday’s adventure, I banged it again so today it was feeling quite sore and swollen. So I decided to take the day off. I went down to the spa pool to just soak in the warm water and relax as I got sunburned yesterday and couldn’t go out to the big pool outside.
After basking in the delightful water I had the long trek back to my room. The spa is in the bow and our room is in the stern. I could barely drag myself down the long hallway.
After a quick shower, and an even quicker lunch, I went to my usual knitting spot on deck seven. And there I spent the afternoon knitting. When I am hosting and teaching in the mornings, I never get to knit on my own stuff, so this was my chance to really get something done.
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| Michael’s new sweater |
Michael went on another one of his marathons today. This one was an 8-1/2 hour tour of the Panama Canal’s Miraflores locks and the expansion observation center. Other than spending an enormous, albeit unavoidable amount of time on the bus, he was very pleased with the excursion.
Things began with a 30 minute bus ride to the new observation platform. This is the brand new Agua Clara visitor center which overlooks one of the new locks. These locks are very different from the original ones that we had seen many times, and so quite interesting. Next was another one hour ride on the bus to the lunch venue. This was a very nice golf course country club where Michael said he enjoyed lunch.Now, it was only a 30 minute ride to the Miraflores locks, which are on the Pacific side. These locks were on the original canal, and we’ve been here many times. However, things were changed drastically with the construction of an IMAX theater, a multi story building with gift shops, libraries, and so forth, and it was very crowded. The original locks can only accommodate a container ship with approximately 5,000 containers; the new locks can accommodate container ships with up to 17,000 containers. Quite a difference. He saw a 3-D movie on the construction of the Panama Canal narrated by Morgan Freeman and said it was very interesting.
The main event was an up close and personal tour of the locks themselves. Viking had purchased the VIP tour from the Panama Canal Authority which allowed the passengers to get right out on the lock platform right next to the locomotives. They watched an entire transit, and had a very good guide, who was knowledgeable, personable and spoke good English. The only problem here was now they had a one and a half hour bus ride back to the ship.
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| The tugs replace the mules in the new locks |
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| Sliding gates in the new locks |
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| Sliding gates while opening |
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| The electric mule |