Aruba, an island only 21 miles long, is located in the Caribbean Sea just 17 miles off the Venezuelan coast. Like Curacao it is also heavily influenced by the Dutch. It has a semi arid climate and often very windy with average temperature of 82F which attracts tourists. Because of tourism, Aruba enjoys the highest standard of living in the Caribbean region. A generally flat and riverless island, it is known for its white, sandy beaches. We are docked in the port city of Oranjestad and have a beautiful view of the city from our suite. Today has been sunny and very windy but that is normal for Aruba. When in ports I fly my little American flag from our balcony. This has become a tradition for us. We cancelled our tour scheduled for today as I wanted to stay off my foot as much as possible. I have not left this chair for long. Rebecca worked out and then went up to the buffet to make a salad for her lunch. I ordered a hamburger from room service. It was great! We are very lucky to have some very good neighbors back in Dallas. Two are Dr Rick Waldo and his wife Kindra. Kindra is a nurse. So I sent her an email about my foot problem and when she talked to Dr Rick at lunch. He gave her a list of instructions to send me. I had been barefoot all day and he told me to put a well supported shoe on and never walk with it. I put my Oasics tennie on and that helped lots. I will also be going to get some anti-inflammatory meds (Motrin) as soon as we sail and the shops open again on the ship. I just called the Purser's Desk to see if I needed to report the injury I got in their gym. She told me to go to see the ship's doctor at 6pm today. We have cruise insurance and good thing as medical attention on the ship is EXPENSIVE. My concern is that I do not want it to get worse. Too much fun to be had in next 2 1/2 months! I know Kindra is following my blog so MANY THANKS, Rick & Kindra. I ask if he could do a "house call" tomorrow in Colombia. That's right, we sail at 5pm for Cartagena, Columbia, which is about 425 miles from here. Will be arriving at 3pm tomorrow and will be over night in port. Probably won't tour there either as we have also been there on past cruises. Rest that foot! Tonight we have 8pm reservations in the "Prime 7" restaurant. It is one of two speciality restaurants on the ship. Prime 7 is an excellent steakhouse (I mean really good) and Signatures, the other one, is a French restaurant. Last night our soft shell crab dinner was wonderful. The executive chef came out to our table to talk with us. He is from the United Kingdom but has an Italian name. He just replaced the French chef we had on our transatlantic cruise in November who could not prepare a decent veal Parmesan for me. The new chef wanted to assure me he could prepare a good veal Parmesan for me and went into detail about how he would do it. Our waiter told us later that he personally checked our soft shell crab dinner before he let him bring it out to us. There are many chefs on board but he is head man. Stock market up today so I am happy.
