At Sea 海上行
July 17, 2024: Finally, we had a sea day to catch our breath. Up until this point, every day of the cruise had brought us to a new port, and we had joined a shore excursion at each one. We consistently chose the most challenging options available, and the physical toll was starting to catch up with us as age began to take its toll. However, a sea day on a Crystal Cruise isn’t exactly a day of rest. The cruise always offers top-notch lectures and speeches, and this time was no exception.
In the morning, Dr. James Allison, a Nobel laureate in medicine, and his wife gave a talk on the cancer immunotherapy that Allison pioneered. In the afternoon, Nando Parrado, one of the sixteen survivors of a plane crash, recounted his harrowing experience. After spending two months stranded on a snow-covered mountain, he climbed out over ten days to seek help. His remarkable survival story has been adapted into several films, the most recent being "The Society of Snow," a Netflix show. The story was absolutely riveting. We also attended a presentation regarding the upcoming city and it’s culture. We can’t wait to try the famous Portugal custard tart.
Afternoon tea with live music was very nice. Both the pianist and violinist were fantastic. In the evening, we treated ourselves to Italian dishes at the special restaurant OSTERIA D’OVIDIO.
2024年7月17日：今天终于迎来了一个海上休息日。上船至今每一天我们都停靠在一个新港口，白天参加岸上游活动。我们总是选择所有活动中最具挑战性的项目，而船上每晩的音乐会又都安排在很晚。早出晚归，几天下来我们感到身体非常疲惫，很明显年龄的增长在影响着我们，体力一年不如一年。然而，Crystal邮轮上的海上行也不是一个放松的日子，海上行时总是会安排一些高质量的讲座，这次也不例外。
上午，诺贝尔医学奖得主詹姆斯·艾利森博士和他的妻子谈到了艾利森开创的癌症免疫疗法。下午，飞机失事幸存者之一南多·帕拉多(Nando Parrado)分享了他惊心动魄的经历，失事后，他和他幸存的鲁比球队队员们在雪山上度过了两个月后，他花了十天时间爬出山脉去寻求帮助。他们生存故事多次被改编成电影，最新的一部是Netflix的《雪之社》(The Society of Snow), 这个故事非常引人入胜。
接下来我们又听了一个关于葡萄牙里斯本（Lisbon)的讲座，除了历史和文化，对我们来说印象最深的就是著名的葡萄牙蛋挞。其实蛋挞吃过不少，自己也做过，但想到终于有机会可以品尝到最正宗的这款点心，还是很兴奋的。
下午讲座结束后有时间去享用下午茶，一边品尝喷香的绿茶和美味的点心，一边欣赏钢琴和小提琴演奏，弹琴是一位漂亮的韩国女孩，好像有不少优兔的粉丝。
晚上我们在船上的另一特色餐厅OSTERIA D’OVIDIO享用了美味的意大利菜肴。
