It’s bright, early morning, and we are heading back toward Split to depart tomorrow morning. Soon we stop for two hours for a swim in a bay; later, to the beach on an island. I want to tell a bit about our daily experience. We are a group of 24 friends, 10 couples and 4 singles, all friends of Ivan Mimica, who is Chilean, but born in Croatia. His international friends from a life of business, friendship, education, travel have gathered at his invitation to celebrate his 80th birthday. This ship has probably 30 small berths. The couples are on the upper deck, the singles below. There is an open deck on the upper deck where most of us gather to sit in the sunshine when we are on the boat. The dining room has tables and booths in the center of the lower deck, closed in, and we are served by Philip, who is crew. Our brerths are big enough for a double mattress, a cabinet for storage and a tiny bathroom with tiny sink, toilet and a hand held shower nozzle. We have breakfast of fruit, bread, eggs, coffee and then they serve a large sit down meal for lunch. Much larger than I care to eat at mid-afternoon. Then we go out for dinner in whatever port, fishing village, we are moored at. If we are docked, there is air conditioning to turn on and we can close our door to the narrow deck and the sea. If not, as last night, if we are anchored at sea, we have no air conditioning, and we open the door to the sounds of the lapping sea and let in the light of this almost full moon, and it’s not hot, it’s quite pleasant. We have a very light blanket and sheet. Nothing luxurious, quite simple and manageable. We dry our bathing suits from the deck railing and the sun works fast. We have motored up and down the Croatian Peninsula. Two nights ago, we all brought pizza (delicious!) in from the village and all of us gathered in a circle of chairs on the upper deck in the later evening to toast Ivan with stories of appreciation. Many of us spoke and Frank gave Ivan a gift from us from Roland Garros, as he and Frank are tennis players. Most of everyone speaks some English. Then, there is a lot of Spanish too. We have been able to converse quite easily with all. No drama. Frank has not worked. I have not worked. On many of our trips we very much enjoy working. This trio, no. On a ship, with a large group, with the sun and the sea it’s impossible not to just roll along happily, nap and talk, and breathe. We had some overcast skies on one day where we all put on light jackets. The water is clear and cool and no seaweed, it’s gorgeous. Smooth seas and no real surf at the beaches. All the beaches we’ve been to are pebbles, bright clean white pebbles as you walk into the water. Clean, fresh, smooth, warm, and very very salty water that isn’t sticky to the skin. There is no feeling that one must shower the salt and there is no sand to wash away! We met Ivan decades ago, in the Boston area, through Po and Geoff. Frank and Ivan bonded through business and tennis. We feel so honored to be included in this fabulous gathering. I think about home, and I talk to the kids, but we are six hours apart. I will be happy to be home. I know we are missed. But this has been a peak life experience.