It was 94 degrees when we left Lexington. That’s reason enough to head out of town.

Having tickets for a Baltic cruise is an even better reason.
We flew to Atlanta via Cleveland on a 757. That’s the smallest plane I’ve crossed the Atlantic in–one aisle, three seats on either side, like a domestic airliner. The flight was fine, and we deplaned at Gatwick feeling unusually robust. Good thing, because the train from the North Terminal to the South Terminal had just broken down, and we were directed to queue up for a shuttle bus. And what a queue–one of those that’s so long you can’t see the other end and have no idea how far you have to go.

The day was beautiful, and we had to stand outside in the sun for only 45 minutes or so. Then into London, get the train tickets, and take a nap before heading out to see this gorgeous London landmark:

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Now, this was June 9: first day of the Apple World Wide Developer Conference (I’d have been there were it not for the cruise), and the Steve Jobs keynote started at 6 p.m. London time. What better place to go and read the liveblogs as they came in?

Tuesday we took the train to Dover, which we didn’t have time to explore. As soon as we boarded the ship, they sanitized our hands. This is a compulsory ritual before entering or leaving any area of the ship. On the previous cruise, a few hundred people became ill with a very contagious virus, which is spread by hand contact. They requested that we refrain from shaking hands.

The virus outbreak meant that they had to sanitize the entire ship, with the result that most areas were closed, including staterooms, and we didn’t get our luggage until 8:00 that night. By that time it had turned cold, and we were in short sleeves so we could do nothing but sit and wait till evening.

Tomorrow we have a full day at sea.