This morning we attended a lecture by Brian Stoddart on a town on the east coast of India near where we are sailing that was previously called Madras and is now called Chennai. Brian was making the point that small villages with a port, natural resources or a tourist attraction can grow to be a metropolis. Every city has a history and this was just one example.

We dined in the main dining room for lunch, as Mark prefers to be served rather than having to select something from the buffet in the Lido dining room. Mark had a simple salad with a chicken breast, apples, walnuts, cranberries and a vinaigrette dressing. Kent had the ravioli with eggplant and a cream sauce. As the pants begin to tighten we continue to cut back on what we eat, but everything looks so good, it is hard to resist.

In the afternoon we walked before Werner Salinger presented a lecture on Brazil, the world’s 6^th largest economy, which is currently in a recession. Kent attended the afternoon tea where cupcakes were the pastry of the day. Mark painted a lotus flower at the watercolor class.

We, along with Tom, were invited to dinner with our friends Kathy and Carol in the Canaletto restaurant where they serve Italian fare.

The evening’s entertainer was Rustem Hayroudinoff, the Russian concert pianist who performed for us a few nights earlier. Kent and Tom had quite a nice conversation with him at breakfast. He seems to be a very nice person, as well as a talented pianist.