Bali Sculpture

Largest temple in Bali

Onboard Mariner Party

Hall of Justice

Rice Fields

Bali Temples

Mark, Peter, Peter and Brian

March 2, 2013  Benoa, Indonesia (Bali)

Benoa is a port city located near Bali’s southernmost tip and is the gateway to the Nusa Dua beach resort. Indonesia has 13,500 islands of which over 6,000 have occupants on them. Indonesians are predominately Muslim, however, Balinese belief is based in Hinduism and Bali is known for its interesting temples. The temples are generally dedicated to the Hindu Trimurti:Brahma or creator of the universe, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Balinese Hinduism differs from the Indian version, however the Balinese people recognize not only the Hindu Gods, but a special set of deities all their own.

The temperature was over 90 degrees and extremely humid not to mention that it rained from time to time throughout the day. Sometimes the rain would only be a light shower while other times it would pour buckets and there would be an electrical storm as well.

Our tour today took us first to the Besakih Temple complex (it is comprised of 23 separate, but related temples) located about a two-hour drive from the port. This is the most revered temple among Bali’s many shrines and differs from others because it belongs to everyone rather than just one village. It is located on mount Gunung Agung rising about 3,000 feet above sea level. The temple is believed to have begun more than 1,000 years ago with additions and modifications continuing to this day. The Pura Penataran Agung temple is the largest and most impressive with six-tiers terraced up the side of the mountain. A grand staircase leads up the front of the temple to a large gated courtyard with multiple structures, each ornately decorated. The stone is local volcanic rock, mostly black in color and ornately carved.

Locals were being bussed to the site to make offerings of fruits, trays of flower petals and incense. Most of the men wore white headscarves and white shirts to the temple while the women wore colorful sarongs. Both the men and the women  had their shoulders and legs covered.

From the temple we winded our way a short distance to a restaurant called Mahagiri, which offered a dramatic panoramic view over a valley of terraced rice fields. The open-air restaurant served a wonderful buffet lunch of local dishes including chicken, tofu, rice, noodles, chicken satay, salad and vegetables. For dessert they served banana fritters with a dark brown sugar sauce and fresh fruit.

Our next stop was to Puri Agung Karangasem, built in the 19^th century by the first king of the Karangasem Kingdom located in the town of Amlapura along the far eastern shore of Bali. This once royal palace combined three different architectural styles. Balinese influences can be seen in the carvings of the Hindu statues and the reliefs on the walls of the building while European influence is seen in the architecture of the main residence with its large veranda. Chinese architecture is seen in the style of the windows, doors and other ornamentation. There is no longer a royal family and so this residence is more of a museum with some of the rooms in the residence under restoration. The grounds include a beautiful lily pond surrounded by several outdoor pavilions with unique pottery urns planted with local shrubs and flowering plants. Unfortunately age and the weather are taking a toll on the residence and it has lost some of its glory.

Our last stop of the day was to Klungkung Kertagosa, a complex built in 1710 by some of the finest artisans in the country at the time. The complex contains the Bale Kambang floating pavilion and the Kertagosa or Royal Court of Justice. Each of these structures is a raised open-air pavilion with richly painted murals on the interior peaked ceilings. The originals are now housed in a museum but have been replaced with replicas. The Court of Justice contains a large table and chairs where criminals would be seated across from a judge to plead their case before being punished for whatever crime they were charged with. The murals above are explicit, colored murals depicting several rows of acts for which you would be punished and suffer the fate of hell while the upper tiers of the mural reflect good behaviors for which you would be rewarded eternal life in paradise. The site is very well preserved and contains beautifully landscaped gardens.

In general the island is very lush and green with all sorts of vegetation from ferns to banana trees, rice fields to plumeria. The denseness of the vegetation reminds me of the lush vegetation you find in Costa Rica. Most houses as you drive by have a small temple of sorts out in front of the house and are usually freestanding. Some are quite small in size; maybe one-foot square while others are much larger with a grass style roof peaked like a mountain.  Each of these temples has some type of fruits or flowers or a combination of the two as an offering. Then within the fence or wall surrounding the house you can see many more of these temples one right next to the other, all with fruits and flowers. Most homes have five or more of these small temples standing five or six feet tall. It makes me think that this is a very religious region of the world.

Back onboard the ship after more than nine hours of touring, we were treated to the last of the mariner appreciation events. Once during each world cruise a special event, a year in the planning and at a reported cost of $500,000 takes place. This year Bali was chosen as the theme for this special mariner event. The entire main pool area and Lido Restaurant had been transformed over the last 24 hours into a premier party event. It was titled Pasar Malam Indonesia, or night market. The pool had been transformed into a pond surrounded by live rice fields. The entire pool area was screened into many private dining areas and bars with the use of bamboo screens. Bandstands were created with bamboo of various sizes and a bamboo hut was now standing where the pool once was. Potted palm trees, sago palms and orchids were placed throughout to create the look of a rainforest. Local crafts were for sale including batik clothing, woodcarvings, stick puppets, leather goods, paintings, jewelry and more. A local Gamelan band, a Wajang shadow puppet show, a Sinden Singer and Suling flute player, Jaipong dancers and a Angklung orchestra performed. A Becak-Becak or three-wheeled cycle taxi was giving rides around the deck in exchange for a donation to a local charity. Everywhere you looked there was something going on that was colorful, festive and entertaining.

Not only was there entertainment and things to buy but, there were tons of food and an open bar for over four hours. The Lido was filled with local foods including roasted pigs, fish wrapped in leaves, noodle dishes, rice, fresh cut coconuts for drinking the coconut water with a straw and a huge assortment of unusual local desserts. The Canaletto restaurant was transformed into an Indonesian restaurant for the night and was part of the fundraising efforts for the Rainbow Foundation.

The Rainbow Foundation is a medical shelter for children from all over Indonesia and is located in Bekasi near Jakarta. The foundations helps parents with limited funds pay for their sick children’s medical treatments and provides housing for them during their recuperation. They also house about forty children who do not have parents or relatives to take care of them. Guest who ate in the specialty restaurant this evening made a donation of $25 to the charity, while others contributed as well.

Many of the dining room stewards, cabin stewards and crew members come from Indonesia so many of them were able to have their families come onboard the ship for a short visit today. Most of the guests put notes on their cabin doors asking that they not have their cabins cleaned on this day and for the stewards to spend time with their families and friends instead.

Although we weren’t too hungry after our big lunch, we decided to sample a few of the many Indonesian dishes on board for the party.  There were Indonesian dishes we didn’t know, fruits, desserts, roasted pigs, etc.  After filling our plates with “samples” of almost everything, we joined Peter, Peter and Bryan on the Lido deck by the back pool to eat it all.  Free drinks and wine were being served.  We shared lots of info and gossip with these Toronto boys.  Good times!

March 1, 2013  Sea Day

Barbara, our travel guide, presented things to see and do in Ujung Padang, Indonesia. Later in the morning Aileen Bridgewater shared stories of her interviews with Prime Ministers Indira Ghandi in New Delhi and Rajiv Ghandi who took over the Premiership after her assignation and was soon after assassinated himself.

Mr. Kruse, the CEO and President of Holland America who is also responsible for the Seabourn brand, (which is also owned by Carnival), held a presentation along with the head of the Mariner Society to let people know about future things coming down the line with Holland America. Holland America is building a new 2,600-passenger ship while Seabourn is outfitting the Quest with Zodiac boats to make five landings in Antartica on future voyages. The presentation and question and answer period lasted about 90 minutes.

Today we had lunch with Mary and Gordon, from San Diego.  We have been on tours and attend Good Morning, Amsterdam with them.  It was great to learn a little more about them and to share some of our stories with them.

The entertainment on this evening was an Australian gentleman by the name of Phoenix and is called a Real-Life Mentalist. This show was very unusual in that he claimed he was not a medium but seemed to be able to read peoples minds? People wrote numbers and random words on sheets of paper, sealed them in envelopes and placed them in a locked box. Not only was Phoenix able to guess the numbers and words written on the slips of paper but, he knew what city in the world the people lived in and more. In one case he told an older lady that she was close to an American President’s family. He asked her if she knew JFK and if she had a photo of herself taken with Jackie Kennedy. When she answered yes, he continued to tell her that in the photo she was wearing a black dress of which she had pinned a black feather onto it. She said yes!

February 28, 2013   Sea Day

Stein Kruse, the CEO and President of Holland America Lines was onboard for several days to celebrate Mariner Appreciation Days. With that, today is one of the quietest days onboard that we have had because many of the cruise staff were busy with special events.

Prior to dinner Mr. Kruse hosted a cocktail party with an open bar to honor a few crewmembers who had served the company for 20 to 48 years of service. They received rings, mantle clocks and special gifts.

A formal gala dinner was served in the dining room with escargots, lobster, shrimp and all of the guests’ favorite foods. Following dinner we attended a show in the Queen’s Lounge by a group called Rockapella. They performed mostly Motown and soul hits. This vocal group of five men uses no instruments, but instead, relies on their voices alone to create the music. One of the five does nothing but create drum like sounds, while the additional four, each with a different range, sings and adds additional sounds. It was a very interest experience.

Once we arrived back at our cabin we found a special gift on our pillows from Mr. Stein and his wife. The gift was a Tiffany crystal bowl perfectly wrapped in the hopefully familiar blue box with white ribbon and placed in the matching blue bag with white cord handles.

February 27, 2013  Sea Day

This was the first of three sea days on our way to Bali. We attended the “Good Morning Amsterdam” show where the guest of the day was the piano bar pianist Debby Bacon. Debby is from Tampa, Florida and this is her fourth world cruise. She is traveling with her husband Ron who is also a musician but does not work on the ship and is only accompanying her. Prior to working on cruise ships Debby worked in a Tampa hotel bar for 18 years where she worked from 5:00 to 9:00 Monday through Friday. In addition to her cruise ship work she also works four months of the year at a hotel in Amsterdam playing the piano. In addition to the piano she plays the saxophone, organ and xylophone and she also sings. She has quite a loyal following of passengers onboard and can play just about anything. She has a vast array of music on her computer and can easily access the music to most anything someone would like to hear her play.

Barbara, the onboard travel guide, spoke about what to see and do in the port of Benoa, Bali today. This is a change of ports due to the fact that the previously scheduled tender port docks have been damaged or destroyed by storms recently. Benoa is at the southern edge of Bali but it had a port large enough for the ship to dock without having to use the tender boats.

There is a new Explorations Speaker by the name of Aileen Bridgewater onboard until Hong Kong. Aileen hosted Hong Kong’s longest running English daily radio talk show for 14 years, broadcasting phone calls live. She has interviewed thousands of celebrities in the studio and traveled worldwide to interview people making the news, including Princess Diana, Mother Teresa and the Dali Lama. After her talk show she spent nine years lecturing throughout the United States, covering Hong Kong and the Far East. Aileen is a fascinating speaker with one story after another. She speaks using audio clips of her guests to help tell the stories. Today, she talked about her interviews with, among others, Bob Hope and William Holden, the owner of the radio station.

In the afternoon we attended a rehearsal for the Amsterdam singer and dancers final show this evening before they disembark in Manila to perform on another ship in the fleet. We will get the cast from another cruise ship that will perform a variety of new shows for us in the future.

Bob Tonkinson presented another lecture on the Aborigines religious beliefs and cultural symbols. He showed a series of slides of the Aborigine people taken during the early years of his work in the 1960’s.

The Amsterdam Singers and Dancers show titled Centre Stage included a variety of musical theater favorite songs from Moving on Out, Mama Mia, Funny Girl and Mary Poppins. It was a fun filled show with some familiar songs.

Downtown Fremantle

Fremantle Architecture

Livestock Ship

February 26, 2013  Fremantle and Perth, Australia

Included with our travel package were four shore excursions, one of which we took on this day. The tour included two wineries in the Swan Valley. Our tour left from the port in Fremantle, along the Swan River, through the city of Perth and then into the Swan Valley. The drive to the vineyards was approximately an hour from the port and is near the town of Guildford. Our drive along the Swan River included a drive through millionaire’s row where gorgeous homes along the river’s shores have sold for as much as $56,000,000. We pass through the larger city center of Perth complete with high-rise office towers on the shore of the Swan River. The downtown area is filled with both old and new architecture as well as a large number of public parks and beautifully landscaped public areas.

The Swan Valley grows not only grapes but is a fertile farming region for all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables. The vineyards have just finished the harvest. The weather was extremely warm with a temperature of about 100 degrees. The first winery we visited was Houghton’s Winery where the first commercial vintage was produced in 1863 and is listed by the National Historic Trust. They have a small tasting room surrounded by lush gardens where we had a taste of a variety of white and red wines that they produce.

Our next stop was the Sandalford’s Caversham Estate, which is one of Western Australia’s largest privately owned wineries. The estate produces 90,000 cases per year, including 11 premium table wines, a port and a dessert wine. We took a short tour of the winery, which was very similar to any winery you might tour in California’s wine regions. The tasting here was a bit unique in that they described the seven wines we would taste and then opened all fresh bottles for the nine of us on the tour to help ourselves. They also provided cheese and crackers and a souvenir wine glass for each of us to take with us.  Kent enjoyed the cheese!

On the drive back to the ship we took a different route back through the town of Perth to get a view of more of the city. Along the way we drove through King’s Park and the Botanic garden, which is approximately 1,000 acres in size. The park offers spectacular views over the city of Perth and the Swan River. It was a short day as the ship sailed for Bali, Indonesia at 4:00pm with the all aboard time of 3:30pm.

The nightly entertainment was a musician and comedian by the name of Steve Stevens. Steve was not only a trumpet player but also a singer and a comedian. After the show the previous night, the show crowd was small but everyone seemed to enjoy the show.

We have been in Australia for almost two weeks now and wanted to summarize our thoughts about our experience. The people everywhere we went were extremely gracious, kind and helpful. The cities we visited were clean, well cared for and we always felt safe. We saw a vast array of different sized cities from the very small to the very large and all had something unique and interesting to offer….many very similar to cities in the USA. All were oriented to the water.  We had not been to most of the southern and western cities so it was great to see a variety of cities around the country.

February 25, 2013  Sea Day

For the most part this was a sea day, as we did not arrive at our destination of Fremantle until 3:30pm in the afternoon. The port city of Fremantle is located on the western shores of Australia near the southwestern corner of the country and is adjacent to the town of Perth. Fremantle has a population of approximately 300,000.

We attended a lecture by Bob Tonkinson about the Mardu Aborigines of the Western Desert region. This desert covers one-sixth of the continent. These groups of Aborigines were among the last people to abandon their traditional existence and migrate into settlements in the 1960’s. Bob spoke of his experience in visiting these people in the desert during the 1960’s and showed some photos of them as well. Today several of the Aborigines from this area have gone on to lead public lives and travel the world discussing the culture and life of the Aborigines.

After we arrived in Fremantle we headed out with several friends to explore the town on foot. From the port the town is very easily accessed and is within a ten-minute walk of the port. The architecture is beautiful with buildings from the late 1800’s on. Many of the buildings are built in stone and brick and have exquisite details and ornamentation. The narrow streets of Fremantle are well kept, clean and pedestrian friendly with wide sidewalks and pedestrian only streets.

After exploring some of the local shops, churches and public city center we headed a few blocks to the coast where we found a stretch of seafood restaurants along the wharf. We enjoyed fish and chips along the waterfront, fighting off the seagulls that were looking for handouts.

Docked near us in the port was a very large cargo ship that transports live cattle and sheep to the Middle East. Due to the religious reasons and culture of Muslims, the sheep would mostly be sold live. Some families might buy several and slaughter them as needed. We heard several different numbers as to how many sheep and cattle the ship might carry but it is many thousands.

We were back onboard the ship by 9:00 to check out “The Wadumbah Dance Group.” It was an Aborigine dance troupe which performed a variety of cultural dances including the kangaroo dance. The quality of the show was very poor and many folks walked out before it was over.  However, others who had seen similar shows said that this show was about the same.  Perhaps we can’t judge these dances very well or they just don’t appeal to our taste.

Albany Cemetery

Mark and our friend Jenn

Kent and his new jailhouse bride.

Albany Town Hall

February 24, 2013  Albany, Australia

Founded in 1827 as a military outpost, Albany is located in western Australia near the southwest corner of the country. The military outpost was established to stop the French ambitions in the region. During the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the town served as a gateway to the Eastern Goldfields, and for many years was the only deep-water port. Prior to the 1950’s, whaling was an important part of the local economy, although today its main industries consist of tourism, fishing, and agriculture.

The weather was a mix of rain and sunshine, with temperatures in the 70’s.

We took a short shuttle ride into town with our friend Jenn to explore the town on foot. Being a Sunday most of the shops were closed, but the locals had set up a small craft market with entertainment in the park on the main street called York Street. We walked to the botanical garden, which was more like a small neighborhood park. Nearby was the community cemetery with graves dating back to the late 19^th century. As it rained we ducked into McDonald’s to use the Internet, which is very common at most of the fast food restaurants. The service was slow but allowed us to check emails and to update this blog.

After the rain had passed we continued on to the Town Hall where they were having a nice photography exhibit, as well as stopping in at a few shops that were open. At St’ John’s Anglican Church we came across an Aboriginal smoking ceremony of some type going on. Someone said they thought that a woman of the local tribe who had been separated from her family had been returned home and it was a celebration. There were metal buckets with smoldering and smoking eucalyptus branches. Several people were seated in a semi-circle with a band of white sand placed on the grass under their bare feet. During the ceremony some reddish brown powder was placed on the sand around their feet as well as thrown into the air. One black gentlemen who was involved in the ceremony was dressed in a suit but had very long red hair and a beard.

We took a self-guided tour of the Albany Convict Jail, now open as a museum. The convict system here was based on the idea of rehabilitation. Convicts were transported here from England over an 18-year period beginning in 1850. Most of the convicts were hired to work by the free settlers to perform a variety of jobs. Some manned the pilot boat, some built roads, while others help lay the railroad. Buildings on the site included a barracks, a cookhouse, warden’s quarters, a store, a blacksmith and carpenter’s workshops.

From the jail we walked the short distance back to the ship along the waterfront. The waterfront has a newly built entertainment center and boat harbor, with additional construction underway.  After we returned to the ship, Jenn said, “You know why I like hanging out with you guys?  I can say ‘f%*k.’  I can be myself!  I can’t say bad words with those other old people!”  I guess that’s what we all want, Jenn…friends we can be ourselves with.

The entertainment onboard the ship this evening was a variety show of Laszlo and Claudia the violinists and Colleen Williamson the soprano, all of which are excellent at their arts.

February 23, 2013  Sea Day

This morning we attended a lecture with Bill Crews where he discussed the progressive discovery of the West Coast of Australia. Back in 1606 the Dutch, followed by the British and other European explorers landed on the island all well before the time Captain Cook had claimed the East Coast of Australia for Britain.

The afternoon lecture by Bob Tonkinson explored the impacts and aftermath of the European settlement on the Indigenous people of Australia. The Europeans brought diseases, which reduced the population of the Indigenous people from 500,000 to only 150,000. Settlers did not treat the Indigenous people well and tried to put them in settlements with the expectation that they would soon die out and be gone completely. That did not happen and today the Indigenous population of Australia is around 600,000. As in the US, the natives have not been treated well over time but with better education and knowledge the government is trying to better assist the needs of the native people.

In the afternoon there was an Australian high tea in the dining room, which we attended with our friend Jenn (see 2/19).  She seems to be doing better and is becoming more engaged in the available activities.  Her spirits are lifting as evidenced by her showing Kent a video taken before she left for the cruise.  She won a dance contest which involved dancing with a six foot penis.  Yes…she was good and was very proud of it.  I knew I liked her.  She also told Kent about a sex video she had of herself and her Black boyfriend, but he hasn’t seen that one yet….maybe later!

The weather was windy with gusts to 35 mph causing the ship to roll a bit. This makes it difficult to walk and many of the passenger’s retreat to their cabins to lie down or to take motion sickness pills. When the seas are rough the crew begins to bring out the barf bags and hang them in the hallways just in case a guest needs them.

The time is changing regularly as we move from east to west along the southern coast of Australia. We moved our clocks back 30 minutes one day, followed by moving them back by 90 minutes. Tonight we moved our clocks and watches back another hour.

The entertainment on this night was an Irish comedian by the name of Adrian Walsh.

Internet availability—Although there is internet available on board, it is slow and very expensive.  So, we wait until we are on shore to find free Wi-Fi or an internet café with computers (increasingly hard to find because more and more people have smart phones and other devices of their own for internet use) to do emails.  These facilities are not always easy to find in remote locations and don’t always have good signals.  The one thing Kent misses while on the ship is being able to easily send and receive email to stay in touch with family and friends.  We are doing the best we can to stay in touch.  Please understand if we don’t get back to you or check in with you as quickly as we’d like.  We are thinking of you.

February 22, 2013  Sea Day

The Good Morning Amsterdam guests today were two of the young ladies onboard who are photographers and take your photo at every port stop, formal night and sail away party.

We attended a lecture from a new speaker by the name of Bob Tonkinson who spoke about two tribes of Australian indigenous people. Bob is a senior Honorary Research fellow at the University of Western Australia, a Life-Fellow of the Australia Anthropological Society and the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania. He has a Ph.D. in and has done extensive research with the Western Desert Mardu Aboriginies and the Southeast Ambrymese people in Vanuata (Melanesia) since 1966. He gave a very interesting talk on the nomadic lifestyle of the Aboriginal people and how they are often required to move due to weather conditions and food supply at any given time. They live in quite small tribes of 15 or 20 people who all have a job to do, whether it is hunting or gathering. The men generally do the hunting while the women do more of the gathering. They follow the stars to mark time and often travel to meet up with other relatives or tribes who may be having a special occasion or event.

In the afternoon we attended a lecture by Bill Crews on “Cattle Duffing and the Legend of Captain Starlight”. Captain Starlight was the basis of books and films about his life of cattle theft in Western Australia during the gold rush years. At the time there were many very large cattle ranches making it difficult for ranchers to always keep track of their cattle. Captain Starlight would steal cattle and move them sometimes hundreds of miles before selling them to unsuspecting butchers and ranchers. By the time the owners of the cattle would realize they were missing, Starlight would have taken off with the money. He was often caught and charged with stealing the cattle but most of the time there was not enough evidence to find him guilty and he would be set free and do it all over again.

We had afternoon tea in the Crow’s Nest with Alec (see 2/14) who filled us in on his drama with the ship’s security after the Aussie Boys show a few days ago. After the show he was escorted out of the theater and questioned about striking a woman in the theater. Evidently a woman had accused him of striking her across the face during the performance. He knew nothing of the incident although the accusation shook him up enough to loose a good nights sleep. He never met the woman and after questioning, security told him it must have been a case of mistaken identity and not to worry about. I can’t imagine what the woman must have said to the man to make him strike her?  We had a nice discussion with Alec about his gay life and are glad to know more about who he is.  He is traveling with Ingrid, a friend, with whom he has never had the “orientation” discussion.  Of course, Kent is making plans to resolve this situation.

Dinner in the dining room was a formal event this evening and the theme of the night was a medieval theme. The dining room was once again decorated like a castle with colorful banners and all of the wait staff was dressed like knights. Many of the guests had festive outfits to fit the theme of the night.

The entertainment was a young couple that performed a variety of musical numbers on the violin. Laszlo is from Hungary and Claudia is from Italy and they now live in Florida. They perform all over the world in concerts, for musical performances, films and on cruise ships. They are extremely talented violinists.

Kingscoat Main Street

February 21, 2013  Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island, Australia

Penneshaw is a small picturesque country town located on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island with a population of less than 2,000 people. The island is located about nine miles from mainland Australia near the city of Adelaide. Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island after Tasmania and Melville. The island is almost the same size as Long Island, New York. Most people arrive via Ferry from the mainland, which is only a 45-minute ride. 30% of the island is protected Australian National Parkland. The island has a large population of Kangaroo, sea lions, wombats, birds, koala, sheep and penguins.

We stopped at the local pizza and coffee shop for coffee, where we also used the Internet wi-fi. The walk around the town’s hand full of shops was short and uneventful. We then took a shuttle bus from the small town of Penneshaw to the larger town of Kingscote for a look around. Kingscote is the largest town on the island but still small. The town has several small motels, bakeries, a market, hardware store, a few art galleries and souvenir shops. We stopped at the bakery for meat pies and sausage rolls for lunch, which we ate along the water’s edge. We wandered the small town’s shops before shuttling back to the town of Penneshaw and the ship. All aboard today is 4:30 so we did not have too much time but it was sufficient for what there was to see.

Kent occasionally still gets stopped by people who inquire about his porn star days (see 1/20).  One lady was so excited to talk and told Kent she has about 4 tapes on board and will check them out to see if she recognizes him!  There is hope for old age!

The entertainment this night was a young 24-year-old pianist by the name of David Schofield. David grew up in Manchester, England where he learned to play the piano before being shipped to Chicago where he studied piano for the next nine years. When David was only nineteen-years-old he won a music competition at Carnegie Hall and since then he has been performing all over the world at concert halls and aboard cruise ships. He gave a very entertaining concert with a wide range of music choices.