Tuesday April 11, 2023
A day at sea, the first of many until we get back to New York other than a couple of stops in the Canary Islands and Southampton. The first lecture of the day was the impressive and grueling story of John McCarthy a young, up and coming journalist, sent to Lebanon during the unrest there for a month to cover the holidays of the bureau chief. As he was on his way to the airport to go back to the UK, his car was held up, he was dragged off, blindfolded and put in a 8 foot by 4 foot solitary cell for the first three months of captivity. He was then moved and eventually joined other US and UK hostages (like Terry Waite, and Terry Anderson) being held in the Beirut area. He was held for over 5 years. This first part went into the detail of his emotions being captured and the first period of his life as a hostage. A deeply personal story, brilliantly told. He will finish up the story in a couple of days. The second talk was a fascinating look by Dave Wright, the European Historian, talking about the life and death of Joan of Arc who in her 19 years of life before being burned to death in Rouen France,turned the tide of France that was systematically being defeated at every battle by the English.
We decided to take the afternoon to sort out the various packages and items that were all over the cabin while watching the movie “Out of Africa”. However we did enjoy the evening performance by the brilliant singer – ShellyAnne.
Chris Hamilton
Roger & Anne Travels 