Massage

Upon returning to the ship, after having lunch, I sat by the pool and read for awhile. In retrospect, I should not be surprised that they cancelled the snorkeling; it was so windy by the pool that a BEACH UMBRELLA (from one of the tables) flew overboard and was lost at sea. Yep, “Umbrella overboard!” (I wanted to throw it the life preserver, but it sunk like a stone.)

I also made a massage appointment. I signed up for one of those bizarre ayurvedic things where they drizzle warm oil on your forehead, as I’ve always wondered what that feels like. (Answer: feels surprisingly like someone drizzling warm oil on your forehead. Although I DO recommend experimenting with this at sea, rather than on land, as the experience was amusingly enhanced by the rocking of the ship, which sent me and the oil moving in a sort of delayed harmony.) The whole thing was quite nice, and it might have put me in a happier frame of mind if the massage dude hadn’t cheated me out of part of the treatment. (Was supposed to include some “foot polishing with Himalayan salts” thing.) After I went back to my room and verified that the salt thing had been left out, and after deciding that, dammit, the shopkeeper in Oia might have taken advantage of me, but, this holistic therapist dude sure as hell wouldn’t, I walked back to the spa and (in an effort not to mess up my Chi or Dosha or whatever the hell it was that he aligned), politely asked what happened to the foot polishing with Himalayan salts business? Wasn’t entirely clear of the explanation he gave for leaving it out, but he did say that if I come back tomorrow, he’d do that for me. Good.

(Especially because tomorrow’s tour also involves a Donkey option, and since the only alternative is a long walk, I may need a foot polishing either way.)