Date: March 20th, 2026
At berth in Ponta Delgada, Azores
I didn’t talk to anyone about the 19th and what they did, so I’ll tell you about my stay in Ponta Delgada.
Some say that getting old is a curse. They say that you lose your beauty, your energy, your sharpness, and slowly your memory. Let me say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being old in this port. My grandpa and grandma visited me in Ponta Delgada for the whole 4/5 days of shore leave. Our days consisted of long walks in the neighbourhoods of different fishing villages on the coast. My grandma could see every little detail that the scenery would offer them. Little details that escaped my 19-year-old eyes that were crucial from their point of view. And that is sharpness, being able to link an observation with their long-acquired experience or many stories, is their way of sharing their knowledge with younger generations. I also learned that my grandpa could be an F1 driver if he wanted to. Swerving in the curves of the mountain roads, in a manual car giving him troubles while terrorizing my grandma in the back seat and maintaining our conversation is a level of multitasking that I have yet to achieve. It was truly impressive. Throughout our day, I was getting exhausted from walking with my backpack from point A to point B. My grandparents? Absolutely not! Let’s go there! Oh, we should see that! They were tireless. We even went on a 7 km hike one day. I was really impressed to see people with a solid number of years to themselves still thriving and making a great vacation out of their trip to see me. Being old is another way of living life.
It’s experience-driven actions that are getting them through the days. Everything is thought of, the pros and the cons of doing a certain activity are rapidly being calculated in their head to make the best possible choice. I am a headless rooster banging into the walls of the chicken coop until I hit the door. I have a lot to learn from them.
My grandma always says, “I’m 70 with some dust“ because she doesn’t want to say her real age. Well, I won’t tell my grandparents‘ age, but I will say that they have a lot of dust left in them.
-Emeric Denis
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