Monday, November 20, 2023
I’m up really early and actually get to post yesterday’s entry with photos!! And the seas are calm! I don’t know if we missed the gales or if they are still ahead of us, but I’m hoping we get to stop at the Azores, since I’ve never been there.
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| There's no sunrise to speak of, but much calmer seas than we were expecting! |
We plan our day backwards, because we have 5:30 reservations at La Cucina, the ship's Italian restaurant. That means an early lunch and, maybe, no breakfast. Well, actually, it means a visit to O'Sheehans where Nick can get his super thick French toast and Ginger and I get tea and fresh fruit. And we bring the last of our custard tarts! Nick says that he's had enough carbs and Ginger and I can split his second one! We make a token effort to talk him out of that; but we don't try too hard!
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| The tarts are not a work of art; but oh my goodness they are still good the next day! Nick has gone on line and found the receipt and also the real name, which is Pamela de Nata. They were created to use up the egg yolks left over from making meringue! |
They don't need our quiet table in the back and we hang out for a while before deciding that we need at least a little exercise and we walk around the deck and check out the seas - still fairly calm! Maybe we'll make it to the Azores after all. Nick canceled our rental car when the captain said the seas would be too rough to be able to dock, so if we do go ashore we'll have to come up with a Plan B. We find some lounge chairs right by the water at Spice and relax for a while, being mesmerized by the wake of the ship.
It's time for that early lunch and Ginger and I really want to Ruben we saw on O'Sheehan's menu. That means waiting while they wrap up breakfast. We should have just stayed at our table!! But we really needed to move a bit. Anyway, we're only second in line so there's no problem getting seated. The girls order a Caesar to go with the sandwiches and fries; but we're right by the atrium where the games go on, so it's pretty noisy.
When we're finished Nick goes down the atrium level to find his trivia team for the one o'clock competition. Ginger and I stay up here and watch the game. It's the one where you have three words and have to figure out their common denominator. It's fun to play and when it's over we go down to find the team and be cheerleaders. Turns out they've gone back upstairs and we could have just stayed put!! We go up and find that one of the team hasn't shown up. I get drafted to fill her spot and Ginger goes up to Spice to hold our spots.
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| There's a little tiny bowling alley hidden away! |
We don't do too badly and I contribute a couple of answers, so I don't feel too stupid! I go up to Spice but I don't see Ginger (I learn later that she is hidden behind one of the hot tubs, even though I thought I looked everywhere!). I've got photos to edit, now that I can add them to the blog posts, so I find a shady spot and spend about an hour and a half being somewhat productive.
Hmm, guess I'll go back to the room and see who I can find. It's Nick! We share a companionable silence playing on our devices until he and Ginger exchange texts and we go up to be with her for a bit. Then it's time to dress for dinner and call Christine to say we are going down to the restaurant.
We claim our table and she joins us presently. It's nice to have reservations for a change instead of being tied to a beeper and an uncertain schedule. We start with a "nice chianti" since it's an Italian restaurant and I have the Calamari Fritti with marinara sauce. There's more light breading than actual calamari, but it's tasty! My entree is the Osso Bucco alla Milanese (braised lamb shank, lemon, garlic and parsley Gremolata and saffron risotto) We've been told that it is a house specialty. The meat is very tender and the risotto is creamy. But the hit of the meal is the dessert selection. There are five choices and four of us, so it takes a while to decide what to leave out! We make excellent choices and do our round robin thing with Tiramisú, Panda Cotta alla Vanilla (blackberry marsala compote with meringue crunch), Cannoli with pistachio, chocolate and tutti fruit fillings, and Torta di Chocolate e Lamponi (chocolate tartlet with raspberry, pistachio, vanilla sauce) Oh! Who cares about the Osso Bucco? This makes up for everything.
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| The prize winner! |
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| First runner-up |
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| Pretty close |
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| Nick's fav |
Apparently we are old farts! Our tummies are full and we're ready to go to the cabin! We watch something or other about saving the sealife in Australia and I play a bit with the computer. This is where I learn that most of my photos won't download from the cloud out here in the middle of the ocean, so I can't really post what I want to. I guess anything is better than nothing! I give up and go to bed thinking the middle of the night will be better. (spoiler alert - it isn't!)
