Sea Day Sunday

 Today was another sea day.  We got up went to Mass and then for some rather shoddy breakfast, but still breakfast.  I really don’t care to go to the Windjammer (the Buffett) as there are never seats available and one of us has to go scout a seat while the other one gets her food.  It is pure chaos and Americans seem to LOVE a buffett.  Claire found us a seat with another couple but it was grudging and when I said “hi“ to the lady she didn’t even speak.  Regardless after we got our painting stuff and i took myself to the ships Starbucks.  It was actually as reasonable as buying it at one of the stores.  AND it was good coffee.  We painted through lunch so about 2ish we cane back to the room and pidddled, Claire napped and we started seeing Icebergs. 

 After dinner

we went to the Show what was a person doing  Cover for Celine Dion, but I didn’t really enjoy her as it almost felt like she was mocking her.   Claire and I both really like Dion and were disappointed.  She ended her show with the song from Titanic, which WAS rather funny.  YOu can tell these folks are children of the 70’s as in lieu of a lighter they were all waving their cameras. 

 Back to the Schooner and it was Baileys and Butterscotch for a nightcap.  Not sure weather to laugh of cry but ( I did a non scientific study ) 40% of the people in the bar were on their phones, that table of 4 bedside us all 4 were sitting there on their phones.

Coloredland, not Greenland

 Greenland

 Got up this morning to clouds, and it was hard to differentiate the land from the clouds, but as the sun came out and the haze burned off the landscape was easier to see.

  Claire sent me up to deck 12 to see an iceberg, but it was a embryonic one.  Breakfast was (Eggs Benedict) poached eggs which I had to send back, I hated that but the eggs were not even remotely runny.  I would have never gotten that choked down.  Regardless they were good once I had a new batch. 

We tendered into the village today Qaqortog. We chose not to do any sort of excursion here as the village is so small and there really was not much to do.  We wandered ( I was terribly surprised later that we actually put on. 8,000 steps) around, looked in a few souvenir stores/ stalls, but everything is terribly expensive.  

I really loved the rock carving that is an effort to beautify the village.  

The houses are all colored and originally they signified the profession of the person living in the house.  Yellow house/building indicated Medical , Blue indicates fisherman, (I guess my family house wold have to be blue) and churches and schools are red.  It is not a requirement any longer, so we say cranberry, peach, orange, and purple today.  Also I learned today the the government owns all the land and folks have a “right “ to live on it.  They can and do on their homes, but just not the property underneath.  We thought we were going to get a coffee but it when it finally opened only sold liquor. 

 So no contributing to the economy.  The weather was lovely, I started out with long sleeved tee, a sweater, and both parts of my coat and ended up with the coat totally off.    

We came back and water colored for a while.  

Dinner was good and we are resting up for a late night to hopefully see the Northern Lights which have eluded us so far.  

Hot Water

We got up early this morning after putting in an order for breakfast that never showed.   We left at 7 AM on a bus to a fissure and beautiful waterfall, this area was were the Icelanders first became united with a leader, and they celebrate every year at this site.  It was rainy but lovely.

Then we went to another spa, this one was not as nice.The drill was the same and the water not quite as hot.  Nor did it have the 7 Steps, though there were saunas and steam rooms. It was on the edge of a lake too and some folks were getting in.  

The unique thing about this spa  was the little spinner for your suit that you stuck it in, and it spun the excess water out fo the suit.  That was nice.

  Also I had to laugh at the shoe rack on the way out,  all women’s shoes and boy was that a stinky hallway!

I finally had some hot chocolate as we waited for everyone to get back together.  They bearded us back on the bus and we went for lunch.  WE sat at tablés with rolls and butter and a bowl with a plate under it.  Before we knew it they had brought big bowls of tomato soup,and then they brought out salmon with rice and mixed veggies, accompanied by a mango curry sauce that MADE the meal!  We then walked to a waterfalls which was lovely.

Next were geysers, a big one and lots of small ones.  It reminded me of being in Yellowstone.  

It flet that everywhere you looked there were little vapors or bubble pots with hot water.  Last but not least, Crater Lake,  it has the bluest water!

We got back on the boat in time for the boat to depart and went to dinner.   

The show tonight was a pianist with an interesting story for each song he played.  IT was nice.  Down to one of the bars for music and a Snickers drink,  Peanut butter whiskey and baileys.  

Infinity 9-3-25

 

Today we got into port about 12:30 .  We went to the dining room for breakfast and I ordered French Toast, Bacon and coffee. I got the bacon at the end of my meal.  The coffee here leaves something to be desired.  The French Toast was good.  

We had had reservations at the Blue Lagoon Spa and it was cancelled and our money refunded, so Claire found a trip to the Sky Lagoon on Viator.  While a bit confusing, and apparently very confusing for some as one lady bellyached so much about it that I was craving some masking tape.  

The spa was lovely, we had to take off our shoes, then put on our suite, shower without bathing suits  and then put them back on again .  That was a feat.  Then we entered a rock tunnel, down steps into lovely warm water.  It is hard to describe, but there was an infinity pool lookin out over a lake and mountains in the background.  IT was lovely.  The spa itself has also a Cold Plunge (I passed), a sauna, a cool mist room (I hoofed it through!) a salt scrub, a steam room, a shower and then an « elixir » .  It was a shot glass size of something refreshing the attendant said lemon and herbs. We spent some more time in the hot pool.  

Claire had brought her phone to the pool to take a few pics and then ran it back to the locker and stubbed her toe on the way back.  We stopped for coffee ( me) and a goodie and then took a taxi to the city center.  Can you say sticker shock?   Take a wild guess __________( Not sure what it is).

  We walked around for a bit shopping, but shopping was so expensive that we were having serious sticker shock here too.  Sweatshirts were around $70-90.  Tee Shirts about $25.  We were afraid to even look at the menus of a restaurant so when we were done shopping, we were tired, my old ankle was telling the weather and Claires toes were beginning to throb, so we cravenly  took another taxi back to the ship.  

Dinner was so-so Salad, Foccacia, olives and cheese.  We were too late for the Show so tried to find the northern lights to no avail and we went to bed.

Ate the World, But Adored the Wine

 Today we just sort of poked about, We went to the dining room for breakfast, I had a breakfast burrito but it was mostly potato, coffee (the coffee here leaves a lot to be desired), and OJ which was pretty watery.  After we went to the back of the boat to a bar area that is full of windows and has great light.  We painted through a art educational offering, a trivia game and then listened to a seminar on ( all the while painting) on the northern lights and how to capture them with your camera.  It needed up being a sales call to purchase a GoPro.  Regardless the painting was fun  and we enjoyed that.  Lunch was in the Windjammer, a buffet, I had asparagus soup, ( mine is better). And a roll and some meat and cheese.  Just something light as we were going to the Chefs Table in the evening.   

After I went to a French Class, pretty basic stuff and then we went to a cocktail making class that was pretty fun, one of them is surely a do over.

We sat and people watched while claire tried a Peanut Butter Whiskey and Baileys drink that she said was delish. We piddled some more and got ready for dinner.  

The Chef’s Table  was fun, the people were interesting (One couple had been on the bus behind us going to Edinburgh) and the food was fun.

We started with a Scallop Carpaccio, which (each course) was paired with wine, 

followed by a roasted Tomatoe soup that I am still dreaming about. 

 It showed up as a tomatoe in a bowl with a bruchetta on the side, and I thought, how is this soup?

That was followed by a Lobster salad and another wine.  

The chef is Asian so lots of Asian inspired elements, for example the veggies under the lobster and the dressing.

  Then was a Sea Bass course that I had little trouble passing up as I was getting full ( I did try it, but….)  This was followed by a filet that was prepared SO to my likeing that I had to eat almost every bite, and it was accompanied by a wine that also hit my hot button.  Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. 

 One of our dinners guests raved about Napa wine, and while it is good I often prefer Sonoma.  But this one ticks off the list, a good nose, nice color, awesome taste and a goof finish.  Now can I find it at home?  

The finale was a chocolate globe filled with a peanut butter ganache, Valrhona chocolate mousse & salted caramel gelato.  But the piece de la resistance was the hot Carmel sauce that was poured over it.  It was accompanied by a espresso

martini which was good but mostly left un loved because i had had enough wine and food for a while!  It was a very fun though! Nice not to have to worry about getting home safely, just back to the room.

I got up several times to look for the Northern lights, but alas nothing did I see.