Dave's Live from Eurodam Transatlantic 24 Aug - 10 Sep 2011

[RetiredMustang]

Thurs., Aug. 25, Amsterdam

 

We rose early, and were just finishing breakfast when the ship announced that the Dutch immigration officials were aboard and ready to inspect passports. The ship had set up a rotation of times based on which deck your cabin was located, but were taking passengers early who were ready; in fact, they encouraged those with early shore excursions to go through immigration early.

 

We went down and found a very short line. The passport inspection was painless and quick, and we were able to refresh our coffee and go out on our verandah to watch the approach up the channels to the pier in Amsterdam. It was quite an interesting transit, with some pretty wetlands, and some industrial pier areas. At one point, we passed a line of picturesque Dutch windmills that I felt compelled to take a photo of to share with you. (;)). Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Picturesque_Dutch_windmills.JPG

 

 

Later on, we saw some authentic old windmills. We were a few minutes late arriving at the cruise terminal pier, a short walk away from the Amsterdam Centraal Station (train station), and the heart of the old city. We had visited Amsterdam about 10 years ago for a few days, and had seen the old city, the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Musuem, etc. So, when we were planning this trip, I asked DW if she had anything in mind to do, and she said, “Something to see outside the city, you know, windmills, cheese, wooden shoes.”

 

Well, the ship was offering the Windmills and Edam shore excursion, so I booked it weeks ago. This morning, we joined the other people in the Mainstage waiting for tour excursions. Several others were called, but so many had signed up for ours, they called for us in sections to go get on the buses. Everywhere we went had loads of tourists, so arranging this as a private tour would not have gained us much. But, we enjoyed ourselves very much, as the company HAL charters, and the cruise terminal itself, were very well organized.

 

We set off first to the small town of Edam, which still retains its older central area, and had an enjoyable stroll in the sunshine, with temps in the high 60s (about 20 C).

 

We then re-boarded the bus and drove to Zaanse Schans, an open area museum/monument to older Dutch life. We saw exhibition of making clogs (coincidentally enough at one end of a gift store selling many of the shoes and other souvenirs). We then walked to one of the authentic windmills (authentic, but not at this site – they were brought from elsewhere to be part of the monument.) We then saw a demonstration of making Dutch cheese, and an opportunity to sample several of the cheeses, including thosemade from cow, sheep or goat milk. And, an opportunity to buy some!

 

Then, back aboard for a short drive back to the ship, arriving about 1:30. Sorry, no photos of the excursion (forgot the camera, d’oh!)

 

I’ll post later with our afternoon and evening experiences.

 

Here is some info for those interested:

 

Le Cirque: Tonight is the special menu in the Pinnacle. Cost: $39.

 

Tonight’s show: “The Music and Mayhem of Davie Howes, Britain’s Virtuoso of Variety”. 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.

 

Music/Other:

- Queen’s Lounge: Travel Trivia with Travel Guide Ian, 7:00 p.m.; Battle of the Sexes Gameshow with Cruise Director Drew, 9:00 p.m.

- Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m. Happy hour 4:00-5:00 p.m.

- Piano Bar: Piano Man Michael 9:00 p.m. – close; Neil Diamond 10:00-11:00 p.m.

- Explorer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 6:00-11:00 p.m.

- Crow’s Nest: Solo guitarist Darlyne Cain, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Happy hour 7:00-8:00 p.m.

- Northern Lights: DJ Tyler, 9:00 p.m. – close.

 

Dinner menu in MDR:

 

Appetizers: Maple Fruit Melange; Seared Ahi Tuni Carpaccio; GardenSymphony with Montrachet; Grilled Shrimp.

 

Soups and Salad: Grandma’s Chicken Noodle Soup; Tomato Soup Florentine; Chilled Cranberry Soup; Baby Spinach and Button Mushrooms.

 

Entrees: Spaghetti Puttanesca; Alaskan King Crab Cobb Salad; Seared Scallop with Serrano Ham; Over-Roasted Beef Tenderloin Topped with Button Mushrooms; Venison Loin with Asparagus Tosti; Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast; Eggplant Cannelloni Parmegiano.

 

Available Daily: French Onion Soup “Les Halles”; Classic Caesar Salad; Grilled Soho Salmon; Perfectly Grilled Breast of Chicken; Top Sirloin Center-Cut Steak.

 

Desserts: Chocolate Platter; Crepes with Caramelized Pears; “Tom Pouce” (a puff pastry with vanilla cream); Lemon Torte no sugar added; Vanilla ice cream; Pistachio ice cream; Strawberry sorbet; Chocolate Frozen Yogurt; No sugar added Chocolate Chip ice cream; No sugar added Vanilla ice cream; Brownie Hot Fudge Sundae.

 

Available Daily: Chocolate Brownie Stack; Sliced Fruit Plate; Artisan Cheese Selection.

 

More later,

Dave

Edited August 25, 2011 by RetiredMustang

[cruz chic]

Thank you for the live from thread. Please keep the ship in one piece since I'll be getting on soon:D;).

[RetiredMustang]

Thurs., Aug. 25 (continued)

Once back aboard, we lounged on the balcony for a while, watching workmen bring up stores for the ship; apparently, Amsterdam is a re-stocking port for Eurodam, which makes sense. We also noticed many people joining the ship, and saw luggage being loaded aboard. We don’t know if they had missed the sailing from Dover, or had intended to board at Amsterdam all along.

One thing we noted that had been brought aboard already were soft drinks. In London, we discovered that the Diet Coke was the same as in the U.S. In most of Europe, we had experienced before that what was available was Coke Light. This is a fine beverage, but tastes a bit different than Diet Coke, which we prefer. When we opened our cabin’s mini-bar we found Coke Light. And, when I went to the Lido bar, they also had Coke Light. Oh well.

At four, we went to the Ocean Bar for our first happy hour. This was a little different than we had experienced on previous cruises, where they had two-for-the-price-of-one drinks. On Eurodam, they had a deal of buy one, get the second one for one dollar. Still, it is a deal if you want two of the same things. We had double-pour glasses of wine before early seating dinner.

I already posted the menu of what was available for dinner. For starters, I had the grilled shrimp, which were two large shrimp perfectly grilled, served with an interesting pumpkin coulis. DW had the chicken soup, and remarked that as always, HAL has the best soups. We both had the spinach salad. For entrée, I had the venison loin, while DW had the beef tenderloin (she says she doesn’t eat Bambi. :D) Actually, game, especially venison, is farmed in Europe and not usually wild-caught or hunted. It was common to see venison and “wild” fowl for sale in the markets in Germany when we lived there, and I imagine it was not difficult for HAL to purchase venison for last night’s dinner.

After dinner, we watched as the ship sailed out of the channel to the North Sea, watching farmlands, villages, industrial areas, etc., pass by. At one point, we settled into a lock to change level to continue on to the sea. Later, we watched the string quartet in the Explorer’s Lounge. This foursome are all young ladies, and they played many classical pieces.

We had thought to try the casino, but it was not open yet, probably because we were still in the Netherlands territorial waters and not in international ones. We are not big gamblers, but do enjoy playing the slot machines now and then.

On Friday, we visit Zeebrugge, Belgium, and we have an early shore excursion to the old city of Bruges (and the chocolate factory therein :)).

More later,

Dave

[Al_Frescoe]

 

Music:

- Queen’s Lounge: Natalie and HAL cats, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

- Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m. Happy hour 6:00-7:00 p.m.

- Piano Bar: Michael 9:00 p.m. – close. Sing-along 9:00-10:00 p.m.

- Explorer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

- Crow’s Nest: Solo guitarist Darlyne Cain, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Happy hour 7:00-8:00 p.m.

- Northern Lights: Dance request night with DJ Tyler, 10:30 p.m. – close. Battle of the Bartenders 10:30 p.m.

 

I am just off the Eurodam after the 12 day trip from CPH to Dover. My question is about the Neptunes. I had struck up a conversation with the drummer and he said they were getting off at Dover. This makes me wonder if "The Neptunes" is a generic name that HAL applies to anyone playing in that lounge. The group we saw consisted of a trio, the piano player was bald (self inflicted I assume), accompanied by a double bass and drums. They were quite good.

 

Curious.

 

Al

[momatibm]

As in my experience there are Neptunes, Addagio Strings, and HALCats on every ship I've sailed on HAL -- it's a generic name.

[RetiredMustang]

I am just off the Eurodam after the 12 day trip from CPH to Dover. My question is about the Neptunes. I had struck up a conversation with the drummer and he said they were getting off at Dover. This makes me wonder if "The Neptunes" is a generic name that HAL applies to anyone playing in that lounge. The group we saw consisted of a trio, the piano player was bald (self inflicted I assume), accompanied by a double bass and drums. They were quite good.

 

Curious.

 

Al

 

Al,

 

Yes, the "Neptunes" is a generic term for the band they hire for that; same as the Adagio Strings, "XXX" and the HAL Cats, etc.

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Friday, Aug. 26, Zeebrugge

As we approached Zeebrugge before dawn, there was a pretty impressive thunder and lightning storm As we pulled, there was rain and a heavy fog, which slowed us down a bit.

We met for our tour excursion on time, however, and boarded a bus for a 15-20 minute trip into the medieval central Brugge. The bus load split between two guides, to have more manageable walks through the town. We walked about town for about an hour, under a pretty steady rain.

The town was a rich seaport in medieval times, but the river has silted, and the modern seaport is several miles away. But, much of the older sections of town are still there, and we enjoyed our walk, looking at the canals, the squares, etc. Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Brugge_market_square.JPG

We then went to a demonstration of chocolate making that I found quite interesting. Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/chocolate_maker.JPG

We shopped afterward (of course they had a shop), and those who wanted could tour the chocolate museum. We purchased gifts for friends back home; maybe the chocolate will last that long (it won’t go bad, but it might get eaten … )

The rain stopped and the skies cleared a little, and we walked about the city for a bit more time, ending up at a square (the Walplein), where our guide said we had about 45 minutes to shop or whatever before heading back to the coach.

DW shopped for some more chocolate, while I went to one side of the square to a bistro and ordered a large local beer, with a pot of mussels and a plate of fries. DW joined me later for some of the fries. She also ordered a small beer, and we both agreed it was some of the best we had ever had. It was Straffe Hendrik amber beer, a strong beer made pretty much across the square.

We then strolled about 10 minutes or so to the outskirts of the old section to board the bus for the short ride back to the ship.

This was one tour you could do on your own if you wanted, or hire a private tour. A note in the daily planner said, “A complimentary shuttle bus will be offered from the Ruodam to the Blankenberge Train Station. From 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. the shuttle will run approx. every 20 minutes. The last shuttle bus from Blankenberge Station to the Eurodam will be at 4:00 p.m. … Direct trains between Blankenberge to Bruges run every hour. The bust takes about 20 minutes one-way; the train ride takes 15 minutes one-way. Train stations will only accept Euros as currency (no dollars or credit cards accepted.)”

That brings up a point – the chocolate factory shop did NOT take credit cards (and missed several sales as a result), and many of the shops in town also would not take them. The bistro where we lunched would only accept them for tabs of 35 Euros or more. So, no matter which way you go there, you should probably buy Euros and plan on using cash most places.

All in all, we had a great time, and thought the tour well worth it, despite the inclement weather.

Tonight is the first formal night, and I will post later about our evening.

Here is some info for those interested:

Tonight’s show: “In Concert, featuring the Singers & Dancers of the Eurodam”. 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.

Music/Other:

- Queen’s Lounge: Join DJ TYLER FOR Karaoke & Superstar Sign-Up, 9:100-10:30 p.m.

- Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m. Happy hour 4:00-5:00 p.m.

- Piano Bar: Piano Man Michael 9:00 p.m. – close; Darin, Vinton & Dion 10:00 p.m.

- Explorer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 6:00-11:00 p.m.

- Crow’s Nest: Solo guitarist Darlyne Cain, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Happy hour 7:00-8:00 p.m.

- Northern Lights: DJ Tyler, 10:30 p.m. – close.

Dinner menu in MDR (formal):

Appetizers: Pineapple Boat; Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail; Mille-Feuille of Duck Pate with Port Wine; Oysters Rockefeller.

Soups and Salad: Duck and Sausage Gumbo; Cream of Four Mushrooms; Chilled Blackberry Soup; Salad of Arugula and Frisee.

Entrees: Brown Butter Gnocchi with Roasted Squash; Brazilian Shrimp Salad; Red Mullet with Lemongrass Broth; Thermidor and Fillet; Oven-Roasted Rack of Lamb; Quail with Apricot Bread Stuffing; Roasted Vegetable Tart.

Desserts: Chocolate-Espresso Souffle’; Master Chef Rudi’s Double Strawberry Cheesecake; Savarin; Black Forest Cake no sugar added; Vanilla ice cream; Coffee ice cream; Strawberry sorbet; Peach Frozen Yogurt; No sugar added Neapolitan Ice Cream; No sugar added Vanilla ice cream; Amaretto Java Sundae.

More later,

Dave

Edited August 26, 2011 by RetiredMustang

[RuthC]

Your mention of Belgian chocolate has made me drool, but I expect you realized that when you wrote it.

The lace there makes a lovely gift, too. It's beautiful.

[RetiredMustang]

Friday, Aug. 26 (continued)

We relaxed for a while after our shore excursion, and then changed to formal clothing for the evening. I had rented a tux, and DW brought formals. We went down just after 4 for happy hour in the Ocean Bar, and were among the first in formal for the evening.

At early seating dinner, we saw a few other men in tuxes, but most were in suits or sport coats. The ladies ranged in dress from long gown like DW to cocktail dresses or dress trousers and sparkly tops.

For dinner, I had shrimp cocktail while DW had the pineapple. We both had the mushroom soup, which is always superb on HAL. DW again had beef for dinner, while I opted to try the quail with apricot bread sauce. It was two birds, served with roasted potatoes and steamed savoy cabbage shreds. Excellent!

After dinner, we tried our luck for the first time in the casino. After a fairly short while, I was $15 ahead (mostly on penny machines, so that tells you I was really lucky), so I went to grab a seat in the Explorer’s Lounge to listen again to the talented string quartet. DW joined me later, and we had a pleasant time listening until the group took a break. (By the way, they served the good nuts in the Explorer’s Lounge then; the previous evening it was just peanuts.)

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Saturday, Aug. 27, At Sea

 

We set the clocks back an hour last night, and even so I slept in late (for me) – it was almost 6 a.m. when I got up!

 

We had a leisurely breakfast, and wondered the ship as I took photos. I will post them a few at a time as the cruise goes by. (Joanie, grab whatever you like, but I took many more than I probably will post, and can explode your inbox with higher-res ones when I get back – the highest res that the CC photo gallery will take is about 600 x 450 pixels)

 

Attached is a photo of the sports bar, and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_sports_bar.JPG

 

More ship photos to follow over the days.

 

Also, when I was on the 2009 equivalent of this cruise, I kvetched about the uncomfortable chairs in the Pinnacle Bar. I feel I must report that, happily, the ship has changed the seating there – although they are not as comfortable as the ones in the Ocean Bar, the new chairs are much better than the straight-backed chairs of 2009. Photos of the two sets of chairs attached and at:

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_Pinnacle_Bar_2009_1_.JPG

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_Pinnacle_Bar_2011.JPG

 

At 10:30, we had the CC meet and greet in the Crow’s Nest. Azalice did a great job of oorganizing the M&G, and the Captain, HotMan and CD joined us. I took some photos, attached are ones with the HotMan and Captain speaking with some of us CC’ers. They are also at:

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/504/Captain_Darin_Bowland_with_CC_members_at_meet_and_greet.JPG

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/504/Hotel_Manager_Marco_van_Belleghem_with_CC_members.JPG

 

 

 

Here is some info for those interested:

 

Tonight’s show: “Ballroom Rush: Presenting Ballroom Champions Roman & Svetlana in a Quick Change Extravaganza”. 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.

 

Music/Other:

 

- Royal Dutch Tea, Rembrandt Dining Room, 3:00 p.m.

- Queen’s Lounge: Join Cruise Director Drew & DJ Tyler for A Line Dance Party, 9 p.m.

- Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m. Happy hour 4:00-5:00 p.m.

- Piano Bar: Piano Man Michael 9:00 p.m. – close; Bennett, Cole & Mathis 10:00-11:00 p.m.

- Explorer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 6:00-11:00 p.m.

- Crow’s Nest: Solo guitarist Darlyne Cain, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Happy hour 7:00-8:00 p.m.

- Northern Lights: DJ Tyler, 10:30 p.m. – close. Dance Through the Decades, 10:30 p.m.

 

Dinner menu in MDR (smart casual):

 

Appetizers: Fresh Fruit with Peach Schnapps; Scandinavian Seafood Medley; Crostini with Fresh Tomato, Basil and Prosciutto; Mushroom Chroizo Strudel.

 

Soups and Salad: Hungarian Beef Goulash Soup; Norwegian Fish Chowder; Chilled Blueberry Soup, Scottish Delight (salad with salmon).

 

Entrees: Mushroom Ravioli; The Chef’s Salad Bowl; Snoekbaars with Snert (perch in split pea soup); Sauerbraten; Wiener Schnitzel; Roasted Duck with Sour Cherry Shutney; Mille-Feuille of Forest Mushrooms.

 

Desserts: “Brunterta” (spiced chocolate cake); The Alize’ (passion fruit mousse and sponge cake), Kaiser Schmarrn (carmalized pan cake with rum raisins, berry compote and vanilla ice cream); Forest Berry Dream Cake no sugar added; Vanilla ice cream; Rocky Road ice cream; Orange sorbet; Cookies and Cream Frozen Yogurt; No sugar added Fudge Tracks Ice Cream; No sugar added Vanilla ice cream; Cherries Jubilee Sundae.

 

More later,

Dave

Edited August 27, 2011 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

It looks like the meet and greet photos maybe did not attach themselves to the previous post, or my browser is just not showing them right now at sea (although they should still be available at the photo gallery). Trying again to attach them. Sorry if they duplicated.

 

Dave

Edited August 27, 2011 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Your mention of Belgian chocolate has made me drool, but I expect you realized that when you wrote it.

The lace there makes a lovely gift, too. It's beautiful.

 

Ruth,

 

We bought individual-wrapped squares of chocolate at the chocolate factory to take home as gifts. However, I thought you might appreciate photos of what DW bought afterwards ... to try to ensure that the gift chocolates actually made it all the way home.

 

The truffles are about the size of my whole thumb. The discs are about 2 to 2-1/2 inches across.

 

 

The chef said the difference between Belgian or Swiss chocolate and other countries' ones is that they use only cocoa butter, whereas others use other oils to stabilize or raise the melting temperature. The problem is that some raise the melting temperature above the level of the human mouth, and the remaining bits leave a sometimes bitter residue on the roof of your mouth.

 

These do not :D.

 

More later,

Dave

Edited August 27, 2011 by RetiredMustang

[Al_Frescoe]

Al,

 

Yes, the "Neptunes" is a generic term for the band they hire for that; same as the Adagio Strings, "XXX" and the HAL Cats, etc.

 

Dave

 

Thanks :)

 

Al

[Wayfairers]

Dave - you are doing a wonderful job, I appreciate the detail you provide. Enjoy!

[liketraveling]

Love your live thread!

 

Thanks for posting the Photos!

 

I will be sailing on the Eurodam in October.

 

 

 

 

Gail

Edited August 27, 2011 by liketraveling

[RuthC]

... I thought you might appreciate photos of what DW bought afterwards ... to try to ensure that the gift chocolates actually made it all the way home.

 

The truffles are about the size of my whole thumb. The discs are about 2 to 2-1/2 inches across.

You're killing me here, Dave!

 

A most thoughtful CC member joined a cruise I was on when the ship turned around in Amsterdam (or was it Rotterdam? I forget). Anyway, he and his lovely wife had been in Belgium prior to their cruise, and they brought me the most delicious assortment of Belgian chocolates. They came in a chocolate shell, also made of chocolate!

Oh, to die for.

[Harley57]

Dave, thanks so much for sharing your trip. We will be on Eurodam next June visiting the Baltics. Like RuthC I am drooling over the pictures and descriptions of the chocolate. Your pictures of Brugges bring back wonderful memories of a business trip there 15 years ago on a beautiful, sunny Spring day. I look forward to following the rest of your trip.

[RetiredMustang]

Some more ship photos.

 

A quick post as dawn breaks over the Irish Sea on the Sunday morning. Here are some more photos of the ship -- the Lido pool, a Lido cabana and the gym. They are attached, and at:

 

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_Lido_pool.JPG

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_Lido_cabana.JPG

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_gym.JPG

 

I noticed that the Lido cabana area had about half cabanas and half dining tables; looking at the ceiling, I could see where the cabanas had been, because the name plates are still there. It's obvious they can shift back and forth from cabana to open space in each rectangle.

 

In any case, I'll be back to describe our day in Eire. Glad you are enjoying my thread.

 

More later,

Dave

Edited August 28, 2011 by RetiredMustang

[hal lover]

Dave~ Love your posts! Can you tell me what time the gym opens in the morning? THANKS!

[ookpik]

Thank you for your extraordinary pictures.

I LOVE Bruges;still have some lace from there which was bought fifty years ago

[ironin]

Always a pleasure to read one of your "Live from..." threads, Dave. Thanks so much for taking the time to share with the rest of us!

[YlangYlangF9PB3E]

This is my first "Dave's Live From" thread. WOWOWIE! Love it!!! Just said to DH, "I am enjoying this SOO much.....should I read it day-by-day, or save it 'til the end and read the whole thread at once?"

 

My decision is to read it day-by-day to have something wonderful to look forward to each morning.

 

Thank you so much for taking time from your vacation to journal your trip. I am enjoying your cruise SO MUCH, and wish I could find all of your "Live From" threads. Also wish you'd write a book .... I would be first in line to buy it.

[Coolcruise02]

Thanks so much for the review! We will be sailing on her next year in the Baltic so I really appreciate all the info and the pictures. :)

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, Aug. 28, Dublin

(Sorry for not posting later Sunday. When I tried to log on, I could access the MTN server, but it did not have access to the Internet; something in the Dublin port or onboard was interfering. After trying for several times, I just wrote in my blog file, figuring to post when I could. In any case, the narrative picks up with Sunday morning.)

We arrived into Dublin Harbor after a beautiful orange and magenta sunrise over the Irish Sea. The approach was pretty direct, and we sailed up the Liffey River behind a P&O ship, and berthed at the Dublin Port.

The port is industrial, and while it may be possible to walk to town, it was pretty far and not scenic. The Port of Dublin operated a shuttle service to downtown Dublin (Kildare Street, near Trinity College) for $5 one way, $10 round-trip starting at 9:a.m. The last shuttle from downtown left at 8:30 p.m. The shore excursion director said the ship had arranged with the port so that passengers could charge their room accounts instead of paying in cash. We did not take it, so I can’t relate personal experience, but we saw several shuttles discharging fellow passengers during the afternoon, so it appears it was working well.

We had been in Dublin before for several days, and had done the Temple Bar dining/pub thing, and the Guinness tour, museums, etc., so we looked for a tour out of town, and picked the Ballyknocken House and Glendalough excursion. Ours was the first tour called after the ship was cleared. Being Sunday, we drove along the south bank of the Liffey and down the coast a ways before hitting the motorway towards Wexford. We turned off shortly and headed into the hills, through green pretty countryside with hedgerows marking farms and sheep pastures.

We dropped down to a narrow valley with two lakes (the guide said that Glendalough means valley with two lakes). There, we toured the ruins of the monastery of St. Kevin, who lived about 50-100 years after St. Patrick; the monastery of his name lasted for centuries, until dissolved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in the 1500s. There were remains of a cathedral, a small church and a chapel, and a stone tower that was well preserved (photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Glendalough_stone_tower.JPG )

We re-boarded the bus and drove not too far to Ballyknocken House farmhouse bed and breakfast (photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Ballyknocken_House.JPG ), and an associated cookery school. One of our sons, who is a foodie and fan of Ireland, was impressed that we were going to see scones being made by Catherine Fulvio, who it runs the school. She is a well-known television chef, on TV shows primarily in Ireland, Britain, Australia and Canada, although she also has been featured on the NBC Today show in the U.S. as well. In fact, she had just returned from the U.S., where she had been in D.C.

When we arrived, we went into a large room that was the cookery school, and Mrs. Fulvio held us rapt for a long while with her stories, and demonstrations of making both soda bread and sweet scones. (photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Catherine_Fulvio.JPG ) She is witty, engaging, young and beautiful, and told wonderful stories of growing up on the farm, working both around the farm and in the B&B, and learning to cook from her mother. She explained the non-Irish last name by telling us her maiden name was Byrne, but her husband Claudio is from Sicily. She said the locals call him Claudi O’Fulvio … which he apparently is not fond of.

We then went to the converted hay barn and enjoyed fresh scones with Irish butter and some of her homemade rhubarb-ginger jam, and some fine strong tea. Delicious! We then re-boarded the bus back to Dublin. The guide and driver maneuvered the bus near to Trinity College where most of the people got off to shop or whatever downtown. We stayed on as it already after 2:30 and we had reservations at Canaletto and did not want to get caught up in doing things in town and get back too late to enjoy.

We got back, and had time for happy hour in the Ocean Bar before our 5:30 Canaletto reservation. The dinner was great as always. We started with the antipasti (photo attached). The menu has not changed much (attached), and ranged from the antipasti, which is authentic Italian, to other dishes which are not. But, it just says it’s an “Italian-inspired” restaurant. The food is still great.

I had the salad, and the linguine al frutti di mare (with shellfish). DW had the minestrone and the chicken Marsala. We passed on dessert and went walk-about around the Lido, looking for the chocolate avalanche cake from the dinner menu. The Lido serving lines were all closed! We were lost for a bit, because everyone at the tables had food; we were a bit slow, but it soon dawned on us that they were serving at the Lido deck around the pool.

We went to look and found that they had an international food fest going on around the Lido pool, ranging from Irish, to Italian, to German, to U.S. foods, and a wicked dessert station! I don’t remember seeing that food fest advertised in the daily planner, but could have overlooked it – so, take that as a tip and check out the Lido menus sometime during the day as well. I sure hope I did not miss a Filipino night, with lumpia, chicken adobo and pancit bihon, some of my favorites (although I always have the fallback of the chocolates in the extremely unlikely event that I’m ever hungry … at least for another day or so).

We then listened to the strings again in the Explorer’s Lounge. We had thought about maybe catching the featured Irish performer in the Mainstage show lounge, but decided in the end to give it a pass and return to our stateroom, where I discovered I could not raise the Internet, so I updated this blog on the Word file I am writing as I go (it is easier, and saves a lot of minutes online, if I write it in Word and just cut and paste on line. Plus, sometimes I remember to spell-check. ;)).

I have also noticed a slow-down in speed on filing photos to the CC gallery the last day or so, so I may shift to only using the attachments, and post higher-res photos to the photo gallery after I get home. I will still try the CC gallery, especially for photos with lots of detail, but may give up sooner instead of trying for multiple times to get a photo to “take” in the gallery.

Some information for those who may be interested.

Tonight’s show: “A Night of Irish Comedy with Paul Brogan; The Irish way of looking at life through comedy, songs and stories”. 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.

Music/Other:

- Queen’s Lounge: Join Party Planner Sydney for Foodie Fight: Beer Trivia, 7:00 p.m.; Natalie & The HAL Cats, All Request Night, 9:00 p.m. – 12:00 mn.

- Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m. Happy hour 4:00-5:00 p.m.

- Piano Bar: Piano Man Michael 9:00 p.m. – close; Frank Remembered 10:00-11:00 p.m.

- Explorer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 6:00-11:00 p.m.

- Crow’s Nest: Solo guitarist Darlyne Cain, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Happy hour 7:00-8:00 p.m.

- Northern Lights: DJ Tyler, Music Mix, 9:00 p.m. – close.

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Dinner menu in MDR (smart casual):

Appetizers: Fruit Ceviche; Salmon Tartare with Baby Zucchini; Grilled Vegetable Tower; Veal and Mushroom Ragout.

Soups and Salad: Seafood Soup Provencal; Dutch Pea Soup with Blood Sausage; Chilled Rhubarb Soup; Garden Bounty (salad).

Entrees: Whole Wheat Pasta Primavera; Grilled Tuna and Haricots Vert; Crispy Sweet and Sour Shrimp; Beef Strip Loin with Hache Sauce; Grilled Molasses Lam Chops; Turkey Roast with Giblet Gravy and Cranberry; Curried Vegetable Cutlet.

Desserts: Chocolate Avalanche Cake; Banana and Coconut Cream Trifle; Brioche Toast with Caramelized Apricots; Chocolate Mousse Torte no sugar added; Vanilla ice cream; Chocolate Chip ice cream; Watermelon sorbet; Raspberry Frozen Yogurt; No sugar added Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream; No sugar added Vanilla ice cream; Blueberry Sundae.

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Canaletto menu

Sorry, I forgot to attach the Canaletto menu:

Antipasti: assorted. (I did attach a photo of that on the previous post.)

Insalata e Zuppe: Insalata Canaletto; Minstrone; Zuppa di Pesce.

Pasta, Carne, Pesce e Pollo: Penne Alla Vodka; Linguini Frutti di Mare; Baked Meat Lasagne Pomodoro; Veal Milanese; Chicken Marsala; Cod Putanesca; Spaghetti with Meatballs.

Dolci: Trio of Tiramisu; Limoncello Crème; Mille-Feuille of Madagascar Chocolate; Gelato.

Wines: you could order off the regular menu (which I will post later), or could buy special Italian wines for $5 per glass/$22 per bottle: Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie; Mueller Thurgau Trentino; Salento Rose’; Primitivo di Puglia; Pinot Noir Pavia; Nero D’Avola Merlot di Sicilia; Montepulciano d’Abbruzzo

There were also many variations of drinks based on limoncello, the lemon-flavored (and potent) liquer from Sorrento.

More later,

Dave

Edited August 29, 2011 by RetiredMustang