.......idle jottings

[abenaki]

Dearest Ho

 

I humbly beg your apologies. Before retiring last eve, I wrote an, (obviously) witty and charming response to you. I awake to find it gone, perhaps deleted instead of sent. Alas. Something about an old Italian saying about always turning left at the fishermen, and never doubting your old friends.

 

You must be terribly debonaire in your new shirts. We will have an evening with stripes as the theme, and you will surely take home the cup.

 

Graziella, che bella, of course... Graziella... holding such an important place in la grande cinema italiana. Where else but in the Italian Provinces could you find the same shirts 30 years later. I must have met la mamma. Che bella.

 

Cheers to you....now where is the submit button?

[Jim Avery]

......is this some kinda code....rubber duck.....10-4.,.....the eagle has landed....my aunt in eastbourne is partial to sardines......or you could just clarify the matter Jim for those not possessing a Masters Degree in Mathematics ...... Maybe you just pressed the wrong button......if you will buy a cheaper brand of tequila, what do you expect.

 

My tequila is the best. My gardener says so. Makes it in the back of his truck. Calls it Muy Fuerte. I am still taking Spanish lessons so I think it says very smooth. You should try some.

[ho-hum]

Good thing there is no IQ test for being on SD. If there was, you know where I would be.....

 

.....yes sitting right alongside ho hum ! And you would make for the greatest company too old chap.

 

My tequila is the best. My gardener says so. Makes it in the back of his truck. Calls it Muy Fuerte. I am still taking Spanish lessons so I think it says very smooth. You should try some.

 

English translation for "Muy Fuerte":

 

STRONG WEEDKILLER: KEEP OUT Of REACH OF CHILDREN & THE ELDERLY !!!

 

Talking of strange alcoholic concoctions, a very dear friend of ours was drinking creme de menthe with brandy (same glass) last night.

You would be very surprised who.

Ho hum was !!!

 

Correction: Shanghai not Shanhai in a previous post on the other thread (above or below this one).

[ho-hum]

Following a vastly entertaining evening dinner spent with a most delightful couple.

Ho hum was informed that the lethal alcoholic concoction referred to in an earlier post is actually commonly known in the United States and is quaintly colloquially referred to as "Buffalo Pi*s" !

To paraphrase one of CC most erudite posters, ho hum would exclaim:

"Oh my........."

 

Do you see, we are approaching 40K views !

How very grown up this silly thread has become

Again:

"Oh my........"

[ctbjr1309]

Following a vastly entertaining evening dinner spent with a most delightful couple.

Ho hum was informed that the lethal alcoholic concoction referred to in an earlier post is actually commonly known in the United States and is quaintly colloquially referred to as "Buffalo Pi*s" !

To paraphrase one of CC most erudite posters, ho hum would exclaim:

"Oh my........."

 

Do you see, we are approaching 40K views !

How very grown up this silly thread has become

Again:

"Oh my........"

 

Indeed. Oddly enough, we had a lovely evening ourselves. Great company, excellent food and drink, outstanding service in unparalleled surroundings. That's what SeaDream is all about and that's what keeps us coming back.

 

Chef's Walk tomorrow. Details to follow.

[ctbjr1309]

 

Talking of strange alcoholic concoctions, a very dear friend of ours was drinking creme de menthe with brandy (same glass) last night.

You would be very surprised who.

Ho hum was !!!

 

For those of you who may wonder, I understand that concoction is known as a Stinger.

[Jim Avery]

For those of you who may wonder, I understand that concoction is known as a Stinger.

 

The same as I am familiar with as well. Never heard of Buffalo Pi*s.:eek: But then, I have led a sheltered life.:D

[ho-hum]

For those of you who may wonder, I understand that concoction is known as a Stinger.

 

Quite correct, quite correct.

BP was another concoction favoured by the self same gentleman which if memory serves correctly this time comprised of vodka, grapefruit juice, tequila......well that was all ho hum could remember anyhoooooo.

[ho-hum]

Dearest Ho

 

I humbly beg your apologies. Before retiring last eve, I wrote an, (obviously) witty and charming response to you. I awake to find it gone, perhaps deleted instead of sent. Alas. Something about an old Italian saying about always turning left at the fishermen, and never doubting your old friends.

 

You must be terribly debonaire in your new shirts. We will have an evening with stripes as the theme, and you will surely take home the cup.

 

Graziella, che bella, of course... Graziella... holding such an important place in la grande cinema italiana. Where else but in the Italian Provinces could you find the same shirts 30 years later. I must have met la mamma. Che bella.

 

Cheers to you....now where is the submit button?

 

Dammit !

Ho hum has done the self same thing !

Tapped the wrong button and a finely honed piece has gone the way of TRASH !

Ho hum would scrabble thro' the Trash Bin but the Waste Area cannot be found.

 

Then followed a prolonged sulk.

 

And so to resume with a much shortened piece.

 

Please once again accept ho hum's apologies.

 

The purchase of the shirts had various objectives in mind: gaining your approval, naturally was the prime reason, something to wear around the villa at St.Trops, seeing as you were cruelly dismissive of the bright yellow mankini selected and posted earlier to wet your sensual appetites and finally to take away from you the "Debonair, Fall, Trans-Atlantic Crossing Cup" which you and the Commander have shared over alternating years for the last 25 years !

But there are rumours that the competition is hotting up.

The Australian entrant and close friend is rumoured to be losing weight: a campaign of joining the "Body Beautiful" Brisbane Branch since early May.

And there are three new contestants from The Netherlands and they are younger (by far), cuter (by far) and leaner (by far) !

 

Ho hum will happily settle for hopefully achieving the first objective.

 

Ho hum then went on to write a silly piece about the "mamma" from the shirt shop and yourself which on reflection now, does not seem worthy enough or funny enough to repeat.

 

Ho hum concluded the piece about how much blondie and ho hum are looking forward to our forthcoming crossing, kicking it off with a luncheon at your favoured beach restaurant outside the capital.

Ho hum was wondering whether you and possibly the boys from Amsterdam would be interested in going to a bar to listen to Fado or Morna singers (the latter being the favoured music of the Cape Verdeans) ?

 

And for ANYBODY reading this waffle: do you know of any such bars or venues or maybe you can suggest alternate activities in Lisboa.

[ho-hum]

Sanary-sur-mer (France) yesterday: an attractive-ish port that was completely in-undated with hundreds of stalls set up on the quay side packed with throngs of mainly "peasant" women and their dutiful husbands, who seemed like trial patients for various kinds of anti-depressants, sleeping tablets or other brain numbing medicines !

They were empty shells, mouths open, gormless, blindly following their shrewish better-halves (he says with heavy sarcasm) seemingly incapable of speaking as they shuffled along behind their once beloved.

 

God the women's clothes on display were truly awful !

And the women vendors, managing to conduct purchases, give advice etc..at the same time as keeping a cigarette in their mouths with ash cascading everywhere and speaking in gutteral voices interspersed with much nonchalant shoulder shrugging and facial expressions which spoke "je ne donee pas une foooook".

The consistent theme this decade in this part of France is that of ordinary coloured clothes bound for Romanian womens hostels which had been intercepted and then gone through a design process which seemed to involve being dragged through mud and grey ash or a combination of both to varying degrees.

They seemed quite appropriate for peasant funerals and maybe working in the pig pen but for anything else: yuk !

The fashionable sexy and chic lady (of whatever age) was not to be found here.

They could'nt even be used by models to adorn second-hand tractors !

You ask yourself the question: Just what induces these people to breed ?

The people encountered seemed to have the general demeanour of characters you would see as extras from a low budget film set in the Medieval period where people were suffering from dreaded diseases and the ilk eeking out a miserable existence.

 

But amongst this overwhelming dross was a few "Fromagerie" stalls selling authentic Alpine cheeses which we tasted and bought along with a sliver Brie de Meaux for lunch.

A "Boulangerie" next for some bread was purchased: a half baguette grandly entitled "le pain de chef". Then some shrivelled black olives coated in oil and rosemary and some pastes (olive tapenade and anchovy paste).

Oh and a dozen oysters.

Back to vessel for lunch with a local Provencal rose but champagne for blondie.

 

The weather yesterday was awful. Grey, rainy from noon onwards and very, very cold.

Ironically the faltering vessel's air-conditioning which had behaved so well the previous week alternated between not working at all (causing consternation to our fellow American passengers mostly whom must be kept at a steady 60 degrees wherever they are: home-work-mall-restaurant-home-work-mall etc..).

Now the air-conditioning was jetting out Arctic winter conditions where Concierge ladies were discovered entombed in ice alongside large woolly mammoths.

Fortunately the ladies were thawed out and could resume their duties.

The public areas were generally freezing.

At cocktails things had improved but everybody had reported having had hot showers to keep warm. By mid-evening the air-conditioning problem was resolved.

 

A tour to Aix-en-Provence was on the daily itinerary but few seemed to have taken the long trip to the town on what would have been a very cold day. Most passengers seemed to be resting up.

 

To-day it is St.Tropez.

Chef's walk !

Hopefully better weather too though the planned morning beach time has been cancelled: so maybe the weather is not going to be that great (well for the morning at least).

[commander courageous]

But cuter, remember beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder!

 

Too bad you did not get into Aix. We had a lovely lady friend who owned a wonderful manse in town, close to the market for our morning croissants

and cappuccino. Regrettably, she has since passed and we often wonder

what became of that beautiful spot.

 

Ah, now on to St Tropez, and the beautiful people. Bet you are all decked out in your new finery and Blondie turning heads, as usual. Lucky you!

 

P.S. Don't know where I got the idea you were taking a side jaunt to Venice.

Anyway, those restaurants will still be there for another time.

 

Love to all until Lisbon in a few weeks.

[gcmv]

A couple of us visited the bridge as we were leaving (around 10:30 PM) and had a nice visit with Capt. Steiner.

 

@ctbjr1309: Back home in good old Germany, gcmv can feel how ho-hum exerts influence on you.

The correct name of this excellent captain is Steinar (not Steiner) Holmsteinsson. In post 734, ho-hum started to spell his name in an incorrect way for the first time.

And whenever gcmv reads or hears about "Steiner", he thinks about the chief character "Corporal Steiner" in the movie "Cross of iron" (picture enhanced)

Getlemen, please spell Captain Holmsteinsson aka Steinar corrcectly - gcmv (and surely the Captain himself) would spend words of thanks to both of you.:)

[ctbjr1309]

@ctbjr1309: Back home in good old Germany, gcmv can feel how ho-hum exerts influence on you.

The correct name of this excellent captain is Steinar (not Steiner) Holmsteinsson. In post 734, ho-hum started to spell his name in an incorrect way for the first time.

And whenever gcmv reads or hears about "Steiner", he thinks about the chief character "Corporal Steiner" in the movie "Cross of iron" (picture enhanced)

Getlemen, please spell Captain Holmsteinsson aka Steinar corrcectly - gcmv (and surely the Captain himself) would spend words of thanks to both of you.:)

 

Well, I'll be darned......

[ho-hum]

Beautiful St.Tropez yesterday and the weather returned to the glorious level of previous days before Sanary-sur-mer.

Clear blue skies but really chilly in the evening.

50 passengers descended on St.Tropez in tenders and a zodiac (inflatable dinghy) for a glorious Chef's Walk lead by Chef Tomasz.

A fantastic mid-morning of rose tasting and various local fare (small sausages, saucisson, oysters, escargots, bread and local cheeses featuring a large array of artisanal goat cheeses).

Most passengers seemed content enough to wander the streets of St.Tropez and browse or shop.

The owners (Mel & Helene) of the wine shop which was the venue for the Chef's Walk together with their two young daughters were invited by Chef Tomasz to dinner onboard: a very nice thing to do. They sent over a glass of Chablis Grand Cru, "Les Blanchots" to ho hum during the dinner; we met up later to thank him and chat about wine, Sea Dream and the day earlier. Great fun.

 

Cannes to-day with two golf venues available for those so minded.

Captain Courageous this is your kinda town: golf and style !

That would be something to croon about in the Piano Bar n'est pas !

[ho-hum]

Oh yes, some fool, who obviously drunk too much rose during the St.Tropez, Chef's Walk did his own "Ice bucket challenge" and dunked his head into the empty (of rose) ice bucket !

Who was the fool ?

Who else but your very own........

Haha

[ho-hum]

OK ho hum's spoiling you now.

Real time photos at 07.50am local time.

Have a nice day whatever you have on to-day.

[Jim Avery]

Oh yes, some fool, who obviously drunk too much rose during the St.Tropez, Chef's Walk did his own "Ice bucket challenge" and dunked his head into the empty (of rose) ice bucket !

Who was the fool ?

Who else but your very own........

Haha

 

 

Mr. Hum. This Gentleman also did the "Ice Bucket Challenge". Albeit a bit differently. We think differently in the South (or SouthWest).:eek:

[ho-hum]

Cannes yesterday.

And another day of glorious sunshine.

Most passengers were simply content to wander the marina and shops etc..

There was some kind of sailing competition and the rows of large classic sailing boats and their respective crews from all over the world were impressive indeed.

 

Now we are sailing into Monte Carlo in the half light passing a flotilla of amazing yachts of the super-rich.

Nothing can beat Sea Dream though.

For ho hum it is not too big and not too small with a crew ho hum loves.

And our voyage ends here.

For ho hum and blondie we will be back home by lunchtime and opening a bottle of champagne.

For our American friends, the journey is longer and the Air France pilots strike has added extra grief on their last day quite un-necessarily in ho hum's view. The pilots are very well paid and their demands must be curtailed this time by previous weak governments who have acquiesced to all and any wage demand.

 

Political broadcast over.

 

Thanks SD for another amazing voyage, meeting up with old and new friends.

 

Irritations from shoreside management are reaching greater levels than ever before but at least we now have salt and pepper mills that actually work and were not purchased from a Taiwanese joke emporium (though there was never anything funny about trying to use them: first mills which cause carpal tunnel syndrome to the thumb through frantic use to deliver a morsel of fine salt pr pepper).

And the ridiculous system of removing all sugar and sweetener from tables !

The temperature of your tea or coffee plummets and the normally attendant waiter is seen listening to some silly monologue by a passenger, two tables away. Oh God this is hell ! Finally, finally he catches your desperate expression of anxiety and enquires what the problem can be. Sugar ! He then turns around walks back to the station and returns with a veritable display of all thongs sweet but the cup of whatever is falling beyond warm.

Well now Oslo have decided to abandon this craziness alongside shaving chocolate onto the top of a cappuccino which generally ended up with shaving bleeding knuckles of the waiter.....mmmmmm. Often Belgian passengers, detecting the aroma of high grade cacao would sniff out the source of the chocolate like trained pigs searching truffles in the forests of Ardennes and would gorge on the chunks whole !

 

Well we are now in the executive lounge at Nice sipping rose and munching on french bread smeared with tapenade. Blondie is sending emails to Club Director on last minute alterations and ho hum is tapping away to you dearest.

Our chauffeured Mercedes was a snip of what SD charged and arrived at the gangway: the baggage handlers even brought us a bench to sit on with views towards the harbour in brilliant sunshine. What service !

[Poppy1966]

Welcome home Ho Hum. Do we have the awards to look forward to?

Have you tried the helicopter transfer in MC? It's a great service.

[Jim Avery]

Safe travels Ho-Hum. Thanks for taking us along.

[ho-hum]

Welcome home Ho Hum. Do we have the awards to look forward to?

Have you tried the helicopter transfer in MC? It's a great service.

 

 

Ho hum's derriere had just plonked down on his old brown leather sofa and with a pint of local beer from the pipkin (Pilgrims Brewery) in hand and had just switched on the TV to catch up on the Ryder Cup after un-packing jars of pesto, olives and pasta (no jars broken, phew!) when ho hum opened CC and you are asking about Awards already !

Poppy !

It is 15.16pm !

Poppy you should try ho hum's subscription service !

Which for the princely sum of £150.00 per annum paid into ho hum's wine account at Berry Bros. & Rudd (best tax avoidance scheme devised yet) you obtain posts 12 hours earlier plus signed photos of ho hum in various poses around the vessel.

Wine of the month club follows shortly.

 

The problem ho hum has is that there was one incident so funny but ho hum cant remember it for inclusion in the Awards.

This is causing some friction with blondie: the conversation goes like this:

"What was that funny thing that happened on the boat"

What funny thing ?

"You know the funny thing, the funny thing that made us laugh"

Really ? (With un-necessary sarcasm)

"Yes you know 'cos you said something about it"

Really ? (Sarcasm raised a notch)

"Well if you are not going to help"

I dont frigging know what the hell you're talking about

"You know, the funny thing"

I'm going to the kitchen, do you want anything.

"Yes"

What

"For you to remember the funny thing"

Stop talking about the funny thing.

"OK just saying"

Well dont.

 

Time for another pint.

Pick up bad smell from larder.

Dead mouse somewhere. Bugger.

 

Wish ho hum could remember the funny thing. It was really funny.

 

Awards soon after ho hum remembers the "funny thing".

 

Helicopter ride: how deliciously decadent.

No not tried.

We arrived way too early at Nice but it was OK. So a helicopter would have meant we would arrive even earlier.

Met a famous person in the lounge but again cant remember who he was either.

Again blondie no help.

 

Later to-day we will be looking for a Home for the be-fuddled: must have room for the wine collection (3000 bottles) in suitable storage conditions.

Being on SD is dangerous to your mental health: you dont have to think !

Just look what happened to Jim !

Or Gantt, not knowing his Positano from his Portofino !

You've been warned.

 

Hell, blondie has just found the mice. Aarggghh !

Screaming.

Maybe that has "kick started" her memory about the funny thing ?

Now should ho hum ask or not...........maybe ho hum will give it a few more minutes.

Dont want to appear insensitive.....

[ho-hum]

Safe travels Ho-Hum. Thanks for taking us along.

 

Too kind Jim, too kind.

[ctbjr1309]

ho hum's subscription service !

Which for the princely sum of £150.00 per annum paid into ho hum's wine account at Berry Bros. & Rudd (best tax avoidance scheme devised yet) you obtain posts 12 hours earlier plus signed photos of ho hum in various poses around the vessel.

Wine of the month club follows shortly.

 

Please sign me up for the deluxe subscription service. You know, the one where you pay 250 Pounds (sorry us lot don't have that symbol on our keyboards). Why, you ask, do I use the phrase "us lot"? Ask Blondie. She knows.

 

Oh, back to the deluxe version of the subscription service. That's the one without the photos thank you very much.

 

Cheers from cool sunny Paris where I'm sure that the Ryder Cup results I have seen are a mirage or some such......

[abenaki]

rodents in the larder?... oh, yes, very posh indeed.....a warm welcome back to reality, and no doubt pressing civic issues of great import.

[DisneyJen]

Thanks for taking us along on your voyage ho-hum and ctbjr!

 

Looking forward to the awards portion of the program:p