Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Daveywavey70]

Great Pics JP. Hope you’re both having a ball. 
 

Mr Luxury. I wouldn’t even………….

😁

[jpalbny]

Christmas Eve Day Part 2.

 

After a shower and fresh clothes we went out for the next round. We had tickets to the Mithraeum at 3:45. It was about a half hour walk from the hotel, so we decided to leave at 3:00 and make it a leisurely stroll past some familiar sights.

 

The Temple Bar Memorial. And blue skies.

 

 

The Mithraeum was nicely done. We had looked for it on earlier visits to London but finally figured out where it was this time. 

 

 

 

Now we took the Tube back home. Dinner was at Sushisamba in Covent Garden, less than 5 minutes from the Nomad. Always a nice meal here. We've been to their Las Vegas and New York locations too.

 

Plantain chips, yellowtail taquitos, and tuna belly rolls.

 

 

Pork belly anticuchos.

 

 

Shrimp tempura. Less breading and more flavor than the version served at home.

 

 

A cool dessert called Zen Garden. Lemon curd with crumbs on top. The flat "stones" were chocolate with a sugary shell. The larger round ones were chocolate truffles.

 

 

We were going to wander some more after dinner but I'm embarrassed to say that we finally ran out of energy after all of that activity on just a few hours of sleep. So we went back to the hotel and went to bed before 9:00.

 

The hotel had gifted us a half bottle of Perrier-Jouët Champagne but we'll have to save it for Christmas Day. 

[jillyf]

Greetings from Victoria Australia.  Christmas lunch was out by the pool. 

Very different to the  cold and snow in the northern hemisphere at 37C (98F) here. 
 

[QueSeraSera]

7 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

DW,

I prefer the Sun

 

6 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Mr Luxury. I wouldn’t even………….

😁

OK, now another internet search (probably shouldn't start with the Sun as a search term)

 

17 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

I'm embarrassed to say that we finally ran out of energy

Please don't be, we admire your energy levels!

The photos are superb.

The shrimp tempura looked particularly enticing.

[QueSeraSera]

2 minutes ago, jillyf said:

Greetings from Victoria Australia.

What a beautiful view!  I'm sure the lunch was a success.

[drron29]

In the west we arque about Christmas and Santa Clause. But here in Thailand were Christmas isn’t a holiday the old man in red brings true excitement for the young children. Here is breakfast at the Marriott Mayfair apartments on Christmas morning.

 

And Christmas breakfast was roasted turkey and veggies, pork with apple sauce and what might be the Thai version of Christmas cake.

I see my iPhone is up to it’s old tricks and turned the last photo upside down.

[Mr Luxury]

6 hours ago, drron29 said:

In the west we arque about Christmas and Santa Clause. But here in Thailand were Christmas isn’t a holiday the old man in red brings true excitement for the young children. Here is breakfast at the Marriott Mayfair apartments on Christmas morning.

 

And Christmas breakfast was roasted turkey and veggies, pork with apple sauce and what might be the Thai version of Christmas cake.

I see my iPhone is up to it’s old tricks and turned the last photo upside down.

Where's the gravy 🤔

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....(another Christmas Day is in the history books).....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

 

 

[drron29]

3 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Where's the gravy 🤔

That was the problem as they had pepper sauce for the turkey. I though had it with mango chutney as they always have 3 Indian dishes for breakfast. It went pretty well.

[mysty]

[drron29]

 

[TLCOhio]

17 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Christmas Eve Day Part 2.   After a shower and fresh clothes we went out for the next round. We had tickets to the Mithraeum at 3:45. It was about a half hour walk from the hotel, so we decided to leave at 3:00 and make it a leisurely stroll past some familiar sights.   The Temple Bar Memorial. And blue skies.  The hotel had gifted us a half bottle of Perrier-Jouët Champagne but we'll have to save it for Christmas Day. 

 

Appreciate JP's great visuals, details and follow-up from London.  Keep it coming!!   Fun to be following without needing to worry about airport messes in traveling.  We had a very nice, sunny, but cold, Christmas Day in Central Ohio.  It was a real White Christmas.  See below as proof.  Are those in south Florida jealous of us having snow on the ground?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

At the top right corner, see the red cardinal in the tree?

[silkismom]

So lovely to see a cardinal, I really miss them from when we lived in OH, GA & AR, their "song" isn't great, but oh the color.

[TLCOhio]

Yes, the red cardinals are wonderful, especially on snowy and/or dull days.  Great funnies, food pix's, etc., at the Cooler.  

 

The deer are busy and out working today at our ravine location.  Not taking today off as a holiday.   

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

The deer are out working this morning in Central Ohio around where we have some of our outdoor Christmas decorations.: 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, silkismom said:

So lovely to see a cardinal, I really miss them from when we lived in OH, GA & AR, their "song" isn't great, but oh the color.

Yes, I had trouble with a crossword puzzle last night because the clue was 'Cardinal' and I really didn't think 'song bird' was going to be the answer.  All the ones who live in our neighbor's hedge use their voices for is to warn us to get out of 'their yard.'  😀

[Host Jazzbeau]

JP and Chris:  are you back?  When we fly to Europe for a Noble Caledonia cruise, everybody [who are all Brits] are amazed that we would fly 'all that way' just for a two-week cruise.  What would they think of you doing it for 2 days!!!  But it sounds like the good time was worth it. 😀  

 

PS – I loved the picture of the Zen Garden dessert – sent it to DW, who stars in one of our undying family stories because as a toddler she walked through a newly-raked Zen garden in Maine.  I was glad to see that your dessert did not have footprints...

[Daveywavey70]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

JP and Chris:  are you back?  When we fly to Europe for a Noble Caledonia cruise, everybody [who are all Brits] are amazed that we would fly 'all that way' just for a two-week cruise.  What would they think of you doing it for 2 days!!!  But it sounds like the good time was worth it. 😀  

 

PS – I loved the picture of the Zen Garden dessert – sent it to DW, who stars in one of our undying family stories because as a toddler she walked through a newly-raked Zen garden in Maine.  I was glad to see that your dessert did not have footprints...

Well this Brit for one would happily fly that distance or more for an experience like that if only he could get a weekend off. Be clever about your flights, (overnight in a decent BC = an extra day), do a bit of planning and(as JP has)  don’t be a lazy ar*ed, handed on a plate, not even know which Country you're landing  in sort of traveller can make for a fantastic weekend away. Thinking that a 9hour flight isn’t worth a fortnights cruise on a wonderful little line such as NC would encourage me to urge them to hand their passports back in. I’d suggest, Host Jazzbeau, that you’re mixing with the entirely wrong sort of “Brits”. Did you meet them on P&O?

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Daveywavey70 said:

I’d suggest, Host Jazzbeau, that you’re mixing with the entirely wrong sort of “Brits”. Did you meet them on P&O?

Not an "Onslow" among them – wonderful people.  Retired professionals, well-traveled.  But as the only Americans onboard any of the four cruises, we were an exotic species!  Thankfully we can quote from more Britcoms than you can shake a stick at ["Listen very carefully, I shall say this only wanse"], so we were quickly accepted as eccentric, if colonial, cousins.  😀

[drron29]

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

[jpalbny]

We got home a little before 11:00 last night, and now I'm having an espresso while getting ready for work. Definitely worth the trip.

 

The Virgin Upper Class Wing and the Clubhouse were as good as we had remembered. Unfortunately the flight wasn't so great, largely because their catering seemed to be a shambles. Their food choices were a bit weird to begin with, and they didn't even have the only non-vegetarian main course offering available to serve.

 

Luckily we were still stuffed from Christmas dinner the day before. I assume that the catering must have been affected by the labor stoppages? Oh well; the flight was on time despite some vicious headwinds so I can't complain. So many people who were flying this weekend had (and still have) it much worse. 

 

Will try to post some pix from day #2 soon.

Edited December 27, 2022 by jpalbny

[UKCruiseJeff]

Seasonal Greetings to all Coolers ... and to say it is wonderful to see the resilience of Coolers to find nuggets of existential gold for travels and experiences in a bewildering world. It's reassuring and lovely.

[mysty]

Seems like a reasonable safety precaution......😅

 

[spinnaker2]

On 12/26/2022 at 6:22 AM, mysty said:

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....(another Christmas Day is in the history books).....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

 

 

That’s my next project for next Christmas. By then I could make a small wood of trees. 

 

[Daveywavey70]

5 hours ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Seasonal Greetings to all Coolers ... and to say it is wonderful to see the resilience of Coolers to find nuggets of existential gold for travels and experiences in a bewildering world. It's reassuring and lovely.

And to you Jeff and a very happy new year to you.