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Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

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Fletcher "Live from...." Rare

Fletcher

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We had Jamie Oliver for dinner last night.  One of our favourites.  Squid served with a stuffing of onion, thyme, black pudding, chopped tentacles and breadcrumbs.  Browned in garlicky, slightly chillified olive oil with a medley of tomatoes and broad beans.  Serve with ciabatta or crispy spuds or both. I think it calls for a red wine. (I cooked this in a new pan, a Scanpan from Denmark, which is just fabulous. Will get more of this range.)

DSC_0010.jpg

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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Well, Thursday afternoon with a little more than 24h to go, we decided to cancel the Finland trip and reschedule. The travel regulations were changing by the minute, Finland's restaurants are now prohibited from selling alcohol after 5PM, and it was becoming a hassle to even take the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. So we bailed.

 

We have tentatively moved it to November of this year. It was a frantic couple of hours but the Transatlantic flights are converted to an e-credit, the Finnair flights to/from Ivalo are rescheduled, and the Northern Lights Village stay is rescheduled. Lots of hold time but that was done. I canceled the Helsinki hotel stays as they were not prepaid, and I'll reschedule those later once the Transatlantic flights are rebooked.

 

Yesterday morning I started working on Plan B and finished that yesterday evening. New Mexico sure isn't Finland, but it is a new state for us and the weather looks much more pleasant than the 8 degrees F which is currently outside our front door. Plus we get to visit Carlsbad Caverns and the landscapes in the Southwest US always amaze me with their beauty.

 

We'll drive down to JFK tomorrow afternoon and fly out to Albuquerque. I couldn't get decent flights out of Albany on 2 days notice so JFK it is. No Northern Lights but it will be a week without work, and we'll have fun wherever we are.

Edited by jpalbny
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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

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Good morning to all of you and hope everyone had a Happy New Year.

 

JP, sorry about that cancellation of Finland but New Mexico sounds pretty neat! Have a fun and safe trip.

 

Hope everyone is doing well..........Hi Mysty, DW, TB and whoever else I missed.

 

And those Novak jokes are spot on👍

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mysty "Live from...." Rare

mysty

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23 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Well, Thursday afternoon with a little more than 24h to go, we decided to cancel the Finland trip and reschedule. The travel regulations were changing by the minute, Finland's restaurants are now prohibited from selling alcohol after 5PM, and it was becoming a hassle to even take the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. So we bailed.

 

We have tentatively moved it to November of this year. It was a frantic couple of hours but the Transatlantic flights are converted to an e-credit, the Finnair flights to/from Ivalo are rescheduled, and the Northern Lights Village stay is rescheduled. Lots of hold time but that was done. I canceled the Helsinki hotel stays as they were not prepaid, and I'll reschedule those later once the Transatlantic flights are rebooked.

 

Yesterday morning I started working on Plan B and finished that yesterday evening. New Mexico sure isn't Finland, but it is a new state for us and the weather looks much more pleasant than the 8 degrees F which is currently outside our front door. Plus we get to visit Carlsbad Caverns and the landscapes in the Southwest US always amaze me with their beauty.

 

We'll drive down to JFK tomorrow afternoon and fly out to Albuquerque. I couldn't get decent flights out of Albany on 2 days notice so JFK it is. No Northern Lights but it will be a week without work, and we'll have fun wherever we are.

 

Safe travels JP and Chris!  Seize the day! 🥰

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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26 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

For those who are challenged to pronounce that board of miniature meats and sausages…

 

Now I'm craving a cornichon. Or a jar of them!

 

Made the last of the pierogi for lunch today. We didn't make them for Christmas as we were traveling so we made a bunch of potato-cheese filling and dough last weekend, and enjoyed them on New Year's Day. We had leftover dough and filling so I made some more for lunch on Monday. And I made the last of them for lunch today. Extra dough so I used blueberries to fill those, so we got a bonus dessert!


Chris has taught me well. Or maybe it's the Ukrainian genes coming out 35 generations later? 😉

 

Time to do a quick water change in the little aquarium, then think about packing. Wednesday we went as far as to lay out warm winter clothing in case we went ahead with Finland. Now, to put that away and change strategy entirely for New Mexico... I'm getting whiplash!

 

And of course there is a winter weather advisory which may affect flights here in the Northeast region tomorrow. Are we going to go anywhere?

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TrulyBlonde

TrulyBlonde

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23 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Now I'm craving a cornichon. Or a jar of them!

 

Made the last of the pierogi for lunch today. We didn't make them for Christmas as we were traveling so we made a bunch of potato-cheese filling and dough last weekend, and enjoyed them on New Year's Day. We had leftover dough and filling so I made some more for lunch on Monday. And I made the last of them for lunch today. Extra dough so I used blueberries to fill those, so we got a bonus dessert!


Chris has taught me well. Or maybe it's the Ukrainian genes coming out 35 generations later? 😉

 

Time to do a quick water change in the little aquarium, then think about packing. Wednesday we went as far as to lay out warm winter clothing in case we went ahead with Finland. Now, to put that away and change strategy entirely for New Mexico... I'm getting whiplash!

 

And of course there is a winter weather advisory which may affect flights here in the Northeast region tomorrow. Are we going to go anywhere?

It is snowing quite heavily here in CO, too. Safe travels.

Who is watching the cat? 😉

 

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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4 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said:

It is snowing quite heavily here in CO, too. Safe travels.

Who is watching the cat? 😉

 

 

Better work on that... Jazzbeau, can we drop her off with you on the way down?

 

Just kidding. Our usual cat sitter. We had her reserved for Finland so it was a simple matter of tweaking the dates a bit.

 

Packing done. Only needed one glass of packing wine. All carry-on of course. 

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Lirio

Lirio

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11 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Well, Thursday afternoon with a little more than 24h to go, we decided to cancel the Finland trip and reschedule. The travel regulations were changing by the minute, Finland's restaurants are now prohibited from selling alcohol after 5PM, and it was becoming a hassle to even take the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. So we bailed.

 

We have tentatively moved it to November of this year. It was a frantic couple of hours but the Transatlantic flights are converted to an e-credit, the Finnair flights to/from Ivalo are rescheduled, and the Northern Lights Village stay is rescheduled. Lots of hold time but that was done. I canceled the Helsinki hotel stays as they were not prepaid, and I'll reschedule those later once the Transatlantic flights are rebooked.

 

Yesterday morning I started working on Plan B and finished that yesterday evening. New Mexico sure isn't Finland, but it is a new state for us and the weather looks much more pleasant than the 8 degrees F which is currently outside our front door. Plus we get to visit Carlsbad Caverns and the landscapes in the Southwest US always amaze me with their beauty.

 

We'll drive down to JFK tomorrow afternoon and fly out to Albuquerque. I couldn't get decent flights out of Albany on 2 days notice so JFK it is. No Northern Lights but it will be a week without work, and we'll have fun wherever we are.

Are you going to provide us with a trip journal? i would love to see. 

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Fletcher "Live from...." Rare

Fletcher

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Two photos from our Lake District Christmas break. Back in the 1980s we used to stay on Lake Ullswater at the iconic Sharrow Bay. That hotel invented two things - the concept of the country house hotel, which meant warm, cosy and cosseting - and also sticky toffee pudding.  The 80s were perhaps that hotel's last great decade.  The original owners died and other hotels in the area seemed more attuned to the times while Sharrow Bay went into a chintzy time warp and declined rather rapidly.  Covid was the final nail in its coffin and it closed permanently in September 2020. It had perhaps the finest location of any hotel in the Lake District and because of that I can forsee a time when someone buys it and maybe knocks the whole thing down and builds a gleaming new Sharrow Bay.

IMG_2013-2.jpg

IMG_2008.jpg

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highplanesdrifters "Live from...." Rare

highplanesdrifters

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On 1/8/2022 at 8:41 AM, jpalbny said:

Well, Thursday afternoon with a little more than 24h to go, we decided to cancel the Finland trip and reschedule. The travel regulations were changing by the minute, Finland's restaurants are now prohibited from selling alcohol after 5PM, and it was becoming a hassle to even take the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. So we bailed.

 

We have tentatively moved it to November of this year. It was a frantic couple of hours but the Transatlantic flights are converted to an e-credit, the Finnair flights to/from Ivalo are rescheduled, and the Northern Lights Village stay is rescheduled. Lots of hold time but that was done. I canceled the Helsinki hotel stays as they were not prepaid, and I'll reschedule those later once the Transatlantic flights are rebooked.

 

Yesterday morning I started working on Plan B and finished that yesterday evening. New Mexico sure isn't Finland, but it is a new state for us and the weather looks much more pleasant than the 8 degrees F which is currently outside our front door. Plus we get to visit Carlsbad Caverns and the landscapes in the Southwest US always amaze me with their beauty.

 

We'll drive down to JFK tomorrow afternoon and fly out to Albuquerque. I couldn't get decent flights out of Albany on 2 days notice so JFK it is. No Northern Lights but it will be a week without work, and we'll have fun wherever we are.

Sorry about the canceled Finland trip. Sounds like you are familiar with New Mexico land of enchantment. FYI,  we live in Santa Fe,  just yell if you need any tips.  

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Lirio

Lirio

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15 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Two photos from our Lake District Christmas break. Back in the 1980s we used to stay on Lake Ullswater at the iconic Sharrow Bay. That hotel invented two things - the concept of the country house hotel, which meant warm, cosy and cosseting - and also sticky toffee pudding.  The 80s were perhaps that hotel's last great decade.  The original owners died and other hotels in the area seemed more attuned to the times while Sharrow Bay went into a chintzy time warp and declined rather rapidly.  Covid was the final nail in its coffin and it closed permanently in September 2020. It had perhaps the finest location of any hotel in the Lake District and because of that I can forsee a time when someone buys it and maybe knocks the whole thing down and builds a gleaming new Sharrow Bay.

IMG_2013-2.jpg

IMG_2008.jpg

Beautiful.

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