Port Power

In my opinion, these recipes are worth trying at home.

Next up was sirloin steak with a Jack Daniel’s sauce, and southern style corn succotash. This will be served in Atlantide tonight, although with prime rib. For Australians, Grant does so remind me of Kim Beazley. Always crumpled!

Executive Chef Grant, an Australian, lives in Thailand with his Taiwanese wife. He told us they gave two kitchens. Indoor for him, and outdoor for her because of the strong aromas from Taiwanese cooking. In the Venetian Lounge today he made Thai fish cakes and a dipping sauce. It serms di much easier after seeing it demonstrated. I eat Thai fish cakes weekly, but will now actually make them. They are on the menu today at The Grill on the pool deck.

Tuesday, 5 December, 2023. At Sea. A greyer morning today. Although rain is not really expected (10-15% chance), it is certainly grey outside. 27 degrees Celsius and very pleasant. I have lots of activities circled in the Chronicles, starting with a destination lecture about St John’s, Antigua.

SALT Lab class making wrinkled potatoes and ropa vieja from the Canary Islands. Wrinkled potatoes are simply unpeeled potatoes boiled in salted water so the skin wrinkle. Ropa vieja literally translates to “old clothes” and is a stew that originated to use leftovers. It tasted very good, of course. Cooking up the chickpeas and other vegetables, herbs and spices in stock: The finished dish incorporating “leftover” beef and chicken:

Monday, 4 December, 2023. At Sea, Atlantic Ocean. Blue sky and light cloud on the horizon. 25C today and about that already at 8:30am. There will be plenty of people in and around the swimming pool today. There is a bit more swell than yesterday, and a few white-capped low waves about. Tonight is the Venetian Society “cocktail party”, which means well over half the ship’s passengers in the Venetian Lounge with a glass in hand.

We have a great solos group, hosted by “gentlemen hosts” Mark and Mo. Tonight most of us were at the early show by a female comedienne and didn’t arrive for drinks until later. I wonder why those who didn’t go to the show are all the male solos? (Air drop photo. Sorry it’s upside down.)

SALT Lab and SALT Kitchen did another demonstration this morning on the history and culture of coffee in Latin America. Unfortunately I missed it! However, I watched it later via ship videos.

Today a “pub lunch” was set up in Dolce Vita. Sorry, but I forgot to take some photos. It was well attended. However, I did another SALT Lab class today. “Llapingachos de Mote” from Equador. Otherwise known as corn cakes filled with pork. It was served with one of the best satay sauces I have ever tasted. The corn salad was definitely the best salad I have tasted! I will be making this at home. Ready to start: The only “cooked” item in the salad, but it adds so much to the overall flavour: The corn cake before frying: The finished dish:

Sunday, 3 December, 2023. At Sea. An afternoon photo this time. Blue sky and blue ocean, a mild swell. 23C.

Emirates does all this for First Class, they also have home transfers to/from home for business class. Not all airlines provide kerb side check in for international flights. Those that do are usually just for international First Class passengers or high status passengers. Silversea does use Qatar, but they do not include home transfers. The OP was boarding in Dubai after disembarking, so she may have flying Emirates, or one of the many airlines that use that airport. Help with luggage at Dubai was the issue. Helpful fellow passengers assisted her.

Don’t even think of handing out US$5 notes in Dubai! Assistance at Dubai Airport is complimentary. They do not use USD in any case as they have their own currency.

Spaccanapoli for pizza, the Grill for hamburgers and much more, La Terrazza buffet including pasta and a stir fry, Kaiseki for sushi, and Atlantide for a la carte dining.

Saturday, 2 December, 2023. At Sea. This morning the ocean is actually different. Less swell today and a smoother surface. From La Terrazza at breakfast, I could see rain falling in the distance.

I did ask about the drink and will try one tomorrow night. I also gave Verne compliments from a happy guest from 2019, which he appreciated.

It certainly is Verne. He recognised me when I boarded, which I think is pretty wonderful! That was from Silver Dawn in Norway in June. What is your favourite cocktail? Or is it called “Silver Spirit”? I’ll ask for one. The bar is going to be overrun with requests for Cosmopolitans at trivia!

Having eaten, the next demonstration (at midday) was martinis. “Vesper”, “Cosmopolitan” and “Espresso Martini”. The former was too straight up for me. The Cosmopolitan included some fresh lime juice and was just delicious. The Espresso Martini was good as usual. The Dolce Vita bar team.

Sea days don’t necessarily mean lying around the pool or reading in the Observation Lounge. First of all there was a València paella demonstration by S.A.L.T. Lab and Kitchen in the Venetian Lounge. This is finger food using the food items in our paella placed on top of a fried ground rice cracker. Very tasty as well as pretty.

It seems someone took notice, so the decorations have been moved a little lower. I actually think it looks prettier.

I am about to give up on posting! Yesterday’s post mysteriously returned, but captured a photo taken today and posted a few minutes ago. I have no idea what is going on! 🤔

A cute little “train” passed by, but I wasn’t quick enough to capture a full view. I don’t know which ship it was servicing.

Friday, 1 December, 2023. At sea, Atlantic Ocean. I’ll just repost these for the next six days. 🤣

Okay. I wrote two posts on my iPhone, added photos, and submitted. They seem to have disappeared into the ether?

Thursday, 30 November, 2023. Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands. Our luck with weather has finally run out, although it is not a totally miserable day. Still 23C. The morning started with heavy, dark clouds and progressed to light showers and a strong wind. Lamp posts on the pier were swaying. Many passengers abandoned their tours and remained on board the ship. Midday: If you look closely, there are two tunnel entrances through the closer hill. There are three roads going through tunnels. I don’t think I captured any. Behind Silver Dawn today is “Mien Schiff”, a German ship. I saw couples with prams passing by and for a moment wondered where they had been hiding on the ship? Then I realised they were from the other ship.