jpalbny

Tallinn was a lot of fun. We were lazy and took the 10:30 ferry instead of getting up early to catch the 7:30. Good call. We had time for breakfast at the hotel then a leisurely tram to the ferry terminal. The ferry was way better than I thought it would be. The ship is 49000 tons, making it bigger than the biggest SS ships (40000 tons according to my quick web search). There's a buffet, restaurant, bar, large duty-free shop, cabins, and several decks for cars. A great way to spend 2 hours. And they have Wi-Fi included in the fare. So we looked at prices for what we wanted to do in Tallinn, and bought Tallinn Cards online, downloaded the QR code to our phones, and were ready for business. After a bit on the back deck we got chilly and came inside to the sitting lounge. We lined up to disembark as we approached Tallinn, and were among the first off. Hightailed it to the main gate of the lower town. Nearby, the Maritime Museum, at Fat Margaret tower. They had the ruins of a cog ship from the early days of the Hanseatic League. The craftsmanship was great. Lots of the outer planking was still intact. Apparently they plugged the gaps with moss, held in place with metal rods hammered into the gap. Other less impressive relics. Sailors carried these kits to treat themselves for gonorrhea. This is a model of our ferry, the Megastar. On the top floor, a viewing platform. Freezing with plenty of wind. Our coats were safely down on floor -1, in the wardrobe... Further up the street, the three sisters. Now a hotel. We love Estonia! Enough said. Only a small part of this art, which covered most of a city block. The Estonian History Museum. I had a laptop just like this about 20 years ago. Ouch. The museum is in the great guild hall. It's decorated for the season. Further up the street, near the Town Hall, a pharmacy museum. I did not learn about this ingredient in Medical School... Now, off to the upper town. We didn't leave ourselves time for lunch but we have a 5:00 dinner reservation so we should be able to go a little longer.

Hi Coolers! Flights were like clockwork. All 3 legs were early, and we got to Helsinki on Wednesday evening in time for dinner at a wine bar. Lots of yummy small plates and delicious unusual wines. Just a sampling. Spent yesterday wandering the city and we were charmed by the ambience. Lots of Christmas lights so the early darkness isn't too oppressive. Chilly, around 2C/35F for the high, but we have plenty of warm clothes. Those Silversea parkas are handy! Amazing architecture. Old, classical, and new. The gorgeous Church in the Rock. Visited a few markets then stopped for lunch in the old town, at a German restaurant! Flammkuche and Brats hit the spot. More Cathedrals And Christmas displays. Had a superb 8 course tasting menu for dinner, at a restaurant which was recommended to us by Chef Ian. You may recall Mysty's favourite restaurant, the Black Tartan Kitchen. The owner worked in Helsinki for a time and gave us two recommendations. We will try the other tomorrow. Just a few samples. Donuts stuffed with duck meat. Perch pike in a delicious horseradish cream. Now we are on the ferry to Tallinn. The ship is huge! I seriously think it's bigger than Sliver Spirit. We found a covered spot on the back deck to hang out and watch the scenery. More to follow...

Nice pix of Arica! We saw nothing of it, as our tour to Lauca took up the entire time that we were in port.

About 30 minutes to Amsterdam. Much too early for breakfast! Still full from dinner. Flights smooth so far. Long layover until our flight to Helsinki. If we weren't worried about the lines to get back into Schipol, we'd think about a quick jaunt to Amsterdam this morning. But probably not... We'll most likely just hang out at the airport and chill. There's a nice lounge.

Tonight's low in the Albany area is 22F so I'm expecting a killing frost. So I picked all of the full-sized tomatoes from the garden yesterday. What to do with a bunch of green tomatoes? I could have made a batch of chutney but we don't really eat that very much so it would probably be a wasted effort. Green tomato ketchup sounded very interesting but no time to fuss with canning it. So I found a recipe for pasta with green tomato sauce. Interesting idea! To prepare, I chopped a bunch of unripe tomatoes and cooked them in olive oil and garlic, with what was left of the fresh herbs from the garden. It reduced very well after a half hour on the stove, and even the green tomatoes softened nicely. The olive oil and garlic tempered the tartness of the unripe tomatoes. And a fresh chili pepper added some heat. Nice dish! With rigatoni and grated Parmesan to finish. Now some last-minute preparation for tomorrow's flight to Helsinki! After a year, and a cancelation, looks like it will finally happen. I don't think that I can fit my tripod in the carryon so I'll have to come up with another way to hold the camera still... Or maybe I'll just enjoy the aurora and not worry about pictures... (that's so likely).

It's anatomically unlikely that he's handling what you think he's handling. Unless his name is Hank?

That's a really nice museum! Visited there in 2017. Did you go to the X-rated wing?

Have a great trip and looking forward to your updates from on board! Have been to Antarctica twice now but would go again in a heartbeat. And we have been looking at Le Commandant Charcot ever since it came out.

Maybe. That's what I was going to say!

I knew that farm upbringing would come in handy some day!

And the best part is, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to!

I am also tripolar (Antarctica 2x, Svalbard once). Wes's description is spot on for how they do it nowadays. My first was on Deception Island but they can't do it that way any more... Except Wes left out the fact that the rope harness is absolutely freezing cold because it's been attached to everyone who has jumped prior to you, and it's soaking wet. So the shock of having that icicle strapped around you while you're standing out in the freezing cold in your bathing suit is almost as bad as jumping in the water. In Deception Island, the Explorer anchored in the caldera and we took a zodiac ashore. We wore our suits under all of our clothes. When the time came we stripped down on the beach, ran into the freezing water, dove under, then ran out as fast as humanly possible to soak in the natural hot tub that the expedition staff had dug out in the volcanic beach (this is the part that supposedly they can't do any more). Then we had to get dressed and zodiac back to the ship before frostbite set in. That part wasn't fun! In Svalbard, we jumped off a zodiac tied up to the launching dock. Since we were at about 80 degrees N, just south of the Arctic pack ice in the open ocean, we were tethered with that freezing harness. Note the guy with a GoPro on the end of his stick, taking underwater pictures of us. The one from January 2020 was off the dock of Silver Cloud. It's a bit higher up from the water compared to jumping off the zodiac. And it was a frigid day. I don't have good pictures since Chris only shot video of that plunge. Here is one from the ship's photographer though. But yeah, I'd do it again. Just to entertain my friend Stumblefoot! Chris is the smart one in the family; she stays on board and takes photos.

VA Upper Class is definitely a nice way to fly to LHR. Last time we took them out of EWR, which was convenient for us. Coming home, make sure you get to the Upper Class wing at LHR. The experience was unparalleled.

Enjoy your trip Robin! We really enjoyed this itinerary. If you have the chance to wander Viviers on your own in the dark, do it. Just not sure what the timing is on the reverse itinerary (We did Lyon to Avignon). We leave for Helsinki in 9 days! There is a way to fix the upside-down pictures. You have to make sure you're turning your phone to the left when taking landscape shots. Or, if a picture posts upside down, open it in your gallery, turn your phone left, take a screenshot of the photo, and now post the screenshot. Somehow, the picture orientation as posted on CC depends on which way you turn the phone when you take it.

We did all of these stops (so far) last November on Spirit, but did totally different things. Nice to see your perspective!

Guess some things are nearly universal. That kind of gift would help with most of the nurses I work with too! Glad to see your posts but sorry about all the tech troubles which caused them to be so delayed. Looking forward to catching up with your cruise report.

Still not working on Chrome on my phone... And I have to use Edge on my laptop. Interestingly, it's reverted to my ancient Google profile picture... That's me in Iceland, in about 2008!

You can do it! This was my first shot at it. I already have plans to tweak the next batch. 1 cup of flour, about 1/2 tsp salt, 2 eggs, and about 1/4 cup of milk. I substituted 2 Tbsp of whole wheat and the rest was all-purpose white flour. Mix flour and salt. Beat the eggs then pour them into the flour. Start mixing, and as you go, add enough milk to make a soft dough. It should be thicker than cake or muffin batter - you should not be able to pour it. Not quite as thick as bread dough, and more sticky. And definitely not as thick as regular pasta that you'd put through a press. It needs to be soft enough to go through the holes of a grater. Let it sit a bit while you choose an appropriate wine to go with dinner... The force it through a grater into the boiling water, and enjoy! I used a box grater which was a bit more challenging since I had to put the dough on the inside and force it out. Otherwise I would have grated pieces of my spatula into the boiling water, along with the dough. I tried a silicone spatula first but it was a bit wimpy, so a bamboo spatula worked better. It cooks quickly. Once it floats, it's done.

The Water Cooler has been pushed back to page 3! Time to ask a question here. @notamermaid (or anyone else who is familiar with different types of German food): I had a dish in Trier which was a Schnitzel, served with a creamy mushroom sauce. I have made something similar at home a few times now and it's one of my favorites. I know that Rahmschnitzel is a Schnitzel with a creamy sauce, and Jägerschnitzel is a Schnitzel with a mushroom sauce. What would you call it, if it was served with both? In any event, that's what I made for dinner, along with homemade Spätzle. It was great to get my fix of German food tonight.

Those ravioli look delish! And much healthier than my dinner. I wanted to cook something new today but couldn't find any inspiring cuts of meat at the grocery store. So it was going to be pork chops for dinner. Until I came up with the idea of making one of my favorite German dishes, pork schnitzel in a creamy mushroom sauce. I've seen it called either Rahmschnitzel or Jägerschnitzel. Not sure which is more correct. I suspect that the version that I make incorporates traditional elements of both. So I pounded the chops out a little thinner, coated them with salt, pepper, and paprika incorporated into a bit of mustard, then fried them and kept them warm in the oven while making the sauce. Onions and lots of mushrooms fried in butter, add flour, and then (homemade duck) broth to make a gravy. Put the chops back in and rest in the oven while I went to step two... A dish like this begs for Spätzle. But we didn't have any. So I made them from scratch. Flour, eggs, milk, and salt came together into a nice dough. After I got the water boiling, I squeezed the dough backwards through the coarse holes of a cheese grater (the side that you use to shred mozzarella) into the boiling water. They were cooked within a few minutes and ready to eat. Lastly, I stirred some sour cream into the mushroom gravy and dinner was served! The reason that I think this is a combination of the two recipes is because Rahm means cream, and Jäger means "hunter" (as in, hunting for mushrooms in the woods ) so this recipe incorporates both elements. I first tried it for lunch in Trier, as part of a combination schnitzel plate. Half was served with a creamy mushroom sauce and the other half with a spicy pepper and onion sauce called "Zigeuner" Schnitzel. I have been hooked ever since. The homemade Spätzle were great. Irregular and rustic but delicious, and they went well with the mushroom gravy. After this I'm not sure that I will want to buy the ready-made ones again.

Glad you're eating well on the journey home! We will wave to you in 2 weeks when we fly by on our way to Helsinki.

Great itinerary! We have driven ourselves around all of those places and are available for hire... 😉

Yay for Chef Pia! She taught me the easy way to make Kaiserschmarrn. She always feeds us too well.

The "scenic lookouts" are always easier to spot in that direction..

The Darien Jungle stop (October 2013, on Explorer) claimed our cameras, when we got caught in a somewhat unexpected rainstorm. Luckily our cell phones were more waterproof... Looking forward to your visit and pictures.