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Everything posted by jpalbny
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I only know about cucumbers in this context. Though we both think that moose are super cool animals! Interestingly, the omniscient Google thinks that "cool as a moose" originated in the mid 1950s as a play on the expression "cool as a cucumber" but I have no direct knowledge of this, obviously.
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Mooning in the Med. Venice to Rome. 20/9-1/10
jpalbny replied to Silver Spectre's topic in Silversea
Have a great trip! I hope the bean counters have not made too many changes for the worse. We'll be in the Adriatic next June, on Ponant, but the cruise visits the Italian coast instead of the Croatian side. Looking forward to your reports! We have our final payment due in 10 days, for our next Silversea voyage in January. -
You had me at pancetta! What was the wine pairing?
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I made an old favorite for dinner tonight. Or a variation thereof - pardon my memory lapses if I've posted it previously... Back in the early 2000s when we briefly lived an hour south of Albany, we would meet my cousin for dinner in Newburgh (NY), were there was an Italian place on the waterfront which made an amazing dish. A veal rib chop, butterflied and breaded then fried, and served over a bed of greens with a topping of fresh tomatoes with oil and balsamic. It was to die for! I make our own version with a pork chop, over a bed of freshly-gathered arugula from the wilds of our local Aldi, and topped with homegrown cherry tomatoes (finally I have enough to use, as this year's crop has been rubbish!). I threw in a few air-fried potatoes because we're not on a low-carb diet, so the breading isn't going to cut it without some extra carbohydrate calories! Oh, and the oregano is home grown too. That added a nice flavor. I wish I could grow as much great stuff as WWFT but maybe that will be a retirement project.
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Yum! Your baking stone looks exactly like mine, even down to the stains. Guess they are both used frequently. 🙂 ETA: mine in action on Sunday!
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Thanks for that! We had been hoping to be there in December, on our way to CDG to catch our Ponant cruise in Helsinki. But we're flying a DL codeshare on AF so we'll be in T1 instead.
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My TA handles the deposit and the final payment. She sends me an invoice showing what's been paid, and when the final payment is due, then updates that with a new invoice once it's PIF. Luggage tags? I can't remember but I think they were in the final documents, which came from our TA as well. Or maybe we got them at the pier.
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Sorry Lola - hugs from all of us here at the Cooler.
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Such a pretty kitty. She looks so regal perched there. And what DavyWavey said.
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I enjoyed that course very much. Too bad I remember nothing of it these days!
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Yes! I've had that dream plenty of times. I'm back in High School and it's finals week but I've not been to any of my classes... I did something close to that in real life when I was in College though!
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After having our fill of delicious Spanish and Italian cuisine this weekend, we moved on to Germany for tonight's dinner. I had found some pork sirloin at the butcher shop yesterday. Lightly pounded with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Then a dusting of flour and paprika. Then slowly sautéed in butter until just cooked through. Mushrooms and onions were next in the skillet, then flour and pork broth from my last roast. The sauce was finished with sour cream and served over Spätzle. And a nice German wine to go with it. We eat too well. Hopefully we'll have more time to exercise and burn calories once we start working less.
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Each of our cats has definitely chosen one, and only one, of us. Dora is my lap cat and Duma wants nothing to do with me. He adores his Mom. I can't blame him, since I chose her too. 🙂 We spent the weekend in NY City to meet up with some old friends (our Maid of Honor and her husband) so we took them to dinner at Eataly Saturday night. It was fun to catch up, since the last time we saw each other was for her father's funeral, during Covid. This was a much more enjoyable get-together. And since they took the train in we could share lots of wine. We enjoyed a Bone-in veal chop that was probably big enough for the four of us (but one of us ate it), and also a delicious Osso Bucco. Sunday we wandered the West Side and stopped into Hudson Yards which we haven't visited yet. Looks nice, and there is a José Andrés place there with lots of food counters which looked delicious. Next time! The Vessel in Hudson Yards is a striking building. I really like what they've done to Broadway, in the 20s. Several blocks have been pedestrianized and there's artwork, cafes with outdoor seating. It's a nice oasis to walk through to enjoy the atmosphere without dodging cars. We went to an afternoon show (Six, about Henry VIII's wives) then had an aperitif or two at a wine bar on Broadway before dinner. Our dinner last night was at Bazaar, a José Andrés restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Nomad (that's why we didn't stop for lunch at his place in Hudson Yards). The tasting menu is highly recommended. Will have to put those pictures together at a later date; there were 10+ courses and all were delicious.
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I have people for that. If I tried to follow this and make sense of it, I'd have whiplash. Up one day, down the next... Not much logic in the markets these days.
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That's a great coincidence! We were there last November and it's my favorite safari to date. The lodges, and the lack of crowds, were like no other place we've visited (yet). Highly recommended. Someday I will get my pictures sorted...
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I understand it but don't watch it other than once a year. And lately, the commercials have been lousy so it's hardly worth the time! Lirio - you have to start gradually. We used to overpack "in case of" every contingency. It has taken years to learn that we can pack less, and now we have fine-tuned our approach. The keys for us are to minimize the number of shoes that we bring. They take up a lot of room in the suitcase. The second tip is to make sure that your clothes can mix and match with each other. The third tip is free laundry! Without that, it's much more challenging. I also worry much less about forgetting something, because I know that I can always buy it if I desperately need it. Unless I'm in the middle of the Okavango Delta or someplace like that, there are plenty of stores to choose from. When I'm traveling in a developed country, I don't worry at all about forgetting something. I just double-check my passport before we leave. You're coming to the USA where there is a strip mall every few miles, so you don't have to worry. And if you don't find what you need in a store, there is always Amazon! Any idea what they were? I've always had good luck with pharmacies in Europe or other countries which I've visited. My curiosity is piqued! I have my travel kit packed and ready to go at all times. It never leaves my backpack unless I'm refilling it. But as you say, you can't cover all possibilities.
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Agree, yes to all. The best perk! And just put the bag out by 9 and it's back before dinner.
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But if you do that, you'll miss us in Singapore by two weeks! We'll be there on Feb 7/8th after our WC segment.
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Portland is a nice place to visit - we've been there twice for long weekends. And we've done the drive to Multnomah Falls and from there to Washington. I can't attest to the fantastic view from the Vista House at Crown Point, however!
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The new phone cameras are indeed amazing. We used our Galaxy S22 Ultras on safari in Botswana last year and they were great. I did bring my Nikon with the 500mm zoom lens for those situations where I needed it, but the phones did a great job. For most of our trips post-Covid we have not bothered to bring cameras at all. Phones have always been really good for landscape photos. But in low light, like taking food pictures in a dim restaurant, I agree with you that the phones take really amazing pictures now. Looking to upgrade later this year and I'm excited to see if the technology is even better than 2 years ago.
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That's where I had lunch for my 50th birthday! Agree that it's very nice.