Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome!

[UKCruiseJeff]

That looks remarkably appetizing.

I can't figure out why.

Maybe because it looks like comfort food and is warm.

It's really cold here in south Florida. The weather report says 49 F, but I bet it's colder. We are so cold and bundled up.

Been up since ridiculous early because old codger empress dog no feeling well.

I am chilled to the bones. Sorry for the complaints.

Again food looks good.

 

Hello Lovely Spillage,

 

All real food is appetising in'it?! It's stuff we want to eat rather than this namby pamby rubbish they say we want to eat! If you want to get your gob around it ... it's appetising. (In reality it really is a bit of a mess really isn't it :D :eek: )

 

There is nothing finer than a bacon and chip sandwich .... other of course than a fishfinger in batter sandwich. With tartar to make it posh. And it had proper garnish. Organic Tomato sauce and red onion! Proper cheffy!

 

Sorry to hear of doggy and the cold and being "up" to nurse. It is cold and nasty here and next Monday I have to go down to the beach house to check all is well. So we'll be on rations plus Indian deliveries.

 

What are you eating Spillage?

 

Jeff

Edited December 11, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[jpalbny]

We found some nice pork cutlets at the grocery store last night, and I'm planning to channel my inner German for dinner tonight... Schnitzel, sautéed cabbage, and whatever else I can think of. Maybe some German potato salad?

 

Now, I only hope that my stock of Bock hasn't run out while I wasn't looking! Darn, only 9AM and I'm already craving dinner... It's a nice day for comfort food here in Upstate New York.

 

Jeff, the French first name was my Mother's doing. She took French in High School and liked hyphenated names like that. My dad used to tease her that she had a crush on Jean-Claude Killy and named me after him... People here did strange things in the '60s... :rolleyes: I like my name but it causes all sorts of problems, having two first names and no middle name. And the French first name here in the Northeast US makes everyone think I'm from Quebec.

 

My last name comes from relatives that emigrated from near the Rhine in Germany - Baden-Wurtemberg, a tiny town called Lampodshausen, near Heilbronn. Twice we've been within an hour of the place but never actually visited. More importantly, it is near Neckarsulm, where Audi makes the RS line of sports cars. That may be another good reason for a visit soon! :D

[UKCruiseJeff]

JP,

 

That explains it. I wondered originally whether you had come south from Canada with that name!

 

So pleased to see you having schnitzel von schwien rather than von kalb! i always have pork achnitzel but I now use a pork fillet which I butterfly and bash and breadcrumb rather than cutlets. Olive oil and butter, you know it makes sense. :D I can see you are going for the kraut .... don't blame you.

 

One day you and Chris and me and wifey will meet at the Swisshouse in Prater in Vienna for a Stelze and Budvar. That will be worth a trip!

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

All real food is appetising in'it?! It's stuff we want to eat rather than this namby pamby rubbish they say we want to eat! If you want to get your gob around it ... it's appetising. (In reality it really is a bit of a mess really isn't it. Jeff

 

Appreciate all of the very interesting and stimulating discussions and details on food, family, etc. As I have noted, I just like to focus on "eating", not preparing food nor doing the clean-up. BUT, I like the dining delights to be "GOOD"!!! The taste, texture, quality, etc., are very important to me.

 

Excellent, insights, viewpoints and reactions on "street food". I like to be adventuresome, etc. BUT, not too risky!! Like lots of sea food!! Also like a little "spice". Don't want things to be bland and boring.

 

Just got notification from the Washington, DC, processing folks that our Brazil Visa has been completed, received back by them and that it should arrive in Columbus via Fed Ex today. Good, month-ahead-of-time processing on that important "detail" for this upcoming adventure. And as I am typing these comments at 9:24 am Thursday, the door bell rings and it's that Fed Ex envelope with our Passports back with the Brazil Visa now included on its pages. That Brazil Visa ($160 per person), plus all of the many processing costs, was not cheap!!

 

Nice and sunny in Ohio right now. Sun makes a wonderful difference in our wooded, ravine setting. Got to get outside, finish putting up Christmas lights, get late leaf action cleaned up, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

If Venice is one of your future desires or past favorites, you might look at this earlier posting that I did on the Italy board that shows many options and visual potentials for this city that is so great for "walking around", personally sampling the great history and architecture. This posting is now at 44,114 views and I appreciate those who have dropped by and tuned in.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

[jpalbny]

Terry, glad to hear the Brazilian Visas arrived. We have to get ours for Tanzania next May/June, but we have to figure out when to do it. We will be in Paris for Christmas, then on a Rhone River cruise the end of March. So we need our passports to be with us at those times, and not stuck in the mail between here and the Tanzanian embassy!

 

Jeff, The German dinner tonight was well worth all of the pots and pans that we dirtied... Chris made a killer potato salad, with bacon, mustard, and vinegar to accompany my very simple dish of pork schnitzel along with sautéed cabbage:

 

 

To accompany this feast, Chris had a nice Reisling and I had the last of my stash of Hofbrau Maibock:

 

 

It was yummy - unfortunately, time to go shovel the snow off of the walk...

Edited December 12, 2014 by jpalbny

[Winner]

Your photos could have been of my Grommom's table! How I dearly love schnitzel, sauerkraut and-especially- real German potato salad! Thanks for the memories, and pardon my drooling.

 

Winnie

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning all .....

 

Those food piccies look really good JP! Schnitzels at dawn ......:D

 

JP, I love Austrian/German Kartoffelsalat ... something you cannot buy in any UK supermarket. I use waxy potatoes rather than floury and boil them in vegetable bouillon and then steep them in Styrian pumpkin seed oil and apple vinegar thin red onion and chives. What would anything I make be like without red onion! I also like krautsalat and gurkensalat also stuff you have to make. What are your plans for your Christmas trip in Paris?

 

Winnie, so are you booked in to join us in a few weeks in Singapore? :D

 

Some Austrian salady piccies taken at The Swisshouse in Prater, Vienna taken in March this year ... just after it opened for the Summer - and some other porky and knodel pictures taken at Grinzing at the end of the 38 tram route just outside Vienna - and a picture of a Figlmuller schnitzel one of the main schnitzel places in Vienna ... in a forlon attempt to bring some sun to some of this bleedin' cold.

 

Nostalgia isn't what it was!

 

[jpalbny]

We had schnitzel at Figlmuller! It was so big it hangs over the edge of the plate!

[UKCruiseJeff]

We had schnitzel at Figlmuller! It was so big it hangs over the edge of the plate!

 

Hi,

 

I should think so .... :D

 

I suspect that a high percentage of visitors to Vienna do! They say they are the biggest in Vienna, and they are good. We have one shared between us as neither of us can finish one as you can see in the picture we were sharing. Half is more than enough for us two. Must leave room for cakes. Large mixed salad and bratkartoffelen. They are quite use to the request to share between two and it doesn't bother them. It was a bit of a ritual for us, straight off the plane, dump the bags in the suite at the IC and walk across the Stadtpark to Figlmullers. From Hampshire to Schnitzel in around 3 hours or so. Grab some cakes on the way back and eat them in the lounge sharing them with the IC Club lounge staff. And then back to the mini bar and an afternoon doze .....;)

 

Was the one you went to in the alley ie the original one or was it the newer one just around the corner? Sort of elegant and office workers. They also have glasses rather than my preferred quarter litre jugs of heurige wine. They also have a Figls at Grinzing which we enjoy during summer as it has a garden.

 

Jeff

Edited December 12, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[lincslady]

Gosh, you chaps are real foodies in excelsis. Love reading all your stuff and looking at your pics., but not in your league at all.

 

Has any Cooler got Sophia's email address? Keep thinking of her and her house move, and hope all is well.

 

We are nearly up to the magic 3,000 posts - keep up the good work.

[lincslady]

P.S. Sorry, I did not mean publish S's email address here of course, just get in touch and report back if poss. LL

[UKCruiseJeff]

P.S. Sorry, I did not mean publish S's email address here of course, just get in touch and report back if poss. LL

 

It is worrying. Hope she posts soon.

[jpalbny]

Chris had done her homework, and knew about Figlmuller before we visited (this was on the river cruise that didn't happen). I didn't have a good sense of the lay of the land when we visited Vienna, so for some reason I had it in my head that it would be too far away from our hotel. So one evening we were wandering around Schwedenplatz looking for dinner, then we cut into the city and suddenly saw a Figlmuller sign! We ate at the one on Bäckerstraße - which from your description is probably the newer one? We did see another entryway in the alley next door.

 

Thanks for the pictures of the various salats... All delicious. I really like the wurstsalat that they serve in the big glass jars - that and a nice pretzel, and I'm set for food... :) In fact, that was my exact lunch when we took the cable car to the top of Zugspitze. Amazing... I'm getting hungry again!

 

Less than 2 weeks until Paris! We have done most of the touristy stuff on a prior visit, and we have already visited Versailles, so we will take our time and just wander where and when the mood strikes. Depending on the weather, we'll see a few museums, or visit some outdoor places. I've heard the Christmas Markets along Champs-Elysees aren't really that great but hopefully can get some trinkets for the nieces and nephews.

 

We of course want to take in the winter landscape from either (or both) the Eiffel or Montparnasse tower(s), and we'd like to see if we can listen to the Vespers at Notre-Dame on Christmas night (we arrive Christmas morning). And last week, we found out that my sister will have an overnight layover at CDG on Christmas Day, so she's going to come to the city and join us for dinner. It's just a long weekend, Thursday morning until Sunday morning, so no huge plans. We'll just see what strikes us.

 

Edit - just saw your comment about heurige wine. There's a "heuriger" on Seneca Lake (which is the lake we visit when we go wine tasting) run by an Austrian named Dano. Great food, and earthenware pitchers of new wine. We didn't stop there last visit and I am regretting it. Have to go back...

Edited December 12, 2014 by jpalbny

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi JP,

 

One of our rituals is to walk a slow walk from Montparnasse all the way to Sacre Couer. No maps just "sense of direction".

 

I don't know whether you've tried it yet but a traditional brasserie a few yards from Montparnasse is La Coupole which is a sort of very traditional. It's at 102 boulevard Montparnasse, 75014 Paris.

 

They have fixed prixe menus as well as a decent standard menu with some great seafood. The earlier picture I posted for Terry in this thread "ladies who lunch" was taken there a while ago. Our tradition is to wander in to the left of the restaurant and go to the bar in the left hand corner and stand there with the locals, and order two coupe de champagne whilst looking over the menu and also when we're done go back and have a couple of Ricard with a couple of espresso before we go. I'd say that seafood is the strong part of the menu and the rest is "OK". It's the atmosphere and enough out of the centre to make it a haven from many tourists.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=la+coupole+paris&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=iPSKVPrzG4vxUqnEgIAD&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1524&bih=695

 

A few years ago this brasserie was taken over and was occupied by the waiters and customers for some time - a sort of siege - until the new owners promised not to make any changes whatsoever. They did promise and customers and waiters maintain it exactly as it has always been. David Hockney use to fanticise about painting in there for cash and says "I always had confidence, because I could draw. I was aware I had a talent; I knew that from an early age. I used to think: “Well, if times are bad, I could always draw portraits in the Coupole, in Paris. There used to be a little man who drew portraits and I’d think: “I could do that as well.” It gives you a confidence if you think you can always do this or do that." I use to see that little man sit outside and sketch people. Sigh ......:)

 

Paris is lovely in winter. The stalls along Pigalle, and the lights in the brasseries, reflected in all those mirrors - all seem extra magical.

 

 

Today ... a couple of grilled small rib-eye with Béarnaise and salad with my Dijon vinaigrette.

 

Edited December 12, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff
correct the autocorrect ...

[spinnaker2]

looks delicious. Son #2 lived in Germany for years and is a good cook. Has made us schnitzel and was excellent. He rarely cooks anymore, just makes decadent desserts, like espresso bean brownies or killer chocolate cake.

On the Internet this am, read smitten kittens food blog and she made jelly donuts, they also looked scrumptious.

Trying to get into the Christmas baking spirit. So far I have reviewed a bunch of recipes, but made nothing.

Hope S is ok. How long has it been since we have heard from her? It is worrisome.

Enjoy the day or late day or evening, wherever you are!

[jpalbny]

Hi JP,

 

I don't know whether you've tried it yet but a traditional brasserie a few yards from Montparnasse is La Coupole which is a sort of very traditional. It's at 102 boulevard Montparnasse, 75014 Paris.

 

They have fixed prixe menus as well as a decent standard menu with some great seafood. The earlier picture I posted for Terry in this thread "ladies who lunch" was taken there a while ago. Our tradition is to wander in to the left of the restaurant and go to the bar in the left hand corner and stand there with the locals, and order two coupe de champagne whilst looking over the menu and also when we're done go back and have a couple of Ricard with a couple of espresso before we go. I'd say that seafood is the strong part of the menu and the rest is "OK". It's the atmosphere and enough out of the centre to make it a haven from many tourists.

 

 

I had actually looked at this place earlier, but have not ever eaten here. We were originally going to stay right around the corner from here at Hotel le Six, and we were looking for a place nearby that might be open for dinner Christmas night. This looks like a great place to eat, and it looks like it should still be on our list... Thanks for the recommendation, and the tip about heading to le bar pour buvez plusiers de coupes de champagne avant le dîner...

 

We moved our hotel reservation across the river to an area closer to les Champs-Elysees last week - Hotel Keppler was offering a great deal and we snagged a nicer room for the same price. So we're not close to this area, but I am sure we will end up here at some point.

 

Tasty looking dinner - red onions are great with almost anything.

 

Winner, no apologies necessary. It was really tasty, and we have some of the kartoffelsalat left over for tomorrow's lunch. I had delusions of saving part of the schnitzel, but those plans evaporated after the first bite.

 

Shoveled a path in the snow on the back deck today so I could get to the grill and have steak for dinner. Then we moved a large number of cases of wine up from the basement, so that we could load them into the new wine refrigerator that arrived today!

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good morning coolers!

 

JP, to be honest I don't really see a reason to head up to the Montparnasse area unless going to Coupole ... but if you do it's only a few minutes walk from the metro. I'd put Coupole on the list of places you should go to at least once in your life or the history and experience and it is truly and historically Parisienne. But to be honest once you go the first time, it does draw you back and back and back and become a part of ritual .... They have a few guys in their front kitchen overlooking the boulevard attending to their crustaceans. The seafood is prepared to order. and is great. The rest of the menu is fine ... not by any means gourmet ... but typically Parisienne.

 

If you would like some seafood not too far from your base and some atmosphere that many tourists thankfully miss have a look at Charlot, Roi des Coquillages. I've had a quick look and they are taking reservations online for Christmas Day. Lobster instead of bleedin' turkey sounds much better. Typical fixed prixe menu. Some more piccies

 

Your new baby is bigger than mine .... isn't EVERYTHING American .... :eek: PS. Only show-offs leave the light on ....:p

 

My one is set for 4deg. so I only use it for champagne which is a bit warmer than I like for white wine, so the wine and Paulaner and cider is in it's own fridge (with the pizza dough) in the "larder/utility" and seems to be just over freezing!

 

 

Thinking about your Notre Dame. Have you considered as an alternative St Sulpice?

 

Sant Sulpice

 

 

It is an extraordinary church, sadly I think mentioned in The Medici Code so is now busy at times but I'd say would be a place you should see and perhaps might combine with a service. It's by Luxembourg gardens. Just a suggestion!

 

Piccies of sSaint Sulpice

 

The Saint Mary sculpture if that description is accurate is stunning and something we keep returning to stare at .... it's the cloud she is standing on formed from marble. ...

 

Edited December 13, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

looks delicious. Son #2 lived in Germany for years and is a good cook. Has made us schnitzel and was excellent. He rarely cooks anymore, just makes decadent desserts, like espresso bean brownies or killer chocolate cake.

On the Internet this am, read smitten kittens food blog and she made jelly donuts, they also looked scrumptious.

Trying to get into the Christmas baking spirit. So far I have reviewed a bunch of recipes, but made nothing.

Hope S is ok. How long has it been since we have heard from her? It is worrisome.

Enjoy the day or late day or evening, wherever you are!

 

Gosh, you chaps are real foodies in excelsis. Love reading all your stuff and looking at your pics., but not in your league at all.

 

Has any Cooler got Sophia's email address? Keep thinking of her and her house move, and hope all is well.

 

We are nearly up to the magic 3,000 posts - keep up the good work.

 

I promise you that pictures always makes stuff look better.

 

Perhaps Sophy wants to have a clean break after her move. I hope that's it and she is well. She hasn't been lurking or around since her last post . Perhaps if she reads this then she'll just post to say she is OK even if she does want to push on with her new life.

 

:)

Edited December 13, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[jpalbny]

Good Morning Jeff,

 

We've only been thinking of a wine refrigerator for 10 years, since we moved into this house, so it's exciting to finally have one! And I only turned the lights on for the picture. ;) 115 bottle capacity but of course that's only if they are standard Bordeaux bottles and fit perfectly. We are well-stocked at the moment but could probably squeeze in a few more whites in the top section.

 

It wasn't all fun and games though - the delivery people just left it by our garage, so we had to load it on a dolly and lug it up our front walk, and there are 6 steps to negotiate. The thing weighs about 100 kg; lugging it up steps while not having the wheels of the dolly slip off the boards that I put down as a ramp over the steps was a real trick. Only slipped once; luckily the snowbanks at the edge of the walk cushioned the fall... But we managed to get it in all in one piece. Then we unpacked, set it up where we'd originally thought it should go, and decided it didn't look right there. Back out came the dolly, and moved it again...

 

Thanks for all the Paris info. Chris has St-Sulpice on her list already. It looks beautiful. I'll take a look at the King of Shellfish later. We contacted our concierge and of the restaurants he sent us for Christmas night, we like Chez Andre the best. So I think we'll go there. Hoping my sister's flight isn't too late and she can join us.

 

Off to breakfast! Finally a day off to catch up around the house...

[TLCOhio]

I promise you that pictures always makes stuff look better.

 

a couple of grilled small rib-eye with Béarnaise and salad with my Dijon vinaigrette.

 

spinnaker2: Son #2 lived in Germany for years and is a good cook. Has made us schnitzel and was excellent. He rarely cooks anymore' date=' just makes [b']decadent desserts[/b], like espresso bean brownies or killer chocolate cake. Trying to get into the Christmas baking spirit. So far I have reviewed a bunch of recipes, but made nothing.

 

Super love the mentions of Paris, Vienna, etc., in the winter. Great visuals and comments from Jeff and JP. Love sauces, especially Béarnaise!!!

 

YES, for spinnaker2, you need to get into the baking cycle and/or show us some of your son's creations.

 

Did a month-long Eurail tour of Europe in December 1970 while in college. Great fun! Helped spark my love to travel. Below are a few of these 44-year-old slide visuals pulled from my oldie-but-goodie visual files. Lots of great memories about Paris, Venice, Rome, etc.!! In the winter-time for many of these Europe location, it is very special and somewhat different. Less of the tourist mobs, getting to closer for how it "feels" for real people living there on a daily basis, etc. BUT, miss not having as much sun and the wonders for being there in the spring, etc. Hope these visuals are of interest. Have lots and lots of Paris visuals from four visits there.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 88,422 views for this posting.

 

 

Here is a little sampling of Paris, Dec. 1970. First is the Louvre before the glass middle structure and underground connectors were built. You can see the older cars of that era parked there. Two of my friends with whom we were traveling are walking ahead as we get ready to enter this famed museum and former palace. Second is one of my personal favorites in capturing this older couple walking along the streets of Paris during this winter period. Third is the night view along Paris’s most famous avenue, the Champs Elysees with the Christmas lights adding a nice holiday touch. You can see at the end point . . . the Arc de Triomphe started in 1806 by Napoleon and completed in 1836.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way to Vienna, we stopped in Salzburg. Here is the view inside Mozart's childhood home with his musical instrument. Love Austria!! So historic and charming!!:

 

 

 

Here's wonderful Venice. Has not changed much in this location from the days when Marco Polo departed from this docking area to find China and the treasures of the East!:

 

 

 

Finally, a view of St. Peters in Rome while cars could still park in their famed square (or circular space). We were visiting Rome to attend a wedding there. Their marriage did not last, but our memories from Europe have stayed strong and loving!:

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi all,

 

Terry that Mozart room ... are you sure it wasn't Salzburg .... they have an identical room there! And I do like that selfy of you in your beret. I mean this nicely but you looked older then. Your wife ... she looks so depressed. ... and dare I say angry. All those bleedin' dogs init', and I can see your wife wasn't told that the puddles the cars drive through are always by those bleedin' crossings ......... :D

 

JP, have you checked the temperature of the wine yet? My one was basically too warm but I wasn't clever enough to take a temperature early enough to take it up with them ....

 

Also just thinking more of St Sulpice. The reason why I mentioned it in the context of Notre Dame is that it is so wonderful. because it is full of quiet atmosphere if you can wander around it early. Notre Dame will be heaving and every visitor that attends a service over the period without an anchor will head there, because they don't know where else to go. Notre Dame isn't really a community church in the way that St Paul's also isn't. Nothing wrong with that, but St Sulpice will be a really different and I believe memorable more intimate and magical experience. There is something really special. Anyway, enough of my uninvited interference. I'll stop. Just trying to help but realise instead being irritating.

 

If you do go to Notre Dame you may just want to hop over the bridge for a drink in Le Caveau des Oubliettes. Real grass on the floor and an original guillotine. Jazz if you need it. That should cheer Chris up. Sit her beside it. Wifey the first time I took her there said .... "gosh this looks really authentic ....." "It is" ..I said .... :eek:

 

Next door to St Sulpice is one of my favourite Parisian parks. Luxembourg.

 

Making the Frogs like us – particularly those in Paris is pretty hopeless even if you do speak a bit of French. They don't like each other so why should they like us? However on one of our winter stays, we were wandering around Luxembourg gardens at early breakfast time when we happened on what looked like a wooden wide train carriage or perhaps even a toilet block. Inside, there was just a few tables and the windows were all steamed up – it was freezing outside. Bizarrely, and shockingly inside there were two waiters dressed in dinner jacket and bow tie and we were greeted with a disdainful sniff. We were asked what we wanted. This was breakfast. So I ordered two onion soups, two glasses or red wine and a large Ricard. A sort of half smile went onto the lips of one of them, but once I poured the red wine into the onion soup and downed the ricard in one before we dunked the bread into the soup – we were “one of them”. Everything changed. They smiled and talked. Going native in Luxembourg has it's consequences. :)

 

Wifey and me just had some lunch@home in Hampshire ....... some lobster and prawns and home made fresh bread. The bread is really good ... she was gobbling it all up in preference to the lobster. It was 90% white flour but just a small amount of wholemeal flour and some rye flour and some onion seeds and a little honey added. And some Deutz champagne today to cheer out the cold .. and feeling a little gregarious now so will have a little lie down.

 

 

Have a great day coolies!

 

.

Edited December 13, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[spinnaker2]

terry!

Thanks for sharing.

Made a grocery list to get ingredients, going to try to make a panettone although I think Jeff would be better suited for this task.

Christmas tree sitting outside in a tub of water waiting to be brought inside. In my family we do not decorate it until Christmas Eve, tradition. We used to wait to get it on Christmas Eve, and miraculously Santa would come and decorate it. The idea of going to get a tree on Christmas Eve somehow was not impossible and a lovely ritual, everything smelled so wonderful and piney. However, i guess my parents realized that would be difficult to buy the tree and then have Santa decorate it , so they subtly changed it. We still waited to get the tree until the Eve of Christmas and then they would put on festive attire, make brandy Alexanders and we would dress the tree to sounds of carols playing on the "Vic" which is what my father called the stereo, I guess it came from the word Victrola. Of course as children we never had brandy Alexanders. Still don't.

 

When my husband and I moved to south Florida, we tried to replicate the tradition of waiting to get the tree until Christmas Eve. If my children could read this right now they would regale you with the stories of having to travel hither and yon to find ANY tree on Christmas Eve here...by that time they are all in very sad shape. Trees just don't do well in 80 degree heat if their water source has been cut off. My children would tell you that we once had a dead tree where all the needles fell off almost at once by the time we arrived home. That necessitated a last minute trip to buy an artificial tree.

Ok, lesson learned, we now get the tree early.

I have now bored all of you.

But would love to hear your holiday traditions...

 

And Jeff, if you don't leave the light on in the wine fridge, how can you find the wine at 3 am?

🍷

[TLCOhio]

Terry that Mozart room ... are you sure it wasn't Salzburg .... they have an identical room there! And I do like that selfy of you in your beret. I mean this nicely but you looked older then. Your wife ... she looks so depressed. ... and dare I say angry. All those bleedin' dogs init', and I can see your wife wasn't told that the puddles the cars drive through are always by those bleedin' crossings ......... :D

Also just thinking more of St Sulpice. The reason why I mentioned it in the context of Notre Dame is that it is so wonderful. because it is full of quiet atmosphere if you can wander around it early.

Wifey and me just had some lunch@home in Hampshire ....... some lobster and prawns and home made fresh bread.

Have a great day coolies!

 

Very cute note/claim that the 1970 older couple Paris pictured as being a "selfie"!! BUT, much like most fiction, it is not true. Sorry!! Fun attempt/effort by Jeff. I was much, much younger in 1970. Not looking that way, nor with my wife there in Paris. Not married then. She was back in Ohio driving my 1970 green Chevy Camaro while I was gone for the full month.

 

Yes that Mozart room picture was in Salzburg. I noted: "On our way to Vienna, we stopped in Salzburg. Here is the view inside Mozart's childhood home".

 

Love the lobster and shrimp visuals that you enjoyed for lunch.

 

Below is one of my Saint-Sulpice visuals from visiting there in 2007.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 189,731 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

Saint-Sulpice is in the Luxembourg Quarter of the 6th arrondissement. It is only slightly smaller than Notre-Dame, making it the second largest church in the city. Construction on the current structure began in 1646.:

 

[lincslady]

I am determined to be no. 3,000.

 

LL

[lincslady]

Ditto.

 

LL