Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues

[lucyliz]

I've been enjoying reading your review for weeks. Your last posts just got a little surreal for me - I can see my office in the picture of Tyler in front of the window! I thought from yesterday's post that the view looked familiar, but today's confirmed it. I work in the tall block between your hotel and the Tate. And I regularly go to Strutton Ground for lunch, though I've never been in the Laughing Halibut - the queue is normally out the door. It sounds like I should make the effort!

[scubacruiserx2]

I've been enjoying reading your review for weeks. Your last posts just got a little surreal for me - I can see my office in the picture of Tyler in front of the window! I thought from yesterday's post that the view looked familiar, but today's confirmed it. I work in the tall block between your hotel and the Tate. And I regularly go to Strutton Ground for lunch, though I've never been in the Laughing Halibut - the queue is normally out the door. It sounds like I should make the effort!

 

Cheers Lucyliz and welcome on board . After our visit to the Tate the view became even more clear .

 

 

There may be better chippys out there but we haven't found them and we do enjoy Laughing Halibut . :) :D

 

Edited September 20, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[lucyliz]

Gorgeous sky! I've given up trying to take photos of the view from my desk (which is a lot like that shot, but from the other side, looking over the river) as the windows have a film on them that makes everything come out blurry and sepia.

 

If you're in the area again, try the Regency Cafe on Regency Street. A great old fashioned 'caff' that does really good egg and chips.

[scubacruiserx2]

Gorgeous sky! I've given up trying to take photos of the view from my desk (which is a lot like that shot, but from the other side, looking over the river) as the windows have a film on them that makes everything come out blurry and sepia.

 

If you're in the area again, try the Regency Cafe on Regency Street. A great old fashioned 'caff' that does really good egg and chips.

 

 

Thanks Lucy , we will keep that one on the to do list . ;)

[MicCanberra]

Conversely , we were really disappointed when we cancel our cruise with you and Rosie . :(

 

Likewise. It may happen in the future, you never know.

We also really enjoy a good piece of fish and some chips.

[scubacruiserx2]

There were a couple of exhibits which drew me to the Tate , mainly the Pre - Raphaelite Brotherhood and that of William Blake . But the Romantic style of JMW Turner caught my eye first .

 

 

A selfie from Turner

 

 

 

 

 

The decline of Carthage

 

 

 

 

 

Rome from the Vatican

 

 

 

 

 

The holy family

 

 

 

 

The lighting in this area of the gallery was good for natural light photography

 

 

 

The style and subject matter reminded me of Brullov and Ivan Aivazovsky in the Russian Museum .

 

 

 

 

l

[scubacruiserx2]

 

We also really enjoy a good piece of fish and some chips.

 

 

Us too . As Americans our first exposure would have been to Arthur Treacher's in the 70's .

 

 

 

Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips is a fast food seafood restaurant chain. At the peak of its popularity in the late 1970s, it had about 800 stores.

 

The chain was named after Arthur Treacher (1894–1975), an English character actor typecast as "the perfect butler" for his performances as Jeeves, as a butler in several Shirley Temple films, and the role of Constable Jones in Walt Disney Productions' Mary Poppins.[9] At the time the chain was founded, Treacher was best known as the announcer and sidekick on the popular The Merv Griffin Show.[10] Treacher "served as a spokesman for the restaurant chain in its early years, underscoring the British character of its food."[11] In a 1975 interview, New England franchise vice president M. John Elliott claimed the fish recipe to be the actor's own, brought over from the United Kingdom.

 

Wikipedia

 

 

But of course , the British history is more interesting ! From the BBC :

 

 

Chipping away at the history of fish and chips

Although often associated with the seaside, the first chippie opened its doors in London, where the working class propelled the iconic dish into popular culinary culture.

 

 

By Caitlin Zaino

19 April 2013

Walk London’s cobblestoned streets, cross centuries-old bridges and amble through celebrated covered markets – before the morning drizzle has given way to afternoon sun, history will have unfolded before you. More than just postcard images, the city’s smoking chimney stacks, ubiquitous black cabs and red double-decker buses all have long and tangled stories that are deeply embedded in London’s traditions. So too do fish and chips.

Related article: Hunting the humble hotdog in NYC

Former British prime minister Winston Churchill famously called fish and chips “the good companions”. A 2010 celebration of the iconic dish by the Independent newspaper revealed the dish to be more iconic to England than the Queen or The Beatles. And the takeaway food has even been credited with promoting industrialisation and staving off revolution. To dig into fish and chips is much more than ticking off a list of things one must do in London; it is to engage in a national treasure.

More than 229 million portions of white fish fillets are sold each year in England, each one coated in a light batter and deep-fried, and served alongside fat fried slices of potatoes. For many English people, fish and chips are best served wrapped in newspaper and devoured with a combination of a two-pronged wooden fork and greasy fingers, preferably seaside. But most historians agree that it was in London, not on the coast, where the first fish and chips shop (called a chippie) opened its doors. It was here too that the city’s working class propelled the dish into popular culinary culture. And it is in London that one of the oldest surviving chippies still stands today.

Smack in the heart of London’s bustling Covent Garden is Rock and Sole Plaice. Dating from 1871, this popular spot lays claim to being London’s oldest chippie still in operation. The flavourful batter on its fish is nicely crisped, its hand-cut chips are tasty and thick, and for historical value alone, it is worth a visit. But it is further east where fried fish first met the chip.

In London’s East End, somewhere between today’s Bethnal Green and Bow neighbourhoods, the first chippie was born. Credit is given to young Joseph Malin, who hailed from a family of rug weavers and began frying chips in the family home to help supplement their income. Genius struck when the 13-year-old married said chips with fish from a nearby fried fish shop, which he likely sold from a tray hung around his neck before opening his own shop around 1860. For more than one hundred years, the Malin family ran that pioneering chippie until closing its doors in the early 1970s.

But Malin’s pioneer status is often debated, and Lancashire, a county 500km north of London, tells a different story. Lancastrians argue that a local entrepreneur, John Lees, was the first to sell fish and chips likely around 1863 – out of a wooden hut at a market in Mossley, a small town in present-day greater Manchester.

“We don’t really know who was first. Several places popped up around 1860 and nobody knew at the time that something important was beginning,” said Professor John K Walton, author of Fish and Chips and the British Working Class, 1870-1940.

Wherever fish and chips were serendipitously coupled, both pre-date Lees and Malin. It was in the 16th Century that Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Portugal and Spain landed in London, bringing with them a taste for fried fish. Former US president, Thomas Jefferson wrote about eating “fried fish in the Jewish fashion” after a visit to the English capital in the end of the 18th Century. And in 1837, Charles Dickens, in his London-based novel Oliver Twist, refers to a “fried fish warehouse”, the forerunner to the modern chippie where bread or baked potatoes were served alongside the fish.

Turning to the origin of chips, historians credit Belgian housewives in the 1680s with this culinary invention. When the Meuse River froze during winter, resourceful women fried potatoes in place of scarcely available fish. By the 1830s, the imported staple of fried potatoes was implanted firmly among London’s poor. Cut to 1860 and England’s first chip shop opened on the present day site of Tommyfield Market in the town of Oldham, 350km north of London.

During the 1870s, Industrial Revolution inventions helped to spur the growth of the fish and chips trade, particularly in London. The development of steam-trawling boats meant abundant supplies of white fish from the North Sea were readily available in unprecedented quantities. This, plus new ice machines that kept the catch cold and the development of railway tracks connecting major cities and ports, made fish more accessible and affordable than ever before. Soon, fish and chips shops began popping up around London, providing cheap and nourishing meals to the city’s factory and mill workers. By 1910, there were around 25,000 chippies in the UK and more than 35,000 at its peak in 1927, compared to just 10,500 today.

So engrained in English culinary culture are fish and chips that they were one of the few foods never rationed during World War II. The government believed that safeguarding this comfort meal during a time of distress was key to keeping morale up.

Today, fish and chips remain a staple in the modern English diet. From that first fish and chips combo sold by Malin in the 19th Century (or Lees, depending on which story you believe) to present-day London with its more than 380 chippies, the city is continuously updating and revisiting the cherished classic.

Modern favourites

Head to Kerbisher & Malt, a retro-chic fish and chips shop in Hammersmith, to find modernity married with traditional. Trendy metal seating, whitewashed walls and long, blond wood tables give a clean, stylish vibe to this updated chippie. Cooked to order white fish – cod, haddock or pollock – is cocooned in an airy, light batter, puffed up to a crisp perfection. The moment of the fork cracking through the shiny crust is akin to breaking the top of a gleaming crème brulee. Double-fried, hand-cut chips are dunked into homemade sauces, such as lemon mayonnaise and curry, and everything is local, seasonal and sustainable. Of course, if you would rather accompany your fish with the requisite brown malt vinegar or pickled onions, those are on offer and house made too.

For another modern-day spin on the traditional favourite, stop into the Golden Union in Soho. Between the copper hanging lamps and white subway-tiled walls, Norwegian cod and haddock – all sustainably sourced – are battered in a beer-and-flour mixture and cooked to order. So too are Golden Union’s chips, which sit nicely next to their homemade mushy peas and secret recipe tartar sauce. Vegetarian? Opt for their deep-fried cheese in place of fish.

Continuing with the retro charm thanks to an owner who has been dipping fish into fryers since 1945 is Poppie’s of Spitalfields. This East End fish shop dishes out haddock, plaice and rock eel, among other white fish, in a restaurant with Formica tables and a 1950s jukebox. Owner Pat “Pops” Newland has been frying fish his whole life and it shows. In January 2013, Poppie’s was one of two finalists in the National Fish and Chip Award for the best independent fish and chip restaurant of the year, bested by Rockfish Seafood and Chips in England’s southwestern county of Devon. The retro theme borders on kitsch, but when the fish is splashed with vinegar, sprinkled with salt and served in a traditional twist of newspaper (well, a photocopy at least), the experience becomes pilgrimage-worthy.

For something that predates the 21st Century, visit Fryer’s Delight in London’s Holborn neighbourhood, which has been operating out of a no-fills space for the past 40 years. Drawn in by easy-to-digest prices and a traditional take on fish and chips, cabbies are known to queue up here for thick slices of fresh cod, fried skin-on in beef fat. The Italian-run shop has an old school look, but this time the monochrome-tiled floor and Formica tables are genuinely vintage.

Chasing down the best fish and chips in London is definitely a subjective affair. Many swear that Olley’s in the Herne Hill neighbourhood is in fact the city’s best. A dozen types of fish are on offer served alongside fat chips that together have been snagging awards, topping “best in London” lists and winning loyal fans for two decades. For an old fashioned formal institution, head to Sweetings Restaurant, opened in 1889 in the City district. Share communal tables with sharply dressed businessmen who order up a host of sustainably sourced fish dishes and deep-fried fish fillets. If it is Cornish brill or local halibut you are after, this is your spot.

For real fish and chips devotees, however, nothing beats a day trip to the source of London’s freshest fish, sold at Billingsgate Market in the Docklands. Inside the covered market, restaurateurs vie for the UK’s largest selection of fish as they have since 1850. Though Billingsgate is open to the public, a tour arranged with the market is a great way to experience Londoners hawking fresh fish in pursuit of the perfect fry.

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

 

In the forests of the night;

 

 

I first heard of and and began reading William Blake's poetry in the year of my discontent , 1984 , after hearing the Daniel Amos song William Blake , from their Vox Humana album .

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkt3lSsc-hk

 

 

I didn't know that he was also a painter until just before our trip and now we were about to see and photograph his work in the Tate .

 

 

 

 

Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils

 

 

 

 

 

 

The body of Abel found by Adam and Eve

 

 

 

 

Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing

 

[MicCanberra]

Wow, what a thread.

A Extraordinary Cruise review;

Great pics of Pictures;

Interesting insights into Fish and Chips; and

Blake's brush with fame.

[scubacruiserx2]

Wow, what a thread.

A Extraordinary Cruise review;

Great pics of Pictures;

Interesting insights into Fish and Chips; and

Blake's brush with fame.

 

Thanks Mic but , where's my Wellies because - the creek is rising , it's getting a little deep ! ;)

[scubacruiserx2]

Two poems from Blake's Songs of Innocence gave the lyrics to another song I used to play for my kids and grand kids when they were young : Song of Innocence

 

 

 

 

A quote from Blake's introduction to Innocence

 

 

And I plucked a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,

And I stained the water clear,

And I wrote my happy songs

Every child may joy to hear.

 

A quote from Blake's the Lamb

 

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb;

 

 

The good and evil Angels

 

 

 

God judging Adam

 

 

Note the Chariot of Fire . The movie title , ( and the anthem , Jerusalem ) , came from one of Blake's most influential poems ,"And did those feet in ancient time"

 

 

 

Christ appearing to the Apostles after the Resurrection

 

 

 

 

 

The four and twenty elders casting their crowns before the Divine Throne

 

 

 

 

 

Christ blessing the little children

 

 

 

[alemant]

Thanks scubacruiserx2 for this Fantastic Review! this is my first message and i would register on CC, because have help a lot for what ship and company of our future Honeymoon!

i have a lot of answer for you, but first i would compliment with you and your family for share this fantastic Cruise...

 

On the next year i choose for our honeymoon a Celebrity Eclipse depart 18/June, with similar route, with helsinki instead of Bruges...

 

First answer; i see you have used a Skyroam Mifi, it's work flawless on entire cruise? i have heard a frequently reboot to make it work, 350mb limit it's a little for our, but in 2g i can use for call at home with skype? can you have try a speedtest?

 

Second: do you explain me a wifi in Eclipse? i see one service called Xcelerate, i dont have a wifi option, if i want it for 2 people i need to spend 520€ :eek: , onboard its not have a free wifi zone? ex lounge or apple store?

any Discount or promo onboard?

 

Sorry for my English, i'm Italian ;)

 

Alex

[MicCanberra]

Thanks scubacruiserx2 for this Fantastic Review! this is my first message and i would register on CC, because have help a lot for what ship and company of our future Honeymoon!

i have a lot of answer for you, but first i would compliment with you and your family for share this fantastic Cruise...

 

On the next year i choose for our honeymoon a Celebrity Eclipse depart 18/June, with similar route, with helsinki instead of Bruges...

 

First answer; i see you have used a Skyroam Mifi, it's work flawless on entire cruise? i have heard a frequently reboot to make it work, 350mb limit it's a little for our, but in 2g i can use for call at home with skype? can you have try a speedtest?

 

Second: do you explain me a wifi in Eclipse? i see one service called Xcelerate, i dont have a wifi option, if i want it for 2 people i need to spend 520€ :eek: , onboard its not have a free wifi zone? ex lounge or apple store?

any Discount or promo onboard?

 

Sorry for my English, i'm Italian ;)

 

Alex

 

Caio Alex, Welcome to Cruise critic.:D

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks scubacruiserx2 for this Fantastic Review! this is my first message and i would register on CC, because have help a lot for what ship and company of our future Honeymoon!

i have a lot of answer for you, but first i would compliment with you and your family for share this fantastic Cruise...

 

On the next year i choose for our honeymoon a Celebrity Eclipse depart 18/June, with similar route, with helsinki instead of Bruges...

 

First answer; i see you have used a Skyroam Mifi, it's work flawless on entire cruise? i have heard a frequently reboot to make it work, 350mb limit it's a little for our, but in 2g i can use for call at home with skype? can you have try a speedtest?

 

Second: do you explain me a wifi in Eclipse? i see one service called Xcelerate, i dont have a wifi option, if i want it for 2 people i need to spend 520€ :eek: , onboard its not have a free wifi zone? ex lounge or apple store?

any Discount or promo onboard?

 

Sorry for my English, i'm Italian ;)

 

Alex

 

Hello Alex , thank you and welcome to Cruise Critic . "Congratulazioni per il tuo fidanzamento" and congratulations on your cruise .

 

We didn't use the wifi too much on the ship but perhaps somebody else can answer that question . No free wifi on the ship , but they have an Apple store on the ship .

 

Our Skyroam worked well outside ( balcony ) but it needs a cell phone signal to work . So it works in port , but not too far out in the sea .

 

Tech info : Connect up to 5 devices Supports 802.11b/g/n

Network HSPA+/WCDMA:850/900/1900/2100 MHz(3G/4G) EDGE/GPRS:850/900/1800/1900 MHz(2G) Maximum download speed: 42 Mbps Maximum upload speed: 11.2 Mbps

Edited September 22, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks scubacruiserx2 for this Fantastic Review! this is my first message and i would register on CC, because have help a lot for what ship and company of our future Honeymoon!

i have a lot of answer for you, but first i would compliment with you and your family for share this fantastic Cruise...

 

On the next year i choose for our honeymoon a Celebrity Eclipse depart 18/June, with similar route, with helsinki instead of Bruges...

 

First answer; i see you have used a Skyroam Mifi, it's work flawless on entire cruise? i have heard a frequently reboot to make it work, 350mb limit it's a little for our, but in 2g i can use for call at home with skype? can you have try a speedtest?

 

Second: do you explain me a wifi in Eclipse? i see one service called Xcelerate, i dont have a wifi option, if i want it for 2 people i need to spend 520€ :eek: , onboard its not have a free wifi zone? ex lounge or apple store?

any Discount or promo onboard?

 

Sorry for my English, i'm Italian ;)

 

Alex

 

 

 

Alex , here's a thread which may help you and they may be able to help answer your question about the on board internet speed : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2331198

[scubacruiserx2]

The agony in the garden

 

 

 

 

 

The body of Christ Bourne to the tomb

 

 

 

 

With the lighting and the dark blue , shiny walls , it was tricky to photograph in the Blake room .

 

 

 

One last illustration from Dante's Divine Comedy

 

 

 

Dante and Virgil Approaching the Angel who Guards the Entrance of Purgatory

 

 

 

 

And one last poem : And did those feet in ancient time

 

 

Blake's poem

 

And did those feet in ancient time,

Walk upon Englands[7] mountains green:

And was the holy Lamb of God,

On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

 

And did the Countenance Divine,

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here,

Among these dark Satanic Mills?

 

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;

Bring me my Arrows of desire:

Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!

Bring me my Chariot of fire!

 

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In Englands green & pleasant Land

 

wikipedia

 

 

Here sung at The Royal Wedding Ceremony of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53UaRWI1Vh4&t=46m35s

 

 

In stereo and HD ... Absolutely Brilliant !!!

 

:) :D

 

[alemant]

thanks & Grazie mille! ;)

 

i have read this post, I concluded to take a portable router with battery, so I can only use a connection and share it with our iphone and ipad ...

I found the model HooToo HT-TM05, already used by someone here at CC, and confirmed that works! Certainly not abuse, but it is the convenience of not having to disconnect and reconnect every time the devices ...

I read that someone has also disconnecting the TV from the RJ45 cable, but do not think it's so easy surely there is a mac adress of control, otherwise everyone off and we connect a router ....

 

and for land i definitely would buy one Skyroam...

i have booked a land trip on August to Paris, Bruges and 4 days on Disneyland Paris, i see most use travelling on Europe, with stupid data limit and a pain to buy a sim card without legal trap...

Edited September 22, 2016 by alemant

[Groovybusybee]

And it is the anthem of the Women's Institute, always sung with gusto.

 

Deb

[scubacruiserx2]

And it is the anthem of the Women's Institute, always sung with gusto.

 

Deb

 

It's certainly a stirring anthem , but isn't that the point of an anthem ?

 

The fourth stanza of our National Anthem (though rarely sung) has similar stirring sentiments :

 

O. thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

thanks & Grazie mille! ;)

 

i have read this post, I concluded to take a portable router with battery, so I can only use a connection and share it with our iphone and ipad ...

I found the model HooToo HT-TM05, already used by someone here at CC, and confirmed that works! Certainly not abuse, but it is the convenience of not having to disconnect and reconnect every time the devices ...

I read that someone has also disconnecting the TV from the RJ45 cable, but do not think it's so easy surely there is a mac adress of control, otherwise everyone off and we connect a router ....

 

and for land i definitely would buy one Skyroam...

i have booked a land trip on August to Paris, Bruges and 4 days on Disneyland Paris, i see most use travelling on Europe, with stupid data limit and a pain to buy a sim card without legal trap...

 

That sounds like a great plan Alex ! :) :D

 

The choice of a cruise for a honeymoon is also an excellent choice . Our youngest daughter got married and honeymooned on a cruise ship .

 

 

We went also , but I was in the cabin 4 days and nights with the flu . On the last evening we did meet our daughter and our new SIL for the Chef's Table . I know that you come from a land of great food but , you may want to consider it on the Eclipse .

 

We did it on our TA on the Eclipse in May of 2015 , but I'm going to include it here before we return to the Tate for the Pre Raphelite Brotherhood .

 

[MicCanberra]

Lovely picture Joe.

[scubacruiserx2]

Lovely picture Joe.

 

A Lovely daughter Mic ! We're praying that they would bless us with a grand daughter like your's Mic . :) :D

[MicCanberra]

A Lovely daughter Mic ! We're praying that they would bless us with a grand daughter like your's Mic . :) :D

 

Time will tell.

We have her christening next weekend and have a horde of family coming to stay with us. I tell you she is gorgeous and loves me so much that she smiles every time she sees me (and it isn't always gas).:cool:

[scubacruiserx2]

Time will tell.

We have her christening next weekend and have a horde of family coming to stay with us. I tell you she is gorgeous and loves me so much that she smiles every time she sees me (and it isn't always gas).:cool:

 

May that Holy occasion be filled with lots of joy and happy memories that you would cherish in life. I like this quote :

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old. :) :D

 

~Mary H. Waldrip

[MicCanberra]

May that Holy occasion be filled with lots of joy and happy memories that you would cherish in life. I like this quote :

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old. :) :D

 

~Mary H. Waldrip

 

I like it. I didn't think I was that old until I held her for few hours and felt sore all over.