The Daily for Tuesday Feb 16, 2021

[garlictown]

10 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Good morning, all! I am all in for Fat Tuesday, and the quote sounds like the writer learned from experience - either his or someone else’s. We are having pizza today. It will be regular pizza, but the bubble pizza recipe sounds intriguing. I agree on swapping out the tomato soup for pizza sauce, and a few other tweaks. Sangria is always a favourite, and the wine sounds good. 
Best wishes to all those in the path of the winter storm and risking losing power. Not a good situation! We had a few hours of light snow yesterday. Then an official snowfall warning was issued, and the snow promptly turned to rain and stayed that way. DH looked at the forecast this morning and announced that it is forecast to rain for the rest of our lives. Sums it up nicely.

A year ago today the Amsterdam brought us to Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island. The water was rough, and tendering uncertain, but a go in the end. We were told that we were the first cruise ship able to send people ashore so far that year. I wonder if we were the last. The Diamond Princess was marooned in Japan as passengers sickened in increasing numbers, and ships were being turned away from ports all over.

We were able to go ashore and visit this amazing bucket list place that I’d dreamed about since childhood. Boarding the tender was not for the faint of heart, though!

The tenders being deployed at dawn, waiting the go/ no go decision.

 

Safely ashore - the shore, the ship, and the surf between.

 

If you were here, you took this picture.

 

A great line of restored Mo’ai, restored yet again after a tsunami scattered the figures.

 

Mo’ai that had been lost  in the sand. This saved them from weathering and vandalism. Fine details such as hands on the hips and carvings on the back were perfectly preserved.

 

The great quarry where roughly 400 Mo’ai remain in assorted stages of completion. Some are detached and have fallen or sunk into the hillside. Others are partially carved from the rock but still attached along the back.

 

A honey pineapple, peeled and with the top trimmed as a handle.

 

it is said there are as many wild horses as people on the island. They are everywhere!

 

Site of the ancient annual Bird man competition. Competitors climbed down the cliff we were at the top of, swam out to the farthest of the two islets, and climbed the rocky islet searching for the nest of a particular sea bird that nests only there. Then they secured an egg, swam back, and scaled the cliff back to the starting point - carrying the egg. The first one to successfully return with an unbroken egg of the correct type was declared champion. Can you imagine making it back exhausted but alive ahead of anyone else and triumphantly handing in the wrong kind of egg?😳

 

The long cleared valley is the local airport. The runway is huge. Given the remote location in the Pacific, the US government made a deal. In exchange for permission to build and maintain an airstrip big enough and sturdy enough for a space shuttle to land in an emergency, the community could use it on an everyday basis for passenger and commercial flights. It looks completely out of place in such a remote and rustic setting!

 

And back home, after a perilous crossing from tender to platform!

 

Finally, Happy Tuesday, Fat or otherwise!

 

 

11 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Good morning, all! I am all in for Fat Tuesday, and the quote sounds like the writer learned from experience - either his or someone else’s. We are having pizza today. It will be regular pizza, but the bubble pizza recipe sounds intriguing. I agree on swapping out the tomato soup for pizza sauce, and a few other tweaks. Sangria is always a favourite, and the wine sounds good. 
Best wishes to all those in the path of the winter storm and risking losing power. Not a good situation! We had a few hours of light snow yesterday. Then an official snowfall warning was issued, and the snow promptly turned to rain and stayed that way. DH looked at the forecast this morning and announced that it is forecast to rain for the rest of our lives. Sums it up nicely.

A year ago today the Amsterdam brought us to Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island. The water was rough, and tendering uncertain, but a go in the end. We were told that we were the first cruise ship able to send people ashore so far that year. I wonder if we were the last. The Diamond Princess was marooned in Japan as passengers sickened in increasing numbers, and ships were being turned away from ports all over.

We were able to go ashore and visit this amazing bucket list place that I’d dreamed about since childhood. Boarding the tender was not for the faint of heart, though!

The tenders being deployed at dawn, waiting the go/ no go decision.

 

Safely ashore - the shore, the ship, and the surf between.

 

If you were here, you took this picture.

 

A great line of restored Mo’ai, restored yet again after a tsunami scattered the figures.

 

Mo’ai that had been lost  in the sand. This saved them from weathering and vandalism. Fine details such as hands on the hips and carvings on the back were perfectly preserved.

 

The great quarry where roughly 400 Mo’ai remain in assorted stages of completion. Some are detached and have fallen or sunk into the hillside. Others are partially carved from the rock but still attached along the back.

 

A honey pineapple, peeled and with the top trimmed as a handle.

 

it is said there are as many wild horses as people on the island. They are everywhere!

 

Site of the ancient annual Bird man competition. Competitors climbed down the cliff we were at the top of, swam out to the farthest of the two islets, and climbed the rocky islet searching for the nest of a particular sea bird that nests only there. Then they secured an egg, swam back, and scaled the cliff back to the starting point - carrying the egg. The first one to successfully return with an unbroken egg of the correct type was declared champion. Can you imagine making it back exhausted but alive ahead of anyone else and triumphantly handing in the wrong kind of egg?😳

 

The long cleared valley is the local airport. The runway is huge. Given the remote location in the Pacific, the US government made a deal. In exchange for permission to build and maintain an airstrip big enough and sturdy enough for a space shuttle to land in an emergency, the community could use it on an everyday basis for passenger and commercial flights. It looks completely out of place in such a remote and rustic setting!

 

And back home, after a perilous crossing from tender to platform!

 

Finally, Happy Tuesday, Fat or otherwise!

 

We weren't able to dock on Easter Island.....Captain tried a few times but it was too rough. ♥️Loved your photos!

[garlictown]

9 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

 

People who are aware of my wine preferences know that I am a California wine bigot.  That being said, Michele Chiarlo is a fine maker whose wines are very attractively priced as you can see from @cat shepard's, as usual, very informative report.

 

It looks like my credit card is going to take a hit today.  I see that in my inbox there are notifications of allocation releases from two of my favorite wineries.  On the plus side, this is excellent pandemic fatigue therapy.  😜

 

I'll add my experience to the discussion of the need for insurance information when scheduling a vaccination appointment.  We used the California web site, myturn.ca.gov, and were frustrated by the questions asking about insurance and group number.  Then, I noticed that those questions were marked "Optional."  I am happy to ignore requests that are optional.  There were no questions about insurance when we went to the vaccination center.

🙄I just shook my head when I read this:

As thousands of people scour websites daily in Santa Clara County in search of a coveted COVID vaccine appointment, it was a shocking revelation that in just five days over 4,000 people with confirmed appointments did not show up to get their shot.🤨

[garlictown]

6 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Just got off the phone with my PCC and booked a 14 day New England/Canada cruise for Oct 2022.  This is the farthest cruise out that I have ever booked, more than 18 months out, but I wanted to replace my last one that was cancelled using the Have it All Promotion.  I'm excited even though I have to wait so long.  It's on the Nieuw Statendam, which will be something new for us.

 

Have a great day everyone!

👍 Looks like a great itinerary!  I ♥️Quebec City.