The Daily for Tuesday Mar 16, 2021

[richwmn]

Today is Curlew Day, Freedom of Information Day, and Giant Panda Bear Day

"There is only one difference between a long life and a good dinner: that, in the dinner, the sweets come last. - Robert Louis Stevenson"

Meal suggestion for today - Chicken Biscuit Potpie

Drink of the Day - Old Fashioned

Wine of the day - Illuminati 2017 Ilico Riserva (Montepulciano d'Abruzzo) Central Italy

Port of the Day - Monte Carlo Monaco

At Sea Pacific
Nieuw Amsterdam Destination Los Angelas eta 3/17
Noordam Destination La Paz MX eta 3/20

Brest FR
Eurodam

La Paz MX
Koningsdam Anchorage
Westerdam Anchorage
Zuiderdam Anchorage

Stirrup Cay
Nieuw Statendam Anchorage

Torquay UK
Oosterdam Anchorage
Zaandam Anchorage

Weymouth GB
Volendam

 

 

[dfish]

Good morning, everyone. 

 

Appliances are set to be delivered between 9:15 am and 1:15 am.   I hope it is on the earlier side as I have a Zoom meeting at 1:00 that I can't get out of as I am one of the speakers.  I can get out of the 10:00 am meeting without a problem.  

 

Yesterday was a quiet day here.  No more breakdowns of household goods and no more broken teeth.  The prehistoric microwave is holding on.   As I said, the microwave was given to me by my sister when she moved to France in 2000.  She claims she got it in the early 90's, late 80's.   So, it is practically an antique.  

 

Today's meal is one that is easy to adjust for individual tastes.  I'd probably spice it up a bit as I like a bit of a bite to things like that.  There are some good ideas in the comments.  

 

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-biscuit-potpie/

 

 

[portofrome]

Thank you for the Daily Report.

[rafinmd]

Thank you for the first Daily of it's second year Rich.  I had to google Curlew but you picked 3 great days.  Stevenson's quote has a definite ring to it.  Sadly, I've never been to Monte Carlo.  Not a fan of pot pies.  My alternative is Chilled Bannana Soup, Classic Caesar Salad, Broiled New York Striploin, and Apple Streusel as served on MS Prinsendam March 16, 2019.

 

https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/dishes16.jpg

 

Today's care list:

Caregiver Gsel and her DH battling Alzheimers

myself facing cardiac surgery

NextOne DH in rehab and facing chemo

Cunnorl’s BIL still hospitalized

bennybears DD in Quarantine

Mamaofami and DH

Vmax son with dislocated shoulder

Dfish needing a crown

and Krazy Kruisers and Joe

 

Today's Celebrations and Shoutouts:

Welcome back Ichiban Nekko

Teachers, school workers and at home surrogates

Front Line Health Care Workers

Happy CC anniversary @1ANGELCAT

The start of the second year of the Daily

and Sabine, HAL’s likely first female Captain(I know this is a repeat but she’s worth it)

 

Roy

 

[puppycanducruise]

Good morning, thanks for the Daily Report.

Good luck to Curlews.  And good luck to Giant Pandas, they are so cute. 

The dinner suggestion sounds good.  I'd love to sip an Old Fashioned in the Crow's Nest.  I think I'd like the wine of the day too.

We were in Monte Carlo several years ago.  We enjoyed seeing all the cars in  the Prince's Car Museum.  We were on the Eurodam and actually docked, we had a wonderful day.

Sending prayers for everyone.

Stay safe.

[richwmn]

I was in Monte Carlo on 9/10/17. We chose to take a scenic bus tour of the area and had a great time. By the time we returned to the dock the seas were so rough that the tender ride was very rough. They had four crew member helping each passenger from the tender to the ship.

 

 

[kazu]

Thanks for the Daily, Rich and out morning smile 🙂 

 

A great collection of days and if I may add  today is the 1st anniversary of the Daily thread posts. 🙂 

 

 

Yesterday was the anniversary of Rich’s brainchild to start this thread but it was a year ago today that it was started and we all started to post under the new format and start our feeling of community & caring.

 

 

That thread that was started a year ago has brought many people together and  my sincere thanks to @richwmn for creating it and following through daily, @rafinmdfor the lists, @dfish for the menus, @summer slope & @cat shepardfor the drink & wine descriptions and to everyone (far too many to list them all) who posts here and adds to the spirit of community on this thread every day 🙂  

 

This thread helps us all see the wildflower in the weed 😄 

I have been to Monte Carlo several times and explored the environs a fair bit.  I’ll go digging to see if I can find the pics and assuming, I can I will post them later.

 

Prayers for everyone on Roy’s Care list & for those that need them.  Have a great Tuesday everyone.  Stay safe & please don’t forget your masks 😷 

[Cruise Suzy]

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

Yesterday was the anniversary of Rich’s brainchild to start this thread but it was a year ago today that it was started and we all started to post under the new format and start our feeling of community & caring.

 

That thread that was started a year ago has brought many people together and  my sincere thanks to @richwmn for creating it and following through daily, @rafinmdfor the lists, @dfish for the menus, @summer slope & @cat shepardfor the drink & wine descriptions and to everyone (far too many to list them all) who posts here and adds to the spirit of community on this thread every day

So very well said. And thanks to @kazu's graphics as well for the many smiles/chuckles.

[KirkNC]

Happy Tuesday!  That chicken biscuit pot pie looks like good comfort food especially on a chilly day.  In typical March fashion we are 20 degrees colder then a few days ago.

[cat shepard]

Happy Anniversary to us!

 

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by cat shepard

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[Divi]

I think we were on the Ryndam when we were in Monte Carlo, no tenders required.

We were standing at the railing as we were docking and pointing out which mega yacht was ours. One of the ship’s officers stopped and said his wasn’t there, it was one with two helicopter pads. 😁

[rafinmd]

Today is March 17 in Australia.  Today's sunrise is from my 2020 QM2 World Cruise.  It was taken on my morning walk in Fremantle:

 

 

Roy

[Mary229]

Good Morning from Texas and Thank you for the updates and the memes.  Hope and comfort to those who are suffering, Thankfulness for those who dedicate their lives to others.   Debbie, that pot pie looks yummy.

 

Monte Carlo is a port on my next cruise.  I am hoping to visit the gardens but will take any advice offered.  My reading indicates it is a port easily managed independently.   Thoughts?

Edited March 16, 2021 by Mary229

[VintageGeo]

Good morning. Thank you for a year's worth of Dailies, Rich. You and all who share have together morphed this thread into something truly special. It has been fascinating to watch it happen. Thank you to everyone for sharing your warmth and helping to make each day brighter.

 

Everyone please stay safe and healthy and have a great day!

 

Lori & George

 

[BobbiSox]

I start my day with coffee and The Daily. I never miss a day of reading, ever. Thanks to all the posters, and especially thanks to richwmn, who started it all! 🥰

[cat shepard]

Thank you for a wonderful year, Rich! You helped make this past year survivable. You educated me, gave me a place to meet & get to know an amazing group of people. You have never stopped trying to improve it. I will be toasting you tonight! And right after that, I will toast all of us!

 

Ah.... curlews & giant pandas, each deserve their own day. I had a career that required me to take Freedom of Information very seriously, and recent years have reminded me of how important it is. I will toast that tonight, too.

 

Thank you for keeping our lists, Roy. Your anniversary will soon follow. You have kept up with the happenings of each Dailyite, and made sure they were included with the correct list! Not an easy task. Morning Dailyites & my Sisters - here’s to us!

 

I love the quote. The meal looks good, and I would like to kick it up too, Debbie. I know I have had an Old Fashioned. Never been to the Port du Jour. 

 

Tonight some friends and I are heading to our Beachfront Winery, it is supposed to be a spectacular evening. I might even celebrate with a baguette & ash ripened goat cheese. If you are a fan of goat cheese, may I suggest Vermont Creamery’s Bonne Bouche, an ash ripened goat cheese. Spreadable, with none of the “bite” some goat cheeses have. I will have to work out harder today to make room for it.

 

Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to us & everyone who is celebrating! Stay well everyone!

 

*********

Well my normal sources failed me today, but I happened upon a distributor’s site that provided a wealth of info. And I found another site selling it for $12.99! Yes, $12.99 - that is not a typo! The shipping might actually cost more. 

Montepulciano Lovers Unite! The 2017 Illuminati Ilico Montepulciano is one of Italy’s best. In fact, it was one of just eight Montepulcianos to receive the coveted Tre Bicchieri Award from Italy’s Gambero Rosso. Wines honored with this prestigious award are generally recognized as Italy’s best.

After tasting this with one of my most trusted reps, I can confirm that this wine is a splendid example of the varietal. From one of the top producers in Abruzzo, this single vineyard wine offers up tremendous textural richness and intensity. At less than $20, you will be hard-pressed to find a better Italian red for the money!

Nicola Illuminati founded his family’s winery in 1890 and today, his grandson Dino runs the show. The focus here is Montepulciano, the leading grape of the Abruzzo, and their Ilico bottling is the estate’s top wine. I know Montepulciano often yields rustic and simple “pizza and pasta wines,” but this is a much more “serious” version of the grape that deserves short ribs, ossobuco, or some other slow-braised dish.

This was rated Tre Bicchieri with Gambero Rosso. I can’t put into words how BIG of an award this is. It’s the equivalent of receiving a 95+ point score from Wine Spectator. How many 95+ points wines can you name that retail for less than $20. Trust me, there aren’t any. And don’t forget this is a wine that out-performed hundreds of other Montepulcianos, many that fetch $50+. 

Fermented in stainless steel and aged in Slavonian oak barrels for 12 months, this pours a beautiful deep ruby color. The nose is all ripe dark cherry, mint, violet, and oak spice and the palate is full and rich yet juicy and pliant. Medium to full bodied, with firm but finely knit tannin, this is going to provide pleasurable drinking for the next 5 years or so.

[Himself]

Rich:  Thanks for the DAILY Fleet report and thanks for keeping the thread going for the 30 pause which now enters its second year.  Roy thank you for the care list and shout out list.  I like both Rich's meal suggestion abd Roy's alternative. God Bless all posters and readers of this thread.

[VMax1700]

Thanks for a year of wonderful stories, information, recipes, cocktails and wine reviews.  Everything that is needed to make life tolerable in these unusual times.

Thanks Rich, Roy and everyone else for their contributions.

[kazu]

Just now, Mary229 said:

Monte Carlo is a port on my next cruise.  I am hoping to visit the gardens but will take any advice offered.  My reading indicates it is a port easily managed independently.   Thoughts?

 

If you are just going to stay in Monaco, it’s easily done on your own.

 

I highly recommend you go outside of Monaco (and yes you can do it with a private tour).  There is public transport to some of the beautiful towns like Eze, Nice, etc but using it will probably put you at some of the sights at peak crowded times.

 

The towns around Monaco are totally different than it.

[cat shepard]

[VMax1700]

24 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Monte Carlo is a port on my next cruise.  I am hoping to visit the gardens but will take any advice offered.  My reading indicates it is a port easily managed independently.   Thoughts?

We used a private tour to go to Nice, Eze (beautiful old village with winding streets) before returning to Monaco by late lunch time  for a drive of the F1 racing circuit, a comfort break in the Casino and wandering around the Monte Carlo area for a few hours.

I would recommend you try something like that.

I will try to find some pics later.

[StLouisCruisers]

Happy Anniversary Dailyites!  I'm not sure when I first found the Daily, probably not that first day, but I'm glad I did.  Something to look forward to do each day.

 

I can't believe I've only been to Monaco once!  It was on the Westerday in August 2017, a month before Rich was there.  And as usual it was a warm summer day.  My DH was trying to take it very easy during this 21 day cruise because he had been in the ER for a painful issue immediately before our trip.  So I found quite a few inexpensive ship tours to take in all these beautiful ports since I would be going out alone.  I was anxious to see some of the countryside surrounding these Mediterranean ports.

 

We had to tender over to shore, but I thought this photo from the ship turned out pretty well considering I had to zoom way in.

 

The two stops on my tour were Menton and Eze.  We headed towards the French-Italian border on a narrow 2 lane road.  There was a slight delay because of a car accident with a small car lying on its side.  I had a hard time getting any decent pictures because the bus windows were pretty dirty.  But once we got off the bus, it was fine.  There was only one problem tour group member - an 85 year old lady wearing high heels and ripped jeans who kept clinging to all the gentlemen's arms as she begged for help with the cobblestone pathways.  Oh my goodness...

 

Here is the beach as we got off the bus.

 

First we had a nice visit in the local market.  Then some of the beautiful buildings and churches in the village.

 

 

 

Going back to the bus, the beaches were filling up.  

 

We headed along the beaches and then a little inland to Eze, a medieval village on a hilltop.  It was amazing!

 

It was quite a workout walking up and down the narrow passages on the hillside but well worth it.

 

 

 

 

A church with quite a view.

 

And that same church seen from the bus as we left.  

 

After returning to the ship, DH and I spent the afternoon in the Crow's Nest enjoying the view of Monte Carlo.

 

Good times!

[ger_77]

Good morning, thanks for the Daily!  Happy Anniversary to us, whether we started on the first day or not.  I had to look up curlews - we don't have any around here - but didn't have to look up pandas.  Love those creatures and would like to be able to visit a panda reserve one day.

 

We visited Monaco on our first-ever Mediterranean cruise in 2004 on the lovely Prinsendam.  We docked in town and took a HAL tour (we were newbies, what did we know?) that included a stop at the famous Grand Casino.  At that time there was a dress restriction and you weren't allowed in with regular street clothes.  Being the resourceful person I am, I filled our little day packs with a knit dress, jacket and heels for me, and for DH a blazer, slacks, shirt and tie.  We sat at the back of the bus and while we were en route, did a quick change routine out of sight of the others.  When the tour guide asked if anyone wanted to go into the casino we were the only 2 who said yes.  Let's just say we didn't break the bank.  But the washrooms - ooh la la !!!  In the ladies, a little metal arm came out of the wall, sprayed the seat with a liquid, then blew it dry before you sat down.  I'd never seen anything like it in my life!  Great memories from our one and only experience on the Prinsendam.

 

Today's menu suggestion is one that I can see making on a cold winter's night, but it's starting to warm up here on the "frozen tundra", so I think tonight will be a chicken stir-fry, as we've got some veggies that need to be used up.  And wine.

 

Prayers for everyone who needs them and even for those who don't think they do.  Extra hugs for Roy.  Stay well, be safe, wash your hands and wear your mask(s).

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[smitty34877]

Good  morning to  all. I  also  looked  up  curlews and   will  salute  them  as  well  as  the  pandas.

The recipe  today  would  meet  DH's  requirements  and  I  will  file  it  for   the  future  as  I  have  another  chicken  dish  planned.  We  have  been  to  Monaco  twice and  went  on  private  tours  to  Eze and  Nice  respectively. I  just  spent an  hour  looking  for  my  pictures  but  they  are  not  on  this  computer. I  still remember  the  very  strong  cups  of  coffee  DH  and  I  had  at  a  cafe  in  the  Nice  marketplace. It  certainly  perked  us  up  for  the  climb in  Eze. The  streets were  quite steep. It  was  a  beautiful  day  with  the  reward  of  an  amazing  view from  the  top  of  the  little  town. Our  tender  ride  back  was  a  rollercoaster  and  we  all needed  assistance  from  the  HAL  staff  to  exit.

 

Terry