The Daily for Sunday August 01, 2021

[StLouisCruisers]

Some images from our Feb. 3, 2018 Veendam visit .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grapau27]

41 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

I also want to thank @grapau27for his piper video.  What a nice and unique way to begin our morning.  The pizzas looks huge!  Did you take one of them home with you?🍕

Thanks.

We ate them both.😋

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good morning from central Texas.  We have another heat advisory for this afternoon.  The high is predicted to be 97F, but the heat index could reach as high as 109F.  The afternoon will be spent inside.  The good news is a "cold" front is expected tonight and into tomorrow morning with a high percentage for rain over night.  This means tomorrow for one day the high will be 87F.  I can live with that.

 

All the celebration days are good and worthwhile.

 

Love the Zsa Zsa Gabor quote.  She must have had quite a collection of houses.  🤣

 

DH would like the meal of the day, but I'm not a fan of meatballs.  I will definitely pass on the drink.

 

We've had Opus One 🍷 at the premium wine tasting on Princess, and we really liked it.  Once it was dropped from the wine tasting, we quit going to the premium tastings.  😠

 

Thank you to @richwmn Rich for the Daily and to @rafinmd Roy for the lists.  Also, thank you to @cat shepard and @summer slope for the wine and drink recipes and reviews. @dfish Debbie thank you for researching all the meal suggestions.  @kazu Thank you for our morning smiles 😃. 

 

We have been to San Juan at least five times including our first cruise in 1987 on Costa Daphne.  In spite of our luggage not arriving until the third day, we were hooked on cruising.  We have spent the turnaround days on b2bs exploring the Old Town and El Morro.  All our visits to San Juan were in the last century, so there are no digital pictures to share.

 

@summer slope Thank you for the pictures.

@mamaofami. Glad you enjoyed your dinner out and that your DGS did a good job serving.  Enjoy your visit with your son.

@kazu  Jacqui, I can't help thinking a lot of places have opened up too soon, especially now that the number of new cases is increasing.

@StLouisCruisers. Sandi, I too wish the unvacinnated would get their shots, but too many believe the conspiracy theories besides being afraid.  Thank you for the pictures.

@smitty34877. Terri, sending good thoughts that Tana can come home this week.

 

Lenda

Edited August 1, 2021 by Quartzsite Cruiser

[grapau27]

41 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Do you ever eat at home?😁

We do thanks but like to travel out when we can.

[dfish]

20 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

Do it Terry! Though GEEO sponsors the tour, they partner with

G Adventures who provides the magic. And all their guides (called CEOs) may be as awesome as François Denis, but I would tell you to ask to be scheduled on one led by him. I find it hard to believe that anyone could be better. All 13 of us on the tour raved about him. Everyone of us!  Let his availability dictate your dates, if possible.
 

Wait til you read today’s episode. Just writing it made me tear up again.  

 

Thank you for mentioning again the tour information.  I've made note of it and will begin talking my sister into it.  

 

How many days was the tour?

[ger_77]

Good morning, thanks for the Daily!  What a great combination of days to celebrate - we should all be able to forgive, have friends and girlfriends.  Zha Zha was quite a gal and must have accumulated a considerable amount of real estate, after all, she was married 9 times!  Oh, rabbit, rabbit.

 

Another hot day here on the "frozen tundra", in fact, we're under a heat advisory for the next couple of days.  Today's high is expected to top out at 35C (95F), and tomorrow at 36C.  Ever so thankful we put in A/C a few years ago, as I'm sure without it, we'd be spending many nights this summer sleeping in the basement.

 

We've been to San Juan several times over our cruising history, the first time being 1989 on our inaugural cruise.  We always love watching sail-in with the fortress coming into sight, and usually bright sunshine.  There are so many neat places for visitors to see, shop, and eat at while you're there for the day.  

 

Although it's hot, we're hosting a barbecue for our not-quite-adopted Chinese daughter (she lived with us for 4 years while attending university), her DH, their adorable 3yr old twins, and her parents.  We haven't been able to get together with them in over a year due to Covid, and are looking forward to their presence in our home once more.  On the menu are barbecue ribs, killer coleslaw, Tex-Mex salad, dilled potatoes, and for dessert, fruit pizza.  And wine.

 

Prayers for everyone on the list, even for those who don't think they need them.  @kazu have you heard any more about KK's husband Joe's condition?  Clinking the glasses together tonight to celebrate all on the happy list.  Stay safe, be well, wash your hands, wear your masks, and hydrate!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

 

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by ger_77
Forgot the rabbit!

[Seasick Sailor]

Blessed Sunday to all our Daily-ites. Thank you Rich for a great report. And to all who contribute a big thanks as well.

 

Ugh yesterday was a muggy one. 95 today and a "promise" of 70% chance of rain tomorrow. Last night we sat outside and listened to music. Even though we have our yard treated for mosquitoes, and my repellent on, I was getting eaten alive. 

 

I worked at the Canyon Hotel in Palm Springs in the 70's. I walked Zsa Zsa Gabors dogs when she came to stay at the hotel. 

 

We have been to San Juan. A beautiful day once the Captain could get us to port. 

 

Well, the honey bees returned yesterday to the hummingbird feeders. Allen said to let nature handle it. We have a squirrel that will not leave. Yesterday he was spread out like a bear skin rug on the patio. A few minutes later Allen said the squirrel was laying on the platform feeder basking in the sun. He must be on holiday that one.

 

In honor of friendship day:

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great day. Prayers, Cheers and Blessings. 

 

[Crazy For Cats]

Good Morning from the NA.

 

[Himself]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you for today's daily and care reports

We had a marvelous cruise out of San Juan on Crown Princess.

Great quote and meal selection today.

All the days today are nice.

We called at Gretna Green and I taped a Piper for Roy.

Take care everyone.

Graham.

 

 

 

 

The pizza looks good.  I like the bagpipes myself and my ansesters came from Ireland.

[dobiemom]

Rabbit, white rabbit. 😄 (Off to church now.)

Edited August 1, 2021 by dobiemom

[Himself]

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Thank you for the first Daily of August, Rich.  The days seem to share a common bond of friendship and I salute all three.  I love the Gabor quote.  I've been to San Juan several times, but I think only on Royal Caribbean (oops, the start/end point of my nephew's Celebrity wedding cruise).  The meatballs sound good.  My alternative is Fruit Pallet des Artiste, Iced Melon Bisque and Grilled Ginger Chicken Breast with Mango Lime Relish as served on MS Prinsendam August 1, 2011.

 

Today’s care list:

Welfare of furloughed crews
Western wildfires
smitty34877's Miss Camilla in NICU(hopefully not long
DurangoScots shelter manager in hospital (but out of ICU}
Kazu’s friend with fall and brain bleed(Out of ICU)
bennybear DSIL infection
Ger_77's friend facing mastectomy
From the rotation:
Krazy Kruizer DH Joe
Scout Jamie C recovering from major surgery

 

Celebrations and Shoutouts

Front Line Health Care Workers
CrazyForCats off to Seattle
HorizonChaser1957 to Okaanagan
puppycanducruise adopting Bertie Woofster
jayhawk66;s furbaby
Family dinner for Mamaofami
MDR Lunch
garlictown in Maui
Denise on her wilderness adventure
and Staff Captain Sabine, HAL’s likely first female Captain(I know this is a repeat but she’s worth it)

 

Roy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roy, Thank You for the Care and Shout Out list.  I would prefer the meat balls.

Have a great day my friend.

[Himself]

1 hour ago, puppycanducruise said:

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.

Thanks for the Daily Report.

Welcome to August, a new month, hope it's a good one.  We're starting the day with a bit of rain.

Love the collection of days.  

Great quote from Zsa Zsa.

The meal sounds good, hope the drink and the wine are wonderful too.

Prayers to everyone on the Care List.  Cheers to all the celebrations.

Stay safe.

 

August is the month I was born.  That will be 82 years later this month.

[Himself]

1 hour ago, dfish said:

Good morning, everyone! 

 

It looks like a nice day outside, but they say a cold front is coming through and bringing the possibility of showers with it.  Yesterday's Zoom program went very well.  I always agonize over them beforehand and then they turn out wonderfully.

 

We have a great collection of days to celebrate.  Friendships, forgiveness and girlfriends - what more can you ask for?

 

Today's meal sounds nice, but I've got a reservation at the grill.  I'll dodge raindrops if necessary.  

 

https://damndelicious.net/2021/01/23/easy-baked-meatballs/

 

 

 

 

This looks tasty.  

[Himself]

1 hour ago, summer slope said:

Happy Sunday.  Great group of days to surround yourself with.  The Gabor quote is cute.  The meal sounds and looks fantastic..  I love anything with meatballs.  We've been to San Juan several times, will look for photo's.

Prayers and toasts to our lists.

Please continue to stay safe, social distance, and wear your mask.

Tequila Slammer:

A Tequila Slammer is a cocktail served in a rocks glass. It is made with tequila. Wikipedia
Main alcohol: Tequila
Ingredients: One part 7 Up, Ginger Ale or Mountain Dew, One part Tequila
Preparation: Mix carefully to avoid releasing the dissolved CO2.
Served: Straight up; without ice
Drinkware: Rocks glass
Commonly used ingredients: One part tequila; One part 7 Up, ginger ale, Sprite, or Mountain Dew

The tequila slammer is a tequila shot that is a little more interesting than the average drink. You will need a glass of soda and watch out for the fizz!
The slamming action releases gas bubbles from the mixed drink causing it to foam vigorously. It will then quickly escape the glass if not imbibed immediately, the result (and intention) of which is swift intoxication.

 

Summer Slope I hope you are feeling well these days and that shingles are soon becoming a bad memory  I do not think I will be trying this drink but thank you for the information..

[Sir PMP]

27 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thanks.

We ate them both.😋

Yes, you two are eating too much pizza and fish and chips..

[Himself]

46 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Some images from our Feb. 3, 2018 Veendam visit .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are great pictures.

[StLouisCruisers]

Thank you Father!  

 

I was just perusing some 2019 Rotterdam visit to San Juan photos and saw a couple of unique ones.  This was Valentine's Day too!

 

 

 

What a romantic dessert!

[Himself]

Rich:  Happy Sunday!  It is a very pleasant day in Naperville.  The humidity is very low  and the temperature is 69.  It is just delightful.  I have been to San Juan several times. .  Thank you for the DAILY Fleet report.  I look for the day that all HAL ships are sailing WITH passengers. Thanks to all who have contributed with comments, observations and pictures. 

[summer slope]

21 minutes ago, Himself said:

 

Summer Slope I hope you are feeling well these days and that shingles are soon becoming a bad memory  I do not think I will be trying this drink but thank you for the information..

The shingles are gone Father, thank you for your concern. 

[puppycanducruise]

35 minutes ago, Himself said:

August is the month I was born.  That will be 82 years later this month.

August is my month too.  I will be 62 in a few days.

Early birthday wishes to you.

[cat shepard]

The Icelandic saga continues…..

 

Another raw, windy morning.  But it had not started raining - yet.  Our last day with François!

 

Our breakfast buffet was amazing! It was a U-shaped set up. One entire section of fresh fruits. Two flavors of Skyr with at least six different things you could top them with. Waffle maker. Oatmeal and porridge. Pickled herring. Several different sausages, bacon, eggs, a huge variety of pastries and breads. And the customary coffee machine. The coffee was actually quite good, as long as you selected the correct strength.  And that delicious, moist brown bread. I might miss that most of all! This morning I put some Lingonberry jam on it. Yummy!

 

François rounded us up and we left at 7:45 for Reynisfjara Beach.

Early enough to beat the crowds.  He warned us that even though the seas were calm today, do not get too close to the water. Just in case we missed his warning, we passed at least three different signs also warning us. One with a life preserver attached to it.  More black sand, but surrounded by amazing rock formations. The famous basalt columns (sea stacks) to our left. 

 

And majestic rocks in the water in front of them. 

 

 

And then at the far right of the beach, more huge rock formations. I found it hard to believe that the seas were “calm” today. I wasn’t alone in thinking this. 

 

 

When we returned to our minibus, François showed us two video clips of people being swept off their feet by the waves. One group was at the top of the beach, when a rogue wave surprised them. Luckily all were okay. 

 

Next stop Seljalandsfoss waterfall. I was probably the only one of the group who did not walk behind the waterfall. But the mere mention of slippery wet steps did not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

 

So I walked in front of it and continued down the path passing in front of two smaller falls. 

 

This is where I discovered how slippery black sand is on wood. Crossing a small stream via a wooden bridge required my holding on to the railings - tightly. Especially going down the ramp back to the path. The rain held off until we were back on the road. 

 

A quick stop for snack/lunch items, and then off to Gullfoss. Nothing rustic about the paths to this waterfall. Highly developed - definitely accessible. But I discovered the approach faded into oblivion when faced with the awesome power of these falls. 

I did not go down the dozens of steps to the lower level, but I did walk along the side of the falls. I was able to witness its “steps”.  

 

There was a huge gift store there, and though not in the market for anything several of us used the restrooms way in the back. Great sales technique. We were greeted by a reindeer when we entered. 

 

 

We had a bit of a detour on our way to Geysir. It was pouring, otherwise I would have tried to capture a picture of how Iceland builds up its roads. It was fascinating to drive on the side not yet built up - the side built up was at eye level!

 

 François got us back on track and we arrived at the geothermal pool and geyser area. Strokkur is Iceland’s version of Yellowstone’s Old Faithful.  It erupts every 5-10 minutes. But it does not reach the same heights as Old Faithful does.

 

 We also found a couple of geothermal pools interesting. One definitely appeared to have a cave beneath it. 

 

Our last stop of our trip was at Thingvellir National Park. Famous not only for being  the area where Iceland’s Parliament started meeting in 930 A.D, but also where we could walk along the rift created by the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates shifting apart. As we walked along, we wondered if Iceland would eventually be two islands? We felt very small. We encountered some off and on showers during the walk, but nothing like yesterday’s downpours. 

 

None of us really wanted to get back on the minibus and head to Reykjavik. Even those of us who were not leaving for home the next day. We had grown into a close knit group, and we all treasured the Iceland that François’ shared with us. 

 

Back to Hotel Cabin. The woman at the desk remembered me and asked how I was doing. François asked us to reconvene in the lobby at 6, so those that needed to be tested could do so. Then we would go out for our last supper as a group.  While he was busy organizing the testing, we got busy on our tip project. The recommended tip for François was $45/person. Hah! I knew that I would never have experienced some of the most awesome features of Iceland without him. $45 was no where near enough. I also wrote a very personal message on our envelope. I admit I had tears in my eyes when writing “Thank you for giving me Iceland”.

Kat, ever the artist, created origami with her tip money. 

 

 

The testing was completed very quickly for the six people leaving the next day. And they received their “all clear” certificates within 75 minutes!

 

We had an amazing last meal at a local restaurant. I had a reindeer burger with sweet potato fries and I had a SN Orri NR. 10 ale. I had one at the hotel on the advice of the bartender while waiting for the group to be tested. I liked it so much, I had another with my meal. 

 

 

We checked with the waiter to be certain none of Santa’s reindeer were being served. That set the tone for the evening and we had a wonderful time. Bittersweet to be sure. 

 

Back at the hotel we parted our ways, but not before I gave François a huge farewell hug! I was not the only one.  

 

Another great night’s sleep. 

 

More to follow…

 

[kazu]

45 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

@kazu have you heard any more about KK's husband Joe's condition

 

I haven’t I’m sorry to say 😔 

[kazu]

48 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Good Morning from the NA.

 

 

Good morning.  Beautiful shot 🙂. Enjoy breakfast 😄 

[cunnorl]

Good Morning from a very warm and sunny day at the beach

      Great selection of days. I have some wonderful longtime girlfriends. Cant imagine life without them. Have been to San Juan several times but not in the last several years. It seems every time we went there it was cool and raining. So we no longer cruise in January.

@Mr. Boston Love Ogunquit. I got one of the worst sunburns of my life there. It was a beautiful day with breezes blowing off the cool ocean. Of course, I was young and foolish then. Was visiting one of my girlfriends who lives in Biddeford. Beautiful area.

 @grapau27 Those pizzas look wonderful! Everytime you mention " Gretna Green", I think of Jane Austin who is a favorite author of mine. Know it not the same place, but it gives me a chuckle!

 

Stay safe and enjoy today

 

 

  

 

 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

@kazu  Jacqui, I can't help thinking a lot of places have opened up too soon, especially now that the number of new cases is increasing

 

Although we are past 66% fully vaccinated, I don’t think it’s enough and masks should still be used indoors.  I dropped Miko off at the groomer’s and had my mask on.  She isn’t vaccinated (can’t be for medical reasons, yet) and I wasn’t putting her at risk.

 

Mask wearing is not discouraged at least.  Just not required.