Wednesday Chef's Galley Canyon Ranch Spa Cuisine

Tonight we ate in the demonstration kitchen for the final time.  The menu was billed as healthy options, but the Chef indicated that he added a few “extras” to add some flavor.  The total menu was 900 calories (plus our wine count) not counting the “extras” added by the chef.   The appetizer was an Arugula Salad with Roasted Tomatoes.  The tomatoes were fresh and tasty with a lemon-olive oil dressing.  Main course was a Natural Beef Tenderloin with Wild Mushroom Jus. The meat was tender, well prepared and the sauce magnifique’!  The meat was served on top of a crisp Potato Pancake with Mashed Cauliflower on the side.  Dessert was Peach Cobbler with a hint of  strawberry.

Another excellent dinner followed by a song and dance review in the Royal Theater and then watching the ballroom dancing at the Ascot Ball.  Looks like we need to take some dance lessons before our next cruise so that we can join in the festivities.

Wednesday Lisbon

We arrived in Lisbon about sunrise passing under a large suspension bridge to dock in port.  Lisbon reminded us of San Francisco.  The city is built up the hill from the water, most of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1800’s and they have cable cars that you can ride up the hills.  We took a shuttle to the center city and decided to take a double deck, hop on hop off bus tour around the city.  We saw a variety of old and new areas and stopped in the Belem area of town.

This water side area west of the port and downtown had a fort to protect the harbor dating back to the 1400’s and several museums.  We went to a museum of coaches that is housed in a former mansion.  The coaches were made for the kings and queens so they were very elaborately decorated.  There was advanced technology designed to reduce the road shock by using straps to hold the passenger compartment.

Following the museum tour we stopped for lunch in a local restaurant called Caseiro.  The dining room was decorated with a variety of gourds.  They had sheep cheese and Serrano ham as lagniappe.  The menu offered options of fish and meat prepared in Portuguese style.  We choose meat and enjoyed the sauces and flavor.  The pastries are local favorites that have a cream filling surrounded by a light flakey crust.

Tuesday Gibraltar

 

We passed through the Strait of Gibraltar about sunrise and weighed anchor in the Gibraltar harbor.  Tender craft began taking the passengers to shore about 9:00 am.  Marsha and Mellany went to shore for shopping.  Robert and I took an excursion to the “Rock & Fortress”.  We walked through about 10% of the tunnels dug in the Rock of Gibraltar during World War II.  These tunnels held soldiers and supplies needed to keep the Strait of Gibraltar open for Allied operations.  The working and living conditions for those men and women were less than ideal but vital to the security of the area.  If you would like to see more about the tunnels go to http://www.rockandfortress.com/ to see more pictures.

Our tour ran late, so we did not get to meet Marsha and Mellany for lunch.  We connected and returned to the ship about 3:30 pm.  Marsha and I went to afternoon Tea in the Queen’s Room for tea, scones w/butter and jam and sandwiches.  These snacks helped us prepare for dinner in Britannia a couple of hours later.  Following dinner we were all tired from our day on “The Rock” so it was an early to bed night as we prepared for Lisbon Wednesday.

Monday at Sea

We are en route to Gibraltar today after four days of shore excursions we are ready for a day of onboard activities.  We started the day in the laundry to wash a couple of loads of clothes.  While we brought most of the clothes from our closet and drawers, the exercise clothes need some freshening up.  It is quiet an experience to share the laundry with the British ladies in their robes and men who had little clue about washing machine and dryer operations.

I attended a lecture on Lisbon in preparation for our port of call Wednesday.  There was also a cooking demonstration that included one of my favorites:  Seafood Bouillabaisse.  Marsha participated in four exercise classes-two in the morning, two in the afternoon.  By the end of her “core” class at 4:00 pm she was tired and ready for a break.

Tonight we dressed in formal attire and ate in the main dining room Britannia.  Following dinner we attended a comedy show.  The Irish humorist kept everyone laughing with his insights on cruising, aging and parenting.  It was a nice way to close our day at sea.

Sunday Chef's Galley Italian Cuisine

Sunday night we returned to Chef’s Galley for our third demonstration dinner.  The appetizer was Gamberi Burro Fusco:  shrimp w/prosciutto ham with a lemon dressing. Pasta course was fresh Linguini with Meat Balls.  The sauce was light and tasty; the “chip” was made of parmesan cheese, parsley and mixed herbs.  The main course was Stuffed Chicken Breast w/mushroom and Mascarpone Polenta and Marsala Sauce.  Desert was Tiramisu (please excuse the half eaten desert in the picture).

Sunday Naples Sorrento Pompeii

We arrived Sunday at Naples to cloudy skies and a chance of rain.  The bus took us about an hour south to the Amalfi Coast and the town of Sorrento.  This quaint seaside town was just waking up as we arrived.  Marsha and I took time for a cappuccino as a rain storm passed through.  We had two hours of free time to wander through the shops before the group gathered for lunch of pasta, chicken and lemon cake.

The group was then transported to Pompeii.  Marsha and I had seen the Pompeii traveling exhibit when it was in Charlotte.  The exhibit created a bleak image of the devastation that had occurred when Mount Vesuvius had destroyed Pompeii in 79 A.D.  The Pompeii site was surprisingly alive with trees and vegetation around the excavation site.  The tour gave us a good insight into life in the city before the eruption.  Despite the heavy crowd, we enjoyed seeing this historic site just as this dog enjoyed the Roman bath.

Chef's Galley-French Cuisine

Back on the ship we ate again at Chef’s Galley.  The chef started with an appetizer of Onion Soup.  It was the best onion soup each of us had ever eaten.  Course two was a simple salad with delicious honey mustard dressing.  The main course was Steak au Poivre a tender filet with a peppercorn sauce.  The chef considers sauces (which take 10-12 hours to prepare) his specialty.  We had to agree as we cleaned our plates.  Fourth course was a cheese plate including three cheeses, fruit, nuts and walnut bread.  Desert was Tarte Fine aux Pommes (Apple Tart) which everyone enjoyed.  The dinner conversation revolved around how we would adjust to preparing our own meals and menu selection once the cruise ends.

Saturday Rome

We arrived in the Port of Civitavecchia Saturday morning.  We decided to take a tour into Rome that provided us transportation (the port is about an hour outside of Rome), entry and guide for the Colosseum and Forum.  Robert, Mellany, Marsha and I joined several thousand other tourists and enjoyed both of these historic areas.  The tours finished about 1:30 pm and gave us free time for the remainder of the day.

We walked towards the Pantheon and found a local ristorante with a variety of pizza, salads and panni on the menu.  We had one of each and shared a good lunch.  We visited the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.  Marsha and I threw coins in the fountain as we did on our last visit twelve years ago.  If the tradition holds we will be back in Rome sometime in the future.

Friday Monaco & Monte Carlo

Friday we arrived in Monaco mid-day due to the late departure from Barcelona.  The ship was anchored in the harbor and we were taken ashore by tender boats.  Robert joined Marsha and me as we explored the principality of Monaco.

The Palace was elegantly understated as we passed through both guest rooms and the public receiving areas.  The Palace has a museum filled with Napoleonic and local historic items.  The Royal Chapel included the graves of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace.  We traveled across town to see the Casino de Monte Carlo.

The town is filled with wealth from the high rise apartments to the luxury yachts to the expensive cars and designer shops.  We returned to the ship shortly before sundown for dinner and a beautiful view of the city before departing for Rome.

Thursday in Barcelona

We woke up this morning to hear that there was a power failure during the night.  In order to check out the problems, our departure from Barcelona was extended from 6:00 pm to midnight.  We headed into town about 9:00 am under cloudy skies and 78 degrees.

We walked down La Rambla a street of vendors and shops looking for tourists as well as the locals.  We stopped in La Boqueria a Wal-Mart size food market with international fruit & vegetables, fish, meats, candies and nuts.

We visited the Musue Picasso which houses many of Picasso’s early works.  He lived in Barcelona in the late 1800s with his family before going to Paris and later to the coast of France.  Marsha and I enjoy his early works of portraits and landscapes.

Cathedrals attract our interest as we travel in Europe.  We visited two small cathedrals that are located in the middle of shopping and residential areas.  The Cathedral of Barcelona has beautiful family alters and a traditional setting.   The Sagrada Familia is a gothic cathedral started in the 1880s and is still under construction.  The construction in progress was impressive.  When I first heard about this cathedral I thought some part of it was functional but walking through it proved my impressions wrong.

We had a traditional Spanish lunch about 2:00 outside on a plaza.  Tapas of tuna w/roasted red pepper, shrimp in garlic and mozzarella cheese w/sun dried tomatoes satisfied our hunger.  The sangria and olives recreated memories of prior trips.

Wednesday at sea

 

Today started off very windy as we passed through the Strait of Gibraltar.  Robert and I were up early to see if we could see land, but it was too dark.  It was sunny and the seas were calm throughout the day.  Marsha and I explored the ship between her yoga and stretching classes.  We went to high tea in the Queen’s Room in the afternoon.

Since we are off the ship all day Thursday to visit Barcelona we decided to celebrate Marsha’s birthday at dinner tonight.  We went to Todd English’s restaurant.  The dinner started with Red Snapper civiche, Bouillabaisse, Garlic Shrimp and Roasted Goat Cheese. The main courses were Scallops w/risotto cakes, Sea Bass with risotto, Lamb Shank and Chicken w/couscous.  All were delicious.  We finished the evening with chocolate birthday cake and homemade ice cream.