Day 17 New York City
This is the last full day of our great vacation; tomorrow we fly back to California.
Breakfast this morning could not have been a bigger contrast to yesterday; we stopped at a little place called Bread and Co – it was great; Sandra had a bagel with cream cheese, I had oatmeal, we both had good coffee it only cost us $6.75!
Following breakfast the four of us jumped in a cab and headed all the way down to the southern tip of Manhattan. We strolled along the waterfront taking in the great views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, checked out the World War II Memorial (several gigantic vertical granite slabs with hundreds of names inscribed on them) and walked through the old fort. The weather was really great; it was one of those crisp bright winter mornings – we really enjoyed it.
Heading north we passed a piece of a metal statue that used to be beside one of the World Trade Center towers before 9/11. The statue was damaged and mangled so they moved it to this spot as a temporary memorial; there is also an eternal flame that burns at the site.
We headed up Broadway and encountered the Wall Street Bull; this is a gigantic brass statue of a bull that has become a popular tourist attraction. Interestingly, parked in a small pickup truck just beside the bull was a huge inflatable rat that was being used as a silent protest by some laid off construction workers. The obligatory posed photos were taken. Just a little further up Broadway, directly opposite Wall Street, is the Church of the Holy Trinity – a beautiful little old church with many graves and memorials that date to the American Revolution. In the church yard is a very moving sculpture; a large cedar tree was completely uprooted during the 9/11 attack and amazingly did not land on any structures. During the recovery they found all of the tree roots still intact and an artist coated the roots in bronze – this is the sculpture that now stands in the church yard.
A quick trip down Wall Street could not be resisted; it’s a really short street – with the New York Stock Exchange and the hall where George Washington was inaugurated featuring prominently. There was a very heavy police presence in this area.
On we moved to Ground Zero where all of the construction we saw the last time we were here is starting to pay off; the beginnings of a large tower can now be seen rising above the screens that surround the square. This is still a very emotional place.
Following our predetermined plan, we hopped in a taxi and headed for the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Both Sandra and Kat are very avid sewers so we had agreed to a couple of stops today that should help support their habit – this was the first of them. We arrived at the FIT only to find that the museum did not open until noon – we were 15 minutes early. What could we do to fill in the time – ah, eat!
Walking up 7th avenue we found a Chinese restaurant called the Ginger House – in we went. This being a college area of town the prices were very low – like $5.95 for a nice lunch. However as the place filled up we did not notice many students, it was mostly business folks. The Ginger House was great value and the food fine. Sufficiently nourished we headed back to the museum.
Entry to the museum was free (you can’t get any better than that) and the display consisted of a single special exhibit focused on American designers. The exhibit was quite small; I sat for most of the time watching the explanatory video while Sandra and Kat walked around the displays of dresses; I noticed much pointing, ooing and ahing – so I assume it was good. Sandra can add more here if she wants.
Walking just a few blocks further up 7th we stopped to check out the Christmas display in the windows of Macys on 34th street – very holiday-spirit kind of thing.
Another 10 minute walk took us to the fabric store to beat all fabric stores – Mood Designer Fabrics! This is the store that was made famous by the TV show “Project Runway” – it took a little bit of finding (we actually walked passed it), since it does not have any ground floor store front – it’s up on the third floor. Amazingly when we came out of the old rattling elevator and into the store I realized that a film crew was set up with cameras all over the place; they were shooting some footage for a new reality show called “The City” which will run on MTV. Off Sandra went into the warren of a store; there is so much fabric! I wandered around checking out the camera equipment. After about 10 minutes Mike, Kat and I were approached by a young girl working with the film crew who asked us to sign a waiver since we had been filmed – wow Hollywood here we come!
Well somehow Sandra only bought a couple of Mood tote bags, since we have to fly home and we are already at our weight limit. Bummer.
Even though it was only early afternoon we decided to head back to the hotel and do some packing before heading out to dinner.
There was a unanimous decision regarding where to go for dinner; back to the Carnegie Deli! We headed down to the front of the hotel to get a taxi at 6PM, then – discovering that it had started to rain, I headed back up to the room to fetch the brolly. After about 15 minutes the doorman finally got us a taxi and we headed off – but it was a complete waste of time, gridlock having set in due to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Our plan was to get a taxi to the deli then walk back via Rockerfeller Center to see if we could get a glimpse of the tree.
The taxi had to take several detours to even get within 2 blocks of the deli – which was a good mile from the tree. We gave up on the cab and walked the last bit in the increasingly heavy rain. On the way, we passed Carnegie Hall – which now makes the name of the deli make a lot more sense.
The Carnegie Deli was every bit as good as our first visit – even though we did not get our favorite waiter, Wayne. The mile high sandwiches arrived – complete with bread that is at best a garnish on a sandwich of this magnitude. The corned beef is like no other I have every tasted – it literally (I mean it) melted in my mouth. This time both couples sensibly decided to split sandwiches; though Kat and Mike ordered something different - a humongous pile of corned beef served open face on top of a thick potato pancake (knish), the whole thing was topped with melted cheese.
We rolled out of the deli and headed down 7th street in the direction of Rockerfeller Center. It was raining quite heavy and for every step we took the crowd got bigger and bigger. Turning left we tried to move closer to the area of the tree, still a good 3 blocks away – but it was useless. At one point I did catch a distant glimpse of Aretha Franklin on a big screen TV, and we could hear her singing. We tried to find a bar to wait it out, but they were all full. I must say that the NYPD did a great job of crowd control – you’d think they’d done this kind of thing before! It was cold, wet, crowded and not getting any better – so we decided to head back to the hotel.
We headed up to our rooms, dried off and then headed to the bar for a final night cap. I managed to get the only table available in the bar, so finally something was going our way. We sat and reminisced about our fantastic trip while sipping a nice cold Guinness (Cosmo for Sandra) – all in all a terrific end to a terrific trip.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Day 16 Panama & Carribean Cruise
Day 16 New York City
We breakfasted in the lobby of the hotel; Sandra and Kat had discovered that Eggs Benedict was invented in the Waldorf Astoria so they had to try them – they had been eating this particular breakfast practically every morning on the ship, so they also needed to do a comparison. I think all of us were pretty disappointed with the breakfast; the service was very slow and when the cooked breakfasts finally arrived the potatoes were cold – Sandra called the waiter over and got things sorted out. The taste test came out in favor of the QM2 - all this for $75 per couple. Just to be clear, we don’t mind paying top dollar for top quality and service – in this respect the Peacock Alley Restaurant at the Waldorf Astoria just did not come through.
After breakfast we hiked back down to Time Square to see if we could procure ticket for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Show – we had assume it would open at 10AM, but were surprised to find it did not open until 2PM.
We jumped in a taxi and headed to the Museum of Natural History – this is the one with the big dinosaur skeleton in the entryway where they filmed some of the movie “Night at the Museum”. We paid our $24 entry fee (which included extra to see the special “Silk Road” exhibit) and spent a few hours checking out the well presented exhibits. The Silk Road exhibit was well done and very informative.
The Metropolitan Museum is directly across Central Park from the Natural History Museum; and so, with only my iPhone as a guide, we set out on foot to traverse the park. The weather was cold but bright and dry so the walk was very pleasant. We did take a few detours to look at some of the beautiful bridges and lakes, but after about half an hour we made it across.
The entry fee for the Met is $20, but the coat checking is free! After paying our way in we headed straight for the restaurant having burned a lot of energy crossing the park – actually it was late afternoon and we had not had lunch.
Since Sandra and I had visited the Met about 18 months ago, and Kat and Mike had not, we decided to split up and meet up again at the end of the afternoon. The collection in the Met is unbelievable; everything from modern art, ancient Egypt, sculpture, grand master painting… We really tried to focus on just a few of the things we wanted to see, but it’s really hard not to get distracted as you move from one area to another. After a while it just becomes a blur… oh another Rembrandt, oh another Monet, oh another blah blah. When visiting a museum like this you really have to take a few breaks as you going through to appreciate it.
Dog tired, we jumped in a cab and headed back to Time Square for our second attempt at procuring Rockettes tickets. It was about 5PM and the traffic was snarled all the way down 5th Avenue – we move at sub-snails pace. Finally we arrived at the square; there were lots of street vendors with carts selling roasted nuts and we couldn’t resist a bag of sugared cashews (Sandra’s favorites). There was no line at the ticket booth and we amazingly got 4 tickets in the 4th row, orchestra section, for the 8PM Rockettes show – for $43 each! On the way back to the hotel we fell into another Irish bar for a quick beer / cocktail – it hit the spot.
Back at the hotel we had to do a quick turn around and then back head out; we decided to get a taxi to the theater – even though it was fairly close. The cab driver gave us a hard time for only asking for such a short ride – it was about 3 blocks, but we were low on energy, so we didn’t care.
The Rockettes show was simply out of this world; I have to admit that I did not know quite what to expect – I knew there would be lines of chorus girls doing high kicks but it was so much more than this. The show included 3D animation (we had to put on those special glasses), singing, amazing dance routines, integrated video graphics and live animals (yes they had sheep, a donkey and 3 camels parading across the stage). The show lasted about 90 minutes and it was non-stop action; we all thought it was amazing – and our seats were fantastic.
Wandering back towards our hotel we noticed that St. Patrick’s Cathedral was open so we popped in for a quick look. St. Patrick’s is an impressive building; although not that old by European standards, it still presents a commanding presence with high vaulted ceilings and beautiful stained glass windows.
Even though it was a quite late (for us anyway) we were felt the need to replenish the calorie stores so we stopped and had a drink and some pizza at a place called Alfredo’s just off 5th avenue. The pizza was extremely thin crust and excellent, Kat had the Alfredo – it was also very good. I found the ambience to be a bit yuppie and the service was not the best; although the waiter was honest enough to admit upfront that the beer selection was garbage – he was right. Our waiter also warned us about the festivities that were going to take place the next night; the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockerfeller Center. Basically the area around Rockerfeller Center, several blocks in all directions, gets completely closed off to traffic and totally jammed with people. We trudged back to the hotel; we are all really knackered and looking forward to a good night’s kip.
We breakfasted in the lobby of the hotel; Sandra and Kat had discovered that Eggs Benedict was invented in the Waldorf Astoria so they had to try them – they had been eating this particular breakfast practically every morning on the ship, so they also needed to do a comparison. I think all of us were pretty disappointed with the breakfast; the service was very slow and when the cooked breakfasts finally arrived the potatoes were cold – Sandra called the waiter over and got things sorted out. The taste test came out in favor of the QM2 - all this for $75 per couple. Just to be clear, we don’t mind paying top dollar for top quality and service – in this respect the Peacock Alley Restaurant at the Waldorf Astoria just did not come through.
After breakfast we hiked back down to Time Square to see if we could procure ticket for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Show – we had assume it would open at 10AM, but were surprised to find it did not open until 2PM.
We jumped in a taxi and headed to the Museum of Natural History – this is the one with the big dinosaur skeleton in the entryway where they filmed some of the movie “Night at the Museum”. We paid our $24 entry fee (which included extra to see the special “Silk Road” exhibit) and spent a few hours checking out the well presented exhibits. The Silk Road exhibit was well done and very informative.
The Metropolitan Museum is directly across Central Park from the Natural History Museum; and so, with only my iPhone as a guide, we set out on foot to traverse the park. The weather was cold but bright and dry so the walk was very pleasant. We did take a few detours to look at some of the beautiful bridges and lakes, but after about half an hour we made it across.
The entry fee for the Met is $20, but the coat checking is free! After paying our way in we headed straight for the restaurant having burned a lot of energy crossing the park – actually it was late afternoon and we had not had lunch.
Since Sandra and I had visited the Met about 18 months ago, and Kat and Mike had not, we decided to split up and meet up again at the end of the afternoon. The collection in the Met is unbelievable; everything from modern art, ancient Egypt, sculpture, grand master painting… We really tried to focus on just a few of the things we wanted to see, but it’s really hard not to get distracted as you move from one area to another. After a while it just becomes a blur… oh another Rembrandt, oh another Monet, oh another blah blah. When visiting a museum like this you really have to take a few breaks as you going through to appreciate it.
Dog tired, we jumped in a cab and headed back to Time Square for our second attempt at procuring Rockettes tickets. It was about 5PM and the traffic was snarled all the way down 5th Avenue – we move at sub-snails pace. Finally we arrived at the square; there were lots of street vendors with carts selling roasted nuts and we couldn’t resist a bag of sugared cashews (Sandra’s favorites). There was no line at the ticket booth and we amazingly got 4 tickets in the 4th row, orchestra section, for the 8PM Rockettes show – for $43 each! On the way back to the hotel we fell into another Irish bar for a quick beer / cocktail – it hit the spot.
Back at the hotel we had to do a quick turn around and then back head out; we decided to get a taxi to the theater – even though it was fairly close. The cab driver gave us a hard time for only asking for such a short ride – it was about 3 blocks, but we were low on energy, so we didn’t care.
The Rockettes show was simply out of this world; I have to admit that I did not know quite what to expect – I knew there would be lines of chorus girls doing high kicks but it was so much more than this. The show included 3D animation (we had to put on those special glasses), singing, amazing dance routines, integrated video graphics and live animals (yes they had sheep, a donkey and 3 camels parading across the stage). The show lasted about 90 minutes and it was non-stop action; we all thought it was amazing – and our seats were fantastic.
Wandering back towards our hotel we noticed that St. Patrick’s Cathedral was open so we popped in for a quick look. St. Patrick’s is an impressive building; although not that old by European standards, it still presents a commanding presence with high vaulted ceilings and beautiful stained glass windows.
Even though it was a quite late (for us anyway) we were felt the need to replenish the calorie stores so we stopped and had a drink and some pizza at a place called Alfredo’s just off 5th avenue. The pizza was extremely thin crust and excellent, Kat had the Alfredo – it was also very good. I found the ambience to be a bit yuppie and the service was not the best; although the waiter was honest enough to admit upfront that the beer selection was garbage – he was right. Our waiter also warned us about the festivities that were going to take place the next night; the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockerfeller Center. Basically the area around Rockerfeller Center, several blocks in all directions, gets completely closed off to traffic and totally jammed with people. We trudged back to the hotel; we are all really knackered and looking forward to a good night’s kip.
Day 15 Panama & Carribean Cruise
Day 15 New York City
The QM2 docked at the Brooklyn Cruise terminal at 6AM this morning, but we weren’t awake to see it – we were knackered and fast asleep in our cabin. We finally rolled out of bed at 7:30AM, packed up our hand luggage and headed out to the buffet for a final chow down. Our designated departure time from the ship was 10AM, but we had to be out of the cabin by 8:30AM so we found a quite spot in the Library and settled down for our wait. Even though we are sad to be leaving the ship we are also looking forward to 3 nights in Manhattan before we return home.
After several announcements it became apparent that departures were running 45 minutes late; I began to worry that we would be late for our pre-ordered car – and end up paying waiting fees. However, Sandra went to the Purser’s desk and explained the situation; this resulted in us getting an escorted exit off the ship – which was very nice; a snide comment from one person in line was soon silenced by Sandra and a minor riot was avoided. We picked up our baggage and were through the customs check by 10:45AM.
Our van arrived and we were whisked off to our hotel in Manhattan; the Waldorf-Astoria. This hotel is fancy (that’s an understatement); we passed through a massive ornate vestibule and into an equally large columned lobby area. It was only noon, so we had to haggle a bit with the desk clerk to free up a room for us – not really a problem.
We have a beautiful corner room on the 11th floor (1130); doorbell, high ceilings, period furnishing, large screen TV and large bathroom – by mid-town Manhattan standards this is a large room.
Mike and Kat joined us and we headed out to find somewhere to eat lunch; after all we are coming down from the cruise ship induced food high – and we need our fix! After checking with the concierge about a real NY deli we were directed to the Carnegie Deli at 55th and 7th; 5 blocks up Park Avenue, turn left the about another 10 blocks. We decided to walk, trying to burn off some of those extra cruise pounds. It was raining a bit, but not too cold; still, by the time we got there we were ready to get warm and eat.
Carnegie Deli did not disappoint; we were fortunate to get straight in without waiting – even though it was busy. Eating at this deli is a total experience; massive sandwiches, rowdy atmosphere and a healthy dose of abuse from the server. Both rooms of the deli have walls that are packed with signed photographs of just about every famous person you could imagine.
Our server, Wayne, was the star employee and he had a standard routine that he worked on first-time customers to help you speedily get though the daunting menu. A series of movie-shorts was playing on a large screen at the back of the room; I soon realized that our server Wally was the star of the show – performing his own song and dance routines and black n white sketches (all very well done). Our food arrived; Sandra and I had decided to spilt a corned beef sandwich – it was outstanding and a struggle to get through. Mike ordered a Woody Allen sandwich and when it came he almost fell off the chair; there was enough meat on the thing to feed 6 people – I kid you not! Wayne would not let us leave without ordering cheesecake – we broke down and let him bring us 1 piece, which turned out to be more than enough for 4! A great experience, the total for 4 with sandwiches, drinks, slaw, onion rings (excellent), cheesecake, coffee and abuse was $111 + tip.
We hopped in a taxi and headed for the Guggenheim Museum, about 10 minutes north. The architecture of the Guggenheim is unbelievable; it’s like a big spiral, similar to a snail shell. We paid out $18 entry fee and headed is; almost the entire exhibit was Kandinski the abstract artist – these are the kind of paintings you have to stare at for 15 minutes then walk away just as confused as you were 15 minutes ago (at least this is how they appear to me). One consolation was a side gallery that showed some great impressionist paintings. The lowlight for me was another side gallery featuring an installation by a new “up and coming” artist; the very large white room was completely empty other than a big black dried liquid stain on the floor along with a burned out light bulb attached to a cord plugged into an outlet in the floor. Amazing. One lady nearby asked the guard assigned to the room “does it light up?” – being nice to her the guard replied “it used to”. I appreciate that there are people who appreciate this stuff; as hard as I try I just don’t get it. Well at least the building was spectacular.
We hopped in a taxi and return to oasis that is the Waldorf. Later in the evening we took a stroll to Time Square, about 10 minutes away. The square has changed quite a bit (for the better) since our last visit; the center section has become pedestrian-only, tables and chairs are set up and the ticket booth has a large official structures. The lights in Time Square are amazing; walking past one particularly large screen I think I could feel heat coming from it. We took a quick shifty up and down the square and then fell into an Irish bar in a side street; we weren’t hungry since we were still trying to digest the lunch time sandwiches, so it was Guinness and cocktails!
We were really pretty merry by the time we started to walk back to the hotel; it was cold so we were all buttoned up tight, but it had stopped raining. We detoured past the Rockefeller Center and checked out the ice rink and other Christmas installations – including a gigantic tree which we’ve heard is to be lit tomorrow night. There was also a really good light and music installation on the side of the Saks building. We made it safely back to the hotel and stumbled into bed.
The QM2 docked at the Brooklyn Cruise terminal at 6AM this morning, but we weren’t awake to see it – we were knackered and fast asleep in our cabin. We finally rolled out of bed at 7:30AM, packed up our hand luggage and headed out to the buffet for a final chow down. Our designated departure time from the ship was 10AM, but we had to be out of the cabin by 8:30AM so we found a quite spot in the Library and settled down for our wait. Even though we are sad to be leaving the ship we are also looking forward to 3 nights in Manhattan before we return home.
After several announcements it became apparent that departures were running 45 minutes late; I began to worry that we would be late for our pre-ordered car – and end up paying waiting fees. However, Sandra went to the Purser’s desk and explained the situation; this resulted in us getting an escorted exit off the ship – which was very nice; a snide comment from one person in line was soon silenced by Sandra and a minor riot was avoided. We picked up our baggage and were through the customs check by 10:45AM.
Our van arrived and we were whisked off to our hotel in Manhattan; the Waldorf-Astoria. This hotel is fancy (that’s an understatement); we passed through a massive ornate vestibule and into an equally large columned lobby area. It was only noon, so we had to haggle a bit with the desk clerk to free up a room for us – not really a problem.
We have a beautiful corner room on the 11th floor (1130); doorbell, high ceilings, period furnishing, large screen TV and large bathroom – by mid-town Manhattan standards this is a large room.
Mike and Kat joined us and we headed out to find somewhere to eat lunch; after all we are coming down from the cruise ship induced food high – and we need our fix! After checking with the concierge about a real NY deli we were directed to the Carnegie Deli at 55th and 7th; 5 blocks up Park Avenue, turn left the about another 10 blocks. We decided to walk, trying to burn off some of those extra cruise pounds. It was raining a bit, but not too cold; still, by the time we got there we were ready to get warm and eat.
Carnegie Deli did not disappoint; we were fortunate to get straight in without waiting – even though it was busy. Eating at this deli is a total experience; massive sandwiches, rowdy atmosphere and a healthy dose of abuse from the server. Both rooms of the deli have walls that are packed with signed photographs of just about every famous person you could imagine.
Our server, Wayne, was the star employee and he had a standard routine that he worked on first-time customers to help you speedily get though the daunting menu. A series of movie-shorts was playing on a large screen at the back of the room; I soon realized that our server Wally was the star of the show – performing his own song and dance routines and black n white sketches (all very well done). Our food arrived; Sandra and I had decided to spilt a corned beef sandwich – it was outstanding and a struggle to get through. Mike ordered a Woody Allen sandwich and when it came he almost fell off the chair; there was enough meat on the thing to feed 6 people – I kid you not! Wayne would not let us leave without ordering cheesecake – we broke down and let him bring us 1 piece, which turned out to be more than enough for 4! A great experience, the total for 4 with sandwiches, drinks, slaw, onion rings (excellent), cheesecake, coffee and abuse was $111 + tip.
We hopped in a taxi and headed for the Guggenheim Museum, about 10 minutes north. The architecture of the Guggenheim is unbelievable; it’s like a big spiral, similar to a snail shell. We paid out $18 entry fee and headed is; almost the entire exhibit was Kandinski the abstract artist – these are the kind of paintings you have to stare at for 15 minutes then walk away just as confused as you were 15 minutes ago (at least this is how they appear to me). One consolation was a side gallery that showed some great impressionist paintings. The lowlight for me was another side gallery featuring an installation by a new “up and coming” artist; the very large white room was completely empty other than a big black dried liquid stain on the floor along with a burned out light bulb attached to a cord plugged into an outlet in the floor. Amazing. One lady nearby asked the guard assigned to the room “does it light up?” – being nice to her the guard replied “it used to”. I appreciate that there are people who appreciate this stuff; as hard as I try I just don’t get it. Well at least the building was spectacular.
We hopped in a taxi and return to oasis that is the Waldorf. Later in the evening we took a stroll to Time Square, about 10 minutes away. The square has changed quite a bit (for the better) since our last visit; the center section has become pedestrian-only, tables and chairs are set up and the ticket booth has a large official structures. The lights in Time Square are amazing; walking past one particularly large screen I think I could feel heat coming from it. We took a quick shifty up and down the square and then fell into an Irish bar in a side street; we weren’t hungry since we were still trying to digest the lunch time sandwiches, so it was Guinness and cocktails!
We were really pretty merry by the time we started to walk back to the hotel; it was cold so we were all buttoned up tight, but it had stopped raining. We detoured past the Rockefeller Center and checked out the ice rink and other Christmas installations – including a gigantic tree which we’ve heard is to be lit tomorrow night. There was also a really good light and music installation on the side of the Saks building. We made it safely back to the hotel and stumbled into bed.
Day 14 Panama & Carribean Cruise
Day 14 At Sea
Our final sea day before returning to New York; I wish we were doing “back to back cruises” like some we have met on this trip.
Just before noon we got to witness (along with most of the passengers on the ship) the first testing of the QM2’s snow making equipment. Over the past few days the ship has been slowly transforming itself into its Christmas theme; lots of trees, garlands, lights – it’s quite nice. In addition, snow making machines have been installed above the grand lobby in the center of the ship. Just before noon they turned on the machines and a flurry of fake snow (actually bubbles) floated down onto the expectant crowd; cool.
We bumped in to Kat and Mike (having a pre-noon drink in the champagne bar (yes this ship has an entire bar dedicated to champagne) and decided to try the Britannia Restaurant for lunch – it’s our last day and this is our first trip to the Britannia for lunch. We’ve actually had quite a few lunches in the Golden Lion Pub where they serve a limited but good menu; fish and chips, bangers and mash etc.
After lunch we returned to the cabin and started the dreaded packing; not my favorite activity.
Dinner at the Todd English restaurant was excellent, as usual – though my cold has returned so my taste buds were a bit hindered. I ordered braised rabbit which brought much protesting from Sandra and comments of “how is that little cotton tail” from the others at the table – I just chomped on and enjoyed it. Sandra had the melt-in-your-mouth “love letters” ravioli.
The packing is all done and the cases have already been taken away from out side the cabin door. Sandra is trying to talk me into going for a final drink, um – maybe a hot toddy will do the trick! We’ve got a car arranged to pick us up from the cruise terminal and take us to our hotel in Manhattan tomorrow morning, so hopefully things will go well.
Our final sea day before returning to New York; I wish we were doing “back to back cruises” like some we have met on this trip.
Just before noon we got to witness (along with most of the passengers on the ship) the first testing of the QM2’s snow making equipment. Over the past few days the ship has been slowly transforming itself into its Christmas theme; lots of trees, garlands, lights – it’s quite nice. In addition, snow making machines have been installed above the grand lobby in the center of the ship. Just before noon they turned on the machines and a flurry of fake snow (actually bubbles) floated down onto the expectant crowd; cool.
We bumped in to Kat and Mike (having a pre-noon drink in the champagne bar (yes this ship has an entire bar dedicated to champagne) and decided to try the Britannia Restaurant for lunch – it’s our last day and this is our first trip to the Britannia for lunch. We’ve actually had quite a few lunches in the Golden Lion Pub where they serve a limited but good menu; fish and chips, bangers and mash etc.
After lunch we returned to the cabin and started the dreaded packing; not my favorite activity.
Dinner at the Todd English restaurant was excellent, as usual – though my cold has returned so my taste buds were a bit hindered. I ordered braised rabbit which brought much protesting from Sandra and comments of “how is that little cotton tail” from the others at the table – I just chomped on and enjoyed it. Sandra had the melt-in-your-mouth “love letters” ravioli.
The packing is all done and the cases have already been taken away from out side the cabin door. Sandra is trying to talk me into going for a final drink, um – maybe a hot toddy will do the trick! We’ve got a car arranged to pick us up from the cruise terminal and take us to our hotel in Manhattan tomorrow morning, so hopefully things will go well.
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