THIS BLOG SOMEHOW GOT LOST, SO I AM REPOSTING; I WILL POST ANOTHER BLOG FOR TODAY LATER THIS EVENING.
I returned to the Main Dining Room for last night’s formal evening dinner and my bottle of Cabernet (which was from Paso Robles, CA), followed me from the previous night in the Pinnacle Grill. The highlight of dinner was the first course: escargot braised in a red wine sauce and then served over puff pastry with a garlic cream sauce. I was forced (!) to have steak for the second night in a row (filet mignon with a side of large prawns), since I was still drinking the red wine. Tonight I will probably start a bottle of white.
Since I said something to Anthony, my dining-room wine steward, about the faulty service in the Pinnacle Grill, everyone else in the wine service seems to be fawning over me. We’ll see how long that lasts. I haven’t seen the head waiter from the first two nights since Sunday, and his replacement is vastly more pleasant (and no, I did not complain)—perhaps he’ll stay away for the rest of the journey.
Today’s morning lecture by Revell Carr covered the battles of the four French and Indian Wars in North America (and in Europe as well, with different names), in the early and mid 18th century. Never knew I was that interested in battles. After lunch, Ian Page, the ship’s travel director, gave an illustrated talk on Lisbon with some good practical information for getting about on one’s own. I spent six days in Lisbon in 1996 and look forward to the return visit.
Interestingly, everyone’s passport was collected at embarkation in Ft Lauderdale and is being held by the ship, supposedly so the authorities can check them en masse when we reach each new destination. I’m not sure I like the idea of wandering around without a passport, but it’s more complicated to get off the ship by oneself if you haven’t been checked with everyone else. We’ll see.
I finished reading DeNiro’s Game, an interesting turn on the typical Bildungsroman, although the first-person narrator often displays a sophistication about much of the world and European and American cultures that doesn't quite jibe with his background and situation.
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