9/3
Not much to talk about today. The seas were still pretty rough this morning, the clouds were low (though it wasn’t raining) and visibility was pretty poor, so we slept in later than usual. Yoram was feeling much better, so we did go to breakfast and then decided that a walk on the deck in the fresh air would be better than a run in the gym, so we walked for about an hour. There wasn’t much to see, and it was so strange to walk with the ship rocking back and forth, but the fresh air did feel good and the brisk winds were refreshing. We didn’t really want lunch, so we grabbed some fresh fruit and went to watch them create an ice sculpture—it took him about 15-20 minutes to create an eagle from a 75 pound block of ice.
We relaxed for a bit and went to the Indonesian Tea offered in the dining room. It was delicious: crepes filled with brown sugar and coconut, deep fried banana, and delicious spice tea (and this from one who usually doesn’t like tea). Yoram had Sumatran coffee, which he enjoyed, too. We shared a table with the parents of the Irvine boy who had been in the show with Yoram—turns out he’s a pharmacist at the Kaiser hospital in Irvine, right near where we live!
Once tea was over, we were approaching Price William Sound, so we sat in one of the lounges and looked outside. The rain had stopped, but it was still pretty cloudy, but just looking out was relaxing. We were looking forward to dinner, which was advertised as the “Master Chef’s Surprise”. It began about ½ hour earlier than usual, and once it started, we understood why. First of all, we noticed that there were no linen napkins on the table, and we wondered why. We understood when the evening began with “Act One, the server’s ballet”, as they danced in, in full chef’s regalia, and twirled the napkins around to the music until they reached our laps. This was followed by the appetizer, brie cheese baked in phyllo dough and encrusted with hazelnuts—beautifully presented and delicious! The came “Act Two:Salad Presentation”, as the wait staff once again danced their way in with all of the tools necessary for the salads: bowls, tongs, pepper grinders—they juggled veggies and danced the salads to the table. The main course was relatively calm, but delicious, as most of the food has been the entire cruise.
By this time, the advantages of the best table in the house (right at the center of the stern of the boat) once again became evident, because we had entered the College Fjord, a narrow inlet where multiple glaciers come in from the sides and 5 or so huge ones (the 2 main ones being called Harvard and Yale) meet at the very end of the fjord. By this time, the clouds had lifted, and we cruised past the glaciers as the waiters presented the grand finale: Baked Alaska, once again served with style by the wait staff, and sooo good!
Just as the captain reached the end of the fjord where all the glaciers meet, we finished and headed outside to enjoy the sight in the fresh air. The clouds had thinned out considerably, and there were even patches of blue in the sky and patches on the ice-covered mountains where the sun shone through. The sight was breathtaking, and we stood out there for about an hour as we gradually moved back out of the sound. As we slowly sailed out, more and more of the glaciers revealed themselves—4 parallel ones on the starboard side of the ship, the patch of sun at the tip growing larger, at one point illuminating a strand of trees that were starting to turn golden, and the stunning panorama right in back of us. That experience alone, like so many others, would have made the whole trip worthwhile. We need to have our suitcases packed by midnight tonight, and tomorrow we have the morning in Seward before we take the train to Anchorage.
This time on the boat really has been amazing. I think I could have easily been cynical and superior about everything, because there are definitely some characters on board, and some of the stuff was pretty “kitsch-y”, but instead I chose to go with the flow, and thoroughly enjoyed everything about it! Makes me realize that I might enjoy other things a lot more as well if I just let myself enjoy them and don’t worry so much about what people think of me…
No comments:
Post a Comment