Foodie to Foodie

Can we talk about food for a moment? We've been very happy with the food on board so far. That includes the taste, quality, quantity, appearance and variety. Still, there are a few things they make which are consistently outstanding, three of which I had today, prompting 1.5 hours/8 miles on the elliptical. The three are fried calamari, NY style pizza and cream of mushrooms soup. The fried calamari is consistently well-battered, tender, crispy and is just the rings. The pizza tastes like it has been flown in from NY, minus the excess oil that drips off the end of your elbow as you raise a large, creased slice of pepperoni pizza to your mouth. They have an authentic pizza oven on the Lido deck and they need it because it's very popular, especially during movie under the stars. And the cream of mushroom soup....it is the nectar of the gods. It's not really "cream" of mushroom, but rather a fine puree of mushrooms with cream drizzled on top. I would take a bath in it if I could.

The other outstanding items are chocolate croissants, lamb shank, salmon, sole and a garlic aioli I would also gladly bathe in. So a nice variety overall of some stellar offerings.

I worked 6 hrs today thanks to still waking up so early. Then the routine of fitness center, sauna, lunch and gambling kicked in. I doubled my money yet again. It can't last.

My wife attended another water color painting class. Today's seahorse is below, another fine example of my wife's talent.

In the afternoon, I was sitting by the Lido deck's indoor pool, which has mirrored dividers that can play tricks on you. I seized an opportunity for a pic that I'm still laughing at. It is below. Let me know if you see the humor.

Do you remember the technology blog post? I learned something new today. We told Princess our anniversary was today. It's actually in July, but the cruise ends in May, so we advanced it a bit. As I approached the kiosk this morning by our elevator, it wished me a happy anniversary. How nice! Pic below.

For just the 3rd time on the cruise, I found myself with an hour to kill. I called our kids since it was about 8:30 there and then started drafting todays blog. In no time, it was time to go to dinner. I had a stuffed pork chop and my wife had the salmon. Our appetizers were calamari and mushroom soup.

We sat with an older couple married 65 years, she from Israel, raised in Germany, living in Canada. He from France and Spain, and of course now living in Canada. He was so polite to his wife, "Honey bun, please pass the salt"; "sweetie pie, may I have the butter" etc, etc. I leaned over to the gentleman and said how nice it was to still have pet names for each other after 65 years. He said with a french lilt, "To tell you the truth, I forgot her name". You'll need to decide if that really happened or I just love a good joke.

Later I asked how many languages they spoke. Combined 6, but only 3 in common. I asked which was their primary. She said they converse in French, argue in English, curse each other in Arabic. I guess that's a happy marriage secret I never considered. My wife and I speak Spanish mostly-fluently so maybe we should argue in Spanish?? We have 111 days in an approx 180 Sq ft cabin....we're bound to have several opportunities to practice.

Top Gun was playing up on the BIG screen so my wife went to that and then will go to the late show, a singer from American idol. Ben Gazara. I'm going to skip the 45 min nap in the theater, so here I am, finalizing the blog. In full disclosure, I fell asleep with my phone in hand, so now its 5am ship time the next morning and I'm completing it now. My days are so full, never a dull moment, so I sleep like a rock.

In a few hours, we'll be in Hawaii. The ocean is already smoother. Can't wait!