Sharon in AZ

Jane, so good to hear from you. Happy Birthday to your son. No way you could have a child that age. The celebration at the restaurant sounds like fun, I love tapanyaki. Wow, what a great cruise times 2. Are you staying in Italy between the two cruises? Sounds like a dream trip.

As usual Craig’s pictures are much better than mine so I’m going to share some of his. From Achillion Palace: From the park at Mon Repo Palace: I believe this is the Convent of Vlacherna and the other is Mouse Island: More cats: The Oosterdam:

The first Palace we went to in Corfu was Achillion Palace in the village of Gastouri and was built for Empress Elisabeth of Austria after her son died and later owned by Kaiser Wilhelm II. It is also known for being the set for the casino scene in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. The Palace was closed for restoration but the views and gardens were lovely. It was raining so a bit overcast. Then we went to Mon Repo Palace built in 1828 as a Summer residence for Sir Frederic Adam, a British High Commissioner. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh was born and baptized there in 1921. The Greek royal family used it as a Summer home. It’s set in a park setting and the walk through the park is beautiful. I’ll have to check the pictures Craig has for some of the park. He tends to take more pictures than I do and his are usually better.

Good morning and Happy Friday! It’s chilly this morning, at least for me it is, right now 62F. I could feel the fall air last night when I took Blue outside. It’s still hot in the afternoons but you can feel the change. We were in Corfu June 9, 2022 on the Oosterdam. We did an excursion to the Palaces of Corfu which was very enjoyable. The following is what I posted on October 2, 2022 and thanks to Sandi I am reposting. We were leaving the next day for Quebec City and I didn’t have time to post more that day so will do that in another post. I’m on my iPad and will post them from my iPhone which is easier for me. ************************************************* My favorite picture from Corfu. This is from the palace that Prince Phillip was born.

Yikes Ann! Glad you and your sister are safe.

Great idea!

Happy Birthday @cruising sister! Enjoy your special day.

Good afternoon and Happy Thursday. Craig and I went out for lunch at my favorite place for tacos. Special was a blood orange margarita, so good, and 3 tacos for $11. Can’t beat that. Vanessa @JazzyV, about your comment yesterday, I enjoy cooking and love researching new recipes but if I was just cooking for myself I wouldn’t cook every day. I am a huge cookbook collector and have too many. I enjoy reading them more than cooking from them. I feel inspired when I research something new. Making the char siu was one such project. My DM’s side of the family were huge farmers and many were old. My grandfather, DM’s father, died in 1934 of dust pneumonia. The older boys found him after his horse came home without him. My Grandparents circa 1928. Have a great day everyone!

Yes! Really looking forward to this cruise. So is Dixie @summer slope.

Good morning and Happy Wednesday. So far it’s a lovely day with the high in the low 90’s. Thank you for the Fleet and Daily Rich and to all the contributors. Great port pictures today. Happy Birthday @Nickelpenny one day late!! I have been enjoying checking out the lunch and dinner menus for the MDR on the Koningsdam via the Navigator app as she sails to Hawaii. Our cruise starts in 110 days. Seems so far away. Have you been checking the menus Dixie @summer slope? I have been doing a lot of cooking and really enjoy it when I don’t have appointments with DM. Some stuff turns out great, like the char siu bao last week but the Coq Au Vin yesterday was not a favorite. Today I’m making beef pot pie with stout and an Irish cheddar cheese crust. I already have the beef mixture made. I was thinking of making mushy peas but discovered that true mushy peas are made with a special pea called marrowfat and are hard to find, although I did find them on Amazon. I hate to buy a whole bag not even knowing if I’d like them. Debbie @dfish, your recipes today look really good. I’m not a huge fan of curry but it’s good with the coconut milk. Have a great day everyone!

We replaced our appliances with LG and this has been the best dishwasher we’ve ever had. Very quiet and cleans very well even just using the auto function. Mine has the touch pad controls on the top of the door so it’s sleek looking too. Takes longer but that’s because it’s water saving. Edited to say that we’ve had it for just over 3 years.

Good evening everyone. Whenever I ask Craig what he wants me to cook he always replies Lasagna Bolognese. It’s a multi day process and it’s been ages since I’ve made it. The best we ever had was in Venice in 2005 at a little tiny restaurant near the apartment we rented. Sadly it’s no longer there. Thanks to all for sharing and prayers for the care list. Bon Voyage to all sailing. Have a great evening.

Good evening, sorry for the lateness but I totally forgot that Villefranche was today’s port and wanted to share what I saw on June 3, 2022 on the Oosterdam while Craig was in quarantine. We tendered and I waited until late morning to check it out because it was raining. I really just went so I could say that I’d been in France. By the time I got there most everything was closed up due to the rain. I remember water pouring off the awnings making it difficult to walk. I found a few souvenirs and went back to the ship. Sailing in, this was about 5:30 am. Happy Birthday Vanessa @JazzyV! Happy Anniversary Terri @Cruzin Terri! Have a good night everyone!

Good morning and Happy Tuesday. I haven’t posted for a bit but have been reading. It’s rather hard to keep up with events and really do appreciate Vanessa @JazzyV’s Care and Celebration List. Prayers and good thoughts to everyone and Bon Voyage to everyone sailing. Craig was OOT last week visiting his brother and sister in the White Mountains. He brought back cooler weather with him and this morning I was surprised to see that the temperature inside the house was cooler than I had set the A/C at for the night. It’s only going to be 86F today. Blue is happy he has a shirt on. Blue had a painful reaction last week to an injected vaccine. He whimpered all evening and squealed when I would pick him up and was limping. It wore off quickly but it freaked me out. First time that has happened. Our vet gave him pain meds and they really helped. The Turkey tetrazzini recipes look good Debbie @dfish and I’m glad you suggested using chicken. I’m leaning toward using the Food Network recipe. I’m not a big fan of Turkey so I think I’ll enjoy the chicken version. I’m even thinking of just doing a chicken for Thanksgiving. Much easier and I think I’ve perfected my smoked chicken. Two whole chickens will fit fine on the grill. Thanks to everyone for sharing. Have a great day!

I honestly don’t remember but it was under $50. I couldn’t figure out how to preorder it but Guest Services was very helpful when I inquired.

Good evening! Welcome to the Fleet Report and Daily @AroundWithMAPTravels. Glad you posted today and hope that you post again and often. I’m Mad Rat Jackson. Wow what a name. Debbie @dfish, I use this when a recipe calls for lemongrass. You can find it in the produce area near the fresh herbs (that’s where it is at my nearby Safeway). Thank you for the recipes today. We ended up having a Jersey Mike’s sub today. Tomorrow I’m making a new recipe from Cook’s Country for baked drumsticks with sun dried tomatoes and herbs de Provence. It’s marinating in the fridge right now. I hope the Herbs de Provence are fresh enough, I bought it from Pike Place in 2019. Have a good evening!

Good evening everyone. I wanted to share Craig’s cheeseburger from the MDR on the Volendam this past May. Why he had both chips and fries is a mystery. They do make a good burger. Today was spent with DM taking her to an appointment and then lunch. I asked her about an old genealogy book that a family member had complied so I stayed at her apartment looking through old pictures and the book. This all started when my cousin posted old pictures on Facebook so I wanted to figure out who was who. It’s all very interesting since she was one of 13 children. I have been wanting to make falafel for some time and have been researching recipes. One of these days I will actually make them. Have a good evening.

Terry @smitty34877, I am so sorry to read of Lou passing this morning. I’m sure you are glad you worked so hard to get him home and even have visitors. Condolences to you and your family.

We were in Giardini Naxos June 7, 2022 on the Oosterdam. Craig was still in Covid isolation and I originally wasn’t going to do anything in port because I didn’t want to venture out on my own. At the last minute I decided to take a winery excursion and it was an enjoyable afternoon. Early morning arrival and tenders starting: My view from my Neptune Suite of Mt Etna: Our location: Taxi prices from Giardini Naxos. The Oosterdam and a Scenic Cruises ship. We were dropped off here to walk to the winery. Views along the way. Mt Etna My purchases. View from my balcony right before sail away. The glow from Mt Etna seemed more intense in person than this picture shows. I really enjoyed my day here and hope to go back to see Taormina next time.

Good morning and Happy Sunday from sunny Tucson. I was in Giardini Naxos June 7, 2022 on the Oosterdam. I decided to do a wine tasting tour instead of going into Taormina. I’ll post some pictures in a separate post. Today’s meal suggestion is something I make often with soft tortillas but I love the crispy ones I have at our local Mexican restaurant. We are having tacos today but not ground beef, I bought a biriria beef mix from TJ’s and just need to put them together. Have a great day everyone!

Roy , I personally think you should go. What better way to relax and recoup after having covid! You won’t have to worry about meals and can do as much or as little as you want. I didn’t feel very well for about a week during my last cruise. I ended up canceling two excursions but I never missed dinner. I took a lot of naps and throughly enjoyed the down time. Live your dream!

You can also wait until after boarding to order a Christmas tree. Just go to Guest Services and order. The florist actually hand delivered mine. At one point he had a table set up with different sizes for passengers to purchase. I took mine home but the base broke in transit but DH repaired it with gorilla glue.

Bon Voyage! ⛴⛴⛴ What a great itinerary!

Good morning and Happy Saturday from sunny Tucson. Supposed to be 97F today but our overnights have been cooler, in the high 60’s. Tucson is high desert so we cool off more at night. Yesterday I saw a cornea specialist for cataract evaluation and am now scheduled for surgery on November 30 and December 7th. She wants to do them a week apart so I don’t suffer too much from not seeing well in between. I have very bad vision so that makes sense to me. Not sure what I’ll do during that time, reading and watching TV will be very difficult. Also I need to see a retina specialist beforehand because I am at high risk for a retina tear. This is something I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while so I’m excited to get this scheduled. I might like the mushroom “scallops” but agree that they should be called by what they are. My favorite way to eat real scallops is with polenta and sometimes corn. I’m thinking about making a new bread recipe today for French bread but might wait until tomorrow. I am making chicken wings today similar to the way Debbie makes hers but with a dry rub. Prayers for all on the Care List especially Lou and Baby Murphy. Glad to hear Gerry’s DH came through surgery so well. Have a great day everyone!

I think it’s best we don’t talk about why our Daily is locked. The hosts have been locking it since September 6th and I’m sure most know what happened that day and it wasn’t because of sermons. I still feel bad about contributing to that conversation.