jpalbny

Great meeting you @daddyo and we agree, this cruise was really special. Some really interesting stops, off the beaten path, and great activities. Hope your next trip is as much fun! We are on our way home from Hamburg now. Our flight from Hamburg to Amsterdam was a few minutes early and we were bussed to a good location for the transfer gates. We were through passport control and lounge hunting within 10 minutes of landing. The new KLM lounge here on the Non-Schengen side is really nice! It's right by the Rijksmuseum. Up one flight and they have self check-in. From there, multiple lounge areas and a nice bar. Up another level and there is a self-seating restaurant and bar where they serve "premium" food and drink. We'll check that out in an hour or so. We board in two hours so that should be about right. Will post some Hamburg pix in a bit.

Thanks! We actually have tickets for tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it.

Thursday June 15th. Kiel Canal transit. A lazy morning but we were up in time to get our last bag of laundry out well before 9AM. Breakfast in Panorama then trivia where we did very well, except for the one 3-point question about Christiansø. Oh well, we've accumulated 150 prize points so we'll take it! We returned from trivia to this rude awakening. Those pesky suitcases! We went out to walk laps outside, then went to lunch instead. We were close to the canal entrance by 13:00 and saw all the pretty sailboats. But a long delay until we could actually enter the locks. So we had time for a nap. Some time later, we are finally approaching... Finally at 15:30, they let us through! Lots to see as we sailed through. The Holtenauer Hochbrücken is just beyond the entrance. Further on, the landscape is a bucolic setting with fields and forests that looked gorgeous in the bright sunshine. We did more laps, which were interrupted with the occasional photo stop. This looked like a fun place. A break in the grain fields for some grape vines. Picnic tables. I don't know what they served but I'd like to find out. Another ferry stop. There are fourteen that cross the canal. The boats are really fast! The distance is short, and they have to dodge all of the canal traffic! We packed most of our stuff then got ready for the captain's farewell. Then the last dinner on board. I had booked Hot Rocks for us and RachelG, and we were joined by LAexNY so it was a really fun meal. The company was fantastic and the scenery was beautiful. We had a great sunset too. It's now after 23:30 and there is still a little light in the sky as we enter the lock at the exit into the North Sea. Good night for now. We have two days in Hamburg before we fly home on Sunday. Will be sad to see this adventure end, but we did book two more.

June 14th, Frederiksø Island. We crossed the little footbridge and hustled to the small tower (Lille Tårn). Of course the pretty landscape slowed us down here and there. Made it in time! As RachelG posted, some torture instruments.... What did they need an "electrical apparatus" for? Old stethoscopes. And this table - what did they use the mezzaluna for? Some things are best left unknown. There was an 1800s diorama of the islands. Christiansø is behind and to the right, and Frederiksø in front and to the left. Now a little more walking around the rest of Frederiksø. Nice summer cottages, some for rent. We did see some people enjoying an outdoor meal at their cottage. I hope our group hasn't ruined the peacefulness of this place for them! More poppies and cottages. We reached the tip of the island and saw a zodiac leaving without us. So back to the footbridge and the dock. A beautiful calm harbor. The footbridge did look like it could be pulled up like a drawbridge. Here at the middle, you could see that it's actually two sections. We got a zodiac back to the ship and passed by some seals on one of the adjacent islands. No close-up views though. Back on board we cleaned up for dinner. Tonight's menu. I started with stuffed calamari. Very tasty. I enjoyed it very much. Chris had lobster bisque (not pictured) then I had gazpacho. Tasty and a bit of spice. Chris had lobster tail which was much better than the lunch offering. And I went with the Wiener Schnitzel which was crispy and delicious. Both went well with the Macon Burgundy. Liar's club after dinner. We tied for first. Then some dancing before bed but we were both too tired to stay up late. We're approaching the Kiel Canal now, so off to see what's on offer at the pub lunch!

Wednesday June 14th. Christiansø and Frederiksø Islands. Our only stop in Denmark this trip. We were called ashore a little after 16:30. A short and relatively calm zodiac ride ashore to a dock in the middle of town. We stopped for a sampler plate of herring first. Three kinds - curried, pickled, and with tomato sauce. I liked the first two best. From here we visited the large defensive tower (Store Tårn) which now holds some historical exhibits and pieces of artwork. SS had bought tickets for us (25 DKK each). You can climb up to the roof level for the views too. The land beyond Silver Wind is Bornholm. I was there 21 years ago for my sister's wedding. In January! It looks much more welcoming today. The two islands are tiny and should be easy to walk around. Onward! But first some art. This piece was a large tree trunk, quartered, and painted blue inside. I liked this perspective. Just outside the tower, some very fluffy herring gull chicks. Weird place for a nest. We had a look at the nearby church and another smal tower. This one was locked up tight. Time to get moving and walk the perimeter of the island. Views like this were everywhere. You couldn't go outside the walls because of the nesting birds. Some pretty flowers, including poppies which added a nice splash of color. Halfway around we started hearing a loud racket. There was a pond full of frogs who were croaking like mad! More views of the coast, and a selfie! Now about 3/4 of the way around the island. Is that a person on the walls? I bet I know him. At the highest point, there is a large defensive bastion with many cannons. Good thing they are in a welcoming mood today. Now we were back at the other end of the city. The Post Office had some nice hours! Main Street At this point we had circumnavigated the entirety of Christiansø Island. Our next goal was to get to the footbridge and cross over to Frederiksø, where there was another tower to climb. If we could get there before it closed!

We said 1887! Why aren't you here to help us?

None here Terry. But it was yummy! They had four ceviches and assorted fried seafood as well as crab legs, lobster, Chilean sea bass, shrimp, huge prawns, and lobster tails.

Wednesday June 14th. Sea morning in the Baltic. Lazy morning. We finally got moving a little before 9AM. We split the morning between the Panorama for coffee, the suite for resting, and a few laps on deck enjoying the beautiful weather. We saw a ferry off in the distance. Just before lunch we had a look out our window. What?! And why is it smoking at the waterline? Is it test firing some torpedoes at us? Lunch on the deck was a very nice seafood buffet. The lobster tails were small and not so good but the Chilean sea bass was delicious. And the crab legs were excellent. Another warplane went by but quite high up so we couldn't see it well. But we sure heard it! Eventually the warship turned away and left us to our own devices. Relaxing with a glass (or several) of Macon white wine while awaiting briefing at 14:00, then we will try to redeem ourselves at trivia. Later this afternoon we make our last (!) stop, at Christiansø Island for a nice walk.

The chili crab is indeed very messy. They gave us bibs and a box of plastic gloves which helped immensely.

Lola, I'm not sure if the ship environment has anything to do with it or not. Certainly possible. The issue with yesterday's bottles was cork taint and not spoilage. Cork taint comes from a fungus that is sometimes present in natural cork, which produces a compound that smells and tastes awful. For wine geeks that substance is 2,4,6-TCA. It's harmless, but makes the wine smell like moldy wet newspapers. Or stinky socks. Definitely not the aromas that one wants! And once you're sensitized to it, you can't ignore it if it's present.

June 13th, dinner at LT Our reservation was at 20:00 so we had time to sip a G&T at the bar. And to have a few salty chips/crisps too. We went up 10 minutes early and there was plenty of room. Tonight's menu. The usual tray of antipasti which is way more than needed. Chris had the cacio e pepe (not nearly enough pepper but easy to fix) and I had the pansotti with walnut sauce. For mains Chris had duck and I had the lamb. Randolph brought us a Northern Italian Pinot noir for the duck, and a Southern Rhône Syrah for the lamb. Nice matches. Chris with our favorite LT waiter. For dessert, just some ice cream as we were stuffed. Then we went to the death by chocolate buffet but didn't eat anything. We did dance a lot so maybe we burned one scoop of the ice cream... Beautiful sunset! After the buffet the party moved inside to the Paranormal where we danced the night away. We gain an hour back so of course we stayed up about 3 hours later than usual. One oddity today. I encountered two bottles with cork taint! The first bottle of the Syrah that Randolph brought had a strong odor of cork taint and he agreed. That was immediately replaced and he felt bad that he hadn't tasted it first. Then at the deck party, one of the bottles of the French white we were sipping on was also badly tainted. The server wasn't quite sure what to do about it but eventually got a new bottle which was much better.

Tuesday June 13th. Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Estonia. Fortunately I've typed these place names a few tines now, so auto-complete remembers how to spell them. That makes one of us. We gave back the hour we'd recently gained, as Estonia is on Finland time. So it was an early morning despite a 10AM start. We still had time for a proper breakfast in LT, which we (well, I) needed, as our tour would last until at least 15:00. Gorgeous weather today! High 60s already so the shorts made another appearance. At 10:00 we were loading onto zodiacs for the short ride to the pier. A Phoenix Reisen ship was docked at the pier today so we were stuck at anchor. But the beautiful weather made up for it. Our group piled on to a small bus for the 45 minute drive to Kuressaare. A good opportunity for napping, perhaps? We arrived in town and parked, then walked to the castle to begin our tour. It was picturesque and surrounded by a moat. Nice of the builders to make it so photogenic! The central keep lay over two bridges, inside a large courtyard. Not large enough to avoid some keystone distortion. Here's a schematic. We entered from the two bridges at the bottom. Inside, many varying exhibits. An old phonograph here but hard to see all of the details because of backlighting. And some antiques here - camera, typewriter, and an old Electrolux vacuum cleaner. No word on whether it is used to keep the castle clean now, or whether they have since retrofitted the place with a central vacuuming system. There were many exhibits from the WW1 and WW2 eras. This is a model of a boat which a family used to escape the communists during WW2. They rowed from Estonia to Scotland! I had visions of Shackleton and the James Caird. We broke away from our group now and headed upward, to the ramparts. The view of the inner courtyard and the moat. We had less than 20 minutes before we had to meet for our next stop, so time for a quick picture before we moved on. An ancient tractor, with iron wheels stuck in the concrete. Was that to keep George from driving it away? We couldn't figure out what this statue was supposed to be, but we liked the glasses. This building just outside of the castle is a nice hotel, according to our guide. We slowly made our way back to town. Here's an Orthodox church. After a good stroll we reached the other end of town and this windmill. Now called Saaremaa Veski, it's a restaurant where we were served a piece of cake and some coffee. After all, it had been about 3 hours since our last food intake. We had more free time so we went looking for a chance to take this picture. Kids were swarming around so we went to a grocery store next door to look around. Finally we got our chance! Back to the main street, and a pretty square with fountains. A little further, a Lutheran church. With a "gentleman's" club right next door. We looked for different street signs to photograph, in order to keep this thread PG-13. Brightly painted wooden houses like we've seen in Finland. Another view of the Orthodox church. It's seemingly in a better neighborhood than the Lutheran church. One last view of Lossi, the Main Street in town, before returning to the bus. We left on time, as everyone showed up before the deadline. Back to the pier about 15:05 and a quick zodiac ride had us on board by 15:15. Luckily LT was open late (15:30) so we had enough time for a late lunch. Trivia was a bomb. First time we didn't place. Oh well. We set sail for Denmark at 17:30 and now it's time for recap, and tomorrow's briefing. Sadly, only 3 more nights on board! Probably a good thing, as I'm running out of clothes that fit.

Jolly, I find that the food on SS is less salty than how I cook at home.

Monday evening on board. Back in time for a drink at the bar. Then we went to dinner at 19:00. Tonight's menu in the MDR: I started with the asparagus and mushroom special while Chris had the mushroom risotto. We switched halfway through. The included wines were an unoaked chardonnay (which we didn't try) and a California Pinot noir which went well. We both had the veal marsala for our main. Yum! We finished the rest of our Burgundy with that and it was delicious. Dessert was cheesecake for me (only ok, tasted like it was made with ricotta, not cream cheese) and crème brûlée (great). After dinner we had Latin night in Panorama where Zaid did his best to teach merengue, bachata, and salsa. Then dancing. And a gorgeous sunset. We were far enough south to see it! And much water drinking, after all the wine with dinner. I hope I had enough salt to avoid hyponatremia!

Monday June 12th, Gotska Sandön. We debated signing up for the long hike but the DIY option won out. So we waited until they had called most of the guided hikes and went to the zodiac launch deck, where we snuck on with the last group of birders. There was a delay at the shore, as disembarkation was complicated. But the view was very nice! And such a smooth ride. This beach landing could have been wet. But our SS expedition crew took excellent care of us. They went to Ikea and bought a DIY dock, assembled it, and had it ready to go. Dry feet all around! We slogged up the sandy beach and into the forest. We had a rough idea of where we wanted to hike from a map I'd downloaded but we double checked against the map they gave out at the landing site. The terrain was more challenging than it looks. Since the whole island is a giant sand dune, there's no good place to get solid footing. Unlike the Finnish forest, no bedrock here. We set off on the green trail. A few setbacks where we got stuck behind the walking groups but eventually we passed by them and broke out on our own. We made it to the opposite coast and this oystercatcher was there to squawk at us. Deserted but beautiful just the same. Not a resort beach for sure! We like it that way. Now our trail turned back inland and climbed mercilessly. In the sand it was one step back for every two steps forward. I didn't sign up for this! After a tough up.amd down slog through 40 meter sand dunes, and an occasional detour to make sure we were on the right route, we found an easier connection back to our beach. This gentle trail was just what we needed. As we approached our destination, a chapel appeared! We got back to our starting point in time to climb the lighthouse. More climbing? Sure, where do I sign up? But you know we wouldn't leave a tower unclimbed. From the top, we could see Silver Wind. And a bonus ladder we could climb, to see the lens of the lighthouse. On the way down, Chris stopped for a photo. I liked the photo opportunity as well. Now a trudge back to the beach for our zodiac ride back. The total was about 4.5 miles. In this deep sand that should count double! We were back on board soon, and had plenty of work to do. So much sand to clean out of our shoes. And we had missed trivia because of our long walk. We found out later that LAexNY had kept up our strong team showing, and won on our behalf while both we and RachelG were ashore. Kudos! Time for dinner! We've earned some, I hope.

Yes our friends were on board at that time. Protest is a national pastime. The Finnish people are indeed lovely and welcoming.

Monday June 12th. Sea morning en route to Gotska Sandön (Gotland Sand Island). This is basically a glacial moraine in the middle of the Baltic...a giant sand dune! We slept in and didn't get moving until 9AM. Some coffee in the Panorama while we enjoyed the smooth seas and beautiful warm sunny weather. We booked two more cruises this morning! The Kimberly for next June on Silver Cloud, and Hong Kong to Singapore in January 2025 on Silver Dawn (that is a WC segment). Then time for briefing and recap. Today we'll just hop a zodiac to shore independently and hike on our own. We have bug spray so we should be good to go. Lunch on the pool deck under glorious sunshine. There was an Asian buffet with all sorts of tasty treats including a very spicy peanut sauce that tasted great on everything. Interestingly we were buzzed during lunch by a fighter jet! It flew by, low and close, on the port side. Then it made a tight turn amd buzzed the starboard side even closer! We all ran up to the walking track but it was long gone and did not return. Wow! What was that about? More this evening. Hopefully off soon for some nice hiking. A quick teaser shot of the island. Look at that smooth water! Should be a beautiful zodiac ride.

Örnsköldsvik, city wander on our own. The "First Hotel' was visible from the ship and the pier. We started on the outskirts, looking for a few sundries but no luck at the Circle K. So we headed back to town. This unusual apartment building was hard to miss. I walked around a bit, hoping I could capture its reflection in a neighboring building. We walked up a pedestrian street to a large open square. There was also a large grocery store. We found toothpaste easily but no bug spray. I used Google translate and asked an employee, who showed me to the right shelf. Restocked, we headed onward. This pretty pedestrian street (Storgaten) has a nice view of the ocean. We did some walking back and forth, finding some interesting new and old buildings. Nice contrasting styles. And City Hall. Back at the large square, we now walked through a few blocks of park. There was some construction going on, and the greenery was a bit overgrown in places. The park ended at an art museum. Now we took the long way back to the ship. Along the coast you could see that the water looked brown. I assume the forests make the river water tannic. At the end of our pier, some kind of beacon. The sun was in a good spot to light it up. Silver Wind is back in view! We should make it there by 13:30. That building is just so unusual. I couldn't resist another picture. Sorry! We returned to the ship with time to spare. Lunch at the grill. I had the sizzling jalapeño steak which was cooked reasonably rare, and tasty. Chris wasn't impressed with the burger. But the fries were good! We walked a bit on the deck but the wind was fierce. The sun was in perfect position to catch the Silversea lettering on the side of the ship, though. As RachelG noted, Gnaggen Island was not very impressive as a fly-by. This was it... But the passage between some of the other islands was pretty. Some beautiful pink granite rocks! Just an example of many. Trivia was a win for us, surprisingly, since we didn't do that well. But the questions were challenging and I guess everyone else had trouble too. We passed the High Coast Bridge for views. Then time to clean up and look pretty for the Venetian Party. Details above. We had dinner with the HD and then played the majority rules game with Zaid before bed. PS the internet is pretty fast this evening, as I've been able to upload all of these pix relatively quickly. As it's almost midnight, until tomorrow all!

Sunday June 11th. Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. We gained an hour last night as we crossed the Gulf of Bothnia. Much needed! Smooth sailing, and we were docked early. The first hiking groups were called just before 7:30 which was 15 minutes earlier than expected. Our hike was 45 minutes later so we had time to walk the deck and check out our surroundings while everyone else rushed off. The sky was clear and the water was like a mirror. A gorgeous day! What a welcome to Sweden. The town looked charming too but that would be later. We had a mountain to climb. So we went for some coffee. We had a short bus ride to the Gula Leden trail head and our guide Lars set out at a nice clip. It was a steady climb with few breaks. We hung close to Lars in the first group and opened up some space behind us, so we had a little time for pictures, if an odd-shaped tree appeared at the right moment. We stopped at a boulder field. Unlike the one in Rauma, this was presumably not built by giants. Here and there, a quick photo stop as we went higher. But not long, as we were promised better views ahead. Not a technical hike but plenty of incline. At the summit. But no time to linger here. The snacks were further along the trail and we had to get there ASAP! So after a short rest we plowed ahead on the trail. Finally we reached a scenic viewpoint with a lean-to, where Lars's two children were waiting with pastries and coffee. The view of Själevads and its church was very nice. Across the lake (Veckefjärden) there was a horse racing track. And further on, the fjord (they call them fjards) led to the sea. After a nice rest stop we hiked another 5-10 minutes and the bus was waiting for us. We had a scenic ride down and made a quick stop for an overview of Örnsköldsvik. Silver Wind was partially hidden by trees but with a little lateral movement you could get a clear shot. Now back to the ship where we arrived about 11:All-aboard was 13:30 so it was now or never. We unloaded our coats and set out to explore the town. The weather was spectacular! High 60s and bright sun. Lunch could wait!

Venetian Party was tonight. The Captain is busy steering the ship because some internet thingy isn't working? Only 135 guests on board. Barely 50% capacity! May have missed something as I typed frantically but breakdown is something like this: 69 USA 15 Australia 15 Germany 12 UK 7 Canada 6 Switzerland 3 Italy 2 Hong Kong 2 New Zealand 2 Sweden 1 Finland 1 Ukraine We had a nice dinner with the HD and the NZ couple as well as a solo lady from Australia. More from today if pix upload. The internet got flaky in the north and hasn't fully recovered.

Saturday Night. Anniversary Dinner in La Dame. (Lois, it's #28) So we made it back to the ship at 20:13 and changed into our dinner clothes in record time. We grabbed our Dom and headed to La Dame. We made it there 5 minutes early for our 20:30 reservation. We traded our bottle of Dom for a chilled one, and settled in with the menu. But the surprises were just starting. Rachel and George had ordered a bottle for us too! Chris started with the lobster salad and I had the duck foie gras. Both really nice with the Dom. The soups were delicious too. Chris had the mushroom and I had the lobster bisque. Lemon sorbet on a chilled plate. Love the presentation! We both had the duck breast for our main course. It went well with the Burgundy wine. For dessert Chris had the strawberries and chocolate. It was ok though the chocolate coating was a weird consistency. I had the pistachio soufflé which I liked a lot. It was mercifully small, even better after all the preceding dishes! Service was great as there was only one other table. And we moved right along, finishing up around 22:15. So we had time to catch the last song for a dance at 70s night. After that, Zaid (activities director) played DJ until it was finally bed time. Tomorrow we're in Sweden so we gain an extra hour of sleep. We are sad to say goodbye to Finland which we have thoroughly enjoyed on this our second visit, but excited for our first visit to Sweden!

Saturday evening, June 10th. Vaasa, last stop in Finland. Took a nap after breakfast and then had trivia at 1:30 after lunch. We got second as RachelG has already reported. When we got back to the suite there was a surprise for us. We docked an hour early but the tours couldn't be moved up so lots of waiting around. Unfortunate because we had La Dame reservations tonight and an earlier finish would have made it easier. But as long as we're not late all ok. We were at an industrial port just out of town. Huge windmill turbines all around. They made the cars look like matchbox toys. We assembled and left on time at 16:45. The first stop was at the site of a meteorite crater. The crater itself was far too massive to get a decent photo. It is 5km in diameter and 500 million years old. Its been underwater until relatively recently. The floor is flat and full of rich ocean sediment, hundreds of feet deep, and is now prized farmland. There are some nice exhibits on the geology of the area and other meteor strikes in Finland. Now off to our next stop, an open-air history museum at Stundars. We had time to look around. First stop was an early 20th century general store. All sorts of random stuff on display. Then we visited a late 19th century farmstead. A large common room for eating, cooking, and sleeping. Apparently bread baking only took place once or twice a year. It was stored on racks near the ceiling. It must have been hard as a rock. Luckily we were not offered any samples! Meals were cooked over the fireplace and eaten from a common bowl with your own individual spoon. After dinner you licked it clean before hanging it back on the spoon rack. The common room was very pleasant though...in the bright sunner sunshine! There was even a coffee station! Off the common room, some utility rooms. I am familiar with this brand name, but I thought they only made chainsaws! This looks like an earlier iteration of a Silversea expedition parka. I didn't ask to trade mine in. Now we had a few minutes to either wander the rest of the museum, or have pastries and coffee. Since our La Dame reservation was in less than an hour we skipped the food and made a quick loop through. This cute but chubby bunny is how I'm feeling after a week on board. They really feed you a lot here. A small sample of the 70 buildings in this museum We were loaded up on time and back at the ship two minutes early. Time for dinner!

No. We're on board now for our 15th (or thereabouts) cruise and we're having as much fun as ever. We're so fortunate to be able to cruise like this. Why would I try to ruin it by looking for negatives? Nothing is perfect but the crew is doing everything they can to show us a good time. Agree that SS may not have survived at all without the takeover. Best to enjoy your cruise without trying to compare to what may have been. SS isn't what it was 15 years ago, but what is?

Saturday June 10th. Anniversary hiking at Valsörarna. This is a nature reserve which we were lucky to visit. Few are allowed here and you have to stay with a guide at all times. Glacial uplift causes the land to rise 8.5 mm per year here. So over the recent centuries the landscape of these islands has changed substantially. We had been expecting a 6:30 call for hiking but instead the call came at 6AM. Luckily we were almost ready and scrambled to make the second zodiac. We were ashore and hiking by 6:30. A boggy and rocky landscape with some trees but mostly scrub vegetation. The path was narrow and we didn't have much time to stop, as we had 2+km to hike each way. Time was limited. Onward! Cool weather despite the bright sunshine. We stopped briefly at a monument where the bones of Russian soldiers are interred. Gruesome story. In the winter of 1808-9 the Russian soldiers marched across the frozen gulf and burned a Swedish town. However they were ill-prepared for the cold and many froze. Apparently the bodies lay where they were, and only years later the bones were finally gathered up and interred. Further onward we crossed a bridge from the late 1800s. Back then, there were two separate islands. Glacial uplift at work - now they are one. We made double time through a really boggy section of woods. The mosquitos were very dense. Luckily they were sluggish in the cold. We made it to the lighthouse. An odd location, because the sea is nowhere to be seen. It was built by the same company that made the Eiffel Tower. But due to glacial uplift, it's no longer near the coast. Maybe they should put it on wheels! Where is the ocean? Since we'd made such great time, we could continue on to the southern coast of the island. Finally, water. And whooper swans in the distance. Now it was time to turn back. The mosquitos were warming to our presence so we had to move. We went even faster on the way back and after the boggy part in the middle of the island, we stopped at this lake. It used to be an inlet of the sea, but now it's risen so high that there's no longer a connection. So it's become a freshwater lake with lots of bird life. The trees grow low and slowly here. Conditions are harsh. We finished and were back on the zodiacs by 8AM. Silver Wind awaits us. We made it with plenty of time for breakfast at LT. We even had an outdoor table, first one of this cruise. Now sailing to Vaasa for more fun this afternoon.

June 9th. Dinner. Another early dinner in the MDR. A windowside table with a great view. The menu. Some interesting choices. Chris started with the lobster frittata. Delicious. The sauce was unexpected though as it tasted more soy sauce-based. I tried the sour sea bass salad. Not much sour flavor. I put extra salt and some balsamic vinegar on it to make it sour enough. A gull followed along, probably looking for a piece of my fish. The pilot boat collected our pilot and we forged onward. Mains were Chilean sea bass for Chris and black cod for me. Large portions. Nicely prepared though if i could split hairs I'd want the skin on mine seared a bit more crispy. Included wines were a Pinot Grigio from Hungary and a red that I don't remember as we didn't drink it. Chris had the black forest cake and I had the chocolate blueberry trois-feuille. Missing the other 997 layers but yummy just the same. A nightcap in the bar before bed. Another early wake-up call at 6AM tomorrow. Should be easy after today!