Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[lincslady]

Lovely pics Terry - the food and the deer!

 

Jeff - I remember all those top of the pops only too well, and love the way the scampi and chips seems to go with the era. All you need is a prawn cocktail and black forest gateau , and we would be there.

 

Lola

[Fletcher]

As we are in full nostalgia mode for London at the moment, I'd like to recall another aspect of London life I enjoyed in the late 60s and early 70s. The fish and seafood restaurants. They were very special and of course this was in an era when English food did not enjoy any kind of reputation. The Michelin Guide did not dare venture across La Manche. Instead we had the Good Food Guide (for Guardian readers) and the amazing Egon Ronay Guide.

 

There were many fish and seafood joints, all of which I ate in. At the entry level were two branches of the Wheeler's chain, offering a dozen different ways with Dover Sole.

 

There was Scotts on Piccadilly Circus, James Bond's favourite watering hole, which was eventually forced out to Mayfair, taking over a restaurant called Le Diplomat. It is still going strong and was the scene of Nigella Lawson's throaty encounter with her then husband, Charles Saatchi.

 

The aristocrat of these restaurants was and remains Wilton's on St James's Street. Eat a simple grilled sole or turbot here and enter heaven, passing the ATM machine.

 

Then there was Bentley's Oyster Bar, recently revived by chef Richard Corrigan, and there was Sheekey's in St Martin's Court, betwixt Charing Cross Road and St Martin's Lane.

 

I also remember Manzi's near Leicester Square, a sort of Italian chippie, with stunning fish and chips and great Italian staff. Upstairs it was more formal and rather dull. It's a Chinese joint nowadays.

 

And then, finally, there was Cunningham's of Curzon Street - incredibly expensive and smart, with waiters hopping around in long aprons proudly showing you your living crustacea.

 

Those were the days! Lobster Thermidor, Crab Newburg, Sole Veronique, Angels on Horseback.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Fletcher

[UKCruiseJeff]

For UK coolers that may be interested.

 

Bad news ... or good news depending on your taste!

 

Deutz is on sale at Ocado for £39.99 with 25% discount for six or more bottles.

 

Stonking value.

 

Time to fill our boots!

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

Lovely pics Terry - the food and the deer! Lola

 

Fletcher: The fish and seafood restaurants. They were very special and of course this was in an era when English food did not enjoy any kind of reputation. There were many fish and seafood joints' date=' all of which I ate in. The [b']aristocrat of these restaurants was and remains Wilton's[/b] on St James's Street. Eat a simple grilled sole or turbot here and enter heaven, passing the ATM machine.

 

UKCruiseJeff: I found my 1967 diary a few weeks ago' date=' and was pleased to see that I had kept both my weekly advert which was normally the top line, and the diaries with the charts which I always filed every week which formed the Caroline play list. [/quote']

 

Appreciate Lola's nice comments on my pictures. Loved on Jeff's posting to see Tom Jones' great hit "Green Green Grass of Home" riding at the top of chart in January 1967. That song by Tom Jones is one of my top personal favorites. Nice memories!!

 

From the Wall Street Journal this past Saturday, they have this headline: "A Post-Brexit Tour of London’s Most British Restaurants" with these highlights: "With British nationalism on the rise in England, we tasted our way through four of London’s oldest, most gustatorily patriotic restaurants—and learned to eat ‘stewed cheese’ along the way. Traditional British food has long had its detractors and its defenders. In a 1945 essay published in the Evening Standard, George Orwell, firmly in the latter camp, made a persuasive case on behalf of his national cuisine. While much has changed today, with chefs like Fergus Henderson and Jason Atherton giving modern relevance to once-tired British fare, many of the city’s top-rated establishments continue to embrace international cuisine, reflective of the capital’s cosmopolitan makeup." Not all can get past the Wall Street Journal pay-wall, but below is the link to the full story.

 

The author noted that he: "went in search of that fine English cooking Orwell so patriotically defended, served in dining rooms bearing the patina of a lost era." These four that were profiled are: Simpson’s Tavern, Established 1757. Rules, Established 1798. Sweetings, Established 1889. Wilton, Established 1742

 

For Wiltons (as spotlighted by Fletcher), this WSJ author had these highlights in his story: "The Aristocrat‘s canteen: Approaching its 275th anniversary next year, Wiltons, not far from Buckingham Palace, began as an oyster and shellfish stall in Haymarket and moved to its current location in 1984. 'Today, Wiltons feels completely apart from the London dining scene, with its soft carpets, conspiratorial booths, even a carving trolley,' said Richard Godwin, author of 'The Spirits: A Guide to Modern Cocktailing.' I spoke with restaurant director Jason Phillips. He described the typical clientele as 'aristos, heads of industry and a few celebrities, though the majority of celebrities…are CEOs and chairmen of boards.' Wiltons, he added, is 'where deals are made.' I didn’t recognize any VIPs, but judging by the patrons’ suave attire, they seemed more aristo than tourist. As a family-owned restaurant, noted Mr. Phillips, Wiltons also caters to multigenerational diners: 'A grandfather brings his son who brings his son, and passes the baton.' "

 

Full story at:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-post-brexit-tour-of-londons-most-british-restaurants-1469718188

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 201,527 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[lincslady]

Nostalgia rules! We used to love Sheekeys and Bentleys in the old days - lovely lobster on Bentleys first floor, and also Manzi's, more cheap and cheerful. We once actually stayed in a room above Manzi's restaurant - a bit basic and cheap, also noisy for those unused to town sounds in the night. All a long time ago. Does anyone remember Le Boulestin, an old fashioned French place?

 

To more important matters - Mysty, I am ploughing my way through your wonderful blog, again nostalgic. Spins, you will be off very soon for your nights in Venice and cruise. Have a wonderful time.

 

Lola

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Lola...Thanks!!!! I'm glad you are enjoying the blog and the memories it invokes!

 

Have a great day all!

[specialcruisegirl]

Hi All,

 

Interesting review from the WSJ......Rules is one of my favourite restaurants, been going there since 1971 and it's consistently good......last time l went to Sheekeys the dinner was abysmal and the service bordering on rude and insulting so haven't been back.

Never been to Wiltons.....it was a favourite haunt of Ava Gardner l believe.

 

Another of my favourite restaurants in London is The Belvedere in Holland Park....lovely setting and their three course Sunday lunch for just under £30 is excellent value and very good with numerous choice.

 

I'm heading down to town this weekend for a couple of nights at the Ritz...taking a very dear old friend for a quick break who

wants to see Her Majesty's dresses which are currently being displayed at the Palace...we are late lunching at The Ivy after [emoji2]

 

Mysty....l am also thoroughly enjoying your blog....well done you....what fun you had and a lifetime of memories to savour.

 

Happy Day.......

 

S [emoji4]

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mysty]

Sophia..your trip to London sounds like great fun! Have an awesome time! I'm thrilled that you are enjoying the blog! Thanks for letting me know! :) We did have a wonderful time and I dip back into the blog myself to savour it anew. This was one of the best decisions we have ever made. Still paying for it but it was all well worth it!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning all .......

 

M, good to see your blogging efforts are rewarded with so many appreciative comments.

 

Soapy ... enjoy London ... and it sounds like you are hitting "top-end" London with the Ritz, Ivy and The Palace.

 

Jeff

[jpalbny]

Mysty, I've made it through all the pre-cruise portion of the blog and I'm starting the cruise portion. Wow...the amount of planning that you did was most impressive! We are good planners, but I'm in awe. Looking forward to the rest.

[mysty]

Greetings J! I have to say that I am thrilled with the way the blog is being received! I am very grateful that people are taking the time to check it out! It was designed originally as a personal record of our adventure and I really wasn't sure anyone else would be interested. I was sort of strong-armed into posting it. :)

[mysty]

Greetings JP! Thanks so much!!! I probably overdid the planning bit. I really wanted to try to cover all the bases prior to the trip. Dotting i's and crossing t's is part of my nature (partly because I am a worrier and the more info I have the less worried I am). :) I really hope you enjoy reading about the actual voyage! Having ploughed through the planning bit you've definitely earned it! :)

[TLCOhio]

Greetings J! I have to say that I am thrilled with the way the blog is being received! I am very grateful that people are taking the time to check it out! It was designed originally as a personal record of our adventure and I really wasn't sure anyone else would be interested. I was sort of strong-armed into posting it. :)

 

Appreciate your blog posting. Just asked a series of detailed questions about your stops, info, etc., as related to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bangkok and Bhutan. Yes, lots of interest!! As always, I like the pictures. Never enough for good visuals that tell us so much for what you saw and experienced.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 151,680 views for this posting.

[TLCOhio]

In case anyone might have missed it on another SS thread, here is good update on the Silver Cloud. Make you wonder which NBA basketball millionaire player or coach might be staying in "my suite" from when we traveled on the Silver Cloud.

 

From the Sidney Morning Herald in Australia today, they have this headline: "US basketball teams to stay on luxury cruise liner Silver Cloud" with these highlights: "The highly-paid NBA stars of the US men's basketball team will not be housed in the Rio Olympics athletes village, but rather on board a luxury cruise ship, the Silver Cloud. Docked at the city's port, it will become practically a floating US embassy during the Games. People who visit the port will have difficulty approaching the Silver Cloud due to the heavy security detachment deployed around the vessel. A fence made of bulletproof material will keep the public away from the US athletes, who will be guarded by some 250 Federal Police officers. 'The Federal Police will also have two boats ... that they will use to prevent navigation near the vessel,' said Maua port terminal operations director Alexandre Gomes. The US ship is anchored at a site far from the docking spaces reserved for the many cruise ships that will visit Rio during the Games."

 

Full story at:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/olympics/rio-2016/olympics-off-the-field/rio-olympics-2016-us-basketball-teams-to-stay-on-luxury-cruise-liner-silver-cloud-20160802-gqiwj5.html

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 151,680 views for this posting.

 

 

From the AP/Associated Press, here is their photo of the Silver Cloud anchored in Rio's renovated port this week.:

 

[mysty]

Appreciate your blog posting. Just asked a series of detailed questions about your stops, info, etc., as related to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bangkok and Bhutan. Yes, lots of interest!! As always, I like the pictures. Never enough for good visuals that tell us so much for what you saw and experienced.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 151,680 views for this posting.

Hi Terry! I just answered some of your questions on the blog link post. Hope it helps! :)

[TLCOhio]

Hi Terry! I just answered some of your questions on the blog link post. Hope it helps! :)

 

YES!! YES!! Super helpful and interesting. Appreciate all of these details and insights you posted on that other CC board thread. Bhutan sounds really special, but at that high of a pricing level, I am not sure that we can swing/afford that particular type of excursion. BUT, I have some friends who have been there and will discuss more aspects with them for visiting there. Since we would be doing so much in Cambodia and Laos on this early 2018 trip, there are "limits" as to exactly how extensively and where we can do all of our many "adventures" in Southeast Asia.

 

If any other experienced travelers have experiences and suggestions for these areas, I would appreciate that great sharing, too, for helping us consider our options for our first visit to SE Asia.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 201,545 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[jpalbny]

Mysty - moving along...I was intrigued by your pictures of the waterfall and flooded road in Tahiti...I thought it looked familiar for some reason. Then I looked at our pictures from 2007 and voila!

 

We were right there where you were 9 years later. Your picture is of a reservoir that is overflowing onto the road. The place is called the Papenoo Valley. Here's the road that you didn't get to see! :)

 

 

And here we are in front of another waterfall - this is not the one that you saw, but further into the valley. Not as much water flow when we were there, so we could safely drive past the reservoir into the valley.

 

 

Enjoying the heck out of your blog. You're not as wordy as I am...I need to learn from you!

[mysty]

WOW JP! Thanks for posting those pictures! They are awesome! I did not really believe there was a road under the vehicle we were traveling in. So very much water! Now I see there is in fact a road there. :) Thanks also for your comments on the blog. I'm so glad you are enjoying it. And you absolutely do not need to learn anything from me! I have read your trip blogs and loved them! :)

[machotspur]

Hello Mysty – greetings from a UK (semi) lurker.

 

Like countless others I really enjoyed your blog which brought back many memories and also increased the length of my bucket list !

 

The other reason for posting today is Bhutan, which you visited as a land tour from the cruise.

 

Mrs Machotspur and I were very fortunate earlier this year to spend just over two weeks travelling around Bhutan. We started in Paro then on to Thimpu, Punakha, Bumthang, Gangtey, then back to Paro.

And would you believe – methinks we were in Paro, watching the Tsechu on exactly the same day as yourselves !! Who knows – we may have been standing next to a fellow CruiseCritic poster/cooler without knowing – spooky or what !.

 

I agree with much of the positive comments about Bhutan you have made, particularly how the GNH (Gross National Happiness) comes through in the people.

 

I see you, like us, came in from Bangkok. The flight probably stopped off at the place in India near Darjeeling (cant remember the name – Bagdogra or something?).

 

Well we were ‘up the front’ on the plane – Row 2 – with Row 1 being empty apart from an official looking chap. When we landed at the stop off the crew seemed a bit tense and then I saw red carpets being laid and a ‘guard of honour’ being lined up followed by 4 or 5 very traditionally dressed ladies boarding the plane and being seated in the seats surrounding us.

 

We were none the wiser until the Captain came over the speaker with the greeting ‘ your Royal Highness, ladies and gentleman … “.

Initially my wife was pleased to be treated with such respect in Business Class ;), but it transpires that the Queen Mother and her entourage had chosen to take the same flight back to Bhutan as we had ! – or is it that we had chosen the Queens Mum’s flight ?:)

 

Anyway they were very nice apart from on arrival at Paro (one hell of an approach as you know !) we were not permitted to disembark onto the red carpet and be met by the greeters and had to wait until the royal group had gone ! Business Class isn’t what it once was !:D

 

Anyway – as Terry has realised Bhutan is not an inexpensive place to visit, particularly for a decent tour around, but it is really quite special in some ways.

If anyone has any further interest or would like to see any of my (very amateurish !) photos please shout.

 

And BTW Terry – you mentioned you are planning to visit Cambodia & Laos in another post. Mrs Machotspur and I are quite prolific travellers – we wish to visit 100 countries before we fall off the perch and are up in the 70’s at the moment. When asked what our favourite countries are we quickly say ‘all of them’ but then, on reflection I usually go for Laos. We toured here about 7 years ago, including the Mekong on a small boat with a guide, and all sorts of other great places – wonderful memories. Again if you or anyone else would like to know more please shout.

 

OK – I will be quiet now. And Mysty – thank you again for the insight into your wonderfully trip.

[mysty]

WOW Machotspur! That we might actually have been in the Rinpung Dzong in Paro at the same time is mind-blowing! The Tsechu festival was amazing! We were standing behind the monks on the second level of the dzong with a bird's eye view of the action below. The crowds were huge and moving around the dzong was difficult. Definitely a wonderful experience though! :) Thank you for posting this and thank you for your kind comments on the blog!

[jpalbny]

If anyone has any further interest or would like to see any of my (very amateurish !) photos please shout.

 

 

Shouting... (well, not really. I'd have to use all caps!) :)

 

In all seriousness, I would love to see some pictures of Bhutan. Haven't been anywhere near there (yet).

[mysty]

Shouting... (well, not really. I'd have to use all caps!) :)

 

In all seriousness, I would love to see some pictures of Bhutan. Haven't been anywhere near there (yet).

Good work JP! I forgot to put that request in my response to machotspur. :( Yes please machotspur! Pictures please!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning Coolers ....

 

Today, daughter accepted a partnership in a hopefully decent corporate law firm ... so she is onwards and upwards and number 2 son has started with a new company!

 

Don't your kids keep you occupied! :D

 

Today, I think is going to be a paella day in la cuccina. Or perhaps pasta. Votes? Decisions, decisions .....

 

:)

 

 

Jeff

[lincslady]

Paella please, Jeff - more photogenic.

 

I too would love to see some pictures of Bhutan; not many people get the chance to go there, and I think ours has probably gone by now. We are getting a bit ancient for long distance travel, but have done lots in the past and being reminded of places by Mysty and others is great.

 

Jeff you will feel really old when you have a child who has taken early retirement!! As has one of ours. He does have a spouse who earns plenty, and he is a marvellous chef and house husband.

 

Lola

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Congrats to your kids J! Have a great one all!