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Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

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By CCHelp ,
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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Do any coolers have any experience with Intrepid Travel Tours? I Know they're not a luxury company but you don't really go to India for luxury.

 

Are you sure? We went to India in early 2017 with Uniworld. You probably do want to visit India in luxury - unless you've been a few times and you know what you're getting into. We are glad that we went in luxury because the properties were stunning. I can imagine that there are a lot of less luxuriously 

 

I looked at your itinerary and almost all of your meals are independent on your own, as are many of the tours. While that's not always bad, you may want more guidance if it's your first time there. 

 

 

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Daveywavey70

Daveywavey70

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Thanks JP. The accom seems to be of a good standard with them.  I Was looking at Titan but it’s a long car ride to LHR and it doesn’t get me back in time 😞, I’ve got a function on the 26th.

I’d heard 2nd hand that the tour leader organises meal suggestions and those of the group that want to eat together but it supports the local economy rather than big firms so I hadn’t been too worried about the meals.

I’m Not averse to a bit of adventure but also not accustomed to roughing it! All gives me more to think about. 🙂

 

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Daveywavey70

Daveywavey70

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I Meant the other Golden Triangle Stumbles, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur. I was hoping to go to Myanmar but couldn't work the dates out. There was a fantastic sailing trip around the islands there that I really fancied but my dates are tight. Following JPs advice I'm currently trying to wangle the extra few days and go a bit more luxurious. Get to see the the tigers on that one too, (hopefully, but you know my track record!) 🙂

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Lois R "Live from...." Rare

Lois R

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Awww....come on now.

 

Good morning, running errands today...need to go to the post office, go to the bank and will be stopping at Kohl's

as well.

 

Will start to put some clothing out on the bed In the spare bedroom:classic_biggrin:. I know River Cruises are MUCH more

casual but I will still give myself some options. I have 2 new pair of slacks for evenings....one is purple and the

other Burgundy. Will bring some black ones too...…...and for daytime, jeans and long sleeves...…..looks like the

weather in Venice will be comfy!.....60s...……..sounds awesome:classic_biggrin:

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jillyf

jillyf

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I’m on an exposition cruise from Broome to Cairns. Two weeks in we were a bit tired and had the day on the ship. We get communication occasionally so am taking advantage of it. We are blogging and I’ll post it when back in civilisation. 

We have loved every minute of it. 

 

Davey, here is our blog about our 2 weeks in India. It’s worth staying at a palace or two. 

http://www.thefletchers.com.au/The_Fletchers/India_2017/India_2017.html

go to the archives and start from the beginning. 

We went with Enchanting India.  They were great.

A&K have small group tours there. Your partner could use it as a "famil". 

My niece works for them and gets to some great places. 

My friends daughter went to India with Intrepid and liked it it a lot, and other friends have been with them to other places too and were happy. 

 

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mysty "Live from...." Rare

mysty

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9 hours ago, jillyf said:

That should be Expedition cruise!

Jill,  I was hoping to learn more about what an exposition cruise was.  🙂  It brought some very interesting imaginings to mind!  Enjoy your cruise!!!!

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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Duct tape! Miss her on these boards.

 

The past few days, the weather has taken a decidedly ugly turn. Grey, not much light, and a chilly wind. The leaves are falling and it smells like autumn. Not so excited about this... Back to the treadmill as it's nasty outside.

 

So to follow up on our great success from cleaning the garage last weekend, we tackled the basement yesterday. It went reasonably well - I was able to get a fair amount organized and now I've rented a dumpster for next weekend. Hopefully I will be at work and Chris will be throwing stuff out - ha!

 

Last night I made a dish that had more than a hint of fall in it. Plus it used up some old stuff from the freezer and pantry so what's not to like?

 

I had some frozen short ribs that I'd purchased a month ago on sale. They got a coating of salt and pepper then a nice sear in the instant pot. Garlic, onions, and carrots were sauteed until they started to brown. Then a little red wine (very sad, but sometimes you have to actually cook with it), then a can of crushed tomatoes, and the meat went back in. Some fresh thyme and oregano to add interest.

 

I let the whole thing pressure cook for about 90 minutes while we were cleaning up the basement. The meat fell apart and the whole thing became a super rich meaty ragu. I brightened it up with some sharp flavors: anchovy paste, lemon peel, and freshly grated garlic. 

 

Then I made some quick semolina (same principle as polenta except it takes about 1 minute to make), and topped that with sauteed mushrooms, and a big scoop of the ragu. And the rest of the red wine, of course!

 

Yum! If I can eat like this, I guess I will tolerate autumn and a (hopefully very brief) winter. No pictures as it's not very photogenic. But maybe I will photograph the rest when I serve it over Spaetzle for tomorrow's lunch.

 

Hope everyone's week is going well!

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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12 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

Getting ready to bake some fresh Ahi tuna I've been marinating, wish I had some of that semolina dish as a side!

 

Yum, ahi can sure be a treat. Hope you enjoy it! 

 

Semolina is so simple to make. All you need to do is buy some semolina  flour, and any grocery carries it. Bob's Red Mill makes a nice one, and it's ground a little coarsely which makes it better suited for this use, IMO. 

 

Boil some water, add chicken bouillon, then whisk in the semolina flour over 15 seconds or so. Use a 3:1 ratio of broth to flour. 1-1/2 cups broth plus 1/2 cup semolina flour is good for two servings. 

 

A real whisk is a necessity or it will get lumpy. Also of you use finely ground semolina it is harder to whisk in and gets too thick, lumpy, etc.

 

It will be ready in a minute of two. Stop beating, turn off the heat, add some butter and/or grated cheese, stir in, and enjoy. Way faster than cooking pasta or rice.

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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So the hot tun hasn't  been heating right for a few days and I keep getting a water flow error message. Turns out I have to replace the circulation pump, as it's dead. You may remember that the tub is sunken into the floor of the sunroom... One of the risks of such an arrangement!

 

So I looked at the crawlspace and scoped out the situation over the weekend, took a side cover off, and plotted my strategy.  Today after work, I actually got the old pump out while squirming around in the crawlspace under the sunroom. It wasn't as bad as I had expected, so I will pick up a replacement pump tomorrow and attempt to reverse the process. Hope I don't forget any of the steps!

 

And the best news is that the pump is still under warranty, so it's a free replacement part! As long as I can do the labor...and get it back together without finding any extra parts!.

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Daveywavey70

Daveywavey70

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Many thanks Jilly. I'm About 3/4 of the way through JPs absolutely amazing blog at the moment so I'll read yours as soon as I'm done. I Have been looking at Titan who were always a really good company and quite luxurious but their reviews (not on their own site but on trust pilot etc) over the last year have plummeted. OH will be staying home so I'm doing this one on my own. Have to make a decision soon.  Disappointed too about the exposition cruise, sounded quite exciting! 

 

Loving the Blog J.P. 🙂

 

Great funnies M and DCC. 

 

Nearly there Lois! When do you fly?

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