Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Dolcevita Diva]

So much for Dry January!  Last weekend I attended a champagne tasting class at the nearby Total Wine store.  I had never attended any of their classes before, but this one caught my attention because Chanoine Freres was among the champagnes they'd be pouring and apparently was the selected substitute that Silversea brought onboard the Silver Dawn after running out of Pommery sometime last year.  So I took one for the team, dear Coolers, to do some in-depth research on this champagne house's product line. 😉

 

The 2-hour class was very informative and well-presented by a charming representative for Chanoine Freres.  Did you know that Chanoine Freres is the second oldest champagne house, founded under the reign of Louis XV? I did not, was actually not familiar with this champagne house until reading about it on a Silversea thread - have any of you tried Chanoine Freres, Tsarine or De Venoges?

 

All in all, an educational and fun evening and a great way to sample an array of lovely champagnes that were new to me (we tasted 8 different champagnes). My personal favorites were the Tsarine Blanc de Blanc and the Chanoine Freres Reserve Brut, but all were quite good, depending on your preference for style/blend. 

 

[Lois R]

@Dolcevita Diva sounds like a very fun and interesting class. A dry January?.........I haven't had anything to drink since my TA crossing back in November. It was early December when I was in the hospital for a week so that was part of it. But for the last month I have just passed on anything alcoholic. Don't miss it at all. .

[mchell810]

@Dolcevita Diva  My first taste of Tsarine was at a Total Wine champagne class as well!  And I agree the Tsarine is lovely.

[Dolcevita Diva]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

@Dolcevita Diva sounds like a very fun and interesting class. A dry January?.........I haven't had anything to drink since my TA crossing back in November. It was early December when I was in the hospital for a week so that was part of it. But for the last month I have just passed on anything alcoholic. Don't miss it at all. .

 

Lois, I hope that your recovery has continued to go well. 

[Dolcevita Diva]

32 minutes ago, mchell810 said:

@Dolcevita Diva  My first taste of Tsarine was at a Total Wine champagne class as well!  And I agree the Tsarine is lovely.

 

@mchell810 - Have you been to their classes before?  Due to the very nominal charge my expectations weren't high but was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the class and others said the same. Now I can see why they get booked up quickly. 

[Lois R]

10 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 

Lois, I hope that your recovery has continued to go well. 

Thank you🙂

[mchell810]

6 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 

@mchell810 - Have you been to their classes before?  Due to the very nominal charge my expectations weren't high but was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the class and others said the same. Now I can see why they get booked up quickly. 

 

Yes, I've gone to about 5 or 6 of their classes (pre-covid).  Like you I didn't expect much at first but found the presenters to be really strong.  You have reminded me to check their calendar for classes.

[drron29]

22 hours ago, lincslady said:

Happy Australia Day, from a Pom.  Looking forward to reading about the meeting of great minds - Davey and the drrons in due course.  

 

Lola

Well I am not used to taking a lot of pictures but I will try and take 1 or 2.😉

[DavyWavey70]

59 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Well I am not used to taking a lot of pictures but I will try and take 1 or 2.😉

I’m like a vampire, I don’t show up in them anyway. Just arrived at Hotel so will be ready in time! See you 6.30! 

[DavyWavey70]

It’s not as bad as I expected here. I Must admit when I saw the gentleman checking in in front of me was wearing an ankle tag my heart did sink a little but it looks decent enough. Not the Shangri La but I’m back on a plane in 14 hours. Just enough time now for a nice Jacuzzi and a G&T on the balcony I think. 

[drron29]

Certainly young DaveyWavey70 has done a good amount of research for this trip. He has put together a very interesting trip. But I think he has possibly found the best Best Western in Australia. Lovely views.

 

 

Lots of native bird life.

 

 

 

 

And an Australian bottle tree.

 

Edited January 27 by drron29

[drron29]

Now part of the job of the tour director was to fit in a visit to Bee Gees Alley in Redcliffe. Their songs are continually played.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tour group.

 

Now the tour director knew that the road to the restaurant passed the boys childhood home but didn't know exactly where it was so stopped to check Google Maps. Looked across the road and I had puled up right outside. spooky.

 

[drron29]

Dinner was at the Scarborough Harbour Brewing Company. W e were booked on the Upper Deck but obviously not many others had booked so we had been moved downstairs. Much more casual and all dishes brought out at once. But quite Ok food, good beers, my favourite local gin (Sunshine and Sons) and reasonable wine. The view.

 

The Brewery.

 

 

 

 

The food. Pork belly entree and Barramundi.

 

 

Salt and pepper squid which was beautiful.

 

Oyster with a gin,lime and cucumber dip.

 

And to showcase an Australian pub and club favourite a Parmi.

 

And I think a good night was had by all.

 

[highplanesdrifters]

22 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

So much for Dry January!  Last weekend I attended a champagne tasting class at the nearby Total Wine store.  I had never attended any of their classes before, but this one caught my attention because Chanoine Freres was among the champagnes they'd be pouring and apparently was the selected substitute that Silversea brought onboard the Silver Dawn after running out of Pommery sometime last year.  So I took one for the team, dear Coolers, to do some in-depth research on this champagne house's product line. 😉

 

The 2-hour class was very informative and well-presented by a charming representative for Chanoine Freres.  Did you know that Chanoine Freres is the second oldest champagne house, founded under the reign of Louis XV? I did not, was actually not familiar with this champagne house until reading about it on a Silversea thread - have any of you tried Chanoine Freres, Tsarine or De Venoges?

 

All in all, an educational and fun evening and a great way to sample an array of lovely champagnes that were new to me (we tasted 8 different champagnes). My personal favorites were the Tsarine Blanc de Blanc and the Chanoine Freres Reserve Brut, but all were quite good, depending on your preference for style/blend. 

 

 

Thanks for doing all that hard research!  Might have to try your suggestions!

[QueSeraSera]

2 hours ago, drron29 said:

And to showcase an Australian pub and club favourite a Parmi.

Had to look this up, it looks delicious!  I wasn't hungry till I started reading through the above - may need an early lunch

[DavyWavey70]

Well Australia Day was just awesome from start to finish. At 9am walking down to the quay I thought I was going to die though. Unbelievably hot. A fantastic 5 hours or so was had on the beautiful 102 year old Southern Swan for the tall ships race. It was a little cooler once underway and I kept myself well and truly hidden under the canopy. Food and drink flowed freely and a fabulous time was had. The race was so exciting with the sails billowing. And yes we won the race! An amble around the Quay and a Gelato then Back to the hotel for a very cool shower and to lie low for a bit. Dinner was again at the Altitude restaurant. Being a holiday it didn’t quite have the same sparkle and sophistication as the first visit. Mostly because the waiter hadn’t had a wash since Halloween and tantrumming children were hurling themselves dramatically to the floor and trying to emit a noise that would break glass. The meal was excellent though.  Caviar Tartlette, Tuna Tartare, Prawn and Scallop. Wagyu (6+) Pastrami, Wagyu Steak and Pineapple Meringue accompanied with a v nice Aus Riesling and finished with the Frogmore Ice Wine again, all helped along with a Birds Eye view of the fireworks. A very happy little me slipped gently into a food coma that night.

[DavyWavey70]

Onward from Sydney to Brisbane for a short but very sweet stop before a 5 am start and my charter flight out to the last part of my little adventure, Lady Elliot Island. A Great little Best Western was were I hung my hat last night before being picked up for Dinner by the really lovely DrRon and Rojaan. What a lovely couple. We had a trip to Bee Gees Way before a fabulous casual meal at the Scarborough Harbour  brewing co. I Shall defer to DrRon for the bulk of photos and just tag on a couple myself. We had a lovely evening and again thank you so much for a wonderful evening. Off to the airport in a few mins. T’internet mightn’t be up to much out there.

[jpalbny]

What's next Davy? Is this the flight over Antarctica?

Edited January 27 by jpalbny

[Lirio]

On the other side of the world, I finally went to visit Bodega Garzon (the most famous bodega in Uruguay) where Francis Mallmann runs a restaurant.

I didn’t visit the vineyards and other areas as I am not a wine person. I went to the restaurant that happens to be in the bodega.

Well, food was good, meet (oyo de bife) was spectacular. But I considered the whole experience overpriced and very far (3 hours drive from montevideo). But I am happy I finally came.

We bought 2 bottles of wine to take home and visited the beach in Punta del Leste (and I am not a beach person as well).

 

 

 

 

 

And a film from the view from the bodega yard.

 

 

 

Edited January 27 by Lirio

[QueSeraSera]

1 hour ago, Lirio said:

We bought 2 bottles of wine to take home

Let us know how they are please.  We've been enjoying Uruguayan Tanat, as one of the bottle's labels states, always looking for data...

[DavyWavey70]

Hello Lady Elliot Island. Such an incredibly beautiful place. Fingers crossed I’ll get to see Turtles hatching! Wi-Fi patchy, will check in when I can. 

[drron29]

And once again being lucky. Pouring rain down here on the Sunshine Coast but the radar suggests not much around Lady Elliott island.

[lincslady]

I think the Gods have been smiling down on Davey recently.  It is great to read happy news from anybody, so much in the world is pretty unpleasant at the moment.

 

Lola

[highplanesdrifters]

19 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

A very happy little me slipped gently into a food coma that night.

 

A well earned food coma, one of life's little gifts.

[DavyWavey70]

Arrived at Lady Elliot shortly after 9 yesterday morning. Unforgivingly hot and humid. I’m rarely ever found in a gift shop perusing overpriced tatt imported from China but as one of the few places on the island with ac it suddenly became my new favourite spot. The only thing I could face was a paddle around the rock pools, anything more would have resulted in a pan seared (or possibly par boiled) Pom needing emergency-evacuation  to the mainland. So I lay low until the sun was setting and booked myself on the nighttime glass bottom boat trip. Great trip seeing plenty of the reef and a multitude of its inhabitants. One loggerhead swam right up to the outside of the boat and I was in touching distance. After returning a few of us went for a walk along the beach and found a huge Turtle laying her eggs. Hermit crabs aplenty scurrying along. A Little further along the beach and there they were. Dozens of little loggerhead hatchlings making away for a life in the Ocean. It’s moments like that that fill you with both awe at the beauty of nature and dumbfoundment at the stupidity of mankind. Waving your torch around on a beach when hatchlings are running towards the moon is not a great move. The hatchlings were coming back out of the sea and running towards the torches. Even after being told, they thought their need to see the spectacle was more important than the poor things making it alive. At one point there was a distinct possibility that some of those torches may have shone somewhere the sun doesn’t. Sometimes I’m ashamed to be a human. 
So as any astute traveller is aware, when you see the gift of earplugs on your bedside table, it is not usually just a thoughtful gesture. Long after sun had retreated for the day,  the constant angry arguments between the Noddy birds didn’t. It went on right through the night. Imagine sleeping on the set of the birds but at 35c and 98% humidity at 2am with a fan that looks like the elastic band gets wound up by housekeeping each morning.  Earplugs aren’t always comfortable. Anyway it rained overnight! The Island feels much more comfortable this morning. Hopefully get some snorkelling in today without being boiled alive. Only a few pics for now, most from the trip was video and I can’t load it from here.