The Daily for Sunday Apr 04, 2021

[Crazy For Cats]

Good Morning All, thanks for the daily report.  Happy Easter to everyone.  Today’s dinner will be ham, candied sweet potatoes, veggie and wine.

 

[bdrcole]

23 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

@bdrcoleour Westerdam cruise was in August, 2017 so we had hotter temps than you probably did.  Lucky for you!

Yes, the temps in October were great for cruising and port visits. 

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is the last one from my first string of cruises, Crystal Symphony Los Angeles to Sydney followed by Queen Victoria Bangkok to Dubai. On April 4 we docked in Dubai, and as it turns out April 4, 2010 was also Easter Sunday.

 

 

Roy

[mamaofami]

Good morning everyone and Happy Easter to all who celebrate. 
 

Id love to be walking around one of those blue hull beauties, but my last time was September, 2019 for our 60th anniversary. We’ve been to Italy on a land trip way back in 1984, but not to today’s port.

 

Stay safe everyone,

 

Carol

 

[ger_77]

5 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

 

Roy

I love your photos of sunrises, and note that your ship was prepared for possible pirates with the use of razor wire along the Promenade deck.  

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[fatcat04]

Happy Easter!! I have lots to do so will check back later but just wanted to wish everyone a blessed day. Take care!

 

[StLouisCruisers]

Looking back at our Emerald Princess Ancient Lands and Suez Canal cruise in fall of 2016, I see that we had a much longer cruise scheduled, but when the opportunity came up to go on the Seabourn Antarctica cruise in December 2016 we cancelled a major portion of the Emerald Princess Cruise.  We had planned to sail from Southampton to Singapore, Singapore to Sydney, then stay the night at a hotel and get on Sun Princess for a Sydney to Fremantle cruise.  Then we would fly home.  But we ended up just sailing from Southampton to Dubai and coming home. Sixty-five days down to 20 days.  But the Antarctica cruise later on was totally worth it so no regrets!

 

When the Emerald stopped in Messina on this cruise we had a private tour planned with other CC members.  We wanted to see Mt. Etna up close and lucky for us it was a calm day at the old volcano!

 

As we headed to higher altitudes the landscape changed from trees to no trees and volcanic rocks.

 

Did you know they ski on Mt. Etna?  Here are the ski lifts.

 

We stopped at this restaurant and were told it had been rebuilt before due to damage from eruptions.

 

This is a photo of a picture on their wall taken during one of the prior eruptions.

 

Then we were dropped off at a place where you hike around the area to see the landscape up close.  Looked like you were on the moon in some spots.

 

 

 

After viewing a LOT of rock, we boarded our bus and headed to the coast to see Taormina.

 

This is what you think of when you think of Italy, right?

 

The Duomo of Taormina and the fountain in front of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Church of St. Joseph or Chiesa San Giuseppe.

 

And a Windstar ship in the harbor below.  I was worn out by this time and ready to head "home".

 

Until next time Messina.

 

 

 

[Live4cruises]

4 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

I love your photos of sunrises, and note that your ship was prepared for possible pirates with the use of razor wire along the Promenade deck.  

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

Thanks for mentioning the razor wire.  I noticed it and wondered if that was what it was why it was there.  Wow.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[Divi]

@ger-77 , thanks for giving me a reason for my bumping into walls and furniture 🥴

@kazu, most of our family leaves the black jellybeans so I sent them your cartoon. 🤣

Our second Easter not being able to celebrate with family but, unlike last year,  we can celebrate vaccines and more and more people being vaccinated. We will soon have those family gatherings.

Dinner here will be ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus and lemon meringue pie. Shhh, don’t tell my dh about the pie, it’s a surprise.

Have a wonderful day, whatever you are doing.

Deen 😷🐰🐣🥂

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

🐇  🌼  HAPPY EASTER   🌼 🐇

Good morning.  Hope everyone is having a nice Easter day whether or not you observe the day.

 

I guess DH can hug a former newsperson today, since I was a journalism major and worked on a few newspaper early in our marriage.  I enjoyed the work, but found I could make more money and have better hours working in an office.  When you're first married and your husband is in the Army with his base pay less than the rent, more money helps.

 

I try to walk around things instead of bumping into them, but am not always successful. 🤣  We will be having bake ham, asparagus and wine today.

 

We have been to Messina three times.  The first time in 2002 on the old Noordam, we did what was called "A Drive to Mt. Etna", and since it was raining, that was pretty much what we did.  It cleared just enough for a few minutes for us to see the crater.

 

The second and third visits were on the Prinsendam in 2017.  The first of those, we went to Taormina, but my pictures are very similar to @StLouisCruisers.  The second visit in 2017, we decided to stay in town.  We walked to the cathedral and bell town and then took the Ho-Ho.  We climbed the tower, which was interesting, so some of the pictures were taken inside the tower.

 

These are some pictures of Messina from the bell tower.  The Prinsendam looks so small next to the MSC mega ship.  

 

Lenda

[dfish]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Tbanks as always for the recipe, Debbie 🙂 That website also has a brown sugar glaze recipe too.

 

I’ve found either recipe (or a combination of the two) to be good. 👍 

I often take the parts of recipes I like and combine them.  Generally, it turns out well and better than just one recipe would do.  

[DFD1]

Thanks everyone who posted the pictures today. Haven't been to Messina, but seeing the pictures makes me want to go.

[StLouisCruisers]

10 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

🐇  🌼  HAPPY EASTER   🌼 🐇

Good morning.  Hope everyone is having a nice Easter day whether or not you observe the day.

 

I guess DH can hug a former newsperson today, since I was a journalism major and worked on a few newspaper early in our marriage.  I enjoyed the work, but found I could make more money and have better hours working in an office.  When you're first married and your husband is in the Army with his base pay less than the rent, more money helps.

 

I try to walk around things instead of bumping into them, but am not always successful. 🤣  We will be having bake ham, asparagus and wine today.

 

We have been to Messina three times.  The first time in 2002 on the old Noordam, we did what was called "A Drive to Mt. Etna", and since it was raining, that was pretty much what we did.  It cleared just enough for a few minutes for us to see the crater.

 

The second and third visits were on the Prinsendam in 2017.  The first of those, we went to Taormina, but my pictures are very similar to @StLouisCruisers.  The second visit in 2017, we decided to stay in town.  We walked to the cathedral and bell town and then took the Ho-Ho.  We climbed the tower, which was interesting, so some of the pictures were taken inside the tower.

 

These are some pictures of Messina from the bell tower.  The Prinsendam looks so small next to the MSC mega ship.  

 

Lenda

 

Thank you for posting the photos of the "innards" of the bell tower clock and figurines.  Very nice!  The difference between the two ships is amazing, isn't it?

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Hello again.  I decided to break my pictures into two posts to avoid CC purgatory.  😁

 

These are either from the Ho-Ho or from our walk back from the bell tower to the ship.  Unfortunately, we did not get to see the noon show at the bell tower since the Ho-Ho left just before it started.  We'd been warned to be out of the tower before noon if we valued our hearing.

 

This is the plaza in front of the cathedral and tower.

 

The main altar in the cathedral.

 

A couple of street scenes.

 

There was another picture Church of the Annunciation of the Catalans  posted earlier.  It was very old, but I don't remember when it was built, but over the centuries, the church became lower than street level.  Inside, it was a fairly simple church.

 

Lenda

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Quartzsite Cruiser

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

5 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Thank you for posting the photos of the "innards" of the bell tower clock and figurines.  Very nice!  The difference between the two ships is amazing, isn't it?

The difference between the ships was amazing.  And guess which ship I'd never sail on.  Do not like mega ships.

 

Lenda

[baltic17]

Thank you Rich, Roy, the drinks and recipe ladies and everyone who enjoys the Daily.

Happy Easter to all.

A fairly sunny day here.  Have already walked around the golf course and do try not to bump into things when just generally walking around.

Love the pics of Messina.  Not a place in Italy we have visited.

Dinner will be grilled salmon and asparagus with mashed potatoes.

DH got his 2nd Pfizer shot yesterday.  Yeah!  Mine is scheduled for next weekend.

Prayers for all on the care list and those who need them.  Best wishes to all.

[JazzyV]

Good Easter morning.

Feeling sort of blah today. I'm tired of spending holidays alone; this is the 2nd Easter. I don't think I'll make anything special for dinner for just me.

I've been to Italy on a land trip, but not that port. Thanks for the pictures.

 

Prayers for the care list and cheers for the celebration list.

Stay safe everyone.

[kazu]

50 minutes ago, dfish said:

I often take the parts of recipes I like and combine them.  Generally, it turns out well and better than just one recipe would do.  

 

Totally agree.  I often improvise on recipes 😉 The trick is remembering what I did the time before to change it 😂 

[Red Haired Lady]

Happy Easter!  A beautiful and warm day here in northeast Iowa.  About 65 degrees at 10:30 AM.

 

I am envious of everyone posting about getting their second Covid shot.  Unlike most places, our medical center does not schedule the second jab when you get the first.  They are supposed to call you to schedule it.  Usually they call early in the week (Tuesday) for the Thursday shots.  My 4 weeks was up last week, but no call.  I called them and they said they don't even have the people done yet from 5 weeks ago! They simply do not receive enough vaccine.  I shouldn't complain, I know, as the  people in Canada wait about 4 months between jabs.  

 

Ok, I'll stop my rant now.

[Cruising-along]

Happy Easter to all who celebrate, and a good day to all.

The only walking around I'll be doing today will be in the kitchen and garden, and will try not to bump into anything. 😉  

We also will be having baked ham, I'll make a potato salad and get out some of my pickled beets.  And white wine.  Just DH and me today, it will be a quiet, restful day.  

Have never been to Messina, although we've come very close and to a few other ports in Sicily.  On our last cruise we sailed the Straits of Messina.  Stromboli put on quite a show (our captain said it was the best he'd ever seen).  Here are a couple photos taken from our balcony that night.

 

 

 

[Overhead Fred]

Happy Easter Everyone!

 

Baked ham, cheesy baked hashbrowns, Japanese yam, asparagus, crusty bread, and carrot cake for dessert is today's menu. 

 

Today's drink is also on the "top ten" list at Billboard Onboard -

 

We were supposed to be in Horta today in 2018 as we concluded our 6 sea days crossing the Atlantic. But the winds were too strong and we could not dock. So we went to Praia da Vitoria instead. It turned out to be a lovely little town that we would be happy to visit again -

[cat shepard]

3 hours ago, summer slope said:

Happy Easter dailyites.  No hugging around here except the kitty and DH.  Will enjoy a walk around as the sun is shining and will warm up today.  No Ham for today, not sure what we will have.  Love the quote.

Prayers and toasts for our lists.

Stay safe, social distance, and please wear your mask.

I checked many sites for the drink to find a picture and there were none.

Blaze of Glory:

1 1/2 oz of Dark rum
2 tsp of dark creme de cacao (or chocolate liqueur)
1/2 oz of grand marnier orange liqueur

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Geesh, I was sure that we would light this one!

[StLouisCruisers]

8 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Happy Easter to all who celebrate, and a good day to all.

The only walking around I'll be doing today will be in the kitchen and garden, and will try not to bump into anything. 😉  

We also will be having baked ham, I'll make a potato salad and get out some of my pickled beets.  And white wine.  Just DH and me today, it will be a quiet, restful day.  

Have never been to Messina, although we've come very close and to a few other ports in Sicily.  On our last cruise we sailed the Straits of Messina.  Stromboli put on quite a show (our captain said it was the best he'd ever seen).  Here are a couple photos taken from our balcony that night.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for posting these.  How exciting to see that on your cruise as you were sailing by!

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good morning, all! We can’t really hug anyone these days, but I will spend much of the day walking around various things - generally the thing I’m actually looking for at the time. I enjoy the quote! Both the ham, and Roy’s prime rib, are tempting, but roast turkey is the dish of the day. We roasted it yesterday, made the gravy,  and had some then. Today I can fiddle with side dishes and just reheat the turkey and gravy we need for the meal. With just the two of us, regular turkey dinner rules don’t apply.

Instead of the forecast rain, we have clear skies and sun today. I’m happy with that! Thank you to those who posted pictures. I’ve never been to Messina, so it’s good to travel vicariously!

I’m off to enjoy the sun, and wish you all

 

Which also means Happy Sunday!