Silver Wind Live! Helsinki to Hamburg, June 4-16, 2023

[jpalbny]

Meeting Rachel and George for dinner in LT tonight! I finally remembered to use the website that only works onboard, to check reservations, excursions, and restaurant menus! Here's tonight's LT menu, to whet all of our appetites. Can I hold off another 45 minutes? 

 

 

I hope the post works. It's a series of screenshots from one big screenshot.

[Mr Luxury]

15 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Meeting Rachel and George for dinner in LT tonight! I finally remembered to use the website that only works onboard, to check reservations, excursions, and restaurant menus! Here's tonight's LT menu, to whet all of our appetites. Can I hold off another 45 minutes? 

 

 

I hope the post works. It's a series of screenshots from one big screenshot.

So for you JP it's the Dall 'Orto followed by Tonno alla Griglia.

No wine,water only and an early night.

Someone's go to keep an eye on you.🧐

[RachelG]

June 5, 2023-Ulko Island, Finland

 

We had a smooth night’s sail and awoke at about 6:30 am, full daylight of course, but some clouds helped diffuse the sunlight.  Forecast today is for highs in the low 50s and a slight breeze with wind picking up in the afternoon.  

 

We went to breakfast in La Terrazza as they were putting down the zodiacs.  No real bacon, just that soggy English kind.  I had some yogurt (not Greek).  No worries on gaining weight due to breakfast on this ship.  Then I drank my tea while doing some work online.  Internet speed is acceptable so far.

 

Today we were at Ulko Island.  This small island is east of Helsinki, in the Bay of Finland, only about 5 miles from the Russian border.  It was a military outpost, important in the Winter War then WWII as Finland defended itself from Russia.  It is pretty flat, and an important breeding area for several bird species.  There is still a military observation tower there—strictly forbidden.

 

We had a pretty wet and windy zodiac ride over to the island.  The bird watching group and the two guided hiking groups had gone ahead of us, as well as the kayakers.  We landed at a nice wooden dock.

 

The island has a couple of trails.  We met up with Chris and JP and hiked all over through forest, spongy ground with lichen cover, and huge granite boulders nearer the shoreline.  It was a perfect hiking day, cool but with the sun now out full force.  Very comfortable.  We found an old bunker, a couple of big artillery pieces,  a cool tunnel, and a observation tower that was not forbidden.  From there, we could see Russia.  There were lots of birds which were singing away.

 

We returned to the area by the dock where the local people had prepared lunch. Freshly smoked salmon, local sausages, salmon soup, fresh blueberry juice.  It was really delicious. 

 

We explored a little more, but the wind was coming up, so we decided to go back to the ship.  We grabbed a salad in La Terrazza.  Good decision to come back as the wind really picked up in the afternoon.

 

We had a meet and greet for the cruise critic group and met LAexNY (David) and his wife Laura.  We teamed up with them and JP and Chris for trivia and came in 2nd.  The questions we missed were either very specific (year Jurassic Park came out, how many world cups has Brazil won, length of a giraffe neck) or trick question (JP knew the right answer, but none of the rest of us believed him).

 

Tonight was the captain’s welcome , but we didn’t attend as George forgot his dress pants.  He only brought blue jeans.  Now he does have some very fine boots, but we weren’t sure jeans would be acceptable.  And the shop doesn’t carry dress pants.

 

Dinner in La Terrazza with JP and Chris.  One of the best dinners there in memory.  I had the walnut pansotto which was great followed by a huge beef filet.  It was probably 12 oz.  I cut it in half and gave half to George.  He had ordered pasta as his main, so it worked out well.  It was very good, and perfectly cooked.  Tiramisu and pannacotta rounded off our meal.

 

[Mr Luxury]

Tell me George has other trousers apart from jeans.

Are jeans allowed around the ship after 18.00

[jpalbny]

17 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Tell me George has other trousers apart from jeans.

Are jeans allowed around the ship after 18.00

 

George hasn't been tossed overboard yet so we'll let him slide. Expedition cruises are a different animal. Jeans are fine.

 

11PM and still light. Just got back from Paranormal where the dancing was getting wild. 8:45 zodiac call tomorrow so time for sleep.

 

Tonight's dinner in LT. Chris's filet. It was huge.

 

 

And cooked to @drron29's specifications! Chris was very happy. 

 

 

My osso bucco was delicious as well. 

 

 

Good night all!

 

[Mr Luxury]

38 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

George hasn't been tossed overboard yet so we'll let him slide. Expedition cruises are a different animal. Jeans are fine.

 

11PM and still light. Just got back from Paranormal where the dancing was getting wild. 8:45 zodiac call tomorrow so time for sleep.

 

Tonight's dinner in LT. Chris's filet. It was huge.

 

 

And cooked to @drron29's specifications! Chris was very happy. 

 

 

My osso bucco was delicious as well. 

 

 

Good night all!

 

Goodnight JP

Gaviscon is on the bedside table

[Daveywavey70]

 

I'm loving following along but I must object to the following statement!

3 hours ago, RachelG said:

No real bacon, just that soggy English kind.  I had some yogurt (not Greek).

 

English bacon is superb! Second only to Welsh Bacon. Nowhere in the world does real bacon other than the UK. My local butcher cures her own. 

 

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

 

 

 

JP, I Know a good vet if you need one.

 

2 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Goodnight JP

Gaviscon is on the bedside table

Mr Luxury, I'm just wondering if your treatments are based on medical knowledge or cruise experience? 

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

English bacon is superb! Second only to Welsh Bacon. Nowhere in the world does real bacon other than the UK. My local butcher cures her own.

Without going into the question of which is better, I have a question from the US:  since you don't eat the our cut of 'bacon', what do UK butchers do with that part of the pig?

[QueSeraSera]

3 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Good night all!

Good night.  Hope you all have a great cruise.

[QueSeraSera]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Without going into the question of which is better, I have a question from the US:  since you don't eat the our cut of 'bacon', what do UK butchers do with that part of the pig?

And another question from the US where we are dealing with a tick-borne disease called alpha-gal syndrome. Has also reached Oz. Can not eat pork bacon.  Have the English bacon masters come up with a good turkey (or chicken) bacon?  or shouldn't I ask?

[Daveywavey70]

43 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Without going into the question of which is better, I have a question from the US:  since you don't eat the our cut of 'bacon', what do UK butchers do with that part of the pig?

I’m not really sure Jazz as without wishing to be offensive I always believed that American bacon was just a picture printed onto A4 paper and blowtorched. The offcuts of back bacon are sold as belly pork. My local butcher cures the loins with salt and a little sugar. Most supermarket rubbish is cured in brine and halves in size as soon as it hits the pan when it ejaculates the brine. We have a few different cuts of bacon here but the main ones are:-  back bacon, that is the oyster of the loin with around 2” of the streaky belly. Middle bacon is the oyster and around 8 inches of the belly curled around. Streaky is purely the layered belly with no oyster and is closest to American bacon. I’ve been traumatised by many types of Bacon around the world before now. Only slightly ahead of American bacon in the worlds worst charts is Spanish bacon. I Suspect that might be made from the losing team of a bullfight that’s been left to dry out in the sun whilst they all go home for an afternoon sleep. 

[Daveywavey70]

9 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

And another question from the US where we are dealing with a tick-borne disease called alpha-gal syndrome. Has also reached Oz. Can not eat pork bacon.  Have the English bacon masters come up with a good turkey (or chicken) bacon?  or shouldn't I ask?

Best not 😁

[Host Jazzbeau]

10 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

alpha-gal syndrome

What an unfortunate name for a disease.  Not to minimize your suffering, but it sounds like a personality disorder...

[Daveywavey70]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

What an unfortunate name for a disease.  Not to minimize your suffering, but it sounds like a personality disorder...

I Think she used to work for me.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, RachelG said:

JP knew the right answer, but none of the rest of us believed him.

Normally, a good choice. 😉

[RachelG]

7 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Tell me George has other trousers apart from jeans.

Are jeans allowed around the ship after 18.00

The only other trouser type pants he brought are exercise pants.  They are not jeans, but worse and not appropriate for dinner.  He knows he is in the doghouse. We will be in a town tomorrow so will see if we can find something suitable.

4 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

 

I'm loving following along but I must object to the following statement!

English bacon is superb! Second only to Welsh Bacon. Nowhere in the world does real bacon other than the UK. My local butcher cures her own. 

 

We shall have to agree to disagree.

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 minutes ago, RachelG said:

We shall have to agree to disagree.

I'm with you Rachel.  English bacon is a nice cut of pork, ruined.  American bacon is a slice [or three!] of heaven.

[lincslady]

To my simple mind, bacon is generally either 'back' or 'streaky.  I love both - smoked, although I think this is especially unhealthy - but very well cooked.  That makes all the difference.  And ideally in a white bread sandwich, if not on a full breakfast plate. (Bacon, sausage, one egg, well cooked fresh tomato, crispy fried bread, black pudding).  Never baked beans.

 

Sorry, this should be on the Cooler.  Ignore it.

 

Lola

[Host Jazzbeau]

Somehow whenever JP is involved, the thread turns to food...  😉

[drron29]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'm with you Rachel.  English bacon is a nice cut of pork, ruined.  American bacon is a slice [or three!] of heaven.

If  american bacon is a slice of heaven why is it nearly always cremated?

[Mr Luxury]

7 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

 

I'm loving following along but I must object to the following statement!

English bacon is superb! Second only to Welsh Bacon. Nowhere in the world does real bacon other than the UK. My local butcher cures her own. 

 

JP, I Know a good vet if you need one.

 

Mr Luxury, I'm just wondering if your treatments are based on medical knowledge or cruise experience? 

Both DW

Didn't you know that I am a cruise nutrition expert.😁

I prescribe one hour on a spin bike for every one plate of food.

[jpalbny]

8 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

I prescribe one hour on a spin bike for every one plate of food.

 

Not enough time in the day!

[Mr Luxury]

5 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Not enough time in the day!

I manage the gym on a ship twice a day.

06.00 and 16.00

Light breakfast,no lunch,good dinner and only alcohol with dinner.

Same as at home 

[jpalbny]

Tuesday, June 6th. Örö Island. 

 

Another former military base recently designated as a park. We had an easy morning and slept in until 7:30 then had breakfast. The first zodiac headed out at 8:45.

 

 

The weather had been fine earlier but suddenly a dark cloud drifted over us. The temperature felt much colder. 

 

 

And there was a brief intense rain shower! Right on cue they called our group. Luckily the rain stopped as we loaded into our zodiac, and the ride over was dry.

 

We met our guide for the nature hike and started off. She took us to a few nice viewpoints where we could see the rocky coast.

 

 

 

A big contrast between the coast and the inland forest. Tons of blueberry bushes everywhere. And pretty flowers. The tiny Arctic star was all over.

 

 

Back to the coast. Islands all over! 

 

 

We crossed over to the west side of the island and went to another beach. Our ship was there to greet us.

 

 

You can see some bands of rain coming down near Silver Wind. 

 

The beach, like all of them here, is fairly rocky.

 

 

 

This rock had a very interesting vein of mineral running through it. The pattern was very pretty. We need a geologist to explain this one.

 

 

It was still chilly! We had 3 layers on. When the wind wasn't blowing and the sun was shining, we could shed a layer. But not too often. 

 

 

We had come a decent way north so now we turned back towards the center of the island, to get some lunch. Our guide set a brisk pace. Maybe she was hungry too!

Edited June 6, 2023 by jpalbny

[TLCOhio]

2 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Tuesday, June 6th. Örö Island. Another former military base recently designated as a park. We had an easy morning and slept in until 7:30 then had breakfast. The first zodiac headed out at 8:45.

 

Appreciate, as always, the great postings, pictures and details from the exciting adventures of Chris and you.  Just not catching up to your interesting thread.  Maybe you mentioned earlier, but how full is this ship's sailing?  Yes, things appear rocky there.   Looking forward to more of your excellent "food porn".  Always tasty and making me hungry.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio