Wednesday November 8th, 2023 -- The Fleet Report and Daily

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Our first visit to Sarande was in 2008 on the Prinsendam.  On that cruise, we took a ship tour to Gjirokastra, an old town northeast of Sarande.  We visited Gjirokastra Castle, the town and an older house which I believe was Zekate House.

 

Gjirokastra Castle ruins and part of the Arms Museum in the castle.

 

The castle from the bottom of tall hill it sits on.  I don't think we walked up the hill, but we did walk down it, and it was steep.  Much of the castle is in ruins.

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting structure on the castle grounds, but I'm not sure what it was.

 

Gjirokastra from the castle grounds

 

 

Our next stop was Zekate House, which was built by Beqir Zeko in 1811-12.  It is a typical tower house of the times, and it is furnished as it would have been then.  Beqir Zeko was a general administrator of Ali Pasha, and would have been a rich man in the town.

 

 

The kitchen oven

 

Detailed woodwork

 

 

Old town Gjirokastra

 

 

A vegetable and fruit market

 

A couple of pictures of Sarande from the Prinsendam as we sailed to the next port.  In one picture, you can see the rebuilding after the Balkan War.

 

 

Lenda

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

On October 12, 1016, we visited Sarande on Prinsendam, and we returned on July 17, 2019 on Veendam.  These pictures are a combination from those two visits.  The beach promenade was bustling in July, but pretty much closed down in October.

 

In 2016, we took a taxi from the pier into town since we did not want to climb the steep hill.  On one side of the main street there are some ancient ruins.

 

Further along we passed this building

 

The busy main street with a lot of new buildings

 

We then headed to the waterfront and the small boat harbor before taking the promenade back to the Prinsendam.

 

 

 

 

The Prinsendam waiting for our return

 

In 2019, we just walked down the beach to an open air restaurant where we got a cold drink before retracing out steps.  Along the way, we stopped at a food cart for gelato.  We've found good gelato in Albania for a very reasonable price.

 

 

There were remnants of old structures along the way.

 

 

There were more new buildings near the small boat harbor.

 

 

A beach playground

 

A nice sailing yacht with the Veendam in the background.

 

A view of town as we sailed.  Many of the buildings under construction in 2008 had been completed.

 

Lenda

[kochleffel]

Penn’s guarantee of religious freedom was genuine, in that Pennsylvania welcomed Lutherans, Anabaptists, other Protestants, Jews, and Catholics, as well as Quakers. I am not sure about Anglicans, who had given him a lot of trouble in England.

[ottahand7]

Good morning, a very breezy and rainy day today but I was able to get outside to feed the birds in between rain squalls.   Thanks for the photos of Sarande @Quartzsite Cruiser.   Pianists bring so much joy so should have their day as should radiologists.    I think I will pass on the honey meatballs but the highball looks good pass on the wine and instead will enjoy the Morgan Syrah we enjoyed last evening at the wine dinner. 

Thanks for the Cares and Celebrations reports @JazzyV.   I am happy to read that you are getting some relief.   @Cruzin Terri I have had to have my knee drained in the past and it was immediate relief and my knee bent a lot better after all the fluid was removed.   Prayers for everyone on our care list and those in war zones for no fault of their own, Israel, Ukraine and the innocents in Gaza.  

I will be heading out soon to have my tooth pulled.  Not fun but I won't have to worry anymore about a filling hole that can't stay filled and starting to hurt.  We had a great time at the wine dinner last night.  So much so that I forgot to take photos of most of the courses.   The food was excellent other than they withheld the Gorgonzola on my Coppa plate but left the goat cheese in the filling in my quail.   A wacky thing was that the silverware was backwards with multiple forks on the right and the knives on the left.  Have a nice Wednesday.   Nancy  

[grapau27]

15 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

On October 12, 1016, we visited Sarande on Prinsendam, and we returned on July 17, 2019 on Veendam.  These pictures are a combination from those two visits.  The beach promenade was bustling in July, but pretty much closed down in October.

 

In 2016, we took a taxi from the pier into town since we did not want to climb the steep hill.  On one side of the main street there are some ancient ruins.

 

Further along we passed this building

 

The busy main street with a lot of new buildings

 

We then headed to the waterfront and the small boat harbor before taking the promenade back to the Prinsendam.

 

 

 

 

The Prinsendam waiting for our return

 

In 2019, we just walked down the beach to an open air restaurant where we got a cold drink before retracing out steps.  Along the way, we stopped at a food cart for gelato.  We've found good gelato in Albania for a very reasonable price.

 

 

There were remnants of old structures along the way.

 

 

There were more new buildings near the small boat harbor.

 

 

A beach playground

 

A nice sailing yacht with the Veendam in the background.

 

A view of town as we sailed.  Many of the buildings under construction in 2008 had been completed.

 

Lenda

Very interesting Lenda.

[dfish]

Good morning, everyone.

 

It is a cold rainy day here in mid-Michigan.  I think I spoke too soon concerning the leaves because the back yard looks like we didn't touch it yesterday.  The leaves are coming from a neighbor's oak tree.  So, tomorrow we will go out again, once it stops raining.  Otherwise, nothing on the agenda today except grocery shopping.  

 

Today's meal reminds me of a dish we used to make when I was in college and sharing an apartment with three other women.  It was sweet and sour meatballs and had big chunks of pineapple and bell pepper in it.  It would be too sweet for me today, but I did enjoy it then.  This first recipe uses ground chicken, but I'm sure ground turkey would work just as well.  https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/honey-garlic-meatballs/

 

 

This next recipe uses ground beef.  https://www.aheadofthyme.com/sticky-honey-garlic-meatballs/

 

 

This one uses a mixture of ground beef and pork.  Pork helps sweeten the meatball a bit.  https://www.theendlessmeal.com/honey-garlic-meatballs/

 

 

I hope there is one recipe that sparks some interest!

 

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

[0106]

27 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

Penn’s guarantee of religious freedom was genuine, in that Pennsylvania welcomed Lutherans, Anabaptists, other Protestants, Jews, and Catholics, as well as Quakers.

Thank you for your comments.  I was about to post something similar.  Penn was a Quaker; his colony had a reputation of religious tolerance.  He welcomed settlers of all faiths to PA; he did not establish an official church; he sought out religious groups suffering in Europe and invited them to his colony.  This Quaker faith also influenced the way they treated American Indians and they were the first to issue a public condemnation of slavery in America.

[Heartgrove]

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here!

 

Travel day to NYC today for our Carnival Venezia cruise. We have yet to board the train as it is - at this point- running over two hours late. But we had nothing planned for tonight

 

Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need.

 

- Jack

[POA1]

32 minutes ago, 0106 said:

Thank you for your comments.  I was about to post something similar.  Penn was a Quaker; his colony had a reputation of religious tolerance.  He welcomed settlers of all faiths to PA; he did not establish an official church; he sought out religious groups suffering in Europe and invited them to his colony.  This Quaker faith also influenced the way they treated American Indians and they were the first to issue a public condemnation of slavery in America.

As a Pennsylvania native, I truly did not realize how much William Penn influenced the culture and attitudes.

[aliaschief]

@dfish Debbie back when I was in college we used make Betty Crockers Hawaiian Meatballs with pineapple and green peppers. It was a sweet dish but was very good with rice.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, cat shepard said:

2021 José Hernández Angel’s reserve

This medium bodied white from Argentina is another Naked wines club offering. But white wine lovers - if you have not tried a Torrontés wine yet, pick one up. Fruity, but dry and a lovely finish. Members can pick one up for $8.99. 

 

 

I did not realize that this is Torrrontes  wine.  I’ll second your recommendation.  Had some in Argentina and now then I find it here and scoop it up.  It is really delicious.

 

 

2 hours ago, cruising sister said:

I had a nice visit with my friend yesterday. She could not hide the sadness in her eyes. We will be meeting again next week. 

 

Those visits are hard. 💔. How kind of you to support her 👍 

 

 

2 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

Cool this morning at 52F but will climb up to only ~79F.  Sweater weather!! 

 

LOL Pennie - it’s all in what you are used to.  No sweater for me with that weather.  I’d happily take it over our 1 degree above freezing 😉 

 

 

2 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

 

Chiro adjustment yesterday after subbing then off to a paired wine 4 course dinner.  As I went by myself, a couple next to me asked me to join them.  Enjoyable time spent but a couple of snafus with the meal.  Advertised as a spinach and gorgonzola salad with scallops (came with shrimp instead so we asked for scallops and I didn't see any spinach!!), meat plate was not hot (sent back) and then they switched the wine pairing to have a Cabernet with dessert and the Chardonnay with the meat!! I did eat it all but chuckled under my breath!

 

I can’t blame you for chuckling on that error 🙂 

 

 

2 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

 

 Off subbing again today - middle school English.  We had a lockdown "practice" yesterday which increased my heart rate as that is one thing that does scare me about working in schools.

 

That is absolutely sad that anyone needs to worry about that.  I so feel for your situation in the U.S. 😢 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Travel day to NYC today for our Carnival Venezia cruise. We have yet to board the train as it is - at this point- running over two hours late. But we had nothing planned for tonight

 

Safe travels, Jack.  Hopefully there are no more delays 🤞 

 

 

@seagarsmoker welcome home!

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Sorry about double posting one of the memes.  I proofread the text, but not the memes, and I'll plead lack of caffeine.

 

Lenda

[durangoscots]

Good morning all. Sunny here with a temperature in the mid-30's. High today will be in the mid to high 50's and lows at night into the 20's. And it looks like this will continue for the next week. I need to do some yard work this afternoon. Mainly clearing weeds and leaves out of the Iris bed. Our neighbors have some trees that have not even started to drop their leaves.... we need a good wind. Our yard person can not even start Fall cleanup. Will be anxious to see if the leaves drop before the snow falls.

 

Have not been to the destination .... looks interesting. I think I would like the meal in small quantity. I used to be able to play piano....not well.... but my hands were too small and now they are also too stiff. I enjoy hearing others play.

 

Otherwise little else from here. I am still sorting and tossing, but since it is just me, I am very slow since I use any excuse to stop. Got to get the steam up.

 

Take care all. I wish to the world would behave. I just hate to look at the news these days. So many people suffering needlessly.

 

Susan

 

 

[dfish]

24 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

@dfish Debbie back when I was in college we used make Betty Crockers Hawaiian Meatballs with pineapple and green peppers. It was a sweet dish but was very good with rice.

 

That might be the same recipe.  It was sweet and these days I don't tolerate sweet so much.  I tend to go towards savory.  

 

This comes very close.   https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/tangy-sweet-and-sour-meatballs/

 

 

You can do this with chicken chunks as well. 

Edited November 8, 2023 by dfish

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!

I will celebrate pianists, especially my DD DS who was an excellent pianist.  After retiring from teaching school she taught piano out of her home.  Our niece works in the radiology field, so another family member to celebrate.  I'll pass on the cappuccino and choose a mocha or latte instead.  Good quote, the recipes all look SO yummy, and I know I would love the wine since I've had Torrontes wine and liked it.  Will pass on the drink, and we were supposed to get to Sarande on a previous cruise but missed it.  Thank you Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser for the great photos.

 

Jacqui @kazu I'm not at all surprised you did an excellent job on Jose's bursary!

Bruce @aliaschief Welcome home and thank you for "bringing us along" on your wonderful cruise. 

Roy @rafinmd Enjoy your travels!

 

 

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all! 
@StLouisCruisers my condolences on the loss of Mark!
@Quartzsite Cruisercongratulations on the new motor home, you will love those recliners!  
@kazu  the bursary is a wonderful thing to honour Jose!  Woo hoo! 
We’ve seen Albania from Corfu, they are very close,  lovely to see the photos! 
 

We've been out hunting with the camera and after two years finally saw another great grey owl!  Met a lovely wildlife photographer from Montana.

I’ll share my cell photo and than DH’S professional camera. 
 

Good luck if you find it!

zoomed in

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by bennybear

[StLouisCruisers]

6 minutes ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all! 
@StLouisCruisers my condolences on the loss of Mark!
@Quartzsite Cruisercongratulations on the new motor home, you will love those recliners!  
@kazu  the bursary is a wonderful thing to honour Jose!  Woo hoo! 
We’ve seen Albania from Corfu, they are very close,  lovely to see the photos! 
 

We've been out hunting with the camera and after two years finally saw another great grey owl!  Met a lovely wildlife photographer from Montana.

I’ll share my cell photo and than DH’S professional camera. 
 

Good luck if you find it!

zoomed in

 

 

I sure didn't see it!  Someone has a very good eye!  The close up is awesome.

[aliaschief]

2 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here!

 

Travel day to NYC today for our Carnival Venezia cruise. We have yet to board the train as it is - at this point- running over two hours late. But we had nothing planned for tonight

 

Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need.

 

- Jack

Jack have a great cruise. Bon Voyage! What a fantastic sail-away down the Hudson.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Fleet Report/Daily.

I used to play the piano, but don't consider myself a pianist (I still have my childhood piano). Radiology changed medicine. I'll take a cappuccino. Good quote. Maybe on the meal, pass on the drink and wine. I haven't been to Sarande. 2 good days in history.

 

It's cooler today, but mostly sunny. Yesterday was gorgeous, with a high of 67. Well, my time of feeling better was short lived, lasting about 8 hours. When I was making dinner, the standing started the leg pain and numbness. Sleep last night was back to 4 hours total, interrupted by bouts of awakening due to pain. I went to PT today. I just did stretches. I tried the recumbent bike but that caused too much pain. Ended my session with hot packs on the back and leg. I'm playing phone tag with the person who's to schedule the Social Worker call. She left a message while I was at PT, but I couldn't make out who she said ordered it.

 

@StLouisCruisers Thanks for mentioning STEAM, which has been important in getting more girls into science, technology and math. 

@kazu Your bursary story must have been lovely, and from the heart.

@Cruzin Terri Although costly, you want your car in good shape for the drive to FL. Draining the knee is usually a simple procedure, and provides relief.

@aliaschief Welcome home!

@Nickelpenny Too bad they messed up the paired wine dinner.

@smitty34877 Oh no on the change of polling place, with no notice. Around here on the news they kept saying check your polling place location, but your card shouldn't have been wrong. 

@Quartzsite Cruiser Thanks for the lovely photos.

@ottahand7 Good luck with the tooth extraction. That always sounds scary to me. Your wine dinner looks very different.

@Heartgrove Safe travels today.

@bennybear That was hard to find. The closeup shot is great.

@mamaofami I'm hoping all is ok with you and Sam.

 

Prayers for the Care List and Cheers to those Celebrating.

[lazey1]

After my bout with Covid I came down with Bronchitis and today is the first day that I have had enough energy to do anything other than make my bed, shower and dress then feed my cats and myself.

The drink and the wine both appeal to me and I would like to try meatballs if someone made them for me.

Running out of groceries and my cardiologist wants me to cut down on the sodium so a trip to the store for something other the Rx is what I have to do today.

I appreciate radiologist very much, they have changed the world of medicine and enriched our lives. I can also celebrate cappucino. Unfortunately I had classical piano lessons forced on me for 9 years and hated every minute of it. I can tolerate piano as long as it is in a orchestra.

Jazzy I hope that something can be done for your back pain and leg problems. I suffered for many years with that. When I had the 2nd MRI my pain specialist came out and said I had severe spinal stenosis and nothing could be done except surgery. After the surgery  improverment has been about 80% and I am very happy with that..

Sharon I envy you enjoying San Diego with your friends than your husband.

Jane

Edited November 8, 2023 by lazey1

[Cruising-along]

Good afternoon,

Good news for us, DGS will have a short cast for only 3 weeks.  I'm sure he's relieved about that.

 

Jane @lazey1 Oh no about the bronchitis!  One thing after the other 😞  It sounds like you're on the mend, get well soon.

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Cruising-along

[durangoscots]

Taking a quick break from doing very little of my sorting and clearing. Did make a quick run to the thrift store. Things here seem to be wanting to break down now that I have a cruise scheduled. First the heating for the condo .... and now my over the stove microwave which is old is sounding funny. Will just avoid using it for a few days until my handyman can get in to deal with it. It is old... probably too old. More $$ just when I am trying to stash away money to do fun things in January. Oh well.

 

@JazzyVSorry your relief did not last long. It sounds really painful. @bennybearLove that owl!

 

Susan

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Thanks again for Georgia supplying lovely weather while we visit. Today we enjoyed the sun while touring the lake on DS's pontoon boat. It's so peaceful compared to our outboard motorboat. The swans greeted us and a couple of herons flew off as we got too near. Hope everyone has a good evening.

[Mtn2Sea]

We visited today’s destination of the day, Sarande, Albania, in 2014 while aboard the Ryndam.  Our ship actually docked in Corfu, but we chose to take the ship’s excursion to Sarande and the nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site of Butrint.  From the ship we walked to a nearby hydrofoil that took us to Sarande, where we took a bus for the short ride to Butrint National Park.  We walked around the ruins for about two hours, ending our visit at a small museum.  Upon our return to Sarande, we had a nice lunch overlooking the water before returning to Corfu on the hydrofoil.

Getting ready to board the hydrofoil.

 

Our first stop on our walk was at the theatre.

 

 

 

Continuing our walk through the city.

 

 

 

The Roman Basilica 

 

 

A small area of the floor inside the Basilica that was uncovered so visitors could see the mosaics.  Most of the floor was covered with dirt to protect it.

 

At one point, we walked around the outside of the city walls.

 

While walking along the walls, we saw this view.

 

This is the Lions Gate, one of six original entrances into the city.

 

A landscape view on the way back to Sarande.