Going Live on Scenic "Chef's Culinary Adventure of Belgium and the Netherlands with Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk"

[pontac]

13 hours ago, 1of4 said:

t we booked a junior suite that is above the standard and balcony suites

 

Ah, that could explain the different placing of the safe.

 

Would you, for the benefit of non-Canadians, briefly explain who these chefs are? And do they specialise in dishes that suit your dietary requirements? Since they are doing  cheese tasting they're not vegan.

[1of4]

1 hour ago, pontac said:

 

Ah, that could explain the different placing of the safe.

 

Would you, for the benefit of non-Canadians, briefly explain who these chefs are? And do they specialise in dishes that suit your dietary requirements? Since they are doing  cheese tasting they're not vegan.

On the Gem in 2019 we were in a deluxe balcony suite and it was in relatively the same position. Friends in a balcony suite said nothing about the placement of their safe. 
 

Chef Lynn Crawfor is a Canadian chef and tv personality. She has competed on Iron Chef and restaurant makeover as well as having her own show called Pitching In. She has been the head chef in a number of restaurants. 
 

I am not vegan nor lactose intolerant. I can not consume heavy cream so the chefs are accommodating me by removing cream from all my dishes. Like today they made me a pea soup without cream. 

[Canal archive]

Looks good to me!

[pontac]

55 minutes ago, 1of4 said:

I can not consume heavy cream

 

I loathe cream so don't order dishes that have cream, or if its added when serving (like whipped cream on ices) ask for it without.

58 minutes ago, 1of4 said:

Friends in a balcony suite said nothing about the placement of their safe. 

 

Maybe getting down to floor level is no problem for them. Wish it were so for us.

 

Actually, we have no difficulty getting down to floor level. The problem (ahem) rises when we have to get up !!

[1of4]

21 minutes ago, pontac said:

 

I loathe cream so don't order dishes that have cream, or if its added when serving (like whipped cream on ices) ask for it without.

 

Maybe getting down to floor level is no problem for them. Wish it were so for us.

 

Actually, we have no difficulty getting down to floor level. The problem (ahem) rises when we have to get up !!

If the safe was on the floor rest assured our friends would have been ranting about it!  

[1of4]

Today in Dordrecht we went 30 minutes away to see the Kinderdijk Windmills (children’s windmills). There is no definitive explanation for the name. 
 

we had our safety briefing at 2:30 as it has to occur within the first 24 hours and we didn’t leave until 10 last night so all aboard was 9:30. Well wouldn’t you know it…I fell down an exterior wet stairway and landed hard. I may have to go to a doctor tomorrow as my left foot, right knee and left hand are swollen and in pain. 
 

so I missed the chef’s cheese tasting extravaganza and by all accounts I really did miss an event. But the evening canapés were delivered: steak tartare. DH ate both as I don’t eat raw things except vegetables. 

[cbr663]

So sorry to read that you took a fall.  It happens so easy, unfortunately.  Years ago we were flying back from Fort Lauderdale after a HAL cruise and we were seated right next to the nurse that just had disembarked from the cruise ship.  She remembered us chatting with her at Half-Moon Cay.  We had a wonderful chat during the entire flight and she was sharing with us how easy and how often passengers trip and fall.  

 

Sending best wishes for a speedy recovery.  

[puppycanducruise]

Loving your pictures.  Thank you.

[Canal archive]

Hope you make a speedy and smooth recovery 🤞🤞

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

Today in Dordrecht we went 30 minutes away to see the Kinderdijk Windmills (children’s windmills). There is no definitive explanation for the name. 
 

we had our safety briefing at 2:30 as it has to occur within the first 24 hours and we didn’t leave until 10 last night so all aboard was 9:30. Well wouldn’t you know it…I fell down an exterior wet stairway and landed hard. I may have to go to a doctor tomorrow as my left foot, right knee and left hand are swollen and in pain. 
 

so I missed the chef’s cheese tasting extravaganza and by all accounts I really did miss an event. But the evening canapés were delivered: steak tartare. DH ate both as I don’t eat raw things except vegetables. 

Hopefully nothing serious with your knee condition.

 

Was there a warning about wet conditions on those stairs?

[notamermaid]

Sorry to read about the fall. Hope you recover quickly.

 

notamermaid

 

[1of4]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Hopefully nothing serious with your knee condition.

 

Was there a warning about wet conditions on those stairs?

Thanks so much to everyone with your well wishes. I am so embarrassed but also upset at myself. We had the safety drill and had to go to the sun deck. It had been a heavy mist all morning. There is no railing for the last stair from the sun deck to the deck at the bow and it was like my feet just gave away. 
 

I will see tomorrow if I need to see someone in Veere. Right now the swelling and bruising are coming out. 
 

this is my left hand

[1of4]

Today at Kinderdijk

[notamermaid]

It's as flat as a pancake down there at Kinderdijk. An odd kind of place, so different from my river up here. I spotted the grey and blue earthenware pots in one photo. They could be Dutch but they look more like the Kannenbäckerland pottery from the Westerwald near Koblenz in Germany. Interesting.

 

notamermaid

 

[Roz]

@1of4, I hope nothing's broken and you can continue your cruise. Things can happen in a split second. 

[1of4]

We are staying aboard but are trying to switch our flights to return home on Wednesday direct from Amsterdam instead of flying on to Vienna. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

Today at Kinderdijk

We went to the same windmills. Did you climb up and down the stairs with your bruised hand?

[Ritabob]

😥  so sorry to hear .

[1of4]

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We went to the same windmills. Did you climb up and down the stairs with your bruised hand?

My fall happened after our excursion, just after the safety drill. But still, no climbing ladders for me. 

[Canal archive]

The blue and white pottery has a long history and in this case is Dutch delft very widely collected I think a few European countries have their own versions we do in the U.K. It chips around the edges very easily so fully intact older pieces can be worth a small fortune. I’ve got a couple of pieces including a wall plaque but am loath to get it valued, I’d hate to be the custodian of something valuable as I’d be sure to drop it the next time I dusted it!

[1of4]

Well it a beautiful day here in Veere. The tours have departed and it’s me in the lounge with the very attentive crew. All plans for Vienna are now cancelled and we will return home on Wednesday, the day this voyage ends. 

[Canal archive]

So sad you’ve had to change your plans but sitting in the lounge being attended to by the hotel crew whilst everyone else is off ship is something special, I’ve been there, so apart from your injured do try to enjoy! I was once not very well on board and the staff were off the scale in their attentiveness.

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, 1of4 said:

My fall happened after our excursion, just after the safety drill. But still, no climbing ladders for me. 

My wife said you had to climb down backwards. I did not do that, but went sort of sideways. 

[ontheweb]

18 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

My wife said you had to climb down backwards. I did not do that, but went sort of sideways. 

My best stairs story was at the Palace of Versailles. We had landed in Paris on our wedding anniversary. I was in a walking boot as I had broken my left ankle about 10 weeks earlier. My wife started climbing up a very, very steep staircase. I yelled at her that I could not do that as I would fall and really hurt a lot of people. An attendant came over and said, "Monsieur, elevator", and took us to a hidden elevator. They are so well hidden that we could not find it again to go down and had to get one of the attendants to show us where it was to go back down.

[1of4]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

My best stairs story was at the Palace of Versailles. We had landed in Paris on our wedding anniversary. I was in a walking boot as I had broken my left ankle about 10 weeks earlier. My wife started climbing up a very, very steep staircase. I yelled at her that I could not do that as I would fall and really hurt a lot of people. An attendant came over and said, "Monsieur, elevator", and took us to a hidden elevator. They are so well hidden that we could not find it again to go down and had to get one of the attendants to show us where it was to go back down.

Wow, that’s quite a story!  Glad they could accommodate you. In Paris we went to Sainte Chappell, the cathedral with surrounding stained glass. A similar situation as you encountered happened when I couldn’t climb the stairs to the upper cathedral where the main stained glass is. We were brought over into a connected building and used that elevator. Only thing was, when we went to leave, a bunch of able bodied people noticed and crowded in the elevator until it wouldn’t go until some got out. One person had the nerve to tell me to get out as I could always get the next one but she would be told to take the stairs!

 

The cruise director is trying to secure a wheelchair or scooter for me so I can see Keukenhof Gardens next Tuesday.