Sun, Sea and Soup

We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunny day cruising on the North Atlantic.

Today is our 2^nd planned sea day and we lost another hour overnight. We are now 9 hours later than the west coast.

We were glad it was a sea day because we didn’t wake up until 9 AM after going to bed last night at 11:30 PM. And today is the hottest day yet at 57°. 

After breakfast in our room, Karen enjoyed a cooking class with the head chef while Bill worked on inserting pictures and completing yesterday’s blog. Karen and others made Tortilla Soup, Ceviche Pescado and Pan de Elotte (a corn-based dessert).

The class helped chop vegetables and then tasted the results. The Tortilla Soup was especially good, and she got the recipes. The class also got a tour of the galley. Some interesting facts about the ship’s food:

            All bread, desserts, and ice cream are made from scratch in the pastry kitchen which runs 24 hours a day.

            There is only one ice cream machine and they have about 10 varieties of ice cream available each day.

            All pasta is made from scratch which is a lot since there is an Italian restaurant on board.

They strive to keep waste down even to the point of putting cilantro stems in the soup and they make their own broths.

After Karen returned from class, we went to lunch as Bill had yet to eat.

Since Karen had plenty at class, she enjoyed a cup of tea in the cafe with Bill.

After lunch it was time for a 1-hr walk on the promenade deck. It was sunny but windy causing us to wear a sweater and coat.

Now that we have some time in this sea day blog, we thought we would go back to Iceland and fill you in on some fun facts about Iceland:

            The Icelandic Horses are cute but they get irritated if you call them Ponies.

            There are very few trees in Iceland. The birch tree is native, but the early settlers chopped down a lot of them to build their homes and businesses. There are trees in Reykjavik, and they are trying to plant more birch trees, but the winds make it difficult.

            Things are expensive in Iceland except for health care, education and energy because they pay 45% income tax. 

            Iceland uses no fossil fuels, and all energy is hydroelectric or geothermal.  They also have lots of water so no drought here!

*While on this cruise we were far enough north that we cruised above the Arctic Circle. For those who want to take the plunge, kiss the fish, and take a very strong shot, you become a member of the ‘Order of the Blue Nose’. We did not partake but Karen is proud that her father was a member of the Order of the Blue Nose when he cruised above the Arctic Circle while in the Coast Guard cruising Arctic Seas in World War II.  

That's all for today. We're looking forward to tomorrow's adventure. Wish you all could be with us.