NOW TO VIEW MY JANUARY POSTS YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK ON "JANUARY" SO THOSE POSTS WILL BE DISPLAYED.
TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT. THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED. ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM. I RECOMMEND THAT.
LAST NIGHT:
Photos taken at the special wine dinner in Prime 7.
Our table included Pat & Jim Bittle and Marcia.
A toast with Executive Chef, Ronald. He is from Austria but lives in Brazil now.
The red wines "breathing".
Chef Ronald introducing the menu.
Our host the head sommelier, Emilliano, introducing each wine and talking about them. He is very knowledgeable and also add some humor. It was a very fun evening.
Other friends at the dinner: Judy (on left) and Marge.
Charlie & Joan Davis (on the right). Not sure who the other woman is.
We started with this champagne & chambord with a raspberry.
The first course was this tuna tartar paired with a Merry Edwards Winery 2017 Sauvignon Blanc (no photo of it).
Second course was ceviche of scallops & lobster paired with a 2016 Chateau Montelena chardonnay from Napa Valley California. Picture of it is below.
Third course was this filet of sole with parsley potatoes on sauteed garlic spinach. It was paired with the wine pictured below. A very good Belle Glos Vineyard 2017 Pinot Noir from Las Alturas, California. This was my favorite wine of the evening.
This wine was what Emiliano called a "surprise wine" as it was not on the menu. It is a Carlisle Bedrock Vineyard zinfandel from Sonoma Valley, California. It was served prior to the main course during a potty break for some.
The menu main course was lamb chop but Rebecca and I do not care for lamb so they served us this very nice filet with potatoes and vegetable ratatouille.
This 2017 Caymus Vineyards cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley was paired with the filet above.
For dessert (not pictured) we enjoyed a Grand Marnier Souffle with vanilla sauce paired with a 2012 Dolce Winery Far Niente Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, from Napa Valley. (also not pictured).
After dinner we ran to the Horizon Lounge which was packed and the Liars Club had already began. It was a lot of laughs and very fun.
TODAY:
Today's post is pretty long as I put quite a few photos on it. Tomorrow is a sea day so will be short one.
This was my excursion today and I had to meet in the theater at 8:45am for it. There were only 8 of us on this tour which included Marcia.
The 8 of us enjoyed plenty of room on this big bus. I say of the back row from where this photo was taken. In green is Heddy our guide who was very good.
We started with a quick tour in town along the St Anna Bay in yesterday's photos.
Then we headed to the west side of the island. Following are some photos of it.
Our first stop was to visit the Labor House & Museum. This was to show how the slaves lived.
Fences were cacti.
Chickens. Our museum guide said they would not eat a "curly chicken" however. Whatever that was.
This is where they would bake bread.
This is where they would bury wood that was on fire to make charcoal used for cooking.
After washing their clothes they would hang them on cacti to dry.
This was their toilet. No running water. Just a hole in the ground with something they made to sit on. They would surround it was cacti for privacy.
This was our museum guide demonstrating some cooking utensils.
Geiko
Water storage. No running water back then so they had to catch and use rain water. Curacao is a pretty dry island however.
Inside the house but this was not a slaves house.
This is what they ground corn in
Some school kids
Back on the road again and passing this catholic church and cemetery.
Next stop was at the Shete Boka National Park. This was along the north coast of the island where it is always very windy due to the trade winds. There is a small iguana on the roof here.
We walked to the coast on this old coral from 30,000 years ago.
Waves crashing into the shoreline. No swimming or diving along the northern coast of Curacao. They have 37 beaches on the island but all of them are on the southern coast.
Looking back across the old dead coral.
May be hard to tell but there is a tree here that is growing parallel to the ground due to the strong winds.
Back on the bus again for our drive to see a couple beaches on the southern coast.
Western Curacao is very hilly and mostly covered with dense cacti and other thorny bushes. It would be almost impossible to walk through it.
Arriving at the first beach area that was not that good.
Did not get off the bus here. Just took photos from the bus.
Only a couple people swimming here.
The white post with a fist is to remember the days of slavery here on Curacao.
Arriving at second beach where we will get off the bus to take some photos.
Very nice beach with lots of people enjoying the beach and swimming.
Marcia, of course
Now stopping at the Jan Kok artist gallery and where we can see some of the old salt pans.
Some kind of cactus was growing in this dead tree.
Iguana carving
The Jan Kok gallery
Old salt pans where sea water was let in and the water evaporated. Then the salt was harvested and shipped to Europe. Slaves worked in these pans harvesting the salt. Many went blind due to the sun shining on the white salt. No sunglasses back then.
Entering the gallery.
I took these photos before I saw the "No Photos" sign. OOPS!
She was know for her use of very bright colors.
Salt pans
Here are a couple photos of the pink flamingos in the salt pans.
Too far away but try enlarging by clicking on the photo.
This is the NCL Epic cruise ship docked behind us today. Hold 4100 passengers and 1700 crew.
I got back on the ship at 1pm so went up to La Veranda for a quick bite of lunch. Did not want to eat much as we are going up there to Sette Mari this evening for dinner. I have requested a veal parmesan again.
After lunch and while waiting for the 68 photos I took this morning to download, I walked to a pharmacy I spotted nearby when our bus returned to the pier. I got another couple Nasonex sprays for Rebecca since the price here was so good.
After dinner we will be going to Andy Hackbarth's second show. We loved his first show. On Saturday we are having dinner with him before he leaves the ship on Sunday.
We will not be sailing tonight until 10pm. Tomorrow will be a day at sea enroute to our next port at Bridgetown, Barbados, arriving there on March 4th (Friday).
