Travels in Fire and Ice - Day 2

I want these posts to be interesting, but so far I have few wonders to report.  I might as well have put these posts on my food blog because at this point it’s all about the food

I woke up this morning and saw we were still in Reykjavik.  I went about my usual routine and hit the gym.  It’s adequate but not as nice as the gym on Regent. I am sure my readers needed to know that.

Anyway, sometime after my workout the Captain made an announcement about the situation.  It wasn’t the winds alone that prevented sailing.  As we were pulling away from the dock last night, the ship crashed into the dock and the hull was damaged. This morning it needed to be repaired and inspected. We would not be heading to our stop in Patreksfjordor today. Once the ship was cleared to sail, we will head for tomorrow’s port of Siglufjordor.  That’s disappointing as we were going to visit a major puffin colony today.

We had breakfast at the ship’s buffet and found it lacking. Besides, parents were not making their kids sanitize their hands, and we don’t like the idea of eating where kids are touching things with those grubby little mitts. We will probably avoid the buffet in the future.

I was restless, so I went to the walking/jogging track on the top deck and walked, and walked some more. I had this restless energy I couldn’t get rid of.  There were other walkers, but I outlasted them all. I kept going and going. It mentally calmed me down after the disappointment for the day and the anticipation of potential future disappointment.

Once I was calmer, I went back to the lounge to read.  The space is less confining than my cabin.

Around noon the ship began to move.  The seas were rough all day. The winds were relentless. I never stopped hearing them howl outside my cabin door, Thank goodness I am not prone to seasickness.

We had lunch at Spaccanapoli, the ship’s pizza restaurant. It has the reputation for having the best cruise ship pizza. I had a sausage pizza and Kevin had a plain cheese one.

                                                    

                                                    

My thoughts on the pizza was that it was overrated. Maybe it’s because I am a New Yorker who has also eaten pizza in southern Italy, but I found this pizza a bit flawed. For one thing, I felt it needed more salt. The flavor profiles were good.  There were quality ingredients here, but they needed more salt to bring them out.  Also, the bottom crust was soggy.

We went to the gelato shop next to the pizza place for some ice cream. The booth had a list of flavors that sounded tasty.

First of all, I asked for pistachio and gianduja.  I don’t know what the white scoop is here, but it wasn’t pistachio.  Also, the ice cream was icy and not creamy.  I know Italian style gelato has less cream than American style ice cream, but this almost seemed freezer burnt,

After lunch I did all the cheesy cruise ship stuff one does on sea days. I took a line dancing class (and had a lovely sangria). I played bingo (actually, that was before lunch), and played the afternoon trivia.

Before dinner I retired to my cabin and watched in-room movies.  I had a cocktail hour in my room. The butlers on Silversea will stock your minibar with anything you want. I asked for Pinot Grigio for before dinner and Bailey’s for after dinner.

We had dinner at Atlantide with the family in the evening. I started with a poached pear and pecorino salad that tasted like a regular garden salad with some shaved cheese and a couple of pear slices thrown in.

The plate was cool though.  It was as if someone folded a paper plate.  There was no good reason for the shape, but it was still cool.

I fared better (NPI) with the prime rib main course. Meat was tender and perfectly cooked.  The potato thing on the side was also well-executed. 

Desert was layers of cherry, pistachio, and white chocolate mouse.  

The white wine for the evening was the true star.  I asked to take a photo of the bottle so I could remember it. The only reason I stopped drinking it was because I wanted to switch to the Cabernet for my prime rib.

I finished dinner right before 10PM.  I decided not to go out dancing this time.  I went back, poured myself a Baileys (alcohol units for the day: 7) and worked on today’s post while listening to the sound of the wind and the ocean outside my door. When it’s this light outside, it doesn’t feel like 10PM.

Tomorrow I hope to leave the ship after two days confined here. It’s also my birthday, so let’s see what kind of treats are in store.