It Must Have Been the Sardines!
Or maybe it was the calamari, or maybe it was the sushi. Well, it probably wasn’t the sardines or the sushi, since I have, so far, managed to avoid both of those. In fact, I haven’t seen any sardines on the daily buffet, but there has been plenty of sushi. In fact, yesterday the whole lunch buffet was Asian. There were some deviled eggs that looked a little suspect, but I didn’t ask what the seafood was on top, but I just ate them and told myself that it was the freshest shrimp I had ever tasted.
The other evening I had some wonderful paella, but I couldn’t quite figure out why someone had dropped several rubber bands into the pot. Well, of course, it wasn’t rubber bands; but rather some chewy calamari. I guess it must be the consistency of the squid that turns me off. It can’t be the flavor, because I have yet to taste a really flavorful squid. Instead it seems to remind me of grade school, when I use to eat paste and chew on rubber bands.
Well whatever it was that I ate yesterday for lunch, something didn’t settle very well with me. Maybe it was nothing more than that giant yellow ball in the sky that kept beating down on me in town and on the pool deck. Anyway, at about two-thirty I went back to my cabin to rest and to read a little more of this sweet little murder mystery that I had started the day before. I never even picked the book up off the nightstand before I fell asleep.
I woke up at about five o’clock as the sun was setting and a cold breeze was blowing in off the balcony. Instead of going all the way over and closing the sliding glass door; I simply grabbed the cashmere lap blanket (is that flaunting) in the cabin and went back to sleep. At about six, when the ship was ready to sail, our ship and several of the others in port decided to have some type of horn blowing contest that not only woke me up, but brought me to my feet as well. It was just as well, or otherwise I probably would have slept straight through my dinner reservation at the Polo Grill.
Last night, I dined in the Polo Grill, not be confused with the Polo Grounds, I hope. The Polo Grill is one of the two specialty restaurants onboard the Insignia. As a guest on the Concierge Deck, I am guaranteed a one night reservation in each of the two special restaurants. Unlike most other cruise lines, there is no extra cost for dining in the special restaurants.
The meal was good, but not spectacular. I couldn’t decide whether to start with the crab cakes or the clam chowder, so my waitress suggested I have both. I, of course, argued with her, but she insisted. So, I had both. The crab cake was heavenly, and the chowder was so-so. Next, I had a Caesar Salad that was boring, probably because I opted out of the anchovies in the salad. Hmm, are anchovies actually sardines??? Anyway, I went into the Polo Grill planning on ordering a mouth-watering Filet Mignon. I should have stuck to that plan, but I gave into the Surf and Turf instead, since the Turf was a Filet. The filet was wonderful, probably the best I have eaten in years. The lobster, unfortunately, was dry and flavorless. Oh well, live and learn.
After dinner, I stopped into the Casino for about an hour. I guess before Washington State became a Mecca to Native American gambling joints, these cute little onboard casinos were a little touch of Vegas that I very seldom got to see. This is by far the smallest casino I have been to onboard a ship, but I had to keep reminding myself that the ship only has 640 passengers, instead of the three thousand passengers on most ships I have sailed. This casino has one roulette table, two blackjack tables, and a poker table. The casino also has about twenty five slot machines. They have two; penny machines, several two and five cent machines, and the rest are twenty-five cents and up. Last night I managed to grab one of the two penny machines, while a very nice lady grabbed the one next to me. After about a half hour, she asked if I wanted to switch machines, and so we did. I won about forty dollars off the two machines, and after requesting Security Guards to escort myself and my winnings; I head back to the cabin and bed time.
Today we are in La Spezia, I think. This is the one port that we are required to anchor off the coast, and take tenders into shore. The main reason seems to be several old warships that are either submerged of partially submerged in the harbor. I thought of taking a tender into town, but after hearing one of the tender crew members whistling NEARER MY GOD TO THEE, I decided to stay onboard ship. The weather also played a part in my decision. The town is heavily shrouded in fog, which makes the idea of a tender ride seem less than ideal. The fog is supposed to lift my around noon, and at that time I may reconsider, although I have been up for two hours now, so a nap is sounding really good.
Today’s lunch buffet is Mexican, which reminds me of the cruise that Tracy and I took to the Bahamas back in 1990. That was the cruise that we hit the tail of a hurricane the first afternoon out. By the time they served the Mexican Midnight Buffet, there were only about thirty of us brave souls who were not too seasick to face a row of tubs filled with guacamole when you entered the dining room.
So, that is the end of this exciting adventure. The man next to me at breakfast said that he had heard there were huge storms in the Puget Sound area, so maybe I need to check the news.
