Happy Valentine’s Day!
The ship really knows how to throw a party! All their theme nights are wonderful. And tonight was no exception. But, before I get to the end of the evening, I’ll start with the morning activities.
I started with my bridge class – I have found the right niche. We have a lesson and then some learning play time. It’s perfect and I’m learning a lot (so far, no conventions, Kathie!!)
While I was doing bridge, Doug went to the port talk on Cape Town. Even though we have our activities planned for those two days, there is always something to learn. It should be an amazing two days.
At 11 a.m. we went to the enrichment series talk given by the ambassador. It was very interesting as he discussed what it is like to be an ambassador – the behind the scenes, so to speak. We had not appreciated how dangerous job it has become and how many ambassadors from around the world have been killed in duty.
Our education continued at 2 p.m. with another presentation by Robert Schrire – the S. African professor. His presentations are always fascinating. Today his topic was Nelson Mandela and the struggle against apartheid. We learned a lot about Mandela the man as well as his time in prison. S. African history has been an eye opener on this segment of the trip. Between the lectures and my book club (Cry, the Beloved Country), I have really learned a lot about S. Africa. And there is still a lot to learn.
Heavy duty S. African day since my book club discussed our book at 4 p.m. I cannot recommend this book enough. While it was written 60 years ago, it is so appropriate today. And in many ways, that is rather sad that more advancement has not been made.
The evening shifted into pleasure as our table had booked a table in the Pinnacle Grill for a special Valentine’s Day dinner. It was formal night, so everyone was in their fancy red. The whole ship was decorated in red and hearts, etc. Very festive. As we came in, the women were given a red rose and everyone a glass of champagne. In addition, Charlie (one of our 8) had a rose in a vase for each of the women. Very sweet.
Dinner was delicious. I saved the menu. In addition to the champagne, we each had a small glass of a pink cosmopolitan. Our first course was a mushroom (almost soup like with a cream froth on top) dish, then a salad of lettuce with asparagus and pink grapefruit pieces topped with warm lobster tail meat (still partly in its shell). It was amazing! And it only got better. Next was the best roasted shallot and butternut squash soup we’ve ever had. Doug, who doesn’t even like squash that much, really loved it. The main course was a choice and both Doug and I ordered the grilled pepper-crusted filet mignon with green peppercorn sauce. The steaks on this ship are excellent. It was served with the best gratin potatoes (sliced sooo thinly) and sauteed spinach. Dessert was supposed to have been chocolate covered strawberries, but the shipment that came in was not of the best quality, so they ended up making a strawberry charlotte. The presentation was better than the actual dessert!
Doug and I went and had our picture taken not only with the captain, but mainly with the photographer whom Doug had met earlier who does faces. So, we had pictures taken by him. Look forward to seeing how those came out. It was a great day!
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