We started our day with breakfast at the Lido again.
After breakfast, we went to our bridge class, which was not as fun as the first couple of lessons. Our instructor lectured most of the time and it was difficult to comprehend the rules without actually playing. She talked about scoring for example, but we didn't get to practice it, so what she said is already an unclear memory.
After bridge, we had a fantastic cappuccino at the Bistro.
Last night we were invited to play team trivia today so we met our teammates in the Starlight lounge at noon. Most of this quiz was about Alaska, which our teammates explained was unusual because the quiz is usually a mix of general knowledge questions.
Here is one sample question for you (answer to be revealed at the end of this post):
Q. How many lakes are in Alaska?
Our team did very well. We tied 2 other teams with 10 out of 15 correct answers and then won the tie breaker. A photo of our winning team:
After trivia, we went to the main dining room for lunch. On the recommendation of a man sitting at the next table, we both ordered the calamari salad and were disappointed with it. The calamari was under seasoned and too chewy, almost as if it had been sitting too long before we were served.
We didn't order anything else partly because the special Mozart Tea was being given this afternoon and we wanted to be at least a little hungry for it. :)
We spent some time in our room, reading and blogging.
We attended another wine tasting with James Cluer. This one focused on the wines in Napa, California and Bordeaux, France.
We tasted 2 wines from Napa and 2 from Bordeaux. My favorite was the 2007 Shafer Valley Merlot. Most of the other passengers also preferred the Napa wines, but James Cluer mentioned that a French palate would probably prefer the slightly less sweet Bordeaux varieties.
I got a kick out of James Cluer description of the Bordeaux wines as having a "barnyard" flavor.
After the wine tasting we went up to Palm Court for the once-a-cruise Mozart Tea. There were many other people at tea today and we actually had to wander around Palm Court for a bit before we found an empty table.
When we sat down we were presented with this menu. I chose the Celebration tea and Ross had the special Hot Chocolate "Amadeus" which was hot chocolate with dark rum topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Very yummy!
There was a lavish buffet of tea sandwiches and pastries. All of the servers dressed in period costume and you can see one of them behind the buffet table at the top of the picture below.
The Ginger Quartet played during the tea.
One of my favorite pieces of pastry was the Linzer slice, which had a crumbly texture and a nutty flavor with a thin layer of tart fruity jam in the center.
After the tea we read and napped until it was time to get ready for dinner.
Tonight was our second formal night so we got to really dress up again.
To start I ordered caviar accompanied by cooked and grated egg yolk. It was served with warm blinis which were so tasty, they overshadowed the caviar.
Ross ordered Oysters Rockefeller which was creamy and delicious.
I had the cream of asparagus soup which was wonderful.
Ross had the Captain's salad which he felt was very plain.
I ordered a veal medallion for my entrée and thought it was good, but not spectacular.
Ross's Beef Wellington entrée was the star of the night. The meat was tender and seasoned perfectly. It was one of the best dishes we have had on the ship, and that is saying something.
I should also mention that one of the other entrées was a lobster tail so Ross ordered one of those on the side, too. It was sweet and tender.
For dessert, we both ordered Baked Alaska which we had never had before. It was overly sweet with no complexity and the ice cream was bland. I was disappointed, but I don't know if I don't like Baked Alaska or if just didn't like this one.
Luckily, one of our friends had special ordered a St. Honoré cake for a Birthday celebration and we were lucky enough to be able to sample it. I thought it was very good and a wonderful treat.
After dinner, we spent about an hour packing. What a sad task.
Tomorrow is our last day. :(
A. 3 million lakes. I couldn't believe it!
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