Okay, you TP (Trivial Pursuit, not Toilet Paper) Fans, today’s question for the Geography pie piece and the win. Named for the 19th century King of Denmark, this narrow passageway that is 60 miles long that connects the Labrador and Irminger Seas. Give you a hint, there is only one village, Aappilattoq (no, I checked my spelling, that is the correct spelling) and Amazon does not guarantee overnight delivery. The timer is running….no Google or wiki, please.
Just like a small child waiting for Santa, today is the day I am released from Covid jail (yes, the ankle monitor and guest account will be unlocked at 8:00 AM)…the end of my sentence is being marked by a sailing into the 60 mile stretch..which started at 3:00 AM this morning. Yeah, I was up to check it out, like I said-looking for Santa. At 3:00, 4:00 and 5:00…there was not much to see except dense fog. The lonely cry of the ship’s fog horn was the only sounds as the sea was smooth as glass…yeah, pea soup foggy, glass seas..I am a real poet, I know. By 7:00 the fog is lifting, but for the fluffy pillows of fog that sink in between the rock ledged and glacier craved valleys. Every mile of this passage has been full of new views of glaciers, icebergs, waterfalls and sheered rock mountains that seem to rise from the sea…each one more breathtaking the the previous one. Ed and I have been fortunate enough to see the natural beauty of Alaska on multiple occasions along with the fjords or Norway, and Chile. With the more recent of our adventures to these areas, becoming more crowded with cruises ships. Seems in a world of chaos and noise, we all crave the serene quiet, calm and sense of awe and wonder that the natural wonders bring. This cruise along with a few other players are forging new journeys into these previously unexplored areas. I am still undecided about whether this is a good thing or bad…glad we came early in the cycle.
Okay, back to reality. What are the lessons I have learned about Covid Jail on shipboard? Room service and breakfast (lunch and dinner, for that matter) in bed is great, every once in a while…but too much of a good thing does not make it better. Especially when they struggle to pick up the various food trays…they asked us not to put it in hall, by Day 5, I was total Covid Karen and threatened them with a 90 minute time limit for in room pickup. After 90 minutes, I put it in the hall. Take that, just call me a rebel. As we often slept with dirty dishes in our room (before I went Karen), I refrained from ordering any of the fish dishes. Additionally what sounds good on a menu, does not always translate to tasty after sitting on a hot tray waiting to be delivered. Vikings must have not had salt and pepper, but had herb gardens…the food on board lacks basic seasoning (yeah, I am sure, I have not lost my sense of taste) but is regularly dragged multiple times through a spice cabinet. Each dish is a all or nothing crap shoot. In that same vain of thinking, if corporate offices sends you 2000 one small hole pepper shakers, do not purchase boxes of coarse ground pepper-it is a physic problem with no good answer..we took the bottom stopper off and put the pepper in a spoon to use. Additionally, salmon regardless how prepared does not constitute a seasoning…there is lots of it everywhere. However, if the word “wild” is before the word salmon, that is ship code for “we slept in the Atlantic last night”. Smelly fish dish in room works for “wild”…or that 50 ft balcony at night. Eddie is not a caregiver…after 47 years, not exactly a stop the presses moment. I guess I thought after more than 500 days on board ships (that could be an Eddie style upgrade, I guessed the number) over the last 25 years and me bringing him multi coffees in the morning (cappuccinos on some cruises lines), food from various locations when he was slow moving before a tour, doing or prepping laundry to be done on board, the lists are endless…he would have volunteered to go get me a cappuccino when he was sprung from jail two days before I was. When I hinted, he responded that he was good for the morning with coffee. Hmmm, guess I needed a refresher course in Eddie love language along with Covid. As Eli’s current expression goes, Karma, baby, Karma. I am glad we had a balcony with fresh air, be it cold and damp air, it is fresh. I am old school, air out the cabin daily to blow out the cooties, wipe down the various surfaces with my personal supply of Clorox wipes, take out the trash, request additional towels and put the pillow out to air…my Mom would have been so proud. Finally, thankful that my brush with Covid has not been any worse…and especially thankful that Eddie took the cure and is back to normal…much better than so many of our other adventures.
Today trivia answer is Prince Christian Sound. To think, I did not even have that as a must see location on my bucket list. Silly old, Covid Karen.
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