Saturday, March 19, 2011

Spring Break - Part One

I had a great time on Spring Break. The drive down to Ft. Lauderdale, however, was ridiculous and I would suggest flying.We left Bloomington at 9:30 p.m. and arrived around 3 p.m. the next day - only after speeding the second half to make sure we'd get there on time. It took a toll on us and my poor Amy (my Accent).

But we arrived on time and made it to our cabin. When I booked, I booked a cabin with a window "partially obstructed" between 2 lifeboats. But this was our cabin...  
 
We somehow managed to get a cabin with a balcony. I won't lie, it was awesome. I would sit out there and read during the trip and whatnot. Our first night we both got a little sea sick, Tyler more than I. I think it was the fact that we had just driven 18-odd hours and were running on no sleep in the past 24 hours. But after a good night's rest, we felt a lot better.

The second day was a day at sea, so we got breakfast in bed and then I scrounged for a chair up on the deck to read. I read Anthony Bourdain's first book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. It's about how he got started as a cook, where he's work, his problems and (then) current job as head chef of a New York restaurant. For those of you that don't know Anthony Bourdain, he has a show on the Travel Channel called No Reservations and has been a guest judge on Top Chef. He doesn't pull any punches and that definitely comes across in his book when he talks honestly about his drug problems in the 80's and how life truly is in kitchens. If I ever entertained the idea of being a chef, I don't any more. Hearing and knowing that long hours are needed are different than having a chef walk you through one typical day of theirs. Maybe I'll just continue to cook for fun and friends cause I enjoy sleep far too much to get almost none of it. 

The food on board was Delicious!!! I read good reviews about Holland America's food and we weren't disappointed. The main dining room on the ship had a 3-course menu every night, with delicious appetizers, a soup/salad course, and an entree. We had amazing appetizers of caviar, veggies, cheese and escargot to name a few. The soup courses usually had a fruit gazpacho (cold soup) that were good enough to be desserts. The entrees consisted of meats or pastas, and we had (in no particular order) fillet mignon, lobster, crab, chicken with mango dressing, tuna, and three cheese raviolis. Unfortunately, I think I gained another ten pounds from the cruise, but it was totally worth it.
I leave you for today with a view from my balcony of our first stop: Grand Turk in the Turks & Cacos.


2 comments:

  1. haha, i love how in a post about your spring break you start by talking about the food on the ship(although cruise ship food is amazing, all those amazing courses!) tell us more about the vacation!

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  2. I'm getting there! lol The first day was at sea, so I HAD to talk about the food :)

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