During the night, we moved the clocks back an hour. We are now on Atlantic Time, which is a result of heading northwest. It is an illustration of just how far east much of South America is compared to the United States. The eastern tip of South America (the city of Recife, Brazil) is only 3 degrees west of Reykjavik, Iceland.
It’s raining steadily today, even when Steve gets up around 5:00am, the purpose being to load more photos on to the blogsite. It’s the only time of day when such intensive work can be done without the slow speed driving him crazy. And today the speed is the best he’s ever seen. Usually, it’s two to three minutes per photo. Today it’s less than one minute. Nice way to start the day.
Cathy is up at 6:30. We head for the Grand Dining Room at 8am. The person who is our primary waitstaff is our friend Putu. What a super guy. So much fun.
Back on the routine. Horizons at 9:00. Waves for lunch at 11:40 (check the photo – rain is still pouring.
At 1:30pm, we attend another winetasting, mainly because our favorite sommelier Elaine, in her typically charming salesperson way, talked us into going, and to spend some time with the Petersons. The head sommelier Leonardo presides, of course. Very fun guy, and we learn a lot as well taste some wines that we will spend the money to buy. The Stars of the Southern Hemisphere is the subject.
These slides tell most about what we learn, but here are some tidbits if info that we also learned:
- In America, the first winery was established near Jacksonville, Florida in the 1660s. (The Petersons are especially impressed to hear this, as they live close to that city).
- The best wine is grown in locations between 30 and 50 degrees latitude, and that area in the Southern Hemisphere is better than its Northern Hemisphere counterpart because of the favorable winds. Hence Argentinian wines are rated so highly.
- Irrigation of vineyards is illegal in Europe.
We taste the wines and judge them on color, “legs (how thick or thin the wine is, with the test how is slides down the inside of the glass after you swirl it), smell and then taste. The wines and the food served with each are as follows:
- Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand Green apple tartare
- Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard Pinot Noir Tuna loin
- Ken Forreste the Gypsy Grenache-Syrah, So. Africa Lamb
- Achaval Ferrer Malbec Duck w/orange sauce
- Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna’ Shiraz, South Australia Beef teriyaki
After we sample the five wines, Leonardo gives us a “bonus” wine – a delicious port. He ends the tasting by having is all sing “Sunshine, You Are My Sunshine.” That sounds a bit like we must be hammered, but we’re not. It’s just a silly, happy way to end the event.
Cathy and Steve head back for our daily nap after the winetasting ends at 3pm. After we wake up from that, Steve takes a 3-mile walk on the fitness track. He experiences a gorgeous sunset, and stops several times to take photos with his cellphone. We include all of them (some seem like duplicates, but the sky is just too beautiful not to share them all.
The day ends with dinner at … where else … the Grand Dining Room. We still cannot understand why so many opt to eat at the Terrace Café buffet when you can be waited on in style in the GDR venue. But whatever.
Today was a very nice day for sure, but we are ready to get off the ship and take an interesting excursion in Barbados tomorrow. Time to hit the sack.
