I didn't go out today.

 

I'd have loved to have Julia Child cook for me while she was alive.  Sadly, she's been gone for many years, but she left us with a cookbook with the essentials of French Cooking.  When I was young, I was a reverse snob, thinking that French Food was needlessly pretentious.  But that's simply because of cultural influences defined by many of New York's (and America's) early restaurants - French food was a sign of high culture.  I had yet to see French food as "Vittles" or "Grub" that the average French person might eat. Luckily, the more I got to know about the world, I learned that she was not as pretentious as my impressions of French Cuisine were.

Living in New York, I find it hard to see Italian food as anything but "Stick to your Ribs" food - there are way too many good inexpensive "Red Sauce" joints in the New York City area that allow me to think of Italian food (even its' American bastardization) as anything but everyday cooking.  So, when I go on cruise ships, I tend to avoid the ships' Italian restaurants for good reason - I don't want to be disappointed by a specialty meal which is not so special   In fact, the one time RQS and I ate at NCL's Italian restaurant, La Cucina, it was one of the worst meals I ever had on a cruise ship.  Yet, Princess's Italian restaurant, Sabbatini's had some of the best Italian food I ever had on a cruise ship, well worth the premium it would cost to dine here.  (I shouldn't leave out main dining room selections from MSC, where their Italian selections are always good.)

Tonight, I got dressed for only one reason - I placed an order for delivery from one of the Red Sauce joints near me.  This place is predictable and good.  But it has absolutely no atmosphere.  It's a place where one can order a slice of pizza to stay, eating in a marginally comfortable booth, or have a pizza made for takeaway. This is my one indulgence for the day, as I don't want to cook anything tonight.

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I mentioned that my friend Maria had medical issues.  Today, she had a CT scan, and will have the results next week.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her. 

The day started with phone calls

 

Anyone who knows Commercial Street in Provincetown, MA will notice something very wrong about the AI generated image above.  I gave ChatGPT instructions to draw me in front of the Lobster Pot restaurant in Provincetown and got the above picture.  Can you tell me what's wrong with the image?

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There were several things on my docket for today, and two of them involved phone calls.  First was a call to RQS to tell her NOT to bring up her fancy dress, as we'll be a little bit more casual tonight when we go out for dinner.  The second had me being more apprehensive, as it was to return a call from my doctor's office.  I found that the assistant couldn't get the GLP-1 drugs cheaper than the prices I found, and was asking me to check with my mail order pharmacy to see if they had a better price for the drugs.  So, I have another phone call to make soon.  RQS would be coming up later in the day, and that meant that I also had some laundry to take care of before  I picked her up at the train station. 

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Around 1 pm, I put laundry into the washer, and started my process of getting ready to go out.  By 3:30 pm, my laundry was done and I was ready to go out.  At 4:30, I picked up RQS at the station, and we drove to Chappaqua for dinner - French Food on the last Friday of Restaurant Week.  It was a good thing we got there when we did, as the place was empty when we got there, but getting full by the time we left. The food was very good, but I made one mistake in my choices: I chose the wrong liquid in which my mussels were prepared.  I chose the white wine sauce, when I had a craving for something like the Dijon mustard sauce.

Once we were done with dinner, we went to the supermarket to do some shopping.  And finally we were home for the night.  It was nice to take off my bra again.  RQS will never understand why I want the headaches of being female, but then, how many people understand us TGs?

 

 

Bermuda Cruise 2024 #2 - Port Day # 3 (10/31/24)

 

Halloween.  Our last day in port.  We decided to stay near the ship and do our exploring in the Royal Naval Dockyard area.  

The day started with us NOT meeting up with our new friend, and eating our breakfast in the main dining room.  This allowed us to enjoy our breakfast conversation and decide where we wanted to go without worrying how we might entertain someone attaching herself to us.

We left the ship after lunch, and proceeded to the Bermuda National Museum.  Most of the exhibits are in the former Commissioner's house.  The lower level of the house was dedicated to exhibits related to the defense of the island.  The main floor was dedicated to the settlement history of Bermuda, including its involvement in the slave trade.  The upper level of the building was dedicated to Bermuda's art, as well as a room dedicated to America's successful capture of a WW2 U-Boat.

By the time we finished with the museum, we were tired and ready to eat some lunch before resting.  So we trekked back to the ship and proceeded to the buffet for a late lunch.  Afterwards, we rested for a few hours before changing for dinner.  It's been a long time since I've put on a pair of stockings and tried to look my best.  But RQS said I looked good enough.  So we proceeded to the ship's French Restaurant, Le Bistro.

On the way to the restaurant, we lost track of each other.  Eventually, after playing IM Tag, we found each other and got the first set of pictures taken of us.  And then, it was time for dinner.  As expected, dinner was yummy. RQS had the Mushroom Soup, while I had the Onion Soup and Escargot for starters.  (I love French snails when properly cooked!)  For our main course, RQS had the Pork Chop, while I had the Coq au Vin. (French vittles are quite tasty when done right - and these were done right.)  We finished the bottle of wine from last night's dinner, and enjoyed food that neither of us would normally get at home.

Our next stop after dinner was to get another set of pictures taken of us.  While posing, a parade of costumed cruisers walked by, and neither of us could capture the parade with our cameras.  About the only shot I got that was worthwhile was of a person dressed in a dinosaur suit at the top of the stairs.  Afterwards, we listened to a couple of singers in the atrium area before going upstairs for the night.

On the whole, it was a nice day - especially now that we may have formal pictures of the two of us with me presenting as Marian.