Today’s day at sea might be considered a chance to charge
one’s batteries for the full tilt touring in the coming days. Thus, I chose to
sleep in, while my husband K got up and went to the fitness center. I got up at
8:55 and my daughter J arrived at 9:50 to go to breakfast, where I got a
delicious frittata and an incredibly moist chocolate muffin. That led to a
discussion of what differentiates a muffin from a cupcake. It was finally
decided that it was density and texture.
At 11, while J went to a cooking demo at America’s Test
Kitchen, I went to a presentation on Fabergé eggs in the Queen’s Lounge. It was
very interesting. There are two at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore and
Marjorie Merriweather Post (of the Merriweather Post Pavilion performing art
space in Maryland) had some. At 11:15, it was over and they sent us to the
sales room of the Shop across from the lounge to see the eggs they had for sale
by a relative of Peter Carl Fabergé. These were the kind of things, where if
you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it. I certainly wasn’t
planning to by any Fabergé eggs in St. Petersburg, but if a Fabergé-style egg
box were to present itself for a reasonable price, I might go for it. Both
daughters had expressed an interest in the green one we’d seen at www.souvenirboutique.com, when we
were researching St. Petersburg souvenirs. (The website is a consortium of
souvenir shops in St. Petersburg and you can mail-order items. We expected to
be taken to one of those shops during our visit. Looking at the sight gave us
an idea of prices.)
I was absolutely exhausted. I didn’t know if it was the time
change, my fibromyalgia or what. I tried doing some needlework in the cabin and
on the veranda. I decided to try napping out there, but even the deck blanket
wasn’t enough. So, I collapsed on the bed at 11:45 and asked K to wake me in 15
minutes. Usually, a brief nap does me more good than a longer one. When I woke,
it was 12:45! He thought I needed the sleep.
So, I had to miss the next cooking demo with J, while K and
I went to lunch. I had salad, a roll and fruit, but the highlight was the
delicious chocolate cheesecake I had for dessert. We found ourselves having a
nice chat with the Aussie couple sitting near us. That’s one of the great
things about a cruise in Europe- you have the chance to meet and talk with
people from all over the world.
J and I went to the 2 p.m. talk on amber in the Queen’s
Lounge. You can find it all over the Baltic, but St. Petersburg is a center for
it. In the old days, if a sailor was caught with amber, he was immediately
executed, no questions asked. It was that valuable. The Amber Room in
Catherine’s Palace in St. Petersburg disappeared in World War II. They have a
re-creation and you are not allowed to photograph it. There are a couple of
tests to see if you have genuine amber. You can put it in the fridge for a
while and it will still feel warm, when you remove it. You can drop it in salt
water and it will float. You can stick a hot needle in it, but that will melt
it, which isn’t a great idea.
Once again, it took only 15 minutes and they sent us to the
sales room. I found a couple of nice pieces and J got herself something.
I deposited her at a poolside table to do counted cross stitch at 3, while I went to
bike in the fitness center. At 3:45, I picked up my swimsuit from her, changed
and left her my stuff, while I went in the pool to try to do water aerobics. It
was rather hopeless. The deepest the pool got was 4 feet. There were 4 kids
splashing all around and the pool couldn’t have been more than 10 feet long. I
wound up mostly doing stretches. When J got me to get out at 4:10, I was more
than ready.
It was a gala night again, so we dressed up. Not everyone
did, we noticed when we arrived at 5:15. J was continually frustrated to see a
guy wearing a cowboy hat throughout the trip. Evidently, no one told him a real
cowboy doesn’t wear his hat indoors.
To begin our meal, K and I both ordered steamed white
asparagus with chive hollandaise. The asparagus were very tender. J chose Thai
chicken and forbidden rice soup. It was delicious.
K and I agreed on our entrée
choices, too. We both picked filet mignon Oscar for its crabmeat. The filet was
done to perfection. J went for seared duck breast with port cherry glaze. The
meat was tender and flavorful.
K left me on dessert, but J and I ordered the
same thing, double chocolate cheesecake. Double. Chocolate. Cheesecake. What’s
not to love? K got Linzer Torte with no sugar added. I wasn’t crazy about the
hazelnut pastry shell, but the rest was good.
We finished in time to get seats at the Lincoln Center
Stage, which was just about full by the time the concert started at 7.
We finished at 7:30, which let us get to the World Stage at
8 to secure seats for the 8:30 Abba Fab show. We were glad we did, because the
place was packed and even standing room only, when the show started. It was
terrific! They encouraged singing along. The husband (piano) and wife (blonde
singer) were from Manchester and Liverpool. The guy playing guitar in an 80’s
unitard was from Portland, Oregon and the other female singer was from San
Diego. The ship’s guitarist, drummer and keyboard player served as backup. The guys from Abba did the arrangements for the show.
By 9:30, we were in our cabins putting things together for
tomorrow’s explorations.
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