Sunday Morning Coming Down… to Quebec City

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We rested and awoke when we awoke, there not being daylight to jump start us in our inside cabin. This cruise was a last minute get-away for us, and HAL was offering some enticing prices to fill up their ships. We took their cheapest offering and were very happy with the mid-ship inside cabin that we received. I had the steel-cut Scottish oatmeal and their Frittata Italiano for breakfast, and Sharon had the French Toast which she enjoyed very much, but plans to ask for just one slice the next time she orders this dish. My egg-white dish with sun dried tomato and fresh basil was excellent a first time choice I plan to try again.

Since our last trip here we’d taken a full day tour our plan was just to walk around the old city, take the Funicular up, see the sights and a cathedral and maybe attend a mass, and call it a day ashore. Ashore we wound our way through some sleepy shore side commercial streets; which, most likely are bustling during the week at this time but not at 9:30 on a Sunday. We took a guide map from the terminal as we departed the Maasdam, which was very easy as the gangplank was on Deck 5 (the same as our cabin). We did finally get oriented to the map, and figured out what direction to go to ride up the side of the imposing hill that we were approaching. We visited a small church the priest had told us about, found the Funicular entrance in a souvenir shop, and purchased both of our tickets on the Funicular for US$5.00. They weren’t able to make change for a US$20.00, but did have change for our US$10.00. Those paying in Canadian Dollars paid just over C$2.00 for a single ride, so their prices weren’t reflective of the current exchange rate where the US$ trades at a slight premium, and many local business accept either but make change in C$.

We found a restroom in the local Information Center, then went to find the Cathedral. Sharon wanted to go to the ancient stone building near the hilltop we’d just come up with a high tower, thinking that must be the cathedral. I asked her, why we don’t just head towards the church bells (that have been gonging loudly for some time). She decided that wasn’t a bad idea, and we did find the cathedral surrounded by many artisans selling their wares. We’d missed the 9:30 AM mass in French and the 11:00 AM choral mass wasn’t for another 35 minutes. Sharon remembered where we’d gotten ice cream on the boardwalk over-looking the water below, to the left of where we had stepped off of the Funicular and to the right of where we were now. Sharon chose a double scoop maple syrup and caramel cup; while, I chose a single maple syrup flavored cup. These were delicious; although, Sharon preferred the overpowering flavor of the caramel. It was approaching 11:00 as we cleaned up a bit of ice cream that dripped on the bench we sat on in the shade overlooking the river. We made it back to the cathedral, and I decided to stay outside with the bottle of Pepsi and bottle of water for me, that we had also gotten at the ice cream/gelato store. Sharon said that the mass was “different” from what she was accustomed to and was wondering if it was even a Catholic Church. They had said they were doin an old version of the service since it was a 5^th Sunday. When I asked about the Eucharist she said they never seemed to get to that part of the mass; nor, did the do our favorite “may the peace be with you” part that you share with your neighbors (okay, we get to kiss instead of shaking hands). But it was the fact that the “priest” giving the sermon mentioned something about his kids and then wished his wife a Happy Birthday that really made her wonder. It was only after we got back to the ship that Sharon did some research and discovered that this was an Anglican Cathedral.

There was no lunch offered in the Rotterdam Dining Room today, so we chose the ever popular Plan B and headed towards the Lido. On the way, we stopped by the library to do the daily Sudoku puzzle; and, this being Sunday, the difficult one should be much harder than normal. I was thrilled to see that HAL is once again using a full 8 ½ by 11 inch sheet to print the Sudoku puzzles, so that the individual cells are large enough to annotate with possible numeric choices. On the previous several cruises these puzzles were printed, both Easy and Difficult on the same side of a single half sheet. The printing of the Sudoku on one side and the crossword on the flip side is a much better paper-saving solution. Maybe post-cruise suggestions do have an impact. Sharon and I both breezed through the Easy puzzle; but, I managed to finish just a few seconds ahead of her. On the second puzzle, we’d both been struggling for a while, when I realized that I’d made a mistake. When I tried to guess how to fix it, it again became clear that I was making things worse, and I had little choice but to start over or concede. I grabbed a new sheet and tried to catch up to Sharon. I managed to get passed the point that I had previously erred, when Sharon nearing the end of her puzzle and certain victory realized that she too had blundered; but, she chose not to restart. She’d only messed up a couple cells in the lower left and lower center cages. Afterwards, we checked out the menu for tonight’s dinner, before heading up to the Lido. Sharon enjoyed a roast leg of lamb lunch with potatoes, and I settled for just a bowl of cheese soup.

We went back to our cabin and finished writing and posting yesterday’s blog. We then went up to the Crow’s Nest for Team Trivia, arriving early and staking out some comfortable chairs. Another couple joined us who were from Michigan, although she had an accent that suggested somewhere else, but we couldn’t place it. When Sharon noted that we planned a trip to Israel in December, we found out that that was where she was from. The first question was “How many holes are there in the original Whiffle Ball?” I was trying to remember from when I played baseball with them in my neighbor’s front yard as a boy, and everyone on our team agreed that the question must be a trick one, and the correct answer must be zero. I was leaning towards “8” from what I could remember, 4 on the top half and 4 on the bottom; so, we compromised and left that answer blank for now. Then they hit us with “Who wrote ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’?” I saw this play a few years back, I could picture the author’s portrait, but I could write down his name, and my teammates weren’t much help. We left that one blank too. Another question was “What was the largest city in the US when the first US Census was taken in 1790?” We all agreed that it was Philadelphia, although Boston was seriously considered, and our answer was indeed the correct one. “What war was the first war to include West Point graduates?” We went with the War of 1812 and got that one right too. Mid-way through the quiz I decided to try a memory jogging trick and shift my eyes to look to the left and then back to the right, and at about that moment the name “Oscar Wilde” popped into my head, and then down onto our answer sheet as the author I couldn’t remember earlier. And I made an executive decision to go with “8” as we completed our answer sheet. The bonus question was what back kicking dance step was popular in the 1920’s, and I think everyone got Charleston right. There were indeed “8” holes in the original whiffle ball and we got a score of “13” including three for the bonus question. Alas, there was one team that got “14”, so we didn’t win the coveted and highly prized HAL pins. One question, that had us stumped, was “What was the first culture to use paper to blow their noses?” I thought Chinese. Our teammates suggested Egyptians, which we agreed to initially. Then the other lady on our team came up with “Japanese” with many good reasons just before we had to exchange papers, but the cruise director reminded us that when people change their answers at the last minute, it’s usually from the right answer to the wrong answer. Needless to say, we can definitively tell you, that that is not the case. Or maybe the corollary is unless you don’t change your answer, and then the reverse applies.

We went to dinner and got a very nice table at the stern of the ship. The last of our tablemates to join us was Gertraub, originally of Hungary, and cruising alone, celebrating his 90^th birthday a week or so earlier. He’s lived half of his life in Vancouver and concluded it was time for him to see the east coast of Canada. He drove across Canada to catch the cruise in Montreal; and, like us is taking the return trip from Boston. His wife of 62 years died about 3 years ago. His early life wasn’t an easy one, and included two years in Siberia. He lives now with his daughter and her family in his own apartment, and it was great to share dinner with someone whose outlook on life was clearly focused where it should be on one’s family. Sharon ordered the Thai vegetable rice noodle wrap in spicy soy sauce for me, and tried to order the oven roasted chicken from the Daily menu (but got the chicken from that night’s menu which actually turned out okay for her). I ordered the goat cheese and puff pastry appetizer, enjoying both it and the one Sharon got for me. I also ordered the creamy chicken and artichoke soup, which was tasty, but I would have enjoyed a bit more artichoke in the soup. Several of us at the table ordered the crispy pork belly, and it was very good. Sharon ordered the Whoopi Pie for dessert, so she did get her chocolate dessert, and said it was delicious; while, I had the cheese plate (with Edam, Gorgonzola, Gouda and a fourth cheese with a French name) and I also ordered the “After 8” cordial of Kahlua, green Crème de Mint and Irish Cream. Tonight I remembered to take the complimentary cordial shot glass with me, tonight’s having a green bottom.

There was some time before the show started so we headed towards the casino. It seems that I’ve resumed my tried and true habit of losing on the first night, so I wondered how tonight would go. I might have known, the blackjack table was already full, and someone was playing at first base where I prefer sitting. And the house was being very kind to the players, even the one at third base that was loud and played like a fool. Sharon disappeared to play some video poker and after a while of watching blackjack, I joined her. The person sitting at first base had made some comment at the shuffle about this being his last shoe, so I thought I’d check back in a bit. I don’t think it was five spins when I joined Sharon that she held two aces and hit two aces for four of a kind. She was up $30 when she stopped. My seat was opening up so I thought I’d play for a bit. Sharon went to save us a spot for the show on the upper level (same deck as the casino). I bought in for $200 and when the dealer set out a stack of four green chips, and then a stack of red chips, the pit boss approved the count, the dealer stacked all of the chips into one stack and pushed them towards me. He had left one red chip on the table after placing the four smaller stacks of red atop the green chips. Then noticed the one solitary red chip, and put it back in the dealer’s tray. I uttered “Check the color, please.” But he didn’t understand and pushed the chips to me. I unstacked the red into two stacks, that should have had the same number in each stack, but one was that one red chip short. I opened my hands in a questioning, “What’s this?” gesture, and now the dealer understood. He was a bit embarrassed signaling the pit boss that he needed to take a red chip out of the tray to give to me. The house and I traded hands for a bit, but at least I could win my double downs tonight. I had won four hands in a row, and was about $20 ahead, and I considered quitting, it being just fifteen minutes before Showtime. But my rule of thumb is not to quit once I’ve started a winning a parlay. I was happy to see this cruise had a $5 table open, so after making two $5 bets and winning, I’d also won my $6 bet and then my $8. I made the fifth bet of $11 and got blackjack. The dealer thought a long time about how to pay the blackjack, made difficult because they don’t have 50cent pieces, only the $2.50 chips. The usual way would be to pay the two red chips with three red chips, then pay the $2.50 chip, taking away the $1 chip. He found another way, but did get it right. I was glad that I played on, eventually winning ten hands in a row before the dealer dealt himself a blackjack. The nerve. At least I’d won some of what I was down, and met Sharon in the Lounge before the show started.



The show named “Unforgettable” featured 6 of the ships singers performing songs and medleys from the 1950’s and later. We thought about checking out the piano bar after the show but since we would be losing an hour to adjust to Atlantic time we decided to head down to our cabin.



Having trouble getting photos uploaded so will add them later

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Comments

[Kathi]

fun blog!
HI, Sharon and John, I'm very much enjoying reading about this trip, as I did the last one. I am wondering if you can tell me who the cruise director and captain are, since I was just on the Maasdam this past winter? Enjoy the rest of your trip, I can almost taste what John eats, not so much what Sharon likes! LOL! Best, Kathi