Rose Brooks

Episode 171 – Wash Your Troubles Away

January 21, 2022 84°F/29°C

#myvikingstory

I packed too many clothes, but if they weren’t on board with us, where would they be? Owning neither a permanent residence nor a storage unit means that anything not with us needs to fit into the hatch of our little Mercedes GLA250, and that’s full of the bulky winter clothes that we needed during our Covid winters in Canada.

I did laundry for just the third time in 4 weeks today, which is how I know we have too many clothes. Even with a full laundry bag, our closet is still full.

The free self-serve launderettes on each deck have European-style washers and dryers, with a baffling (to North Americans) range of pictographs.

WASHER: Step 6. Choose program: heavily soiled regular (a dirty tee), regular items (a tee shirt), permanent press (shirts), delicates (a dress), rinse & spin, spin only. Step 7. Choose temperature: cool, warm, hot. Step 8. Choose spin speed: low, medium, high. Step 9. Choose soil level: light, medium, heavy. Press Start and walk to the detergent “injector” on the wall that corresponds to your machine number and press a button to add a pre-measured amount of detergent to your washer.
DRYER: Step 6. Choose program: automatic very wet clothes, automatic permanent press, automatic damp clothes – all these options pre-select temperatures and sense dryness, eliminating the need for Steps 7&8. Along the bottom are the same 3 options, but allowing the user to choose the amount of time (up and down arrows on the timer), temperature (Step 7) and dryness level (Step 8). For those who “forget” Step 11 – empty the lint filter – there are multiple daily visits to the launderette by crew who check each machine.
The turtle swimming alongside the ship manages to fit everything it owns
into its “backpack”, and never does laundry….I’m a wee bit jealous!

Tonight we enjoyed good company (thanks A&K !) and good food at The Chef’s Table, where the Mexican-themed menu being presented was created by Chef Pia Quintana. Chef Quintana was a guest on our December 2019 Viking cruise, and did a couple of wonderful cooking demos for us (“You call THAT spicy?”) as well as developing several menus for Viking. If you’re interested in knowing a bit more about her, there’s a wonderful YouTube video of an interview she did in 2017 at Chef Pia Quintana

Left: We were surprised with a pre-dinner cocktail: a margarita made with tequila, napoleon orange brandy, and lime.
Right: The amuse bouche was a 2-bite tostada featuring house-smoked tuna escabeche, red onion, carrot, avocado mousse and jalapeño, paired with a semi-sweet Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling from the Columbia Valley in Washington State. Escabeche is the Spanish word for pickle, and in this case refers to the tuna and vegetables being marinated as opposed to cooked.
Left: our first course was a crunchy warm Caesar salad made with GRILLED romaine, topped with shaved parmesan and toasted almonds, paired with a Wapisa Sauvignon Blanc from the Patagonia region of Argentina. Possibly my favourite wine of the evening, but my least favourite course of the dinner. Right: Our palate cleanser was a hibiscus (hence the purple colour), epazote, mint and chili tajín granita. Epazote is a plant also called “Mexican tea” that has a flavour akin to cilantro. Tajín is a Mexican condiment made with salt, chili peppers and lime that has a bit of a kick. That combination had the potential to be spicy, but the floral and mint flavours and cold temperature offset it nicely.
Left: Our main dish was a deliciously crunchy fish taco topped with coleslaw and chipotle mayonnaise, accompanied by fresh tomato salsa, pico de gallo, and a lovely hot chili sauce, paired with Criss Cross Chardonnay from Lodi, California.
Right: Dessert was “La Baja”, comprised of date ice cream and ginger spice cake topped with strawberry, as well as a strawberry “paint”, with a dollop of damiana liqueur mousse, paired with Port Christina Ascheri Moscato d’Asti from Asti, Italy (definitely Ted’s favourite wine of the evening). Damiana is a native Mexican shrub with beautiful bright yellow flowers; the liqueur has an herbal taste that goes especially well with sweet things like dates – the taste of the mousse reminded me of dandelion wine.

Instead of taking in the show in the theatre, we lingered late over dinner and then headed to the Torshavn Bar for music and a nightcap.

One more sea day to go before we reach Costa Rica and our next set of excursions.

15 comments

  1. I have really enjoyed reading your blog as I await the 2022-23 WC. I noted that you shipped your luggage (thought that was a brilliant idea!). Was it complicated? Any other tips you can give on packing would be greatly appreciated.

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    • We used the luggage shipping that Viking arranged and it was absolutely simple and efficient. As for packing, because we’re “homeless” we tend to bring everything we own (except heavy winter clothes) with us, since we’ve downsized to what can be jammed into a 25” suitcase and a carryon each. I would say that I “planned” for a 2-week turnaround of outfits, but could easily get away with 7 days since the laundry facilities are so good. That would give you suitcase room for souvenirs. No need to pack toiletries unless you have particular needs, since all are supplied and anything missing can be bought on board at prices not much higher than Walmart.

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  2. Oh my goodness–I just discovered your blog yesterday & I am OBSESSED!
    My husband & I had always intended to move to Las Vegas upon retirement but now we are very concerned that if we purchased a home there that it would be worthless in 20 years with the water crisis.
    A fellow librarian (we were/are both school librarians) has been RVing full time for 2 years since retirement & this has some draw for us…but really not sure.
    Then I see what you are doing & I think YES!!
    We downsized 4 years ago so we made the first step–and I could downsize further in a heartbeat.
    DH retired last May & I am up this May–I will be 56 & DH59 so a good time to start.
    If the children will take the cats we are set….
    I stumbled upon a Viking World cruise yesterday & I am also OBSESSED! Will possibly try 53 days on the Edge first (Rome to Sydney) & perhaps that Seine Viking cruise first…
    But YOU –yes, YOU have inspired me to consider a nomadic lifestyle. Especially if our 3 children end up in 3 different cities (they were…now they have condensed to 2…but no significant others at this point, so all is still fluid)
    THANK you for inviting us on your journey. I can only hope to do the same soon.

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    • Thank you so much!!!! Being nomads was always a “pipe dream” for us. Since realizing it could be real, we’ve never looked back. May I ask how you found us? (I’m thrilled to have you following along – virtually for now, maybe for real soon!!)

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      • It was on Cruise Critic. I was inquiring about World Cruises & I was sent to your blog (plus it appears a couple others on your cruise as well) Super jealous–would love to be there with you!

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    • You might want to read some of The Senior Nomads posts. They have been living nomadically for 7 years. They were our inspiration when we first retired at the same age as you and your husband. However, after two years of slow travel – we tended to stay in a place a month as opposed to the Senior Nomad’s week-we decided we needed a nest to come back to and recharge. Of course when we bought our condo little did we know we would be in it for two years and counting…

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  3. Rose, I am really enjoying your blog! My first (and only) experience with blogging was during our World Cruise in Jan-May 2019. We left from Miami and also did South America but did not get as far north as Costa Rica as we headed west out of Santiago Chile to Tahiti, Bora Bora and Easter Island. I too brought too many clothes snd loved the laundry room and appliances. Our closet never looked as neat as yours! Blogging made the whole experience so much more for me – my husband was my editor, my researcher, and provided some of the photos. I used Word Press and had my 54 posts turned into a hard-covered book with a copy for each of our grandchildren. You are probably much more knowledgeable than I but if you want to check it out it is at http://www.aroundtheworldin128days.Wordpress.com. There may be some information of the same ports where you will be in SA. I loved Ushuaia and we had smooth sailing around the Cape. Look forward to reading more of your adventures. Paula McQuillen, Victoria, MN

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    • Paula, I’ve actually read and enjoyed many, many of your posts! (Would I have found them through the Senior Nomads FB group maybe?). I’d love to know how you turned your posts into a book!

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  4. Rose – I just got an atlas! As in a real “book”! Now I can follow you all in one place – as compared to searching out little maps on my phone as I’m reading through each blog! So… give me something to look for – where-ish are you along the coast?

    And, pray tell, how did you manage to eat that little two-bite amuse-bouche with tuna, red onion, carrot, avocado mousse, and jalapeño? I would have been wearing it, for sure! I can assure you that two bites would not have done it for me – more like 1,000 crumbs… Then I could have used your laundry instructions! Love, love, love that laundry room, by the way.

    For a while I was wondering what on earth you and Ted were going to do for 141 days without a backyard, snow to shovel, weed to pull, lawns to mow, or garbage/recycling/compost days to deal with. Ha… I needn’t have worried! Sounds like you are doing just fine. This life seems to be suiting you both rather well!

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    • First, right now we’re just south of Nicaragua, headed for Puntarenas Costa Rica, moving at a fair clip in windy conditions. Second – me too! It!s a great laundry room. And lastly, you KNOW we both hated yardwork and maintenance stuff – give me a comfy chair, a great view, a good book, a drink (LOL), and something new to learn and I’m in heaven. All that’s missing is you. Bisous!

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