Expected weather: Hi 61F, Partly Cloudy

Seas: Calm to Moderate

Population: 0 (historic site supported 30-160)

Total Population of Newfoundland & Labrador: 533,710

Yesterday was supposed to be a sea day with us arriving today for the excursion to the UNESCO World Heritage Site L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. However, as previously mentioned, the floating dock we needed for the ship’s tenders to go ashore was damaged in a storm a couple of days ago. Here’s the description of the excursion we missed: Visit the remarkable ancient settlement founded by Vikings more than 1,000 years ago. Here, at L’Anse aux Meadows, Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the Red, was the first European to set foot on American soil. The Viking originally called his discovery “Vinland,” which many believe translates from Old Norse into “land of meadows.” You will tour this finely restored village with your guide, gaining immeasurable insight into what life was like for the continent’s first Norse explorers. See the sod houses, constructed of soil packed over wooden frames, and see evidence of carpentry and ironsmith workshops. You will also learn about the 1960 discovery of the site by the adventurer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad. En route back to your ship, stop to visit the recreated Viking village of Norstead to learn more about life in these northern reaches one millennium ago.

Instead, we have continued through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and will begin crossing the Labrador Sea tonight on our way to Greenland the day after tomorrow. As we moved our clocks ahead another hour last night to get on Greenland time, we slept in a little this morning and went to a late breakfast in the World Café – we weren’t the only ones! The server at the fresh fruit station saw me standing there looking and asked “blueberries”? I didn’t see any out the day before and asked and he got me some from a hidden stash. Today, they were out on display, but I wanted a bowl to put them in with some yogurt – which he quickly got for me and filled. Remembering details like that is one of many things I appreciate on Viking and am blown away by considering how many guests they serve every day!

Afterward, we made our way to the Star Theater for Viking Resident Historian Michael Hick’s talk “Vikings on the Move”. He is a very enthusiastic lecturer and this talk naturally followed others he has given earlier in the cruise, including the Bayeux Tapestry stairwell tour I mentioned a couple of days ago. He covered the driving forces for the migration of the Vikings and the breadth of the lands that they invaded and settled in some cases – much more of Europe than I realized as well as regions in what today is Russia and the Ukraine.

Following that lecture, since we had eaten a late breakfast, we decided to head to the spa and partake in the Nordic ritual of the hot tub, followed by the sauna, followed by the snow grotto. Wow! I’ll probably do it again during the cruise, but next time, I’m making sure I have the rubber slippers on that they provide when I enter the snow grotto – in bare feet it’s miserable. Dave lasted two minutes – he was timing it on his watch, Keith stayed in longer as Paula and I were a couple of minutes behind the guys in the process. I really don’t know how long Paula and I lasted – we might have made it two minutes, but probably not!

Now, we were definitely ready for lunch, so we cleaned up and headed to The Restaurant for a late lunch. All our meals hit the spot and service was very good as expected. Following lunch, we reviewed the activities and afternoon lecture and decided it was good afternoon for some card playing. We found an empty game table on the second deck and enjoyed a couple of games of 313, before it was time to head back to the Star Theater for “Tips and Tricks for iPhone Photography” with Erin Donahue. I may have to re-watch this one on the stateroom TV in order to absorb all the tips. A few I knew, but many I didn’t know how to accomplish, although I knew it was possible. Then, there were several tips that I had no clue about – but I do now! Hopefully, I’ll be able to incorporate these tips into my photo taking for the rest of the trip.

We headed back to our rooms to change for dinner, and I planned to do my Wordle for the day, so I could report my results to my 89-year-old mother who had already sent me her result for the day, but apparently everyone else was also on the internet at that time and it was just impossible. So, we headed to the Explorers’ Lounge for a bit and listened to the guitarist from the Viking Band play his set until it was time to go to our 1^st Chef’s Table (CT) reservation.

The Chef’s Table is the other specialty restaurant which has a fixed multi-course themed dinner which rotates every third day. As previously mentioned, the more expensive cabins get first bookings and our level was allowed up to 3 reservations to be made prior to boarding. So, we selected 3 evenings, 3 days apart, as the menus aren’t known until we board. There’s a thread running in the Cruise Critic Viking Forum where people post the different CT Menu’s that they’ve had. I think there are over 20 listed, but not sure how many are still in the active rotation. I look at it as a food adventure as there are usually menu items that I’d never order for myself and occasionally I’m surprised to find I like something that I thought I wouldn’t. Besides, we can always head up to the World Café or order room service if we are still hungry afterward.

Tonight’s CT Theme was Asian Panorama. This is far from my favorite cuisine, but also probably my least tried due to bad experiences in my first exposure to it in my early adult years. But I was game to give it a try tonight. The Amuse Bouche course was Chilled King Crab with coconut foam and curry. I did eat quite a few King Crab legs last night in the World Café, so I expected to like this and was not disappointed. The First Course was Lobster & Chicken Shu Mai Shangai style. I’m still not a big fan of these “dumplings”, but they were very flavorful, and I ate all three dumplings. Following this, we were served a Granita of Lemongrass & Red Chili with Lychee foam. Those flavors really popped in your mouth and cleared your palette for the Main Course – Peking Duck with crispy skin, Mandarin pancake, hoisin sauce. That was a dish that I’d order again given the opportunity. The finale for Dessert was an Asian Trilogy described as an “East-meets-West adventure, partnering Asian ingredients with Western favorites to create yuzu crème brûlée; green tea cheesecake; and a chocolate banana spring roll.”  I can hear my friends and family now saying “uh-oh! Nancy loves chocolate, but she absolutely can’t stand banana!”. I had to start laughing when I saw that detail of the menu after we’d been seated – as all we’d previously seen of the menu preview for dessert was: spring roll, crème brûlée & cheesecake! Paula quickly said she wasn’t feeling much love for “green tea” cheesecake, so we swapped the cheesecake and spring roll portions of our desserts when they arrived. I think I got the best end of that deal as the cheesecake was really, really good as was the crème brûlée. Interestingly, I was the only one of the four of us who picked up on the citrusy flavor of the crème brûlée from the yuzu. I think the palettes of the others were “contaminated” with banana – that’s my theory anyway! LOL!

I should also note that each course comes with a selected wine pairing. Judging by the empty dishes at the end each course from all four of us, I’d say that overall we enjoyed this meal. Also, a note for those who may have food allergy concerns with such a fixed menu: your food allergies are noted in your file and every restaurant, including Chef’s Table, will endeavor to ensure that you are not presented with those foods. A substitute or modified course will be provided depending on the situation. We will return in 3 nights to experience a different menu.

(Obviously, I need some more practice and tips on how to prevent the shadow in my menu & food photos above!)

Following dinner, I returned to the room to get my iPad and we headed to the Explorers’ Lounge where it as quite quiet (I think many were at the Dancing Under the Stars on the pool deck event). I was able to fairly quickly complete my Wordle at this point and catch up on a few other internet tidbits. We then decided it was time to retire to the room for me to write today’s blog post and get to bed earlier than last night before another sea day tomorrow! At least we don’t change time zones again for the few days.