Fastest Crossing Ever!
Fastest Crossing Ever!
By Blog.Admin
The ship is relatively quiet this morning, because breakfast has been turned into brunch. Laurie arranged the day to allow us to snooze in a bed a few minutes longer. Last night was the gala dinner followed by dancing in the aft saloon. I understand the party lasted into the wee hours. I attended long enough to take photographs of the revelers on the dance floor.
The Captain charmed us at his cocktail reception. He is a warm, witty man, with a distinguished career. He has been working in some capacity on nuclear icebreakers for 30 years. Laurie had mentioned that he believed our 4.5 day crossing from Murmansk to the North Pole was done in record time. One of the Captain's guests asked if that were true. He confirmed it. The largest icebreaker in the world has made the fastest surface vessel crossing of the Arctic Ocean from Murmansk to the North Pole.
The extra time that we gained for the southbound portion of the sailing means that we will be spending three days in Franz Josef Land! An unexpected bonus, as in the past the expedition spent only 1.5 days on average in the archipelago.
As I met people on my way to the radio room this morning, there were two words on everyone's lips - and they weren't Good Morning. No they were 'polar bear' - sighting a polar bear is our new goal. Last night, about
3 AM I was hanging over the bow watching the ship crush ice - endlessly fascinating - when I noticed polar bear tracks in the ice below. No bear though - had I seen a bear, I would have dashed to the Bridge to wake everyone up. And I would have had no complaints.
Last night's gala dinner was 5 courses, including the delicious, palate-clearing sorbet served between the soup and the main course. The Hotel Manager - Phil Algar - asked the Captain to stop the ship while the servers brought out the soup course. [Captain did, by the way.] The soup was served in tall glasses, which could have easily tipped had the ship been moving. The still ship ensured no one was injured.
The soup - by the way - was delicious. As was the pate with truffles, the rack of lamb and the fabulous dark and white chocolate mousse for dessert. There were a choice of main courses - including lobster thermidor. All but one at my table opted for the lamb, because we shared a bottle of Chateau neuf de Pape. A discussion of wine and food pairing had occupied us through the starter.
One of my dinner companions mentioned how surprised he was at the quality of the food. He had sailed all the seven seas on passenger vessels. When he signed up for an Icebreaker Adventure, for some reason, he did not expect the same quality of food, and was pleased to find that our meals compared to the best.
Goodness, writing about food has my stomach rumbling. I'm off to the special brunch.
Prisca