Summer food

Tags

Canada., cuisine, Food, PEI, Potato, salad, Summer

This being the first long weekend of Summer in Canada, here is a recipe that goes well with your official Bar-B-Q inauguration.

Curried Red Potato Salad

Ingredients:

15-20 mini red potatoes, skin on, washed well, cut into quarters
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
4 eggs, boiled, peeled and cut into small pieces or slices
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Dressing
1/3 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp of currie
Dash of hot sauce or Tabasco
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
2-3 sprigs fresh tarragon for garnish (optional)

 

Instructions: 

Wash potatoes and cut into quarters. Place in a large sauce pan of salted water, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Partially cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender, 8-10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
Prepare boiled eggs and place on top of cooled potatoes.
For the dressing, whisk mayo, sour cream or yogurt, Curry and Cream sauce and hot pepper sauce or Tabasco in a bowl. Stir in the green onion, salt and pepper. Fold the dressing, potatoes and eggs together. Cover and place in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
Garnish with fresh tarragon.

We go from one to the other

Tags

allergies, bullies, dysfunctional, education, fashion, Food, kids, life, North America, parents

Back in the 1960’s at the time when Dr. Benjamin Spock was all the rage with parents and childrearing, a new term started to appear in school. Parents, I should say mothers, would say that little Johnny was sensitive and this is why he was not doing so well in class. The fact that little Johnny was indulge and a lazy bastard was not really considered, he was sensitive and schools started to pander to that affliction amongst school boys. That went on during the 1970’s and by the early 1980’s the fashion had turned to letting children choose what they wanted to learn. If in the elementary levels 1 to 6 parents demanded loudly a return to basics, writing, reading, math, in high school it was all about self-discovery and choice. Why would a 13 year old know what they wanted to do and what they should study or what was important to learn at an age when puberty reeks havoc and you have mood swings and changing taste from  one day to the next, is beyond me. I remember then that one popular conversation amongst my school chums was how all you really needed was a grade 9 education to make your way in life.

Then with the rise of the talk shows and all the TV experts, were they really experts? I somehow doubt it, we had a succession of maladies, first abuse in childhood, then dysfunctional families, then allergies like peanuts and all manner of other food allergies like newly discovered glutens, then bipolar disorders, currently transgender children, school bullying is also popular and equity in schools for girls, we are not talking about equality which is a 1970’s topic. What I find interesting about all these different social topics is that everyone is affected, everyone is bipolar and everyone has allergies or comes from dysfunctional families etc.. the list goes on. Remember Oprah came from a dysfunctional family, she had an episode of her show on the topic and the ratings went up.

Per example here in Canada now the whole transgender question is top of radio discussions or at least on CBC. We are told parents should look for signs in young children from birth. A parade of experts and activists give us their views, like it or not.

Having lived in many countries in various cultures, I am comparing and note that all these preoccupations are very North American, we say First World but no it is typically from our culture. Many activists see this as a way of advancing individualism to the extreme, then translate this into a Human Rights issue, the group, society, no longer matters, only the single individual and we must all conform or be denounced.

Peanut allergies do not exist or if it does it is not a fixation as it has become here. The concept of dysfunctional families does not exist as such, maybe because other societies are more conventional or deal differently with their societal problems. Same with all other questions. You certainly do not see the level of hysteria we encounter here. It has come to a point where you cannot have a mature discussion, everyone is riding their high horse and being sanctimonious.

I wonder where we are going as a society, if the so called youth is our future then I am very worried, the little darlings are not prepared for real life and its challenges.

Lobster Season

Tags

cuisine, Fish season, Food, lobster, Lobster thermidor, PEI

Yes the lobster Season is OPEN, the boats left the harbours around the Island. Here is a beautiful picture of the boats as they go out. Probably around Rustico which is 30 minutes from my place. Really nice to see.

My favourite lobster recipe is Lobster Thermidor

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish consisting of a creamy mixture of cooked lobster meat, egg yolks, and brandy (often cognac), stuffed into a lobster shell. It can also be served with an oven-browned cheese crust, typically Gruyère. The sauce must contain mustard (typically powdered mustard).

This version, by 1940s Gourmet chef Louis P. De Gouy

INGREDIENTS

2 (1 1/2-lb) live lobsters
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 lb mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons medium-dry Sherry
1 cup heavy cream, scalded
2 large egg yolks

PREPARATION

Plunge lobsters headfirst into an 8-quart pot of boiling salted water*. Loosely cover pot and cook lobsters over moderately high heat 9 minutes from time they enter water, then transfer with tongs to sink to cool.
When lobsters are cool enough to handle, twist off claws and crack them, then remove meat. Halve lobsters lengthwise with kitchen shears, beginning from tail end, then remove tail meat, reserving shells. Cut all lobster meat into 1/4-inch pieces. Discard any remaining lobster innards, then rinse and dry shells.
Heat butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook mushrooms, stirring, until liquid that mushrooms give off is evaporated and they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add lobster meat, paprika, salt, and pepper and reduce heat to low. Cook, shaking pan gently, 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon Sherry and 1/2 cup hot cream and simmer 5 minutes.
Whisk together yolks and remaining tablespoon Sherry in a small bowl. Slowly pour remaining 1/2 cup hot cream into yolks, whisking constantly, and transfer to a small heavy saucepan. Cook custard over very low heat, whisking constantly, until it is slightly thickened and registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer. Add custard to lobster mixture, stirring gently.
Preheat broiler.
Arrange lobster shells, cut sides up, in a shallow baking pan and spoon lobster with some of sauce into shells. Broil lobsters 6 inches from heat until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Serve remaining sauce on the side.
When salting water for cooking, use 1 tablespoon salt for every 4 quarts water.

 

We were packing

Tags

art., culture, Food, island, lobster, moving, NB, oyster, PEI

Last year at this time we were 2 weeks away from moving day.  Had to plan the move but also the road trip with the dogs in the back seat of the car. Leaving Ottawa proceeding to Montreal on the 417 and then joining highway 20, up on the South shore of the Saint Lawrence river, at Rivière du Loup joining highway 85 and then highway 2 upon entering the province of New Brunswick.

I had decided to make a stop half way to PEI. However now in hindsight, our half way stop was too early in the day at Rivière du Loup and we should have proceeded to Edmunston in New Brunswick, sort of getting us over the hump so to speak, but I was concerned about the dogs and their comfort. I remember that the next day the road from Rivière du Loup to Edmunston and then to Fredericton to Moncton to the bridge unto the Island seemed endlessly long, Highway 2 hugs the Maine border in that area to then swing out across New Brunswick to the sea.  It was all highway driving and the portion in New Brunswick from the provincial border of Quebec was very scenic, a new highway built at great cost but well worth it. As you drive along the Maine Canada border  into moose country in New Brunswick on the way to Fredericton, I found that part long with warnings all along the road to call police if you see a moose on the road, they can be very dangerous and fatal if they charge your car. The dogs slept on the back seat wrapped in their blankets, though our Nick was mighty apprehensive of this long car ride which he did not understand, while Nora did not seem to care at all, just curious about the new smells.

We did move 4.5 tons of personal effects and goods, which seems like a lot but is the average weight for a couple moving. The moving truck would arrive a few days after our own arrival in Charlottetown. The weather was good all along and the move was done easily with the help of our friend Blake.

Now a year later, we went through our first Winter in PEI, pretty busy with volunteer work with various organizations and lots of social functions. Though some businesses, restaurants close during the Winter months, there is still plenty to do and the amount of Art and Culture is quite surprising for this small Island, certainly well above what one would expect. We did discover that Oysters in Winter are far superior than ones in Summer months, Winter lobster is also a lot better tasting and has far more meat.

Just last week we went to the Pour House for a concert by Guy Davis who is the son of Ozzie Davis and Ruby Dee, a great blues musician. There are all sorts of things going on in Winter from food festivals to art exhibits to cultural evenings, talks and conferences, pub nights, classic movies or art movie nights, kitchen parties, etc, it is a bit of an insider thing, we are enjoying ourselves and the best of it is our friends here an easy going bunch.

The Winter was also much milder than old Ottawa, not so much in terms of snow and more sunny days. The wind however remains a factor, we are on the Atlantic and wind conditions are always something to be aware of.

One year already, how time flies when you are having fun.

Restaurant recommendations

Tags

coffe, Food, Italy, Restaurants, Rome Italy, Wine

I have on FB post from Italian sites run by Americans in the USA. The Italian site promotes property for sale, restaurants, cities to visit, cultural tips, etc. It also promotes news items from Condé Nast and CNN travel.

Having lived in Italy, I am less and less enamoured with such sites. One like Condé Nast, tend to recommend the same spots over and over again, Tuscany being one, Florence and Venice is another, there is also the constant refrain of pursuing authenticity.

What I find disappointing is that often what they recommend is neither authentic and is usually expensive or they go budget and it is so cheap that you wonder if it makes any sense to even go.

There are also a lot of expat Americans who have made a business of luring tourists into their business as tour guides or Italian cooking classes. They are popular because they speak english and what they propose is not challenging and made to make you believe that this is how it is done.

This week Condé Nast was proposing a restaurant as authentic in Rome near the Pantheon, first it is not near the Pantheon at all. This establishment has been there since 1930, it is very simple and non discript. Then Anthony Bourdain on his show on CNN went to this restaurant and he makes a point of not telling you the name of the place. Interviews a young woman while he eats with his fingers and speaks with his mouth full, because he is a celebrity. The young woman goes on about how ”la mamma” has been cooking since for ever, if the restaurant opened in 1930, ”la mamma” would be at least 100 years old now. Then a blogger who lives in Rome, wrote about the place and though will no recommend it because the wine is cheap and undrinkable, the owners Mario and Teresa will sometime pad the bill and the food has apparently been the same for many decades. So the concept of no menu, we serve the daily special is out the window, the special has not changed in 85 years.

The restaurant is called Settimio al Pellegrino on Via del Pellegrino 117,  it is a trattoria, meaning a cheap eats place. I get really annoyed with Bourdain who I consider a fraud who is trading on his past in NYC restaurants as a Chef apparently. He is certainly very clever at promoting himself but then so was Paris Hilton and that Kardashian women.

I can understand that a traveller who may have this one trip and who may want to make this into the trip of a life time, who only has a few days in Rome or Italy will do whatever they can to make it worthwhile. So Condé Nast or Bourdain come in and sell their wares, it may be what you want and it may not, buyer beware, but the whole authentic thing is a fraud.

Condé Nast like many travel sites hires writers to produce articles about a place, this does not mean that the writer has been to the place they write about. Last year per example Air Canada had a list of the best restaurants in Canada. Most of them were in Vancouver, Toronto, there were 2 in Montreal. Considering the vast distances between those cities, I was wondering if the writer had travelled to any of them.  I looked up who had written the article, it was a young Asian woman who lived in Los Angeles. I sent her an email telling her that I really found her choice of best restaurants very odd. Ottawa has good restaurants, none mentioned, Quebec City, no, how about in the Maritimes, none mentioned. She replied that she in fact had picked her choices from another magazine and travel guides and simply re-wrote a newish article, she had never been to Canada. Well she was honest. I have to say that I usually find airline recommendation of hotels or restaurant very strange. The segment they wish to appeal to is usually the traveller on large expense accounts who can drop $400 dollars a night or more and pick $200 bottle of wines on the menu.

It all comes down, in the case of Italy, Rome or any other cities, if you really want authentic, well I am not sure what that means anymore. However there are plenty of good restaurants with typically Roman style cuisine and reasonable and good wines on offer all over the city. First stay away from the restaurants on a famous Piazza like Piazza Navona or around the Colosseum. Don’t go to pizza joints, remember in Italy pizzas are like fast food, in neighbourhoods they are sold in small pieces to simply eat quickly for a couple of Euros. Go to restaurants frequented by Italian families and avoid places with tourist menus or kids menus, that is so not Italian.

The same with coffee shops, Condé Nast and others have been pushing Caffè San Eustachio , on Piazza San Eustachio. It has been there since 1938 and his famous for its roasted coffee beans which are still roasted on a wood fire. Though I wonder given the popularity of the place and the hordes who descend on it everyday if this method is still followed. They only have 6 tables and an espresso is meant to be drunk standing up at the counter in 3 sips. Since 1999 the Ricci brothers who now own the place use Fair Trade Coffee and will charge more for an espresso than other coffee shops. I never liked that place because there are far too many people at any time. Rome has thousands of coffee shops and you can find in any neighbourhood a good one devoid of tourists. The one I liked was in our old neighbourhood, on Via Alessandria near the corner with Corso Trieste, a real neighbourhood caffé.

There are lots of other place, it just requires a bit of flair.

 

 

 

Les petites cérémonies

Tags

dinner, Food, Friends, home, life, meals, routine

We all have our little routines every day and develop new ones when life changes. Per example after I retired some years ago, I no longer had a need for business suits except for one nice dark Italian suit and a couple of blazers in case I need them for a special day.

Usually now it is casual wear and here on the Island it is more like vacation comfortable wear, though we have done formal and business suit on a few occasions.

I may or may not shave on a day because I have no were to go and am not meeting anyone that day. On the other hand dishes and laundry gets done promptly now that we no longer have a cleaning lady.

Meals are planned that morning for the day and I keep tabs on what we have in the freezer and the fridge. We also see friends on a more impromptu manner, not much is planned unless it is a special occasion.

Every night we have cocktails at 5:30pm after the dogs have had their dinner. We have a 3 course dinner around 07:30pm unless we are going out to a concert or event. We always use dishes and the table is set with cutlery and place mats. We have dinner in the dining room, a bottle of wine paired for the meal and tapered candles are lit on the table, there is also music softly playing in the background. It is the same routine every night.

When we have guests for dinner or lunch, we will have drinks first, we will set a menu and we will never serve the same menu to guests twice, if we had a chicken dish once, the next time they come we will serve something different. Depending on the season the menu will vary greatly, we never serve a salad as a main dish and I find it very gauche to do so. A salad is just an intermediate course served with a prepared dressing not something from a bottle.

When we have a party, there is one coming up in 10 days, we think ahead of what we will serve, are people coming for a meal, or just drinks and nibbles which means serving good quality nuts and olives, a paté or a hard cheese with selected crackers. In this case we thought of doing a salmon mousse or a chicken liver paté with wine. We will chose a wine something which will go well with the event and if people bring a bottle of wine, I prefer to set it aside and go with what I selected for that night in white and red. Recently we had a pizza party and I asked my guests what they wanted, some preferred vegetarian other with meat or cheese or gluten free. Then I ordered from a pizza place here in town which makes really good pizza on thin crust, it tasted a lot better than the stuff from a commercial chain. We had a great party.

All these little details make for routines which define our lives and make everything more pleasant on any given day.

 

 

 

 

 

Good restaurants

Tags

cuisine, Food, Ireland, pubs, Restaurants

We did an extensive tour of Ireland in September 2016, here is a list of great restaurants in Dublin.

Amuse Restaurant, Dawson St
Ananda, Dundrum
Assassination Custard, Kevin St Lwr [NEW]
Bastible, South Circular Road
Brioche, Ranelagh
Brother Hubbard, Capel St
The Cake Café, Camden St
Chameleon Restaurant, Temple Bar
Chapter One, Parnell Square
Craft, Harold’s Cross [NEW]
Dunne & Crescenzi, South Frederick St
Ely Winebar, Ely Place
L’Ecrivain, Lwr Baggot St
Etto, Merrion Row
Fish Shop, Smithfield
Forest Avenue, Sussex Terrace (pictured)
Forest & Marcy, Leeson St Upper [NEW]
The Fumbally, Dublin 8
The Greenhouse, Dawson St
Hang Dai, Camden St [NEW]
Heron and Grey, Blackrock [NEW]
L. Mulligan Grocers, Stoneybatter
Luna, Drury St
O’Connell’s, Donnybrook
Osteria Lucio, Clanwilliam Tce
Pickle Restaurant, Camden St [NEW]
Piglet Wine Bar, Temple Bar [NEW]
Restaurant Forty One, Stephen’s Green
The Winding Stair, Ormonde Quay

The McKennas’ annual 100 Best Restaurants List was first published in The Sunday Times. for more info see guides.ie or @McKennasGuides on Twitter.

There are many good pubs and great restaurants throughout Ireland in Galway, Cork, Belfast, etc.. Cuisine is inventive and different with a certain flair.

Cooking

Tags

cooking, Entertaining, Food, Gourmet, life, style, Wine

How many people remember Gourmet Magazine? We use to receive it monthly and it had all manner of recipes with all kinds of strange ingredients you knew would not be on the shelf of your local grocery store.

Those were the days when we would give dinner parties and try to replicate one of the recipes in Gourmet. We went through a lot of effort, me shopping for the mystery ingredients and Will cooking it all.

Then came Martha Stewart and we were now on another level all together, it took me quite a bit of time to realize that she had a staff of 50 behind her in the kitchen, house, garden to do all those little simple chores. You never saw them and no mention was ever made of them, but if you tried to do something she suggested you quickly realized that you needed days of preparation in order to achieve a decent level. Then came Bon Appétit and then America’s Test Kitchen with Christopher Kimball, love that show on PBS.

With those dinner parties and luncheons, table setting was also important, the right flowers for the centre of the table, linens and dishware to accompany the food, crystal glasses, silverware, plate or sterling. I use to spend a lot of time on thinking about the details. I still do some planning but it is a lot simpler now.

We did a lot of those dinner parties throughout the years and did entertain but that was a different time and we did have people to help with the service at table, cooking, cleaning etc.

I would not think of doing any of this nowadays, fashion has changed, everyone is more in favour of simpler dishes and smaller portions, people also do not drink as much. Many only drink wine, cocktails are out and after dinner drinks are no longer offered. We also entertain differently more casual and relaxed.

Though I still like to cook something special and try a new recipe, I am just not willing to spend the time we use to spend in the preparation. Well prepared, good food does not need to be complicated to please. Each meal on a daily basis is simpler but all are made from scratch and we have resisted so far the frozen entrées or processed can foods. My motto is If I have to eat it, then it should be good. When we have guests we always try to surprise them with a dish they never had at our house, no repeats and no take-out.

I still like a good bottle of wine and will go to some effort to find what is best but at reasonable price.

Simple is good and still looks beautiful! Next weekend we are having friends over to celebrate our first Winter visit to PEI one year ago this month, this is when we decided to move here. The menu will be gourmet pizza with various toppings, I asked our guests what type of pizza they like, some are vegan and others have toppings they really like so will try to please all. We will have wine paired depending on the flavours. It will be all about conversation, good food, wine and the moment.

Tomorrow Sunday our friends will skate across the street from our house on the improvised skating rink, it is fairly cold right now, the ice is like a polished mirror. I told them to come to our place afterwards for hot chocolate, I have a reserve of two flavours Chocolate truffle and white chocolate to warm them up. It should be fun.

Tomorrow 24th Dec.

Tags

Christmas, cuisine, Festivities, Food, Hanukkah, Italy, Rome

Tomorrow is Christmas eve but this year it is also the beginning of Chanukkah which in Hebrew means dedication. The Festival of Lights marks the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC. Having been desecrated by the Syrians, the 165 BC rededication occurred thanks to the Maccabees. Hanukkah is a holiday I like a lot, Jesus was Jewish after all and so were all of his relatives, so this link with this Christian Holiday is great. We spent quite a few Holiday Season in Rome and partook of all the great Roman Traditions, its food and the fun that comes with it.

Jews in Rome or Italy today can be traced back to 160 BC when the first Jews arrived in Rome. They had fled historic Israel from the Syrian King Antiochus. Having arrived in Rome, this was to be known as the oldest Jewish settlements in the Western Europe.

So Rome has a Jewish community for the last 1,856 years, they have stories to tell.

The centrepiece of the Hanukkah celebrations in Rome happens at Piazza Barberini where a massive Menorah is lighted. The Menorah stands at 6 meters tall, there is another one at Piazza Bologna.

Piazza Barberini, Rome

Roman Jews have their very own cuisine which is very different from what can be found in the Jewish communities in North America, no bagels here.

A common tradition is fried food – fried in its own special way, and created to give a unique but tasty eating experience at Hanukkah time. Pollo Fritto per Chanuka is a hearty meal of chicken fried with a winning combination of ingredients. The chicken is marinated in a mix of olive oil with lemon juice, garlic and nutmeg. After the chicken has been marinated, it is then covered in flour and egg before it’s fried to make a crispy but moist dish. A good accompaniment to the fried chicken is Fritelle di Patate, which is fried mashed potato pancakes. The mash is seasoned to add that extra flavour before receiving a smattering of coated breadcrumbs to add to that fried kick. Rome is known for its Carciofi alla Giudia (artichokes), and also for Melanzane alla Giudia. This dish is fried eggplant – simple to make, and delicious to eat, the eggplant’s seeds and majority of flesh are removed before being fried in a combination of garlic and olive oil.

In keeping with the fried theme, Fritelle de Chanuka is a big hit for Italians to eat at Hanukkah. This dessert is basically fried sweet dough fritters. The dough is mixed in with raisins and anise seeds. It’s then fried and topped off with hot honey. Another favourite dessert is Torta di Ricotta, which is Ricotta Pie filled with either sour cherries and/or chocolate.

To all my Jewish Friends, Chag Sameach!

QM2

Tags

Atlantic, Canada., Cunard, Food, Halifax, Ocean, Ocean liner, QM2, Restaurant, Samuel Cunard, Sea, service

For our return we decided to take an ocean liner back to North America instead of flying. The Cunard Company now owned by Carnival Cruises has the Queen Mary 2 sailing from Southampton to NYC and back. The ship carries about 3000 passengers and for us it was the biggest ship we had ever taken. The other companies we cruised with where Crystal, Azamara and Holland American, on ships holding from 800 to 1100 passengers. We love Azamara and all the trips we made with them.

To go to Southampton from London you have several options, the distance is 128 km, the travel time is about 90 minutes depending on traffic on the highway if you go by bus or car. By train the train station in Southampton is not in the docks area so you need to take a taxi for the transfer. There is also no links between Heathrow airport and Southampton.

We compared prices and options and chose a private chauffeured car to go from our Hotel Bailey’s in London to Southampton. It took under 2 hours for our trip in a very comfortable Mercedes S class.

On arrival at Southampton embarkation was very well organized and took about 30 minutes.

If you travel with Cunard be ready to be bombarded non stop with publicity telling you how absolutely fantastic they are and no one compares to them, blah, blah, blah. This was a very big red flag and we should have known that if you need to repeat endlessly how fantastic you are, there is an obvious problem.

The majority of the passengers were British 1650 of them, then Americans 620, Canadians at 450 and then Germans, Italians, French and other nationalities. Notices on board were in German and English. Why?

The staff of the ship is mostly Philippino, gone are the days when they were all Brits or Irish, I will tell you why later, then some Eastern Europeans in management and the Ship Officers are British. This being a very big ship it took several days to get familiar with the various decks and where things were located, you could get lost easily.

The ship features many vignettes of the Cunard line and of the various ships and its personnel through the ages who help make the company name. That was when Cunard was owned by Cunard and not some foreign entity, it was also a time when Cunard still abided by British Labour Laws and rates of pay and before they decided to change the Flag on the ship to one of Convenience, which changes the pay scale and work hours.

Cunard today is no longer the company it once was, the world of the Ocean Liner is run on maximum profit business plan and so we felt we were being nickel and dime to death. Breakfast in the morning if you wanted a cappuccino you had to pay $4.50 and go get it at the bar some distance away. The service is also not what it once was, it is mostly serve yourself nowadays. We were rushed though meals, there was nothing leisurely. Order quickly and make sure you put in your wine order before you order your meals because you may get your wine by dessert time. The dining room Britannia had a very unsettling constant vibration. The Maitre d’ assured us on the first night that the speed of the ship was the reason for this unsettling vibration but once we attained the regular 21 knots it would cease, nope it continued to vibrate badly. The food was bland at best, not inspired at all despite the claim of exciting menu choices. The only time we experienced anything better was the evening we went to The Verandah, which is the premium restaurant of the QM2.

The entertainment on board is of OK quality, stuck in 1960 variety model, nothing to write home about and highly forgettable, certainly not world class as claimed by Cunard. Same with their so called World famous speakers, I expected Henry Kissinger, not so. The hype surrounding the shows is a little ridiculous. The various musical groups on board performing where either playing too loudly and/or not well, false notes, etc. with the exception of the Jazz group who played in the Carinthia lounge who were of superior quality. Helen Leek was also a great pianist and a woman of talent who gave recitals.

The QM2 was refurbished in Hamburg, Germany in June 2016, at least all the public rooms and restaurants where, am not sure about the cabins. The cabins are larger than the usual cruise ship cabin and the bathroom is nice, it was very quiet on our deck.

So when Cunard says they exceed your expectations, no they don’t, I expected a nice crossing of the North Atlantic in the style of bygone era, leisurely pace, superior food and no pressure or demands to conform to the expectations of Cunard, after all who is paying for the trip. Every announcement was always on the tone of the nanny scolding, for your safety and security blah, blah, blah, I finally remarked to someone that I was starting to feel there was something wrong or dangerous about this crossing or the boat. They were truly treating us like little kids, which is grating. Even telling people what was appropriate to wear on board. I can understand requirements for a jacket at dinner or on the special night a black tie, but beyond that I found it insulting. Given that the average age on board is 65+, it is inexplicable.

Upon embarkation our luggage was to be delivered to our Stateroom, I discovered one suitcase and one garment bag missing. After one hour of looking around I went to the service desk and found the missing bags just left there, so I had to carry it myself to my cabin, so much for their legendary White Star Service.

In the Port of Halifax, N.S., Canada, statue of a true Haligonian, Samuel Cunard.

I would not recommend Cunard which is now owned and a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation. The business plan is profits first and the rest later. That is not the way to enjoy a crossing or a cruise.

The nautical maps were also incorrect, geography is not Cunard’s strong point. Canada was shown somewhere in the North Pole region, Newfoundland was described as an Island, as if it was still a British colony. We passed Halifax on our way to NYC, it did not appear on the map, despite the fact that it is the birthplace of Samuel Cunard and he still has relatives living there.  A large statue to Samuel Cunard graces the docks in Halifax where the cruise terminal is located. However it was pointed out to us where the Titanic went down.

Titanic is down there, thankfully no iceberg in sight.

Now this is not to say that all was bad, no, we did have time to read great books we brought along, saw some fun movies, Zootropolis,  Hail Cesar with George Cluny and While we’re young, something we rarely do. We met great people, we had charming dinner companions and met lots of truly delightful people, we slept a lot, and walked the deck which was a great easy exercise. The ship also had a truly impressive wine list, some rare finds and great years. There was also a large collection of Ports some where 170 years old. The various bars on board had just about every alcohol you can think of and a great collection of single malt scotch.

Walking daily on Deck 7 was great fun watching the ever changing sea. The light on the water from grey to dark blue to royal blue all in a few minutes, then suddenly see rainbows and the Sun shimmering on the water making it silver white.

Because we had a large contingent of British people on board, I started to notice the accents, truly some of them I could not understand, it was thick. I was told that some of them come from the region at the border with Scotland. So we just smiled and nodded a lot.

An alumni of Trinity College Dublin, notice the colour.

At the front of the ship, no not modern sculptures but emergency spare propeller blades.

On deck 7 at Sea 

At 5am in the port of New York, our arrival.

The early morning arrival in New York at docking across from Governor’s Island.

From New York we went to LaGuardia which is undergoing a massive rebuilding and the whole airport is in shambles. We flew to Toronto for our connecting flight to PEI.

On our approach to Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Toronto seen from above.