Convoys and the Long Way Home

[drron]

I then had the Roasted turbot-to me the least sensational of the courses whilst mrsdrron had the pork with tempura salad-didn't think the tempura worked.I then had the Venison which was tender and tasty-

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Those green strawberries were a surprise.Full of flavour and sweet.The asparagus the best I have had.Retained all the flavour,
So now to desserts.Mrsdrron had strawberries with crispy chocolate,vanilla cream,marzipan ice cream and salted almonds.I had the Sea Buckthorn en surprise

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Mine was a bery which is quite tart made into a sabayon then a layer of vanilla icecream then meringue.Mrsdrron loved her berries but when I stupidly offered her a taste of my dessert I was forced to swap.
All washed down with a bottle of Sancerre.Great night though we did feel full.Another recommended restaurant.Cost $A440.Would save a lot without wine.

Fortunately the rain had lessened so back to the Hilton by public transport.

Thursday and another lousy day so the planned exploration of Christiana and trying out the food truck fair there was abandoned.Instead it was to the two large skopping centres and mall walking for exercise.Some nice looking fruit so bought some raspberries,cherries and blueberries for dinner.A healthy AFD.
Some interesting shops-

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Great Australian wines-

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And Scandanavians have little idea of Asian food-

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[mrs.dr.ron]

Thanks for all the good wishes, luckily when I fell I didn't break my ankles again ! Only bruised my knee and sore for a week.

 

[drron]

Friday and still it rains,We had lunch booked at Geranium and once again went by mrtro and Bus,This time however on our walk to the restaurant it really poured and 2 drowned individuals arrived at the restaurant not feeling particularly in the mood for the experience.The staff soon turned that around.Geranium has 2 Michelin stars and does often rate ahead of Noma with the locals.It is totally different to Formel B.Much more into presentation.
As this is very likely to be our only time here we have the full menu-no difference between lunch and dinner.So to the first part of the menu-

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Small servings elegantly presented.So from the top-

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Of those I enjoyed the little soup and the asparagus.

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These 2 were clever but not particularly enjoyable.The next did not look as great but tasted beautiful-

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At first you think the potato must be overdone but just right and the small Scandinavian potatoes are quite sweet.The next dish was a beautiful taste of asparagus-

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[drron]

That last course was served to us in the kitchen.It appeared that those who ordered the full menu were served one course in the kitchen.A very clean and well organised kitchen-

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Simple but elegant table decoration-

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The last of the appetisers was excellent.The razor clam shells were edible-

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[drron]

Now the next lot of dishes-

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The first in this section was a stunner.No way do you believe this dish is ham and tomato but it sure is-

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The next dish was not as good although the cucumber granita was excellent-

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The hake was better.The bread served as a course but it really was good.Yes it was left on the table to continue to enjoy.

 

[drron]

The onion dish and the scallop were excellent-

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Potato with dried lobster also very nice-

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The next course was the most substantial-deboned chicken leg stuffed with chicken meat.But it is only chicken-

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Next the desserts-

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They were all good but the rhubarb was the best.

 

[drron]

We ordered herbal teas.Knew they were fresh,mint for mrsdrron and lemon verbena for me-

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And the sweets-

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So 4 hours later we were finished.Once more a bottle of Sancerre and the bill ~ $A800.Was it worth it.Well it was a great experience.Presentation excellent as was the service.Our waitress was from Norway and also a chef however her boyfriend was an executive chef here.He is from Melbourne and had worked at Vue De Monde for 5 years.
The chef responsible for a course often bought the dish to the table and gave an explanation.So I would recommend this but obviously some would be put off by the cost.
Of the 3 Michelin starred restaurants we tried in Europe my vote would go to Manoir Inter Scaldes.Stay there for the complete experience.

 

[drron]

So after the 4 hour lunch the rain eased as we walked back to the bus.Back at the Hilton the sun came out for a few minutes and I was able to see the view for those given an airport facing room-

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So for my thoughts on Copenhagen-the public transport system is excellent so position of your hotel is not that important.We bought a 72 hour City Pass good for the railway,metro and busses.Cost 195DKK-$A40.Great value.And they give you a good map.
Actually glad we didn't go with the Helsinki card because of the weather.
Enjoyed the Hilton.Great dinner buffet-one of the cheapest reasonable dining options in Copenhagen.

So on Saturday it was off to the Silver Cloud for our cruise up the Norwegian coast to Murmansk and Archangel.Incidentally the taxi fare from the Hilton to the port was 400 DKK~$A80.

 

[garee]

Just started reading this TR...loving it and the food shots...yum.

 

[drron]

So Saturday June 20 and we board the Cloud at about 1pm.Lunch in the dining room and then up to our verandah suite-

And the view from the ship-

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[drron]

Interesting to see bag screening done on embarkation-

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Some famous Copenhagen landmarks nearby-

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And some not so famous such as the naval museum-

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On sail away we passed preparations for a Saturday night party and a young lady was having less attention paid to her-

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[drron]

It was midsummer weekend so lots were out camping-in the middle of the city!

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People came to look at us whilst we gazed at the larger cruise ships excluded from the city centre-

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Whilst this lot were drinking wine and not looking at anybody-

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Some sights as we left the harbour-

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[RooFlyer]

So did you go round to Mary and Fred's place for afternoon tea?

 

[drron]

And out to sea-

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That night we shared our dinner with 3 Americans and a Danish couple.One of the great pleasures of small ship cruising.A great night.By the time dinner ended this was what it looked like outside-

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The next day was a sea day.Went to the destination lectures,trivia and golf but mainly slept.Passed evidence of North Sea oil-

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First formal night which we shared with the Hotel Director Sujith,The casino manager and 4 Americans.Everyone just clicked.Much laughter and last to leave the dining room-the show was well and truly over.But at 11.30pm I was up on deck 8 in my Tux taking pictures of a magnificent sunset at sea-

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[drron]

So did you go round to Mary and Fred's place for afternoon tea?

They left us standing out in the rain!
Sorry for the delay.AFF must be on some list of scary websites.Could only post short answers and it wasn't even letting me reply to this TR until today.
I blame the Russians.

 

[drron]

Unfortunately the weather is against a lot of outdoor activities.Scandinavia is having it's coldest May/June since 1949.Ours is not the beautiful blues of water and sky contrasting with the green of the mountains.Our trip is more contrasting shades of grey and white.

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Some more of the approach to Bergen-

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[drron]

Now to some scenes around Bergen.It started off cold but soon the sun appeared and it has been the best weather of the cruise so far.

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The last is called Bergen castle but by the plaque it is a relatively recent structure.There is certainly some beauty around Bergen-

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But thankfully they got rid of this fellow-

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One of the ports for North Sea oil-

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[drron]

More on the way to the fish market including a delightful wooden boat-

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So now to the fish market.Not everything is seafood-

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[drron]

Moose or whale anyone?

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There were plates of seafood out to buy and a couple of seafood restaurants adjacent.Prices seemed high.
The Cloud in Bergen-

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As we start to walk just a little distance uphill-

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And caught the funicular up the mountain so we could look down on Bergen-

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The MSC Orchestra which was to impact our travels in the next few days.

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[drron]

Some more of looking down on Bergen-

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