Chocolate Is Always A Good Idea

Last night Hubby Tony and I went to a Chocolate Making class at Kakao Chocolate, a local shop where everything is produced from scratch and made in small batches.

When the class started Brian Pelletier, the owner and chocolatier, started the evening with an explanation about tempering chocolate (which the process of melting, cooling, and reheating to stabilize the cocoa butter fats) and why it's so important (it stabilizes the cocoa butter fats and gives the finished result a glossy finish). Next we watched the tempering procedure in action.

There was already a batch of melted dark chocolate in a tempering machine on the counter. The machine's agitator automatically stirred the contents. When the machine beeped that the contents had come up to temperature a chunk of chocolate called a 'seed' was added, which cooled the contents down. The machine beeped again when it was time to take the leftover seed out, and the machine continued to agitate throughout the rest of the evening.

There were three activity stations. Each couple made, and took home:

• Chocolate bark. Each person got a layer of tempered chocolate on a small paper plate, then sprinkled it with a variety of toppings.

• Four pre-made caramels dipped in tempered chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. To dip, a caramel was placed on a dipping fork, immersed into the agitating chocolate until covered, then removed. The excess chocolate was wiped off by scraping the bottom across a spatula, then the candy was placed on a parchment sheet. The dipping system was designed for a right-handed person, agitating clockwise. I am left handed, so the process was cumbersome for me, but my results still tasted pretty good.

• A small recipe of Ganache (enough to fill a 20-ounce plastic cup), which is a mixture of chocolate, heavy cream, and butter. Each couple got to choose two add-ins from a variety of liquids and solids. Tony and I chose Calamansi Balsam (a citrus with notes of lemon, lime and orange) and ground ginger. At the end of the night everyone sampled each of the mixtures.

During the course of the night I had enough samples to feel satisfied. Tonight, after a healthy dinner Tony and I heated up some of the ganache and ate it with a selection of fruit.

Five years ago: Peaches, No Cream

A Viking Voyage-The Netherlands

The last country Hubby Tony and I visited on our Viking cruise was The Netherlands (informally called Holland).

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday's port was Kinderdijk, a UNESCO Heritage site known for its preserved 18th-century windmills. Holland is flat and and has a low elevation. Between a quarter and a third of the area is below sea level, reclaimed via a series of dikes to hold back the water and windmills to pump accumulated water out to canals to carry it away.

The ship wasn't scheduled to arrive in Kinderdijk until 4 pm. In the morning the program director asked passengers to meet in the lounge to hear details about the day's excursions and the next day's disembarkation. That segued into a presentation about The Netherlands as a country.

After lunch, even though the day was cloudy and blustery, I decided to take a walk on the ship's upper deck. The path was short, but I enjoyed watching the scenery go by as I racked up the laps.

Shortly after the ship docked Tony and I joined the rest of our tour group in the lounge, charged-up audio devices around our necks.

It looked like rain as we left for the walking tour, so I picked up one of the provided umbrellas. I was hoping that my action would mean that the rain would stay away, but a steady drizzle started when we were halfway to the first stop on the tour. There our guide explained the history of the area and how the windmills worked. I learned that except for the museum we would be visiting all the rest of the windmills were still in use. People live in them (after passing a certification test) and there is a waiting list.

We left the workstation to walk to the museum windmill. The rain was coming down harder, and a stiff breeze made it hard for me to keep the umbrella up straight. In an effort not to poke anyone with an umbrella rib I got in the rear of the tour group, but (maybe because of the weather?) my audio device wasn't working well and the guide's voice kept fading in and out. Holding the umbrella also made it hard to take photographs.

Inside the windmill it was very cramped. The guide said that for many years very large families lived there (sometimes with as many as 12 children). I couldn't imagine. After navigating one set of steep steps up to the second floor and another back down it was time to move on to the third section of the tour. However, the rain increased so much that the tour was cut short, ending at the gift shop for those that were inclined.

The rest of the group headed back to the ship. I hadn't planned on changing for dinner, but I couldn't wait to take off my and wet pants and shoes.

THURSDAY

Shortly before dinner the ship left for Amsterdam, our disembarkation port. It was docked there when I woke up. After packing up the last of our things Tony and I went for one more breakfast in the restaurant. Instead of lingering over coffee we finished up quickly so we could set our suitcases outside the room to be picked up.

We had allowed Viking to arrange both our flights home and transportation to the airport. The whole process was seamless. At the appointed time we found the gathering place for our shuttle, and when asked to move outside verified that our luggage was loaded on the bus before boarding.

The first part of the drive to the airport was on city streets. I knew that bicycle culture was a big part of Amsterdam, but I was still amazed to watch hundreds of cyclists going about their business.

Eventually the bus got on the highway, navigated a little rush hour traffic, then dropped us off at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, which was the fourth busiest in Europe in 2025 according to Wikipedia. There, a guide led us through the huge facility, dropping each group off at the correct check-in desk.

Our traveling group had two flights to get home...first from Amsterdam to Montreal, and then after a long layover another one to St. Louis. Total time including layovers was about 17 hours, and to reset my internal clock back on home time I tried to sleep as little as I could. My own familiar bed never felt so good.  

Five years ago: Monetary Motivation

A Viking Voyage-France

The third day of our cruise the ship docked in the city of Kehl, Germany. However, our day's adventure was actually across river in Strasbourg, France.

Google

According to the ship's daily newsletter "Strasbourg is the cultural center of France's Alsace region. The well-preserved town is enclosed on all sides by the little Ill River."

Our walking tour of the city started on a bus, which shuttled the group over the river. From there, our guide took us through the La Petite France district, filled with canals and 16th century homes and the Grande Île city center, a UNESCO site.

Buildings on the canal

Our next stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874. Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the tallest structure built entirely in the Middle Ages.

Wikimedia

The church does not allow tour groups inside, but our guide gave us ideas of what to look for and let us wander around by ourselves. Unfortunately we were a bit too early to see the automaton parade on the astronomical clock, but the timepiece all by itself was impressive.

We had time on our own before the tour ended, so we shopped for souvenirs and we ended with drinks at the Il Pinocchio sidewalk cafe next to the cathedral. My macchiato was topped with a cute heart of foam.

After dinner there was a trivia game night in the lounge. The onboard musician performed sections of nine songs, and there were two questions about each one. A group could get ten bonus points if they got up and danced during the song. At the end of the night, thanks to some good music knowledge in our group and our dancing we were one of two groups tied for the lead. The program director divided the prize up (our group took the box of dark chocolate, and the other one took the growler of beer) and the bar threw in a bottle of wine for both groups.

Five years ago: One Of A Kind

Dentile

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This afternoon I am having oral surgery, which is an unattractive New Thing for me but strongly suggested by my dentist.

When I called to make the appointment with the oral surgeon the receptionist asked if I wanted to do the procedure with or without sedation. I chose the first option. That means I need to fast from food and drink after breakfast.

Hubby Tony will drive me to the oral surgeon's office, read his book while I'm having the procedure done, then drive me home afterwards. This oral surgeon is the only one in our insurance plan, and I have done the same thing for him. I know that in addition to prescriptions and instructions I will go home with a cup of Ted Drewes frozen custard.

My friend Google told me that most people resume their normal routine in 3-5 days after the procedure. Not knowing where I would fall in that time frame I have made several sets of contingency plans. There are plenty of soft foods in the kitchen, and Tony will pick up anything I didn't. I can use a jaw wrap with refreezable packs that Tony received for a similar procedure several years ago for swelling. There are books if I feel like reading, and TV if I just want to chill out.

I am ready....bring it on!

A Viking Voyage-Germany (Part 2)

The fourth day of our cruise, the ship docked in Koblenz just after lunch. However, that morning the program director invited all passengers to get comfortable in the lounge, terrace, or sun deck for a program she called "Travelers Along the Rhine", a commentary over the PA system about the UNESCO World Heritage Site castles we saw on either side of the river as the ship floated by.

It's always amazing to me just how old some of the European buildings are compared to something "old" the United States, which means something built after the late 1500s. The castles on the Rhine were constructed hundreds of years before that. At first I was sitting with Hubby Tony and our friends on the terrace, but the sun got too hot for me and I moved into the lounge, where I found a couch I could spread out on. At the end of the presentation we nabbed a table in the shady part of the terrace for an al fresco lunch.

After lunch we went back to our rooms and gathered our things for our walking tour of Koblenz. The city was founded more than 2,000 years ago as a trading settlement. 

The guide took us to:

• The German Corner (the intersection of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers), with its massive monument of Emperor Wilhelm I. The monument was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in 1993 as a symbol of German reunification.

Wilhelm I monument

• The cathedral (Basilica of St. Castor, another UNESCO Heritage site), which was consecrated in 836.



Basilica of St. Castor

• The Old Town area, where we walked down several of the city's cobblestone streets. Most of the buildings were destroyed in World War II, but rebuilt in the original style.

After the tour the four of us took a cable car ride over the Rhine to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. There were several museums in the complex, and although most of the displays did not offer information in English, there was still enough to make the visit worthwhile.



Source




On Tuesday the ship stopped in Cologne, a cultural hub of the region. It was one of the most bombed cities during World War II, and although many of the historical buildings we saw looked original they were actually restorations



Not really built in 1234 😃

Once again the city had a noteworthy cathedral. The High Cathedral Church at Cologne is a huge, twin-spired Gothic cathedral which took over 600 years to build. It was constructed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings, believed to contain the bones of the Magi that visited the baby Jesus. After an explanation of the building's outside the guide gave us twenty minutes to explore inside. I barely touched the surface of everything there was to see.



Cathedral (rear side)

Every tour guide we had personalized the experience by inserting personal anecdotes and thoughts into the presentation. This one emphasized the difference between a 'local' bar and a 'tourist' one and gave examples of how you could tell one from the other in case we wanted to visit one in our free time. He also pointed out the best places to buy the original eau de Cologne perfume.

It sprinkled on and off throughout the whole tour, and close to the end it started to rain. Viking provided large golf umbrellas, but not everyone had picked one up as they got off the ship. When the guide said his goodbyes, instead of finding a good bar or souvenir shop our group went back to the ship for lunch.

In the afternoon, some of our group went to the nearby Schokoladenmuseum Köln (in English, Chocolate Museum). We decided not to buy tickets for the museum itself, but browsed in the large gift store. Tony and I bought some goodies for the kids, grandkids, and ourselves.

A Viking Voyage- Germany (Part 1)

Our Rhine River cruise included more ports in Germany than in any other country

On Friday, the first full day of the cruise, we docked at Breisach, noted on the daily newsletter as "a gateway to the fabled  Black Forest region", and also home to some of Europe's largest wine cellars. Hubby Tony and I decided to participate in the included bus tour of the Black Forest, and our friends agreed.

It seemed like most people on the cruise were of like mind, so we were divided into four tour groups. Two of them left at the same time (on different busses), and the others were ten minutes later. At the appointed time our group was in the ship lobby with our charged audio listening devices.

Our guide was a young man who knew a lot about the area, and passed on information as the bus drove to the final destination, the Drubba Black Forest Village. There, we had the options of a short hike and/or demonstrations of cuckoo clocks and Black Forest Cake assembling. Hubby Tony and I chose the latter two, and while interesting, to me both felt more like an opportunity for the departments to sell merchandise than an actual tutorial.

After lunch back at the boat we and our friends walked into the city, where we did a little souvenir shopping and walked up the hill to visit St. Stephen's Cathedral, built between the 12th and 13th century. The building was almost completely destroyed during World War II. It's major art treasures were hidden and saved, and after the way the cathedral was rebuilt. I was particularly impressed with this elaborate altar.

The first few nights the ship left port during dinner, then sailed all night to get to the next one. There were 14 locks on the portion of the Rhine we sailed on. We passed through a couple of them early in the evening, and I thought it was fascinating to watch the ship enter the lock, then see the gate rise so it could exit at a different level.

Beginning, halfway, end

As fascinating as it was to watch the boat pass through a lock, in the middle of the night it was just annoying. Inevitably the ship would bump into the concrete side, leading to loud noises and jolts. 

Sunday found us in Speyer, one of Germany's oldest cities. The town is noted for its Roman relics and the Romanesque cathedral. Thanks to a large Jewish presence in the Medieval and Middle Ages the Jewish courtyard is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The term "Protestant" was coined in the city in 1259.

Our walking tour started at the pier. The first stop was the cathedral because later in the morning it would be closed for Mass. I would have liked to attended the service, but unfortunately the time didn't coordinate with the ship's cast off.

Speyer Cathedral

I enjoyed walking through the cobble stoned historical old area, which was filled with houses like this:

During our independent time after the tour we walked through the shopping section, which ended with the spectacular Old Gate.

It was a given that before leaving the town we had to get a Speyer Pretzel, because the city claims it was invented there. (That seems to be open to debate, because other cities we visited made the same claim.) 

That evening we chose to participate in a paid excursion at a local restaurant. There were approximately 36 people seated in the location's back room. The multi-course meal included bottles of local red and wine (and beer upon request), and with dessert the waitress brought around shots of schnapps. A musician in the corner of the room played fun music. At the end of the night he encouraged people to sing along. The cruise director started a conga line, which ended up in a rousing Duck Dance.

Five years ago: What Do You Think?

A Viking Voyage-Switzerland

When we booked our Viking cruise, they offered the option of an additional two day add on at either end of the cruise. After looking at our calendars, our group decided that pre-cruise time in Basel would work better for us.

The group organizer let our agent know, and other than paying the extra money we didn't have to do a thing. Viking arranged the air and hotel componants. Several weeks before leaving we found out that we would be staying at the Movenpick Hotel, which was close to both public transportation and the train station.

Tripadvisor

Our flight left St. Louis at Monday at 6 pm, and after transfers in Detroit and Amsterdam arrived in Basel on Tuesday at 6 pm their time. The Viking airport host met our group just outside the luggage carousel and drove us to the hotel. After getting settled in our room we had dinner at the hotel restaurant, then Hubby Tony and I fell into bed. I had barely slept on the airplane, so it felt so good!

An included walking tour of Basel was scheduled for 10 AM. In the lobby the guide passed out wireless audio systems to the group, ensured they all worked, then we set out. The first adventure was taking the tram to the Old Town. There our guide told us about the history of the city as she pointed out the noteworthy buildings and the beautiful Rhine riverfront.

Bridge over the river

 After the tour was over and our friends wanted a cold drink. The closest and easiest option was a McDonald's, but that was the first and last time I patronized a non-local place on the trip. We got lunch at a traditional Swiss restaurant, did some souvenir shopping, then came back to the hotel to relax. Each afternoon the hotel had a chocolate 'happy hour', which included samples of several kinds. All of them were yummy. Dinner was at a Thai place, and once again bedtime was early.

Thursday afternoon was ship embarkation, so we had the morning to ourselves. Our friends decided to make it a quiet day, but after picking the brain of the Viking host in the hotel lobby on Wednesday Tony and I decided to take a train ride to Lucerne (which was one hour each way). The host made it easy, telling us exactly which train to take coming and going and exactly where in the station we would buy the tickets. He even gave us a map of the city outlined with a suggested walking route so we could see the most in our limited time.

Good thing we didn't need to read the board details

Before we left Tony and I stowed our luggage with the hotel for safekeeping. Everything about our adventure went according to plan. There was a couple of hours to walk along the lake, see the medieval architecture, and browse through some of the shops in the Old Town area. I felt like a sophisticated traveler when I was able to pay for a post card with Swiss francs instead of pulling out my charge card 😀.

Lake Lucerne

Tony and I ended up taking an earlier train back then planned, which meant we didn't have time for lunch in Lucerne. Fortunately, the Basel train station had two levels worth of shops and eateries. We stopped at the first place we walked by. My sandwich had a thick layer of hummus topped with fresh and pickled vegetables on a hearty roll, and the coffee that accompanied it was fresh and strong.

Back at the hotel, it was about time to gather in the lobby to transfer to the boat. I appreciated that the host made everyone acknowledge that their luggage had been put on the bus before leaving for the cruise port to begin the main adventure.

A Viking Voyage

Last November some long-time friends mentioned they were interested in doing a Viking European river cruise this year, and asked if we were interested in joining them. After some discussion of time frames and routes we chose a Rhine River cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Every other time I've sailed it's been on a very large ship, but many of our acquaintances had already gone on a river cruise and they all raved about the experience. I can now add myself to the list of satisfied sailors.

• Instead of being large, the Hervor (our Viking ship) was intimate. The ship could hold a maximum of 190 guests. There was no casino, gift shop, photographers, or formal dinner night. Children under 21 were prohibited.

• Our cabin had a French balcony, with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that opened to a protective railing to let in fresh air. The bathroom was compact, but not cramped. Tony and I appreciated the twice-daily attention from our room steward.

• There was free wi-fi throughout the ship. It was adequate and appreciated.

• Each port included a free excursion or guided tour with a local guide.

• There was only one seating for meals, and we weren't tied to any particular table. Lunch and dinner included complimentary house wine, beer, and soft drinks. Two coffee machines on the third floor offered basic and specialty drinks at the touch of a button, or hot water for tea. Next to the coffee machines baskets held sweet and savory baked goods.

• The third floor also had a large window-lined lounge and an observation lounge. The top deck had a sun deck and walking track that wound around a small herb garden and a two-hole putting green.

Five years ago today: Happy Unbirthday To Me

You Sure Know How To Make A Girl Feel Special!

When I announced almost two weeks ago I was taking a blog break I had no expectation of any comments. Imagine my surprise to find out there were almost two dozen comments on that post (and others) waiting for me! 

Thank you. I've realized again that blogging is quite the community of like-minded souls.

Public Domain Vector

After I wade through the dirty laundry, photos, videos, and memorabilia that came home with me I will be documenting things here (because Hubby Tony and I are already forgetting some of the details of the whirlwind trip). In the meantime I'm off to see what you've been up to.

Five years ago: A Very Purple Path

Be Back...

When I started blogging in 2008 (a New Thing A Day journey that started on my 49th birthday and ended a year later), the idea of stepping away from my project never entered my mind. Eighteen years later I am more comfortable doing things to take care of myself.

Along that line, I will be taking a break from my computer for a couple of weeks. I suspect the internet will keep on functioning without my posting or my commenting 🤣.

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Five years ago: Covering Before Coating